Music production is never a quick process—especially not with Ichin's high standards. After several listening sessions, they had recorded one version, but both Ichin and the music teacher felt there was still room for improvement.
With final exams approaching, Ichin wasn't in a rush. He told everyone to focus on their studies first. They could pick up the music project again after the New Year—there was no need to stress.
Even though the exams weren't difficult for Ichin and Utaha, the others at the studio insisted they not show up frequently. The same went for Sakura Nene, Narumi, and Momiji. Everyone agreed to handle their exams first and return to work afterward.
Inside the Service Club, Eriri looked up from her workbook. Her expression froze as she saw Ichin and Utaha seated across the shared table.
"What are _you_ two doing here?" she asked stiffly.
"It's exam season, of course."
Utaha didn't even lift her head as she worked through an English reading comprehension passage. "My competition with Ichin isn't over yet. I fully intend to reclaim the top spot in our grade. Plus, the studio staff made it clear they wanted us to focus on studying for now. So we've barely done any work lately—just review."
Was that really necessary?
Eriri, whose grades were average at best, was currently under Yukino's strict supervision while reviewing. But she knew full well the level Ichin and Utaha were at. Even without this much effort, they were practically guaranteed the top two spots in the grade.
Now that they were studying so seriously, Eriri was certain of one thing: once the scores came out, the third-ranked student would be left far behind.
No doubt about it.
Ichin finished a particularly difficult math test at lightning speed, then flipped open the answer book to check his work. As he reviewed, he said, "Utaha, you might as well give up. I'm not handing over that top spot."
"Oh? Is that so?"
Utaha glanced at him, her voice full of confidence and defiance. "Sure, I've lost a few times before—but don't think I'll give up that easily."
"Wanna make a bet?"
Ichin smiled as he turned to the next page, the first already marked with all correct answers. "Let's see who takes the top rank this time. Loser has to grant the winner one request. Sound good?"
"I'm in. It's settled."
Watching the two of them make their wager, Eriri—despite already having secured her spot at a university—couldn't help but picture several _questionable_ scenes in her mind.
She couldn't help it. These two were already living together, after all. It was hard _not_ to let her imagination run wild.
Her face reddened slightly. Before they noticed, she quickly shook her head and refocused on her exercises.
As for Yukino, she wasn't letting her mind wander like Eriri was. She was more concerned with whether she could maintain her own first-place ranking in her year. And with the New Year approaching, she was already dreading the mess of problems that would come with going home for the holidays.
Thankfully, before the New Year arrived, there was still Christmas to look forward to. Ichin and the others had already planned a party at the studio, and Eriri had pulled Yukino into attending. It would be their last chance to unwind before the new year rolled in.
Under the tension of final reviews and the calm confidence of the top scorers, Toyogasaki High's final exams finally arrived.
With the sound of the classroom door opening, Shizuka Hiratsuka entered, holding a file folder filled with test papers in her arms.
After scanning the room full of students, Hiratsuka Shizuka said, "Put away all your textbooks. Only stationery should be left on your desks. Hurry up—we're starting soon."
Soon enough, everyone had tidied up. Shizuka opened the file folder and began distributing the first test of the finals: Modern Japanese.
"The exam will last two hours. Manage your time wisely."
Just as she finished speaking, the school bell rang.
The first final exam had officially begun.
Ichin didn't rush to start writing right away. After filling in his name, he quickly skimmed through the entire paper. Compared to the midterms, this test was noticeably harder.
It seemed that the summer exchange program to China had brought some changes—more than just on the surface. Not only had the questions become trickier, but even the review topics the teachers had focused on in the weeks prior were now much more vague. Over the past few days, Ichin had overheard plenty of classmates complaining about how hard it was to grasp the key points this time around. There was a lot more uncertainty and a lot more material to go over.
But Ichin didn't really mind. After all, in China, it was practically impossible for teachers to spoon-feed students overly specific test prep.
After the scan, Ichin picked up his pen and started answering questions calmly, without the slightest hint of pressure.
The finals spanned two days—Tuesday and Wednesday. Afterward, students would get a day off. Grades would be released on Friday, and that would mark the official end of the semester. At last, the long-awaited winter break was here.
By Wednesday afternoon, the final exam—English—was over. Once the test papers had been collected, even someone like Ichin, who didn't find the test particularly hard, felt a bit worn out.
There was no helping it. Even if he personally wasn't tired, he could still feel the emotional strain in the air from the students around him. Two whole days of nothing but test-taking—it _was_ pretty dull.
But thankfully, it was all over now, and he could finally get back to his own projects.
"Honestly, even though work is way more exhausting than studying in a lot of ways... I still love every bit of it," Ichin muttered under his breath.
He turned to Utaha, who sat beside him. "Let's go. Eriri and Yukino should be waiting—we said we'd meet at the studio."
Utaha nodded, packing her stationery into her bag. There was no need to bring any textbooks now. She slung her backpack over her shoulder, and the two of them left the classroom together.
At the same time, exams had wrapped up in the other classrooms too. Eriri and Yukino emerged from theirs, but their expressions couldn't have been more different.
Yukino looked calm and composed, as usual—clearly, she had no issues.
Eriri, on the other hand... looked kind of panicked.
When she saw Ichin and Utaha approaching, Eriri's face instantly drooped. "Why was this exam _so_ hard!?"
"Was it?"
Ichin wasn't sure how difficult the first-year exams were. He glanced over at Yukino. "I mean, yeah, it was tougher than before, but didn't your teachers give you a heads-up?"
Yukino nodded. "They did. That's why I didn't focus too much on guessing what would be on the test during review sessions. I made sure Eriri went over everything she needed to. In theory, it shouldn't have been a problem."
"…"
The corner of Eriri's mouth twitched. She mumbled under her breath, "Don't assume everyone else is like you two. If I _was_ that smart, I wouldn't have to struggle so hard for these exams. Ughhh, forget it—it's over. Let's go, I need to draw something!"
...
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