Chương 30: Epilogue: Chin Up
"…It would have been a lot cooler if I'd accomplished my goal, too, though."
"It really would have been."
Masachika's and Alisa's voices echoed in the empty hallway. Following the closing
ceremony, numerous students—mainly their classmates—teased them and complimented
them on their speeches, effectively destroying the communication barrier between Alisa and
her peers. Only after finishing homeroom and having their last student council meeting did
they finally get to see the list of students who had the highest grades posted on the bulletin
board in the hallway. Glittering in the top right corner was Alisa's name, to no one's surprise,
and beside her name was Yuki's. A total of thirty names of the highest achievers were listed,
but…Masachika's name was nowhere to be found.
"Number thirty-three… Not the most exciting result," uttered Masachika with a
begrudging smile as he looked down at the report card in his hand. It was a major
accomplishment when you consider the fact that he was ranked 202 out of 254 after their last
midterms, but he was six points short of achieving his goal and making it into the top thirty.
"Well, I guess not everything always goes the way you want, huh?" he admitted.
"…You don't seem that disappointed." Alisa frowned.
"Eh. It is what it is." He nodded half-heartedly. It was true. He wasn't that disappointed.
In fact, a part of him was actually pretty happy he didn't make it into the top thirty.
Because I hate to say this, but I'd be lying if I said I was completely focused on studying
for the exams…
He was well aware that he hadn't put 100 percent of himself into studying during exam
week. He'd lost concentration multiple times, which made him far less efficient. There was
even a part of him that started to make compromises like, "Yeah, this should be enough."
That was why he was happy he didn't achieve his goal, because if he had managed to halfass his way into the top thirty, he would have probably stopped taking life seriously again.
"Heh! It looks like this genius does have his limitations, after all."
He brushed back his bangs in a suave manner.
"Please tell me you didn't just call yourself a genius."
Alisa stared at him scornfully with a chilling gaze.
"Eh. I just didn't work hard enough. That's all. I'm sorry I didn't do better." He shrugged
with a less jovial expression.
"It's fine…"
"No, it's not. I need to do better. I'm going to take it more seriously next time," he
declared, looking earnestly at the list on the wall.
"Do you have any regrets?" she asked briefly.
"No."
"Then there's nothing to worry about."
She turned around as though there was nothing left to discuss in regard to their grades.
"Let's go home. I'm kind of tired after everything that happened today."
"Yeah, let's go home…"
They walked side by side, but his eyes were wandering as if something were bothering
him still.
"…Hey, Alya."
"Yes?"
"Uh… What are you going to do about that bet we made about my scores? You know,
the thing about the loser granting the winner's wish. You need to make a wish."
Alisa stopped in her tracks…before almost immediately moving forward again and
swiftly looking away from him.
"…I'll think about it."
"Didn't you say you already knew what you wanted me to do? I totally remember you
saying something in Russian."
"Oh, that? …I was just talking to myself," mumbled Alisa, continuing to avoid his eyes.
"<Hmph. I honestly thought that you would…>"
She continued to mumble complaintsto herself in Russian, and though vague, Masachika
had a decent idea what she was angry about.
Now I get it… She didn't think she was going to win…
He was embarrassed that she'd had such high expectations for him, and he felt guilty
that he'd let her down.
Uh… Oh, great. The only words I can vaguely remember are "< first name.>"
He was so uncomfortable that he started to think back to what she'd said, racking his
brain to figure out what she could have meant until he reached a single conclusion.
In other words…that's what she wants? But…this is going to be stupidly embarrassing
if I'm wrong. It'd make me look like a complete narcissist.
The internal conflict made him feel like his brain was being twisted…until he finally
made up his mind. He justified it by deciding that this was also punishment for losing the
bet and pocketed his pride.
"Hey…Alya?"
"…?"
"We were officially recognized as running mates for the upcoming election after
finishing our speeches, right? So…I thought maybe we could both call each other by our first
names now to show everyone how close we've gotten…"
Masachika internally cringed at how pathetic he sounded. He couldn't even face her. He
kept his eyes straight ahead and quietly waited with bated breath. After a few seconds, which
strangely felt like forever, Alisa responded softly:
"…Sure, why not."
"Huh? R-really?"
"Y-yeah, sure."
Not once did they look at each other during the exchange until Alisa suddenly cleared
her throat, drawing his attention.
"Okay, so…"
She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and hesitantly said:
"Masachika…"
"Y-yep…"
His entire body started to tingle. It wasn't just having her call him by his first name but
her slightly bashful behavior as well.
"Th-that… That sounds natural. Let's do this," Masachika said only a bit reluctantly.
"R-really? Then I guess I'll start calling you by your first name from now on…," she
mumbled,swiftly averting her gaze. The awkwardness wastoo much for a young teenage boy
to bear, so when the front door finally came into view, he shouted in a needlessly loud voice:
"Oh yeah! We have to change out of our slippers!"
"O-oh, right."
Though it was something obvious that someone would usually get called out for, Alisa
nodded as though it didn't bother her. They simultaneously reached for their shoes, which
were side by side, before they began awkwardly chatting once more. Their conversation as
they walked home together could only be described as neutral, but it was a sweet moment of
youth—an uncomfortable moment that would make any lonely spectator jealous. Not once
did their eyes meet. Not once did Alisa say Masachika's name, nor Masachika hers…until
eventually they reached the fork in the road where their paths split, and they came to a stop.
"Well…this is my road."
"Yeah… See you later—"
That was when he suddenly realized something. The following day was the first day of
summer break, which meant that "later" was going to be a long way away…at this rate, at
least.
"See you…"
"Y-yeah…"
They still didn't make eye contact. Alisa had started walking toward the crosswalk,
stepping onto the road, when…
"Alya!"
Masachika almost reflexively called out to her, but when he saw her turn around out of
the corner of his eye, he nervously looked away.
"Like…I know it's summer break and all, but we still have a lot of work to do for the
upcoming election. Considering the fact that Yuki and Ayano are together twenty-four hours
a day, we should probably…," he stammered, staring off into the distance.
"We should probably…meet up a few times during summer break. Don't you think?"
And with that, he had reached his embarrassment threshold for the year. He could sense
Alisa standing in front of him after coming back, but he was still unable to look her in the
eye. In fact, it took everything he had not to just scream and run away.
"Masachika."
He heard Alisa say his name so close he could almost feel her breath.
"Hmm?" he replied, still staring at the ground. He could tell she was smiling at how
pathetic he was being (he was well aware of it).
Keep your chin up
"Не падай духом!"
Masachika looked up, discovering Alisa innocently smiling back at him.
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