May 24th, Wednesday.
Thanks to the beautiful moonlit night last night, the weather was great today.
But Class 2-B, where Sasaki was, was shrouded in a cloud of gloom.
Today was the exam day set by their teacher, Takamine Saiko.
Today, they had to take a test.
Taking the test was one thing, but the grades also had to be shown to their parents.
This wasn't great for poor students or those who had fallen behind slightly.
But for real underachievers or those with ulterior motives, this kind of test was a breeze...
For example, Sasaki, sitting in the back of the classroom, spinning a pen with his left hand and resting his face on his right, looking out the window at the greenery.
He, like most underachievers in the back row, had a nonchalant attitude.
A small test organized by the teacher wouldn't make a big impact, even if the results were poor, the school wouldn't interfere...
Students who were counseled out of the school due to grades were usually those with across-the-board poor performance.
Such students were rare.
So for the upcoming midterm exams at the beginning of next month, as long as Sasaki had one decent score, the school wouldn't care.
However, what score to aim for would depend on his mood at the time...
Bored, Sasaki stopped spinning his pen and turned his head as he heard the familiar sound of high heels tapping, watching as their teacher walked into the classroom with a thick stack of white papers.
Ring, ring, ring—
Average Student: "Phew~ Finally finished the morning exams... but unfortunately, there's still the afternoon to go..."
Top Student: "Do you think the questions were difficult this time?"
Average Student: "Not really, I didn't find anything particularly hard to write."
Top Student: (￣﹏￣)
Average Student: "Hey? Why do you have that expression? Your grades are always better than mine. Why do you look like this exam was really hard? Don't scare me, you jerk!"
Top Student: "It's just that the topics in this exam weren't what I reviewed, so my grades definitely won't be as good as before."
Average Student: "..."
Average Student: "Out of the last five exams, you said that three times... and what happened?"
Average Student: "You said the same thing last time."
Average Student: "By the way, what were your answers for the multiple-choice questions in the Japanese exam?"
"BACCBD."
"?"
"Mine were AACCBD."
"How could you choose A for the first question? The question was..."
"What? That question was worth three points!"
"We're screwed, we're screwed..."
Listening to the conversation of the students in front of him as they left the classroom, Haruno Ayato paused his packing of stationery, furrowed his brows, and turned his head:
"Sasaki-kun, did you find this exam difficult?"
"Not at all, the questions were pretty easy this time." Sasaki casually replied as he packed his pens and organized his desk.
"I thought so too."
Scratching his head in confusion, the boy asked:
"Then why don't my multiple-choice answers match theirs?"
"..."
After a moment of silence, Sasaki chose to change the topic.
"Let's leave these troublesome questions for the teachers to worry about."
"Let's go eat; Kasumi-nee sent me a message."
"Oh, oh."
Ending the conversation about the exam, Sasaki and Ayato left the classroom together to find Kasumi-nee for lunch.
Today was Wednesday, or suiyoubi.
According to their previous agreement, they were supposed to eat the thank-you bento prepared by Haruno Kasumi.
However, because the rooftop key used by Haruno Ayato for his duties was reclaimed by the club, they chose to have lunch in the small forest on the slope of the east playground this time.
There were fewer people there, it was quiet, and most importantly, it was cool in the woods in the increasingly warm weather.
There was no wind today, making it a perfect place to eat.
Chatting idly with each other along the way, they arrived at the designated spot.
There, on a large blue-and-white checkered picnic blanket, knelt a full-figured girl, with three medium-sized bento boxes placed before her knees.
To differentiate, each of the brown-and-white bento boxes had a chibi version of their faces drawn on them.
Hmm... the drawings were very nice.
But what attracted Sasaki's attention more than these details was the girl in the white top and red skirt.
Yukiha, Natsuha, idiot Chifuyu, even Momo, they all had plump figures.
But the visual impression of their fullness was different.
Yukiha's plumpness gave a soft impression, like a water baby, soft and tender.
Natsuka, being a member of Aikido, had a healthier, perkier look due to her regular exercise...
Idiot Chifuyu... perhaps naturally gifted, though her athletic ability was poor, visually her body looked tighter... more elastic than Natsuha's...
Very peculiar...
Regarding Kasumi-nee in front of him, her fullness gave a more 'round' impression compared to the other girls.
In the literal sense of the word 'round.'
Her face was rounder than the other girls, her chest rounder, and her hips rounder.
She might not have the best figure among the girls, but she definitely fits the term 'rounded' better.
Hmm... the last word is open to debate...
"Kasumi-nee, you came so early."
Taking off his shoes and placing them under a nearby tree, Sasaki sat cross-legged on the picnic blanket and greeted her.
"Our third-year classroom is closer to here..."
Kasumi fidgeted with the skirt above her knees.
Remembering what Ayato had told her yesterday in the cafeteria about Sasaki saying he liked her, Kasumi's lips, which had been smiling softly, pressed together in slight embarrassment as she responded.
She didn't have the same aversion to Sasaki's affection as she did to other boys who had confessed to her.
He had a good relationship with her brother and got along well.
Plus, from carrying her on his back to massaging her feet and legs, it was clear he was very considerate.
Moreover, he had chased off Anjou, who had been bothering her before.
So, if the person confessing to her was Sasaki, she would be very happy.
The only concern was Sasaki's grades.
According to Ayato, Sasaki's grades weren't ideal, and at this rate, he might not be able to get into university.
That wouldn't do.
If she were to be with him, she would hope to attend the same university as him.
Already considering herself in a romantic relationship with Sasaki, Kasumi, after a brief chat, placed Sasaki's bento in front of him and opened the lid.
She even thoughtfully handed him the chopsticks.
....
...
Slightly stunned for a moment, seeing the blush on her delicate face, Sasaki blinked, before guessing that Ayato had conveyed his misunderstanding to Kasumi.
'Well...I didn't say it directly, Ayato misunderstood on his own.'
With this dubious inner monologue, Sasaki calmly took the chopsticks she handed him and smiled:
"Thank you, Sister Kasumi~"
Feeling the brief touch of their fingertips, Kasumi, after retracting her hand, secretly rubbed her fingers, her heart racing and face heating up.
The strands of hair tucked behind her ear seemed to sense her shyness, hurriedly falling to her face to hide her blush.
Sitting cross-legged beside them, Ayato watched silently with a smile.
He was doing his best to bring the two of them together and didn't mind seeing more scenes like this.
However, sitting here might make him a bit of a third wheel...
Silently speeding up his eating, he took a bite of fried shrimp and gently called out to his still-shy sister:
"Kasumi-nee, let's eat. Otherwise, the bento will get cold even if it was reheated."
"Ah, okay~"
Awakened from her shyness, Kasumi responded and opened her bento to start eating lunch.
As fellow students, even if there were some subtle silences, it wouldn't turn into awkwardness.
Chewing and swallowing the pork roll in her mouth, Kasumi brought up her brother's exam.
"Ayato, how do you feel about this mock exam?"
"Do you think you can move up a few ranks?"
"Ah..."
Pausing his eating, Haruno Ayato hesitantly nodded:
"I think so. The questions seemed pretty easy this time..."
"The midterms are coming up soon, so do your best~"
Kasumi's stern demeanor softened slightly as she glanced at Sasaki, who was eating across from her, somewhat hesitantly:
"Sasaki-kun, you too~ Do your best."
Sasaki paused his eating, pursed his lips, and replied:
"Yes, I've been studying hard lately, so I should see a lot of improvement this time."
Smiling with satisfaction, Kasumi bit her glossy lips, hesitated for a moment, and continued asking:
"Sasaki-kun, have you thought about which university you want to attend?"
University, given the grades of Chifuyu, Natsuha, and Yukiha, they would definitely get into the best universities in Tokyo.
Naturally, he should aim for the same.
However, considering his current grades, that sounded quite ambitious.
So Sasaki didn't state his goal seriously but instead replied in a joking tone:
"University? Of course, I want to go to the best school here."
He expected Kasumi to laugh and encourage him in the same joking manner.
After all, given his current grades, it seemed like a pipe dream.
But...
"Then Sasaki-kun, you must work hard~"
She seemed to take his joke seriously, putting down her bento box and speaking earnestly:
"Since Sasaki-kun has a goal, you must work towards it. I will also help you!"
?!
Something's not right here!
Who takes a poor student's 'big talk' seriously?
With the conversation reaching this point, Sasaki understood that by 'help,' she meant tutoring him, and it was highly likely that she genuinely wanted to help him get into the best university.
Since she had been so friendly even after Ayato 'confessed' on his behalf, it was clear she had a good impression of him, and if he confessed, she would likely accept.
So it wasn't hard to guess that she wanted to attend the same university as him.
For Sasaki, this wasn't a difficult task.
The challenge was finding time for tutoring.
He still wanted to spend his free time getting close to Momo and the others.
Brushing her off, saying he didn't want to trouble her and would study on his own, would be a lie.
With the relaxed curriculum here, unless he was extraordinarily gifted, he wouldn't stand a chance of getting into the best university without extra tutoring.
Telling her directly that someone else was already tutoring him... might break her heart.
Hmm... Sasaki liked her figure... he didn't want to give that up...
Thinking it over, there was only one solution... to exhaust the girls involved with him.
Previously, he had been holding back during their intimate moments, afraid of tiring them out.
This was also why Otome had mentioned before that Sasaki always seemed unsatisfied.
However, now he has found the solution, which he implemented yesterday and got very good results.
That was, the only way to free up time was to push their limits, wear them out so much that they wouldn't have the energy to invite him out for shopping or question where he had been running off to.
He did it with Otome yesterday and the girl couldn't even get up in the morning...
Now he just has to do it with the others.
After all, time is like water in a sponge, if you squeeze it, there will always be more.