The days went by pretty fast, the season shifted to summer without them even noticing. All the students have been busy lately, both in sorcery training, going on missions, and most importantly, school. They were still students after all, and education was something they must take seriously, besides exorcising curses and protecting non-sorcerers.
"As expected of Utahime!" Kusakabe cheered, clapping both his hands enthusiastically.
The third-years had just received their test papers for finals, and Utahime perfected every subject, which was not new anymore. Being his classmate for three years, Kusakabe was still left astonished by how intelligent Utahime was.
Utahime gave him an embarrassed smile. "Keep it down, Atsuya-kun." She didn't want the news of her getting excellent grades to be a big deal. All she did was study her subjects and answered all the questions, nothing special.
"You should be proud of it. I barely passed the exams, having the lowest scores on most of our subjects," Kusakabe said, chuckling at the end.
While they were receiving their papers from Yaga-sensei, Kusakabe expected worse from his scores to avoid remorse and they actually turned out to be better instead. When he saw his scores, a wide grin plastered his face. He passed all of his subjects without even exerting much effort.
"That's because you never pay attention in class," Mei Mei argued. She's had enough of Kusakabe lazing around, always depending on either Utahime or her for answers.
"Just to remind you, I got higher in Home Economics," he fired back. He was beyond ecstatic when he saw Mei Mei's papers. He beat her at one subject and he already feels like a winner for it.
"That was a one-point difference, Atsuya," Mei Mei reminded him. How trivial it was.
"Utahime, tell us the secret to get perfect scores," Kusakabe asked, his hands in his pocket as he matched his pace with the girls. This question has already been asked in the past too. It became a habit of his to ask this to Utahime every after exams that she also got used to it.
The three were on their way to the cafeteria. It was already lunchtime and they wanted to eat together before summer break officially starts.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again."
"The secret is that there is no secret," they all said in chorus, with Mei Mei and Kusakabe saying it monotonously. This was the answer Utahime gave in the past that even the two got tired of hearing them.
"You should probably drop your Tamagotchi addiction, you know," Mei Mei advised. He couldn't go a day without petting Toshiko, his virtual pet. Even during classes, he would sneakily feed and bathe him under his table. He was caught several times and even got his Tamagotchi confiscated and worse, destroyed. Every time that happened, he would use his allowance to buy another Tamagotchi with the same color, violet.
"And what? Read those kinds of boo—"
