Cardfight!! Vanguard: Generations Volume 3 [Alice Secret]

- Part 9

"Yo, Takanori!"

As I was exiting the exam hall, Yukimura ran towards me, slapping me on the back with a grin.

"Yukimura-san... hey."

Despite how exhausted everyone looked, he was certainly in a good mood. Compared to the midterms, these finals were far more difficult, even if they were made by other students. I'm sure a couple of people underestimated our abilities to make exams too.

"Did you see how piss easy that D Class exam was? Holy crap, we might actually win this special exam!"

Yukimura was elated after seeing the difficulty of D Class's final exams. I had to agree, that Japanese paper was easier than I anticipated. Even people who struggled at academics like Katsumi would probably pass it without a problem.

"Alright, I already feel better about this week. I'm gonna smash the science exams for sure! Those D Class assholes won't know what hit them!"

Since science was Yukimura's strongest subject, he was looking forward to doing that the most. In fact, it looked like all the other E Class students felt the same way after seeing how accessible D Class's exams were.

Maybe that's why D Class was being so secretive about their exams. They weren't anything special, so perhaps they were trying to hide the fact they were weak to try and keep us on our toes during the lead up to the finals.

Or, they might've made a mistake and severely underestimated our academic abilities while making these tests. I highly doubted that they'd take pity on us and make exams that are fair. This special exam was potentially a one way ticket to A Class for them.

Even someone as honourable as Zyriot would see that. He's the type of man who'd put his class before himself, after all. And if the war is anything to go by, he's even more ruthless than Machida on the battlefield.

Despite all my speculating, none of these conclusions felt right though. D Class's versatility was their biggest strength, but for them to employ such basic tactics in this special exam... something felt off.

"You sound pumped. I'm guessing you got some good revision done in preparation?"

"Hell yeah. During my free time, I focused on science the most, since it was the only subject I understood. For everything else, I pretty needed help on."

"Well, that's fine. As long as you're studying."

"Right? I'm surprised that I'm taking this seriously myself... the me from two months ago would never do this. He'd probably still be wasting his time, playing football."

"That's proof of your progress. You should be proud of yourself."

Yukimura laughed.

"Heh, thanks man. I am, for sure. I just gotta keep at it before I inevitably lose motivation..."

"As long as you get to a level where you can pass comfortably, that's all that matters."

For a guy like Yukimura, it was unnecessary for him to be amazing at academics. He could make up for it with his amazing athleticism. However, if he were to improve in both areas, he'd become an indispensable member of E Class.

"Yeah, I'm aiming for that first. Who knows, maybe I'll end up as smart as Nora."

Yukimura smirked, buying an energy drink from the vending machine outside the exam hall.

"They say aim high... but don't aim that high, or else you'll fall."

"Damn, you have that little faith in me?"