(Words: 2308)
....
Meeting their curious gazes, Sasaki smiled back and nodded.
"Hello, everyone."
"I'm Sasaki Fuyumi from Class 2-B. Nice to meet you all."
"Oh, you don't need to be so formal."
Hearing Sasaki's proper and serious introduction, Hamazaki Reina, who wasn't a fan of such ceremoniousness, laughed and interrupted him:
"Don't make the atmosphere so serious. It's not a job interview."
As she spoke, she pulled Sasaki over to the table, introducing the two girls to him:
"This purple-haired one here shares your last name; she's Sasaki Yukina. You can call her whatever you like."
"And the one across from her is Kurumizaka Ruri…"
Hearing Reina's casual introductions, Sasaki Yukina and Kurumizaka Ruri couldn't help but feel a bit dissatisfied.
"Hey, hey, that's so rude, Reina."
"Exactly! What's with the 'this one' and 'that one'? Introduce Ruri properly."
"Sigh~ As long as you know their names, that's enough. So troublesome."
Seeing Reina scratching her head in reluctance, the two girl exchanged glances, then narrowed their eyes mischievously.
Screech—!
The sound of chairs moving on the floor echoed under the girls' skirts as they stood up.
To Reina's surprise, they squeezed her aside and hooked their arms around Sasaki's.
"Reina's an idiot who doesn't know how to talk, so just ignore her.
Let's introduce ourselves properly."
"Ahem~"
After clearing her throat, Sasaki Yukina, who had taken an immediate liking to him, looked up at the tall boy beside her and said,
"My name is Sasaki Yukina, from Class 2-A. Nice to meet you. Please take care of me."
Glancing at Reina, who stood nearby with her arms crossed and eyebrows raised in exasperation, Sasaki smiled and nodded to the purple-haired girl,
"Nice to meet you, Sasaki-san."
"And me too~"
Letting go of Sasaki's arm, Kurumizaka Ruri, who was slightly shorter than both Sasaki Yukina and Hamazaki Reina, stood in front of the boy and extended her small, soft, pinkish-white hand, introducing herself,
"We're all in the same class. My name is Kurumizaka Ruri. It's nice to meet you."
Gently shaking the hand offered to him, Sasaki was about to reply when a sudden tickling sensation in his palm made him pause for a moment,
"Um, yes, nice to meet you, Kurumizaka-san."
Hearing his response, the girl smiled playfully before releasing his hand.
Then, Sasaki was guided by Sasaki Yukina to sit between the two girls.
"Come on, let's eat and chat."
"Reina, go check if your bentos are heated."
"Yeah, yeah~"
Seeing her friends monopolize the boy she had her eye on, Hamazaki Reina responded listlessly, her eyelids drooping.
However, the two girls, not inclined to assist Reina in her pursuit, were intent on sharing the spoils.
Good sisters share happiness.
"So~ Sasaki-kun, Reina told us that you helped her out yesterday and even fought for her. Is that true?"
Though Kurumizaka Ruri addressed him familiarly, the two of them were not very close to each other, at least not as close as Sasaki Yukina who was sitting opposite him on the stool.
Judging from her current behavior, she didn't have the mischievousness that she had when she secretly touched his palm just now.
Because of her earlier antics, Sasaki found himself paying more attention to her.
Now, hearing her question, his smile didn't falter as he replied,
"Well, not exactly. The argument started because I didn't like what they were saying."
"As for the fight… That only happened because they acted improperly first. I didn't initially intend to get physical."
Hearing him downplay the idea of being a "hero," the girl blinked in surprise.
She hadn't expected him to say that.
In her mind, a typical boy, given the chance to make an impression on them, would boast about how he stood up to those other guys, defending Reina.
But his answer was completely different from what she imagined.
Moreover, he didn't seem particularly thrilled by her playful touch earlier… how strange.
After this brief interaction, Kurumizaka Ruri's impression of Sasaki improved even more.
Curious, she directly asked the question that had been on her mind:
"Eh? I thought you'd say you fought because of Reina~ It's such a perfect damsel-in-distress scenario. Didn't you find it exciting?"
"I just say what I think."
Glancing over at Reina, who was retrieving the bentos from the heater, Sasaki answered honestly,
"I don't like lying. If I had lied about something like that, I wouldn't feel good about it…"
"Like yesterday—if I had pretended to agree with them against my better judgment, I wouldn't have met Hamazaki-san."
"And if I change my story now…
I might lose something else.
Doing things that go against my own feelings just to please others… only a fool would choose that."
The two girls sitting beside Sasaki stared at him in a moment of silence before bursting into laughter:
"Pfft~"
"Hahaha! Sasaki-kun, you're so interesting~"
"Who would have thought there's someone this naive~"
Kurumizaka Ruri covered her mouth with a soft laugh as she scooted her chair closer, rehooking her arm around Sasaki's and giving him a warm smile.
"But Ruri really likes honest people~ So Sasaki-kun, keep it up, okay?"
Sitting beside them, Sasaki Yukina nodded in agreement,
"Mm-hmm, I also like honest people."
While they weren't obsessed with looks, no girl would dislike a handsome guy.
What made Sasaki stand out even more was that, unlike others, he didn't judge them based on stereotypes.
Additionally, after Ruri's little test, it was clear that he wasn't trying to approach them with ulterior motives.
Because of this, both Yukina and Ruri's attitudes toward him became even more sincere and positive.
Sasaki, noticing how Yukina referred to herself, smiled and asked, "Sasaki-san, are you from Kansai?"
"Yep, my hometown is in Kansai. My family moved to Tokyo because of work. Are you from Kansai too, Sasaki?"
"No, I was attending school in Yokohama before moving to Tokyo…"
As they continued chatting, the initial awkwardness gave way to a growing familiarity.
Hamazaki Reina, who had just felt her heart skip a beat due to Sasaki's earlier words, now listened to their lively conversation, clicking her tongue in annoyance.
After all, she was the one who brought him here first.
Wearing heat-resistant gloves, she carried two heated bento boxes, deliberately taking a longer route to come up behind Sasaki.
Then, leaning forward, she placed his bento in front of him from above, with her arms extending out on either side of his head.
Due to her height, which was tall for a girl, and Sasaki's height being quite similar, the result was that her chest, clad in a snug, soft top, was resting on his head like a warm cushion.
Even after setting down the bento, she didn't immediately pull back.
Instead, she casually tossed the gloves aside and placed her hands on Sasaki's shoulders, giving them a pat as she spoke,
"Alright, alright, let's take a break and have some lunch now~"
While placing her bento on the opposite side of the table, Kurumizaka Ruri eagerly opened Sasaki's bento box,
"Mm-hmm, try it! Ruri made this special bento just for you as a thank-you."
"Make sure you finish it all~"
"Sure."
Seeing that Ruri had snatched the attention that belonged to her again, Hamasaki Reina frowned,
"Hey, Ruri, scoot over a bit. I don't have anywhere to sit."
In typical "sisters" fashion,
What belongs to her good sister's was hers.
So, Kurumizawa Ruri, still clinging to Sasaki's arm, wasn't eager to move:
"Huh? There's plenty of space across the table, Reina. You can sit over there."
"But I have things I want to discuss with Sasaki."
"Well, I also have things I want to talk about with Sasaki-kun."
"You…"
Sensing the brewing tension, Sasaki was about to step in with a word of peace when Yukina, who was seated beside him, gently tugged on his arm, "Don't mind them, just start eating. By the way, where were we in our conversation?"
"…"
"Hahaha, we know exactly what those guys were thinking. They're just a bunch of…"
After a few minutes of playful bickering and face-pinching, Hamazaki Reina and Kurumizawa Ruri finally cooled down, but their good sister' laughter in the background drew their attention.
"Why are they having so much fun over there?"
"Yeah, how about we go and push Yukina out?"
"Agreed!"
Agreeing on a temporary truce, Hamazaki Reina and Kurumizawa Ruri let go of each other's faces and approached Yukina, grabbing her arms to lift her out of her seat.
"Hey, hey? What are you two doing? Slow down!"
Suddenly pulled out of her seat by her good sisters, Yukina was caught off guard and couldn't figure out what they were trying to do.
It wasn't until they both sat down beside Sasaki that she angrily reached out and tugged on Hamazaki Reina's arm, "Reina, get up! You're sitting in my spot. How am I supposed to eat?"
"Don't be so stingy. I'll only be here for a bit. You can eat across the table."
"…"
With limited space at the table, someone was bound to be left out.
All three girls had a good impression of Sasaki.
Although it wasn't love at first sight, it was still a little hard for them to accept watching their sisters being intimate with him.
This contradictory mentality of being afraid that their good sisters would be lonely, but also being afraid that their good sisters might find a boyfriend, led them to hold each other back and neither of them wanted to take a step back.
However, continuing this playful argument wasn't a viable solution, so they decided to pass the decision-making power to Sasaki, who had been quietly observing from the middle.
"Sasaki-kun, you'll sit next to Ruri, right?" Kurumizawa Ruri, still holding onto Sasaki's right arm, spoke sweetly, her voice soft like cotton candy.
"Uh, well…"
Before Sasaki could respond, both Sasaki Yukina and Hamazaki Reina hurriedly chimed in,
"Sasaki~ You'll sit with me, right? We share the same last name, so we're closer~"
Having reclaimed her seat, Sasaki Yukina, like Ruri, wrapped her arms around Sasaki's, pressing it against her soft, ample chest.
Her voice was gentle, tingling with an electric sensation that sent a shiver down the boy's spine, like being lightly shocked by a powerful lighter.
"Uh... mmm!"
Hamazaki Reina, having been pushed to the side and left without a place to sit, stood behind Sasaki, covering his mouth with her hand just as he was about to say something, and addressed her best friends:
"Hey, hey, there are plenty of people with the last name Sasaki. Yukina, that's kind of a weak argument, don't you think?"
Ignoring her friend's dismissive eye roll, she released her hand from Sasaki's mouth, draped her arm over his shoulder, then met his gaze and said:
"Hey~ we met first, so you should—"
"…"
Being squeezed in the middle by the three of them, Sasaki was secretly happy in his heart, but he also felt a little headache about the choice they threw to him.
However, having navigated his way through interactions with girls for quite some time, he wasn't about to be tripped up here.
Glancing to both sides, he made a suggestion:
"How about we all sit at one desk to eat? That way, everyone's equally close, and there's no need to fight over it."
The three girls exchanged glances and then nodded in agreement:
"Agreed!"
They quickly cleared away the extra desks and gathered around one, eating their lunch and chatting together.
After finishing lunch, it was time for their midday break.
As members of the Gyaru club, they naturally had a place to nap and relax.
Since it was Sasaki's first time meeting them, no matter how well the conversation had gone, it wouldn't have been appropriate for him to stay and rest with them.
So, after lunch, he politely excused himself and left.
Once he was gone, Hamazaki Reina sprawled casually on the couch against the wall, not caring about the view her skirt provided.
With her long, white legs glowing in the sunlight from the window, she held up her phone and asked,
"Ruri, are you moving into the new house on Sunday?"
Sitting cross-legged on a cushion not far from the couch, Ruri looked up from her water bottle and asked:
"Reina, are you seriously into Sasaki?"
Reina wasn't sure if she was really into him, but she definitely didn't dislike him.
She placed her phone on her chest, gazing up at the white ceiling as she responded,
"Well~ I'll try hanging out with him and see how it goes…"
"Hey, answer my question first."
"If you don't plan on replacing all the furniture in the new place, then yes, you can move in on Sunday. Have you checked out the house yet?"
"Not yet. I'm planning to go this afternoon after school. Want to come?"
"Nah, Ruri's heading home to sleep."
"Yukina, you wanna come?"
"Hmm?"
On the other side of the cushion, Sasaki Yukina, who was on the verge of falling asleep, mumbled in response:
"What?"
"To see the new house."
"Maybe. I need to sleep now."
"Ugh, you're hopeless."
…
The afternoon only had two classes left, which, for students who enjoyed napping during lessons, meant just a light sleep session.
When they opened their eyes again, they found themselves in an almost empty classroom with only a few students remaining.
It had been half a month since Sasaki had come to this school.
He had already gotten used to packing up his bag and heading home while the sun was still shining brightly.
Rubbing his eyes and letting out a yawn, after finishing packing his bag he was about to get up and head downstairs to the library to chat with Yukiha when he noticed the slumped figure of Chifuyu, who looked rather dejected, lying on her desk.
.
.
.