Chapter 9: 9

With the teacher giving the signal, I turned around the paper. This is the final subject we have to get through for the three-day end-of-term test period. Everybody showed signs of exhaustion, and the atmosphere inside the classroom was heavy.

Even I wasn’t feeling up to snuff, slowly losing my momentum. That however wasn’t because I overworked myself, but rather a cold I caught the other day. It all started the day after my study session with Tsuyoshi-kun. I shouldn’t have been that careless despite being drenched. And since I kept on going to school despite me not feeling well, my cold got worse and worse. However, even if I wasn’t doing the best, I still had to study for my exams.

The subject right now is geography, and the one subject I’m the best at. As long as my memories aren’t cutting out, I should be able to ace this. I worked through the pages and finished answering the final question. Since it was all related to knowledge, solving the questions doesn’t take much time. After all, it’s only been twenty minutes.

“…!”

Right as I wanted to check my answers, I felt dizzy. My thoughts suddenly felt dull, and sleepiness assaulted me. I guess the second all my tension was gone and the relief set in, my body reached its limit. My body is seeking out rest even if I don’t want it to. My eyelids grew heavy, and I tried to reread the first question, but the contents didn’t even enter my head.

My entire body felt warm with my head hurting extremely. I just wanted to go home and lay down in my bed. I don’t think I can check my answers like this. Since I already answered all the questions, I guess I can leave it at that. Usually, I take my time, but I doubt I can fight the next 30 minutes against my headache. Not to mention that I don’t have to get perfect grades this time around.

If what Tsuyoshi-kun said during the studying session is true, then he’ll confess to me if he has better grades than me. I decided I wouldn’t hold back, but if I don’t, a much more grim future would await me. With that thought in mind, I just decided to let it go. It’s not very much like me, but I’m not checking my answers. I’ll let Tsuyoshi-kun win, have him confess to me, and then it’s a happy end.

I let go of my pen. It’s a bit early, but I guess I can stop it here. My body feels heavy as lead, and I can’t fight against it. While thinking to myself ‘This is the first time I fell asleep during an exam,’ I rested my head on the desk.

A warm hand shook my body. A big man’s hand that was strong yet gentle. Somebody is trying to wake me up…? I turned my head to the right where I saw Tsuyoshi-kun gently shaking me while working on his exam paper. Since our seats during the exam period are going with the name register, Tsuyoshi-kun and I are sitting next to each other. That reminds me, we did talk a bit before the geography exam began.

‘I’m pretty good at geography, you know. I’m not gonna lose.’

‘Really? Then this will be a good match. I’ve memorized a lot.’

Tsuyoshi-kun worked through the exam sheet with bloodshot eyes. The gentle light in his eyes had been exchanged with a fierce zeal. His expression couldn’t be more serious. He’s doing everything he can to win against me. I was overwhelmed by this enthusiasm when Tsuyoshi-kun pulled his hand back. He apparently realized that I was awake. He didn’t look over at me, and simply moved his mouth to form the words ‘You can do it.’

I immediately realized how much of a coward I was. Tsuyoshi-kun is working this hard, so it’s rude for me to just sleep next to him. He wants to win against me so that he can be more confident. Even if he achieved a half-baked win against me, he wouldn’t be satisfied. There was no meaning otherwise. Looking at the time, I still have about ten minutes left. I can still read through my answers again. My body still felt heavy, but that short nap really helped me get back into the groove.

I took a deep breath and looked for any possible mistakes in my answers, as well as any misspellings. This is everything I do. This is me at my full power. But even so, I believe that Tsuyoshi-kun can beat me. He can win against me despite that. While checking my answers, I spotted a mistake. It was a simple one, but it would still save me two points. Right as I finished correcting that mistake, the chime rang to signalize the end of the exam.

After the exam ended, most people left the classroom, with only Mayuki and I left amongst a few others. The members of clubs ran off to the sports grounds or the gym hall, and the people who aren’t part of any club went for some karaoke. Of course, Tsuyoshi-kun headed home right away.

“Hey, Machika. You really should go home. You’re not looking too well.” Mayuko sat across the desk from me, opening up her lunch as she exclaimed.

“Mmm…what should I do…”

Since all our exams ended during the morning, we’d have a brief lunch and then move on to our wind ensemble practice. My head still hurts, but I really want to play some music because it’s been so long.

“I guess I should at least try…”

“Why not just get some rest?”

“But I can only participate in the club for a few more days. I don’t want to miss out on it…”

“I get where you’re coming from, but…”

I figured that I might get some needed energy, so I opened up my boxed lunch.

“Your mom forgot the rice seasoning?” Mayuko looked at my lunch and commented.

Instead of anything special, it showed simple white rice.

“No, I told her not to add anything.”

I took out a small bottle from my bag. This is my seasoning for today.

“…Why crab miso?”

“I got it as a gift.”

I scooped some up with a spoon, pouring it on my rice.

“From who?”

“That’s a secret.”

“Tsuyoshi, huh.”

“How did you know?!”

“You turn into a dummy as soon as Tsuyoshi’s involved.”

“So cruel!”

We’ve known each other for a long time, so she knew how to read me pretty well.

“Are you doing your weird approach again?”

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“…No.”

Mayuki sighed.

“I mean, Tsuyoshi’s partially to blame because he plays along with it, but why not try something more normal? You’ve gone crazy ever since he rejected you.”

“You might be right, but I feel like there’s been good progress.”

“That’s definitely your misinterpretation.”

“I wonder…”

“I bet I’m right! You weren’t the type of girl who’d take out crab miso in a classroom…”

I didn’t give much attention to the groaning Mayuko and simply picked up some white rice with my chopsticks. And then I put some crab miso on it. I held my breath to not pick up on the scent and took a bite. It was sour, bitter, and smelled like the sea. It looked a bit unpleasant too, making me wonder if this was even meant to be eaten. Even with the rice, I couldn’t pick up the taste at all.

“Blegh.”

“Wha?! Are you okay?!”

I faintly nodded. I gulped down everything in my mouth, and immediately gushed a huge amount of water down my throat.

“Phew.”

“If you don’t like it that much, you don’t have to bring it to school…”

“If I eat it at home, my parents will worry about me…”

“I’m worried all the same! You’re really weird, Machika.”

Mayuko complained, but I still was dead-set on eating all of that. I did my best to get closer to Tsuyoshi-kun, and this crab miso is proof of that. Even if it’s bitter and smells bad, I still love it despite that. So I kept telling myself that crab miso is delicious. It’s like a self-suggestion. Because of that, I stuffed another spoon into the bottle.

“Machika, wait a second.” Mayuko stopped me.

“What…?”

“Your face genuinely looks horrible right now. This crab miso is only making you worse.”

Yeah, that single bite felt like it robbed me of so much energy. And because I didn’t properly chew on it, my throat felt gross, too.

“Now that you mention it, I’m feeling a lot worse right now…”

“Look at that. You go home already.”

“But the club…”

“Go home, get some rest, and then fully focus on the club again. You’ll only mess up your body at this rate.”

I lost all my appetite and put the lid back on my lunch box. As I packed my stuff to head home, Mayuko spoke up again.

“Should I take that crab miso? You can’t eat it, right?”

“No. I got this from Tsuyoshi-kun as a present, don’t try to steal it from me.”

“So heavy…”

“Zip it.”

I grabbed my bag and stood up, realizing that I was still feeling a bit dizzy. And the stench from the crab miso in my nose gave me the urge to vomit.

“I’ll head to the toilet for a second…”

“See what I told you.”

I split up with Mayuko and staggered towards the toilet. I may have been feeling awful, but I still held onto that bottle of crab miso like my life depended on it.

July 24th,

Because I forced myself too much, I caught a cold.

I barely have two weeks left, so I can’t take any time off school.

Wasting my precious time hurts the most…

[16 Days Left.]

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