The remaining days of their vacation ended up being rather uneventful, and so school began once again. Now second years, their dorms moved to a new separate building, with each room being slightly larger and generally more comfortable. Which according to Yamato was most likely because the first year was most likely still a form of qualification period. As students who only made it through the first half of the first year would be a waste of half a years recourses, which would still be the case in the second year but now there was less risk of the students being failures, since they had made it through the first year. Though Yamato would not know about the beds increased comfort for now, since it was mainly claimed by Yuki already, of course, who was just lying on her stomach looking at Yamato read on his desk.
"Master, I'm getting really bored of those competitive exams… We are class 1 already anyway, so we won, right? Then the next exam we will win again, and the one after that as well and so on until we graduate… Where is the motivation, the goal, the achievement?"
"You sound like me…"
"Because we are soulmates~ But I'm serious!"
"I get where you are coming from… I feel somewhat the same."
"Ah… You feel the same? You share my feelings of infinite love and affection?"
"Thought you were serious…"
"Okay, fine, no more unserious stuff… If you feel the same, something needs to change so you are feeling perfect! I will make this next exam an unforgettable and unique experience for you. Free from predictability and low stakes, all to make your heart race!"
"Aww, what a captivating speech. I will hold you to that."
"You can count on me!"
"Do you have something specific in mind already?"
"I'll make something up on the fly once we know the rules, but trust me it will be as if I planned it for weeks! So it will be a surprise~"
"Ah… I guess I will see then."
Yuki's gaze turned away from Yamato out the window, where the sun was shining like on most days, with only a few clouds in the sky. She then muttered something barely audible.
"Though I have a premonition that this will be our last competitive exam…"
"What was that?"
"Nothing, Master~ I said I love you and we need to cuddle!"
"I'm busy."
"Looks like that book has to go…"
Though he let out a sigh of irritation, Yuki's victory became apparent when he complied with her demand for cuddles to stop her from terminating his book. Although he was fairly certain she would not have done anything if he ordered her to, he found himself compromising in her favor more and more recently, despite the easier option usually being the opposite.
Now in class, their lesson was interrupted by professor Reed inviting himself in the room without knocking, though professors Issac seemed unbothered or used to it.
"Pardon my intrusion, but I believe you all have waited enough! Yes, now that you have reached class 1 will be informed about the great prize you get for graduating as class 1, which is so awesome! In agreement with the royal family, each student that graduates as class 1, meaning the entire class, will be granted an audience with a member of the royal family, in which they may request one thing each. Whether or not the request gets accepted is up to the chosen member of the royal family, but as long as it is possible, most are accepted.
Exciting, isn't it? But that's not all! I'm also here to announce the upcoming competitive exam, which of course as the first of the new year, needs to stand out! Thus, I've decided that the Class Shuffle Exam, yes they have awesome names now, will go into a completely different direction! Maybe the name can also be a hint for what it will be about, hm? Who knows! I'm feeling pretty confident in my latest design, and am looking forward to your feedback afterwards! Now please continue with the lesson! Oh, and the exam begins the day after tomorrow! I know it's sudden, but that's part of the challenge."
"…Anyway, moving on with the task at hand."
Professor Isaac just continued as if nothing happened. It was not easy working under someone like professor Reed, even more frustrating must be that he is younger than professor Isaac. Maybe the only way to mentally survive such impulsivity was to just ignore it and do your job as best as you can? One would have to ask professor Isaac first for that, but no one will ever do that. No one would ever talk to him outside of class…
Yamato was quite intrigued by the content of the professors speech. Yuki seemed frustrated since Reed stole her chance to make the exam more interesting, by doing it himself, which now ruined her chance to shine and be praised by Yamato. Though, maybe his plan would fail and she would get another opportunity to do it better. Maybe. After school ended, they went back home together and Yuki complained about professor Reed the enitre time, with multiple persuasive attempts to gain permission to kill him, which Yamato shut down quite directly and without compromise, whatever compromise there even was. The next day, Yuki would spend the entirety of the day trying to predict the rules of the exam based on the name.
"A Class Suffle… What is beijg shuffled around about the class? The students? The teachers?? Maybe the position of the class, as in 1 becomes 3 or something… But that wouldn't make any sense at all so probably not. Maybe there will be teams of some sort and those are random, thus shuffled? Or the rules are random? Or maybe it has nothing to do with randomness but rather… Predetermined or factors the students cannot affect, thus are shuffled around by? Argh, there could be a million ways to interpret this cryptic name!"
"Master, what do you think about the exam name?"
"It's probably intentionally vague. There is no way he would give us a hint with which one could accurately predict the rules of the exam two days in advance. Well, one day now. It would be a waste of time to try and figure out details to something obviously incomplete and meant to confuse."
"Ah, exactly my thoughts! Who would even try to make sense of it, haha…"
"Though I suppose thinking about what it could be wouldn't hurt as it might give you a general direction. You shouldn't count on it though."
"Ah… I love you!"
"…Back to your question, I think the shuffle part might refer to some element that switches up something we have been regularly doing up until now. His whole thing seemed to revolve around removing repetitiveness, which is spot on to our criticism… I guess he is a good and qualified teacher in certain areas after all."
"Maybe a little bit not completely useless… I still would rather see him dead though!"
"Yes, yes, I know… But don't."
"You don't have to tell me again, I won't do anything, I promise…"
"Good."
"Anyway, since there is nothing to prepare for, we should go on a date!"
"What do you mean, nothing to prepare for? Just because you don't know what it is about does not mean you can't prepare for it. You can at least help the rest of the class to prepare. I'm sure Arina could take some advice or direction. I'm going ti discuss some things with the twins while you are busy with that."
"But… But date…?"
"No."
"Please?"
"…No."
"I'll do anything~?"
"Really?"
"Yes!"
"Then do what I told you to."
Her eyes started tearing up and she seemed to be pouting, though her emotional attack proved less effective than she had hoped for. Whether it was because Yamato saw through her act, or if he did not care as much as she anticipated was unclear.
"You're so mean… Fine then I'll be good~ Was worth a shot though."
"Have fun."
"You know I won't…"
He gave her a head pat before leaving, which increased her mood more than it should have. Now alone, she was forced to go seek out Arina as she had promised and prepare her for the exam, whatever that meant. Yuki found Arina alone in her room, seemingly trying to sleep. After Yuki had knocked, Arina opened the door with messy hair and let her in with a tired smile.
"Oh, hey Yuki, how are you?"
"Uhm… Good, and you?"
"I'm alright… What brings you to me? Do you need help with something?"
"Ah, no it's nothing like that… Are you sure you are alright? You don't look so well."
"…Is it that obvious?"
"I'm just so perceptive~"
"Haha… Yeah, you sure are…"
"No, but seriously it is quite apparent."
Arina sighed and closed the door behind Yuki before sitting down on her bed.
"It's just… I've had trouble sleeping lately… I've told you about it, right? Ever since that day, where I lost my home, I've had these nightmares… Of my parents telling me I shouldn't have left that day. I should've have gone outside the village… Because if I had stayed, maybe I could've… I could've… I should've died with them…?"
She began tearing up, nothing like Yuki's fake tears which she tried to persuade Yamato with. Real, genuine sorrow was visible in Arina's eyes. Yuki never really thought about Arina's state in a sad or empathetic way. Even now, the best she can do is fake empathy to make her perform better tomorrow. Did Yamato pay more attention to Arina's state? Was that why he had send Yuki now? It would be like him to solve things in such a indirect and manipulative way… Yuki somehow loved that. But she also hated having to comfort Arina now, which she did anyway as she hugged her ane tried to stop her sobbing.
"Shh… I know it's horrible… But whatever happened that day, you were not ready to make a difference… That you left that day and survived was not a betrayal, but a miracle. You didn't leave anyone behind, you survived. You survived for the sake of everyone else too. Even though they are gone, ask yourself if they truly would have wanted you to die with them, and then remember that you are not alone anymore. You've moved on, because you are strong."
"Yuki…"
"Shhhh… It's alright… I'm here. And I understand."
"Oh, and how I understand… If only Master and I hadn't crashed down in that village that day… But whatever. Thanks to that she was able to reach new heights, even meet the most glorious being in existence. Really, she should be thankful. You're welcome, Arina."