Chapter 108: First Meeting After Dating
The remaining days of the Golden Week holiday, Sakurai Saki spent at the house of the five Nakano sisters.
As for the effectiveness — well, aside from the first day when thanks to superpower support he managed to make them memorize quite a lot of basic knowledge, the following days could only be described with one word: disaster.
Even so, Sakurai Saki didn't mind. After all, they had already memorized the basics firmly, and no matter how badly they performed in this month's test, they wouldn't fail — at the very least, they would pass. That's only because he was someone with superpower. If it had been a regular tutor, they would probably jump from the 30th floor because of the stupidity of the five Nakano sisters.
.
Today was the beginning of May, the first day after the end of Golden Week — Monday, May 9.
The weather was decent, with clouds covering the sky — a gloomy, rainy day.
The TV said there was a chance of heavy rain, but Sakurai Saki only listened for fun, because today, the power to control the weather was in his hands!
Today, Sakurai Saki was the "child of the weather"! A true "sunny boy"!
Using superpower for personal convenience didn't make Sakurai Saki feel guilty, but since he liked rainy days, he wasn't planning to change the weather either.
Wearing a raincoat, he pedaled his bike to the school gate.
There, Sakurai Saki saw Miko-chan standing guard in a transparent raincoat.
It had been ten days since they last met — he really missed this girl.
Sakurai Saki quickly got off the bike, grabbed his bag, and pushed the bike while walking.
When he got close to Miko-chan, he slowed down a bit.
"Sakurai-senpai, good morning!" Miko greeted him cheerfully.
Miko: („• ∇ •„)੭
Ten days without being teased by Sakurai Saki — Miko truly missed him now.
This was perhaps a different form of Stockholm syndrome.
"Miko-chan, good morning!"
Sakurai Saki nodded.
Noticing the expectant look in Miko's eyes, Sakurai Saki found it amusing.
Creatures known as kouhai truly are adorable, so Sakurai Saki decided that today he wouldn't tease her.
Iino Miko watched Sakurai Saki's back as he walked away, feeling as though something was missing.
She shook her head firmly.
'Sakurai-senpai not teasing me should be a good thing!'
'But… what is this feeling of emptiness?'
(╥‸╥)
...
After parking his bicycle, Sakurai Saki walked toward the lecture building under an umbrella, then placed the umbrella into the umbrella stand.
Now, Sakurai Saki had to face a challenge.
Everyone knew he was currently dating Hayasaka Ai.
But Sakurai Saki honestly wasn't too clear on the definition of "dating." He knew that once a boy and girl began a romantic relationship, their feelings and interactions would become more intimate than before, but just how intimate — as a virgin, Sakurai Saki didn't really understand.
Does hugging count as intimate?
(っ˶ ˘ ᵕ˘)ˆᵕ ˆ˶ς)
Probably, yes.
What about holding hands?
( ´･ω･)人(・ω・｀ )
Probably also yes.
But those two things — he had already done them with both Fujiwara Chika and Hayasaka Ai before dating.
In fact, the only kiss he'd had also happened before the relationship began.
Right now, Sakurai Saki wanted to figure out what Hayasaka Ai was thinking. If, back then, he had accepted her confession, then the two of them must be closer now, right?
With a heavy heart, Sakurai Saki arrived at the shoe lockers.
After changing into indoor slippers, he greeted a few passing students and walked toward his classroom.
At the classroom door, Sakurai Saki stopped, not daring to enter.
"Sakurai, why are you just standing here?" His classmate Toyosaki Saburou patted him on the shoulder.
"Thinking about how to take first place in this month's exam?"
Sakurai Saki turned his head: "Do I look like the kind of shallow person who cares about that? I don't give a damn about test rankings."
The top four spots in the school over the past six months hadn't changed — they were always in this order:
First place was Shirogane Miyuki, second was Shinomiya Kaguya, third was Sakurai Saki, and fourth was… Hmm? Who was it again? For a moment, Toyosaki Saburou couldn't recall.
Ah, it was Shijo Maki.
"You're going to lose to Shinomiya Kaguya again this time, huh?"
"Nah, I'd win!" Public Affairs Sakurai said confidently.
( ◡̀_◡́)ᕤ
The two of them walked into class together.
"You said that last time too, Sakurai. I think you'd better give up. That field of geniuses—us mere mortals shouldn't get involved, or we'll just end up hurting ourselves." said Toyosaki Saburou — the student ranked 6th in the entire grade.
"If I give up, would your rank move up? Not bad at calculating, are you." Sakurai Saki said with a laugh.
"There's no way I could beat Shinomiya Kaguya. Last year, even when I compared my scores with Shirogane, I got completely crushed." Toyosaki Saburou said while glancing over to see Hayasaka Ai looking in their direction.
He was tactful, gave Sakurai Saki a pat on the shoulder, then returned to his seat.
Of course, Sakurai Saki also noticed Hayasaka Ai's gaze.
This might be the first time the two of them had met again since the confession.
Sakurai Saki pretended like nothing had happened and walked to his seat by the window.
"Good morning, Hayasaka-san."
(,,¬﹏¬,,)
"Good morning, Sakurai-san."
(//Ò///Ó//)
At that moment, both of them were so stiff it could be seen with the naked eye.
'She… could it be she doesn't think we're dating?'
૮(˶╥︿╥)ა
'He… did he not actually accept it back then?'
(っ˃̣̣̥ -˂̣̣̥ς)
Then why weren't they using any nicknames?
Hayasaka Ai & Sakurai Saki: ( ˶°ㅁ°) Oh No!
This relationship… is over!
"Sakurai-san, what did you do over the Golden Week holiday?" Hayasaka Ai asked.
"Did tutoring work." Sakurai Saki answered honestly.
"At that house with the five sisters?"
"Umu."
After that, the conversation ended awkwardly just like that.
A brief silence.
"Ah, um…" x2
(｡>\\<) (ó﹏ò｡)
"It's nothing." Sakurai Saki looked down.
He hated himself for being such a coward!
"Hayasaka-san, do you have something you want to say?"
"Nothing at all."
Hayasaka Ai also hated herself for not being brave enough to speak up.
'Just say it already!' — Both of them thought the same thing.
In the end, Sakurai Saki was the one who mustered the courage.
He walked over to Hayasaka Ai's seat, and suddenly hugged her.
(づ ᴗ _ᴗ)❛ ہ ❛⋆)!♡
"..." Hayasaka Ai was too stunned to react.
Eh? EHHHHH! Why did he suddenly hug me like this!?
The whole class turned to look.
Hayasaka Ai shyly tried to push him away — but realized she couldn't apply any strength.
Because deep down, she already wanted to be hugged by him…
And that's why she couldn't push him away with any force!
Realizing that, Ai-chan became even more embarrassed.
"It's been a while since we last saw each other." Sakurai Saki explained weakly. "So I got a little emotional. Sorry about that."
Ai-chan didn't reply — she simply wrapped her arms around him in return.
A few seconds later, the two of them almost simultaneously let go, then returned to their seats. Sakurai Saki looked out the window.
Ai-chan lowered her head.
Inside the classroom, whispers and murmurs began to spread.
Over in the hallway-side row, Shinomiya Kaguya heard the conversations.
"So they officially started dating, right? During Golden Week?" — a girl said in a gossipy tone.
"But I've seen general affairs Sakurai hug Chika-chan a lot too." — someone chimed in to refute.
"Hayasaka's the winner then."
"How can you be so sure!? If it's not officially announced, I don't believe it! How can you be so certain!?" — that girl said, turning to the speaker… "Eh! Shinomiya-san."
Ojou-sama getting caught gossiping about love stories!?
"I'm also a girl, it's normal to care about romance, right?" Shinomiya Kaguya replied with a smile.
Lately, she had been trying to change her image.
Starting with her behavior in class. If she always acted cold and distant, it made her intimidating — sure, it helped boost her aura, but it also brought many disadvantages — like having fewer people who could share common topics with her.
"Shinomiya-san, which team are you on?"
"I'm on Team Hayasaka-san and Sakurai-san." Shinomiya Kaguya replied.
Recently, she had really started "shipping" her eternal rival with her own maid, and was even working to support the pairing.
...
'…With things like this, are we actually dating or not?' — Sakurai Saki looked out at the rain outside the window, still unable to understand.
...
...
Note: You know, I have mixed feelings about misunderstanding-based storylines like this. On one hand, they give me that itch of frustration from being dragged out long, but on the other hand, they make me giggle like an idiot. LOL.