Winter settled over campus so quietly that none of us noticed when autumn finally disappeared.
The ginkgo trees that had covered the walkways in gold only weeks before now stood almost bare. Cold winds swept through the campus, carrying the smell of coffee from vending machines and convenience stores instead of festival food.
For first-year Computer Science students...
Winter meant only one thing.
Final examinations.
Our first paper was Computer Architecture.
Tomorrow afternoon.
Room 123 had become unrecognizable.
Textbooks covered every desk.
Printed notes were scattered across the floor.
Someone had abandoned a half-eaten rice ball beside a compiler textbook.
Coffee cans had quietly taken over the windowsill.
It looked less like a dorm room...
...and more like four people trying to survive the week.
If optimism were a subject...
Haruto Kondo would've failed it.
Somehow, every other subject survived him instead.
He stared at his Computer Architecture notes for nearly a minute.
He slowly closed the book.
"...I've accepted my fate."
Nobody reacted.
Takumi didn't even look up from his manga.
"Again?"
Haruto nodded.
"This is today's first one."
Ryota finally looked over.
"You've been saying that since Monday."
"I know."
"You've revised every chapter."
"I know."
"You'll probably pass."
"I know."
"Then what exactly have you accepted?"
Haruto let out a long sigh.
"I'll find out tomorrow."
Takumi turned another page.
"...Fair enough."
Riku had come by earlier that evening, insisting his own room "had no atmosphere for studying."
Within ten minutes, he'd decided Room 123 didn't either.
Not without the right soundtrack.
He propped his phone against a water bottle and started playing an orchestral theme from a sports anime, the kind that always played right before the underdog made an impossible comeback.
"Every great sports anime has a training montage."
Ryota didn't even look up.
"We're studying."
"Exactly."
"This is the montage."
Nobody turned it off.
Across the room...
Shun's desk looked completely different.
One notebook.
One pen.
One laptop.
Barcelona.
Messi had the ball.
Ryota blinked twice.
"...Tomorrow."
"I know."
"The exam."
"I know."
"And you're watching football."
Shun didn't take his eyes off the screen.
"Barcelona."
As though that explained everything.
Somehow...
It did.
None of us questioned it anymore.
Whenever Barcelona played...
Shun studied afterward.
The replay ended.
Then came the highlights.
Then the post-match analysis.
By the time he finally closed his laptop...
It was half past nine.
He quietly opened his Computer Architecture textbook.
Ryota looked genuinely offended.
"...You're starting now?"
"I've got time."
"You've got three hours."
"I know."
Ryota looked toward the ceiling.
"Some people are loved by God."
Shun simply turned the next page.
My phone vibrated.
Saki
studying?
I smiled without realizing it.
trying to
A few seconds later...
same
how's computer architecture?
I looked at the textbook lying open beside me.
i understand the book
i just don't remember anything from the lectures
Three dots appeared almost instantly.
same 😭
i think sensei's voice is magic
attendance is the only thing keeping everyone awake
I laughed quietly.
i thought i was the only one
A laughing sticker appeared.
Then another message.
good luck tomorrow 😊
I stared at it for a second.
you too
The conversation ended there.
For some reason...
It was enough.
By the third day, none of us could remember whose coffee belonged to whom.
We simply drank whichever cup was closest and apologized afterward if someone complained.
Room 123 had settled into its usual rhythm.
Ryota was reading formulas aloud like they were prayers.
Takumi had somehow convinced himself that one more chapter of manga counted as a study break.
Haruto was still accepting his fate every twenty minutes.
Shun was solving past papers as though tomorrow were an ordinary Tuesday.
Riku's anime soundtrack had looped so many times nobody noticed it anymore.
Including Riku.
I had been looking at the same page for nearly ten minutes.
Not because it was difficult.
Because my mind kept wandering back to a single message.
good luck tomorrow
I finally shook my head.
Tomorrow first.
Everything else later.
The next afternoon...
The corridor outside the examination hall was unusually quiet.
Some students stared at flashcards until the last possible second.
Others looked as though they'd already made peace with whatever awaited them.
Haruto folded his notes.
"...I've accepted my fate."
Ryota sighed.
"The exam hasn't even started."
"I'm preparing emotionally."
"You've been emotionally prepared since Monday."
"You can never be too prepared."
Ryota looked at him.
"...You've accepted your fate four times today."
Haruto thought for a moment.
"...Five."
Even Shun smiled.
Barely.
The first paper came.
Then another.
Programming.
Discrete Mathematics.
Mathematics.
Computer Systems.
The days blurred together into a routine of examinations, convenience store dinners, and too little sleep.
Before we realized it, we were crossing subjects off the timetable instead of counting down to them.
Every night...
My phone vibrated.
Sometimes Saki complained about an exam.
Sometimes I did.
Sometimes one of us simply wrote,
survived?
The reply was always immediate.
barely
Those tiny conversations became part of the routine.
As ordinary as coffee.
As ordinary as textbooks.
As ordinary as winter itself.
The final examination ended just after three in the afternoon.
For a moment...
Nobody moved.
Then chairs scraped against the floor.
Pens were put away.
The semester was over.
Outside...
Students crossed the campus pulling suitcases behind them.
Some were laughing.
Some were already calling home.
Others stood outside the station with friends they wouldn't see again until next year.
The campus suddenly felt...
Temporary.
Ryota stretched so dramatically that his backpack nearly fell off.
"I survived."
Haruto nodded.
"So did I."
Ryota looked at him.
"So..."
Haruto smiled faintly.
"I've postponed my fate."
For the first time all week...
Everyone laughed.
I had almost reached the dorm when my phone vibrated again.
Saki
leaving tomorrow?
yeah
morning train
you?
same
A few seconds passed.
Then another message appeared.
want to meet before we go?
I read it once.
Then again.
Without realizing it...
I smiled.
i'd like that
As I slipped my phone back into my pocket, I looked across the nearly empty campus.
Tomorrow...
Everyone would leave for home.
But before that...
There was someone I wanted to see.