Chapter 123: Calm Down

After a period of focused review with Takamine Rinji's help, Ishigami's grades showed obvious improvement.

As the final exams approached, Shuchiin Academy students were entering full-on study mode.

These days in the student council office, Takamine often saw Shirogane and Kaguya humbly downplaying themselves—or teaming up to deceive the ever-gullible Fujiwara Chika.

"Takamine, how's Ishigami's progress?" Shirogane asked with concern.

"Not bad. At least he won't fail again," Takamine replied.

"That's good to hear."

Takamine had already assessed Ishigami's level—he'd likely end up around 150th in the year.

Which, to be fair, only had about 200 students total.

"Then if you've been helping Ishigami all this time, what about your grades…?"

"No worries. Even if they slip a bit, it won't be by much," Takamine smiled.

Shirogane didn't question him. Someone who could casually get fifth in the year wasn't likely to suddenly crash—unless it was on purpose.

"This exam feels like it's going to be a disaster…"

Unlike the calm of the other three in the room, Fujiwara Chika was clearly anxious.

"If my grades drop this time… Dad's going to cut off my allowance."

Blatant lie.

Her parents did care about her grades, and she would lose her monthly allowance if her performance dropped.

However, she also had a doting grandpa who secretly slipped her huge sums of spending money all the time.

Takamine Rinji: "No allowance? Just get a part-time job. Haven't you heard? Those who don't work don't eat."

"Geez! I'm a student, you know?" Fujiwara pouted.

"The president is a student, I'm a student, and I'm a year younger than you," Takamine said flatly. "You think being a student means you can escape labor?"

"Takamine-kun, you just don't understand—"

Fujiwara Chika puffed out her chest and proudly declared:

"A student's number one responsibility is studying~!"

"Really? Isn't it actually running around campus catching Pokémon on your phone every day, then heading to the board game club after school to stir up trouble?" Takamine Rinji looked at Fujiwara Chika with suspicion.

Because… that was literally what Fujiwara Chika did every day at school.

"Forget it, I wouldn't expect any of Shuchiin Academy's spoiled heirs to go get part-time jobs anyway."

Shinomiya Kaguya: "You're one of those heirs too."

Takamine Rinji: "Shut it. Even if I am one, I got rich through hard work. My life experience is miles ahead of you, little princess."

"And it's not even like you're working at a proper place."

"You're the one who's improper, falling head over heels just from an anonymous love letter, Miss Lady-in-Love."

"I did not! And stop bringing that up!!"

Shinomiya Kaguya couldn't help but shout.

After all, this was in front of Shirogane Miyuki. She was really worried Rinji's words might give him the wrong idea about her.

Fujiwara Chika had been quietly listening to their exchange. When she heard Kaguya say "not even a proper place to work," her face turned beet red in an instant.

"An… improper place…?"

"Huh?"

Looking at Rinji's slightly confused face, Fujiwara Chika mumbled in a tiny voice:

"Could it be something like… a host club…?"

"No way…"

"Then maybe… a massage parlor or something…?"

Takamine Rinji: "…"

He turned to look at Shirogane Miyuki and pointed at Fujiwara Chika.

"President, can I throw this brain-damaged girl out the window?"

"Calm down."

---

The final exams eventually arrived.

Inside the classroom, everyone was focused on their tests, trying to do well so they could enjoy summer break with peace of mind.

And then, the results were announced the next day.

Takamine Rinji didn't bother looking at the rankings posted in the second-year building. Instead, he checked the rankings for his own first-year class.

He first searched for Ishigami and saw his name sitting comfortably at 147th place.

"Not bad, Ishigami. Your hard work these past few days paid off."

"Yeah."

Ishigami was very satisfied with his current ranking.

He had gone from nearly failing to a solid passing grade—all thanks to Rinji's tutoring.

"By the way, did you check your own score?"

"Not yet. I'm probably at the top of the list." Rinji smiled. "Barring any surprises, I'm number one this time."

"Eh…"

The two walked to the front of the ranking board, where a crowd had already gathered.

The students who had gathered were all visibly surprised at what they saw on the board.

Even though they hadn't seen the name yet, Ishigami figured Rinji must've gotten first. Normally, Iino Miko always ranked first—since elementary school all the way to high school.

Shuchiin Academy followed an integrated system, so most students had been together from elementary through high school. Everyone had long grown tired of seeing the same names at the top.

This crowd must mean something had changed.

Rinji and Ishigami squeezed into the crowd and saw the top two names on the list.

1st: Iino Miko

2nd: Takamine Rinji…

"…I'm second?" Rinji said blankly.

"No, wait. You and Iino got the same score," Ishigami said.

Besides the rankings, the board also showed the actual scores. Both Rinji and Iino Miko had earned 498 points—just shy of a perfect score. Yet even with the same score, Rinji was ranked second behind Iino.

"Oh, that's why."

Ishigami suddenly remembered something.

"Because your initials are different. Iino Miko starts with 'I', and Takamine Rinji starts with 'T'. So when scores are tied, they sort alphabetically by name."

"…There's a rule like that?"

"The ranking board is custom made. It can only display one name per rank."

"That's such BS. I lost because of my name?"

"Nothing you can do about it. Still, you did technically tie for first." Ishigami smiled to console him.

"Yeah, but this ranking board doesn't make me happy at all… Pretty sure this is the principal's fault."

Rinji pulled out his phone from his pocket.

"Let's send our beloved principal on a one-way trip to Africa."

"Calm down."