Despite his recent achievement of attaining a perfect score in every subject during their last examination period, Semi Madoka was not happy in the least.
Although attaining a perfect score meant that he was currently the top ranked student amongst the first years, he had unknowingly pursed his lips when he saw the neatly printed "1" next to his name on the ranking boards.
With results this impressive, he knew that it would be difficult to remain inconspicuous at this new school.
What Madoka did not expect was that his fellow schoolmates' and teachers' clamouring would be so incessant that he would eventually have to skip class–two weeks after the scores had been posted–just so he could finally have a quiet moment to himself. Time, it seemed only further intensified everyone's interest in his academic prowess instead of diminishing it.
As he laid in the nurse's office with his hand resting on his forehead, his thoughts drifted back to the day of their exams when he had committed the initial slip up that led to this undesirable outcome.
On that accursed morning, his eyes had been watery, his nose had been runny, and his throat had been itchy; however, he had stubbornly insisted that he was not sick. Being sick meant being vulnerable but the teenage Madoka was not someone whom could admit to weakness and thus, he had been in denial about having something as little as a cold.
If his uncle had been home he would have gotten his silly nephew medicine and stuffed him back into bed but unfortunately, his uncle had been away because of a work commitment. Thus, with a packed bag and staggering steps, Madoka dragged his unhealthy body to school.
By the time the first set of exam papers reached his hands, his brain felt like it had been wrapped in cotton. There was a strange haziness to his surroundings that made him feel like he was floating even when his feet were planted on the ground. While his vision was not fuzzy and he could make out the words on the pages, he did not give much thought to his responses. He simply answered every question with the first answer that sprang to mind at an unusual rhythm.
If it had been anyone else in that situation their grades would have likely dropped but for Madoka, it was the opposite.
In fact, the rise in his grades was inevitable. With him not making efforts to hide his real abilities, how could his ranking not improve?
His memory had always been exceptional. Not only did he only need to glance at material once before the information was instantly processed and stored in his mind, his listening skills were also scarily astonishing. He could repeat any teacher's lessons verbatim, a year after they had been taught, and after that he could still summarize them with a high rate of accuracy.
Madoka would never brand himself with a title as lofty as "genius" but it was a fact that taking notes in class or rereading study materials was utterly redundant to him. Even so, he had formed a habit of doing these things in order to blend in with the rest of his peers because he disliked appearing outstanding in any way.
In his pursuit of mediocrity, he had no qualms with deliberately supplying incorrect answers on tests or suppressing his speed and strength on physical endeavors.
It was enough that his overall ranking hovered around the one hundredth place. Being within the school's top 30% was ideal because it was not high enough or low enough to be singled out for neither academic excellence or probation.
As a result of his efforts, Madoka's intellect was concealed to the extent that not even his uncle whom had raised him since he was 13 had realized just how gifted his nephew really was.
"Nakamura-sensei! Nakamura-sensei!"
"Nakamura-sensei, are you in here?"
The sound of the door sliding open and the abrupt introduction of unknown voices brought Madoka out of his thoughts.
Although he could not see the faces of the people whom had spoken, as the curtains around his cot were fully drawn, judging from the silhouettes, he could tell that the speakers were both male students.
"Damn, she's not here. I guess we'll just have to find an ice pack on our own. There should be some in the fridge, right?"
"Probably."
The two boys walked over to the fridge and very quickly found the ice packs used for injuries. They were completely unaware that Madoka was secretly observing the movements of their shadows and hoping that they would leave faster so that his surroundings would return to being silent.
"Is the ice pack helping?"
"Barely. This stupid bruise is massive so it'll probably take a while before it stops hurting."
The other boy shook his head. "You really shouldn't have provoked the girls in our class, man. They're scary as hell. They're stronger than wild lions. When I saw that serve heading towards you, I really thought you were going to die."
"How the hell would I know that they would react so violently?! Does it make sense for them to try to take me out with a volleyball–like seriously a hard as a rock volleyball of all things–just because I made some damned comments about Semi Madoka?"
Although Madoka was surprised to hear his name being mentioned, for the most part his expression remained unchanged. It was not the first or second time that he had learnt of others speaking behind his back. He had transferred schools too many times not to have been the target of both countless positive and negative rumours.
"It doesn't make sense but do you think those brainless fangirls in our class give a crap about that? They don't. All they care about is the transfer student's pretty boy face and the fact that he got that perfect score on the exams."
The boy tending to his head injury snorted loudly. "I bet he cheated. A perfect score is practically impossible to get and it's not like he did all that well on the previous exams."
"Who knows? Maybe he seduced one of the teachers to get the exam questions in advance."
"I wouldn't be surprised if he did. Guys like that get a free pass for everything while good and honest guys like us always get the short end of the stick. It's a load of horse shit if you ask me."
Before Madoka could react, an exaggerated sigh came out from the cot adjacent to him. Not long after that, the sounds of rustling blankets and creaky bed springs could be heard.
"To wake up to the pathetic complaints of a couple of sore losers. How unlucky am I?" While the speaker's voice was unexpectedly silvery for someone whom had claimed to just have woken up, her words were anything but pleasant.
The two boys whom had been caught gossiping were startled. "Who's there?!"
With a loud swish the curtain in front of the other cot was drawn back revealing the appearance of the hidden interloper to the two boys.
One boy gasped while the boy whom had been holding the ice pack dropped it to the floor.
"Y-Y-Y-Yoshino-san?"
Madoka fixed his gaze on the now upright silhouette of the presumably female student next to him.
When he had first arrived at the nurse's office Nakamura-sensei had informed him that there was another student already sleeping inside the office before she dashed out. At the time he had not minded it too much.
All he had sought was a peaceful and temporal area of refuge within the school. Unless the other student had disruptive sleeping habits or woke up and tried to talk to him, he could easily block out their existence.
"I-It's it's not right of you to eavesdrop, Yoshino-san!"
The girl only presently known to Madoka by the name of "Yoshino" chuckled drily as she got out of the cot and faced the two boys. "Oh, please. You make it sound as if I wanted to listen to you two spew nonsense. Here's a tip: if you want to badmouth someone without getting caught, don't do it somewhere public. And if, for some reason, you must do it in public, at least make sure the surroundings are clear first."
The two boys' cheeks flushed in embarrassment.
She paused as she considered something. "Of course, if your aim is to cause widespread damage to the other party's reputation then by all means, run around campus, and prattle away."
She smiled lightly as she delivered her final blow. "However, if you choose to do that, I would hope that you do so when I'm not around because if I have to hear another one of your idiotic slanders I'll most likely throw up from disgust."
The uninjured boy guffawed. "What? You'll "throw up from disgust"? Aren't you going a little too far, Yoshino-san?"
"Y-Yeah! You can't just say whatever you want!"
"I could say the same for you guys." She crossed her arms as she ceased smiling. "Just because you have the physical capability for speech doesn't mean you need to vocalize your opinion on every single matter. Some matters don't require your input whatsoever."
There was a brief moment of silence before one of the boys spoke again. "Are you pissed off because we were talking about the transfer student? Don't tell me you're one of his fans too?"
The corners of her mouth twitched imperceptibly. "Regardless of my personal feelings towards Semi-san, my argument would still stand."
"So even someone like you was fooled by that guy's looks, huh?" Instead of the wobbly voice he used before, the injured boy's voice was now dripping with ridicule. It was clear that he had concluded that the girl was indeed infatuated with Madoka despite her purposefully vague answer. "All of the girls at this school are really so unbelievably stupid."
Under his breath the other boy bitterly added, "Besides his face what's so good about Semi Madoka anyways?"
"I think the question you should really be asking yourselves is what's so good about you? Are you two really in a position to judge other people? So what if girls flock to Semi-san? How does that have anything to do with you guys? It's not as if girls were flocking to you before he arrived."
Her tone became sharper. "Moreover, why would they? Why should girls like you guys? Because you're self-proclaimed "good and honest" guys?"
"Think a little, kids." She tapped her head with her index finger mockingly. "Would truly good and honest guys be trash talking a peer they barely know? Would they constantly degrade their female schoolmates? Instead of wasting your time being petty and jealous why don't you spend a little more time improving yourselves? It might actually get you somewhere."
After saying this the girl brushed past the two boys to leave but a hand immediately came for her wrist. "Wait!"
In the next few seconds there was a flurry of movements that Madoka wished he could have seen without the obstruction of the curtain alongside a cacophony of noises.
The injured boy hissed in pain as he laid on the ground. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that one of the most beautiful girls in school would be able to execute a perfect shoulder throw and that he would be on the receiving end of it.
A few steps away the other boy was frozen stiff.
"Do you find that it's too difficult to walk around with that head injury of yours?" She cracked her knuckles one by one with a frighteningly calm expression. "Would you rather be carried out of here on a stretcher by paramedics?" In other words, shall I beat you until you can longer stand?
The two boys shook their heads until they became dizzy.
"Well, in that case, I'll leave first then?"
The two boys switched to nodding their heads until they felt neck pain.
In the end, after the girl coolly strode off, it took them several minutes to recover their wits.
"That was really...scary..."
"I know...Yoshino-san...she....she's really..."
"I know..."
They shared a look and sighed.
"But somehow...isn't she still really pretty when she's angry?"
The injured boy gave the other boy an incredulous look. "Dude, are you an M or what?"
"I'm not...at least I didn't think I was. But c'mon be honest, man. You thought so too, right?"
The two supported one another up and trudged to the door. "Yeah, you're right..."
While closing the door they both sighed with emotion. "Yoshino-san..."
On the cot, Madoka whom was finally free to adjust his position without having to worry about the sound of bed springs turned to the side. Yoshino-san, huh?
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"Ooh your lips are raised 2 degrees and your dimples are faintly visible," noted Satoru with pleasant surprise. "I knew you must've been in a good mood since you took the initiative to suggest getting food after school but I didn't think you were in that good of a mood!"
From time to time, Madoka and Satoru would grab food on their way home from school. Neither of them were picky eaters, so they often chose to eat fast food for convenience. The particular restaurant that they favoured belonged to a famous restaurant chain that had three locations close to their school. Naturally, of the three locations, they always chose to visit the location that was furthest away as it was usually not as busy. Understandably, hungry and tired students coming home from school were not fond of walking any longer than they had to on their hunt for cheap sustenance.
"Not really. I just recalled something amusing." Madoka lowered his head to pick up his burger. When he lifted his head again he saw Satoru holding up the ancient relic he used as a phone to his face. "What are you doing?"
"Taking a picture to forever preserve that soft expression of yours," Satoru responded innocently as he pushed a button on his keypad. Outdated as his flip phone may have been, it still came equipped with a camera. "It's a miraculous occurrence after all."
"Stop messing around."
Satoru spun his phone around to show Madoka the image that he had captured. "Didn't it turn out pretty nicely?"
Madoka did not bother to look. "Delete it."
"No way!" As if he was worried that Madoka would snatch his phone from him and delete the photo forcibly, Satoru swiftly stuffed his phone into his bag. "If I run into a financial emergency one day, I'll be able to sell this for a lot of money."
Whilst silently chewing his food, Madoka shot Satoru a look of reproach.
Grinning, Satoru picked up a fry. "Heh, I'm only kidding. How could I share such a precious treasure with another person? That photo's going to be my new wallpaper."
"Rejected. I do not consent."
"Aw, Madoka, please~ I'll consent to you using a photo of me for your phone's wallpaper."
"No thanks."
"How cold." Satoru sulkily picked up his drink. "Am I even your best friend, Madoka?"
For a long moment, Madoka stopped eating to stare at this so-called "best friend" of his.
Due to Madoka's aloof character and the circumstances of his upbringing, making friends and maintaining friendships always seemed troublesome to him.
No matter which school he was at, Madoka behaved courteously but never intimately. Therefore, when Satoru had first approached him, Madoka had also kept him at a distance.
"You must be Semi-san! My name is Fumiya Satoru. My eldest brother told me a lot about you!"
Madoka gave a perfunctory greeting to the smiling boy holding onto a wrapped bento in front of him. He had remembered his uncle mentioning that one of his juniors in university had a younger brother whom attended this school but had not paid much attention to it.
Satoru gestured to the space next to Madoka. "May I sit?"
Madoka nodded. Although he preferred dining alone, it was not as if he could deny the other boy the right to sit. Both the courtyard and the benches in it belonged to the school, not him.
"You're in class 1-E, right, Semi-san?" confirmed Satoru as he unwrapped the furoshiki around his bento.
"Yes, that's right."
"I'm in class 1-H. We're in the other building." Satoru pointed east with one hand whilst separating the tiers of his bento with the other. "It would've been nice if we had been in the same class but even though our classrooms aren't close, if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to let me know. No matter how trivial the issue may be, I'll happily run over the second you need my help."
With twinkling eyes Satoru pointed to himself. "I may not look like it but my legs are pretty robust and I can run rather fast, you know."
While Madoka had no intention to take him up on his offer, he still thanked Satoru properly.
"Don't mention it!" Satoru's hands faltered when he saw what he presumed was Madoka's lunch: three store bought onigiris and a bottle of water. "Is that enough food for you, Semi-san?"
Madoka indifferently unscrewed the lid off his bottle of water. "More or less."
"Really? I guess you must not eat a lot. Oh!" Having thought of something, he eagerly edged closer to Madoka. "Do you want to try some of my lunch, Semi-san? It's nothing extravagant but it might be fun to try!"
Madoka politely declined but inwardly thought to himself, what's so fun about trying some stranger's lunch?
"Are you sure?" Satoru brought the tiers of his bento closer to Madoka so the latter could have a better look at them. "I've got croquettes, potato salad, sweet tamagoyaki, ginger and pork filled onigiris, mini hot dogs, cherry tomatoes, and nikudangos."
When Satoru belatedly realized that cutely shaped food and decorations in his bento gave Madoka pause, his smile became somewhat sheepish. "Ah, you can just ignore all of those. It's too much of a hassle to make different lunches for everyone in our family so I usually pack all of us the same things. The younger ones are really fond of cute things so I try to cater to their tastes."
"Are you the one in charge of preparing lunch for your family, Fumiya-san?"
"Yup."
"I see."
After making this single inquiry Madoka went back to quietly finishing his food. Ever so often he would nod his head and give curt replies to the random anecdotes shared by the boy next to him.
When the lunch period ended, they exchanged their goodbyes and Madoka promptly vanished.
The following day Madoka searched for a more remote area to enjoy his lunch in but before he could make himself comfortable, a familiar face popped up—shattering his hopes for solitude.
At the end of this second lunch period with the endlessly cheery Satoru, Madoka was throughly determined to hide himself away for all future lunch periods.
Sadly, what he soon discovered was that avoiding Satoru appeared to be a near impossibility as the other boy somehow always managed to find him regardless of where he hid.