Passing By

The gloomy topic didn't last long. Someone as optimistic as Sato could hardly stay down for long.

By now, Sato was pressed right up against Sakura, leaning forward and trapping her in the corner of the seating area. Sakura had nowhere left to retreat.

"Your skin is so lovely, Sakura. It's so fair and smooth. What skincare products do you use?"

"Nothing in particular..."

"Huh? That's amazing! You were just born with great skin! I'm so jealous I could die!"

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

"But I've realized I'm the one wearing the most makeup. Honestly, I can't even leave the house without it."

What she was really saying was that she envied Sakura for looking so naturally beautiful without wearing much makeup.

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

Sakura looked confused, unsure how to respond, but Matsushita came to her rescue in time.

"I think if Sakura dressed up just a little, she'd take everyone's breath away."

"But Airi doesn't like standing out, right? Honestly, I don't like attracting attention either, especially when those boys stare at me. It makes me feel kind of gross."

Hasebe's words seemed to strike a chord with Sakura. She nodded vigorously.

Sato nodded in agreement. "I know what you mean. Some boys have such lecherous looks. They're always staring at girls' chests and butts."

"I think some boys pay special attention to girls' legs and feet, too..."

Matsushita caught herself halfway through and stopped, but Sato and Hasebe were already looking at her strangely.

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

"You don't need to make excuses. Chiaki's been saying weird, hard-to-understand things every now and then for a while. I'm used to it by now."

"Ahaha..."

"Ah—Maya!"

"Hey! Chiaki, don't pinch my butt!"

The two started fooling around again. Hasebe watched awkwardly from the side, while Sakura still hadn't caught on to what they were talking about.

"Oh, right! I've got an idea!"

Sato suddenly cried out.

"What idea?"

"Maya, what harebrained scheme have you come up with now?"

"Hmph, Chiaki, it's not harebrained this time... Actually, none of my ideas were harebrained!"

Stung by Matsushita's teasing, Sato turned her back on her and addressed only Hasebe and Sakura.

"Midterms are coming up soon, right? It'd be awful if we failed. I was thinking, since none of us are particularly good at studying, why don't we hold a study session and work hard together to improve our grades?"

She looked from Hasebe to Sakura with an expectant expression, as if waiting for them to praise her.

"What do you think? Isn't it a great idea? If we all study together, our grades are bound to improve, right?"

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

Matsushita patted Sato on the shoulder. A lot of students who struggled in school mistakenly believed that effort always paid off and that studying automatically raised their grades.

In reality, students like Sato often got poor grades because they hadn't learned how to study effectively. She was probably putting in twice the effort for half the results. Even if she worked hard at studying, her grades might not improve much.

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

Sakura stared blankly at Matsushita, clearly shaken.

Matsushita felt at a loss too. Whenever she said something, Sato hadn't even had a chance to react before Sakura was the one who got discouraged. What was up with that?

Hasebe patted Sakura's head reassuringly. "That said, if we could get someone with really good grades to help us, we might get great results."

"Exactly. If you begged that jerk Hoshino to teach you, Maya, his study skills might even be enough to get you near the top of the class."

"Then—"

Sato's eyes lit up at the suggestion.

"All you'd have to do in return is offer yourself to him."

"Ah! Chiaki, what are you saying?!"

Sato reacted far more fiercely than anyone expected. She lunged at Matsushita, who hadn't seen it coming, and pinned her down on the cushions in the tea room.

"Maya! G-get off me!"

"Aah! Chiaki, I'm going to get you!"

Shouting nonsense, Sato used all her strength to hold Matsushita down. Matsushita struggled with all her might, but couldn't break free for the moment.

"Maya! Get off me! Or I'll tickle you!"

"W-who's scared of whom?!"

In the end, Sato had the advantage from her position above Matsushita and struck first.

"Ha, ha, Maya... S-stop... Ha, I give up!"

Matsushita was defeated in an instant. She seemed to be especially ticklish.

Sato sat back up, immensely pleased with this rare victory. She even got carried away and gave Matsushita's chest a little grope.

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

"Hmph, I'm not going."

"Fine by me. When my grades shoot up after the exams, don't you dare get jealous."

"I won't get jealous of you... Wait, I'm coming to the study session too."

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

"I've thought it over. Joining this study session is still pretty important."

"I get it. Chiaki's afraid I'll beat her grades, right?"

"Don't worry. There's absolutely no chance of Maya getting better grades than me."

"You, you don't have to be so absolute about it. Though, for some reason, you're very convincing..."

Sato muttered under her breath.

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

"My grades aren't a concern, but there are other things I'm more worried about."

Matsushita spoke vaguely. Hasebe might have had some inkling of what she meant.

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

"Huh... Is that...?"

Everyone followed her gaze.

"Hoshino?"

"And who's with him?"

Through the tea room window, they saw Hoshino walking along the road outside. Two female students were with him, one on each side, clinging close and holding onto his arms. Every now and then, they could be seen arguing fiercely over Hoshino between them.

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

After a brief silence in the tea room, Hasebe remarked, "That's what you'd call a love triangle turned battleground, isn't it?"

Matsushita tipped back a cup of tea and drained it, then set the teacup down on the table with a loud clack.

"Unbelievable... That jerk Hoshino had barely parted ways with us, and he'd already hooked up with two more girls! And weren't they pressing their chests against him? They definitely were... Shameless!"

She muttered to herself, then noticed everyone looking at her and hurriedly waved her hands.

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

Sato was focused on something else. "Those two girls just now might be upperclassmen. I recognize the one on the left. I think she's a third-year... Inoue-senpai, I think that was her name!"

"So in that short time, Aki not only hooked up with two girls, but two older senpai were already fighting over him? I almost have to admire him..."

"Y-yeah, that's amazing..."

Unlike Hasebe, who was just joking, Sakura seemed to mean it.

"Hey, are you serious?"

Matsushita couldn't help rubbing her forehead.

Hoshino's passing left each of them with their own thoughts, and even Sato had lost her enthusiasm for the outing. They chatted aimlessly for a while before going their separate ways.