(Roy Crowley's POV)
The City of Cheshire, Present Day
Dreams and aspirations. They are both abstract ideas pertaining to a person's future goal in life.
Everybody has a dream, therefore everyone should be given the chance to make it come true.
Such is the dreamer's way of thinking.
—Unfortunately though, people are not equal.
Not everyone is given the chance to pursue their dreams. That is why Cerulean Academy exists. To remedy this problem and provide the opportunities to make such dreams a reality.
However, what about us? The ones who do not dream? Is there a place for us as well?
No, of course not. Therefore, there is no point for people like us to be here. Coming to this place is just a waste of my time. And attending this school in the first place would be even more pointless.
As I thought that however, the face of a certain woman came to mind. Tch, why did she have to go and do this to me? She knows more than anyone just how much I hate expending energy.
Still though, despite it all—
—There is truly nothing worse than being forced into doing something you don't want to do.
A long time ago, I made a certain deal with that woman. And it involves me and this school. However, although I agreed to the terms, not once did I intend on ever attending this place.
From the Entrance Exams, I plan to take one step forward, only to be slain the next.
Only then will I be able to return to my life with no need of dreams. For the sake of protecting my "eternal now", I will compromise just this once.
Now, let us begin.
After booting up my computer, I spent the first ten minutes assessing the questions given.
From what I have seen, this test was surprisingly tolerable. If I truly wanted to, I could pass this test with high marks.
That is if I felt inclined, of course.
As of right now however, I have no intention of passing this test whatsoever. Unfortunately, due to my circumstances regarding that deal from earlier, I can't exactly completely throw this fight either, which makes for quite the conundrum.
Of course, there is a way to fix this problem.
60 points.
It takes 60 points to pass the test. If that's the case, then I'll shoot for 56 points instead.
With this, I should be able to spin a half decent "there was an attempt" story to convince her. In other words, by losing the battle, I'll win the war.
As for how I should get those points, obtaining them should be relatively easy.
All I need to do is calculate how many points each question is worth, and then use that information to my advantage. Simple.
With that said, one hour passed.
* * * * * * * * * *
After the exams were over, I gathered my things and regrouped with the others outside.
"So, how'd you do, Yamato?" Dazai asked.
"Pretty good actually. Not to brag, but I think I aced that test." She boasted while rubbing her finger under her nose confidently.
"Watch you fail because you said that", I teased.
"Oi."
While Yamato glared at me, Dazai suddenly turned his attention to Alice.
Apparently, she seemed rather troubled.
"You good, Alice? You don't look okay."
For a second, she was almost hesitant to say.
"—I'm sorry, guys….but I think I failed this one."
"Alice…."
Suddenly, she punched the wall lightly.
"Damn it all! And after all that work I put in too!"
The three of us went silent for a moment. Some of us even exchanged glances with each other.
Oh, is this part where I'm supposed to say something? Sorry, but I've got nothing.
Suddenly though, Dazai spoke up.
"Was it that bad?"
"—Mhm…"
"Really? Was your fight truly that hopeless?"
"Well, I wouldn't say "hopeless" but—"
"—Then there you have it."
"What?"
"The point is, you gave it your all. It's far too early to start worrying yet. So that's why all you can do now is simply hope for the best."
"Dazai's right. You should try being a little more confident." Yamato replied.
Alice sighed before taking a deep breath.
"—Yeah, I guess you're right."
With that said, Dazai turned and faced me.
"And Roy?"
Don't bother. No matter what you ask me, I won't give a proper answer.
Well, that's what I intended at first, but that was before Dazai gave me an unexpected reaction.
"—You know what? Don't answer that. I think I already know."
Whispering that to me, he smiled and walked off.
Well, that was oddly concerning.
"Oh, yeah? And what about you, Dazai?"
"Heh. Good question."
I sighed.
It's whatever. After that conversation, we began making our way out the school building.
Of course, there was this strange incident where this one girl tried attacking Dazai for some reason—
—But seeing as how that wasn't none of my business, I simply ignored them and continued on.
Yamato and Alice, on the other hand though...
"Hey, Dazai? What the hell was that all about?"
"No clue."
Unsure, he shrugged his shoulders.
* * * * * * * * * *
Some time later, we eventually reboarded another train and took a return trip back home.
From there, we eventually went our separate ways.
At home, I waited patiently, yet eagerly to see the results of my so called "efforts".
The anticipation was killing me, so to speak.
I just wanted all of this to finally be over.
Four days later, the mailman finally arrived.
After I checked the mail, I noticed a particular envelope with both my name and the school's addressed on it.
This was it.
Resisting the urge to tear it open now, I returned back inside and headed upstairs.
From there, I entered a certain someone's room before walking out onto their balcony.
As I expected, she was waiting for me.
Standing near the fence of the terrace, a single woman embraced the view of the mountains. Her white hair slowly danced to the beat of the wind.
"It's here."
"So the results are finally in."
"Indeed."
"Well then. What are you waiting for? Let's see it."
"Now, now. Let's not be too hasty", I tell her.
"Hmm?"
"There's something I want to confirm with you first. It's about our little deal."
"What about it?"
"Allow me to repeat what was stated in our terms. If I was to end up losing to this test, you would never bother me about this again, right?"
"Of course. So as long as you put in the appropriate effort, then certainly, yes."
"So then, no matter what happens, you won't go back on your word?"
"Indeed."
Checkmate.
"Then I'm opening it."
"Oh, but before you do, Roy. May I ask you something as well? It's about my condition."
"Hmm?"
"I believe I said that if you were to win this test, you would attend Cerulean Academy and finally do something with your life, correct?"
In other words, I would be forced to find a dream or a passion of my own and live up to it.
"Yeah, that was the deal."
"Then I'm assuming you too won't go back on your word as well, right?"
"Yeah."
Not like any of it matters anyways. I've already rigged the situation into my favor, and it's far too late for anybody to change it.
This fight was over before it even started.
"Right. You may open it now."
Confident in how the situation was unfolding, I began tearing away at the letter casing.
After finally pulling out the papers, I began reading through it.
But just then…
"—!?"
Something completely unexpected happened.
The first stage of my reaction was denial.
Refusing to believe what I saw, I reread through the passage one more time, this time, slowly.
However upon my third and fourth read around, I was forced to face the cruel reality before me.
My heart dropped and my chest tightened. It was like the whole world was caving in on itself.
76 points.
Impossible.
Did I somehow miscalculate? No, that can't be it either. I ran through the calculations eight times before I even got started on the test.
Of course, humans aren't exactly perfect computers. And I am no exception. So losing out on one or two points is an understandable oversight.
But there's no way I overlooked a full twenty points.
—Wait.
No, perhaps the problem doesn't lie with me. There is another way this situation could've happened.
"Is there a problem, Roy?"
"U—uh…."
Clearly foul play was at work. Unfortunately, I wasn't in any position to prove that. Regardless, if I reveal to her the score now, then it's all over.
Think Roy, what do I do….
Knock, Knock, Knock. Too stunned by the situation however, I barely heard the sounds of someone knocking on the door behind me.
"You may enter."
The door opened and a single person entered.
"Hey, Auntie Suzune."
"Dazai? What are you doing here?"
"Oh hey, Roy. Didn't see you there."
"I asked you a question."
"Woah, you seem more hostile then usual. Am I interrupting something or—"
"Well, Roy was just about to show me his test score."
"Oh, so your report card came in today too, huh? Cool, I want to see too."
This is bad.
Really bad.
"What's the matter? Too nervous to read it?"
"—No, it's not that..."
"Here, let me read it for you."
"H—Hey, wait a second!"
Suddenly, Dazai snatches the report card from me.
"Oh wow, would you look at that Roy? 76 points."
"76, you say? With a score like that, wouldn't that mean you passed, Roy? Congratulations."
"Tch."
Damn it!
But how!?
When and where did it all go so wrong!?
"Man, both you and Alice really got off lucky, you know that?"
"What are you even talking about?"
"Oh, you mean you didn't notice it?"
"Cut the crap and speak normally."
"A couple days ago, during the exams. I managed to pull a couple strings with our Practitioner at the time. With that, I asked for something special in particular."
"Something special?"
"Yeah, can you guess what it is?"
I think for a moment.
—Wait a second...
No, it can't be!
"Twenty points."
My eyes widened.
"Man, if I hadn't done that, then your score would've been a mesely 56 instead. And if that happened, you would have failed the test."
"—Now that would've sucked, wouldn't it, Roy?~"
As he says that, he pats my back as if all was fine.
It was then I realized something.
"You son of a bitch, you set me up."
"Heh."
"That's enough."
"What are you talking about, Mom!? This is clearly an act of outside interference!"
"It is, but at the same time, it isn't."
"What!?"
"What happened here was nothing more than the result of Dazai's own actions. In order to ensure his family's success, he took matters into his own hands and grabbed you guys twenty points you needed to stay afloat and ahead of the game."
"In that sense, you were simply collateral."
"Colleterial?"
That's a strange word to use in this scenario. But it was one that helped me realize the truth.
"Wait a second…"
"Dazai, when you said you were able to pull some strings earlier, did it by chance involve a letter with the Holy Knight's wax seal?"
For a second, Dazai went silent.
But soon after, he chuckled lightly.
"My, my, you catch on quick…"
That was all I needed to know.
I turned towards Mother.
"You made a deal with Dazai, didn't you?"
"Tch…"
I was correct.
"In order for Dazai to get the points he needed, you provided him with a weapon not even the Cerulean faculty staff could easily refute, in exchange for dragging me into this whole mess."
She sighed.
"Well, it's something like that. You're close, but you got the concept a little wrong."
"Huh?"
"It's true. He was after the points to win. However, it wasn't just for him, you know."
"From the very beginning, he planned to set things up to where you could all benefit from it in the end. Him, Yamato, Alice, and even you too."
"However, in order to do that, clearly he would need an incredible amount of leverage to pull that off. Which is why he came to me in search of a weapon, hence the letter. Of course, since our motives aligned, I agreed and helped him out."
Surprised, I glanced back towards Dazai.
He really was just looking out for all of us.
Tch.
If what Mother said was true, then this meant Dazai was the one who orchestrated this.
"—Even still, I won't accept this."
"Huh?"
"I understand wanting to help them out, but surely you would've known that these free twenty points would screw with our deal. No matter how you cut it, this is clearly an act of sabotage."
Mother flinches.
"Don't act like you're innocent too."
Dazai suddenly intervened.
"What?"
"C'mon, Roy. Just think about it for a second. Why do you think your mother agreed to my plan in the first place?"
"So she could have her way, obviously."
"No. She was trying to counter you and even out the playing field."
I raised my eyebrow.
"Let's be realistic, Roy. I'm sure you noticed it by now, but since the very beginning this deal was automatically rigged in your favor."
"All you would have to do is simply flunk the test and that would be the end of that, right?"
I mean, yeah…
"So as long as you had the motive to lose, Suzune would never win. She knew this which is exactly why she added that extra condition of hers."
That condition being to take the test seriously.
"But, of course, even that's an easy hurdle to clear once you calculate the amount of points each question is worth. Which is obviously something you're capable of. In other words, Auntie never stood a chance of winning in the first place."
"And that's where you come in, huh…"
"Since you need a bare minimum of 60 points in order to pass the test, we figured you would atleast aim for something within the fifty digits. In that case, my plan would counter yours and even out the playing field for all of us."
"—It just so happens that it would coincidentally destroy whatever scheme you had at the time."
Coincidentally?
That's how you want to write this off?
Heh.
I'm at a loss for words.
"So let me get this straight."
"The condition that Mom made in our deal was the only move she could make against me. However, when you came to her with your plan, she helped you out in hopes of finally turning the situation into her favor, correct?"
"Yeah, that's pretty much the gist of it."
"If that's the case, then the person who really got in my way was you, Dazai."
I glared at him.
"Heh, I guess so."
"But why did you do this?"
"Hmm?"
"I understand wanting to protect Alice and Yamato, but why did you need to get me involved in this? You of all people should know how much I hate wasting my time and energy."
"Oh, that's easy."
"—It's because I too hate seeing your talents going to waste."
"Even if it means going to such lengths just to interfere with my own desires?"
"If that what it takes to make sure you don't rot away, then yes."
Tch.
"More importantly, what do you plan to do about the deal now, Roy?" Mother asked.
I sighed.
I can't believe this....
"Considering how things stand now, I suppose denying this would be very hypocritical of me. I have no other choice but to admit defeat."
"—So that means….!?"
Mother's eyes lit up with excitement.
"Yeah. I'll concede just this once. Although I think it'll be pointless, I'll attend Cerulean Academy."
With that said, I walked away.
Upon entering my room, I could hear my mother and Dazai cheering from afar.
Sigh...
Guess I better get ready for these next few years.