I looked at the card I had received and put it into my pocket.

"Thank you, Chabashira-sensei."

Since his role here was done, I told Matsushita to go home for the day. Now that I've come this far, I didn't need him anymore.

"You really are an enigma..."

When it became just the two of us, Chabashira-sensei crossed her arms and sighed.

"There are students weirder than me."

"I can't imagine the class will be happy once they find out what you've done."

"It'll be fine as long as I produce results."

As I went to leave the teacher's lounge, Chabashira-sensei called out to me one last time.

"...will you be okay, shouldering everything?"

"It's not like you to worry about others."

"Well, you're an exception... in more ways than one."

Ever since she found out about my past, Chabashira-sensei's become more aware of me recently. I can't put my finger on it, but she seems to treat me more gently than the others.

"I know my track record has been spotty, but I can assure you that this time I'll win."

As they say, three strikes and you're out. After two failures, this was my last chance to prove myself before giving up.

"...I look forward to it then."

In order to restore her confidence in me, I had no choice but to get an overwhelming victory in this special exam. But first, I have take care of one loose end.

Thinking back, Yukina was right yesterday. Once again, I had been careless with time. If she hadn't intervened and broken through to Kouji, then I don't think I would've been able to achieve what I have done today.

One drop of influence can really ripple out and change everything...

I still haven't properly thanked her yet for what she did back then. I probably should, considering how pivotal Kouji's involvement has been.

Since we were going home together, I decided to do it then. I headed to E Class, where she was waiting for me.

"Well, if you want to take the finals seriously, why don't you join my study group?"

"...I'm sorry?"

However, when I arrived, I was surprised to see her talking with Kouji. I thought he had already gone home for the day after leaving the rooftop.

"Everyone there is super chill. I'm sure they won't mind your presence."

"No, it's not that... it's just, isn't it too late for me?"

"Don't be silly, it's never too late to revise."

Kouji scratched the back of his head awkwardly as Yukina smiled at him. It seems they were talking about the upcoming finals.

Considering I was expecting him to fail everything on purpose again to avoid Alice's wrath, I was actually relieved to see he wanted to take the exams seriously.

It seems Kouji has been able to start moving again after all these years at a standstill.

"Hey."

I entered the classroom, casually greeting them. Upon seeing me, Yukina's ahoge perked up.

"Ah, Yuu! We were just waiting for you!"

Yukina beamed while waving at me. Kouji yawned with one eye closed.

"You were...?"

I only made plans to go home with Yukina today. I didn't know Kouji wanted to tag along with us.

"How did things go with Chabashira-sensei?"

"Everything went fine. We won't have to worry about Matsushita-san anymore."

"Thank god." Kouji said.

"That just leaves Alice then, doesn't it?"

I nodded in response to Yukina's question.

"Actually, about that..."

With a sigh, Kouji sheepishly interjected.

"...you guys don't have to bother with Sakigamiya. After today, I don't want to think about this or them ever again."

Yukina was surprised to hear Kouji had given up on revenge, but I expected this after observing him on the rooftop.

Kouji was disgusted with himself for stooping down to their level just to get back at them. He'd be no better than Matsushita if he actually went through with pushing him off the rooftop.

To him, preserving his pride as a man was more important than being petty. It took nearly going through with it to make him realise that.

"Alright. If that's what you want."

"My request was unreasonable anyways... how the hell would you even get a dead bee?"

"Find one and kill it?"

Kouji stared at me like I was joking, but I was being serious. It wouldn't be hard to find one now that it was summer, and killing it would be easy with an electric swatter.

"You'd get stung to hell and back before doing that... then again, maybe I shouldn't underestimate your handiwork. You did set up everything on the rooftop like you said you would yesterday."

"When Yuu really sets his mind on something, he'll do everything he can to achieve it." Yukina laughed.

"I can tell... I honestly didn't expect you to pull this off, but you proved me wrong."

Kouji got up and stuck out his right hand.

"So... thanks. I owe you one."

I shook his hand firmly.

"No problem. But really, you should be thanking Yukina."

"Eh? Me?" Yukina pointed at herself.

"Yeah. Without you, none of this would've been possible."

"Yuu, don't be so humble! I was just following your plan."

"You're the one that's being humble. If you didn't keep knocking on Kouji-san's door when I gave up, then we wouldn't have defeated Matsushita-san today."

"Even so, I had to threaten Kouji-san to do it..."

Kouji looked over to Yukina and shook his head.

"It's fine. I needed someone to kick me up the ass to get me out of this slump."

"I still feel like I could've done things better though..."

"I was a stubborn bastard. You were bound to have to use force to get me out of bed eventually, so don't feel bad about it. I have no ill will towards you or Takanori-san."

Kouji looked away, squeezing his fists.

"In fact, if you two don't mind..."

His eyes trailed towards us as his face started turning red in embarrassment.

"C... c-can we... can we be... f... fr-friends?"

Anticipating an answer, Kouji let out a low groan. Me and Yukina looked at each other, before she gave him a large nod.

"Of course we can, Kouji-san! I'd be happy to be your friend, he he."

"Yeah. After nearly killing someone together, I think we've gotten a bit closer."

"Talk about an icebreaker..."

Kouji sighed, the corners of his lips turning up slightly. He put a hand to his face, hiding his growing smile.

"Somehow... I feel like maybe I can have a normal school life again."

Together, we left the school.