After the students returned to AN High, it happened to be a Saturday-Sunday weekend, giving them a stretch of time after the special exam to relax and unwind.
But come Monday everyone still had to report back, formally entering the third term of the school year, and Yukio was still not entirely used to it.
Having three terms in one academic year was very different from the two-semester system back in his hometown, yet the vacation schedule made it easy to accept—at least it meant three long breaks.
That was a privilege only students enjoyed; once you grew up and entered society, winter and summer vacations existed only in dreams—unless you became a teacher.
The first period was still Sakagami's homeroom meeting. Sakagami wore his usual beaming expression; he was in such a great mood he couldn't stop smiling.
When the students had first met him he'd looked rather gloomy, but ever since the class had risen to A his face grinned like a chrysanthemum every day.
"Ahem. First, congratulations on taking first place in the camp special exam."
"That said, there are matters the school must punish. Komiya, Kondo, Nomura… the six of you—pranks have to have limits, you know?"
"Other classes lodged complaints, and the school verified through surveillance that on the final day of the exam you maliciously damaged personal property."
"In the end it falls under student disputes, so it's been handed to the student council for investigation and they've decided to issue each of you a major demerit. Accumulate two of those and you face expulsion."
Sakagami sounded terribly serious, yet he kept smiling as though unconcerned. He even let a chuckle slip when he said handed to the student council.
Who didn't know that the student council was now run by Yukio? Having it handled by the council was no different from letting Yukio himself handle it—of course Sakagami had to laugh.
That was simply how much power the Student Council wielded: any internal student dispute was tossed to them, and the school had no way to intervene.
With even the homeroom teacher like this, the six singled-out students felt no pressure at all.
"Hahaha, don't worry, Sakagami-sensei, there won't be a next time!"
"Yeah, Yukio-san already told us—even if the school catches us it's only a demerit. Next time it happens we'll rotate—let someone else have a turn!"
"Hahaha! Think about it—by the time we graduate third year, will every single one of us have a major demerit on record?"
"That'd be amazing! A class where everyone has one big demerit, yet we graduate three years straight in Class A—the other classes would die of rage! Hahaha!"
Boisterous laughter filled Yukio's classroom again; even Sakagami didn't stop it, choosing instead to bask in that victor's joy.
Yukio laughed along, but thoughts flickered through his mind: the school had only dumped the water-in-the-shoe-locker pranksters onto the student council, yet not Ryuen.
That meant Ryuen's antics, though far worse, were considered part of individual ability and were even tacitly encouraged.
Understanding that, his future tactics in similar specials exams could become far more flexible.
All of this fell into Ibuki's eyes. She blushed and turned her small head away, embarrassed to keep staring, yet for some reason the sight of Yukio lost in thought radiated an extraordinary charm.
Shiina had once told her that serious people were especially attractive. Ibuki hadn't really believed it, but seeing it now, she did.
I want to glance one more time… Just one, she thought, and peeked at Yukio again.
Then she whipped her head forward once more—one worried she'd strain her neck—while the heat on her cheeks refused to fade.
What do I do? One look makes me want a second, and the more I look the more I want. But—but that's weird, right? Isn't that kind of like being a creep? At the thought of being looked down on for such odd behavior, Ibuki sat up straight and a nameless irritation welled inside her.
No choice—I'll have to approach him after class. That was Ibuki's plan, yet when the bell finally rang she found Yukio had left with Ishizaki to buy drinks—nowhere in sight.
Damn it! Couldn't he at least wait till class ended properly and respect Sakagami-sensei a little bit?
Grumbling inwardly, Ibuki endured two more periods until lunch, when she finally intercepted Yukio—he had Shiina with him—and the three headed to the cafeteria together.
Yukio, seeing her hurry, teased, "That hungry?"
"Ah, yeah, I'm starving. Let's go." Ibuki rejoiced inwardly—he hadn't seen through her real thoughts.
Then came a blush, her real desire was simply to stick close to Yukio.
And a tiny stab of resentment. Ugh, he's hopeless—sharp as a tack during exams, blind to a girl's heart the rest of the time. Hurry up and notice already!
Lastly came a flicker of pride—No, that's wrong. It's not like I want him to notice—how embarrassing would that be? I just… just want him to understand me better, that's all.
Watching Ibuki cycle through expressions in a single second, Yukio and Shiina clicked their tongues in wonder. For all her tomboy facade, her girlish heart was no weaker than any other girl's.
The three reached the cafeteria, got their trays, and Ibuki saw Yukio and Shiina leaning together, sharing earbuds and watching something.
"Whatcha watching?"
"Dance lessons~" Shiina answered, tilting the phone so Ibuki could see—indeed, it was a ballroom-dance tutorial.
"Eh?" Ibuki blinked, suddenly on alert, letting her gaze measure Shiina's waist. Her figure's already that good and she's taking dance to shape it further?Hiyori—truly a formidable rival!
In Ibuki's view, if someone took up dance late in life it usually meant they wanted to sculpt their body.
She glanced at Shiina then at herself—particularly her toes, plainly visible the moment she looked down. Should I start practicing too?With my martial-arts foundation it shouldn't be hard.
If Yukio and Shiina knew how wary Ibuki felt right now, they'd probably laugh hard enough to spray their food, because the ballroom dance had nothing to do with Shiina reshaping her figure—it was simply the gift she wanted… nothing more.
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