Chapter 35

The next day.

Syl was on the deck using dawn's ballad as a fake microphone and singing.

"She wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts! She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers! Dreaming bout the day that you wake up and find! THAT WHAT YOUR, LOOKING FOR, HAS BEEN HERE THE WHOLE TIME!! IF YOU CAN SEE THAT I'M THE ONE WHO UNDERSTANDS YOU! BEEN HERE ALL ALONG SO WHY CAN'T YOU SEEEEE?! YOU BELONG WITH MEEEEEEEE!!!!"

Suddenly someone cut him off.

"Standin' by you, waiting at your back door! All this time! How could you not know babyyyy! YOU BELONG WITH MEEEE!!! You belong with me…"

Syl turned back to face the stranger who interrupted his performance.

He was met by someone he had never met before.

"You're… Hashimoto, right?" Syl asked.

"Yes, I'm surprised the anomaly knows my name." He said with a shocked expression before smiling.

Syl chuckled. "I'm more surprised you know t-swizzle."

Hashimoto chuckled. "Never a bad day when you're singing along to Taylor, right?"

Syl nodded vigorously. "So, what's up? How's it feel to be in class A again?"

"Well, I was quite surprised and disappointed when Ryuuen's class overtook us. So being back actually doesn't feel too great, I'm more bittersweet about the fact that we lost in the first place." Hashimoto chuckled.

Syl smiled. "Well, you win some, you lose some, right?"

Hashimoto nodded. "We also have you to thank. If you didn't take Ryuuen's attention off of us, things might have gone differently."

Syl tilted his head. "You mean that thing with… Kito! That was his name."

Hashimoto's smile slightly faded. "So you even know about that…"

Syl chuckled. "I just happened to pass by when I heard Sakayanagi talking about it. Ryuuen did the same thing to our classmate, that's how we ended up in that basketball game."

"Is that so? Congratulations on the win by the way. You were pretty good out there." Hashimoto congratulated Syl.

"Haha! It was nothing, honestly it just felt good to play again! It's been too long since I picked up a ball! Plus I had a huge crowd! It was so much fun! You should try it sometime!"

Hashimoto smiled wryly. "I don't think I'd be as good as you."

Syl waved him off. "Bah! Don't be so modest! You sound like Hirata! Unless… no it's not possible."

Hashimoto looked curious. "What's not possible?"

Syl looked at him and questioned. "Unless you're going for a harem too?"

"Pfft! No way! With who?!" Hashimoto spat out in shock.

"Exactly! It's impossible!" Syl repeated.

"Well, I wish Hirata the best of luck. A fellow soldier travelling down a harsh and dangerous path to achieve the impossible. Especially when you already have a girlfriend." Hashimoto saluted Hirata's 'efforts'.

Syl saluted as well before chuckling together with Hashimoto.

Hashimoto pointed to Syl's hand. "I like the cosplay. Though isn't it a little offensive?" He said with a smirk.

Syl shook his head. "Nono! It's not offensive at all! But, don't tell Sakayanagi anyway…"

Hashimoto chuckled. "I tend to have loose lips, without anything to keep them shut."

Syl gasped. "Are you blackmailing me?!"

Hashimoto chuckled. "Me? No way!"

Syl sighed. "You're an evil bastard, you know that? I thought we were buddies? We even sang Taylor Swift together!"

Hashimoto shook his head with a disappointed look on his face. "Sorry kid, nothing personal."

"Bah! I can't believe you would say that! Hmph! I don't care! Tell her whatever you want!" Syl said as he crossed his arms.

Hashimoto held up his hands. "It was a joke!"

Syl smirked. "Sure thing. Anyway, I gotta go. I wanna ask my teacher something, you just reminded me about it."

"What's that?"

Syl shrugged. "Secret."

Hashimoto sighed. "I'll see you around then."

Syl smiled and waved as he left towards Chabashira's office.

When he arrived he walked in without knocking.

He saw Chabashira stuffing her face full of cake.

Syl bit down on his lip to suppress a laugh.

Chabashira furrowed her brow with a mouth full of cake and a small moustache of icing.

She swallowed and spoke. "Get out."

Syl was biting down so hard on his lip it was about to bleed.

"I said leave. And you always need to knock!" She said in an angry tone.

"...che" Syl whispered.

"What?"

"Nice moustache, sensei. HAHAHAHA!" Syl bent over from laughing so hard!

Chabashira had a shocked expression for a moment before she rushed to the bathroom to clean herself up.

She came back a moment later, smelling like perfume and with a huge frown.

"I told you to leave, Sujin."

"Ha, ha. Sorry, that was just too funny."

"Never speak of this again and leave right now."

"Hmmm… I don't think I want to though?" Syl said with a cheeky smile.

"... What are you implying?"

"Nothing! Nothing… well, maybe something…" Syl danced around the question.

Chabashira sighed. "What did you even come here for?"

"Oh right! Isn't this unfair?" Syl asked.

"What? You're on an all expenses paid trip. I fail to see a problem."

"It's like super unfair! Class A, Sakayanagi's class, is at a huge advantage!"

Chabashira sighed. "Just like I've told Yukimura and Horikita, I can't do anything about the class you were put in. It's your own fault for being put in class D."

Syl tilted his head. "What are you talking about? Plus, isn't class D pretty stacked? We aren't much worse than Ichinose's class in ability, and I would actually argue that we are better than Ryuuen's class. But more importantly, we have more exceptional people with just one or two defects than any other class… by far."

Chabashira was stunned. "You think so?"

Syl nodded. "Honestly, if the random's in the class had just slightly better academic ability, I would argue that this is the best class by far. I mean even with the 'worst of the worst' we're still competing well with the other classes. But anyway, this is too unfair!"

"If you think so highly of your classmates then I don't see what could be wrong." Chabashira quipped back.

"They get to know about the special exam early!!!" Syl shouted.

"What?" Chabashira asked, genuinely shocked and confused.

Syl sighed. "Listen, because Sakayanagi isn't here, they know about the special exam!"

"What's a special exam?" Chabashira asked.

"Bah! Don't play dumb with me, moustache lady!"

"Call me that again, and I'll…" Chabashira trailed off as she frowned deeply.

"Or you'll what? Hit me? Expel me? Tank my grades? Those will all backfire! Plus I don't care about my grades in the first place!" Syl replied happily.

Chabashira's frown deepened. "I'll expel you."

Syl sighed. "As if, and right after you just blackmailed Ayanokoji? You clearly care too much about reaching class A, do you really think you can do that without me?" Syl countered.

"I think there's a strong possibility."

"Are you willing to take that chance?" Syl asked seriously.

"Maybe I am."

"Go for it!" Syl said with a relaxed smile. "Do it right now. I'll watch."

Chabashira raised an eyebrow. "You want me to expel you?"

"Maybe I do?" Syl didn't back down. "Give your superior a call right now, accuse me of anything, I won't even fight it. See how far you get without me."

Chabashira hesitantly reached out her arm towards the phone.

After a second of hovering over the handle, she took a deep breath and grasped it.

*ring*

"Hello?" A voice sounded on the other end. Syl could hear everything because it was on speaker phone.

Syl looked Chabashira dead in the eye with a smile on his face. 'Do it' he mouthed.

Chabashira bit her lip lightly for a second.

"Hello? Chabashira?" The voice sounded again.

"... Sorry, wrong number." She replied.

"I see, good luck out there with the special exam. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

She hung up the phone and looked back at Syl.

Syl's smile never faded.