A harem? No way

After the rules for Paper Shuffle were announced, a tense atmosphere settled over the entire year.

In the hallways, the cafeteria, the library-people were talking about it everywhere. The most discussed topic was how partners would be assigned for the exam.

That evening, Takahashi Ren came out of the bath and picked up the phone on his bed while drying his hair.

The screen lit up. Several messages had already piled up in the three-person group chat, "Passersby A, B, and C."

The latest one was from ten minutes ago.

Toba Shigeru: "Hello, hello, calling Ishida and Takahashi. Please respond if you read me."

Ishida had replied right after.

Ishida: "Didn't get it."

He chuckled, sat cross-legged on the bed, and tapped the screen a few times.

Takahashi Ren: "What's up? I was in the bath."

Within seconds of his message going through, Toba Shigeru replied.

Toba Shigeru: "I've been thinking about the pairing rules the teacher mentioned, but I still don't get them. Let's talk it over."

Ishida: "What, scared of getting paired with someone with bad grades?"

Toba Shigeru: "My grades aren't exactly good, but passing isn't a problem. What's there to be scared of?"

Ishida: "Another class is writing the questions this time. They're bound to fill the paper with difficult, obscure questions. If you happen to do worse than usual and can't count on your partner either, who knows how it'll end."

Toba Shigeru: "Hey, all you do is make snide comments. Can't you say anything nice?"

Ishida: "You never put in the work, and now you're looking for some miracle cure before the exam."

Toba Shigeru: "What miracle cure? I'm carefully studying the exam rules. It's perfectly legitimate."

Ishida: "Beg me, and I might be merciful enough to tutor you."

Toba Shigeru: "...I'll think about it."

Even through the screen, Takahashi Ren could picture Toba Shigeru's angry, helpless expression.

Have Ishida tutor him? He imagined the scene-Ishida explaining a problem with a stern face, Toba Shigeru getting distracted before he could sit still for three minutes, and then the two of them trading barbs.

That really was a last resort.

He looked down at the screen and typed out what he had in mind.

Takahashi Ren: "The teacher said our partners for the finals will be determined by this quiz. There are only three possibilities: high scorers with low scorers, low scorers with low scorers, or random pairings."

Takahashi Ren: "We can rule out random pairings right away. If low scorers were paired together, the teacher said only one or two pairs from Class D were expelled in previous years. That's too few. There's no way that pairing method would result in so few expulsions. We can rule that out too."

Takahashi Ren: "That only leaves pairing high scorers with low scorers. If you deliberately score a little lower on this quiz, you'll actually get a partner with strong academic ability for the finals."

Toba Shigeru's replies came quickly.

Toba Shigeru: "Right, exactly."

Toba Shigeru: "How did I not think of that?"

Toba Shigeru: "Your words have opened my eyes. Thank you so much, Takahashi. You've saved my sorry ass."

Takahashi Ren: "But Ishida has a point. You should start studying properly. The teacher said today that the exams will only get harder from here. Who knows what we'll be dealing with next time."

Toba Shigeru: "Well, we can talk about that later. I'll study when I feel like studying. I won't learn much without any motivation anyway."

Takahashi Ren looked at the reply and said nothing more.

That was just the kind of person Toba Shigeru was.

There was no point telling him. He knew where he stood. Or rather, he didn't want to know.

The group chat went quiet for a while.

About a minute later, his phone sounded again.

Ishida: "Takahashi, are you dating someone?"

Takahashi Ren froze for a moment.

Takahashi Ren: "Why do you ask?"

Ishida: "I've seen you at school a few times with Shiraishi, sometimes Kamuro, Ai Morishita, Sakayanagi, and some blue-haired girl from another class. You seemed pretty close to all of them."

A blue-haired girl. That should be Shiina.

Toba Shigeru: "That's true. Maybe you've even got a secret lover."

Takahashi Ren: "No, you've got the wrong idea. We're just friends."

Toba Shigeru: "Are you trying to build a harem?"

Takahashi Ren: "Huh?"

Toba Shigeru: "Maintaining intimate relationships with several girls at once without becoming boyfriend and girlfriend, thereby achieving the harem ending. That's a dream I've always longed for too. But this isn't a novel, Takahashi. In the end, you'll all part in tears. A tragic ending."

Takahashi Ren stared at the long message, unsure how to reply.

Toba Shigeru's imagination was running far too wild.

Takahashi Ren: "You're getting way too carried away."

Ishida: "Seriously, be careful. If you don't handle this sort of thing properly, it can turn into a real mess."

Takahashi Ren: "I'm heading off. I still have exam questions to prepare."

He turned off the screen.

At the end of school, Sakayanagi had announced that, based on the midterm results, the top ten students in each subject would each write five questions. He was in the top ten in all eight subjects, which meant forty questions in total.

Forty questions was no small number.

Besides, answering questions was easy. Writing them was hard.

He put his phone on the bedside table, leaned back against the headboard, and closed his eyes.

Ishida's words kept turning over in his head.

Shiraishi, Kamuro, Morishita, Sakayanagi, Shiina, and Kushida.

Thinking it over, that did seem to be the case. He had spent time alone with each of those girls.

Shiraishi. He still hadn't figured out what she really wanted.

Kamuro. He had lied to her, and that matter remained unresolved.

Morishita. Being with her was relaxing, at least. He didn't have to think too much.

Sakayanagi. She was interested in him, while he kept retreating, moving beyond her game board.

Shiina. The library, a fellow book lover, those words.

Kushida. She had hugged him from behind that night, then gone on playing her "little angel" role as though nothing had happened.

And Yamamura. The lonely girl who had hidden behind the vending machine at first. He had helped put her in touch with Ai Morishita.

Takahashi Ren opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling.

Apart from Sakayanagi, they all counted as his friends, didn't they?

He had never considered any of them as a romantic prospect. But sometimes, when he was with them, there really was something he couldn't quite put into words.

Ai Morishita's strange train of thought, the looks Shiina occasionally gave him when she glanced up from a book, that brief moment when Kushida had leaned against his back...

He had never thought much about any of it.

He didn't want to now, either.

"A harem? No way."

Even Takahashi Ren himself found it funny. He wasn't some popular male lead, just an ordinary high school student.

Ultimately, their paths only crossed because they were all at the same school and were bound to run into one another.

Forget it.

I still have a pile of questions to prepare. There's no point thinking about this.

He got up and took out some paper and a pen.

He started with mathematics, the subject he knew best. Writing in fits and starts, he only just managed to put together five decent questions after more than an hour.

I'll leave the rest for tomorrow.

He put away the paper and pen, turned off the light, and lay down.

As he closed his eyes, Toba Shigeru's words from the group chat suddenly flashed through his mind: "Part in tears. A tragic ending."

What a load of nonsense.

He rolled over and soon fell asleep.