Normally, when someone says that you will be monitored, you might expect a person to watch you. When Alex entered the room where his exam would be held, Prof. Hibiki was there alright, along with a dozen high-quality digital cameras.
All of them surrounded the desk.
There was one to the right, one to the left, behind, front, up, down, all diagonals covered. There even was a camera on the seat.
'Where am I supposed to sit?
'Sorry, there you go.'
'Why are there so many cameras here?
'It is just a little insurance to make sure you don't cheat. It's only fair to do this, so don't let them bother you.'
It was clear Prof. Hibiki was not going to make this easy.
--A little! How can I Not let them bother me? A single-camera is one thing but 12!
Alex sat down, already paranoid by the cameras. It's true having 12 cameras watch your every move is enough to put adequate pressure that a suspect will confess and admit a crime he didn't commit.
'As per the principal's request, you only need to give the exam of five subjects, four compulsory and one of your choosing, in a total of 3 hours. You do not need to score 90% on each test, but the average of all five should be 90% or above.'
Prof. Hibiki held out his stopwatch and handed Alex all five papers at once, allowing him to answer them in any sequence he preferred. He pressed the start button.
'You may begin, do your best.'
--You say that, but it's hard as hell recalling something in this situation. Some people might even forget what their name is.
Alex looked at all five papers, examining the questions.
'What's the matter, Alexander? Can't figure which one to do first, or maybe you cannot do any of them at all.'
Only a minute had passed, and Prof. Hibiki was all over Alex, determined to make it as hard as possible for him to give the test. His job and, more importantly, his ego was on the line.
--Just you wait, I'll show you.
Alex's hand started moving with fluidity equivalent to a printer. 10 minutes had passed, and he finished all 5 papers, including rechecking.
'I'm done.'
Prof. Hibiki was stumped.
'What? There is no way you could have done it this fast, or maybe you just gave up and left more than half of it empty after randomly circling options.'
This was troublesome for Hibiki. It wasn't possible for a mere human to be able to complete all 5 papers so quickly and with such confidence.
'See for yourself, I'm leaving now.'
And like that, Alex stood up and left the room.
The result of the exam was to be announced after an hour. Alex was roaming around to kill time. He went to the cafeteria to eat something.
He was already famous in his grade, but after getting a perfect score, then taking the next class's promotion with only getting a week's time to prepare, his popularity had skyrocketed.
Arriving there, a boy who seemed to be a 1st year caught his eye. He was down in the dumps like an alcoholic. Ignoring that the student was skipping class, Alex went and sat near him.
'Hey, you okay?'
'I just got myself in the worst situation possible.'
Alex took a deep breath.
--Oh boy, here we go.
Alex was not only known for his looks and mental prowess but also for keeping a big heart. Helping his fellow students was the norm for him, though he tips to help boys more than girls for certain non-yaoi reasons.
'What happened?'
'Well, there's this girl I really like, and she's really pretty and nice…'
--There's always a girl involved, isn't there?
Alex wondered why do today's kids don't have anything better to get themselves involved in.
'Go on.'
'And she's really into motorcycle racing. One day I confessed to her, but she rejected me. I kept trying by taking different approaches, and one day she said if I could beat her at a motorcycle race, she will be my girlfriend.'
'So, what's the problem?'
He looked at Alex with hopeless eyes.
'I Don't have a motorcycle.'
Alex positioned his hand over his forehead.
--I think I should have ignored him.
He had seen similar love related problem, but it was the first time someone was messed up this bad.
'What's your name?'
'Takumi Nakamura.'
'Tell me one more thing, what will happen if you lose?'
'I'll have to pay her 100,000 yen.'
'And you did the stupidest thing of agreeing to it.'
He just looked embarrassed, hiding his face with his hands.
--It's hard to believe it's a coincidence that he got himself into a motorcycle race without having one. They do say, "love is blind." The girl probably wanted him to leave her alone. She wouldn't love him even if he won, but….. that's what makes it interesting.
A sense of thrill awoke within Alex that made him take on this challenge.
'As your senior, I guess it's my duty to look out for my juniors.'
'Senior? Alexander, aren't you in the same grade as me?'
'At the moment, but don't worry about that. Anyway, how much do you love her?'
'A lot!'
Takumi struck the table with both hands showing his intensity.
'Of course, you do.'
Alex felt stupid asking that question.
'When is the race?'
'Today at 5 pm. Are you really going to help me?'
'I don't have anything better to do, so why not?'
'Thank you so much.'
Takumi clutched both of Alex's hands with his to express gratitude.
'Meet me after an hour here.'
'Sure, I will be staying here all day, so come whenever you like.'
Takumi said it with the boldness of owning the place. Alex understood why he would possibly agree to such a ridiculous thing. The kid doesn't think things through.
'Alexander Dean, please come into the principal's office. Alexander Dean, please come into the principal's office.'
The voice of the speakers echoed in the entire school. Prof. Hibiki made sure everyone could hear it.
'Guess it's time.'
Alex stood up.
'Good luck, Alexander.'
'Thanks.'
Alex made his way towards the office.
He knocked and entered to see the principal and the teachers, including Prof. Hibiki, there.
'Alexander, each of your papers was checked and then rechecked individually by different teachers who teach them to ensure nothing went wrong. Therefore, this result does not have any errors.'
Prof. Hibiki claimed in a way that triggered Alex's instincts that something was ironically wrong.
'Now, each of the teachers will reveal the scores, and the average will be calculated.'
The marks were revealed.