Chapter 92: Final Exam Results [side Mishima Satsuki]
Finally, the announcement of the final exam results...
Those who are confident go to check right after the results are posted or when there are lots of people around.
...But I don't really want to be seen by others, and I'm not confident, so I wait until the crowd disperses, ...they were posted first thing in the morning, but I quietly go to check near the end of lunch break...
If I were confident and had something to be proud of, I'd go check at a noticeable time with my head held high.
But honestly, I'm not confident...
Last time, in the first semester finals, I ranked 250th out of about 300 people, with 3 failing grades... a terrible result...
It's an excuse, but last time, I started dating Masaki, broke up with Kousuke, and had a lot going on, so I couldn't focus on studying.
Even though Hokusho is a preparatory school, I never imagined my grades would drop this much. I clearly underestimated it.
I intended to study seriously in the second semester.
...But toward the end, the Pig Motor scandal at Masaki's family's home broke out, and my heart was in turmoil for days.
Alright, I approach the bulletin board at this moment when there are fewer people around.
Sss,
At the same time, someone else comes to check the bulletin board from the side...
(Well, it's natural for timings to overlap sometimes.)
There's probably never a moment when absolutely no one is around, and as long as no one laughs at me or gives me weird attention, I don't really care...
Thinking that, I glance to the side...
Yukari Tomonaga!
This fat girl again! I just bumped into her the other day!
At the same moment, she glances over at me, and our eyes meet!
But right now, I don't have time for this, and I don't want to make a scene and stand out...!
Alright, I start looking from the middle, gradually going down.
It's pathetic, but I'm probably below average.
...
...
...
Found it, 220th... my humanities subjects are good! I got over 80 points!
...But... English and math... two subjects with failing grades...
Again... remedial classes and makeup tests again...
Honestly, science was barely passing too...
Considering the risk of failing the year, I wanted to earn a bit more here...!
I worked pretty hard and felt confident in my strong subjects, so the shock is bigger, and the result is painful.
Feeling a bit defeated, from the side,
Yukari "What are remedial classes like?"
Huhhh?! I almost snap at Yukari Tomonaga in an instant!
Yukari Tomonaga slumps her shoulders, her eyes empty.
With teary eyes and her mouth turned down, she looks like she's about to cry.
"Are you in remedial classes too?"
I can't help but ask,
Yukari "This is my first time getting failing grades!"
She's making excuses, but aren't we in the same boat?
"They gather all the hopeless students in the class? Whining and envying the students with good grades while taking remedial classes during long breaks? And then taking makeup tests, it's the worst time ever, right?"
※ Says you.
Tomonaga sighs and looks at me with a gaze that seems to say she pities me,
Yukari "As expected, someone with experience speaks with such conviction..."
Are you picking a fight? What rank are you?
Yukari Tomonaga is 190th... with failing grades in Japanese and English, two subjects!
She's an idiot too!
※ Says you.
""Failing girl!""
Tomonaga and I say the same words at the same time.
This person!
We exchange insults quietly so others can't hear...!
What a pointless waste of time.
We were both shocked, weren't we?
Stunned, we confirm the red marks in our score columns, and both of us double-check that the two failing grades are not a mistake.
Yukari "...Kousuke-kun... 8th place, huh..."
Kousuke?! Kousuke is 8th place?!
I'm shocked, is that guy actually doing well even at Hokusho?!
Where did such a huge gap come from?
※ While Satsuki was messing around and getting caught up with guys, he worked tirelessly.
Yukari "I should've asked Kousuke-kun to teach me..."
"Isn't your boyfriend Kuzu? Why don't you ask Kuzu to teach you?"
Yukari "Kuzu-kun also has two failing grades, it seems."
Haha. Yukari Tomonaga lets out a dry laugh.
What about yours? Tomonaga prompts, my Masaki is...
"He has 3 failing grades. It says Masaki Yamamoto is 280th."
In the first semester, he was normally in the middle ranks.
I asked him to teach me, but he said, 'Figure it out yourself!'... Isn't Masaki in trouble?
The Pig Motor scandal still hasn't settled down.
Lately, he's been absent a lot... What is he going to do?
It's tough! But although slightly, my failing grades have decreased, right? My overall rank has gone up.
I've got to raise my grades a bit more and somehow improve my scores in the third semester.
With that resolve, I leave the bulletin board behind.
It seems she felt the same way.
""Hmph!""
The moment we turn away from each other to leave, an English teacher comes out of the staff room and spots the two of us!
The English teacher is a lively woman in her early 30s with a loud voice.
English Teacher "Miss Tomonaga! Even if you don't know how to spell a word, writing it in katakana? You'll never get points for that, okay?"
Yukari "It's a 5-point question, so if I got even 1 point with a partial mark, there's a chance...!"
"Pfft!! That's awful!"
Hilarious! You can't write in katakana on an English test!!
I clutch my stomach and laugh.
English Teacher "You're laughing, but? Miss Mishima? It's a shame you got a 10-point question wrong due to a spelling mistake, isn't it? If you'd gotten that, you could've barely avoided a failing grade, you know?"
"Eh? A spelling mistake? What a waste!"
The English teacher looks at me with pity,
English Teacher "...You wrote 'big' as 'pig', you know? Influenced by recent news, perhaps?"
Yukari "Pig! Writing 'big' as 'pig'! That's hilarious!! Is your boyfriend okay?!"
"You're a pig too, aren't you?"
Getting laughed at by Tomonaga makes me unreasonably angry!
But seriously, such a mistake?
With this, the first half of winter break is confirmed to be spent in remedial classes.
And on top of that, English is with this Yukari Tomonaga!
A cold winter is coming.