Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16818622172789075625/episodes/16818622172846582755
“Your ranking is dropping again ! You’re actually weak in the head, lame !”
“……”
The day I got back the results of my mock exam.
As soon as she snatched my result sheet, my childhood friend gave me a vulgar laugh.
The national deviation score and the school you want to go to are once unimportant.
The biggest problem is the ranking within the school.
The number written on the page said that I was ranked 53rd out of 400 students.
In a crowded fast food restaurant after school, my childhood friend, Kako, peers at me as I look down and laugh.
Her twin-tail hair brushed my cheek.
“Hey, you study for 15 hours every day, isn’t that insane? You’re wasting your time. It’s so hilarious !”
“Seriously, why is that…….”
“Huh? Even I know it’s obvious.”
As I thought about it seriously, Kako said nonchalantly.
I was curious and looked up at her.
But I immediately regretted it.
Seeing her smirk and nasty smile, I realized that no words of consolation would come from our longtime relationship.
“Of course that’s because you’re an idiot and incapable of learning ! Kyahahaha ! Useless bookworm !”
“You don’t have to say it like that.”
“Huh～? It’s your weak brain that’s to blame, so why are you being so upset?”
“No, it’s not that I’m upset with you.”
I have known Kako since elementary school, and this year marks the tenth year of our relationship.
Although she has always made fun of me at every opportunity since long ago, we have spent a lot of time together.
After all, it seemed like she understood me.
That is why we have been together all this time.
When did it all start?
I realized that I had become my childhood friend’s sandbag.
“Throw this paper away ! Kyaha.”
The results of my mock exam, rolled up in a mess right in front of my eyes.
As I stare blankly at it, a variety of emotions well up inside me.
“You know what?”
“What?”
I took a deep breath and stared straight into Kako’s eyes.
“Don’t be so cruel. We’re childhood friends, right? I don’t want to end up hating you, so please be a little nicer to me.”
It was a heartfelt favor.
Many memories have been accumulated since we first met.
She may be like this now, but the old Kako was a lovely, witty, friendly, and kind girl.
She also told me that one day she would become my wife.
She even followed me to high school to be with me.
She probably still has feelings for me, too, and I can’t just let the relationship go on like this.
That’s why I decided to have a talk with her.
But.
“Huh? Eh, what? Gross.”
“Eh?”
“What’s with you all of a sudden? Do you think maybe I have feelings for you?”
“……”
I was puzzled by what she said.
I don’t think I was being self-conscious.
We have been in constant contact for a long time now, and the distance between us is quite close.
In high school, she went all the way up nearly 20 deviations to go to the preparatory school that I was accepted to.
Since there was a considerable difference in academic ability between Kako and me, I taught her wholeheartedly at that time.
She followed me around even to that extent without sparing any extraordinary effort.
Even after entering high school, she would come over to my house after school every day, and we would often have dinner together.
She was basically friendly, even though some of her words were harsh, and she would tell me about things that happened at school, and I’m sure there were many days when we shared a good time.
I don’t think you would have gone that far with a guy you didn’t like.
As I cracked my eyes open, Kako smiled unusually wryly.
“Ah, you seriously thought that? I kinda feel bad. I have a boyfriend, and we usually have sex and stuff.
“…..Eh.”
“Did you still believe me when I said I was gonna marry you? No way. Know your place.”
It’s true that Kako is cute and popular with the boys at school.
She’s someone who is no match for me.
Why is she still here?
Why did she come to the same high school as me and why is she hurling abusive language at me now?
A cold sweat runs down my armpits, and I feel the discomfort of falling.
Then, my eyes widen at the sight of a new figure entering my field of vision.
“Ah, it’s Rio kun yahoo.”
Kako calls out to the handsome man who suddenly appears in the fast food restaurant.
I knew him well.
He was the highest-achieving student in our school.
She clung to the man’s arm and said.
“Let me introduce you. This is my boyfriend. Unlike you, he’s smart, good-looking, and athletic. Kyahaha ! What a terrible look !”
I did make a terrible look.
But it’s not that I was shocked because I liked Kako.
The reason for this is simply that I don’t understand why I’m being harassed so much and I’m confused.
“I’m the type of person who likes smart people. That’s why I don’t want you !”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean exactly what I said. Don’t ever talk to me again. You’re scaring me with your bloodshot virgin eyes.”
“I-I’m not looking at you like that !”
“Kyaa ! I’m scared ! Rio kun, help me !”
When Kako hugged him, Takagi Rio looked at me with disdain.
“You are Edano Tsukishi, who was third in your grade when you first entered the school. You wanna enter medical school, don’t you? And with a special scholarship?”
“……That’s right.”
“Hmm. So…..lemme see. Pfft ! 53rd place !? This rank for a special scholarship to medical school !?”
I clenched my fists in frustration at the crumpled score sheet spread out in front of me.
When I was in the second grade of elementary school, my father died of an incurable disease.
Since then, I live in a single-mother household with no money.
I want to go to college without giving my mother any trouble, and in the future I want to earn a lot of money to repay my mother.
Above all, I want to save patients like my father from this world, whom I had to give up in tears because there was no treatment for him.
I have been studying with this one thought in my mind until today.
I feel frustrated that someone who only knows what’s on the outside is making fun of me like this.
I feel like punching him in the face at any moment.
And if he knows so much about it, Kako must have told him about it.
I’m really angry at my childhood friend for carelessly using me as an excuse to make fun of me, even though she knows exactly what’s going on.
However, my anger was quickly dissipated.
After all, it was my own fault that my grades were so low that I got myself into this situation.
“Let’s go, Kako chan.”
“Yeah ! Let’s Ignore this incompetent, hard-working, and stupid kid, and go to some hotel right away.”
As they were leaving, Kako looked at me and laughed.
“Why don’t you just go home and jerk off while imagining us? Kyahahaha.”
◇
For the next few days, I had nightmares.
Even when I opened my notebook, I couldn’t concentrate because I kept seeing the results of the mock exam and the face of my childhood friend who was trying to get on my nerves.
I was ranked 3rd in my grade when I entered high school, but my grades have been steadily dropping, and now, after the summer break, I’m finally ranked 53rd.
Although our high school had a deviation score of 73, the highest in the local area, this ranking was still not good.
The entrance exam for special students is an early-stage competition, and it’s hopeless.
My thoughts are being controlled by my dark emotions.
Pathetic.
And I feel sorry for my mother, who has been preparing dinner for my dreadful childhood friend for many years.
It was always like that at school, and I ended up feeling depressed.
I had to study, but no matter how much I tried, the word “bookworm” kept coming to my mind.
It was at that time.
It was a break time between classes one day.
I was usually a loner, never talking to anyone, when I felt someone’s hand on my shoulder.
“Edano kun.”
I lifted my heavy head.
And there she was.
“Edano kun, you’re so smart, aintcha !? If you want, can you teach me math !?”
It was a beautiful blonde girl, a returnee from abroad, one of the most popular girls in the school.
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