Are You Treating?

After school on Friday, students gradually filed out of the classroom.

"Uesugi, aren't you coming to the class study session?" Kamuro Masumi asked, turning to him as she stuffed her textbooks into her schoolbag.

"Study session?" Uesugi Hara raised his head lazily, still looking sleepy. Math class had been so drowsy-making that he'd nearly fallen asleep. "Isn't that for people like you who need to catch up?"

Kamuro Masumi paused, gripping her bag strap so tightly her knuckles turned white. "You're not exactly any better!"

"Heh, Kamuro, have you forgotten? I only spent a few minutes on the last quiz." Uesugi Hara propped his chin on his hand, sounding nonchalant. "Those questions were so easy I knew the answers as soon as I looked at them. Unlike you, sitting there racking your brains for ages, only to rule out the right answer in the end."

"You...!" Kamuro Masumi was left speechless. After a long struggle, she finally managed, "If you're so amazing, why didn't you come in first in the year?!"

"I came in first so many times growing up that I lost interest ages ago." Uesugi Hara stretched, his voice light and airy.

Kamuro Masumi: "..." How could someone be so infuriating?! She took a deep breath and stopped arguing. Instead, she hurried to pack her things, her zipper rasping loudly as she pulled it shut. Then she slung her schoolbag over her shoulder and walked out without looking back.

Uesugi Hara watched her storm off, scratching his head in bewilderment. "What's gotten into her? Did I say something wrong?"

Saturday afternoon, at the library.

The class group chat had said they were holding a study session here, so Uesugi Hara decided to come take a look.

But after searching the first floor, he still hadn't found anyone from Class A.

He did spot a few familiar faces, though.

"Well, look at that! What a coincidence, Ayanokoji!" He walked over with a smile, then glanced at the two people beside him. "And Kushida, as well as... Horikita?"

Ayanokoji nodded in acknowledgment, his face as expressionless as ever.

"I don't recall knowing you." Horikita Suzune frowned, her tone as cold as her expression.

Kushida Kikyo held back a laugh and hurried to smooth things over, still as lively as ever. "Horikita, you're so cold! This is Uesugi Hara from Class A. He came to our class to see Ayanokoji before."

Uesugi Hara didn't mind Horikita's attitude. He pulled out the chair beside them and sat down, looking at the three of them. "Are you holding a study session?"

He'd heard Kushida mention on the Terminal yesterday that Horikita was organizing one. He just hadn't expected to miss the Class A students and run into the Class D group instead.

Horikita Suzune ignored the "outsider" who had suddenly appeared and focused on her textbook.

"That's right, Uesugi," Kushida Kikyo replied with a smile. "Isn't your class holding a study session?"

"I'm not sure. The group chat said it was in the library, but I've gone all around and haven't seen anyone." Uesugi Hara sounded helpless.

Ayanokoji: "Maybe you came too late and everyone's already left."

"Probably not, right?" Uesugi Hara said uncertainly. He had an idea, but how could he admit something that embarrassing? "Maybe they just haven't arrived yet?"

"Oh."

Just then, three students walked over. They were Class D students who needed extra help. Horikita Suzune glanced up at Uesugi Hara, who was still sitting there, and her voice turned a little colder. "If you're not involved, please leave. We're about to start our study session."

Uesugi Hara met her gaze and saw the utter lack of warmth in her eyes. He could only shrug. "All right, then. I'll go check the second floor." He turned to wave at Ayanokoji and Kushida. "Ayanokoji, Kushida, I'll get going."

"Uh..." Kushida Kikyo seemed about to say something, but Uesugi Hara had already left.

Horikita Suzune looked away and said coldly to the three newcomers, "Sit down. We'll start with functions in math."

Uesugi Hara went up to the second floor and scanned the room. Still no sign of anyone from Class A, so he picked a novel at random from the shelves.

He'd had his fill of classics a long time ago. It was time for a change of pace—something more like a novel.

A youthful romance?

He found a seat where he could see the first floor through the railing. As he flipped through the book, he secretly kept an eye on Ayanokoji and the others.

But before long, the commotion downstairs seized his attention. The red-haired boy with a buzz cut was pointing at Horikita Suzune, his face flushed as he shouted something. Then he kicked a chair aside with a clatter, grabbed his schoolbag, and stormed off. The two students left behind exchanged a glance, then hurriedly packed their things and slipped away after him.

"Looks like this study session isn't going all that smoothly." Uesugi Hara raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself that this was a lot more interesting than the novel.

He was watching with rapt attention when things changed again downstairs. Horikita Suzune said a few words to Kushida Kikyo, and Kushida's eyes immediately reddened, tears glistening in them. She covered her face and ran out of the library.

"Now that's some firepower!" Uesugi Hara watched in amazement, even more eager to see what would happen next. Would Horikita start arguing with Ayanokoji now?

But the result left him dumbfounded. Horikita Suzune simply lowered her head, fished a compass out of her pencil case, and jabbed it hard into Ayanokoji's arm. Then she turned back around and continued flipping through her textbook as if nothing had happened.

And Ayanokoji didn't get angry. He even leaned over and said something in a low voice. Horikita ignored him the whole time, but he merely shrugged and returned to his seat to read his own book.

Uesugi Hara: "..."

He glanced down at the romance novel in his hands. The page he'd landed on said, "When you like someone, you'll accept all their little quirks."

He looked back at the two people downstairs, sitting together in peace, and suddenly understood. So this was what the novels called "love"?

Ayanokoji put up with Horikita's coldness and "violence" because he liked her?

But was that really right?

Uesugi Hara kept his doubts to himself.

After a long while, Uesugi Hara stretched, set down the novel, and checked the time.

It was time to eat.

He looked down at the first floor. Most of the people had left the library, and only Ayanokoji remained in his seat, holding a book and reading something.

He went downstairs.

"Ayanokoji, want to go get something to eat?"

Ayanokoji looked up and met Uesugi Hara's gaze, a hint of scrutiny in his eyes. Was he being invited out of the blue? Could this be like Horikita, where it looked like a meal but was actually some kind of trap?

Ayanokoji closed his book. "Are you treating me?"

At that, Uesugi Hara looked at him in disbelief.

He felt Ayanokoji's forehead. "You don't have a fever, either. What's gotten into you, saying something like that? Ayanokoji, have you been possessed?"

Ayanokoji's expression darkened. He slapped Uesugi Hara's hand away. "Never mind. Weren't we going to eat? Let's go."

"Oh." Uesugi Hara was momentarily taken aback by his sudden coldness, then shrugged without asking anything else.

He wasn't kind enough to treat someone to a free meal.

They walked out of the library side by side. Neither said a word along the way, and the atmosphere felt strangely awkward.

Uesugi Hara was still thinking about it. The Ayanokoji who'd just asked, "Are you treating me?" had to be a fake!