Chapter 11: 11

Going up the stairs of the school building, I ran into a crowd of people that built up in front of a billboard. Today is the final day of the first term, as well as the day the exam results get publicly announced. Over the past few weeks, I did everything I could. Since I’m in the go-home club, I had more time to study than Sako-san, and she even taught me a few subjects. I did feel like I made good progress. I don’t think I had any subject that really dragged my overall score down.

If I win, then I’ll confess. And if I lose…well, I didn’t think about that. I know it sounds a bit iffy of me to study this much for the sake of love, but I did this out of my own desire, and I don’t regret it. I glanced at the crowd of people, half of the students overcome with joy, the other half sighing in defeat. Tension filled my body, as my chest tightened up in pain. I made up my mind and took a step forward. I started from the top, going down the list of names. I was looking for my name, as well as Sako-san’s. Whoever entered my gaze first. Surprisingly enough, I spotted them both at around the same time.

[9th Place Class 4 Sako Machika: 564 points]

[10th Place Class 4 Tsuyoshi Haru: 563 points]

The data on the board showed the irreversible reality befalling me. It was a single point…because of a single point, I ended up one place below her. I compared the two numbers over and over, but every single attempt at running from reality only burned this feeling of loss and defeat into me further. Considering my ranking from the first year, this clearly is a massive improvement. However, even this result had no meaning for me. It just shows that I still don’t have the right to stand next to Sako-san. I can’t confess. I averted my eyes from my loss and walked away from the board.

Everything after that was hazy. The one thing I remember the clearest was Sako-san’s face when she arrived at school. She must have seen the results already, as she gave me an indescribable and perturbed gaze. Unable to handle the embarrassment, I rested my face on my desk. After the morning homeroom, we talked about the exams, cleared up questions, and before I realized it, the final homeroom had ended. Once classes were over, talk about the summer break that filled the classroom. I however saw no connection to that, and simply wanted to head home. I grabbed my bag and staggered towards the door of the classroom when that bag was grabbed.

“Now hold on a second, Tsuyoshi.”

It was Takumi. I’m pretty sure he was asleep up to this point.

“What are you so dissatisfied about? You’re in 10th place. This is just insulting the 200 people below you.”

“I didn’t study so that I could brag about it.”

“The hell are you talking about? It’s the right of the people who rank high. I’m 32nd, but I’m more than happy with that and completely satisfied. You’re way above me, so why not pride yourself in that?”

Takumi probably realized that I was feeling down and is trying to cheer me up. But to me, this ranking wasn’t just a means of bragging, but a full-blown competition.

“I was trying to win against Sako-san. Then I figured she wouldn’t be the unattainable flower anymore.”

Takumi looked at me in shock.

“…You planned on confessing if you won against her?”

“…Well, yeah.”

“I think Sako scored…”

“9th place. She had one more point than me.”

“…Right. Sorry for being so insensitive.”

As always, he was far too good at guessing other people’s thoughts.

“I was totally fine with you making fun of me, you know.”

“But you were putting your everything into it, right? I can’t just joke about that.”

Oddly enough, Takumi sounded pretty serious. This is why I can’t blame him.

“You’re still a hottie as always, Takumi.”

“Guess so.” Takumi nodded like he expected me to say that and started preparing to head off for his club.

He stuffed everything from inside the desk into his bag and showed me a bragging grin.

“Well, you may have lost this time, but you just have to win during the next exams.”

“The next…yeah, you’re right.”

It’s just as he said. I challenged Sako-san once, and lost, nothing more. If I get depressed, Sako-san will call me lame again.

“I’ll get my next chance during the second term.”

“I see. Then congrats on your first girlfriend.”

“You’re jumping the gun.”

I found myself grinning at Takumi’s joke. I’m still not fully back up still, but I feel better at least.

“Thanks. I’ll do my best.”

“For the woman you love, aye?”

“Shut up.”

Takumi ignored my complaint and lifted his huge bag.

“See you in the new term.”

“Yep, good luck with your club.”

“Aye.”

He walked off after having had his fill of teasing me. Since I’m in the go-home club, I don’t have any major plans for this summer break. Surely I won’t ever run into any classmates during these few weeks. I glanced at the front of the classroom, seeing Sako-san surrounded by a group of girls. Judging from the looks of that, they probably decided to meet up sometime. If I had won and confessed to Sako-san, we might have made plans for this summer break. With that thought in mind, this defeat hurt even more.

“Can’t help it. Better focus on the next exams.”

I can’t stay down because of this. I gotta keep trying.

I changed into my outdoor shoes and took a step outside the school building when the bright sunshine forced me to narrow my eyes. As the scorching heat sizzled down on my body, I went to grab my bike. The second I hopped on it, about to leave through the school gate, something pulled on it, stopping me from moving forward.

“Tsuyoshi-kun, wait!”

Turning around, I saw Sako-san with her shoulders moving up and down like she was gasping for air. She didn’t have her bag with her.

“What’s wrong?”

“T-This…”

Sako-san was huffing heavily as she handed me a single piece of paper. It’s the answer sheet for the geography exam we got back a few days ago. As expected of Sako-san, she almost got a perfect score. Did she chase after me to show off her results?

“Look at question six of task 1.”

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“…You got it correct, yeah?”

“I managed to correct my mistake because you woke me up…”

She wiped her sweaty hands on her uniform and lowered her head.

“Back then, I gave up on checking my answers since the cold caught up to me. If you hadn’t cheered me up, I would have lost two points then…”

“Two points…”

I lost against Sako-san because of one point. In other words, this single question defined my loss. Knowing this, Sako-san asked with an uncertain expression.

“Would you be angry with me if I asked if we could see this as your win, Tsuyoshi-kun…?”

“I won’t get angry at you for that. But the fact that you won doesn’t change. You realized your mistake and fixed it with your own skill.”

“Right…I had a feeling you wouldn’t accept it if I gave up…”

“Yeah. I don’t want any freebies. But I’ll win for sure during the next exams.”

“There won’t be any next time.”

Sako-san’s cold and distant voice made me doubt my ears.

“What do you…”

“Ah, my bad. I’m just saying that you don’t have to worry about that. I mean, you could have won this time, so let’s just say this is a draw and move on?”

“If it’s a draw then, I guess…”

“Okay, then let’s forget about these exams. No putting yourself down, you hear me?”

“I understand.”

I found myself unable to do anything but nod.

“All right, then here.”

This time, she pushed a flyer onto me. I grabbed it, immediately spotting pictures of various stalls and fireworks. This must be a flyer for the upcoming summer festival.

“Let’s go together?”

In other words, she’s inviting me out on a date, right? My feelings almost got the better of me, getting close to blurting out a yes in joy, but I held myself back.

“But I lost in the exams…”

“We just said we’d forget about that, right?”

“Ah…”

So that entire conversation just now was just there to build a bridge. I realized I fell into a deep trap, but it was already too late.

“If you don’t want to go with me, then you can just say so.”

“…No, if you’re okay with me, then I’ll gladly go with you.”

“Very well.”

Sako-san smiled gently as her sweaty bangs were glued to her forehead. It really felt like summer had arrived. And as my excitement for the next summer break rose, Sako-san’s expression changed. Her mouth formed a smirk, and she seemed like she was testing me.

“Tsuyoshi-kun, between my casual clothes and yukata, which do you prefer? I’ll let you choose.”

Excluding her pajama appearance, I’ve only seen her in her school uniform. I do regret having missed my chance to see her wearing a casual outfit during the study session, but the summer festival really has this yukata image. Now, which one should I choose…For a split second, I imagined Sako-san in a beautiful yukata.

“Maybe the yu—”

I swallowed the words that almost escaped my mouth and remembered Nishida-san’s words. Sako-san is trying to destroy her perfect image and has been acting contradictory up to this point. If so, shouldn’t I choose the opposite option given to me? After a bit of hesitating, I gave my answer.

“I’d say your casual clothes. You wanted to show them to me at the study session, right?” I responded, to which Sako-san showed a dubious smile.

“I’ll be preparing the best outfit you’ll ever see, so look forward to it. I have to head off to my club now.”

“Yep, thanks for inviting me, by the way.”

“It’s totally fine. Let’s make some great memories.”

Sako-san gently waved her hand and returned to the school building. I put my foot on the pedal and started pedaling. Since I lost against Sako-san, I still don’t feel much more confident. In reality, I don’t have any right to go to the summer festival with Sako-san. But at the same time, I want to make Sako-san happy if we’re going on the date already. At least during the festival, I want to hold my head high while walking by her side. I stopped at a traffic light and sent a message to Takumi.

‘How can I make a date a success? Can you teach me some tricks?’

Takumi should be able to give me a bit of help. I may not be more confident after studying, but I at least could do my best to properly escort Sako-san, and become a worthy man that way. Conviction filled me and I started pedaling.

July 31st,

Tsuyoshi-kun was supposed to confess to me.

Because I did something unnecessary, I messed everything up.

But there’s still another chance.

I managed to make plans to go to the summer festival with Tsuyoshi-kun.

That is our last chance to be together.

It’s my final chance to confess.

[9 Days Left.]

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