Chapter 18: The sudden fall of others

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Translator: Soafp

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“Hey, Makino-kun! What's your relationship with Hayami-senpai!?”

When Yamato returned to the classroom after finishing his conversation with Hayami-senpai, he was immediately bombarded with questions from his classmates.

“Are you two dating, or something?”

“What were you talking about just now?”

As if he didn't like the atmosphere in the class, he wore an irritated expression.

No matter what he was asked, he only replied, “There's nothing between me and that senpai,” then sat down at his desk. As if he didn't care about his surroundings at all, he soon started dozing off again.

Perhaps sensing the emotional distance created by his cold behavior, fewer and fewer classmates tried to talk to him after that day, and an image of Yamato as someone difficult to approach began to form.

And from then on, the number of people who tried to get involved with him gradually decreased.

---

That afternoon after school, as usual, Yamato, Toru, and I were walking home together.

I couldn't stop thinking about Yamato's exchange with Hayami-senpai during the break earlier that day.

There were so many things I wanted to ask him right away.

Did you know Hayami-senpai before?

Why did she come looking for you?

You've looked tired lately—are you okay?

I wanted to ask all of that, but since I'd made Yamato angry for the first time ever, I hesitated.

I didn't want to do anything else that might upset him.

…I absolutely didn't want Yamato to hate me.

Because of that feeling, I couldn't bring myself to talk to him like I usually did.

“Hey, Yamato. Were you acquainted with Hayami-senpai?”

As a slightly heavy silence hung between Yamato and me, it was Toru who broke it.

“Huh? …Yeah… a little.”

“What's that supposed to mean? You can't even tell us?”

Yamato was clearly in a bad mood, but Toru still spoke without holding back.

Honestly, I envied that part of Toru's personality.

“A little while ago, I got invited to join the student council. Today was… about that again.”

“Oh, really? Huh? But Hayami-senpai isn't a member of the student council, is she?”

“Yeah… she's friends with the student council president, and since they're short on people, she helps with recruiting.”

…I felt relief welling up from the bottom of my heart.

“I see… so that's what it was.”

Yamato and Hayami-senpai had looked close somehow, but I was relieved to know their relationship wasn't what the classmates had been speculating about.

“That's impressive, Yamato, getting invited to the student council. At Kaimei Academy, only students with top grades can get in, right?”

“It's nothing special. If we're talking grades, you and Aoi could probably get in too.”

The student council…

“So… are you going to join the student council, Yamato?”

If Yamato joined, then I wanted to join too.

Because of what happened with my father, it was hard to spend time with him outside of school, but inside the school, that wouldn't be a problem.

“I'm not joining. I need to… study too.”

“I-I see…”

The way he looked when he said he had to study seemed strangely serious.

Maybe it was just my imagination.

---

I wanted to go out somewhere with Yamato, or study together, but once school was over, he always said he had to study and hurried straight home.

And a little over a month after starting high school, the first periodic exams finally arrived.

“You're really fired up, Yamato.”

“Yeah……… I guess so…”

During breaks, he stared intently at his textbooks, clearly putting a lot of effort into preparing for these exams.

The classes at Kaimei Academy were certainly challenging, but I thought Yamato could afford to be more relaxed than this…

Inspired by him, I devoted myself wholeheartedly to studying as well.

And then the test day came.

I felt a very strong sense of confidence.

(It felt even smoother than during the entrance exams.)

I could really feel the results of the days I'd spent working hard so I wouldn't be left behind by Yamato.

My foundational academic ability had definitely improved.

“Hey, Yamato, how did the test go? I think I did really well!”

“Ah… yeah, it was a little hard, maybe.”

“Eh…? O-oh, really? But you'll probably still be first in the grade again. I think my ranking will go up a lot too!”

“…I see.”

While the rest of the class was filled with a sense of relief now that the exams were over, only Yamato looked gloomy.

A few days later, the ranking list of top scores was posted in the hallway.

A large crowd of students gathered in front of it.

I scanned the list with my heart pounding, excited to see how close I'd gotten to Yamato, who always ranked first.

“…Huh… why…?”

The first name that caught my eye on the list was the one at the very top.

“Why… am I…”

The student who ranked first on this midterm exam was…Aoi Miyano.

Me.

“That's amazing! Miyano-san, you're first!”

“Murase-kun is second too! You two are incredible!”

I was first, and Toru was second…?

Classmates enthusiastically congratulated us on our excellent results.

But right now, I couldn't care less about that.

(Y-Yamato is…!?)

Yamato's ranking was… sixth.

“Oh, Makino-kun, that's too bad this time. Did you have a lot of weak subjects?”

Noticing Yamato approaching the ranking board, classmates spoke to him.

“Ah… no… it's not like that…”

“But you're the genius who passed as top student with a perfect score. You can definitely make a comeback.”

Nodding vaguely in response to their encouragement, Yamato quickened his pace as if to return to the classroom.

“Y-Yamato… did something happen?”

I grabbed his hand firmly and stopped him.

“Were you feeling unwell? Sixth place just doesn't seem like you.”

I couldn't accept it.

“…It's nothing. I'm normal.”

“Then why aren't you first?”

“Why…? This test was… difficult, right? So this is just the result.”

I believed I knew his abilities well.

And yet…

“That may be true, but… but I was first, and you were below me!”

“You said yourself that you felt really good about this test. That you did better than me… so it's not strange, is it?”

…That's a lie.

“And besides… sixth place isn't such a bad ranking, is it?”

This wasn't the real him.

The huge goal I'd been chasing.

My beloved childhood friend.

…This wasn't Yamato Makino.

---

I tried inviting him to go out together on school holidays and during Golden Week, but he always turned me down.

Saying he had to study… or that he wanted to rest at home that day…

Back in middle school, even without any particular reason, we'd gather to play or study together.

And now…

“Is he… avoiding me…?”

The thought crossed my mind.

But he turned down Toru too when Toru invited him to stop somewhere after school.

He didn't get deeply involved with anyone in the class…

And the sociable personality he used to have had completely faded away.

Not wanting to upset him again like last time by being too persistent, I spent my days feeling frustrated and unsettled by the situation.

“Sixth place… on the midterms…”

Sixth place in the grade was certainly an excellent result.

But… for him…

“A top-tier university… huh. Well, Yamato will be fine, right?”

Focusing too much on the entrance exams two years from now would just exhaust me mentally.

My father's conditions crossed my mind, but I tried not to think too deeply about Yamato's declining grades.

---

After becoming a high school student, time felt like it was passing even faster.

Summer arrived, with relentless heat so intense that just walking to school left us drenched in sweat.

And then the final exams of the term began.

The difficulty was clearly higher than the midterms, and many students struggled.

As the grade-wide average dropped sharply, my own results…

“They say you're first in the grade again, Miyano-san.”

“Murase-kun is second too, right? Those two really are on another level.”

The familiar ranking list.

My name and Toru's were lined up at first and second place once again.

“Hey, Aoi… Yamato's name on the list…”

Toru was saying something beside me, but as I stared at the ranking board, I didn't hear him at all.

(His name… isn't there…? Yamato's… name…)

Makino Yamato's name wasn't among the top 20 students in the grade.

I couldn't believe it.

That his name wasn't there…

This time, I'd been sure he'd be first.

No—at the very least, I thought he'd rank higher than last time…

“Hey, do you think Makino-kun is really that smart?”

“Well, he did pass as top student… but still…”

More and more students were starting to doubt Yamato's academic ability.

That title—perfect-score top student—was what had made everyone see him as a genius.

“I hear it happens a lot, though. People who were good at studying in middle school but see their grades drop in high school. There are more subjects, after all.”

“So maybe Makino-kun wasn't a genius, just a high achiever?”

I could hear classmates talking like that in the classroom.

Yamato himself must have been able to hear them too, but he sat at his desk, seemingly unconcerned, staring blankly out the small classroom window.

From “genius” to “honor student.”

After that, Yamato's name never appeared on the ranking list again.

And soon, the phrase “the fallen honor student” spread throughout the entire grade, becoming a label people used to describe and mock him.