Chapter 6: Is it possible to talk about friendship after the exam?

“Did you really try your best?”

“What are you saying sis? Of course I did!”

She smirked. “Really?”

I gasped for breath. My heart started beating intensely, desperately pumping blood to my mind to keep it from fading into nothingness. What about those words caused me such a dramatic reaction? I couldn’t bear it, and an overwhelming surge of emotion overtook me.

I bawled.

She looked down at me with her emotionless expression, before turning around and leaving into the shadows. I remember moments from years ago when she was a cheerful girl, pulling me by the hand and showing me her world of flowers behind the schoolground. Why did she change? I don’t understand! I don’t!

“GAH!”

I must’ve fallen asleep after the test, I thought as I rubbed my eyes.

“Oh shoot!” I didn’t see the message that Tomoko sent after the exam. I think I was too mentally exhausted to continue after that labyrinth escape. It was a pleasant surprise to see that I wasn’t physically fatigued at all when I came back from the virtual world, despite completely exhausting myself back there.

It hasn’t even been twenty minutes since Tomoko sent that message… Did I sleep or did I just lose conscience? I’m pretty certain they’re still up there right now.

I start making my way up to Tomoko’s room.

I wonder how Akio did, since he’s not much of a runner himself. That labyrinth was just as gigantic as we anticipated it to be, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have to run quite a bit. To be completely honest, there wasn’t as much running as there was solving problems and gliding through rivers. I was quite tempted to take a wrong turn just to take another ride down a river, the thrill would’ve been worth the wasted time.

I’ve never been together with friends at this hour, and a little bit of excitement was building up in me as I got off the elevator and walked towards the door.

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After I left the virtual world, I took the initiative to gather everyone to my room.

A few hours ago, I found myself in a dark labyrinth, with multiple anonymous character profiles running around beside me.

I might not have shown it, but I recognize that Tomoki has been making an effort to befriend me. It’s not that I’m not happy to finally be with her again, it’s that I have grown to be rather serious, and I don’t want to affect her with my attitude. As the president of the student council and the leader of two clubs, I developed a mature, austere attitude towards my classmates and club members to maintain order. We might just be a student-led council, but our decisions still affect the entire school. I made sure my choices were the best choices I could’ve made for my peers.

Unfortunately for me, this paved way for people to gain a common misconception of my character, that I’m condescendingly cold towards people. It’s the opposite, I actually enjoy their presence. However, I just don’t support immature behaviour, which is the main reason I can’t help but shake my head whenever I’m around Jisen, who probably stopped maturing when he reached the age of ten.

*crunch*

I was surprised to find Tomoki in the labyrinth. I haven’t really had the opportunity to approach her with casual topics, it’s more awkward suddenly having to meet with a twin sister you’ve completely forgotten about than I had anticipated. What hobbies does she have now? What extent has she honed her academic skills? If I cannot even figure that out by myself, how would I ever qualify to be her sibling?

I have to say, I was very happy to learn that she was a fast runner. My running pace is laughable, even more so for a boy.

*crunch*

I could tell from the way the profile was running that it was her, and I ditched my previous plans and followed her as soon as I did. I was determined to follow her until the end. Though she surprised me with her speed on a few of the questions, I was barely able to follow through.

It’s impossible to look at the answers of other students, but it was possible to view what question they were on. I’m not sure why that exists as a feature. The pressure of knowing other students are ahead of you on a test can be immense, hearing them flip papers when you’re stuck on page one can be rough. Not that I’ve ever experienced that pressure, not until today, that is.

Not that she’ll know, but I was able to escape the labyrinth one second before her. I would be ashamed to associate with her if I was dumber than her; I’d be feeling too full of myself to believe I was even qualified.

It’s a stupid reason to worry myself on, but I’m relieved to have crossed the bridge that had made me feel so uneasy.

*crunch*

M… They don’t taste like the ones back home, but potato chips are always the best!

Everyone’s going to arrive one after another now, I better clean this place up a little. I proceeded to toss a few potato chip bags into the trash bin.

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*bling* *bling*

“Good of you to show up, where were you?” I grinned as Katsu glanced into my dorm. Everyone else had already gathered, and were busy talking about the exam.

“How do you think it worked Toshiro? I was so sure it was water, water!” Maya consulted.

Toshiro shrugged. “Not sure. The technical mechanics of this virtual world are beyond me. The treasure chests were very well designed too.”

“Oh look it’s Katsu, haiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.” Maya smiled as she waved excitedly at me.

Katsu awkwardly waved back, likely unsure what the correct response to an elongated greeting like that was.

“They really threw in some tough problems for us, I couldn’t figure out the last five math questions no matter how hard I tried.” Tomoki remarked.

“Who cares? Let’s just see how many of you I beat! Especially you Tomoko!” Jisen looked like he couldn’t wait to rub it in our faces how well he did.

I shook my head. “Sigh, unfortunately for you, it’s bad manners to ask for leaderboard rankings. I think the school kept it anonymous for that reason.”

“Well- uh- so? We can still discuss parts of how we did right? We all escaped the labyrinth right?”

“I- didn’t make it…” Akio raised his hand. It seems my worries were on point.

“I barely made it last minute,” Tomoki raised her hand.

“Me too.” Toshiro followed.

“Me THREE!” Maya cheered.

“Luckily, I also barely managed to escape,” I added.

“No way… we all cut it so close? I finished in the last ten seconds.” Jisen shockedly admitted. “What about you Katsu?”

“Huh? Oh yeah. I managed to find my way out in the end.”

Katsu looks awfully relaxed. I don’t show it, but he can be unnerving sometimes. Not that he’s shown a speck of maturity or intelligence ever. His reasonings are all flawed and he easily falls into other people’s traps.

“Katsu, look over there!” Tomoki yelled.

“Where?”

WHACK. I rolled my eyes as her plastic cup was flung right onto Katsu’s forehead when he turned back around. It was this easy for him to become a target of teasing for Tomoki.

It can’t be helped, students this age find these occurrences funny, which is supported by the wave of roaring laughter that followed suit. Tomoki was already tearing up in laughter. Even Akio giggled.

“Oh come on, Akio you too?”

“I-I’m sorry Katsu-kun, that was just t-too funny. Y-you really need to pay more attention sometimes, okay?”

“I suppose,” Katsu muttered as he scratched his head.

The more I matured, the more wary I got. I can’t shake off this weird feeling I get from Katsu, despite him making it painfully clear to me that he hasn’t got a shred of maturity or intelligence.
I really should learn to put my guard down sometimes, doubting people was the reason I had so few friends in the first place. I haven’t scolded anyone here for their immaturity, not even Jisen, because I wanted to change myself in high school.

My classmates had never treated me as one of their own kind, as if my existence was on a higher level than theirs. I was a different kind of outcast. The type that’s looked up to, not down upon.

To be honest, it really doesn’t feel that much better.

“Oh oh! What if we shared how many gold coins we got for two chests of someone else’s picking? We’re not sharing everything, but how about a little bit because we’re friends?” Tomoki excitedly shared the idea that just came to her mind.

“I suppose that can’t hurt,” Toshiro responded.

“Alright, someone give me two chests first, then I’ll give Tomoko the same two.”

“Alright Jisen, how many gold coins did you collect for Physics and Biology?”

“Hehehe, thirty-eight each!” Jisen said proudly.

That’s a shame, even Tomoki did better than that.

“What about you Tomoko?”

“Fifty from physics and thirty-eight from biology.” I shrugged.

“FIFTY? HOW? The last three would’ve taken me too long…” Jisen twiddled his fingers as he shrank into a corner of the room.

“Fifty?” Tomoki glanced at me with a curious look.

“What’s with that look?”

“N-nothing.” Tomoki glanced away.

Well, it’s only natural for her to be surprised, I did the same amount of questions she did.

“The four coin questions were too hard for me…” Katsu muttered.

Tomoki nodded, “but the feather question was pretty easy.”

“Yeah, the equations for that were simple.” Katsu said as he scratched his head.

“Simple?”

“Oh. I mean they were simple, but I couldn’t figure out how to use them properly, so I decided to skip it.”

“But we were not allowed to skip questions, so if you didn’t know how to solve a problem, wouldn’t you have had to end your collection time there?” Akio asked.

“Yeah, I ended there,” Katsu nodded as he flipped open his phone again.

I nodded along too. Despite Question 18 being one of the longer questions, having simplified numbers really did make that problem much easier than it would’ve been.

“I guess we can just make those two chests our default chests, Toshiro how did you do?” I asked after I realized I was the next in line to ask next.

“Not that bad, thirty-four for both. Neither subject was my strong suit.”

“What even is your strong suit?”

“I’m not sure actually. I just study everything… oh no… am I not proficient in any subject then…” Toshiro, upon realizing this, also backed into a corner while muttering gibberish resembling jumbled historical events.

Toshiro, you have to ask someone else before retreating, I thought as I shook my head. I suppose I’ll continue for him.

“Maya, was it fun for you?”

“It WAS! I got to ride the equivalent of water slides! Oh! I got fifty and forty-two. I couldn’t finish the last two biology questions, and the second last one was so easy too…” Maya started punching one of my couch pillows out of frustration. At least ask for my permission before you start breaking my stuff…

Maya’s somehow smarter than all of us despite being immature. Well, if acting that way makes her happy, I’m not going to criticise her. Besides, it’s typically alright for girls to act that way. Boys on the other hand…

“I was this close…” Jisen was rolling around the ground off to the side while mumbling.

Anyways.

“Akioooooooo. How’d you do???” Maya looked at Akio with puppy eyes. I try, but I can’t find any meaning in Maya’s actions.

“U-uh, just thirty-four and thirty, not as well as you guys.”

“It’s okay Akio, it’s nothing to feel down about.” Maya hugged Akio.

“Wha-wha-wha??” Akio flustered in surprise. However, nobody else was surprised.

“It’s okay Akio, don’t be shy around me! We’re both girls, right?”

“Wha-? That’s no reason to hug people out of nowhere?” Akio responded instantly, before freezing up completely. “H-h-how did you figure out I was a girl Maya? Oh no… now everyone knows…”

“Don’t worry Akio, I’m pretty sure we all know that already.” Tomoki smiled as she looked around the room.

“W-w-why didn’t you guys say anything?”

“Well I thought you had a reason for hiding it, so I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. Of course Maya doesn’t seem to care, sorry about her.”

“K-katsu-kun, you too?”

Katsu nodded. “I did treat you like I would any guy though, not that it helped your anxiety.”

“N-no I’m always like this… uuuwaaaahhhh you guys…” Akio hid his- no, her flustered face. “K-keep it secret okay guys? Nobody was supposed to know this…”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything else, it’s not like we don’t want to know why or anything!” Katsu assured jokingly.

“T-thanks Katsu-kun…”

That was a joke Akio, we’re all very curious right now.

“Um… Alright!” Akio stood up. “Since I trust you all to keep this a secret, can you all address me by my first name when we’re alone?”

“Sure?”

“Haru.”

“Huh?”

“Haru. I registered at this school under Haruki, but my real name is Haru. I haven’t really been friends with anyone, boys or girls, until now, maybe that’s why my cover was blown so easily… I was homeschooled you see, and my parents are very wealthy.”

“Homeschooled?” Katsu asked. I had the same question. I thought you had to be top in a class to be eligible for this school.

“Yes. My parents must’ve talked with the school officials somehow, because I was let in here… When I was taught by my private tutors… it wasn’t very fun… it was… lonely.” Haru choked a little on those last few words, but she attempted to restrain herself.

We couldn’t find the right words to compromise the situation, and we fell silent. I could feel Haru’s reminiscent emotions through her words, which struck me deep down somewhere as well.

“B-but don’t worry! All of you have been really nice to me the past few days, and I feel like I’ve actually made some friends, I have never been this happy!” Haru was tearing up, but she was smiling.

“Haru, you can trust us to be your friends right? If you can, then there’s no need to be emotional right? We’re here to have fun!” I felt like I had to say something to break the tension, as I still wanted to know why Haru had to pretend to be a boy until now.

But it seems the time for that has already passed.

“You’re right Tomoko!” Haru wiped her eyes dry. “S-so let’s move on shall we? Katsu-kun, how many gold coins did you collect from the two treasure chests?”

“Oh! Uh… I think thirty each? No, thirty from the Biology chest and thirty-eight from the Physics chest. I probably didn’t do as well as you did on the other ones though, Ha… Haru.”

“I-I see, i-it’s okay…”

“It is? Oh good. Tomoki! You haven’t told us your results yet, how’d you do?”

“Um… I got…” Tomoki looked like she was in an internal struggle. Is it still because of me?

“... the same as Tomoko.”

“Wowww you two would really work well together huh? Same results too!” Maya exclaimed.

“Yeah… You wouldn’t happen to know anything about this coincidence, would you?” Tomoki tried to phrase the question as a threat, but her eyes appeared frail and lacked any signs of animosity.

I denied it. “No, none at all.”

“Hm… I see.” Tomoki relaxed a little, but continued thinking about it.

Tomoki doesn’t need to know about what I did during the exam. I just needed more information to be able to reach out to her, and I keep reminding myself that my actions were justified.

“It’s getting late, why don’t we call it a day and get some rest?” I proposed as I stuffed away my empty bag of chips.

It’s been a long day. We’ve all gathered some information from each other. The most we can do is trust each other as friends, there’s no reason not to. Since our group represents almost a third of the class, so if we work together, we can probably make the big decisions for upcoming battles between classes. We’ll need to see what our class standing is after this exam, and plan accordingly. I might have a lot of leadership experience, but I’m not going to take the responsibility of leading the class.

I’m not good at gaining the trust of large masses of people, I’m more fit to be part of the student council, where most of the decisions are made by a small group.

I think the enthusiastic Chikako is probably capable of leading our class. I’ll just contribute as much as I can individually.

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“Katsu-kun?”

“Yes?”

“I know it’s late but… C-can you come with me to my room for a little bit? I have some things I want to tell you.”

“I-uh-what???”

After leaving Tomoko’s room, Akio and I went down to the fifth floor, where we parted ways with Tomoki. It feels more natural calling Akio as Akio, but I guess I’ll start calling him Haru now. There was literally no need to expose him before now, but Maya is just too unpredictable. Now I have to deal with a Haru that’s even more self-conscious and nervous than Akio. I’ve been convincing myself that she was a guy to make sure I act normally, but I’m nervous too!

Also, now that it’s made clear she’s a girl, there’s even more reason I can’t accept her offer. I’ve never been in a girl’s room before and it’s probably just rude.

“N-no! Don’t take this the wrong way, I just want to tell you a bit more about myself.”

“Ohhhhhh, that makes me feel a lot better, let’s go!” At the end of the day, do I have any reason NOT to go?

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“If we’re to get straight to the point, why are you pretending to be a boy Aki- sorry Haru?”

Haru sighed, as she poured some tea for the two of us and took a sip out of her cup.

“I told you my parents somehow got me into this school right?”

“It’s amazing, you were homeschooled, yet you’re here.”

“Yeah. I haven’t interacted with anyone my age before, except during large family meetings. I wasn’t even allowed to have fun with anyone because of the role I had to play. But as rich and proud as my parents were, isolating me from the entire world for fifteen years, they wanted me to enrol here. Honestly, I still can’t figure out why they sent me here, I could just have my private tutors teach me the curriculum.”

“Maybe this school holds more power in society than we realize?”

“That could be true. It could grant me a future even greater than what they themselves could’ve given me. But it doesn’t make any sense, they’re so wealthy, what can this school possibly give me that they couldn’t? No, I’m not mad about them sending me here, I’m frustrated that they kept me holed up alone for fifteen whole years.”

Haru’s emotions showed on her face.

“I had always dreamed of making friends and going to school with them, but when I was actually given the opportunity I was actually frightened. I didn’t know how to interact properly with kids my age. Is formal etiquette required? What if the boys didn’t want to be my friend? What if I’m made fun of? You can laugh at me, but I wanted to escape those thoughts. And so, I came up with the idea of giving myself a different identity. I know how girls think, but I don’t know how boys think. So I thought, if I were a boy, wouldn’t it be that much easier to befriend everybody? That was the only request I had for attending this school. For me to register as someone else. That way, if I messed up my introductions, I might’ve been able to redo them as myself. Just in case I messed up…”

“Were you at least taught that boys weren’t as bashful as you?” She can play a boy pretty convincingly, but her little actions have sold her out to her friend group.

“I thought it was normal for boys to be shy, is it not?”

“Well…” She’s not wrong. There are definitely boys who are shy.

“But wait a second, why are you only telling me this? Surely you don’t think too highly of me do you?”

Haru’s face flushed pink. “N-n-n-n-n-no, I just… uh…” She took a deep breath and patted her chest. Is this how princesses calm themselves? “I felt something in you that was kind-hearted and trustworthy.”

“Kind? Surely not right? I’m just a lazy phone addict and I’m rude sometimes too.”

“You always have good intentions towards our friend group. But that’s not all, I sense something else from you.”

“Huh!? Were we ever close enough for you to sense something?”

“C-close? Wha-? N-no! I-I don’t know what it is, but I-I just instinctively feel safe around you, and that you’re… different.”

I gulped. Is this going where I think it’s going? No, I must keep my composure. “Of course! For instance, my name is different!”

“Tsuno Katsu.”

“YES?” I gulped again.

Haru Akio inhaled a large breath of air.

“Would you… please help me?”

The most formal bow I had ever received.

“Hu-huh??”

“I want to… learn more about this school and its background.”

“Sure! We can do that! Just stop bowing! I can’t take it anymore!” I was not taught how to respond to a bow, but I know for sure I am nowhere near qualified to receive such formalities.

“But o-of course it’ll benefit you too, Katsu-kun! Figuring out the school’s true purpose and social standing can give us hints on how to succeed ourselves too!”

“What?”

“Well, um, you see… If we understand how the system works, won’t it make it easier for us to graduate with flying colors?”

“I suppose… So you’re suggesting we work together?”

Haru nodded furiously.

“I see.” This had developed most interestingly. I was expecting a confession back there, but I’m relieved I was wrong. I was never taught how to reply to one, and I would’ve messed up everything.

“Why is it just limited to us two?”

“It’s easier to carry out strategies when less people are informed of the true purpose.” Haru recited.

“Where did you learn that from?”

“I-I am a good strategist! I may not look it but I was taught everything important! I’ve read a lot of books!”

I’ve had my own suspicions on the true nature of this school, good or bad. I just wanted to learn more about it. Why does it offer an unnaturally accelerated program to only top students? Just how important are the leaderboard ratings to our futures?

“Since our academic levels are around the same, w-won’t you help me?”

Something doesn’t feel right. If she’s been tutored by the best of the best, how come I, a slacker, am even coming close to how well she’s doing?

“Y-you’re wondering why I’m only performing around average, despite being taught everything… right?”

How did she know? Was it the action of furrowing my eyebrows that gave it away?

“I-I’m sorry! I needed a way to get closer to you… so I… intentionally… scored lower… on the name game…”

I thought so.

“No worries, I’m looking forward to it.”

“W-wait what? Really? It was so sudden though, are you sure?”

“Of course!”

Did she really think she needed to set this atmosphere up just to get me to join forces with her? This whole idea already sounds incredibly fun, there is no reason for me not to accept the offer.

In fact, we think very similarly.

In this world, there’s ever prominent competition. Winner or loser. There are only two choices. However, I would rather win consistently over time, even if it means intentionally losing a few times to keep opponents interested long-term. Haru thinks the same way as I do.

“But when will we ever need to discuss matters with just the two of us?”

Haru looked straight at me with a serious expression that hid a hint of uneasiness.

“In the upcoming class battle that decides the final class standings for the month.”