Swallowtail: Mariposa Radiante

Dread

Swallowtail:

Chapter 8:

Dread

Kaikane rubbed his eyes as he looked at the board for the umpteenth time, seeing the words "Midterm Exams" written in bold. They had been given a week to prepare, and packets had been handed out with all of the rules for taking it. He had already memorized the useless instructions, having taken these exams several times in his life. He had plenty of Number 2 pencils ready and waiting for the 2 and a half hour hell that was the exam. The only good thing about them was that if he finished early, he could go home and sleep the rest of the day.

Though, knowing his friend Futarou, he wasn't going to let him do that. He was going to insist on them reviewing things. All the way up to the school trip, he knew. He had an inkling that he was planning things. It didn't do a thing to stop the sense of dread he was feeling from those dreadful exams. There was a lot hanging on them after all.

"Alright students, I can tell that the midterm exams have you all flustered, and I don't blame you. These exams will dictate your score for the first half of the semester. Everything that has been covered thus far will be on the exam, as I said before. I know they may seem difficult but if you study your subject packets, you'll be golden."

"Easy for you to say, teach. Everyone else will study those packets, I'll study the packet and whatever hell Futarou has come up with." he thought to himself.

The young man glanced to his left, noticing the far-off look on Nino's face. Normally she would pay half attention to what the teacher was saying. But today she seemed a bit more distracted than normal. He had tried to get her attention a few times during class but she had ignored every attempt. He wasn't too bothered by it, though curious, he didn't want to annoy her, especially now that he was starting to befriend her.

"These past few weeks have been surprisingly great for us. Futarou hasn't been so harsh and all the sisters have been present for our sessions. Itsuki hasn't been difficult and Nino hasn't been annoying. I think everything is slowly falling into place." he thought, a hopeful look on his face. "I just hope something doesn't happen to upset the balance here."

"Now then, returning to English for a moment, I would like to declare the winners of our "Modern Play" competition that we held. As you recall, I assigned you scenes of a play for you to modernize with the final goal of having the best one performed for the Theater Club. I'd like to announce our winners!" the teacher said excitedly.

Kaikane's attention snapped forward, as he sat up slightly. He had honestly forgotten about this project. The prospect of having to perform it for the Theater Club was daunting. Especially because he didn't really know the new members who had assumed control of it. The people he had been friends with had all graduated and left Asahi High, the sole first-year student had transferred, while he himself moved up, and the second-year students had moved up and had taken up positions in the Student Council. So it had been reformed from the ground up.

He felt rather nervous, not wanting to think about his and Nino's project winning. Especially with how embarrassing it had been to even perform it to the class. He shook his head, settling in his seat. "There are other things to worry about, like these damn midterms we gotta study for. Besides, that Cyberpunk retelling of Hamlet was way better than Pokeo and Juliet,"

"Congratulations Sakamoto-kun, Nakano-chan! The two of you scored the highest on that project so you'll be performing it for the Theater Club."

"Fucking shit!"

Like owls stalking their prey, everyone moved their heads in sync all looking right at Kaikane. He slapped his hand over his mouth, eyes widened in surprise mentally asking himself if he had actually said that out loud. He glanced at Nino who seemed more embarrassed than she was angry.