Chapter 45

After the field trip, we immediately had a midterm exam.

I studied with all my might.

I learned from Aoi that the amount of studying done by students at a real prestigious school far exceeded my imagination, so I studied relentlessly.

When I encountered problems I didn't understand in the middle of the night, I would storm into my brother's room to ask.

My family was worried about how hard I was working.

But I couldn't afford to tarnish my reputation as "Reika-sama" now!

I crammed as much as I could before the midterm exam.

The moment the two-day test period ended, I felt words and formulas leaking out of my brain.

I can't do it anymore. I'm burnt out...

And today was the day the test results were posted.

Pretending not to care about my ranking, I headed to the bulletin board with my friends.

Inside, I was nervous.

God, God, please let my efforts pay off! Have mercy!

I scanned the rankings posted on the bulletin board desperately.

...

Ah. There it is.

18th place - Reika Kichijouji

"Oh! Reika-sama, that's amazing!"

"18th place! Reika-sama!"

"Congratulations, Reika-sama!"

18th place.

The other kids clapped and congratulated me.

...I did it.

I did it, me!

All the hard work that kept me up at night paid off!

"Thank you."

I couldn't help but let out a relieved smile.

But I definitely won't tell them how hard I studied.

I don't want to be labeled as a bookworm.

Phew, I managed to maintain my "Reika-sama" status. I'm relieved.

18th out of about 200 is quite an achievement for me.

Ah, I'm glad.

Everyone cheered.

"Look! Tachibana-sama and Enjo-sama!"

1st place - Masaya Tachibana

2nd place - Shusuke Enjo

"Securing the top two spots despite the competition from external students, that's impressive!"

"You can do anything, can't you~"

...Really.

The girls were swooning again.

Unlike me, they didn't seem to have studied desperately. Maybe it's just a difference in natural ability.

Usually, the top spots in the first test are dominated by external students who have won the entrance exam battle.

But, they are truly impressive.

I'm just a fake compared to them.

Most of the names in 3rd place and below were unfamiliar, so I guess most of them are external students.

Ah, I found a familiar name.

Hmmm...

I looked around for the person but couldn't find them in the crowd of black-haired students.

Of course, they wouldn't have silver hair. Such a hair color would get them rejected in the interview.

...Well, whatever.

Today, I was invited to Fukuhara's house.

It might be the first time I've visited a real friend's house. I'm excited!

Fukuhara attends a girls' school, so her mother easily approved of me.

I don't think it's good to select your daughter's friends based on such upper-class consciousness...

The gift I was given to bring was cookies from a Western confectionery shop that only accepts reservations by introduction. It's a standard gift from the Kichijouji family.

After greeting Fukuhara's mother, I was led to Fukuhara's room.

"Would you like to sit on that sofa?"

"Sure."

Fukuhara's room was a cute, girly room.

I sat on the cute floral-patterned sofa as instructed.

"It's been a while since we last met. How have you been?"

"I've been fine. We've talked many times over the phone and email."

Fukuhara chuckled.

Although only a few months have passed, Fukuhara seems to have grown more mature since becoming a middle school student.

"By the way, I heard from Takumi that you did really well on the test. Congratulations."

"Thank you. But it was just a fluke?"

Aizawa-kun has been talking about such things with Fukuhara.

I saw his house from the window earlier; it's diagonally across from Fukuhara's. They really are neighbors.

Aizawa-kun is at track and field practice today.

"Fukuhara, have you joined any clubs?"

"I was thinking about joining the Koto or the Band club, but I'm still deciding. What about you?"

"I haven't joined anything either. I don't have anything I particularly want to do, and I'm quite busy after school."

"Me too. I have violin practice."

We both nodded in agreement.

"But aren't you a member of some club at Suiran? I forgot the name."

"Oh, Pivoine."

"That's it. It's a special club that only selected people can join. It's often talked about at my school."

"Really? Why?"

"Because the members are from some of the most prominent families at Suiran. Our school is a girls' school, so we're very sensitive to news about excellent male students from other schools."

"Wow."

She mentioned a few names of senior male students from Suiran, but I didn't know some of them. Impressive...

"Especially in our year, the top two students at Suiran are the most popular."

"Ah..."

I know who they are without being told.

"The heir of the Tachibana family is called the Emperor, right? Some people at Yurikawa also call him that."

"Really? Could the origin of that name be...?"

"Well, I think Takumi started being called that after the sports festival."

Wow, that's a big deal.

The name "Emperor" from the tug-of-war is known even at other schools. Does he know about this?

I feel a bit sorry for him...

"What's wrong?"

"Well, isn't 'Emperor' a bit of a strange origin for a nickname?"

"Oh, that's nothing. If you're handsome, anything is forgiven. The original reason doesn't matter."

"Is that how it works?"

"That's how it works. In fact, the girls at my school are delighted to call him 'Emperor.'"

"Really?"

That's how it is.

Indeed, when I read idol magazines, I used to say "Emperor, so cool!" without thinking about the origin.

"By the way, about how you call me..."

"Yes?"

"You can call me Sakura instead of Fukuhara."

When I said that, Fukuhara turned her head away.

Oh! Fukuhara is blushing!

"Um, then, Sakura-chan?"

"...Okay."

Her lips looked smug, the tsundere Sakura.

"But then, I should call you Reika too!"

"Sure. Then, Reika-san."

What! Shouldn't you use "chan" for "chan"? I want to be called "Reika-chan" by my friends too.

Noticing my dissatisfaction, Sakura sighed and said,

"Okay, Reika."

What! Did you skip "chan" and go straight to calling me by my first name?!

I quickly became good friends with Sakura during this visit.