The Girls' Tea Party

Matsushita and Sakura brought a change of clothes to the changing room. Hasebe was finally able to get dressed and come out.

"Thank you, Sato, Matsushita, and Airi! I don't know what I would've done today without you."

"Don't mention it, Hasebe."

"Yeah, Maya and I hardly did anything. Sakura was the one who really went to all that trouble. The dorms aren't exactly close enough for an easy round trip."

"N-no... It wasn't that much trouble..."

"Thanks for lending me your clothes, Airi. I'll wash them and bring them back to you later."

"It's, it's nothing."

"By the way, Sakura, that outfit of yours is really pretty."

Sato spoke up suddenly from beside them. She studied the casual clothes Sakura had lent Hasebe.

"Mm, I was thinking the same thing."

Hasebe nodded in agreement. It was a white dress with a black belt around the waist, its hem falling to her knees and flaring out slightly like a blooming flower. Simple yet elegant—that was the impression it gave Hasebe.

"N-no... It only looks good because Kaka is so pretty..."

Sakura couldn't accept their compliments with ease. Blushing, she spoke in a small voice.

"That's part of it, sure... But I feel like this dress isn't quite Sakura's usual style?"

"Maya!"

Matsushita quietly chided Sato, who had made a thoughtless remark that was very much like her. But there was no taking those words back.

Just as Sato had said, the dress suited Sakura or Hasebe, accentuating their graceful figures. But for that very reason, it was hard to imagine that Sakura, who didn't like drawing attention to herself, would choose to wear it.

Of course, it was the outfit Sakura wore when she played the idol Shizuku. But none of the others knew the truth, and Sakura couldn't think of how to explain herself.

She had no idea that, seeing her fall silent, the other three all thought Sato's careless comment had hurt her feelings.

Suddenly, Sato took a forceful step forward and grabbed Sakura's hands. Her expression even made Sakura think of the words "prepared to die."

"U-um, Sakura! I'm sorry! I spoke without thinking and upset you. I'm really sorry!"

"Huh? Wh-what?"

Startled, Sakura let out a squeak. Watching them, Matsushita and Hasebe couldn't help laughing.

"Airi, Sato didn't mean anything by it. You don't have to be nervous."

"It looks like Sakura isn't upset, but Maya, do try to be more careful next time."

They exchanged smiles, and somehow, the four of them felt a little closer after that.

"Do you two have any plans after this?"

"Mm, nothing in particular. I was supposed to meet Aki today, but..."

"Forget that lecher! Why don't we go somewhere together?"

Matsushita invited Hasebe and Sakura along.

"But weren't you two here to swim, Matsushita?"

"We don't have to swim just because we came here. Besides, the pool's getting more crowded now."

"Then sure. I don't have anything else to do."

"Wait a minute. Maya and I have to change."

"Aw, Chiaki, I kind of wanted to keep swimming..."

Sato leaned closer to Matsushita and whispered.

"You don't want to swim. You just want to go see Hoshino, don't you?" Matsushita shot her a scornful look.

"Chiaki, keep your voice down! It'd be so embarrassing if someone heard..."

"Why weren't you embarrassed when you wanted to show Hoshino that swimsuit you're so proud of?"

"But you were the one who spent all that time with Hoshino in your swimsuit just now..."

Matsushita rapped Sato on the forehead.

"Don't hit my head! It'll make me stupid."

"You're already plenty stupid, so don't worry."

"Ugh, Chiaki's picking on me again. Fine, I won't go."

After a little more playful bickering, the two of them quickly changed out of their swimsuits.

"All right, let's go!"

Sato said cheerfully, then naturally slipped her arm through Sakura's. Sakura stared at her in astonishment.

"D-do you mean I can come too?"

"Of course you can. Why would you ask that? Sometimes you're so strange, Sakura."

"I... I'm sorry. I'm a strange person..."

"Huh? No, that's not what I meant! Oh no, now Chiaki's going to hit me for saying the wrong thing again, and I'll feel guilty too!"

As if words could no longer explain what she meant, Sato simply tugged Sakura forward by the arm. Sakura moved stiffly, as though she were a prisoner being arrested.

Hasebe and Matsushita watched them, unable to hide their motherly smiles.

The swimming pool was inside Keyaki Mall to begin with. Once they left it, the girls weren't sure where to go. In the end, they agreed with Matsushita's suggestion to have tea at a teahouse.

On the way, Sato kept her arm linked with Sakura's and chatted without pause.

Once they arrived at the teahouse, they took their seats. Matsushita picked up the teapot and poured tea into each of the four cups.

At an upscale teahouse, a server would handle this, and there might even be a tea ceremony demonstration. But this was just an ordinary teahouse for students.

"Matsushita, you're amazing..."

Sakura watched Matsushita's movements and couldn't help letting out a note of admiration.

Anyone who saw Matsushita's poised bearing would have been impressed.

"Chiaki's even good at proper tea ceremonies. She's so elegant, just like a young lady from a wealthy family."

"Maya, I'm not nearly as good as you make me sound. My grandmother runs a tea ceremony school, so she taught me all about it from a young age."

Matsushita returned to her seat with a wry smile.

"That's still amazing! I definitely couldn't do it."

"Yeah, Maya's such a simple, straightforward person. She'd never be able to handle all that complicated stuff."

"Chiaki, are you complimenting me? It kind of feels like you're insulting me in a roundabout way."

Sato muttered under her breath. Chiaki sometimes spoke in such a roundabout way that it took her ages to figure out what she meant.

"No, I'm complimenting you for being an honest and straightforward person. Though you really aren't very bright, and your grades are a total mess."

"Ugh..."

Matsushita had deliberately brought up Sato's grades to tease her, and sure enough, Sato was left speechless.

But someone nearby had taken an even bigger hit.

"M-my grades are even worse than Sato's..." Sakura murmured, her face turning bright red.

According to the entrance exam results that had been released, both Sato and Sakura were near the bottom of the class, with scores that were close—but Sato's had indeed been a little higher.

"Airi, don't feel too bad. My grades aren't that great either."

Hasebe hurried to comfort Sakura. Her grades were around the middle of the class, but she was very uneven across subjects, and was at risk of failing some of them.

Matsushita had the best grades of the four. Her overall score was above the middle of the class, and she was consistent across subjects.

Sato, realizing this, glared at Matsushita.

"Chiaki, you're so mean! You've completely ruined the mood!"

"Sorry. I've just been thinking about this ever since I heard Teacher Chabashira yesterday."

"Are you worried about the state of our class too, Matsushita?"

"Not just me. I'm sure everyone's worried. Hardly anyone in Class D is good at studying. If we fail our exams, will we really be expelled, just like Teacher Chabashira said? And our Class Points are already at zero. I have no idea what we're supposed to do from here..."

Sato couldn't help giving a wry smile. "Maybe Class D really is full of poor students, just like Teacher Chabashira said."

"But doesn't that seem a little strange? There aren't that many of us, but we do have a few students with excellent grades. Horikita, Yukimura, and Hirata, for example—they're probably near the top of the whole year. Why were they assigned to Class D?"

"If we're talking about good grades, Hasebe, you're forgetting someone."

"You mean...?"

"That playboy Hoshino. Didn't he get a perfect score on that last quiz?"

"Hoshino was the only person in the whole year to get a perfect score, wasn't he?"

"Yeah. Everyone was so shaken by what Teacher Chabashira said that they didn't pay attention at the time, but Hoshino's score was no joke. Most of the questions on that quiz weren't too hard, but a few were pretty difficult. As far as I know, they were beyond high school level."

"There were questions like that? That's really impressive."

Sato and Sakura both looked surprised. Their academic abilities weren't enough for them to appreciate just how hard those questions were. After Matsushita explained, Sato's eyes seemed to sparkle.

Hasebe narrowed her eyes as she studied Matsushita. Something in her words had caught her attention.

"Playboy" was a very different nickname from "lecher."

Judging by the scornful look on her face when she brought him up, perhaps Matsushita paid even more attention to Aki than Sakura and the others did.