“OI!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!” Kim yelled at her partner as he poured liquid nitrogen in ‘their’ experiment.

“I’m doing our experiment!” Kei answered. He then explained to Kim on what HE is planning to do with THEIR experiment. The words he used cannot be understood even by the author.

Chinen, Reika, Rio, and Ryo just scratched the back of their heads as they watched Kim and Kei argue about their so-called ‘partner experiment’. The four just don’t get what those two were talking about. [“f(x) = 41x + 37y = (12 + 67x)…x= 2311, y=9889.”] Apparently, they do not know how to speak elements, numbers, and functions like Kim and Kei do.

Chinen poured a test tube of green liquid into a flask of transparent pink fluid. A tiny explosion was heard. Reika looked wide-eyed at her partner, who now has grease marks on his face and was staring blankly at their ‘experiment’.

“And that…” the sensei said. “…eliminates the two of you.”

“EHHHH!???!??!!?” Reika and Chinen said, and surprisingly, also Kim and Kei.

The teacher frowned at the two geniuses. “Nande? Don’t you want it? You’re now going to participate in the next stage.”

“But we’re not yet done!” Kim protested.

“Yeah! We’re right there on the verge of discovering the fifth state of matter!!!” Kei followed up. 

“Just continue with that next time, alright? I’m sure you can do it again.” The teacher told Kei.

“Pfffftt….” The geniuses sighed in sync as they shrugged their shoulders.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

The two pairs left—Rio and Ryo, and Kim and Kei—were again gathered for an announcement.

“In the last stage, you would be working with partners again.” The president told them.

“And that would be???” Rio asked.

“Acting…but you would have to exchange partners…so that makes it Kim and Ryo, and Kei and Rio.”

The four who qualified exchanged looks, their eyebrows meeting.

“Acting as what?” Kim asked.

The president smiled an amused one as she faced Kim and Kei. “As couples.”

                                    >>CHAPTER END<<