The Calm Before the Exam

"One Queen!" Inside the dormitory, Hamaguchi slapped a card face down on the table.

"Five Queens." Ying simply and calmly laid all his cards face down on the table.

"666, are you laughing at yourself!? Reveal!" Beppu laughed as he flipped over Ying's cards.

Three Queens, two Jokers.

"What kind of luck is this!" the group exclaimed in disbelief.

"Hahaha, still doubting me?" Ying picked up the water gun on the table and fired a shot at Beppu.

"Someone here hasn't won a single round yet," Ying said, staring at Hamaguchi, who could only clutch his head in helpless frustration.

"Don't get cocky! I'll definitely win next time!" Hamaguchi declared.

"We've been playing for almost an hour, don't you guys want to go out and look around?" Shibata asked while shuffling the cards.

"Let's go then, I kind of want to go play some live-action CS," Beppu suggested.

"No way! Wait until I win one round!" Hamaguchi shouted, starting to deal the cards.

"This time, I'm definitely going to win!" Hamaguchi looked at his hand and laughed.

"You say that every time... two Jacks," Beppu played his cards.

"Ying, trust me and reveal his hand," Hamaguchi said, looking at the four Jacks in his own hand.

"Why would you say that? Five Jacks," Ying once again placed all his cards on the table.

"Are you messing with me!? Reveal!" Hamaguchi was amused.

Five Jacks.

"666, there's something wrong with your cards!" Hamaguchi grabbed Ying by the collar and shook him.

Then, a stack of cards fell out from inside Ying's clothes...

"You guy, you were cheating! Go to hell!" Hamaguchi finally lost his patience, grabbed the water gun from the table, and started chasing Ying.

"I'm innocent! These just got stuck in my clothes by accident!" Ying also grabbed a gun and started to fight back.

"Do you even believe the reason you just gave?"

"No."

"Go to hell!"

"Ryota, Sata, come save me!" Ying pleaded for help.

Beppu and Shibata also picked up their water guns and joined the fray.

"Wait, why are you three ganging up on me?" Ying was speechless and could only run for it.

"The cruise ship's swimming pool is actually quite large," Shibata remarked. After finishing their water gun fight, the group prepared to go for a swim.

"Yeah, not only is it large, it's also quite white," Hamaguchi commented as well.

"What the hell are you even talking about?" Ying was speechless.

"We haven't even started on you yet! Are you and Sakayanagi from Class A really just friends?" Beppu pointed at Ying's nose and interrogated him.

"Don't you guys know me by now? Sakayanagi and I just became friends. Not to mention I've already found a girlfriend; if any girl were flirting with me, I'd be bragging to you single dogs all day long," Ying said with his arms crossed, looking perfectly serious.

"Believe me, you'll receive a love letter tomorrow, and this time it'll definitely be from a girl," Hamaguchi patted Ying on the shoulder and chuckled.

"Hahaha..." Ying didn't respond, just smiled, then walked up to Hamaguchi, wrapped his arms around his neck, and jumped into the water.

"Cough, cough, cough! I, I was just joking, cough, cough, cough!" Hamaguchi swallowed a mouthful of chlorinated pool water and patted his chest.

"I know, I just wanted to mess with you," Ying replied.

Hamaguchi clenched his fists, veins popping on his forehead. Just as he was about to give Ying a piece of his mind, he noticed the latter constantly winking at him, and Hamaguchi understood what Ying meant.

"Sata, Ryota, come down and play with us!" The two laughed deviously, simultaneously grabbing the ankles of Shibata and Ryota at the edge of the pool and pulling them both in.

Watching the two of them in their disheveled state, Ying and Hamaguchi burst into laughter in unison.

"Hey~! Ying! Come over here and join us for a group activity~!" Hearing the shout, the four from Class B looked toward the source and saw the trio of idiots from Class D playing in the pool, while Ayanokoji sat by the edge with a towel draped over him, watching.

"Let's play water polo together. Ayanokoji will be the referee, and the final winner gets to go on a date with Kikyo!" Ike said, holding a ball.

"I'm in! But since it's a date, would you guys really be kind enough to add more competition?" Ying asked, loosening his shoulders.

"Why say so much between brothers?" Ike said righteously.

"Actually, it's because they agreed that except for the winner, everyone who loses has to go and invite Kushida to go on a date with the winner," Ayanokoji stated the facts calmly.

"Ayanokoji! You traitor!" Ike turned his head and scolded him.

Afterward, they held 1v1 matches to determine the winners, then split into teams for group games. Although Ying was the champion, the people from Class D didn't seem to acknowledge that they had agreed to anything, claiming that was just Ayanokoji trying to liven up the atmosphere.

"Still, there are a lot of pretty girls at this school," Ike said while the group was resting.

"That's right, I've already prepared to mess around with Sakura first to hone my skills," Yamauchi said with a look of confidence, his hands grasping at the air.

Hamaguchi and the others all felt this guy was disgusting and instinctively stood a bit further away.

"My goddess will always be Kikyo! Besides, you and Sakura don't even have any interaction, do you?" Ike found Yamauchi's words hard to swallow.

"There will be after this cruise ends. By the way, Sudo, is there any girl you've got your eye on?" Yamauchi passed the topic to Sudo, who was sitting beside him.

"Dating or whatever, I find it too boring. Instead of being lovey-dovey with girls, I'd rather practice my basketball more!" Sudo crossed his arms and said dismissively.

"Just admit you can't find a girlfriend. It feels like Ayanokoji and Horikita are almost a thing now," Ike laughed.

"You!" Sudo was so angry he was momentarily speechless.

"No, Horikita and I are just ordinary desk mates." Although Ayanokoji clarified, no one at the table was listening to him.

"Ying, you guys in Class B have a lot of pretty girls too. Like that one, what's her name, I... something?" Yamauchi started talking about girls from other classes.

"Ichinose. She's our class representative, so I advise you not to harbor any bad intentions," Hamaguchi said, sounding a bit annoyed.

"Yeah... if you try anything crooked, you'll be brutally assassinated by the secret organization under Ichinose," Ying warned.

"Really? Is that true..." Seeing Hamaguchi and the others glaring at him, Yamauchi felt a bit guilty.

"Ying, let's go. We've been hanging out all day and I'm getting tired," Hamaguchi said, unable to stand Yamauchi any longer, and stood up to leave.

Ying and the others also stood up.

"We're heading out."

"Ying, I advise you to spend less time with those people from Class D," Hamaguchi said on the way, thinking about how Yamauchi had acted.

"I think so too," Ying replied. His interactions with the "idiot trio" were basically limited to when exams were approaching.

"By the way, do you guys have any girls you like?" Beppu asked curiously.

"Hmm... for now, I feel more like friends with everyone in Class B; I don't have any particular thoughts. What do you think, Ryota?" Hamaguchi said.

"I don't have anyone I like right now either. Sata, you play soccer so well, you must get confessed to all the time, right? Is there anyone you like?" Beppu threw the question to Shibata, who was walking in the lead.

"Me? I have indeed been confessed to by many girls, but I don't think the feeling of 'liking' someone can be generated overnight, so I don't have the 'special someone' you're talking about right now."

Afterward, the three of them turned their gazes toward Ying simultaneously, wanting to see what he had to say.

"Hmph, picky," Ying first retorted to Shibata's words, then continued, "First of all, I agree with Sata's idea, but if someone were to confess to me, I would definitely say yes. How would I know if we're a good match without spending time together? Hehehe..."

As Ying spoke, he started laughing to himself for some reason; it was hard not to guess what kind of daydream he was having.

"Happiness has to be fought for by yourself. If you don't confess to the person you like and instead wait for others to come to you, it's fine if it's mutual affection, but if that girl dumps you later, wouldn't you become a clown?" Hamaguchi said.

"What you're saying makes some sense, but if I get rejected, where would I put my face? Plus, I don't really have any girls I like right now," Ying began to ponder Hamaguchi's words.

You don't have any face left to begin with... everyone thought.

"Quack, quack, quack" (Text message notification sound)

Ying took out his phone and found the sender was Sakura. He tapped it to take a look.

"Byakuya-san, are you free right now? Can we meet?"

"Heh hahaha! It looks like I'm about to have a fated encounter." Ying showed the message to everyone and flipped his hair.

"It's about the BD class situation."

"Pfft, don't get ahead of yourself," everyone laughed after seeing the message that followed.

"No, you guys don't understand, this is a cover," Ying argued.

Almost at the same time, an announcement sounded throughout the ship.

"This is a notice to all students. The school has just sent an email containing contact information to all students. Please check your respective terminals and follow the instructions. Additionally, if you have not received the email, please apply to a nearby staff member. Since the content is very important, please do not miss anything when checking. Repeating once more—"

"A special exam?"

With Hamaguchi's question, the peaceful daily life that had just begun was shattered once again...