[32.1] Finals Should be Illegal

I felt a cold sweat dripping down my back as the teacher stared down at me.

Her voice was firm, "This is the last test of the year."

I gulped.

She continued, "If you failed this test, you failed the class. If you passed it then you pass the class."

My hands shook.

She clicked her tongue, "I've never had a student who went back and forth between passing and failing by one point at a time."

I forced on a smile, "It means I'm special."

Her eyes narrowed, "It means you're mediocre."

Ouch.

I scowled, "Did I pass or fail? I find suspense to be boring and overrated."

She slapped down the test with a growl and walked away.

Cyrus, Felix, and I looked at it simultaneously.

I cried out happily, "I PASSED!"

Felix and I jumped up, dancing around happily.

Cyrus watched us with a look of indifference, "You passed by one point… Again."

I sang, "Still passing~ Still passing~"

Felix laughed, "I knew you could do it!"

I gave him a wink, "It's all thanks to your support."

Cyrus stood up with a sigh, "Let's go."

We grabbed our stuff and left the class. I hummed happily as we walked down the hall, "One year of that class was unbearable. I didn't think I would ever make it."

Felix laughed, "But you did!"

I grinned at him, "We did!"

Cyrus rolled his eyes, "I can't believe you two waited until the last second to study for each test."

Felix shrugged, "I was busy. I didn't have a choice."

I sang out, "I was just lazy~"

Cyrus clicked his tongue in annoyance.

I leaned my head on his shoulder, "But thank you for all your help. I probably wouldn't have passed without you."

He bit down on his lip and responded harshly, "Y-You wouldn't have."

I laughed at his embarrassment.

Felix smiled at us, "Now that classes are over for the year, we have two weeks off. Do you two have any plans?"

Cyrus answered, "I will be using the time to really focus on my investigation. There's been a lot of demon sightings in the west and it's slowly moving towards our city. I'm going to look over the documents again to see if I can figure out why."

I rolled my eyes, "You seriously can't take a day off. Can you?"

He looked at me unamused, "And what about you?"

I let out a sigh, "The Headmaster has to do some work, so unfortunately we won't be able to go anywhere exciting. I will probably spend my time relaxing and lounging around. What about you, Felix?"

He spoke, "I will be going to the Newman Villa with my family. My parents found out that one of the trials will take place on the Vanishing Island. They want Priscilla to practice, so we will be going to the Villa since it's close by."

I blinked in confusion, "The Vanishing Island?"

Felix nodded, "It's an Island in the middle of a lake. They call it the Vanishing Island because of the fog that always covers it."

"What kind of test would take place there?"

Cyrus answered, "It's to test how good you are at strategic and critical thinking during times of crisis. The Island is covered by magic circles that will attack you and the landscape is always changing. Many people get lost because of it. Unless you find the way out, then you won't proceed to the next test."

I gasped, "So they want candidates to go missing or die?"

Felix laughed, "Don't worry so much, Reika. No one has ever been killed or hurt there. The people who live near the Island are in control of it, so they can always locate missing people."

"Ah, I see…" I let out a sigh, "A trip to a Villa sounds nice… I want to go."

If it's near a lake, surely there will be good-looking men walking around on a beach topless.

Felix grinned, "You can come with me if you'd like."

"Not a chance." I pursed my lips, "I would rather die than spend my free time with your little sister."

He laughed, "She's really not so bad."

I rolled my eyes, "Not so bad? I get a headache every time I see her!"

Felix shook his head, "I really don't understand why you two don't get along. You both are actually a lot alike."

I made a disgusted face, "Please tell me you're joking."

Cyrus added in a low voice, "You both seem to really like annoying each other."

I narrowed my eyes, "But only one of us has been to jail, so I'd watch my words if I was you."

Felix laughed loudly, "When were you in jail!?"

"When I had a backlash, I was sent to an interrogation room before being sent to the orphanage." I stuck out my tongue, "So yeah, I was in jail."

Cyrus smirked, "So you were only there for a few hours?"

"...More or less."

Listening to their snickers I snapped in irritation, "I could beat you both up if I really wanted to."

Cyrus smiled softly, "Yeah, you could. But you wouldn't."

Looking up into his unusually affectionate gaze, I suddenly felt embarrassed.

I clicked my tongue and stormed away before either of them could say anything else.

While I walked up to my house, I caught sight of my Mother and Zephyr in the garden. Zephyr would usually keep her company instead of lounging around in the Headmaster's office as he had before.

Zephyr swatted at the flowers my mother was trying to plant while she hummed and ignored him. She looked up when she heard my footsteps. Her face lit up, "Reika! You're home so soon! Now that you're on vacation I was thinking we could go shopping! I heard from one of the office ladies that there is a new trend of families wearing matching clothes and I really want to try it. Should we go shopping tomorrow- wait… Why is your face so red??"

Oh crap!!

Is it really that noticeable?!

She jumped up and ran over to me. She anxiously grabbed my face and squeezed my cheeks, "You're warm too! Are you getting sick!?!"

I groaned and pushed her hands away, "I'm not sick! I'm just irritated."

I walked into the house, slamming the door behind me.

My mother looked over at Zephyr, "Irritated? What do you think she meant?"

Zephyr snickered, "That's code for the blonde-haired brat embarrassed her."