Laid-back

The next day, the quiz results were announced.

The pairings worked just as Takahashi Ren had expected: high scorers with low scorers. His partner was Toba Shigeru.

One ranked high and the other low, putting them together.

Toba Shigeru was quite pleased. Compared with being paired with someone he barely knew, teaming up with Takahashi Ren was clearly less trouble.

Mashima also announced their opponent for the final exam-Class B.

The result came as no surprise. If Katsuragi had been calling the shots, he most likely would have chosen Class D. He always played it safe and picked on the weakest.

But the Katsuragi of today was long past being the person who could hold his own against Sakayanagi at the start of the school year.

After the Sports Festival, the Katsuragi Faction's voice had grown increasingly faint. Sakayanagi now set Class A's direction.

Though the days of exam preparation were dull, time continued to move forward as usual.

A few days before the final exam, Toba Shigeru sent a message to their three-person group chat.

Toba Shigeru: "Come to the dorm lobby, quick. Check your mailboxes."

Takahashi Ren glanced at his phone and sat up in bed.

Mailboxes?

The mailboxes on the dorm's first floor were hardly ever used. Occasionally, they received online shopping delivery notices or paper notices from the school, or else things students passed privately to one another.

There had to be a reason Toba Shigeru had specifically brought them up.

Takahashi Ren went downstairs to the lobby.

It was packed. He found Toba Shigeru in the crowd.

"What happened?" he asked as he walked over.

"Major gossip." Toba Shigeru looked both excited and nervous. "Check your mailbox and you'll understand. Every first-year got one."

Takahashi Ren made his way through the crowd to his mailbox. Inside was a sheet of paper folded into quarters. He took it out and returned to Toba Shigeru.

Ishida also walked over holding an identical sheet, looking unhappy.

"This?" Takahashi Ren held up the paper in his hand.

"Yeah." Toba Shigeru nodded.

The three unfolded their papers where they stood. The wording was identical, just a single line.

"Ichinose Honami of Class 1-B may be collecting points illegally. Ryuen Kakeru."

Takahashi Ren stared at that line in silence for a few seconds.

"That's way too bold," Ishida said. "He even put his name on it."

"That probably means he has at least some basis for it," Toba Shigeru said. "If he made the whole thing up, Ichinose could report him. The school punishes people for fabricating facts to damage someone's reputation."

"Not necessarily. If this is fake, it's a terrible move."

Takahashi Ren said, "But this is very much Ryuuen's style. True or not, as long as he has something that makes Ichinose look dirty, he'll go straight on the offensive. Even if he's held accountable for defamation afterward, he won't care."

If it was a lie, Ryuuen's reputation would sink even further. But his reputation was already bad, so that price meant little to him.

Ishida nodded.

Takahashi Ren glanced at the paper in his hand again.

Ryuen Kakeru. Class C's leader, known for violence, but not reliant on violence alone.

The fact that he dared put something like this into every first-year's mailbox meant he had already planned his next few moves.

Once suspicion took root, it was difficult to pull out completely. Even if Ichinose was innocent, trust would begin to waver as long as people started talking.

Was Ryuuen planning to go after Ichinose again?

Sure enough, being targeted by Ryuuen was a real nuisance.

Takahashi Ren folded the letter and casually dropped it into the nearby trash can.

"I'm heading back."

"You're not staying a little longer?" Toba Shigeru sounded surprised. "The people involved aren't even here yet. Ichinose and Ryuuen might show up in a bit."

"No." Takahashi Ren did not look back. "This won't amount to much."

"Are you all ready for the finals? You've even got time to stand around watching the drama," Ishida said.

"I'm just taking a break because studying wore me out," Toba Shigeru said unabashedly. "Balancing work and rest."

"Your exam scores won't balance work and rest for you."

With that, Ishida turned and left.

"Hey, you two..." Toba Shigeru called after them. Seeing that neither stopped, he could only sigh and follow.

What happened afterward proved Takahashi Ren right.

The next day, the school issued a notice: "An investigation has found that Ichinose Honami has not engaged in the illegal collection of points."

Ichinose had the school vouch for her and cleared herself of suspicion without incident.

Ryuuen's letter was like a pebble tossed into a lake. It made a sound, then sank.

Winter arrived next.

The seasons really did change quickly, and the weather had turned thoroughly cold. Naturally, more students began wearing scarves, gloves, and long socks. Today's sky was overcast too, looking as though snow could fall at any moment.

With December here, there were finally fewer than three days left until the final exam.

Starting tomorrow, school would be off for Saturday and Sunday, with the actual exams on Monday.

In the blink of an eye, Monday arrived.

Mashima stood at the podium, wearing his usual largely expressionless look. He scanned the classroom and set a sealed stack of exam papers on the desk.

"Today is the first day of final exams." His voice was calm and clear. "The four subjects are modern Japanese, English, history, and mathematics. The passing combined score for each pair is six hundred and ninety-two. Your combined score in any individual subject must not fall below sixty."

Six hundred and ninety-two. Though lower than expected, it was still no reason to be careless.

This was a contest to see how far questions written by students could push one another.

The warning bell rang.

Everyone began clearing the books off their desks. According to the rules, anything unnecessary during the exam had to go into the cabinets at the back of the classroom, leaving only writing implements on their desks.

If a pencil broke or an eraser went missing, they could ask Mashima for help.

"We will now begin the final exam," Mashima said. "First period: modern Japanese. Do not turn over your papers before the signal to begin."

The exam lasted fifty minutes. After handing out the papers, Mashima stepped back beside the podium.

"Avoid using the restroom during the exam if possible. If you truly cannot wait, raise your hand and ask. Otherwise, leaving midway is prohibited."

No one spoke. Everyone's attention rested on the face-down exam paper on their desk.

The bell rang.

"Begin."

Takahashi Ren turned his paper over and skimmed it.

The very first question showed no mercy. As he flipped through the paper, each question was trickier than the last. But as long as he stayed calm, they were not impossible to solve.

The revisions the school had required were also obvious. Some questions had originally been intended to stray beyond the syllabus, only to be forcibly brought back in line.

He glanced toward Toba Shigeru. Toba Shigeru had his head down over his paper, looking unusually serious.

If Toba Shigeru had listened to his and Ishida's advice and prepared properly, there should not be any problems.

Takahashi Ren looked back and began answering the questions.

"Phew." The two days of exams ended, and the students rose one after another, letting out long breaths.

Toba Shigeru rushed over. "Takahashi, how did you do?"

"About as usual," Takahashi Ren said. "You?"

"Chemistry was my worst. Probably only thirty-something."

"Can you pass the other subjects?"

"More or less."

"Then don't worry. We'll pass."

Even if Toba Shigeru scored zero overall, Takahashi Ren was confident he could say that.

"Woohoo, thank goodness." Toba Shigeru breathed a sigh of relief. "Man, I'm so glad I've got you."

"Really? Why do I get the feeling you don't quite trust me?"

"No way. I just wanted some reassurance."

Ishida walked over and listened for a while. "You only got thirty in chemistry? Did I give you those notes for nothing?"

"Aw, you know chemistry's my worst subject. I was planning to study it properly the night before, but I fell asleep while reading. So... heh heh." Toba Shigeru scratched his cheek.

"How could you even fall asleep? If Takahashi hadn't told you the pairing rules, you would've been done for this time."

"I know, I know. We passed, didn't we? Dinner's on me tonight. Let's have a feast." With that, Toba Shigeru slipped away.

Ishida shook his head. "He really has no sense of urgency."

"Yeah," Takahashi Ren replied. "That's why he can be so laid-back."

"If he keeps this up, he'll pay dearly sooner or later."

Takahashi Ren neither agreed nor disagreed. Ishida was right, but Toba Shigeru could not be talked into changing.

Only when he actually ran into trouble would the lesson stick.