Sayumi’s college was one of the most prestigious universities in the country. I could raise my grades by a stunning degree and still have only a slim chance of being accepted, at best. If I wanted to make it happen, I would have to study like my life depended on it.
“I see,” said Sayumi. “In that case, allow me to ask you a different question: Why do you want to attend the same college I do?”
“Why do I...? D-Do I really have to say it out loud?”
The answer was obvious. What other reason could I have possibly had for wanting to go to the same school as the girl I loved and was dating?
“He he he! My apologies,” Sayumi chuckled playfully. “Another question, Andou: Why do you think I decided to feign ignorance regarding your little plan?”
“Huh...?”
“I did so because I thought it would be nice if my suspicions were correct,” she explained. Her voice was calm, and it was somehow blissful as well. “I knew that I would be overjoyed to learn that was why you were studying with all your heart and soul...and I ended up indulging in the fantasy that such was the case.”
“Sayumi...”
“I have no intention of stopping you. I’m nowhere near tactless enough to stand in the way of a man’s resolve. I would have preferred to stay silent about it until you decided to tell me your intentions yourself...but if you really do plan to aim for a more prestigious college, then we’d be better off adjusting the schedule and content of your studies to match your new ambitions.”
Sayumi seemed almost apologetic about how she’d broached the subject, but the way I saw it, I was the one who needed to apologize to her. I’d been prioritizing my own petty sense of pride over practicality. After all, the sooner I started studying for the test I actually intended to take, the better.
“I believe in you, Andou. I know that you have what it takes to succeed...and I’m looking forward to enjoying my campus life with you starting next year.”
Sayumi sat down beside me and took my hand in hers. She laced her fingers between mine and looked me right in the eye, her gaze full of trust and expectations.
“I won’t let you down. I’ll do everything I can!” I declared.
Sayumi gave me a smile in response. I was, without question, the luckiest man in the world to be with such a smart and beautiful partner.
It was the summer of my third year in high school...and I had begun a relationship with Takanashi Sayumi.
About thirty minutes later, Sayumi had finished scoring all of the tests I’d taken.
“Your grades have improved on the whole...but if you want to be admitted to my college, you’ll have to improve your score a little more than this. As for what we’ll study next...I believe we should focus on Japanese, to start.”
“Japanese, huh...? I’ve never been great at that one,” I sighed.
“Your scores in the memorization-focused classical Japanese sections of the test weren’t bad by any means, but the issues began to arise in the modern composition section.”
“Right, that’s the problem. Just memorizing stuff’s easy enough if you put the time in, but when you hit the modern section, that doesn’t fly.”
“Perhaps, but the reading comprehension skills that modern Japanese asks of you are applicable to all other subjects—and, extending a little further, said skills will be helpful in your day-to-day life as well. They aren’t something that you can master by simply studying for a day, but that’s precisely what makes it the sort of knowledge that will serve you for a lifetime...or so they say, but for the time being, let’s set aside that sort of idealistic rhetoric and focus our attention on more expedient means.”
“W-Wait, really?”
“Really. There are certain techniques that will allow you to raise your score on a modern Japanese test, and I’ll be teaching you those instead. With them at your disposal, I believe you won’t have to worry about passing the Japanese portion of your exams.”
“Seriously?! I-Is it really that easy...?”
“Allow me to be blunt, Andou: Standardized testing in Japan is a field in which technique, rather than knowledge, reigns supreme,” said Sayumi. She really wasn’t mincing words. “Think of test taking as a game in which those who study and earn points efficiently are the victors. A game, yes—that might be the perfect perspective for you. Looking at your tests in that light, I believe, will make it much easier for you to stay motivated.”
I just sat there, quietly listening to her.
“Of course, specializing too fully in test-taking techniques may be undesirable, in the sense that it puts the cart before the horse in regard to the actual goal of education...but considering the current state of your grades, this is no time for us to be impractical. Prepare yourself—I intend to drill every single test-taking technique that I’m aware of into your mind,” Sayumi said with a broad smile. She couldn’t have been a more reliable tutor, but at the same time, she was kinda scaring me a little. “Now then, aside from Japanese... Hmm. As far as English is concerned, your difficulties with pronunciation are causing you to miss otherwise easy questions. Losing those points is truly a waste. Math-wise, I’d hope we can raise your problem-solving speed on the whole, and there are no tricks when it comes to that—you’ll simply have to master it. As for biology...it seems you had difficulties applying Mendel’s laws. Questions like the one on this test turn up quite frequently in the National Center Test, so you’ll have to master that as well. Those aside...”
At that point, Sayumi came to a brief halt. This time, I couldn’t read the look on her face at all.
“...you received a perfect score in ethics.”
“Heh heh!”
“Explain yourself, Andou. A full score? How?”
“Heh heh heh heh!”
“When I selected the questions for these practice tests, I pulled them from a variety of sources in an effort to match your current level of skill in each subject. Ethics was the one course that I’ve never personally taken, and lacking any expertise, I simply copied last year’s National Center Test’s ethics exam verbatim...and you got a perfect score on it.”
“Heh heh, ha ha ha ha!”
“I suppose you have told me about how much you enjoy ethics, come to think of it,” said Sayumi. She sounded about thirty percent impressed with me and seventy percent exasperated beyond belief.
Ethics was indeed both my best and most beloved of school subjects. I liked it so much that I’d done a ton of self-study in the field during the summer vacation of my second year in high school, even though it’d had nothing to do with any of my summer homework. Now that I had my entrance exams coming up, I’d buckled down and studied even harder...and as a result, it seemed my wealth of ethical knowledge had reached new and unprecedented heights.
“A friend of mine who chose ethics as an elective told me that you can easily score an eighty percent on the National Center Test’s ethics exam with just a little memorization...but anything past that becomes quite difficult,” Sayumi noted.
“Well, yeah,” I replied. “That test is all four-answer multiple-choice, so it’s surprisingly easy. I can pick out the right answer for those questions at a glance these days... Ah, just in ethics, I mean. Not the other subjects.”
“I cannot fathom how you wound up with such superhuman talent in this single, specific subject... But in any case, considering it’s the one subject that I’m not capable of teaching you, I suppose I should consider myself lucky. My college’s admissions department places great weight on the social studies segments of the National Center Test, so being able to earn a significant number of points from ethics gives you a distinct advantage.” She still didn’t seem totally satisfied with my inexplicable ethics talent, but it looked like she was done pressing the subject for the time being. “Now then, Andou—it’s time for us to go over the questions that you got wrong.”
“Sounds good.”
We always made a point of going over all questions that I’d missed the very same day I took a practice test. That was standard practice for prospective entrance-exam takers. It was a great way to clear up any misunderstandings I’d had while also making sure that I didn’t forget about and repeat mistakes that I’d already made.
“I’m going to borrow your computer for a moment, if you don’t mind. I’d like to make a note of your scores on these practice exams,” Sayumi said as she produced a USB drive from her bag. She’d been keeping a complete record of all my grades in an Excel spreadsheet ever since she’d started helping me study. The idea was that it would be easier to stay motivated if I could see how my grades had improved over the course of time in numerical and graph form.
“Go ahead,” I said. Her request had startled me a little, I’ll admit, but I tried to make my reply sound as natural as possible.
No need to worry—this’ll be fine, I told myself. I’d known that this could happen, so I had made sure that my computer would be perfectly prepared when the time came. All the data that I’d rather not let anyone see was hidden away in places where nobody would ever look for it, and Sayumi was far too reasonable and understanding of a person to go plumbing the depths of my hard drive for no good reason...or at least, that was the idea.
The truth is that I’d been led astray by my own complacency. I’d believed that I’d prepared myself to perfection, and as a result, I’d let my guard down. The fact that I was worn out from all those mock exams certainly didn’t help my snap decision-making abilities either.
What I’m getting at here is that a certain fact had slipped my mind. I’d completely forgotten what I’d been looking up online the night before, and by the time I put the pieces together...
“S-Sayumi, wait a—”