Passing By

The topic of worry did not last long. After all, it was difficult for an optimist like Sato to maintain a depressed mood for very long.

At this moment, Sato was pressed tightly against the side of Sakura, her upper body leaning forward. Sakura was backed into the corner of the seat, with nowhere left to hide.

"Sakura, your skin is so nice! It's so fair and smooth. What kind of skincare products do you use?"

"I don't... really use anything special..."

"Eh? Isn't that super amazing? Your skin is naturally perfect! Damn, I'm so jealous I could die!"

"It's not that amazing... Sato, you're very pretty too..."

"But I've realized that I wear the heaviest makeup. Or rather, if I don't wear makeup, I can't even leave the house."

Her subtext was that she felt envious looking at Sakura, who wore almost no makeup and was naturally beautiful.

"Maya, Sakura doesn't wear makeup simply because she doesn't want to attract attention."

When Sakura was confused and didn't know how to respond, Matsushita came to her rescue in time.

"I think if Sakura dressed up just a little bit, she would definitely stun everyone."

"But Airi doesn't like being too conspicuous, right? Honestly, I don't like being the center of attention either, especially being stared at by those boys. It feels a bit disgusting."

Hasebe's words seemed to strike a chord with Sakura, and she nodded hurriedly.

Sato nodded in agreement as well: "I get it, I get it. Some boys' gazes are just so lewd; they're always staring at chests and butts."

"It seems like some boys even pay special attention to girls' legs and feet..."

Matsushita realized what she was saying halfway through and stopped herself, but Sato and Hasebe were already looking at her with strange expressions.

"No, that's not it! I didn't mean that! I meant, it's..."

"Don't bother making excuses. Chiaki has been saying strange and hard-to-understand things from time to time for a while now; I'm already used to it."

"Ahaha..."

"Ah-- Maya!"

"Ya! Chiaki, stop pinching my butt!"

The two began to scuffle again. Hasebe watched from the side, feeling a bit awkward, while Sakura still hadn't quite caught the point of their conversation.

"Right! I have an idea!"

Sato suddenly shouted.

"What idea?"

"Maya, what kind of terrible plan have you come up with again?"

"Hmph, stinky Chiaki, this isn't a terrible plan this time... wait, it wasn't one before either!"

Provoked by Matsushita, Sato simply turned her back on her and spoke only to Hasebe and Sakura.

"The midterm exams are coming up soon, right? Wouldn't it be terrible if we failed? Since none of us are very good at studying, why don't we hold a study session and work hard together to improve our grades!"

She looked at Hasebe and Sakura in turn with an expectant expression, as if waiting for their praise.

"What do you think? Doesn't this sound like a great idea? As long as we all study together, our grades will definitely improve, right?"

"Um... Maya, I think you're oversimplifying things. Grades aren't that easy to improve."

Matsushita patted Sato on the shoulder. The belief that hard work always yields results and that studying always leads to better grades is a common misconception among those who struggle academically.

In reality, for students like Sato, the reason for their poor grades is more often a lack of proper study methods. As she is now, her efforts would inevitably yield half the result for double the work; even if she spent a great deal of effort studying, her grades might not improve significantly.

"So... that's how it is..."

Sakura stared at Matsushita with a blank expression, clearly having taken quite a hit.

Matsushita was also a bit speechless. Every time she said something, before Sato could even react, Sakura would be the one hit by the reality check first. What kind of situation was this?

Hasebe patted Sakura's head comfortingly: "Having said that, if we could get someone with excellent grades to help, we might be able to achieve great results."

"That's right. As long as you beg that stinky guy Hoshino to teach you, with his academic ability, he might even be able to coach Maya to the top of the class."

"Then--"

Sato's eyes lit up at the mention of this.

"The payment would just have to be Maya offering herself to him."

"Ah! Chiaki, you—what kind of nonsense are you spouting!"

Sato reacted more violently than anyone expected. She lunged backward, pinning an unsuspecting Matsushita down onto the tea room cushion.

"Maya! You, get off me!"

"Ahhh! Chiaki, I'll fight you to the death!"

Sato, shouting nonsense, used all her strength to pin Matsushita down. Although Matsushita struggled desperately, she couldn't break free for a moment.

"Maya! Get off me right now! Or I'm going to tickle you!"

"Who, who's afraid of you!"

The result was that Sato, being in the dominant position, struck first and gained the upper hand.

"Ha, ha, Maya... quick, quick stop... ha, I surrender!"

Matsushita was defeated in an instant. She seemed to be the type who was extremely ticklish.

Sato straightened her upper body, feeling quite smug over this rare victory. She even got carried away and gave Matsushita's chest a squeeze.

"Ahem... I'm going to ask Hoshino for help, and we'll hold a study session then... Chiaki, do you want to come?"

"Hmph, I'm not going."

"That's fine. Just don't get jealous when my test scores skyrocket."

"I wouldn't be jealous of you... wait, I'm coming to that study session too."

"Eh? Didn't you just say you weren't coming..."

"I've thought it over, and participating in this study session is still quite necessary."

"I get it, Chiaki is afraid that I'll surpass her in grades, right?"

"Rest assured, Maya surpassing me in grades—that is the one thing that will absolutely never happen."

"W-well, you don't have to be so absolute about it, even if it is strangely convincing..."

Sato muttered under her breath.

"Then since you don't have to worry about your grades, Chiaki, you don't need to join the study session, right?"

"Even if I don't have to worry about grades, there are other aspects that are even more concerning."

Matsushita said vaguely. Perhaps only Hasebe vaguely guessed what she was thinking.

Just then, Sakura suddenly let out a small gasp, then immediately covered her mouth.

"Eh... that is..."

Everyone couldn't help but follow her gaze.

"Hoshino?"

"And who is that next to him?"

Looking out from the tea room window, Hoshino had just walked past on the road outside. Beside him were two female students, both clinging tightly to his arms, one on each side. From time to time, one could see the two girls arguing fiercely with each other across the Hoshino in the middle.

The three of them walked away awkwardly, like a mismatched three-legged race.

Back in the tea room, after a brief silence, Hasebe said with some emotion: "That, I suppose, is what you call an Asura field?"

Matsushita tilted her head back to drain her cup of tea, then slammed the cup down onto the table with a "clack."

"Unbelievable... that jerk Hoshino, he only just parted ways with us, and he's already hooked up with two more girls! And the way they were standing, didn't they touch his chest? They definitely did... shameless!"

She muttered to herself, then suddenly noticed the looks the others were giving her and hurriedly waved her hands.

"D-don't get the wrong idea, I just can't stand Hoshino's playboy behavior. And Maya, if you really ask that guy to tutor you, be careful he doesn't trick you."

Sato, however, was focused on something else: "Those two girls just now, they might be upperclassmen. I have a vague memory of the one on the left, she seems to be a third-year... Inoue-senpai, I think that's her name!"

"In other words, in that short amount of time, Aki not only hooked up with two girls, but two older upperclassmen are fighting over him like that? It almost makes one feel a sense of respect..."

"I-it really is, how amazing..."

Unlike Hasebe, who was just joking, Sakura seemed sincere.

"Hey, are you guys serious?"

Matsushita couldn't help but cover her forehead.

Because of Hoshino's passing, the group was preoccupied with their own thoughts, and even Sato lost interest in playing around. After chatting aimlessly for a while, they dispersed.