Sato Maya's Dilemma

Two days before the midterms, a heavy atmosphere hung over the classroom.

In the middle of the classroom, Sato had pulled over a chair and sat beside Hoshino. Hoshino, meanwhile, leaned back against his seat, frowning as he flipped through the test papers he had collected from Sato and the others.

Watching Hoshino's expression, Sato asked cautiously, "How is it?"

"...Mm, not bad. Much better than before."

"Really? Yay—"

"That was a lie."

Seeing her delighted expression, Hoshino irritably reached out and flicked her forehead.

"Ugh, that hurts~"

Sato covered her forehead with both hands and looked at Hoshino resentfully.

"What are you looking at? Don't you know what level your answers are at?"

"But those questions were really hard..."

Sato muttered unhappily under her breath. Once Hoshino took on the role of teacher, he completely turned into a strict instructor, nothing like his usual easygoing self. Under the pressure of his presence, she found herself shrinking back a little.

When she inadvertently caught sight of Sakura, who was also sitting beside Hoshino, the corners of Sato's mouth twitched slightly, and she unconsciously sat up straighter.

Over the past few days, Sato had realized that she was starting to feel competitive toward Sakura, a classmate she had only recently begun speaking to.

As for the reason, she knew it perfectly well—it was Hoshino Akira, sitting beside her.

By now, no matter how slow Sato might be, she had long understood that she liked Hoshino.

At first, it might have been because he was handsome. But after spending more time with him, Sato discovered that aside from being handsome, he was also smart, had outstanding grades, was physically capable, excelled at all kinds of sports, and even seemed to be good at fighting.

How can someone be good at everything? How can he be so amazing at everything?

Her best friend Matsushita Chiaki kept telling her that Hoshino was a flirt with girls, a scumbag who toyed with their feelings and so on, but Sato honestly did not care much about that.

Wasn't it only natural for a handsome guy like Hoshino to have lots of girls who liked him?

He was simply gentle with the girls who liked him. He did not want to cruelly reject them and make them sad or hurt. What was wrong with that?

Sato knew she was a little too love-struck, but she could not help it. In her heart, Hoshino was the perfect guy.

Naturally, she began to care about her place in Hoshino's heart.

Accepting that he would be surrounded by girls was one thing, but being outdone by those other girls was something else entirely.

Among the girls, the one Sato cared about most was actually her best friend, Matsushita Chiaki.

Chiaki was her closest friend, and they knew each other very well. Because of that, Sato understood that whether it was looks, figure, intelligence, or quick thinking, she was actually no match for Chiaki.

Fortunately, Chiaki seemed to have an extremely serious prejudice against Hoshino and was always badmouthing him around her.

At first, Sato would argue with Chiaki on Hoshino's behalf, but now she had gotten used to ignoring everything Chiaki said.

Whenever she heard Chiaki speak badly of him now, she even felt a little secretly pleased.

At the very least, it meant Chiaki had no romantic feelings for Hoshino and posed no threat to her.

Besides Chiaki, Karuizawa and Hasebe were also close to Hoshino, but it never quite felt like that sort of relationship.

At this stage, there was only one person Sato considered a rival.

Sakura Airi.

If she had to describe this girl in one word, it would be unremarkable.

She did not dress up, barely spoke, and had no presence. Even though she sat right behind Sato, Sato had never spoken to her during the month or so since school began.

Every day, she wore an unfashionable hairstyle, kept her head down and her body curled in on itself, and sat silently at her desk. If not for Hoshino, Sato felt that their paths might never have crossed.

But now, after what happened at the pool, they could at least be considered acquainted. And going to Hoshino together for tutoring had given them more chances to interact.

Sato still remembered that day at the pool. It was the first time she had truly paid attention to Sakura.

At the time, she and Hasebe, who had fallen into the pool, were in the women's changing room. Then Sakura and Chiaki arrived after Sakura had gone back to the dorm to get a change of clothes.

When she saw Sakura panting heavily after all that exertion, Sato felt as though, despite being inside an indoor swimming facility, she were looking at the raging waves of the sea.

Hasebe's were already huge. She had never expected the inconspicuous Sakura to be hiding so much beneath the surface.

Then, in the tea room, Sato took a good look at Sakura and discovered that beneath her bangs and oversized glasses was an incredibly pretty face.

So the real Sakura Airi was a breathtaking beauty with a stunning figure!

After that day, Sato and Sakura could be considered acquainted, and they would occasionally exchange a few words.

Once they actually talked, Sato realized that Sakura was a very soft and adorable girl, timid and delicate like a little white rabbit, someone who easily made people want to protect her.

Sato could tell that Sakura also liked Hoshino. Perhaps she was so slow that she had not even realized it herself, but there was no faking the way she looked at him.

Honestly, if not for Hoshino, Sato did not think she would ever have had anything to do with someone like Sakura. They had almost nothing in common in any respect; they could even be called complete opposites.

Their only similarity was probably that both of them had terrible grades.

Thinking of that, Sato secretly glanced at Sakura again. She was sitting obediently in her chair with her legs pressed together, her upper body slightly hunched forward. Even so, her chest was still strikingly prominent. Sato unconsciously puffed out her own chest, then deflated at once after realizing the enormous gap between them.

"My cup size hasn't changed since last year. Ugh... that size is just ridiculous! Even in another ten years, there's no way I could ever get that big."

After suffering a complete defeat in one particular area, perhaps Sato's only consolation was that her best friend Matsushita Chiaki had about the same chest size as her.

"...Sato?"

Lost in her thoughts, Sato did not hear herself being called. Then her forehead was flicked again.

"Ah, that hurts!"

"Please do not zone out, Sato."

"...Ugh, okay..."

Sato rubbed her forehead miserably. Through the gaps between her fingers, she saw Sakura looking at her with concern. Without even asking, Sato could guess that Sakura's little head was surely trying to figure out how to plead with Hoshino for her.

Sigh, even though I see her as a rival, Sakura definitely doesn't think that way.

Looking at Sakura's innocent face, Sato even found herself hoping that she was actually a sweet-faced girl with a dark side. That would at least make her feel a little better.

And so, completely unable to stop herself from thinking about all sorts of things, Sato Maya listened to Hoshino's lesson in a thoroughly distracted state.

What she gained from it were four forehead flicks from the person she had a crush on.

At that moment, there were still three days left until the midterms.