The Kansai Villain’s Rebirth: I Accidentally Ended Up With a Harem. - Chapter 34: The Day of the Exam.

The Day of the Exam.

Finally, the day of the exam had arrived.

Well, maybe not “finally” in the grand sense—it hadn’t been that long since my last test. I mean, I’d taken the Fundamental Information Technology Engineer Exam, the Applied Information Technology Engineer Exam, even the dreaded System Architect Exam. Those were brutal—especially since my dumb boss once told me, “If you don’t get certified, you have no human rights.”

Funny thing is, that same balding idiot who said that failed three times himself and gave up, saying, “I don’t really need it.”

I wanted to tell him, “Then you’re the one without human rights, huh?” But I decided to keep my mouth shut—no point starting a war.

It’s been years since I last took a school exam, though. Compared to the SA exam, this’ll be a walk in the park.

Yesterday, I studied over voice chat with Fuyuki-san and the others on POINE. When I started answering the English questions in English, I swear Shina-san must’ve had at least a hundred question marks floating over her head.

Still, with those Saturday study sessions and Fuyuki-san’s help, she’d been learning fast. I figured she’d do just fine on today’s test.

“Morning, Daiki-kun! Thanks for yesterday!”

“Morning, Shina-san. You studied hard yesterday—good job.”

Before I knew it, I was patting her head again. Damn it, when will I stop doing that? It’s borderline harassment at this point.

“Mfuu… ehehe. Alright! Thanks to you, Daiki-kun, I’m all fired up now! I’ll do my best!”

Her ears were bright red as she suddenly hugged me.
Well… let’s just call that my reward for tutoring her.
I mean, she’s the one who hugged me, so technically it’s fine… right?

Then I noticed Fuyuki-san glaring daggers at me.

“G-good morning, Fuyuki-san.”

“Good morning, Tennouji-kun. You and Shina seem awfully close this morning.”

She’s definitely angry about the “harassment.”
…Maybe I should apologize later.

“How confident are you about the exams starting today?”

“Well, I’m pretty sure I’ll do octo–pussibly fine. Especially in English, science, and classics.”

“Nguh—!”

Huh? What was that cough just now!? Did I say something weird!?

“So that’s what you meant by confidence… octo–pussibly, huh? You seem quite relaxed.”

Wait—did she just laugh at my pun?
Did Fuyuki-san… just smile?
Hey, maybe this is good. Could ease the tension a bit.

“I’ll trust that confidence. Let’s both do our best.”

“Yeah. I’m not here to compete, but… let’s both score well.”

I raised my fist to her, and for a second she blinked in confusion. Then, brushing her hair aside, she made a small fist and gently tapped mine.

H-hey, it’s not like I planned that or anything!

“…Right.”

Her face looked a little red, but I knew better than to point it out.

***

“Ahh—! Mio, you should’ve woken me up earlier!”

“Haa… haa… you’re the one who wouldn’t get up, Toshiya-kun…”

“Then you should’ve been rougher about it!”

“W-why would I do that…?”

Akitani and Imamiya came rushing in just before the bell. Seriously, that guy… if Akitani-san came to wake me up, I’d shoot out of bed in five seconds. He’s got the nerve to oversleep on exam day of all times. I hope Akitani-san’s ready for the test at least.

“Alright, phones off and in your bags! If one rings, it’s automatic cheating! Got it?”

Whoa, harsh. Guess that’s normal for an elite school. Even if this is a game world, it’s pretty strict. Anyway, no way I’m risking a zero—I switched mine off quick.

As I was getting ready, Shina-san turned around to pass back the answer sheet, and our eyes met. She gave me an adorable little wink before facing forward.

Ah, crap. She’s too cute. No way I’m spacing out on the test after that.

After the first day’s exams ended, I stretched my arms with a satisfied sigh. This tension—this feeling—it’s not bad at all.

“Nice work, Daiki-kun! Hey hey, wanna hit Mk after this?”

“…Mk?”

“Eh? You do know Mk—MickDonald’s?”

“Oh, ah… you mean Mikudo.”

“Mikudo? Isn’t it Mk?”

“Nah nah nah, it’s Mikudo. ‘Mk’ sounds like a computer brand.”

“Eeeeh!? What does that even mean?”

“Ahh, cultural difference, I guess. Alright, let’s go to Mikudo, do some test review… and I’ll teach you a bit of Kansai dialect too.”

“Ehehe, I wanna try talking like you too, Daiki-kun! Let’s go! You’ll help me with math, right?”

“Sure, sure. But first, it’s Mikudo, not MickDonald’s. Same with Misesu Donatsu.”

I think I ended up teaching her more Kansai slang than math that day.

By the time we left, she said, “Let’s chat again at Mikudo, okay ♡”
She was all smiles, her conversations lively and unpredictable—it was actually pretty refreshing.

Of course, somehow Fuyuki-san and Akitani-san found out we went. And for some reason, Fuyuki-san asked, “Are you trying to dye Shina in your colors, Tennouji-kun?”

Why meee!?

***

The exams flew by in three days. All done.
Man, it was exhausting… but fun too.
I think my results will show some solid improvement this time.

“Good work, Tennouji-kun. How was it?”

“Not bad at all. I’m actually looking forward to the results.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“Daiki-kun! Rin-chan!”

“Shina, good job. How’d it go?”

“Ehehe, totally nailed it! Way smoother than last term!”

“Fufu, then all that studying paid off.”

“How about you, Akitani-san?”

“I’m glad you helped me with English, Tennouji-kun! Now I just wanna do a little self-grading.”

“That sounds nice. Shall we grab a bite first and then do it at the library?”

“Ah! I wanna go to Mikudo!”

“……”

“……”

For some reason, Akitani-san just smiled wryly, while Fuyuki-san shot me a sharp look. What? What did I do this time?

“She’s… already dyed.”

“Ahaha, Shina gets influenced so easily.”

“…???”

I still didn’t get what they meant.

And then—results day.

I wasn’t really nervous. I was confident enough that I wouldn’t fail anything. I’d double-checked my answers. No way I’d bombed it.

When I got to the second-year bulletin board, Shina came sprinting at me.

“Daaaiki-kuuun!”

“Whoa, what’s with all the energy this early, Shina-san?”

“Daiki-kun, this is insane! Like, crazy insane!”

“What, like that soccer meme—‘He’s not human!’ kinda insane?”

“Just look!!”

She shoved me forward, practically forcing me to look at the rankings.

1st — Tennouji Daiki — 792 / 800
2nd — Fuyuki Rinko — 790 / 800

“…Huh?”

This… this has gotta be a mistake, right?
Why the hell is my name at the top?

I rubbed my eyes and looked again.

1st — Tennouji Daiki — 792 / 800

“No way.”

“Told you, didn’t I? Totally insane!”

“Tennouji-kun, that’s amazing! You’re number one! Number one!”

“That’s… beyond surprising. You really did it, Tennouji-kun.”

“No no no, this must be a typo! I’m gonna tell the teacher they messed up!”

I mean, seriously, what kind of mix-up is this!?

“Rin-chan, what’s wrong with him?”

“He’s in denial of reality.”

“Ahaha…”

I went to the faculty office to report the “error,” and my homeroom teacher’s eyes lit up.

“Tennouji! Well done! That’s incredible!”

Then even the Thunder Teacher was crying again, saying, “I knew you had it in you!”

…Wait, so this isn’t a mistake!?

“Tennouji-kun, have you come to terms with reality now?”

“Y-yeah…”

Apparently, I really was first. The class buzzed with words like, “Whoa!” and “Holy crap!” and “The two-year top two!”

Even Imamiya looked stunned.

I was just trying to live quietly as a background character…

Guess I really went and did it this time.