“QUIET DOWN.”
The exam results went up the next day.
Shizuka Hiratsuka came into the classroom with a big stack of test papers, and everyone stopped talking right away.
“Our class did pretty well this time.” She was clearly in a good mood.
“Two of the top three students in the whole grade are here.
Class rep, hand these out.”
“Yes, sensei.”
Hayato Hayama stood immediately.
Hayato was the class rep and the leader of the popular group, so almost everyone liked him.
He handed out the papers folded so no one else could see the scores.
After the bell rang, students crowded around the bulletin board at the back of the room to check the rankings.
“Whoa.
Hayato, you got third in the grade.”
Hayato always had good grades and was usually in the top five.
“That’s amazing.”
“Just what we expect from you, Hayato.”
He smiled modestly and said, “It’s nothing special.
If you work hard, your grades can get better too.”
His humble attitude just made people like him even more.
“Second place is Yukino Yukinoshita.” Yumiko Miura scowled when she saw that name.
As the queen bee of the class, she couldn’t stand Yukino’s aloof attitude.
To Yumiko, it always seemed fake.
“Wait.
Who got first?”
“Ren?”
“Ren?
Is he from another class?”
The students gathered around the board looked confused.
Then someone put the pieces together.
“Hold on.
Hiratsuka-sensei said two of the top three are in our class.”
Everyone knew Yukino was in another homeroom, so Ren had to be the other top student.
“No way!!”
A few students realized what was going on and turned to look at the quiet guy by the window.
Soon, half the class was staring at him.
He was the one who got first place in the whole grade?
“Yo.”
Ren didn’t react to the sudden attention.
He just gave a lazy wave, rested his chin on his hand, and looked back out the window.
When was school going to end?
“What’s his deal?
He gets first place once and suddenly acts like he’s above everyone?”
“What an antisocial creep.”
Most classmates thought being a loner meant you were gloomy or weird.
But getting top grades could change how people saw you.
“Now that I look at him, Ren-kun is actually kind of handsome.”
“Right?
I was just thinking that.”
Hayato ignored the whispers and walked over with his usual friendly smile.
“I didn’t know your grades were that good, Ren-kun.
Do you have any study tips you can share?”
“Read more, play fewer video games, and sleep properly.” Ren waved him off.
He had no interest in making friends with his classmates, much less becoming another accessory in Hayato’s popular circle.
Yumiko crossed her arms, clearly offended on Hayato’s behalf.
“What’s with that attitude?
Hayato should have gotten first place.”
“Yeah, exactly,” Kakeru Tobe chimed in.
His voice was quieter than usual.
Students who struggled in school always felt a bit of pressure around top scorers.
“It’s fine, he earned it.” Hayato said with an easy laugh, brushing off the tension.
When school ended, a few girls wondered if they should ask Ren for study help just to talk to him.
Before they could decide, he grabbed his bag and left.
“Seriously?”
“So what if he gets good grades?”
His quick exit ended any interest they had left.
Ren didn’t care—he hadn’t even noticed them.
When Ren walked into the Service Club, he saw right away that Yukino looked upset.
“What’s wrong?
Having trouble accepting that I beat you?” He could not help laughing.
Yukino had always been at the top of her class.
This was the first time anyone had beaten her.
After a long pause, she looked up and met his eyes, looking determined.
“Next time, I will take it back.”
When Yukino Yukinoshita made a promise, she kept it.
“Good luck with that,” Ren replied lazily.
He did not bother bursting her bubble. This story is hosted at g.com.
His Radiant Monarch Physique gave him extraordinary Mental Clarity and Memory Retention.
Beating him academically would be almost impossible.
“Eriri, you failed English again,” Utaha said, glancing over the blonde’s test results with a smirk.
“Mind your own business!” Eriri snapped.
“I can speak my native language perfectly fine.
Why do we even have to learn languages in the first place?”
That logic just didn’t make sense to her.
“Anyway, enough about test scores.” Eriri quickly changed the subject before Utaha could keep tormenting her.
“Let’s focus on our club activity.
I found a bunch of places where urban legends are supposed to appear.
We should go investigate.”
“Most of those rumors are probably fake,” Ren said.
If finding evil spirits were that easy, he wouldn’t have spent so many nights wandering around with nothing to show for it.
“That’s fine,” Utaha replied.
“If we don’t find anything, we can treat it like a normal club outing.
It will still be fun.”
Then she turned her gaze toward Ren with a knowing smile.
“Besides, you wouldn’t let us wander into dangerous places all by ourselves, would you, Kouhai?”
Typical high schoolers with a death wish…
Then again, if they did find something dangerous, he could collect some Yin Energy from it.
“Fine.
I’ll come.”
His answer immediately brought smiles to the girls’ faces.
“Then let’s decide on a meeting time.
No one is allowed to be late.”
“AGREED.”
…
On Saturday morning, Eriri put on a cute outfit and hurried downstairs.
“Oh my~ up so early?” Sayuri Sawamura watched her daughter hurry to the door and teased, “Are you going on a date?”
“No.
It’s just a club activity.”
Eriri’s face flushed bright red.
She didn’t want to answer any more questions, so she ran out the front door.
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