#11 Preparations

The 3rd year was definitely the hardest one for Yuichi who had a lot of things to do, however, he was able to keep up with his studies and club activities.

Both clubs adapted themselves to play around Yuichi who started unknowingly using his teammates as if he was playing Shogi. During the tournaments at the nationals, when he imagined them as pieces that can cooperate with each other which opened a lot of passing routines for Yuichi in both soccer and basketball.

In the end, his last Junior High nationals ended up taking 1st place in both sports for his school. Most schools who were already ready for his school's good chemistry and teamplay suddenly had to play against a team that oriented itself around only one player which was the fact that caught them the most off guard. Yuichi also discovered that this type of playstyle suits him better than a simple playmaker, he discovered that he liked to be playmaker only because Ren was there, and at basketball, it was due to improving his team play tactics.

Yuichi was finally recognized as the first student who became a champion in two different sports in Junior High school. With the nationals behind him, he was able to finally focus a bit more on his studies.

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---Yuichi's house---

"Yuichi, do you already know which High school you want to apply to?" Yuichi's father asked with a faint smile while sitting on the couch.

"...I still have yet to look at all available schools in the vicinity. I will decide after that" Yuichi shook his head and replied.

"Then how about Kōdo Ikusei High School?" His father asked with a smile.

"Hm? Isn't that the school established by the government itself, with the enormous landscape as its school grounds? I have heard that you have to stay there in the dorms and you are unable to leave the school grounds until you graduate or until they expel you." Yuichi said with a thoughtful expression but he didn't really like the idea of this school. It was too strange for him just from it's known rules, not to mention there are still a lot of unknown rules to the public. Everyone was talking about it how it is no normal school and that this one actually prepares you for the real-life out in the world. One of the most elite schools...

'I have no idea why that old man wants Yuichi to attend that school but I already know him for numerous years, he wouldn't try to do anything bad to me or Yuichi...Still, my son has just average grades, why would he recommend the most prestigious school of all available schools? He just said: "He has to attend this one or at least try to apply". This is too weird but so be it, I can only try to convince him.' Yuichi's father thought to himself while staring in front of him to the empty space.

"That's right, unfortunately, you would have to remain there for the whole 3 years but if you can graduate from there...They are boasting about 100% employment and college entry rate." His father nodded his head and said with a slightly sad expression.

"Dear! 3 years is a lot! He will leave us and when he comes back he will already be 18 years old!" Yuichi's mother joined conversation although she didn't exactly oppose the idea, she still complained a bit.

"That's the point" Yuichi replied while playing around on the Shogi board alone.

"Hm? What do you mean, Yuichi? His father asked as even his mother looked at him with a confused expression.

"That's one of the things that will help us prepare for the real-life, we won't have anyone there to rely on. We will be on our own to think for ourselves with the help of those of our age." Yuichi said with a stoic expression while still focusing on the game of Shogi he has been playing by himself although he completely changed the rules to simulate plays in the game of soccer. Simply said, he created his own rules and a new game.

Both his parents were a bit surprised by his words before they released a smile.

"I guess I have nothing to worry about if you will truly leave us." His mother muttered with a satisfied smile before walking away to the kitchen to prepare the dinner.

"Now you have spoken like a truly mature person. haha" His father said and then released a hearty laugh while smacking Yuichi's back a few times.

"Hey, be careful please" Yuichi said with a bit irritated expression since his entire board was in a mess.

'Still, some might not realize it but just having parents around gives one a lot of confidence and feeling of security. They have been comforting me in my not exactly good situation despite not doing anything special, just by being here for me. This school forces students to part with their parents that protect them and guide them to force them to step out of their comfort zone. This school's teaching methods must be also very different from other schools considering just this fact alone.' Yuichi thought while collecting the Shogi pieces that got send everywhere when his father smacked his back a few times.

'I already know that I was facing a lot of pressure like from physical side then also from the mental side and at the time Ren left, that pressure finally broke through and presence of Mei and my parents were able to somehow repair me or I would have ended up even in a worse state. On the other hand, leaving my parents for 3 years might prove to be quite a good challenge and test for me. I will be able to see if I get torn apart by the pressure without them, however for that to work, I would need to have same workload as now at Junior High school.'

'The question is, do I regret what I have become what am I today? No.' Yuichi thought to himself before turning at his father who gave him an inquiring look.

"I will try to apply to that school." Yuichi said with a firm nod.

"Alright, you have my blessing, I will be rooting for you to get past the entrance examination." His father said with a wide smile while giving him a thumb up.

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---A few days before the entrance examination---

Yuichi went to Mei's house to study together with her and have her help with a few things since she had more notes from the classes because Yuichi was absent a lot of time due to his club activities and tournaments.

Both of them were sitting on the blankets near the small wooden table where they were solving all kinds of tests from their previous semesters.

"Alright, I am done." Yuichi said while pushing his paper with the solved math problems to Mei who nodded and started looking over it.

"Um, you have a lot of things right but why are there no solution procedures?" Mei asked while pushing the test paper back to Yuichi and pointing at a few problems with her index finger.

"Well, I don't know those solution procedures because I have missed that class at that time." Yuichi shrugged his shoulders.

"Wha-? Then how did you solve those problems?" Mei asked with a completely confused expression.

"I don't know...I just tried to go at it using logic and I also tried to use other procedures that were suited for different kinds of problems and somehow I arrived at that solution." Yuichi replied honestly which completely shocked Mei.

"Ugh, don't tell me you were solving most of those problems like this in our midterms..." Mei put her hand over her face and asked while glancing at Yuichi from between her fingers, afraid of his answer.

"Well, the math can be solved by many methods however something like history is already different matter..." Yuichi replied with a forced smile, trying not to scare Mei with his answer.

"So the answer is yes! Why bother twisting the words?! That's it! We are starting from the beginning so you can be aware of all solution procedures. I am sure that you will score at least 70 points in mathematics if you will study from my notes!" Mei said with a bright and encouraging smile.

Seeing her eagerness, Yuichi's could help but snickered to the side with his closed eyes before flashing Mei an honest smile.

"Thank you, Mii-chan" Yuichi thanked her with an honest smile.

"Eh...I-It's nothing! Don't worry about it, we are friends after all!" Mei stared at Yuichi's smile absentmindedly for a good few seconds before waking up and replying with a faint blush while waving her hands in front of her.

They continued studying till the late night before Yuichi went home...literally just a few meters which was extremely convenient for him since he could remain there for almost as long as he wanted.