(Yuuto's POV)

A week had gone by. 14 tests were taken.

2 Japanese papers. 2 English papers. 3 math papers. 3 science papers. 2 history papers. 2 Vanguard papers.

Another week passed, and we were involved in a war with D Class.

Now, it was near the end of May.

The results of our midterms had been fully marked, and the results were released.

Everyone in E Class sat in dread as Chabashira-sensei indifferently began handing out envelopes containing our results.

Since it was in gojuuon order, Ayano received his first, followed by Ikesugi and Akihiro.

Ayano opened his envelop and looked over the results. With little change in his reserved facial expression, he folded the paper back up and put them away.

Ikesugi looked at his grades with defeat. It seemed like he didn't do as well as he wanted.

Akihiro opened his letter, hands shaking, and tightly gripped the sheet with the grades on it.

"H-holy crap!" He shouted. "I got good grades! Hell yeah!"

Akihiro was the first one to break the tension as everyone else began to receive their grades.

A letter was dropped on my table. I took it, and opened it.

Japanese: C+
65% (156/240)
English: A*
98% (157/160)
Math: C-
45% (107/240)
Science: C-
45% (109/240)
History: C-
41% (98/240)
Vanguard: B-
73% (146/200)

Aside from my English and Vanguard grades, everything else was abysmal. Three C's... I really was a dead average student.

"What are your grades like, Yuu-kun?" Yukina approached me.

"Oh, they're... really bad."

"Can't be worse than mine." Yukina laughed and placed her letter on my table.

Japanese: B
83% (198/240)
English: C-
44% (71/160)
Math: C
50% (120/240)
Science: C
58% (138/240)
History: C
59% (142/240)
Vanguard: C+
65% (130/200)

"That's a lot of Cs across the board... For me, I did really well in English but sucked at everything else." I showed her my results.

"A*?! What?!" Yukina gasped.

"Takanori-san got an A*? On what?!" Sakigamiya scurried over, hearing my achievement.

"English!" Yukina said.

"Oh, English..."

Somehow, her tone was disappointed.

"That's one of the easier A* to get since the test is only out of 160 marks. Still, 157 is quite impressive. I've still yet to beat you, Takanori-san." Sakigamiya said.

"What were your grades, Sakigamiya-san?" I asked.

"Here ya go."

Japanese: A+
94% (226/240)
English: B+
86% (137/160)
Math: A-
90% (216/240)
Science: A+
94% (225/240)
History: A
93% (224/240)
Vanguard: B+
88% (176/200)

I wanted to die seeing her grades. Despite the incredibly tough midterms, she had managed to score As across the board, except for the two subjects I did well in. Ironic.

"How was yours, Alice-chan?" Matsushita came up to us and presented his letter.

Damn, he also had good grades.

Japanese: B+
English: C+
Math: B+
Science: B
History: B
Vanguard: C-

Not as impressive as Sakigamiya, but still more Bs than I have.

"Sorry to break it to you, Isogai-san, but I absolutely destroyed you." Sakigamiya boastfully presented her nuclear grades to us.

The only person who could rival her grades would be Nora... he sits in front of me, but his head was buried into his arms while he laid on the table.

Was he upset or tired? I couldn't tell.

As Sakigamiya and Matsushita were at my table, the rest of the class began to pour around them as they were the figure heads. Everyone started to share their grades and laugh at the results in both vanity and mockery.

Akihiro's grades were surprisingly good. Even though he was scoring average in the mock exam, he really shined in these midterms.

Japanese: C+
English: D
Math: B-
Science: C+
History: B-
Vanguard: A+

"I'm really happy with these scores! This is the best I've ever gotten on any midterm!" He exclaimed.

"Heh... even though I got disqualified from the first Japanese paper, I managed to salvage my grades in the second paper! Check it!" Mitsuba slammed his grades down.

Japanese: F
English: E-
Math: E-
Science: E-
History: E-
Vanguard: D+

His grades were terrible... easily one of the worst in the class. Everyone began to laugh at his absurdity. I couldn't find the humour in such misery.

"I wanna show mine too!" Hono presented her grades to everyone. She got pretty much Cs on nearly everything.

Japanese: C+
English: C
Math: C-
Science: D+
History: C
Vanguard: D

"Heh, I have enough confidence to show this off!" Jomko rubbed her nose and thrusted her sheet in front of us.

Japanese: C
English: D+
Math: C
Science: B-
History: C-
Vanguard: B

She has really turned things around. Jomko used to be terrible at Vanguard, and now on her latest midterm has gotten a B. Great improvement.

"I think this score is good." Kawaguchi presented his grades to us.

Japanese: D+
English: D+
Math: C
Science: C+
History: B
Vanguard: A

His science grade looked higher than usual. Did he actually study for the tests?

Of course, his Vanguard grade was good. That was Kawaguchi's passion after all.

"Check it! My history score beats all of you!" Demiza wasn't lying. Her history score was scarily good...

Japanese: C
English: D-
Math: D
Science: D+
History: A
Vanguard: C+

Though she sucked at everything else.

"Me too... I want to show you guys my score!" Tadokoro exclaimed. She was really beginning to break out of her shy shell.

Kawaguchi must be proud of her for that.

Japanese: D-
English: D+
Math: A+
Science: D-
History: D
Vanguard: D+

Yeah, Tadokoro definitely had an affinity for math. Even though she was bad at everything else, if it came down to numbers, it's the thing she understands best.

Even Sakigamiya was surprised to see this quiet wallflower of a girl beat her in terms of score. Tadokoro got a whopping 225 marks. One or two more would've pushed her up to A* level.

That made me wonder about the other wallflower in our class.

I got up and walked over to Nora, and gently shook his arm. He lifted his head a bit.

"You're disappointed with the results?" I asked.

Nora nodded yes. He handed me his letter.

Japanese: A+
English: A
Math: A+
Science: A+
History: A
Vanguard: A

"I should've done better... I could've done better..." Nora muttered.

As far as I'm concerned, he doesn't need to improve... his scores were amazing. In fact, I think they beat Sakigamiya's grades... she had two Bs on her report, but Nora had just pure As.

So why was he so... disappointed?

"Don't act like that. Your scores are easily some of the best in the class... no, some of the best in the year. I don't even think A Class could hold a candle to you."

"It's not good enough, Takanori-kun... my grades should've been A*... not just A."

Is that what he was getting hung up on? That it wasn't perfect?

"These grades are good enough, right? We're at the beginning anyways. You'll get A* eventually. It's not a race to be the best."

If only I could follow my own words too... I understand the frustration Nora is feeling.

He was only a few marks off his target. I was also in that same position a month ago.

If only I had won those Cardfights... I could've changed the course of fate itself.

But I was a little off the mark. As a result, I had to pay the price, dragging everyone else alongside me.

Nora shook his head.

"It's... hard for me... to explain..."

"Explain what?"

"...I found those exams so hard... the atmosphere of the exam hall crushed me... all my anxieties were eating away at me while we waited for our grades... I was so sure that I messed everything up and would fail... plus what happened in the war... I just... there's been... so many emotions, and I... I don't know... I feel a little... hollow?"

Nora began to ramble incoherently. I didn't understand what he was saying, but I think the stress had finally gotten to him and broken him.

Yukimura was always the one who'd take Nora's mind off things like revision. He'd talk to Nora and hang out with him. Ever since Yukimura was suspended, Nora hasn't had a friend like that to carry some of his burden.

He's been fighting alone the entire time, especially during the war against D Class when he had to confront his worst fears.

In some ways, Nora was the bravest and strongest out of all of us. However, I just couldn't help him anymore... I didn't know what the right words were to say.

That lamenting face of emptiness was something I was too familiar with. Being tired of life and not wanting to bother anymore was something I felt throughout my middle school life.

...I wonder what I'd say to that past me.

Strangely enough, Yukimura, who was sitting in the corner of the class, was also looking gloomy and melancholy. He just sat on his zabuton, lifeless like a doll.

His shoulders were slumped and his hand was pressed against his head. I snuck towards him and peered over his shoulder to look at his grades.

Japanese: F
5% (13/240)
English: F
2% (3/160)
Math: E-
26% (63/240)
Science: C
49% (117/240)
History: F
4% (10/240)
Vanguard: F
1% (2/200)

Yeah, they were terrible scores... even worse than Mitsuba.

However... his science score was impressive, for Yukimura at least. Last time, he completely bombed science. Now though, he got a respectable C. This much progress in a month is proof that Nora was right long ago.

Yukimura's neighbour, Rinbayashi, had her results on the table for everyone to see. I flinched when I saw what they were.

Japanese: C
50% (120/240)
English: C
50% (80/160)
Math: C
50% (120/240)
Science: C
50% (120/240)
History: C
50% (120/240)
Vanguard: C
50% (100/200)

That's... a really creepy coincidence. To get 50% on all marks... Rinbayashi was more average than I was.

While I looked, she stared back at me from the corner of her eye.

"May I ask you a riddle?" She asked, unexpectedly.

It caught me off guard, but I went with it.

"If you wish."

"There are three simple words that are life changing. What are they?"

Three simple words, huh? I guess any number of phrases would fit this. Such as, "I hate you" and "Go kill yourself". But I don't think that's the answer Rinbayashi has in mind.

A life changing phrase... do they even exist? What would change my life?

Suddenly, a rush of strange phrases popped into my head. "Are we friends?", "Please forgive me", and "I miss you" as examples.

"...I don't have a good answer to that riddle."

Rinbayashi chuckled slightly, pushing her long, silky black hair over her shoulder.

"Neither do I unfortunately. I was asked this question by... someone many years ago. I never got the answer to the riddle. Since then, I've been searching for it."

A nice story, but can't you search for it on Doogle? I didn't want to ruin her spiritual journey, so I left quietly.

I returned back to my seat and sat down. Everyone had dispersed and left as it was the end of the school day.

Yukina was still there though, staring at her grades with a thoughtful face.

"Hey, Yukina-chan. What are three simple words that can change someone's life? It's a riddle."

"Oh? That's an interesting one."

"Yeah. Rinbayashi-san asked me earlier and I... want to know. I want to know the answer too."

"Did she not tell you?"

"Not even she came to the conclusion."

"I see... for me, I think... three words that could change someone's life is... "I love you"."

I love you, huh? Strangely enough, it felt satisfactory. Even if I didn't want the answer to be that.

Deep down, I wanted the answer to be...

"I forgive you."

(Yukimura's POV)

It's just been a whirlwind of events. Everything up until now has been one of the worst months of my life.

First it was Shimada beating me and Sakigamiya. Next it was Kurase pissing me off. Then it was that stupid trial where I nearly got expelled. After it was being suspended and being banned from the football pitch. Plus I had to miss the first round of football prelims to take these midterms. Finally when I took these midterms, they were the worst fucking thing to happen in my life.

Even in science, where I'd tried so hard to learn it, where I'd tried to hard to understand it, and did everything I could to get 80%... I still failed. I still fell short and was unable to reach my goal.

49%... not even 50%. It's just an insult to my intelligence now.

I really am useless at anything else other than sports.

Sure, it might be my highest score yet... but it means nothing because it's not 80%. I needed 80%. I had to get 80%, or else all my hard work and effort was for nothing. I wanted to go to Sakigamiya's apartment so badly...

I just quit studying for everything else and focused purely on science. I put in all that time and effort, tossed my other grades into the bin, and put myself through revision hell that I've never been used to, only to have it chucked back in my face and spat on.

It doesn't matter anymore. The midterms are over. My only chance to get even closer Sakigamiya was gone.

I'll just have to try a different way to get closer to her, then. In my frustration, I snapped my pen in two, and greasy ink was on my fingers.

Fuck this shit.

(Machida POV)

The 1st Year scores and grades had been declassified at the start of June. There was a large spreadsheet on the notice board containing it, and on the school app was a PDF file with the table.

To no one's surprise, the current classes had stayed the same, but a few transfers had been made between classes. A Class had annoyingly regained ground and had 1,000 Cl.

B Class had actually lost Cl... we went down to 610. From the lower classes, only D Class made progress. The other classes struggled to improve.

I swear I'll figure out how this shitty S System works. I'll definitely crush you and your class, Ryouta.

That's why I was absolutely shocked to see an E Class student sit in the top ten of our year.

1) Shimada Kuroshi (A Class)
Japanese: A* 100%
English: A* 100%
Math: A* 100%
Science: A* 100%
History: A* 100%
Vanguard: A* 100%

2) Ryouta Hane (A Class)
Japanese: A* 99%
English: A* 99%
Math: A* 99%
Science: A* 99%
History: A* 99%
Vanguard: A* 99%

3) Senzaki Kasumi (A Class)
Japanese: A* 99%
English: A* 98%
Math: A* 98%
Science: A* 99%
History: A* 99%
Vanguard: A* 99%

4) Shigaisoshi Namie (A Class)
Japanese: A* 97%
English: A* 98%
Math: A* 99%
Science: A* 100%
History: A* 98%
Vanguard: A* 96%

5) Yamamoto Yami (A Class)
Japanese: A* 97%
English: A* 96%
Math: A* 99%
Science: A+ 94%
History: A* 96%
Vanguard: A* 99%

6) Masamoto Manabe
Japanese: A+ 95%
English: A* 98%
Math: A+ 94%
Science: A* 96%
History: A+ 95%
Vanguard: A 93%

7) Yogen Emica (A Class)
Japanese: A* 96%
English: A- 90%
Math: A+ 94%
Science: A 93%
History: A 93%
Vanguard: A+ 94%

8) Nora Takayuki (E Class)
Japanese: A+ 95%
English: A 93%
Math: A+ 95%
Science: A+ 94%
History: A 92%
Vanguard: A 92%

9) Maehara Ryuuji (A Class)
Japanese: A 93%
English: A 93%
Math: A 93%
Science: A 93%
History: A 93%
Vanguard: A 93%

10) Anya Rona (A Class)
Japanese: A 93%
English: A- 91%
Math: A 92%
Science: A 92%
History: A 93%
Vanguard: A 93%

Nora... Takayuki...? Oh, it's that weak-willed feminine one... the one that smells of fear and anxiety.

I remembered crossing paths with him after-school in that dumb coalition revision session.

He got in my way, and he timidly apologised. Such weakness is disgusting.

Wait... hang on... he beat the entirety of B Class...

Ha ha... no way. There's no way Drachma Red scum could beat all the classes and only lose to seven students... all from A Class.

In other words, out of 125 students... heh, he beat 117 of us.

Impossible...

It's impossible...

It's absolutely, definitely impossible!

They're lazy, undeserving, idle people that never put any effort into anything.

So how the fuck did this pansy get such a high score...?!

It's even higher than mine, for fucks sake... and I got the highest in B Class, beating out that damn Ichinose by a literal point in each subject.

There's no way... he must've cheated, he must have! How else did that E Class shit-head get such a high score?!

That piece of garbage... how dare he usurp all of my class... he's in E Class, so he should stand in line and act like it... he doesn't deserve the right to score so god damn high...

I looked at my results.

Japanese: A
English: B+
Math: B+
Science: A-
History: A
Vanguard: A+

Ugh! This motherfucker! Die! Die! Die!

Why couldn't he have scored shit like all the other rejects in this school?!

Why'd he have to go ahead and get a good score?!

Is he mocking us, getting such a high score and being in E Class?!

Is he you making a shitty statement like that 3rd Year who's stirring up drama against those that are more powerful than him?!

If so, then he's invoking the wrong person's wrath...

What is the purpose of doing this? Didn't he learn by the school that trash should act like trash?

No... of course he didn't. E Class students are too stupid to understand that.

It's up to us in B Class to remind him everyday where he stands in this hierarchy...

I don't give a fuck if he's irrelevant to my cause... because he scored higher than me, I'll be sure to thoroughly crush his spirits.

I'll make him learn his fucking place... and force him to start acting like the E Class scum he is, that stupid boy.

I hate him!

Nora Takayuki, I fucking hate him!

He should've never stepped out of line!

Because of him, I have to clean up after his mess!

Just wait for the finals... I'm going to defeat him once and for all.

I won't let him get away with beating my class like this.

(Ryouta's POV)

When we all received our reports, we were definitely shocked at who had gotten the highest grades.

Shimada Kuroshi. A Class's problem child.

While usually in class, he'd score abysmally... somehow, in the midterms, he turned it around and... he got 100% on everything. Every last paper. Every last subject.

I was beaten out by one or two marks I missed. I didn't understand how Shimada could change from being the worst in A Class to being the best.

He looked so conceited and cocky. I hated his vanity, but even I had to admit it was impressive the way he became the best at the midterms.

That's why I went ahead and congratulated him and boosted his ego. Things like pride will be his downfall one day.

Even though I would like him to get removed from our class, like everyone else, we might have to stick with him for a little longer because of his midterm scores.

As leader, I should come up with a way to deal with Shimada's troublesome personality. I haven't come up with a good answer yet, but there was a vague idea I had.

But it involved backstabbing a classmate and gravely injuring another student. I don't think that would be the right thing to do.

Regardless, thanks to everyone's hard work on the midterms, we managed to pull ourselves back to 1,000 Class Points.

That much I was thankful for. We were back at the starting line, and could only go up from here.