During lunch, Uesugi Sakura, along with Goto Iwao and Tsubokawa Takahiro, lined up for a long time before ordering a pork cutlet bowl.
"Ah, Uesugi, you're not eating with us?" At the table, Goto Iwao asked as he watched Uesugi Sakura suddenly stand up.
Uesugi Sakura pointed to Hanamaru Hanabi and the others eating at the corner of the cafeteria:
"I'm going over there to discuss the study group."
"Heh heh,"
came a cold laugh,
as Tsubokawa Takahiro suddenly pushed his glasses up with his middle finger, looking like he understood everything,
"That's just an excuse; Uesugi-kun is preparing to start his harem journey."
Goto Iwao's eyes lit up—this was the kind of thing he was most interested in: "Tell me, how's that supposed to work."
"Think about it, this morning, Uesugi-kun didn't invite anyone else to join the study group besides us—why is that? There was clearly time between the third and fourth periods."
"Actually, it's not hard to guess. He's waiting until lunch to catch all the smart girls in one go."
"..." Uesugi Sakura was speechless at the absurdity of Tsubokawa Takahiro's imagination.
"Then, gracefully claim the group is full, leaving him the only guy in a group full of girls. At that point, who knows what he might do with his so-called study group?"
"Hehehe, the following days will be his paradise."
The more Tsubokawa Takahiro spoke, the more he couldn't hold back his laughter, slightly raising the corners of his mouth with the expression of a detective uncovering a grand conspiracy.
Goto Iwao also looked at Uesugi Sakura with a strange expression, clicking his tongue:
"Well, who would've thought that our Uesugi-kun has been hiding such depths, has he finally awakened? Finally planning on using that face of his to wreck havoc upon the girls in our class?"
"..."
"Your imagination is vivid—you two could help the game club create a galgame."
Uesugi Sakura ignored the two's self-created scenario, carrying his bowl towards Hanamaru Hanabi.
At a corner table in the school cafeteria, Hanamaru Hanabi, Kyujuu Rika, Ayaka Rie, and their classmate Kiyohara Tomomi gathered to have lunch.
The four of them were quite close in class, with outstanding grades, and often had meals and chats together.
Ayaka Rie, eating her chicken curry, noticed Uesugi Sakura approaching and nudged Hanamaru Hanabi with her elbow in surprise:
"Hanabi-chan, your goofball is here."
Hanamaru Hanabi looked up and saw Uesugi Sakura coming over. She wasn't bothered by Ayaka Rie's teasing, being used to it, as classmates knew they had grown up as childhood friends.
"Uesugi-kun..."
Under the gaze of several people, Uesugi Sakura naturally sat beside Hanamaru Hanabi.
Ayaka Rie leaned over to ask Uesugi Sakura next to Hanamaru Hanabi: "Uesugi-kun, what's the reason for visiting us at lunch today? Or is it just to see Hanabi-chan?"
The group sat at a six-person table, with three on each side. Hanamaru Hanabi sat in the middle, Ayaka Rie to her left, and Uesugi Sakura to her right.
"Study group; Mr. Haneda wants me to organize a study group starting at six this afternoon, and I'm here to invite you all." After speaking, Uesugi Sakura took a bite of his rice bowl.
"Study group? Mr. Haneda said so?"
With round, gold-rimmed glasses and long black hair, Kiyohara Tomomi perked up with interest,
"Can I join?"
Uesugi Sakura knew she'd definitely join, being an active student, and her class rank was always among the top three.
"Of course."
"Hanabi, do you want to come?" Uesugi Sakura then looked at Hanamaru Hanabi beside him, who was eating her bento. Her sailor uniform's wide collar showed her porcelain-like collarbone.
She took a small bite of corn sushi from her bento and nodded, her lips slightly raised, and softly said:
"Mm... if Uesugi-kun is there, I have no problem."
Hanamaru Hanabi agreed readily, but Uesugi Sakura felt a bit like he was coercing her for some reason.
After a brief pause, Uesugi Sakura asked the remaining two:
"And you?"
Kyujuu Rika, the class president, naturally had no objections regarding study matters: "I have no problem, but since it starts at six, that should be after club activities, right? How long will it take?"
"Hm..."
Uesugi Sakura pondered for a moment. Mr. Haneda hadn't specified, but considering it's late, it probably won't take long,
"About an hour or so, and it's pretty flexible, you can leave whenever."
"That's good,"
Kyujuu Rika put down her chopsticks and nodded, then looked at Ayaka Rie, the remaining person in their group of four, "What about you, Rie, do you want to join the study group?"
Ayaka Rie, who was focused on her curry, didn't immediately answer but looked at Uesugi Sakura with dissatisfaction, pouting:
"You rascal, how could you snatch all three of them away..."
"So?" Uesugi Sakura didn't say much, continuing to eat his pork cutlet bowl.
"So!"
Ayaka Rie suddenly realized, Uesugi Sakura was too devious, planning everything step by step.
He took advantage of her curry-eating time to first conquer Kiyohara Tomomi, who loves studying, then went for Hanamaru Hanabi, who seldom rejected things, and finally used the flexible study schedule to bind Kyujuu Rika.
Ultimately, he had her best friend help him win over her while she was eating.
Unforgivable, he's a scumbag, absolutely a scumbag!
"So I!" Ayaka Rie had no choice but to relent, "So I'll join too."
"Alright," Uesugi Sakura nodded in satisfaction, "Now we have five people for the study group. If you have others to invite, feel free to bring them along, although Mr. Haneda did say not to have too many people."
Hearing this, Kyujuu Rika curiously asked, "You've only invited us for the study group?"
"Goto and Tsubokawa aren't coming, for now, it's just you guys I've invited."
"Darn! Uesugi," Ayaka Rie exclaimed, extremely displeased, showing a fierce expression, "This isn't a study group, it's your harem group—why did you only invite girls?"
Faced with these groundless accusations, Uesugi Sakura calmly said:
"That might be the case, but I've only really talked with you four among the classmates; I can't even remember other people's names, going would just be awkward."
Ayaka Rie: "That may be true, but you must have ulterior motives towards us."
"Well, you can invite any male classmates you like; you don't even have to tell me if they agree."
"No way."
Ayaka Rie immediately refused, "I'm not familiar with them, and I prefer not to be around them. I feel more comfortable with fewer people."