Just Want to Be a Slacker

"Horikita, you know no one's going to want to study with you acting like that, right?"

"...It doesn't matter. Anyone who's going to drag me down is better off leaving now." Horikita Suzune's mood was a little low.

She remembered Kamio Tatsuya's reaction yesterday—the look on his face had clearly shown he thought she couldn't do it, and in the end, she really hadn't.

Kushida tried to persuade Horikita a bit more, but it was obviously useless, so she quickly left too.

As for Kamio Tatsuya, he had already withdrawn his gaze and gone back to studying what he didn't understand.

A couple of days ago, the teachers had marked out the exam scope for this test, and Kamio Tatsuya planned to start with that part.

As for the gaps from before, he'd just do his best.

Soon, the morning passed. When he looked up again, Horikita and the others were already gone.

"I'm heading back. I won't be coming this afternoon."

Kamio Tatsuya packed his things as he spoke to Kamuro Masumi beside him.

"Ah, oh. Then I won't come this afternoon either."

With that, Kamuro also put her textbooks away and stuffed them into her bag.

Leaving the library, Kamio Tatsuya looked at Kamuro Masumi, who had followed him out. "I'm going to get something to eat. Want to come?"

"Sure. What are you going to eat?"

What to eat...

That was a tough question. He couldn't just say "anything," "whatever," "I'm fine with anything," "you decide."

Was he supposed to be the idea guy this time?

"Is there anything you want to eat? My treat, consider it an apology for earlier."

As he spoke, Kamio Tatsuya's gaze uncontrollably drifted to Kamuro's legs.

"And you say you're not a leg guy?"

That was really unfair. Sure, he used to think he was a leg guy, but later he realized—he was just plain perverted! No self-control!

Of course, he couldn't say that out loud. It would lose him points.

"Ahem. So, what do you want to eat?"

"How about yakiniku?"

Yakiniku?

A girl like you actually likes yakiniku?

"What's with that look?"

"Nothing. Yakiniku's great. I like it too."

Yakiniku was delicious stuff. For Kamio Tatsuya, it was a dish with almost no downsides. If he had to nitpick, it was too expensive.

But what could he do? Japan was so barren in terms of resources.

Come to think of it, the weather had been getting warmer since May. He really wanted some chilled watermelon—preferably seedless.

Just thinking about it made Kamio Tatsuya crave it.

He'd been reborn, so why did it have to be in this crappy place called Japan? The moment that thought hit him, all the emotions he'd been suppressing surged up.

"What's wrong?"

Kamuro, walking beside him, noticed his mood had shifted.

"I want to eat watermelon."

"If you want it, just go buy it. The school should have watermelons in stock this season. They might be expensive, but you shouldn't be short on Points, right?" Kamuro Masumi thought he was acting a bit strange.

Kamio Tatsuya gave her a complicated look and shook his head.

He'd always thought of himself as someone who became independent early, but he never expected to feel homesick one day. Too bad—he probably could never go back.

Sensing his bad mood, Kamuro Masumi didn't say much along the way. She just followed him to a yakiniku place on campus.

Feeling the immense sorrow that had practically overflowed from him, Kamuro seemed a little affected too.

After they sat down, Kamio Tatsuya felt something was off.

This was a table for four. Why did Kamuro deliberately sit right next to him?

But he found out soon enough.

Because she grabbed his hand and placed it on her thigh.

In that instant, his whole body stiffened.

What the hell? What's going on?

Are you trying to set me up so you can punch me for messing up?

"Does this make you feel a little better?"

Kamuro Masumi forced down her embarrassment as she spoke to Kamio Tatsuya.

In that moment, Kamio Tatsuya felt as though an angel had descended upon the world.

Chapter 48: Exam Scope

After eating, Kamuro immediately found an excuse to leave, leaving Kamio Tatsuya still somewhat dazed.

What was that supposed to mean?

Just as his thoughts were wandering, his phone buzzed.

He opened it to find an unread message.

[Are you still going to the library this afternoon?]

It was from Kamuro.

[This afternoon, no. I'll go to the library again tomorrow morning.]

[See you tomorrow then.]

Staring at the message on his phone, Kamio Tatsuya swept away his earlier confusion, his mood suddenly brightening.

The next day, Kamio Tatsuya brought the subjects he planned to review and headed to their usual spot in the library.

"Morning, Masumi."

Hearing him suddenly call her by her first name, Kamuro flashed her signature look of disgust.

"Why are you calling me by my first name right off the bat?"

"If you don't like it, I can change it back."

Kamio Tatsuya said with a grin.

Kamuro Masumi shot him a glare, then sat down beside him.

Japanese high schools have five basic subjects: National Language, Mathematics, English, Social Studies, and Science.

The Midterm Exam covers these five subjects.

The subject Kamio Tatsuya planned to review today was history. Japan's history subject differs from that in his home country—it's not a major subject but a minor one under the larger umbrella of Social Studies.

However, Kamio Tatsuya really didn't know much about Japanese history.

He hadn't studied it in his past life, and in this life, he hadn't done well with it either, so it immediately became a major obstacle to his goal of passing.

To be honest, he didn't want to learn this stuff at all.

What was there to study in this garbage Japanese history, especially the modern history after the 20th century? NM, it was all fabricated.

"Are you studying history today?"

Kamuro leaned over to glance at the textbook Kamio Tatsuya had taken out.

"Yeah, it's my weakest subject."

"I have a practice test Sakayanagi put together here. Want to give it a try?"

Kamuro Masumi pulled an A4 sheet from her bag and handed it over.

"Then I won't hold back."

Kamuro, you're really my angel!

Kamio Tatsuya didn't doubt Sakayanagi's Academic Ability—after all, her physical condition was already at rock bottom. If her Academic Ability were lacking too, how could she be in Class A?

But as soon as he took the test, his brow immediately furrowed.

"What's wrong?"

"Is this test really put together by Sakayanagi?"

"You're not suspecting me, are you?"

Kamuro snatched the test back, looking annoyed.

"That's not what I mean. It's just that the questions on this test... don't seem to be within the exam scope?" Kamio Tatsuya said, looking puzzled.

He wasn't doubting Kamuro was deceiving him; he was worried Sakayanagi might be pulling strings behind the scenes.

Could she have predicted Kamuro would show me this test?

"You've got to be kidding, right?" Kamuro picked up the test and looked it over. "No, this part is correct."

She then took out the textbook, flipped to the table of contents, and marked the exam scope.

But... the scope she marked didn't match the exam scope Kamio Tatsuya knew at all.

"You... aren't joking, are you?"

"I don't zone out in class."

Kamuro Masumi looked a bit displeased.

If Kamuro was telling the truth, it meant one of them had the wrong exam scope. If neither Kamio Tatsuya nor Kamuro Masumi was mistaken, then the teacher had made an error.

Kamio Tatsuya immediately pulled out his phone and typed a message.

[Could you tell me the exam scope for the history subject in this Midterm Exam?]

Then, he sent that message to two people.

One was Horikita Suzune from Class D, and the other was Shiina Hiyori from Class C.

Before long, he immediately received replies.

Well, no need to call them over.

But the moment he saw both responses, his expression soured.

Because the exam scope Horikita Suzune replied with was the same as what Kamio Tatsuya knew, while the scope Shiina Hiyori replied with matched what Kamuro had marked out.

The test papers for the first-year exams were definitely identical. This confirmed it—Chabashira Sae had definitely given Class D the wrong exam scope.

And she had definitely done it on purpose!

As a teacher, she wasn't a rookie. How could she possibly make such a basic mistake?

But why?

Kamio Tatsuya racked his brain, recalling every word Chabashira Sae had ever said, and soon found the answer.

On May 1st, the day she explained that failing the Midterm Exam would result in expulsion, Chabashira Sae had said something very strange.

"I believe there is a way to avoid failing and survive the exam."

Normally, for students, the way to survive an exam was to study hard and then rely on their ability to score above the passing line.

So at that point, a teacher should have told the students to work hard and aim to pass, right?

But instead, she specifically mentioned a way to "survive" the exam.

And beyond that, the earlier quiz had also been a hint—those last three questions had completely exceeded the syllabus.

Kamio Tatsuya had always believed that the purpose of the questions on a test paper was to allow students to answer them.

So the answer was obvious. The real goal of this Midterm Exam wasn't to test the students' academic results, but to test whether they could find a way to pass.