Midterm Exams

Friday morning, in the Class A classroom.

Mashima Tomoya walked in holding a stack of exam papers. After looking around the room, he said, "Looks like everyone's ready. I'll start handing out the papers."

"Your first exam is social studies. While I hand out the papers, I'll share some good news: if no one in the class fails this exam or the final exam in July, the school will organize a vacation for everyone over the summer."

"A vacation?" someone immediately asked.

"That's right." Mashima Tomoya smiled and nodded, never pausing as he sorted the papers. "You'll even get to experience a cruise ship and spend a few days living the dream on an island surrounded by blue seas. Doesn't that sound exciting?"

His words set the classroom buzzing at once:

"Really? I'd better do well, then!"

"I've never been on a cruise ship!"

"Maybe there'll be a huge beachside villa! I can't wait!"

Most of Class A began imagining what the vacation might be like, their words brimming with excitement.

"It really does sound exciting." Uesugi Hara nodded earnestly. He'd only ever seen huge beachside villas like that on TV, and he wanted to experience one for himself.

"Uesugi, don't tell me you're looking forward to seeing the girls in swimsuits?" Kamuro Masumi leaned over and teased him.

"Now I'm even more excited," Uesugi Hara replied with a straight face.

"Kamuro Masumi, Uesugi Hara's looking forward to checking out their legs," Morishita Ai suddenly chimed in from beside them, correcting her with pinpoint accuracy.

Remembering what Uesugi Hara had done before, Kamuro Masumi immediately shot him a disgusted look. "Pervert."

Uesugi Hara opened his mouth, but for a long moment, no words came out.

The silence was deafening.

At last, he managed a retort. "Morishita, just because you don't speak doesn't mean anyone thinks you're mute."

"I'm stating a fact," Morishita Ai shot back.

"So am I," Uesugi Hara replied.

Before long, everyone in the class had received their exam papers.

"All right, that's enough daydreaming. Once you've finished the exams, you can start imagining what comes next. For now, begin answering the questions." Mashima Tomoya clapped his hands at the front of the classroom to signal the start of the exam.

Only then did Uesugi Hara pull his thoughts back and focus on the paper. But after scanning a few questions, he froze. The questions on the exam were exactly the same as the ones on the Archaeology Exam Paper?

That caught him by surprise. He'd thought that even if the school reused old questions, it would at least tweak a few. He hadn't expected them to copy the paper without changing a thing.

Had the school grown a conscience? Uesugi Hara had his doubts, but then he thought that if he couldn't figure out why, there was no point dwelling on it. Knowing the reason wouldn't help him anyway.

As he worked through the questions, though, an idea suddenly popped into his head: once he made it to second year, he could sell this year's exam papers to the first-years. That might earn him another windfall in Points.

After finishing the exam, Uesugi Hara looked around at the others. No one seemed to be stuck, unable to put pen to paper.

Looks like everyone had studied hard.

He turned his gaze back to the scenery outside the window.

He grumbled to himself: Why couldn't they turn in their papers early?

When the bell rang to mark the end of the final midterm exam, everyone in Class A finally breathed a sigh of relief, and the classroom instantly grew lively.

"What kind of midterm was that? That was it? It was ridiculously easy!" Kamuro Masumi beamed. She seemed to have done quite well; even her voice carried confidence.

"There won't be an Archaeology Exam Paper for you to copy next time. Let's see if you're still smiling then." Uesugi Hara couldn't bear to interrupt her while she was so happy, so he waited until she'd had her fill before speaking.

"Hmph! Even without an Archaeology Exam Paper, I can still crush any exam!" Kamuro Masumi lifted her chin, brimming with confidence.

"Keep telling yourself that," Uesugi Hara said, mercilessly puncturing her bravado.

Didn't he know how well Kamuro did in school? Passing was no problem, but getting a really good score was pure fantasy.

"Uesugi, maybe don't put Kamuro down right now." A gentle voice spoke up. Sakayanagi Arisu had appeared at some point and sat down in Morishita Ai's empty seat.

As for where Morishita Ai had gone, Uesugi Hara had no idea. She'd probably gone off on an adventure, as usual.

"I'm just worried she'll get too carried away and end up too lazy to study again," Uesugi Hara said with conviction.

"Uesugi, maybe you should work on your own attitude toward studying first?" Kamuro Masumi immediately shot back.

"I could write with my eyes closed and still get a better score than you."

"Then write with your eyes closed next time."

"That was just a figure of speech! You know what that means? I mean I could take the exam halfheartedly and still score higher than you!" Uesugi Hara explained emphatically.

"Oh." Kamuro Masumi gave him a flat one-word response.

Watching the two of them bicker like children, Sakayanagi Arisu couldn't help letting out a soft laugh. "It seems you and Kamuro are really close, Uesugi."

"Sakayanagi, don't make things up! Who's close to him?" Kamuro Masumi immediately glared at Uesugi Hara before retorting.

"Kamuro, are you abandoning your good buddy just like that?" Uesugi Hara instantly put on a pitiful expression, even softening his voice.

"Uesugi, you!... I...!"

Kamuro Masumi stared at his exaggerated expression, face flushing with anger. She pointed at him for a long moment, but couldn't manage to get a complete sentence out.

How could this guy be so shameless?

They'd just been trading insults, and now he was pulling this? What a cheat!

"It really is a shame Uesugi never went into acting." Sakayanagi Arisu rested her chin on one hand, amusement in her eyes, and spoke in a mock regretful tone.

"That's because I didn't want to make a living off my looks." Uesugi Hara immediately puffed out his chest and praised himself with a straight face. "I'm overflowing with talent, but I never found anyone who recognized it. If only I'd debuted back then. I might already be the dream guy of nine hundred million girls."

"Heh. Uesugi, you've already lost face. What makes you think you could make a living off it?" Kamuro Masumi mercilessly mocked him, her tone full of disdain.

"Kamuro, you're just jealous of my looks!" Uesugi Hara said, deliberately brushing his bangs aside and striking what he thought was a handsome pose.

He did have well-proportioned features, and for a moment, he even looked a little boyish. Too bad his nonstop chatter ruined the charm.

Kamuro Masumi couldn't help admitting it to herself, but she still didn't let up. "Jealous of you? If you're good-looking, then every boy in the school could debut as an idol."

"You're biased! Sakayanagi, what do you think of my looks?" Uesugi Hara turned to Sakayanagi.

Sakayanagi Arisu covered her lips with a soft laugh, her eyes full of playful amusement. "Uesugi, your 'talent' certainly shines brighter than your looks."

Uesugi Hara: "...So neither of you can give me a single compliment?"

Kamuro Masumi immediately chimed in. "Sure I can. Does 'thick-skinned' count?"

"Heh."