Chapter 7: Comeback
My eyelids are about to droop shut at any second now. Can't keep this up much longer. How much more studying must one man do before he's allowed to give up without being called a failure? This is impossible.
The sudden slam of something right in front of my eyes snaps me back into reality. "Wuh- Wha- I'm awake!" I splutter out, eyes wide open now, and back straight. I'm greeted by the sight of a certain silver-haired devil smirking… devilishly(?) at me. God damn it, I can't even think of good enough words for 'evil' when I'm half asleep like this.
"Come on, Kaito-kun. Pull yourself together," comes Dell's lecturing tone.
I glare daggers at him, but the threatening stare hardly carries any weight to it considering I'm already back to slouching a bit. "Math is boring. I'm tired. I wanna sleep." I can't bring myself to yell in protest. Besides, we're sitting in the library at the moment – I get the feeling it'd be highly disrespectful to all these other nerds studying so early in the morning.
"Just half an hour more, Kaito-kun~" Miku's motivational speech would normally get me all pumped and rearing to go. However, not even her warm, supportive smile is enough to snap me out of sleepiness.
I didn't intend to stay awake nearly all night, but after that dream… The voice of that woman is still repeating even now in my head. I'm still not sure if it really was just a dream or not. Another yawn passes my lips at the thought. Today's trial events consist of a math contest in the morning, a sports event before lunch, and a final art event in the afternoon. Of course, after all that, there's the huge band battle thing after dinner tonight. There's so much pressure for tonight – Neru hasn't shown up to practice our piece, so it's safe to say that disaster is ahead.
"Let's review our strategy, okay?" Dell puts his game face on, so I'm forced to pay attention. He slides the mountain of books aside, a weary look of determination crossing his features.
"Mm!" Miku enthusiastically nods, whereas my 'mm' in agreement is more drawn out.
He drags a smaller stack of papers to the middle of the table, ones with a whole lot of complicated equations scribbled on the lines. My foggy brain can barely comprehend what any of them mean, even though I should know. "These are some of the most complex equations I could draw up from the books," Dell starts, spreading the pieces of paper out to reveal a bunch more. He points to a few of them, and when I look at Miku, I see that she's just as confused and flustered as I am.
"I-I won't be able to remember all of these…!" She's trembling at the thought of tackling such horrifying things.
Dell simply grins. "You won't need to. The guidelines of this event state that each team needs to nominate one person to solve a 'higher grade mathematical problem'."
I raise a brow at this. I really should've read up more on those guidelines. Although thinking about it, this one seems a bit easier than the past two events. Well, easier in the sense that it'll be hard for Xingchen to steal our strategies, because this one just involves them using their brains – something Mahogany Creek kids don't have.
"Oh, so that means…?" Miku tilts her head to the side, fluttering her lashes innocently.
"Two things, actually," I answer in place of my silver-headed friend. Just in case he hasn't thought of that point yet, I want to bask in the glory. She flicks her curious eyes to me. "One, you know who won't be able to copy our planning ideas. Although the second thing is, uh… Well… You know, we actually have to be good at math."
Dell lets out a huff, folding his arms over his chest. A bitter tone rolls off his tongue, "I was going to nominate Neru-chan, but..."
I can't help but grimace slightly at the mention of her. Naturally, the betrayal is still a fresh wound.
"Yeah..." Miku mutters, lowering her head a bit with a small sigh.
I reach over to her and gently rub her shoulder in reassurance. "It'll be okay eventually, Mi-chan. Once these trials are over, everything will return to normal. You'll see." Honestly, I don't believe what I'm telling her at all, but it appears to kind of work.
"I'm the next best thing," Dell continues, pointing to himself in a not-so-modest manner. He pokes his tongue out, as if mocking us for our inferior math skills.
"You're a huge nerd," I casually remark, propping my elbows up onto the table.
"Yep. And this huge nerd is gonna start earning Oak Valley some points." He shoots back instantly with a smirk. Big head alert. No, but seriously, is it worth trying to win any more? Neru is the one who rallied us into this mess, going on about school spirit and all that crap, but now that there's just the three of us putting effort in… Ugh.
Miku hums lightly to herself, digging into her pocket and retrieving her phone. "We've got another twenty minutes or so of allocated study time," she announces, talking like some sort of automated reminder robot.
"Gah," I lightly roll my eyes. Suddenly I feel rather sleepy again. Despite that, I turn my focus back to the book in front of me. After flicking through a couple pages to find yet another difficult equation to help Dell with, my mind starts to wander once more. "Hmmm..." A dragged out, thoughtful hum slips out.
"Hmm?" Miku repeats that same hum, in more of a questioning tone, without pulling her eyes from her book.
"Just thinking about those necklaces," I admit, keeping my voice low.
"The ones those Mahogany Creek girls are wearing?" It's obvious Dell is curious.
I simply give a nod, and a small 'mhm'. I press my cheek against my palm, turning the page. "Maybe they're using them to record conversations, or discuss cheats with each other. Is that… possible?" Absurd as it sounds, I'm mostly thinking out loud.
"Dunno," Dell shrugs. "Seems kind of far-fetched to me. But you never know with those rich kids, right? They can probably get their hands on all sorts of hi-tech crap."
"Normally I'd try to defend them, but…" Miku shyly gives her input, and it's really not surprising to hear her say so. Xingchen and her buddies must be passing their information onto Gakupo. I'll admit, they're good at pretending they've done nothing wrong. Still, the fact that they can manipulate Neru so easily is worrying.
"We'll have to be extra cautious around them for the rest of the day. They're only here for one more night, and that stupid 'winners party' tomorrow," I remind the two. As horrific as the Talent Trials are, the party at the end has always been pretty fun. Gives us a chance to relax and have fun, and secretly celebrate that we won't have to see Mahogany Creek students for another two years.
"Yeah. The rest of the day doesn't involve much planning, thankfully," Dell responds. He definitely sounds relieved, like the pressure has been lifted ever so slightly off his shoulders. "We can all collaborate on the spot for the art event. As for sports… Well, shouldn't be too difficult to tackle."
I shudder at the thought of exercise. That's going to be my least favourite event, for sure. Uh, ignoring the fact that the first two events yesterday were also my least favourite. But no, sports and I do not get along well. "And to think they put so much emphasis on the academics side," I grunt. "This is the only event they could come up with? Not that I'm exactly complaining..."
"Careful what you wish for, Kaito-kun," Dell snickers. "I might push for the three of us to be nominated again in two years, and you'll have to face multiple hardcore literature and math trials."
Miku softly giggles at the thought. "At least you warned us in advance, so we'll have plenty of time to study!" she beams. "Hmm. Speaking of the events… How are we going to fit in band practice?"
I tap at my chin to attempt to visualise a schedule in my mind. Sports before lunch… Art in the afternoon… "Huh, well, we don't really need to prepare for sports and art, do we?" I raise a brow over at Dell. He's the man with the plans, after all.
He scratches at the back of his head, narrowing his eyes in concentration. "Not exactly."
"So, that means we could have a practice session during lunch," I continue.
Miku doesn't appear to be a fan of that. A light blush crosses her cheeks as she says, "I… I think we need more than one practice session."
"As much as I hate to say it, we also need Neru-chan," Dell adds, in a particularly sour tone.
I reluctantly nod in agreement. This whole situation feels so crushingly awkward. We're going to make complete fools of ourselves in front of both schools unless we get our shit together and practice hard. "We'll just… focus on that when the time comes, alright?" I don't want to think about it any longer, at least not right now. With that, silence falls between us, as we ready ourselves for the first event of the day.
…
When the event is due to start, we're all crammed into a dimly lit study room with two chalkboards opposite each other, and four separate tables presumably for the teams. Black curtains surround the space, enveloping us within the confines of the room. I can see that there's a judge's table placed near the back, as well as some seats for students. As expected, however, there are only a few younger students here to watch us.
Mr. Hiyama directs us over to the left side of the room, where my friends and I sit at one table, and Lily with her minions sit at the other. This whole atmosphere is incredibly intense – there's suffocating silence amongst us all, the only noise being some faint whispers between the teachers acting as judges.
I'm currently sitting beside Miku, and Dell is next to her… But at the other end of the table, Neru is there, arms folded over her chest and her head turned away from us. She didn't even bother to greet us properly when we were waiting outside the event room.
"Uh oh..." comes Miku's sudden quiet whimper.
Raising a brow, I turn to look at her. Her eyes are fixated on a spot just in front of her, and following that trail, it leads me to face none other than Mr. Kasane. "Ah, geez," I gulp.
"Since when does Mr. Kasane know anything about math…?" Dell hisses, and apparently Oliver heard that, as there's a small snort from him a moment later. Their table is only a few paces away from ours.
"If I were you, I'd be more concerned about your own ability rather than someone far superior to you, Honne." The same blonde-haired boy scoffs. I don't bother to send him a glare that suggests he shuts his stupid mouth, since it'll only cause trouble, as tempting as it is.
"Alright, everyone!" Ms. Yuzuki's fake bright tone and clap of her hands causes everyone to promptly zip it and face her. She must've been giving her students some tips on how to cheat more efficiently and subtly this time, as it took a while for them to get seated. Narrowing my eyes, I look straight past Gakupo's table and instead right at Xingchen's group. Rather, my glance stops right on their necklaces. "Good morning, and welcome to the first event of the second day! We're so delighted to roll out this brand new extra hard trial for you lovely bunch – you'll get a chance to show off just how hard you've been working this year, and impress your fellow students."
Extra hard trial? So, Ms. Yuzuki must've been pulling Mr. Hiyama's strings again… As well as convincing Mr. Kasane to be a judge for this event, in order to… what, exactly? Intimidate us Oak Valley students? Well, as terrifying as he is, it'll take more than that to throw us off. Then again, just one glance at Miku, and she's trying her best to hide the fact that she's sweating.
"Indeed," Mr. Hiyama nods. He sets himself down in a chair by the judge's table. "We'll be your judges for today. We'll see who answers our set of equations the most accurately and who uses the neatest methods."
Following our principal, Ms. Yuzuki and Mr. Kasane take their seats, clipboards spread out on the table at the ready. "Both teams will be facing each other. There will be three rounds total, and whoever scores the most points will be declared the winner. You'll be facing each other head-to-head, so don't hold anything back now!" Principal Yuzuki continues to explain, and the way she words it makes it sound like nothing more than some friendly competition with no consequences.
"Now, we'd like to remind you that the current score is 2-0, in Mahogany Creek's favour," Mr. Hiyama adds, coughing lightly. He's side-eyeing us right now, isn't he? "Let's hope that nothing else goes wrong today. I think it's obvious when I say cheating is absolutely not tolerated, so let's have things go smoothly."
I'd gulp again but my throat is growing dry. This isn't fair. He should be directing his authority glare to the right side of the room, not directly at the four of us here on the left…! Gritting my teeth together lightly, I ignore the burning irritation within me. Dell's gonna pay these Mahogany bastards back in this event. Focus on sweet revenge.
"Oh, there's no need to be so serious, Kiyoteru~" Ms. Yuzuki playfully sticks her tongue out at the principal, which causes him to squirm in discomfort. "After all, it's all just a misunderstanding. Isn't that right, Ms. Akita?"
Neru freezes up at being singled out. She scoffs lightly, lowering her eyes. "Y-Yeah, that's… that's right, Miss."
I curiously sneak a peek at Dell, and while he claims to be annoyed at her, I notice that his fists are tightly clenched on the desk, and there's a hint of pissed off protectiveness in his eyes. At the end of the day, he's still hopelessly in love with her, huh? Just as it looks like he's about to say something, someone else jumps to defend her instead.
"It's not Neru-chan's fault, Ms. Yuzuki. Please don't punish her for this." Well, there certainly aren't any prizes for guessing who this knight in shining armour is. I can recognise it's banana boy just from the sound of his kiss-ass voice.
"Len-kun, I..." Neru struggles to say anything more.
"Hmph..." Ms. Yuzuki narrows her eyes at the boy, as if sizing him up and staring into his very soul, attempting to understand his motives. "Very well. Let's begin, shall we?" That glare is gone faster than I can blink, and her usual bubbly tone returns.
Through all of that nonsense, Mr. Hiyama had remained silent. Geez, she's really dug her claws into him. At the mention of starting, he takes over. "For this first round, tables 1 and 3 will be facing off against each other. Table 3, please nominate the person to take on this challenge."
My eyes widen slightly as I realise we're table 1. Even worse, table 3 is where Gakupo and his buddies are sat. They begin to whisper amongst themselves, taking their sweet time to decide who will face us.
"They better choose wisely, 'cause we're going to give them one hell of a hard time," Dell softly says, a determined grin spread across his face. Glad someone can be confident about this. If it were the girls we had to face, I'd easily say we could win. But if it's them… I'm not so sure.
"Don't worry, Kaito-kun." Miku pats the top of my head with a wide smile. All I can muster is a weak smile in return.
"Alright, we've decided," Gumi speaks up about a moment later. "We'll be sending up Gaku-kun."
Ah, shit… I get the feeling he's the most hardcore nerd amongst them. When I watch him stand up, his eyes lock with mine for a moment, causing my blood to run cold. That… that bastard has a devious look in his eyes…! He's trying to piss me off again, isn't he? I'm quick to break eye contact, my cheeks burning.
"That's great! Best of luck, Gakupo!" Ms. Yuzuki cheers loudly for him as he approaches one of the chalkboards, and I must say, the awkward tension is off the charts as she's the only one doing such a thing. "Alright. Table 1, please nominate someone."
That one's easy. Miku and I both turn to face Dell, and just as he pushes his chair out to get up and nominate himself, it's apparently too late.
"I'll be doing it, Miss." Neru promptly announces this, which stuns pretty much everyone in the room. They're stunned because they think she's not smart enough… But my jaw has dropped because we already agreed that Dell would be taking over.
"What are you doing?" the silver-haired boy snaps at her, reaching out and grabbing her wrist to stop her from walking forward.
"Hey-!" Neru gasps, stumbling back at the unexpected movement. She twirls around in irritation, glaring down at the boy. "We already agreed that I'd be doing it."
"Oh no..." Miku sinks down into her chair, covering her face. I can certainly feel the embarrassment.
"What do we have here?" Ms. Yuzuki raises a brow, watching as the two start bickering right here and right now.
"If you actually came along to study with us, you'd know that I'm doing it," Dell shoots back, through clenched teeth.
"Guys, come on," I try my best to butt in, only for it to go in one ear and out the other.
"Hey, if you don't mind, I'd like to start some time this century," comes Gakupo's impatient huff from the other side of the room.
"Let go of my wrist, you idiot," Neru demands, wriggling her arm to try and get herself free of Dell's iron-tight grip.
"Only if you sit down and let me do it. You're gonna make a fool out of us. You didn't even study."
"Alright, that's enough!" Mr. Hiyama's voice booms out, which puts an immediate end to the humiliating show. "Both of you stop it and sit down. Neither of you will be taking part in this."
"Huh?!" The pair choke out in unison, before exchanging aggravated glances at the fact that they're so in sync.
Even I let out a confused 'huh', wondering what on earth the principal has planned. If neither Dell or Neru is allowed to compete in the first round, then…
Mr. Hiyama scans his eyes between Miku and I a moment later. Oh no. No, no, no. He can't expect me or Miku to do this. I'll forfeit if I have to. It's like he's deciding which one of us to send up. "Hmm," he hums thoughtfully, tapping away at his chin. He really doesn't need to think this hard on it. We're both useless at math. He should know this.
"Sir, I-"
"Quiet, boy!" He barks at Dell before he can even get a word out. "Alright. It's decided. You, get up there now."
I reel back when I realise he's pointing directly at me, jaw dropping for a second time. "M-Me?" I squeak. A huge wave of anxiety and nerves washes over me at that moment, a chill crawling down my spine as the realisation fully sinks in. "N-N-No, you- You can't send me up!"
"Yeah, you can't send him up, he's useless!" Dell splutters in outrage.
"Dude, ouch." I stare at him, offended. All I get back in return is a strained shrug.
"W-We all agreed earlier that Dell-kun should be the one to do it, Sir…!" Miku protests in my defense, although in a particularly apprehensive voice. It's clear she doesn't want to argue with the principal himself but she does so anyway for me.
"I won't have any more arguments. My decision is final," Mr. Hiyama says, in a more relaxed tone now.
This is terrible. Can I really accept this fate? I'm going to humiliate our team. I'm not exactly terrible at math, but it's more the fact that I absolutely despise it and can't for the life of me remember any of the equations I looked at earlier. Taking in a deep breath, I push my chair back and bring myself to my feet. I guess I can't delay this any further.
"This is so ridiculous, I know literally every single equation in those stupid math books!" Neru continues to whine like a child. She sounds exactly like a Mahogany Creek student. Cocky, full of herself… Need I go on?
"Y-You'll be okay, Kaito-kun. Do your best… Alright?" Miku offers me some words of encouragement. She doesn't sound incredibly confident. "E-Even if you don't succeed, I'll still be proud of you..." she quietly adds, with a half-smile.
I can feel the beads of sweat forming already. That broken little smile just makes me feel worse. Keeping my head low, I head over to the chalkboard opposite Gakupo's. I don't want to look that arrogant idiot in the eyes – he's not worth my anger right now.
"Right! Looks like our first match of the day is Gakupo vs Kaito!" Ms. Yuzuki enthusiastically announces, probably addressing the crowd of about five students. There's some light applause, but that only makes me cringe on the spot. "If you'd like to turn your attention to the chalkboards, you'll notice that the equations have already been drawn up. All you two have to do is solve them."
I tilt my head back and stare up at the chalkboard, which appears to be as tall as a mountain when I'm right in front of it and faced with all this pressure. I didn't even pay attention to the equations scribbled onto the board when I first entered, because I figured I wouldn't need to. Wonderful. The entire board is full of a few equations, and trying to make sense of them just hurts my head. I briefly understand a few bits here and there, but if someone told me this was written in another language, I'd believe them.
"Yes, Miss. I noticed them while table 1 were fighting," Gakupo casually remarks, blinking innocently. The damn coward doesn't even look at me when he's mocking me…!
A small giggle escapes Principal Yuzuki's lips. Looks like even she can't resist joining in on making fun of us. She's just like a school kid. Normally I'd never insult figures of authority, ones I'm supposed to respect, but man… This woman is a total bitch. "Alright, we'll be setting this timer at fifteen minutes. That should be enough time to solve everything on the boards. Remember, no peeking at each other's work! Are you both ready?"
No.
"Yes, Miss," Gakupo answers first.
I turn my back to them, squeezing my eyes shut as I respond. "Yes, Miss."
"Ready...~ Go!"
…
I take a couple of steps back at the sound of the timer ringing out. Letting out an exaggerated huff, I peer up at the equations. That had to have been the longest fifteen minutes ever. Everyone was staring at me during the whole thing, which only added to the uncomfortable sensation.
"Okay, gentlemen. Please step aside so that I can get a good look at your chalkboards," Ms. Yuzuki requests, politely enough. "Just wait at the side there." She points at a space over to the right of the chalkboards, near the steps that lead up to this part of the room, all while making her way up here herself.
"Mmh..." I desperately need a drink of water. Need to stop myself from potentially dry heaving. I make my way over to where Ms. Yuzuki ordered us to go, distancing myself as much as I can from the purple-headed demon.
Folding my arms, I avert my eyes from his, looking off in no direction in particular. Anything to avoid catching his judgemental stare. It's no use, though.
"What a riveting twist of fate," Gakupo comments out of nowhere, a sickly sweet chuckle passing his lips. Ugh, who even talks like that these days? I have no idea if he's looking at me, digging those sharp orbs into my being. "Looks like nothing can keep us apart during these trials, Kai-kun.~ You and I, true soulmates, pitted against each other so cruelly…"
Oh my god, I want to punch this cocky asshole right in his smug face. He's talking in a low voice, one that only I can hear, his only goal to piss me off. Taking in a deep breath, I summon every ounce of willpower within me to stop myself from lashing out in response. Ms. Yuzuki is currently gushing over Gakupo's chalkboard, spitting out compliment after compliment, because of course, Gakupo is so perfect and got every single equation right.
"It's a shame. Your friends claim to be oh-so smart and simply amazing when it comes to mathematics, yet they're still dumb enough to bicker in front of the principals, and jeopardise their slim chance at winning." He's still talking. I can't believe it. He loves the sound of his own voice, doesn't he? What a disgusting narcissist. I don't care if what he's saying is right; how dare he have the nerve to shit-talk us after the stunts he and his friends have pulled. "Well, in the end, it's a good thing Principal Hiyama's prize student ended up being you. It means I can pound you into the dust effortlessly."
"You reaaally love to hear yourself talk," I quietly say, rolling my eyes. "How much further up your own ass can you get?" I hiss in the lowest voice I can muster, not wanting the teachers to hear.
"When will you Oak Valley children learn there's nothing wrong with having pride in one's ability?" Gakupo simply scoffs. Yeah, pride. Keep calling it that.
"Oh, that's wonderful! Every single equation has been answered correctly!" Ms. Yuzuki clasps her hands together, all starry-eyed and drooling over the chalkboard. Ugh, chalk… Reminds me of all the sweat I produced in those fifteen minutes, and how much wet chalk rubbed off onto my fingers. I hope whoever goes up next likes warm, melty chalk. Gross. "And my, the most efficient methods were used to the highest standard. It's safe to say you scored full marks, Gakupo. This will certainly be hard to beat."
In other words, impossible. I can feel my legs growing wobbly as I stand here. I dart my glance over to Miku and Dell, in need of a supportive smile or something. Anything. I'm able to catch Miku's eyes, and all she can give me is a half-smile. I can see the nerves on her face. Or is that disappointment? Probably both.
"I don't know how many times you need to be told, Kaito-san, but you should quit while you're ahead," Gakupo mutters under his breath at me. Huh. What ever happened to 'Kai-kun'? I never want to be called that again in my life by this scumbag, for the record. "You'll never win. Stop trying so hard. Accept defeat already, okay? Your girlfriend's sad puppy dog eyes are pathetic."
"Leave her out of this, you-!"
"Ahem," Ms. Yuzuki loudly clears her throat, glaring directly at me. Oops. She must've finished scanning over my answers, or lack thereof. "Well, you made a good attempt, Kaito… Unfortunately, you only answered one of the equations correctly. While I appreciate the attempts on the others, the composition is sloppy and you used the most dragged out methods possible."
All I can do is widen my eyes in shock at her lack of a filter. That's far too critical for my liking. "W-Well, I…" I awkwardly rub at the back of my head. Great, I'm being stared at by everybody again. Most notably Oliver and Fukase, who are nudging each other and whispering while not-so-subtly smirking over at me.
"Don't feel too bad, Kaito. Gakupo here is the top student out of everyone in his year group in math," Ms. Yuzuki makes an attempt at reassuring me, but obviously it falls flat. Reluctantly trailing my glance over to him, all he's doing is grinning from ear to ear. Asshole. "That concludes the first round. One point to Mahogany Creek Academy."
Wow, such a shocker. I truly never saw that one coming. Mumbling bitterly to myself, I drag my feet across the floor as I return to my seat. "Ughhh..." I immediately slouch over as soon as my butt hits the chair, burying my head in my arms.
A wave of relief washes over me as soon as I feel an unexpected palm rubbing against my back. A soothing voice reaches my ears a moment later. "You did so well, Kaito-kun. I definitely wouldn't have been able to get one of the questions right," comes Miku's praise.
Sighing heavily, I pull my head up after a couple of seconds, deciding I've wallowed in shame long enough. Their praise doesn't make me feel any better, though. I let everyone down. "You sure about that?" I lazily raise a brow.
"Heh, well… I could've scored full marks, but it's the effort that counts. Miku-chan is right, the fact you got one right shows those guys over there how serious we are," Dell flashes me a sincere grin. Looking over his shoulder, I notice Neru has nothing to say to me.
"Okay! Everyone ready for round two?"
…
This time, it's SeeU vs Aoki. Time flies by compared to my round against Gakupo, and much to my surprise, the dopey, air-headed SeeU comes out as the victor by one point. Miku and Dell are just as gobsmacked as I am.
"She's actually… s-smart…?" Dell chokes out, in a hiss. It's no wonder he's stuttering and tripping over his words.
"Dumb luck is a real thing after all," I mutter, watching SeeU as she gracefully flips her long puffy hair and twirls at the same time, trotting back to her team. Even Lily and the other three are at a loss for words. It seems they nominated the blonde as a joke.
"W-Well..." Miku lightly scratches at her cheek. I think her eye just twitched. "Th-That means… We have a point, at least..." She's clearly straining herself, thinking of something nice to say. What a pure soul.
"Looks like somebody forgot to brush up on their simultaneous equations this morning, hmm?~ Aww, look at that, you let your poor team down, after they tried so hard! Ahaha! Oh well, don't beat yourself up over it!" Ms. Yuzuki forces a cheery tone, laughing almost maniacally faced with defeat, ganging up on Aoki. Ah yes, she's definitely a sore loser. Taking her frustrations out on a kid? Very mature.
The final round is announced shortly after – this time it's a 2v2 round, meaning one student from each table has to come forward. I'm dragged up to the chalkboards for the last time. The humiliation is unbearable to face all over again, but I have SeeU by my side, meaning this should go smoothly as long as she does the majority of the work. Then again, she may turn on her dumbness and let us lose.
The chalkboards have been wiped clean and replaced with a brand new equation. This time, there's only one question written in the middle of the board. Scanning over it, I repeat it quietly. "Fermat's Last Theorem…?" Something inside me clicks. It's like a lightbulb has just flickered to life above my head. "Hah! Hope you're ready to taste the dirt, Kamui!" I can't stop myself from spouting off and bragging about the inevitable win ahead.
"Silence, Shion!" Mr. Kasane's thunderous roar comes straight for me, catching me off guard and quickly wiping the smirk off my face. "I don't care how clever you think you are, kid. Don't go interrupting me, otherwise I'll leave you crying, understood?"
I frantically nod my head. I didn't realise Mr. Kasane would be judging the final round.
"Wow, you're like sooo smart, Kaito-kun," comes SeeU's fake compliment. Her bright bubbly tone makes me want to gag.
"Have you heard of this before, Gakupo-san?" Aoki turns to face the purple-haired boy, appearing to have little to no confidence left after her previous failure. Unfortunately, Gakupo doesn't give her a response. Now I won't be able to figure out how he's going to tackle this.
"This one's a real big boy question, kids. Don't come snottin' and whining to me if you find it too hard and wanna give up, got it?" Mr. Kasane thinks he's so superior, doesn't he? He has no idea I'm about to totally thrash these Mahogany punks once and for all. Can't wait to see his jaw drop. "All you gotta do is answer yes or no within five minutes. Listen up, 'cause I'll only say it once. Can an integer greater than two sufficiently satisfy this equation? If you think it can, prove it! Alright. Final round, starting now!"
Humming lightly to myself, I spin on my heels and face the chalkboard. I grab the stick of chalk. It's still warm from the last round. I don't even waste my time looking over at Gakupo and Aoki. I can hear them scrambling and whispering together, in a pitiable attempt to start proving a number greater than two can solve it.
"What the hell are you so happy and cheery about?" SeeU scowls, standing beside me. Mm, sweet irritation. "At least discuss your ridiculous plan with me. I bet you have absolutely no idea what the answer is."
"I do, actually," I simply state, lifting my arm up to a space underneath the equation. Right now, my mind is screaming in joy, but I can't let that show on my face. Calm, collected and modest. But holy shit, I'm so glad that I spend half my time searching up the most random, most difficult things possible online…! Useless internet knowledge has come to my rescue at last.
"What?!" SeeU sounds hilarious when she's all worked up.
After writing down a simple 'no' underneath the question, I set the chalk down and turn back around to face Mr. Kasane with the urge to give him the most smug, stuck-up grin possible. I resist the urge to do so, though.
"That was fast, my boy. Let's see what you got down, shall we?" Mr. Kasane narrows his eyes, his tone full of doubt as he saunters toward the chalkboard.
"Gladly." I step aside, allowing him to peek at my answer. I notice that Gakupo and Aoki haven't turned around. I'm able to just see over their shoulders, and when I read over it briefly, I hold back a laugh. They're trying to prove that a number greater than two can be used. How cute. Gakupo isn't as clever as he once thought, is he now?
"Hmmm." A rather long hum comes from the stern teacher. I'm sure that's a hint of appreciation in there somewhere. I bet he hasn't come across many students who know the answer to such a complex thing – not to toot my own horn or anything, of course.
The next few minutes pass by rather fast. The ringing of the timer echoes out; Gakupo has to be told a couple of times to put the chalk down, as he's still clambering to write down one last thing. Reluctantly, he sets the stick down and slowly turns around. He hasn't broke a sweat, nor is he even showing the slightest sign of being worn down, but there's a subtle hint of frustration in his eyes. Aoki is chewing on her lower lip. Ms. Yuzuki is going to be so pissed.
"Time's up, ladies!" Mr. Kasane's gruff tone slips out once more. Back into hardcore teacher mode, I see. He's going to seriously strain his throat one of these days. He flaps his hand to the right, signalling for Gakupo and Aoki to shift out of the way of the chalkboard. He sets his eyes upon their board, before tutting under his breath and lightly shaking his head. "Well, nice attempt, I guess."
"Wh-What…?" For the first time, Gakupo is left speechless. Oh, revenge is so fucking sweet. This is delightful. He expected to be given all the glory and crowned the rightful winner for his efforts.
"The winner here is obvious. Oak Valley Academy takes a point right outta Mahogany's hands!" Mr. Kasane wastes no time in announcing the winner of this event, and even though I expected the outcome, I'm still left numb. Did I… single-handedly pull this off…? Eh, some credit to SeeU, I suppose.
"Woo, yeaaah!" comes Miku and Dell's extremely loud and ecstatic shouts in glee. I turn around just in time to see the two of them spring up in excitement; Miku particularly is bursting. She seems to be so proud of me.
"Huh..." SeeU sort of stares at me for a couple seconds. "Good work, I guess. Whatever." She flicks her hair right next to me, and I stumble back as I'm almost whacked in the face with those fluffy locks. She turns around and returns to her group.
"Kaito-kuuun, you did it!" Miku dashes up from her seat and comes bounding straight toward me like an overjoyed puppy. She throws her arms out, and while she knocks the air right out of me as she tightly grips me, it's a lovely feeling.
"Unbelievable!" Aoki sticks her chin in the air, huffing and stomping away from the centre stage.
I let out a laugh in disbelief at what I just pulled off. I eventually return Miku's hug, pulling her closer to me and patting the back of her head. "Whew..."
Dell joins us on the stage next to the chalkboard; I feel a comforting tap on my shoulder.
"Yes… Good job indeed, Oak Valley." Ms. Yuzuki is bordering on some sort of fairytale villain here. I think she's plotting up her witchy revenge at this very moment.
Miku slowly pulls back, her cheeks stained red from joy. There's even a sparkle in those beautiful light blue eyes of hers. "S-Sorry, I'm just… so proud…!"
I shake my head, giving a chuckle. "No need to apologise. It really was just dumb luck," I wink. When I turn my head to see where Ms. Yuzuki is, I realise she's already left the room. I thought she would be over yelling at her students, but there's nothing. My attention is dragged over to the right side of the room, however, as it appears some bickering has broken out.
"Clearly your 'best efforts' weren't good enough." Hmm, that's the arrogant voice of Gakupo's green-haired girlfriend. Typical Mahogany Creek… They won't even acknowledge how hard their teammates tried. I mean, obviously I really don't want to stick up for Gakupo, 'cause he's a dickhead, but he tried his hardest.
"I can't believe I'm hearing this from you, of all people," Gakupo scoffs.
"Huh… Trouble in paradise, y'think?" Dell half-jokes, letting out a sigh. The two of them begin to make their way out of the event room, still arguing back and forth as they go.
The mood right now is a bit sour, but nevertheless, a win is a win. This is… exhilarating. I never thought we'd be able to actually get a point. I won't get too big-headed and think that we're going to win the whole Talent Trials, but one point is better than none.
Mr. Hiyama approaches the three of us a few moments later, cracking a genuine smile and giving us a bit of applause. "Well, well. Kaito Shion. You've done us all proud," he says, resting a hand on his hip. Wow, praise from this guy? I must've done super good. "Keep a secret, will you? I didn't have much faith that we'd win, when Mahogany Creek students first arrived here. But, well… The younger students have started to stack up a few points amongst themselves in their events. And now that you, the older students, have made a complete one-eighty in your attitudes..."
It's kind of weird, listening to your principal having a mini-rant slash lament thing right in front of you, but… Hearing that he's regained faith, and that even the other students are doing well, it's starting to feel good. A year group win would be insane. But a whole school win…? No, I can't even imagine that. Don't dream too big, Kaito.
"Everyone has been trying their best, Sir. I think maybe… if we promote school spirit and school pride just a little bit more… amazing things can happen." Miku softly smiles up at Mr. Hiyama. She's suggesting such a bold thing, right to his face. Normally, this wouldn't end well.
"Perhaps you're right, Ms. Hatsune," the principal thoughtfully nods. "Well, I'll see you all at the sports event later. I'm sure you'll do well now that you've hit a high." He gives us a wave and takes his leave a moment after, sticking his hands into his pockets.
"Geez..." Dell lets out a heavy breath. Yeah, that's right buddy. Unclench. "I can't believe this is real. Kaito-kun, just how the hell did you know the answer to that insane question? Even I've never seen such a thing before!"
Snickering lightly, I tease him and tap my nose secretively as a response. I can't reveal my greatness, not yet. Gotta keep 'em guessing, after all. Sliding my arm through Miku's, I suggest that we should get out of this cramped, overheating room.
"I feel like we're totally ready to turn this whole competition around~" Miku giggles. It's nice to see that her confidence is starting to come back. And I think mine is coming back, too. Time to finally put those snobs in their place, huh?
…