I, Who Was Reincarnated as an Evil Character With Cheat-Level Stats in an Eroge, Will Live Freely in This Life
――A few days later, on Wednesday.
Today, the test results and other information were posted on the bulletin board, and the hallway was noisy from early in the morning.
I also went to school early today, but it seems that everyone was thinking the same thing.
Since there were so many people, I decided to take a quick look at the bulletin board before leaving.
There were eight subjects on the midterm exam.
My name was at the top of the list with a score of 800 points. I wasn’t surprised because I thought I would get that score. Well, I wouldn’t have known if I had made a careless mistake. I didn’t grade myself, after all.
As expected, the name below mine was Miku.
Her score was 790 points, placing her in second place.
Even though I’m the one saying it, she’s been in second place since middle school, so she’s really amazing.
The person in third place is someone I don’t know, but their score is 760 points, so she’s won by a large margin.
A little further down was the name Hiiragi Saki.
Her score was 725 points, placing her in 10th place.
After confirming that, I quietly headed to the classroom.
I’m curious about Kana’s score, but there’s no way to check it now, so I’ll ask her later.
◇
When I returned to the classroom and was playing with my smartphone to kill time, Miku spoke to me.
“The person in first place seems pretty relaxed, doesn’t he?”
Saying that, Miku sat down at her seat.
“What do you mean, relaxed… The test is over, so there’s reason to be relaxed.”
When I said that, Miku looked a little disappointed and said, “Hmph,” and looked out the window.
This is it… She’s definitely showing her competitive side.
Thinking that, I decided to try what Kana had told me.
“Are you upset because you lost to me, Suzukaze?”
I said that with a hint of teasing, and Mikku flinched.
“No, that’s not it at all!”
“Really?”
“Really!”
“Then why are you so upset?”
“I’m not upset… It’s just, if I made you misunderstand, I’m sorry.”
Mikku said that with a slightly apologetic expression.
It was just as Kana had said.
Actually, Kana had told me something beforehand.
She said that Miku was competitive and tended to clam up when she lost to someone. And because she would get upset about losing and her expression would become harsh, people would often mistake her for being angry.
I knew she was competitive, but I didn’t know that people would often misunderstand her because of it.
So, if I won the test, she said that Miku would probably sulk a little, but that I should tease her a little and be kind to her.
Well, even without Kana’s advice, I knew she was competitive, so I wouldn’t have misunderstood, but it was still helpful advice.
“I’m not misunderstanding. Anyway, I won again this time.”
“…That’s unfair.”
“Huh? What is?”
“So getting a perfect score is unfair… I can’t win no matter what.”
Well, I thought that was true.
With a perfect score, you can only tie for first place.
As I was thinking that, Miku continued.
“Kisaragi, you just need to get one answer wrong…”
She said that, but even if she won that way, she wouldn’t be happy anyway.
Or rather…
“Even Suzukaze says such childish things?”
I said exactly what I was thinking.
To be honest, I didn’t think that Miku, who is usually so mature, would say such childish things, even if she was frustrated at losing.
I guess you could call it a gap, but I thought that side of her was cute too.
Despite that, Miku blushed a little when she heard my words.
“Ugh, shut up! I’m sorry for being childish!”
“No, it’s not bad, I actually think it’s good. Besides, I like your competitive personality too.”
“Y-Yeah… a-Thank you…”
When I said that, Miku surprisingly didn’t react much and didn’t retaliate. She then leaned her elbow on the desk again and looked out the window.
◇
――Then it was lunchtime.
I was chatting with Kana at our usual spot.
“By the way, how did you do on the test, Kana?”
“Please listen, senpai! Actually, I didn’t get any failing grades, and my ranking was around the middle!! Usually, I’m barely passing and my ranking is lower, but this time I got the highest score I’ve ever had!!”
A ranking in the middle probably means she got an average score, but I think it’s amazing for Kana.
I had heard that she was barely passing before, and she said she felt confident about it.
Even though there was only a little over a week between when Kana started studying for the test and the test itself, if she managed to raise her score to the average level from there, that’s pretty amazing.
When I was teaching her, she didn’t understand anything at all.
“That’s amazing. You did a great job, Kana.”
I said that while patting Kana on the head.
“Hehe… I studied hard because I wanted to be praised by Senpai.”
Normally, I’d want her to study hard for her future, not just to get praised by me, but I guess it’s okay.
Whatever the reason, if she’s motivated to study hard, that’s fine.
“Let’s keep working hard together.”
“Yes! By the way, senpai, you got first place again, didn’t you?!”
Kana said happily.
“Well, yeah.”
“Seito-senpai is really amazing!! Miku-nee looked disappointed.”
“Well, she’s been working hard and still came in second, so it’s no wonder she’s disappointed. Of course, that doesn’t mean she’s going to slack off.”
Even if you’re not competitive, it’s natural to feel disappointed when you’ve been in second place for so long.
“That’s obvious. Miku hates it when people slack off. Oh! But today, Miku looked disappointed after losing, but she also looked a little happy. I’m not sure why, but I think it’s because she knows Seito-senpai is smart and will definitely win next time. She said that with a smile. I wonder if Miku also sees Seito-senpai as a rival? That’s why slacking off is absolutely not allowed, right?”
I don’t want to lose to Miku, but I also want her to do her best and I want to be friends with her, so I was happy to hear that.
Actually, since Miku changed, her emotions show more easily on her face… I thought about that as I said it.
“Of course I will.”
Then, as lunch break was coming to an end, Kana and I returned to our respective classrooms.
◇
That night, I got home and opened my pencil case to do my homework.
“Huh? What’s this?”
Inside the pencil case was a folded page from a small notebook I didn’t recognize.
I opened it to see what it was, and in the middle, written in beautiful handwriting, was this:
[I lost this time, but I won’t lose in the final exam, so be prepared!!!]
“What’s this…”
I couldn’t help but wonder when she had put it there, but it was probably when I dropped my pencil case during the sixth period and Miku helped me pick it up.
But why did she do it this way? She could have just told me directly, or even sent a message… Maybe she was too shy? I thought about it, but I couldn’t think of any other reason.
Miku is the type to speak her mind clearly, so I thought she’d say something like this directly, but once again, she showed an unexpected side.
After all, when you interact with someone like this, there are many sides you wouldn’t notice just from a game.
Today was just a day where I learned about Miku’s gaps and started to feel a sense of familiarity with her.
Maiban