Reiji settled into his new seat, still rattled at the smug look on the teacher's face.
Being in the first row was one of the most uncomfortable feelings ever, especially for someone like him, who was used to sitting in the back for both of his lives.
'Ugh.... Is he going to stare at me like that all day?'
Kahawara Sensei was still ogling him despite everyone else also moving around to get to their new seats, almost like he was a hawk that had locked onto a target.
A movement on either side of Reiji made him snap out of his thoughts and look towards his new neighbours.
On his left was a girl he'd never talked to before, who quickly looked away nervously when she noticed his attention on her.
Since Reiji had kept to himself and his new friends so far, the rest of the class still held him at arm's length.
Reiji sometimes felt like they saw him as a ticking time bomb, one that could explode at any point and destroy everything in its path.
And even though it had gotten slightly better, his overall reputation was still in the early stages of a work-in-progress.
At least no one ran away the moment they saw him anymore.
He turned to his right, leaving the girl alone since she clearly had no intention of striking up a friendly conversation.
'Well....'
Hina sat down, stiff as a board, as she avoided any eye contact.
'Wait, there was something like this in the game...'
If things were still going according to the game, the one who would sit next to Reiji was the heroine who currently had the highest favorability towards the player, at least between Hina and Haruna, since Noa was a second-year student.
Not that it was a major event.
It was merely one cutscene where OG Reiji would make a cliche villainous remark that was either perverted or malicious, showcasing him as an antagonist.
He wasn't exactly surprised that it was Hina up here and not Haruna, not when he thought about the base mechanics of the game and why it was so tough to get a harem ending.
But that wasn't the point.
It was the fact that things like this were still unfolding as they were 'supposed to', which only solidified his worries even further.
"Good luck," he whispered quietly.
Hina flinched like a deer in headlights, her head shifting slightly as she nodded back at him.
'Wow, look at that! I got acknowledged!' he chuckled internally.
"Alright! Everyone, quiet down! I'm distributing the papers now, so any noise from this point on will be considered as attempted cheating!"
Kahawara Sensei slapped the desk, the echo reverberating throughout the room as it silenced the rowdy chatter.
He walked across the flooring, laying down a set of test papers on each desk as he moved forward.
Reiji glanced back when he passed by, checking on the others.
They were all pretty much split up from the rest, with him and Hina being the only ones next to each other.
Haruna smiled shakily at him, Airi stuck her tongue out, and Greeny was so distracted by his nerves that he didn't even look up from his desk.
But there was one more set of eyes that was practically boring holes through Reiji's head.
Riku, who was sitting in the back row by himself, was glaring at him completely unprovoked.
'Is this because of what Yui said to him?'
Regardless of why he looked like he had a stick up his ass, Reiji decided to concentrate on the test instead.
By this time, Sensei had returned to the front and handed out the last paper, setting up a timer on the projector screen before addressing the class.
"Okay.... Everyone has a paper; you each have 2 hours to work on this Mathematics Midterm. Your time starts...NOW!"
The exam sheets flipped open simultaneously, the only sounds audible in the room being the ruffling of papers and the steady hum of the air conditioner.
Reiji took a deep breath and set his pencil down after writing his name.
He first went through every single problem in the exam and tried to see if there were any he needed to be wary of, so that he'd set aside sufficient time for them in advance.
'Hmmm... this one is fine.... this is pretty tough..... Oof, a lot of people are gonna screw this one up.'
He was so busy cataloging the questions that he didn't realize that Kahawara Sensei was standing right in front of his table, casting a shadow over him.
"Hmph, already confused, Yagami? This is why you should pay attention in class," he muttered, his tone so quiet it could only be heard by Reiji.
Who promptly ignored him.
After going through the exam once, he grabbed his pencil and started writing.
***
'Aaaannd..... Done!'
Reiji breathed a sigh of relief as he marked down the last question, reaching for his bottle of water. He hadn't taken a sip for over an hour and a half, and his throat was parched.
"How....."
Kahawara Sensei, who had been circling around now and then but had stayed by him for most of the exam, seemed completely shocked at his speed and efficiency.
Reiji leaned back and saw that there were just over thirty minutes to go, and he'd already rechecked all of his answers, so he simply put his head down and decided to take a nap.
He wouldn't put it past Kahawara Sensei to accuse him of cheating if he so much as stretched his neck, which is why he'd been overly cautious and focused on his own papers.
'Does he not know that I ranked first in the entrance exams?'
Seeing that his teacher had the expression of a dying cat, this might not be completely out of the realm of possibility.
His surprise wouldn't make sense otherwise.
They had only done a couple of homework assignments and small individual reports until now, some of which his predecessor had completely skipped, and if Sensei only formed his opinion based on those, it would all add up.
'But why would he not know?'
***
*TRIIIINGGG-TRIIIINGGG*
The timer on the screen went off, signaling the end of the first subject.
"EVERYONE, PENCILS DOWN! IF I SEE ANYONE WRITING, YOU'LL GET A ZERO!"
The groans of despair were numerous, coming from every corner of the room.
Reiji, who was finally able to look around without the bulldog breathing down his neck, even saw someone banging his head on the desk repeatedly.
*BANG BANG BANG*
'.....It sounds empty.'
Sensei walked around collecting the papers one by one, giving Reiji an irritated scowl when it was his turn.
When he organized all of them, he turned to the class again.
"As you all know, you still have 3 more exams to write today. You have a ten-minute break, so you can use the washroom and recollect yourselves before we begin the next one. I don't want anyone to be late; you will not be given extra time to make up for your leisure. Now, shoo!"
The sudden chaos that unfolded was a sight to behold, with every student instantly descending into a loud and anxious debate with their friends on the exam questions.
Airi, Greeny, and Haruna approached them with varying demeanors.
"Hina-san, how was it?" the purple-haired girl asked the timid brunette, who was still as quiet as a mouse.
"It was okay.... I think I did well," she mumbled in response.
"Great! What about you, Reiji-kun? Ready to accept defeat?"
"I'm a little nervous," he sighed.
"Really??.... *Cough
* I mean..... I knew it!" Airi laughed."Yeah, I'm worried about the tantrums you're going to throw after you lose."
".....Die."
Reiji chuckled at the fuming girl before turning to the other two.
"What about you guys? How'd it go?"
"B-Better than I expected," Greeny stammered happily, the previous fear almost completely disappearing.
"See? I told you, didn't I?"
Haruna, who was fidgeting at the side, unlike her usual spunky and lively nature, made him grim all of a sudden.
"Did you not do well?" he asked softly, the worry evident in his tone.
"Um... Actually, I think I did great," she replied in a meek voice."
"Huh? That's awesome, then why the long face?"
"Well, what if I made a stupid mistake and I just didn't realize it? Like before?"
"Pfft, don't worry about that. I doubt you'd repeat them after all that studying, and even if you did, we'll only find out when the results come out, so there's no point freaking out now. If you think you did well, then just enjoy it!" Reiji reassured.
"....You're right, I'll just not think about it."
Haruna stopped trembling like a leaf and straightened up, the determination in her eyes returning slowly.
"Good," he smiled.
What he didn't realize was that the others were looking back and forth between them with strange looks.
Then they exchanged looks with each other.
"Hey, hey! What's with all this ooey gooey stuff? Is there something you're not telling us?" Airi grinned, prodding Reiji with sheer amusement.
"What? What nonsense are you spouting now?" Reiji snorted with a frown.
"Oh, come on. There's something else going on, isn't there?"
Haruna's face turned red, and she clutched her uniform's skirt at the sudden interrogation.
But before either of them could respond, a sixth voice popped up from behind them.
"Watcha guys talking about?"
Every head in the group snapped towards the person, who was standing there awkwardly with his hands in his pockets.
Uneven and spiky brown hair, a decently good-looking face, but with average height and a wiry build.
Kazama Riku stood there with an extremely unnatural smile, one that didn't quite reach his eyes.
***
A/N
This is an announcement!
I've added ten extra advance chapters on my Patreon, bringing the total to 30.
Also, Book 1/Volume 1 has been officially completed in those chapters with a major climax, so if you're interested, please take a look.
I'll be taking a two-day break to plan out the second volume and catch a breather as well.
Thanks for all the support so far!