I, Aki Tomoya, will not be a simp.

"Not okay yet?"

Aki Tomoya thought to himself, somewhat bored.

While I do want to see how my first semester went, I can actually confirm it once I get my transcript this afternoon.

"Look! Tomoya!!!!!!!!!"

Yoshihiko Uego's deafening shouts rang in Tomoya Aki's ears.

As his eardrums vibrated, Aki Tomoya instinctively covered his ears, and a hand suddenly appeared on his shoulder.

At that moment, Yoshihiko Uego was gripping his shoulder tightly with his hand.

His face betrayed his surprise and joy.

"Calm down, you idiot!"

Aki Tomoya couldn't help but shout.

Why is he so excited? He subconsciously looked at the results board, searching for his name.

"Six hundred and seventy-two points. As expected, the liberal arts subject dragged me down quite a bit. I'm going to get mocked by that stupid woman!"

Aki Tomoya looked at his score and muttered to himself.

With a total score of 900 points and a score of 672, I think Aki Tomoya probably lost more points in the humanities subjects.

"Don't look at the score, look at the ranking, Tomoya! First place! You were eighth in the last midterm exam, right? This time you've pulled ahead of second place by thirty points!"

Yoshihiko Uego pushed hard on Tomoya Aki's shoulder and shouted.

"Six hundred and seventy-two is enough to be first in the grade? I can't be happy about that..."

Aki Tomoya didn't care much about the school rankings because he didn't want to compare himself with the students at Toyonosaki Academy, but rather with those from high schools that offered college entrance exams.

=

=

Chapter 56 The Battle Has Only Just Begun

Toyonosaki Academy, established less than ten years ago, upholds a free school spirit and has a college entrance rate that is neither particularly high nor low.

But when it comes to results, the other powerhouses in Tokyo are just laughing silently; a whole bunch of high schools that excel in college entrance exams can easily crush it.

As expected, Kasumigaoka Utaha was the top student in the third grade.

Excellent humanities grades and average science grades created a significant gap between him and the second-place student in the third grade.

It's not about whether Kasumigaoka Utaha has the ability to get into a top-tier national university; Aki Tomoya is looking at those below her, to see if they have that ability.

Unfortunately, Toyonosaki Academy has no shortage of students who could attend good private universities, but it seems that not many of them will choose national or public universities.

Of course, Aki Tomoya was referring to those national and public universities that were at least top-tier.

Therefore, he never cared about his academic ranking at Toyonosaki Academy.

This number one spot, well, it's not all that special.

In this school where the average deviation value is below average, there is only one person that Aki Tomoya admires.

That person was none other than Kasumigaoka Utaha, the first Kasumigaoka Utaha of the third year.

"But it's not bad. In that case, my parents will help me pay for my tutoring in the future, as agreed."

Under Yoshihiko Uesugi's surprised gaze, Tomoya Aki's eyes returned to the rankings.

The person who won first place in the academic year did not have a particularly special reaction, as if it were an ordinary event.

Apart from Yoshihiko Uego, no one noticed Aki Tomoya's little mutter just now.

"Come on!"

Yoshihiko Uego patted Tomoya Aki on the shoulder.

Compared to the unremarkable Aki Tomoya of the past, he is now very impressive. It's already quite remarkable that he has reached this level in just one semester.

Aki Tomoya smiled but didn't say anything more. Now he was just waiting for the report card and test papers to come out.

Having seen the results list, the person who should be said to have achieved their goal the most is Yoshihiko Uego.

Aki Tomoya's friend was even more excited than Aki Tomoya himself.

At school, many people also talked about it with great interest.

After all, Aki Tomo only took one semester to take the top spot in the academic year.

Compared to events like Kasumigaoka Utaha, which were already inevitable, people prefer events full of surprises.

In the afternoon, everyone's report card was handed out to the students.

As expected by Aki Tomoya, his performance in humanities was significantly weaker than in science, but it wasn't too bad.

Compared to when I took the midterm exam, I can clearly see the growth.

When the results came out, after everyone had seen their scores for each subject, Yoshihiko Uego's exaggerated shouts rang out from the side.

"Grand Slam!!!"

Like a thunderous cheer after a home run in a baseball stadium, Yoshihiko Uego stood on his chair, holding up his report card and shouting loudly.

His exaggerated reaction drew the attention of everyone in the classroom.

However, surrounded by everyone's attention, Yoshihiko Uego proudly declared, "I passed all subjects!"

I passed all my courses without failing a single one, and there was no longer any crisis of having to stay at school for remedial classes.

Yoshihiko Uego never expected his final exam results to be particularly good; as long as he passed all the exams smoothly, it would be enough for him to brag about.

"General, we really owe you a lot this time!"

He rushed over to hug Aki Tomoya tightly, but the latter dodged his bear hug with a quick movement.

You're this happy just because you passed all the tests. What if you got a good score someday? Would you have a stroke?

When the results came out, naturally some people were happy while others were sad.

People like Yoshihiko Uesugi, who barely passed all subjects, naturally breathed a sigh of relief.

Those who fail a course are not happy at the thought of having to return to school for make-up classes during the summer vacation according to the school's arrangements.

"Thank you, An Yi. My grades have improved quite a bit this time."

Kato Megumi came over and thanked her.

She was also a member of the final exam review group.

Although she can't compare to Tomoya Aki in terms of this result, she is already very satisfied.

"It's all thanks to Kato's own hard work. If he puts in a little more effort, he might be able to raise his target university a bit!"

Aki Tomoya shook his head; he hadn't been of much help. Kato Megumi had relied mostly on her own efforts this time.

He felt that he had mainly provided Kato Megumi with a learning environment.

“Aki is joking. Let’s raise the bar a bit. Just studying at school isn’t enough.”

Kato Megumi took what she just said as a joke.

Knowing her own limitations, Kato Megumi understood that aiming too high would likely be difficult.

With the release of the results and the summer vacation fast approaching, schools are bustling with activity again after the stressful final exams.

Not only students, but also many teachers are discussing Aki Tomoya.

After all, compared to last year, his changes over the course of one semester are quite obvious.

……

"Six hundred and seventy-two, not bad, An Yi, your first semester is a great success!"

Mr. Tsubota extended his palm, wanting to give Aki Tomoya a high five in celebration.

Seeing this, Aki Tomoya instinctively stretched out his palm, but did not cheer with Mr. Tsubota.

When he finally realized what was happening, an embarrassed smile appeared on his face: "I didn't do well on the humanities exam..."

"Indeed, humanities subjects are still a problem, but this is only the first semester, and our battle has only just begun!"

Mr. Tsubota maintained such an optimistic attitude, which inspired Aki Tomoya.

This is only the first semester, from the start of school in April to mid-July now, it's only been a little over three months. We should really celebrate to have achieved this much!

"Of course, we cannot let our guard down in any way. Our goal is the University of Tokyo, and we must never forget that!"

Mr. Tsubota looked at Aki Tomoya with a determined gaze.

They need to maintain an optimistic attitude, but they also shouldn't become complacent with a little success, as they still have a long way to go.

The race has officially begun. The University of Tokyo, the finish line, may seem far away, but it is not truly out of reach.

"Ms. Harumi, Aki's final grades are out. Would you like to take a look? You're in charge of his humanities subjects, right?"

At that moment, Mr. Tsubota waved the report card in his hand into Junko Harumi's line of sight.