Chiba City's Sobu High School officially announced the list of students admitted for the new academic year. As the leading public high school in the city, the day the list was released naturally attracted a large number of students and parents who came to confirm the results.
However, Hikigaya Hachiman and Yukinoshita Yukino, the two students in question, were too lazy to check for themselves. They passed the buck back and forth over the phone for a long time before unanimously deciding to ask Hayama to go take a look, snap a photo, and send it back to them.
Of course, neither the Yukinoshita family nor Hachiman needed to ask. As a normal candidate, Hayato Hayama was certainly going to Sobu High to confirm his results in person anyway.
Each year, Sobu High admits approximately 240 new students. With so many names densely printed on a rectangular display board, it wasn't easy for most students to find their own. However, since the names were sorted by entrance examination scores, it wasn't difficult for Hayato Hayama to find who he was looking for.
"Is she really the top student in the grade? Not surprising at all, Yukinoshita," Hayato muttered to himself.
The first name on the display board was, of course, Yukinoshita Yukino. With a score of 828, she was undoubtedly the top student of the incoming first-year class and was certain to be the student representative.
"I'm third... Hikigaya-san is fourth," Hayato sighed. "Wow, it's amazing, Mr. Hachiman, to be able to write such incredible novels and still score over 800 on the entrance exam." His own score was 810, while Hachiman's was 804, placing them third and fourth, respectively—not far behind. This was a testament to Sobu High's terrifying academic standards; the top six students on the list had all scored over 800 points.
Hayama remembered a very liberal high school in Chiba, Toyosaki Academy he thought it was called. A student there had once been admitted with a score of just over 750, yet she was still able to pull far ahead of the second-place student. That was the difference between an academically-focused preparatory school and one that wasn't.
However, Sobu High was no boring school that only trained nerds. Its club culture was highly developed. Even today, on the day of the results announcement, seniors from various clubs were standing nearby, trying to recruit the newly admitted juniors before they had even officially enrolled.
After taking the photo, Hayato Hayama quickly left the campus and sent it to Yukinoshita Yukino and Hikigaya Hachiman. He didn't pay any attention to the pink-haired girl behind him who was cheering and celebrating her own admission to Sobu High.
"Fourth place? That's really unlucky," Hachiman thought silently, looking at the photo Hayato had sent. "I might as well let Hayama take it easy before the next exam, and I'll aim for third..."
"I never thought a brain this smart would appear in our Hikigaya family," Mrs. Hikigaya said proudly, lovingly stroking her son's hair.
Sobu High was the pinnacle of Chiba's public high schools. Ranking fourth among the freshmen of such a school meant that Hachiman also held a very high rank in the entire city.
"I actually want to get into Sobu High School, too," Komachi muttered to herself, looking at Hachiman's results. "I feel like there are some really great people there."
Since the end of last year, Hachiman had been guiding Komachi's studies, and she had indeed shown some improvement. At least now, Komachi had recovered to the point where she could once again read the stories Hachiman wrote for her. But if she wanted to take the entrance exam for Sobu High, Hachiman knew his sister still had a long way to go. Fortunately, she still had two years of junior high left, so there was plenty of time.
"If you've made up your mind, Komachi, then I, your brother, will work hard for it too. But you have to be sure that your determination is firm," Hachiman said, staring at her. He wanted to confirm whether his sister was just being impulsive or had truly thought it through. With her current grades and learning ability, it would not be an easy path.
"Komachi, you don't have to force yourself on this," her mother said gently. Although she doted on her precious daughter, she also knew that getting into Sobu High would be difficult for Komachi with her current academic ability.
"Brother, let me think about it again," Komachi said eagerly. "But even if you move out, you can't miss my tutoring sessions!" After attending the book signing a while ago, she had finally understood just how popular her brother was with women. She was afraid that once he was living alone, his house would be very lively every day, and she began to doubt if he would still have time to tutor her.
"Okay, Komachi, you can think about it slowly. As for tutoring," Hachiman promised, "if you have any problems with your studies on school nights, you can call me directly. And I'll definitely come back once every weekend to give you a dedicated review session." This promise was real. His sister's affairs always took precedence over everything else. That was how a devoted older brother with a sister complex should be. If anyone wanted to go on a date with him on the day he was tutoring Komachi, they could just come to his house.
"Yeah! I knew my brother would do this! I love you the most!"
The silly brother and sister cuddled together on the sofa again. Mrs. Hikigaya left with a look of disdain.
After sharing the good news with his true mentor, Machida Sonoko, Hachiman felt a sudden urge to show off his achievement on Twitter, but he ultimately held back.
While putting the finishing touches on The Clockwork Museum Incident, the spring break soon came to its final day. Considering that the first day of school was tomorrow, requiring him to be there early with a lot of materials, Hachiman decided to officially move into his new apartment today. This also meant that his life would officially enter a new stage: living alone.
Standing at the foot of the apartment building he had visited many times, Hachiman had a different feeling this time. People are always reluctant to leave familiar places, unwilling to face the unknown, and eager to stay in their comfort zone. But in reality, the environment around a person is constantly changing.
"Hikigaya-san? Why are you just standing there?" a voice said from behind him.
It was Yukinoshita Yukino. She walked up to Hachiman and pressed the elevator button.
"If I said I was waiting for you to come, would you believe me, Yukinoshita-san?"
"How did you know when I would come? If I hadn't come today, wouldn't you have had to wait a long time?" Yukino asked with a smile as the two of them walked into the elevator together.
"It doesn't matter," Hachiman said with a shrug. "We'll get there eventually. At least it's better than facing the complete unknown alone."
The elevator quickly reached the eleventh floor. The two walked toward their respective homes, one on the left and one on the right.
"As my neighbor for the next three years, I'll be in your care, Hikigaya-kun."
With that, Yukino quickly closed her door and disappeared from Hachiman's sight.
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