Chapter 80: Accident
Translator: Moongirl
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The final exams had started. Today was the bookkeeping exam, said to be extrely difficult to pass. But I’d diligently studied for June’s exams with Mizuhara as my tutor, so I felt confident.
I’d probably pass as long as I didn’t make a line of careless mistakes. I spent the morning doing so last-minute revision in the clubroom to prepare for my exam in the afternoon.
At lunch, I had a al to improve my stamina to concentrate better. Then I returned to the clubroom to get my exam items.
Well then, ti to do my best! I arrived at my seat in the examination room only to discover new trouble: Sohow, my calculator wasn’t working at all.
「……!!!」 Huh, why wasn’t it working?!! I impatiently attacked the power button. Then I tried randomly pressing all the buttons, but it didn’t give the slightest response.
Quickly glancing at the clock on the teacher’s table, I kept hitting the calculator. It had been working throughout the morning, but now it didn’t show a single digit.
The exam was about to start in 10 minutes. I completely panicked at the critical ergency. No matter how much I studied, tackling the bookkeeping exam without a calculator was like climbing Mount Everest in flip flops and shorts.
100% death!
So club mbers who also studied bookkeeping noticed panicking and talked to . 「Noda, why’re you dancing with your calculator? The exam supervisor’s gonna show up soon!」
「It broke—!」
「「「Seriously?!」」」
The mbers realized the state of ergency. 「Did the battery run out?」
「Try changing it!」 They tried it and checked, but it didn’t work. I’d just changed the battery two days ago in the first place.
「Maybe it was just faulty when you bought it?」
「But it was perfectly fine when I was studying in the clubroom earlier!」 We argued pointlessly back and forth, panicking over what to do and them telling to calm down.
「We’ll ask so friends if they have a calculator.」
「Might be tough though, considering the ti.」
I hoped for the best as they headed out to the corridor, phones in hand. I’d already asked so people too but none of them had calculators.
Nowadays, every phone had an in-built calculator so it looked like there was no benevolent person who’d walk around with an actual calculator. The people I’d asked all hadn’t even co to school in the first place. Since they didn’t take this class, it was obvious they’d be working hard at ho instead.
「I have an extra calculator, but……」 One of the mbers returned after finishing the call, saying the words I was hoping for. As he picked it up, I suddenly raised my face.
「Huh?! Let , let have it!」
「But it has a little problem…」
「It’s fine, just a little problem!」
Even if it was a little difficult to use – if its display went out halfway through, or if its reactions were slow – it was better than nothing.
I pestered him to give it to , holding my hand out.
「It makes sounds when you tap it. But it’s still fin—」
「There’s no way it’s fine!」 If I made tapping sounds in the middle of the exam I’d be forced to leave on the spot. I got my hopes up for nothing! As I was trying to think of a solution, the exam supervisor entered the room.
……It was all over.
The mbers returned to their seats, giving useless advice as I was crestfallen, my shoulders dropped and head hanging low. 「Do ntal arithtic! Be one of those Indian math gurus! Namaste!」
There was no way I could do it ntally. Although the calculations themselves weren’t that hard, there was an incredible amount of numbers to calculate.
As the question papers were passed to , I passed them on behind , head still hanging low. Even if I failed once, it didn’t an I couldn’t graduate. But it’d be recorded on my grades, and I wanted to avoid having to show that to my future employers.
As I waited for the question papers to be passed to all the students, I pointlessly played with my chanical pencil, clicking it over and over.
I held my paper down as my sighs were about to make it fly off. I still continued sighing, accepting my fate, when I felt soone subtly poke my back.
「……?」 I glanced behind to see a girl I didn’t know hold out a calculator to .
「I was told to give this to Noda-san.」
The calculator showed up from behind! My eyes sparkled at her whisper. I thanked her and turned back around.
I didn’t know whose it was, but I was saved. It must have been soone the mbers got in touch with. I faced my exam with a sudden change in mood, full of motivation.
After finishing the exam, I returned the calculator to the mbers, thanking them and promising to treat them to sothing.
「That wasn’t my friend.」
「Not mine either.」
They all completely denied it.
「Huh? Then…… Whose is this?」
They asked if she wasn’t my friend, but everyone I’d asked wasn’t in school.
「……???」
I wondered if one of those friends had sent her and asked them all again, but no one knew anything about it. In the end, I just kept it in my bag, still not knowing who it belonged to.
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