Life In The Reverse World

May 26th. The day after midterms ended.

During the break, Tazaki sat at his desk, clasped his hands together, and bowed deeply toward Harutaki like a devout believer, his tone filled with utmost sincerity.

“Harutaki-sama… did you sneak into the staff room in the middle of the night and steal all the midterm papers?”

The content, however, was outrageously offensive.

Harutaki understood what Tazaki meant. After all, the review outline he had prepared had hit quite a few key points, to the extent that it really did look like he’d seen the exam in advance.

“I’m not some kind of evil god.”

He shot back casually, pulling out his phone and opening the browser before showing Tazaki the screen.

“In reality, if you just look up midterm papers from previous years, you’ll notice that as long as the person setting the exam doesn’t change, there’s a certain overlap in key topics.”

All his reference materials came from the school’s anonymous forums. A quick keyword search would bring up uploads of past exam papers.

Of course, this only applied to certain subjects. While the focus areas might be similar, the actual questions were completely different, so you couldn’t just rely on past papers to score high.

“There’s… actually a method like that…”

“Students at prep schools usually have those red books, right? You should know what they’re for.”

“Past university entrance exam questions…”

Tazaki slumped back onto his desk, speaking listlessly.

“So in the end, it’s still just endless practice…”

But in the next moment, he suddenly perked up again, clutching his phone as he opened a mobile game app with an anime girl icon.

“I’ve gotta finish the event before the results come out!”

Harutaki didn’t even know where to begin roasting that sudden burst of motivation.

He figured that the time between finishing exams and receiving results was probably the most relaxed period for students—

Well, except for those who knew they’d bombed.

The school likely considered the balance between work and rest, so most of the week’s schedule was arranged as review sessions. At the same time, taking advantage of the midterm atmosphere, they organized a “career guidance homeroom” related to higher education and future employment.

This was probably the last chance for young people to dream about their future without worries.

Guidance from working adults had to be arranged around their availability, while academic guidance from third-year seniors was perfectly timed right after midterms.

After this, the third-years would have to fully commit to preparing for next spring’s university entrance exams. They’d hardly have the time or energy for activities unrelated to their own futures—

At least, in a college-prep school like this.

Harutaki didn’t particularly care about life before or after results were released, but like most second-years, he was looking forward to today’s career guidance session, where they could exchange study experiences with third-year seniors.

Of course, among them were also a small number of students hoping to meet a particular upperclassman they admired…

Harutaki was one of them.

From what Asama-sensei had mentioned, too many second-years this year had chosen the humanities track, resulting in a heavily unbalanced ratio: four humanities classes and only one science class.

In other words, for fairness, the four humanities classes would be split into two groups for guidance.

After all, there were only so many outstanding third-years. They couldn’t afford to waste too much of their time, nor could they distribute them evenly. This compromise led to the current arrangement.

Class 2-1 and 2-3 would attend together, followed by Classes 2-2 and 2-4.

“Phew…”

He let out a quiet breath, calming his slightly excited mood, and couldn’t help thinking about how he should greet Miyabi-senpai later.

That’s right—his anticipation for the guidance session was entirely because, as one of the top humanities students in the third year, she would undoubtedly be there.

Before long, he had even worked out how to explain things to Nogami and Chouko.

When people get excited, they really can unlock hidden potential.

…

“Hoshikawa, since you’re the extra member, go pair up with Class 1 and make do.”

“Huh?”

Hearing this out of nowhere, Harutaki looked at Asama-sensei, who was adjusting his tie, and frowned.

“What do you mean ‘go make do with Class 1’?”

“It means exactly what it sounds like…” The sloppy, unreliable-looking middle-aged teacher glanced at him before continuing. “Class 1 has 34 students, and our Class 3 has 33. You get what I mean, right?”

From those numbers, Harutaki quickly deduced the grouping: four people per group.

“It wouldn’t be a problem if one group just had five people, right? Nogami-san or Shihou wouldn’t object.”

“You’re seriously annoying.”

“Please don’t call your student annoying.”

“Five is fine, sure… but just imagining you, you scumbag, surrounded by a harem of beautiful girls, flirting in a suggestive atmosphere—it pisses me off more the more I think about it.”

“So…?”

This old man was unbelievable!

“I’ll just send you off to join the leftover group in Class 1. That way I’ll feel better—maybe I’ll even live a few more years and teach more outstanding students.”

“Please retire on the spot and stop harming future generations.”

Of course, Harutaki knew Asama-sensei was joking.

Clearly, all classes were being divided into groups of four.

Too many people, and the third-year mentors wouldn’t be able to manage. Too few, and breaking up existing social circles wouldn’t be ideal.

The circles Harutaki was close to right now were basically two: one centered around Ren’s trio, and another centered around Nogami—now including Chouko as well.

Joining Ren’s group would be no problem, but—

He turned to look at Tazaki.

Like a lone island in a vast ocean, his otaku deskmate was anxiously looking around, already realizing that he’d been left out of every social circle.

“Asama-sensei really is cunning.”

“You flatter me.”

The shameless middle-aged man grinned in response.

Still, Harutaki didn’t believe it was that simple.

Given Asama-sensei’s usual personality, even if there were official rules, this sloppy yet surprisingly reliable teacher would probably just bend them as needed.

As long as he could see Miyabi-senpai, everything else didn’t really matter.

“So the mentors for each group are still chosen by the third-years themselves, right? That hasn’t changed?”

This was something Harutaki had confirmed from old forum posts.

Second-year students were important, sure—but right now, the real focus was on the top-performing third-years about to face entrance exams.

“You planning to target another upperclassman again and use this as an excuse to get close to her, you scumbag?”

Asama-sensei’s gaze was dripping with disdain.

How is that “targeting”? It’s just pure, wholesome interaction between a junior and a senior!

He defended himself internally.

Ever since that night they parted, he had gone to the riverside cherry blossom path every day, yet never once saw Miyabi-senpai again. There was even one time he skipped tutoring work just to wait there, but even as it neared 5 PM, he never heard her cool, distant greeting.

Even though there had never been any promise between them, he couldn’t help but feel a faint sense of being ignored… even abandoned.

“Calling your student a scumbag is unprofessional, you know.”

Harutaki chose to deflect.

“Tch. Anyway, do as you like. I won’t interfere with your choices. But if your actions influence or lead someone else to make a decision, you’d better take responsibility for it.”

Was he talking about Chouko?

Asama-sensei was clearly hinting at something, but Harutaki couldn’t quite tell who he meant.

“Homeroom’s about to start. Head to Class 1 later. Their homeroom teacher, Fujimiya-sensei, will assign your group.”

“Why not have someone from Class 1 come to ours instead?”

“Class 1 is all girls. Watch what you say, you scumbag.”

“First, I’m not a scumbag. Second, you’re the one who should watch your words.”

Watching Asama-sensei leave to prepare materials, Harutaki let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Girls might be troublesome, but compared to unfamiliar male classmates, they were far preferable.

With his looks, most girls would treat him kindly enough.

As for guys…

Given his reputation at Nichiya High, not being met with jealousy or hostility would already be a blessing.

Still—

Please let them be cute girls.

He offered a silent prayer.

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