Chapter 90:

086 – Step Up (3)

Rainbow of the Horizon

A/N: A few of the chapters starting from here may have a weird order of timeline, so I will preface here that the dates may jump back or forward.

▪ ▪ ▪

‹Ginji›

What in the world. Some guy in my class is having a very good day and a very bright smile uncharacteristically. Actually, some couple in my class is having a very good day and a very bright smile on their mugs, although the guy's smile is very uncharacteristic.

Please forgive my redundancy.

But still, it is not every day that you see Gin with such a bright face while he is not the gloomy kiddo from his old memories anymore. Even I am not able to pull such a long-lasting smile like that since I am someone who laughs in ephemeral and reverts back to my neutral expression.

I have my suspicion, but it's very unlikely. For a fact, I knew that Gin accompanied Ringo to her admission exam in CCI yesterday, but that just doesn't seem so accurate to their current mood right now. I am pretty sure that her exam results ought to be announced in a later date. Then the only thing that I can think of is something unrelated to the event yesterday.

…

Don't tell me Gin actually prop-

‹Can you please don't add more to the already overused topic of his marriage prospects?›

Did something happen, Narrator? No response, I see.

"Hey, hey. What do you think those two are grinning about?" Yui asked after suddenly appearing beside my desk.

"What, you're concerned?"

"Not really, and I'm not implying anything okay? What about you? You seem to be staring at them."

"Well, I'm a bit concerned."

"With who? With Ringo?" she suspiciously stared at me.

"How did you even got to that conclusion? Are you jealous?"

"Nope, nooope," she raised her head slightly with a proud look.

"Hey, that somehow hurts, you know."

"Ehhhh…

Anyway, I got my examination date already. How about you?"

"I got it long ago. Mine's on Sunday…"

"Woah. You're going to take exams here for three days then you'll go to Ryhan for your entrance exam… That sucks!"

"Sure is…"

"What did you choose for your courses, then?"

"Wow, we all applied last September and we haven't even asked each other that?"

"Well… you made your move in October."

"Let's not bring that up, shall we."

"Course. Co-u-r-ses!"

"Sure, sure…"

Before I even say anything about the courses I chose, I feel like I owe you some explanation to some things since the author fails to explain the little things that ought to be mentioned. Pretty much, Cotona State University is a school located in Ryhan which is the capital city of Cotona. It's not necessarily exclusive for college as they also follow the junior and senior high school system although I am yet to see it instead of clinging to verbal facts. That however is not of my concern as I am aiming to be accepted there as a freshman in college. The application enabled us to choose three courses that are respectively ordered based on an applicant's priority. So then…

"Let's see… Fine Arts, Multimedia, and Architecture."

"Ohh? Then we might get the same lecture if we get admitted! Advertising Arts is my first choice!"

"You're too optimistic, miss."

"Then my second and third choice is CA and…

Actually, that's all since I changed my choices."

"Ehhhh…"

And surprisingly, CSU gave the applicants an option to change our chosen courses to others once only for one time. The only guess I have is probably because of how early their start of application was.

But with that, I began my rather needless inquiry.

"Why did you change, though?"

"Sir Sans motivated me after pointing out the things I did in vectors, and it just so happened that I like making pastries! I have gotten a good image of what I do too."

"You know, you could at least let me taste them when you're going to experiment. The HE Room is always usable, you know."

"Wait, why did our topic suddenly shift to me making sweets?"

"Huh, I may just praise you, y'know."

"…

You're seriously a smooth talker…"

She prompted to come back to her seat after turning back and gave me a wave with her slender hand.

"…"

"I'm reviewing my butt off but I don't even know how the exam will be when it comes down to the day."

"Maaaan… This will suck…"

I wondered if ten or twenty minutes have passed upon chatting quite a long one with Yui. I then unwittingly turned my head and the two stooges in the back are still having an annoying face.

"Hey…! This isn't the happiest place on Earth…!!"

I screamed, which was then followed by several patches of laughter throughout the room.

▪ ▪ ▪

February 2.

You know, there is one certain advantage in (not) my memories that I can actually think of now that I have just opened my eyes after accomplishing nine hours of slumber. Gin's transmission of memories is rather amazing. Many months ago, I was just a novice at cooking but I was able to utilize the memories of a sous chef and quickly adapted to it; enabling me to work under pressure back in the mini branch.

But that's just an instance of it as what I am thinking about is how my mind thinks I can drive a vehicle. I am quite confident that I can be able to drive after several times of handling the wheel with how my head adapts fast to Gin's muscle memory. The only problem is that it will take me quite some time before even managing to obtain a driver's license.

It would be so helpful if I had thought of it in advance as it will really help me to conveniently travel to CSU without worrying about public commute. But since it is Sunday today, I am sure that traffic won't be as bad and I would estimate a 30-45 minutes of travel from here to Ryhan in the expressway.

But then again, I don't really know if it would matter much since I haven't really bothered comparing the gasoline's price to train's fare monthly. And I said that because there is currently a train station that is being built beside a mall here in Ginga, and that will really be a game-changer as I hope that they had insights about how high the flood can go in this town.

That's still for a few months, however. So the only thing I can do is walk a short one in the nearest bus station just to realize that I am once again later than the other two that will be with me to CSU.

It has been around four months since I saw them, and Iura is doing just fine. But what in the world happened to the other guy…?

"Oi, Nico… How did you end up losing your chin?"

Don't get me wrong with those words, though. I am pretty sure that Nico gained more weight from the last time I saw him. But honestly speaking, he has gone a little overweight from the looks of it.

Actually, should it be gaining more chins?

"Ahh, well… After I went to your school's Open Event, I kinda missed home cooking so I ate a lot."

"Huh. You do long distance biking, right? Did you stop?"

Iura chipped in, "I also got myself a bike but he just doesn't have a time for some reason."

"Tch. Get those biceps out if you want a girl to fall for you, you gamer!"

"That's not it, you douche!"

"Really? Then let’s step out on Saturday and race me on your pedals."

"Ohh. You also got a bike too?"

"I'll be on foot."

They stared blankly with continuous blinking.

"Does Blue Ink have a track and field club?" asked Iura.

"Nah. I just want to overtake Nico by running."

And of course, doubts were written on their faces as they climbed on the bus.

~ ~ ~

Quite surprisingly, this is actually the first time that I will be going to Ryhan on my own because I only come here either with my parents or my sister. Another thing is that I don't really go out of the house if it's not necessary. But this is really not the first time that I will be going to CSU. The only thing is that I haven't walked the whole of the utterly big campus so I don't actually know where exactly is the examination building I'm going to.

Actually, I can't even remember why I went there prior to this.

But Ryhan is still quite lively even at a Sunday. We just got off in a stop that is very close to (one of) the entrance/s of the university, and there are a lot of people going in and out of the campus that doesn't seem like students. That however is understandable because our exam is scheduled for the afternoon batch that will start at 1pm.

Right after getting to the open grounds of the college, we are immediately greeted by a lengthy building on our left and an occupied roofed sports court to our right. Indeed, the three of us looked like ants with the monstrosity of structures here that we don't even see back in Ginga.

It's surprising to see a number of students here even in a Sunday, though. We even recognized a few alumni of Mykes here.

Surprisingly, it was not Nico's stomach that rumbled but mine. Wordless, we agreed to look around if there is an open food stall somewhere in the campus before heading out on our designated rooms since we of course have different courses to pursue. It just so happened that a noodle shop that was not under the university's ownership is open in a not so populated day. The shop was located under one of the many trees here so there was an ample amount of shade, making it quite an open and windy shop.

"I'll have one spicy fried noodles," Iura started on the shopkeeper.

As usual, he is still a sucker for spicy food.

"I'll have an ordinary one," Nico in turn timidly spoke.

The guy then began nudging me with his elbow after plainly standing in front of the shop while I am still looking on the abundance of menu.

"I'll have three bowls of ordinary fried noodles then I'll choose beef as my extra topping."

The other two's eyes slightly ejected from their sockets. It was a given that the fried noodles that we chose were one of the cheapest of their menu, but to order an addition of beef as a topping just defeated the purpose of practicality.

In the midst of their shock, the vendor flashed a cunning glare and said:

"Say no more."

"Hey! You're no different to me, then!"

"No. Our only difference is our metabolism."

"I know that you're a XL coffee drinker, but I never knew you became such a big eater!"

"I've done a lot of cooking after getting out of first year, but the amount I eat is still not very proportional to the amount I cook.

And I just felt like splurging a bit since I can't think of where I'll use my savings.

…And that I shall remember this meal if I fail the exam."

"What, are you telling me that you still use your old, janky phone?"

"I switched just this December but I got the money back through commissions."

"Man… if only Mykes is good enough to let us establish something commercial even if a little…"

I guess being a business management student like Iura can't accept how they are not able to turn funds to profits because they don't have either of the two in Mykes. That's just how much he complains in our group chat.

"I'll share some of my beef to ease up your beef with that school."

"Thanks. That will help a lot."

"What about me?" Nico shamelessly asked.

"I'll give you some if you will promise me to run from here to home."

"What's with that unreal condition?!"

"I can do that, though."

"Are you really Ginji?!"

"…

Pfft… I guess I'm not entirely me."

They took it as a joke, but they took hint of a pinch of seriousness from my tone.

But after a hefty lunch, we separated ways and looked for our examination building in this rather foreign place. I came back to the where the court is and turned the other way opposite from the campus's entrance and found myself in front of a barricaded zone of the school where construction perhaps is ongoing after a hundred steps.

At this point, I already have no idea where I should go, but then I saw students coming out of the building beside the site and found that there is a sneaky passage towards another open space of the university. I then walked through some kind of a park and thoroughly looked at the names of the buildings I walked past.

With all the walking—maybe more than a thousand steps—that I did, I found myself realizing that I have burned all the calories from the noodles, and I walked literally at the opposite end of the campus where I found an outrageously long building.

Finally I found the room where I am supposed to go and saw that there are a lot of people standing in front of it. I approached the crowd and saw that the door has a paper posted on it where names are listed based on the first choice of our courses, and they are all in Fine Arts. Out of common sense, I immediately crouched down and looked on the lower half of the list as my surname starts in letter S which is also in the latter half of the alphabet. And would you look at that, I went to the right place.

Minutes after that, the proctor climbed up the stairs and prompted us to take our seats inside based on the seat number encoded in the sheet.

Without waiting for any late applicants, the proctor started the two-hour time limit and our test booklets were then given to us along with an answer sheet that is apparently going to be processed through a machine, which I honestly don't trust much amidst knowing its efficiency.

My heart however pounded hard once my fingertips touched the booklet. I was extremely unsure of what is going to be inside this booklet, and if this will lead to my failure to this examination. Knowing that I have no choice to do anything apart from it, I opened the test booklet slowly…

(!)

And it showed that the questions are inclined to the course.

The room was extremely quiet, but my arms almost let out a sound after pumping fists in secret from my seat.

One hour and forty-two minutes later, I passed my answer sheet.

I was confident that I was able to answer all of them, but what I was anxious of is how much items were actually correct. Truly, I was still afraid that I still might fail the exam.

~ ~ ~

I found out that I was the first out of us three to finish our exam, and so I sat in the covered court watching what could be the university delegates in basketball while I occasionally catch the ball when it went to where I am, which was definitely as far as a half-court, and sometimes throw it towards the backboard of the ring hoping that it will go in. Unfortunately, my attempts were all for naught.

Minutes after those unsuccessful tries, I saw Nico and Iura walking in a stagger with already haggard expressions in contrast to our lively faces back in the station.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to take away some of Nico's weight; and that, I teased him while empathizing with their hardship and stress. And speaking of stress comes stress eating for all of us, as we stopped by a fast-food restaurant literally beside the entrance of the university and got ourselves two chicken sandwiches each. We may have been worried of our results, but we came home with our stomachs full.

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March 10.

It really has been a month of anxiety just trying to patiently wait for the results of our examination. The scheduled exams are still ongoing, but because we are one of the earliest to take them, we will receive our results earlier than the others.

It felt like an eternity just waiting for lunch, as this is one of the only times in the school where the smartphone restriction/hack is disabled.

And so I moved my spoon rapidly without even waiting for Yui to finish her lunch while we are thankfully the only one on the rooftop. I immediately pulled out my phone and jumped to CSU's site to find where the results are. In no time, I found a document file containing the list of passers, in which I quickly downloaded and opened with haste.

I thought I was inside the Room of Reality which I have never entered in my whole life, but the 48 seconds of scrolling to so many names felt like a whole day as I tried to, and have found my name somewhere that is almost at the end of the pages.

"YEEESSSSSS…!!!!!"

I immediately shot up and shouted from the end of my throat.

But then, I was overwhelmed by the result that I kind of forgot that the girl beside me also took her exam last month. She immediately snatched my phone and also scrolled with widely peeled eyes.

It was when her face brightened up that I knew that she also passed. She looked at me with a bright expression of delight and jumped to me with her open arms eventually wrapping to me.

"…!"

"Yes…! We passed, Ginji…!!!! Yes! Yes!!"

I lost the opportunity to make her realize what she is actually doing to me, as I also felt extremely awkward and bashfully stayed silent.

But a few seconds later, she finally realized what she just did and pushed herself to turn back. I may equally be as flustered as she is, but I can clearly see that her ears are turning red without even facing me.

"S-S-Sorry… I was just so happy that I kinda did that…"

"G-Geez…

You're going to make me imply stuff if you do things like that so easily…!"

"S-Sorry…!"

"Why are you even sorry, young miss?! It's not like I died, you know?!

No, I take that back! I actually died from fluff!"

"Ahhh…! You're reading too much manga as always!

And why are we still shouting, anyways?!"

"I don't know, but I can't stop! I'm just so happy for two reasons!"

"Why are you so happy for that…?!"

"Just ignore that! You're the reason for this anyway!"

"Waaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh…!”