"Yo, Takanori!"

As I was exiting the exam hall, Yukimura ran towards me, slapping me on the back with a grin.

"Yukimura-san... hey."

Despite how exhausted everyone looked, he was certainly in a good mood. Compared to the midterms, these finals were far more difficult, even if they were made by other students. I'm sure a couple of people underestimated our abilities to make exams too.

"Did you see how piss easy that D Class exam was? Holy crap, we might actually win this special exam!"

Yukimura was elated after seeing the difficulty of D Class's final exams. I had to agree, that Japanese paper was easier than I anticipated. Even people who struggled at academics like Katsumi would probably pass it without a problem.

"Alright, I already feel better about this week. I'm gonna smash the science exams for sure! Those D Class assholes won't know what hit them!"

Since science was Yukimura's strongest subject, he was looking forward to doing that the most. In fact, it looked like all the other E Class students felt the same way after seeing how accessible D Class's exams were.

Maybe that's why D Class was being so secretive about their exams. They weren't anything special, so perhaps they were trying to hide the fact they were weak to try and keep us on our toes during the lead up to the finals.

Or, they might've made a mistake and severely underestimated our academic abilities while making these tests. I highly doubted that they'd take pity on us and make exams that are fair. This special exam was potentially a one way ticket to A Class for them.

Even someone as honourable as Zyriot would see that. He's the type of man who'd put his class before himself, after all. And if the war is anything to go by, he's even more ruthless than Machida on the battlefield.

Despite all my speculating, none of these conclusions felt right though. D Class's versatility was their biggest strength, but for them to employ such basic tactics in this special exam... something felt off.

"You sound pumped. I'm guessing you got some good revision done in preparation?"

"Hell yeah. During my free time, I focused on science the most, since it was the only subject I understood. For everything else, I pretty needed help on."

"Well, that's fine. As long as you're studying."

"Right? I'm surprised that I'm taking this seriously myself... the me from two months ago would never do this. He'd probably still be wasting his time, playing football."

"That's proof of your progress. You should be proud of yourself."

Yukimura laughed.

"Heh, thanks man. I am, for sure. I just gotta keep at it before I inevitably lose motivation..."

"As long as you get to a level where you can pass comfortably, that's all that matters."

For a guy like Yukimura, it was unnecessary for him to be amazing at academics. He could make up for it with his amazing athleticism. However, if he were to improve in both areas, he'd become an indispensable member of E Class.

"Yeah, I'm aiming for that first. Who knows, maybe I'll end up as smart as Nora."

Yukimura smirked, buying an energy drink from the vending machine outside the exam hall.

"They say aim high... but don't aim that high, or else you'll fall."

"Damn, you have that little faith in me?"

"If you were at a higher level, I'd say go for it. But as you are right now, I can't help but feel like halfway through you'd crash and burn."

"When you put it that way..."

Yukimura creased, downing his energy drink in one before crushing the can.

"...I kinda agree."

"But that's why you're training to become stronger, right? So one day, you can rub it in everyone's faces that you're smarter than them."

"Hell yeah. I can't wait for the day when I score higher than those A Class bastards on an exam, just so I can see their smug faces twist into despair realising they lost to me of all people. Revenge is gonna be sweet, let me tell you!"

It's probably not the best motivation to study, but whatever keeps him at it I guess.

"Good luck with that... I think."

"I think? C'mon, it's not that unrealistic."

"If you can pull it off before we graduate... I'll give you Alice-san's number."

"Huh? Wait, you have her number?! What the hell, how?!"

Yukimura immediately went into a panic upon hearing this. I shrugged lightly. Truth be told, I asked for it after I blackmailed her so we could stay in contact easier.

"Damn it Takanori, you're seriously pissing me off! First it's calling her by her real name and now it's having her number... stop trying to cuck me and help a bro out! How'd you get so close to her, huh?!"

Yukimura threatened to pelt me with the crushed can if I didn't tell him. Honestly, after finding out about her past, I wanted to save him the trouble of chasing after a girl like her. He'd just be wasting his time on Alice.

"...it's a long story. Honestly, Alice-san's pretty mid, you're better off going after a prettier girl."

He'd probably stop chasing after Alice if I told him that she confessed to me, but he'd probably also kill me on the spot if he heard that. Instead, I decided to keep the details vague and advised him to consider other girls as an alternative.

"That's because you're not a thigh person. If you appreciated thighs, you'd see that hers are a gift from God!"

"I don't know... I'd argue Taiga-san has nicer legs, and a p-plump ass to boot."

I internally cringed as I verbalised those words. I am so sorry Taiga, please forgive me for talking this way about you... I swear, I won't ever do it again... I just need to stop Yukimura chasing after Alice...

"Ah, so you're an ass man, eh? I thought you were a total boob guy."

Yukimura grinned pervertedly.

"What made you think that...?"

"Exhibit A: Kazuraba's honkers. Exhibit B: Katsumi's tiddies. Exhibit C: Crush on your mom. Need I say more?"

"...if I had a compass on me, I'd stab you right now."

Yukimura howled in laughter, tossing the empty can into the bin.

"I'm only kidding, holy crap! I've never seen that emotion on your face before, bwa ha ha ha ha!"

"I'm neither an ass guy or a boob guy..."

"That's cap, there's gotta be one part of a woman you prefer. Maybe you're into chicks with chid bearing hips?"

"...I'm into girls who love me back."

"Damn, I didn't know you were gay Takanori!"

"Oh come on..."

Yukimura burst out laughing at his own joke. I sighed, looking up at the sweltering sun.

"Can we get out of here? I'm going to become toast if I stand in this sun for any longer."

"Sure, sure... let me wipe the tears out of my eyes first, that was too funny..."

Yukimura snorted, before we headed back inside the main school building.

"Oh yeah, did you see today?"

"See what?"

"That girl that never shows up in our class actually came. I fully expected her to bail on us and we'd lose all our class points."

Yukimura was referring to Kita, who hasn't been to school since the beginning of May.

"I guess Ayano-san managed to convince her to come."

"Well, it wouldn't have mattered either way. She probably bombed that exam as hard as Kouji."

"That's a bit harsh to say..."

"That girl never comes to class, so she's probably stupider than I am."

"I mean about Kouji-san. Did you notice? He actually didn't get disqualified this time."

"Big whoop, I bet that loner wrote nothing on his paper for the two hours and went to sleep. He and that girl are a free 60 Cl for D Class, and that pisses me off."

"Nah, Kouji-san's a changed man now. Yukina's been helping him revise, so at the very least, he's not an automatic fail out of the gate."

"Oh. That's good, ain't it?"

"It is. I hope Ayano-san's done the same for Kita-san."

"Huh, her name's Kita? I never knew."

As we were walking, a girl bumped into Yukimura, falling to the floor with a loud thud.

"Oi, look where you're going!"

"Wait, isn't that...?"

Rubbing the back of her head, the girl slowly looked up at the two of us with large pale blue eyes.

"S-sorry..."

"Holy crap, it's that girl..."

The person we had run into was Kita Hana, the girl we were literally just talking about.

I looked behind me to see if Kouji was also close by, but he wasn't. It'd be funny if he was though.

"Hana-san, are you alright? What happened?"

Running over from the distance was Ayano, who rushed over to Kita's side after she fell down.

"K-Kanzaki-kun..."

With a shaking finger, she slowly pointed at Yukimura. Raising his eyebrows, Yukimura grunted with a dumbfounded expression.

"Huh? Me? The hell did I do wrong?"

Kita then pointed at herself, before clapping her shaking hands together.

"Oi, that girl can speak right? She definitely spoke earlier, right?"

"Yukimura-san, don't be rude..."

Judging by how Kita wasn't even making eye contact with Ayano, a person she trusted, she likely had difficulty communicating to others.

"He bumped into you?"

Kita nodded yes in response to Ayano's question. He then helped her up.

"Before you say anything, Ayano, I ain't apologising for nothing I did wrong."

Ayano glared briefly at Yukimura before letting it go.

"Nobody asked you for an apology. Just be more careful and look where you're going next time."

"I'm sorry your girlfriend is shorter than friggin Mitsuba."

"She's not my girlfriend."

Ayano sighed while Kita knitted her eyebrows.

"Cut the crap, you two are definitely a thing."

"Don't listen to those rumours, they're not true."

"If they aren't true, then why's everyone spouting about 'em, huh?"

"Everyone spouted rumours about you being some violent maniac, but that's not true, is it?"

Before Yukimura recklessly answered, he paused, thinking carefully about his next reply. If he agreed with Ayano, it'd make his point invalid. If he disagreed with Ayano, it'd make him look bad. Either way, it was a lose-lose situation for him.

"Yukimura-san, just let it go."

I offered some advice, but Yukimura ignored me and shoved me to the side.

"It ain't, but it also kinda is!"

That's the worst possible answer...

Ayano stared at him blankly.

"Come on, Kita-san. Let's get out of here."

Kita, clinging onto Ayano, nodded gently. The two of them went around me and walked away.

"Yeah, go suck it!"

Yukimura slung one last insult their way before clicking his tongue.

"What the hell... those two are freaking weirdos man, I swear."

"She probably didn't mean to bump into you."

"I didn't even know she was there. Damn short people, grow some height!"

"She's a girl, of course she's going to be short... besides, she probably didn't see you either."

"How? I'm massive, you can see me from a mile away."

"Look at how Kita-san is walking. She's looking down at the floor, rather than in front of her. It's almost like Ayano-san is acting as her eyes."

"What, so she's both dumb, deaf, and blind?"

"I think the term you're looking for is "socially anxious", not "deaf"... and I don't think she's blind either. I'm just pointing out that both of you weren't looking where you were going, and she acknowledged that by apologising."

"Are you saying I should've apologised too?"

"...yeah. Didn't Alice-san teach you about being mindful of others after that whole thing in May went down?"

Yukimura grunted, looking away sheepishly.

"She did."

"You should probably follow that advice then so you don't make more enemies at this school."

"Me and Ayano don't like each other anyways, it's fine."

"It doesn't mean you should keep antagonising him forever, though."

"Stop being the moral arbiter of my life, it's pissing me off."

"Doesn't that mean I'm right then?"

Yukimura glared at me.

"I will chokehold you."

"...alright, I'm sorry."

"Good."

Brushing off that ordeal with a laugh, me and Yukimura decided to go to the library to do some last minute revision until lunchtime.