Uesugi Gen's Leisurely Day

[Serves you right!]

Those two bastards.

"Uesugi-kun, please pay attention to me. Turning your head away to talk to someone else is rude."

Ichinose sat with her hands in front of her knees and spoke with a serious expression.

"Yes, yes, I know."

Uesugi Gen jumped and hurriedly turned back around.

"Lately, you've been dozing off in class, Uesugi-kun. I've never seen you pay attention to the lessons, either. That's not okay. Can you tell me why?"

"Well, I already know the stuff in the textbooks, so I find the classes a little boring."

"That's not okay. Even if we already know the material, we still have to listen carefully when a teacher is explaining it to us. It's the very least we can do to show respect."

"In any case, you can't keep doing this, Uesugi-kun. You have to go to class. I'll come get you tomorrow morning."

In the end, Ichinose compromised and didn't make Uesugi Gen return to class right away.

"Yes, I understand."

Faced with Ichinose's relentless assault, poor Uesugi Gen had no choice but to surrender.

The next day...

Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!

Early in the morning, the doorbell rang urgently outside.

Uesugi Gen opened his exhausted eyes.

Then he grabbed the sheet beside him, wrapped it around his ears, shut his eyes, and rolled onto his side to go back to sleep.

Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!

The doorbell kept ringing.

Uesugi Gen turned over, found a more comfortable position, and continued lying there, trying to sleep.

"If you don't come out, Uesugi-kun, I'll just stay here forever."

The clear, sweet voice outside the door sounded to Uesugi Gen like the devil calling from hell.

After a while,

Uesugi Gen's bloodshot eyes snapped open. He flung off the sheet, sat up, and irritably raked his fingers through his hair.

What kind of person are you? Don't you have anything else to do?

Uesugi Gen was on the verge of a breakdown.

Maybe I should tell her about the Special Exam ahead of time. I don't need the thirty million points.

Then that woman won't have time to bother me. As for points, I can figure out how to get more later.

In the end,

Uesugi Gen gave up on the idea—not because he couldn't bear to part with the points, but because he figured Ichinose would keep pestering him even if he told her.

By now, Uesugi Gen had accepted reality. There was nothing he could do about Ichinose, because the girl really, truly had no ulterior motive.

He washed up, got dressed, and left.

Uesugi Gen opened the door and stared at the pretty face smiling at him. He managed to force out one sentence:

"You're my personal hell..."

Without another word to Ichinose, he headed for the classroom alone.

"Uesugi-kun, let's go have breakfast together."

Watching Uesugi Gen walk away by himself, Ichinose wasn't upset. She just smiled and called after him.

"Go eat by yourself if you want."

When Ichinose spoke to him, Uesugi Gen tossed back that line and kept walking.

I'm doomed. This woman's got me completely cornered.

Uesugi Gen looked utterly despondent.

"Good morning, Ichinose. Oh, and good morning, Uesugi-kun. Are you feeling any better?"

"Morning."

On the way, Uesugi Gen endured a barrage of good mornings from Ichinose's devoted followers.

At last,

With faint dark circles under his eyes, messy hair, and a thoroughly disheveled air, Uesugi Gen trudged into the classroom.

The whole class froze.

Where had my handsome, gentle classmate Uesugi Gen gone?

The girls from Class B greeted him.

"Good morning, Uesugi-kun."

"Hey. Morning."

Uesugi Gen answered dully.

"Are you feeling better?"

"I am. Thanks for asking."

After listlessly answering his classmates' greetings, Uesugi Gen plopped down in his seat.

He picked up a book and covered his face with it.

Before long, faint breathing could be heard.

"..."

Kanzaki Ryuji and Shibata Hayate watched, speechless.

"What time does this guy even go to bed?"

Himeno Yuki looked at Uesugi Gen and asked curiously.

"I don't know, but it's probably no earlier than three."

Kanzaki Ryuji answered while looking at the login time on the game screen.

"Here, give this to Uesugi-kun when he wakes up."

Ichinose handed Himeno Yuki a carton of milk and a sandwich.

She hadn't come in with the others because she'd gone to buy breakfast on the way.

"Got it. I'll give it to him when he wakes up. But are you all right, Ichinose? You got up so early."

"I used to get up really early at home, too, so it's no problem at all."

Ichinose stood with her hands behind her back and smiled as she looked at Uesugi Gen sleeping in his chair.

It seemed she wasn't annoyed at all. She was actually enjoying herself.

Everyone silently thought the same thing.

"In the twenty-first year of Tenbun, Uesugi Kenshin began his campaign into the Kantō region..."

At the front of the classroom, the balding history teacher began explaining the textbook content with rapt enthusiasm.

Uesugi what? Uesugi what-shin? What Kenshin?

What the hell is Kenshin? It's Uesugi Gen!

By now, Uesugi Gen had entered an early state of senility, staring blankly at the blackboard.

This won't do. I won't last until class ends at this rate. I need to find a way to get some sleep.

What way? Where could I go to sleep openly, without anyone calling me out?

At that moment, every place in Kōiku flashed through Uesugi Gen's mind.

Without hesitation, Uesugi Gen raised his hand to signal the subject teacher that he had a question.

"...the slaying of Takeda Nobushige. Hmm? Does the student with their hand raised have a question?"

"Ahem... Teacher, I'm feeling a little unwell. Could I go to the infirmary?"

Uesugi Gen put on the sickest expression he could manage, giving 120 percent of his acting ability as he asked the teacher.

"Hmm, there's nothing to be done about that. Go ahead."

The subject teacher frowned slightly, then waved him off.

Yes!

Uesugi Gen rejoiced inwardly.

As expected, teachers who didn't want to take responsibility would let a student go to the infirmary as soon as they said they felt unwell. Better to avoid trouble than make a fuss.

As for the infirmary, that was Hoshinomiya-sensei's territory. He could talk her around once he got there.

Uesugi Gen got to his feet, glanced at Kanzaki Ryuji and Shibata Hayate beside him, and quietly gave them a thumbs-up behind his back.

Kanzaki Ryuji and Shibata Hayate exchanged a look.

You've really got some nerve.

The two of them silently thought the same thing.

Thanks, I know.

Uesugi Gen continued toward the door. As he passed Ichinose, he made a point of looking at her, fixing his gaze on her round eyes and giving her a challenging smile.

Come on, Ichinose. What are you going to do? Stand up and tell everyone I'm not sick?

No, you wouldn't do that. You wouldn't embarrass me in front of the whole class.

So I've won this round.

Well, I'm off.

You didn't see that coming, did you, Ichinose? This is the Uesugi Gen escape route!

Hahaha!

Ichinose's smile stiffened a little. She raised a hand to her forehead, looking as if she'd been defeated.

Chapter 16: Uesugi Gen's Leisurely Day

"Mmm..."

Uesugi Gen lay in bed, pulling the blanket up over himself with both hands. He adjusted his sleeping position and let out a contented sigh.

"Gen-chan, the school infirmary isn't here for you to use as a place to sleep, you know."

Hoshinomiya-sensei, in a white coat, sat nearby and reminded him with a hint of resentment.

Why could her student lie here and sleep, while she had to sit here and work on lesson plans?

"What does it matter? Hoshinomiya-sensei goes out drinking every day, anyway."

With his eyes still closed, Uesugi Gen replied dreamily to Hoshinomiya-sensei's resentful remark.

After spending some time with her, Uesugi Gen had figured out that this teacher, who looked like a young, glamorous woman, was actually rather unreliable, liked acting childish, and had a bit of a temper.

Smack!

"Be quiet! Students aren't allowed to talk back to their homeroom teacher."

Embarrassed and annoyed at having her shortcomings exposed by the student in front of her, Hoshinomiya-sensei slapped the folder in her hand onto Uesugi Gen's head.