COLLISION, assassination classroom

CHAPTER #014. TEST TIME!

     On the day of the exams, there was a buzz of tension in the air as Hajime roamed the halls of the main building. The students were huddled around their respective examination rooms in clustered groups. Yet no one seemed comfortable enough to talk louder than a whisper and break the near silence that lingered in the hall. Hajime exhaled and adjusted the round framed glasses that sat on the bridge of his nose. He normally didn't wear them outside, but exam season tended to bring along an inescapable layer of stress. His reading glasses were more of a comfort item than something of actual use. Hajime sauntered through the crowd and turned a corner, ignoring the eyes that settled on him as usual.

Being back in the main building for something academic was disorienting after being gone for so long. Hajime heard the thundering of footsteps, careless and loud in comparison to the rest. Before he could turn around, someone tackled him from behind. Long arms reached out and wrapped around his shoulders, encompassing him in a tight hug. Hajime bent forward to cater the unexpected weight, stumbling slightly as his hands darted behind to grip at the person's uniform. There was only one person foolish enough to bodily throw themselves at Hajime and the excited voice that chimed out his name proved him right.

"Hajime-kun! I missed you so much!" Kato Atsushi exclaimed from his hanging position on top of the other student, pressing his chin down on their head. The silver haired male was an uncontainable whirlwind of sunshine and smiles at seven in the morning. Hajime kept a closed-eye smile plastered on his face, but the corner of his eye noticeably twitched. Around them, students peered wide-eyed at the sudden commotion happening in front of them.

"Atsushi-kun." Hajime said, feigning sweetness in his tone. "Get off me."

The black haired male straightened up and unceremoniously pried off the long limbs from his body, smoothening down his beige-colored cardigan. Atsushi stood next to him and smiled lopsidedly, amber eyes curving into happy crescents. Hajime sighed, flicking his mahogany eyes to the other students that seemed to openly stare at the duo. Everyone knew that Kato Atsushi and Takano Hajime were friends, and not even some prejudiced academic system would get between them.

"I wanted to come and wish you luck before the exams start, Hajime-kun. I was going to bring Hifumi-chan along with me but she wanted to do some last minute review." Atsushi explained with a pout, sighing dramatically at the lacking presence of their mutual friend. Hajime raised an eyebrow at the theatrics and hummed.

"At least she has her priorities straight." He commented dryly, "And if anyone needs luck during the exams, it would be you."

"Cruel~!" The silver haired male gasped, "I'll have you know that I stayed up all night reviewing the notes you gave me!"

"Should I congratulate you?"

"I wouldn't mind a little praise for my efforts!"

"Better rank high then." Hajime stated, just as the bell began ringing above them. The tension from before suddenly increased tenfold. He spotted the teachers approaching from the other side of the hall, heading toward their respective classrooms for monitoring. Hajime glanced at Atsushi, he had wanted more time to talk since they haven't seen each other in a while. Unfortunately, the male spotted Ono-sensei entering the room Hajime and his class were assigned to.

Before Hajime could step forward to catch up to the teacher, Atsushi grabbed his shoulder. The other male smiled at him, light-hearted as always. Though, there was a coil of anxiousness behind his amber eyes. Examinations were stressful, so it wasn't entirely odd. "I know you really don't need it since you have a big genius brain and all that, but good luck." Atsushi glanced over Hajime's shoulder, to all his classmates that were entering the room.