Chapter 340: Sakurai's Little Sister?
By the pond, the work had finished.
Sakurai Saki and Kaguya were in charge of cleaning up.
"What's wrong? I saw you take out your phone earlier."
"Someone I don't know tried to add me. I declined."
"..." Sakurai Saki had just talked with Maki, so of course he knew who had tried to add her.
"Ara~ Jealous?" Shinomiya Kaguya glanced around, saw no one else, and teased.
"A little."
The girl likes him was being pursued by someone else — it was perfectly natural for possessiveness to flare up. Sakurai Saki wasn't so boring as to lie to himself.
Liking Kaguya was already obvious, wasn't it?
She had taken the initiative this far — was he supposed to act like some righteous monk "unmoved by beauty"?
"So you can get jealous too. That's rare. Now you know how I feel, right?"
Kaguya felt a little pleased.
She could only be this honest when they were alone.
"Last time on the Ferris wheel, you secretly kissed me and looked even more excited, didn't you?" Sakurai Saki countered.
Seeing the sly smile on his lips, Shinomiya Kaguya pinched him hard on the waist. "You talk too much!"
Then, she grabbed Sakurai Saki's tie and pulled his face toward her.
After that, she rose on her tiptoes and commanded in a queen-like tone:
"Kiss me."
Do all girls like saying this line?
Inside, Sakurai Saki felt both helpless and amused.
"Hurry up~"
"Got it."
...
After a brief moment of intimacy, the two stepped out of the small grove.
Shinomiya Kaguya lightly touched her soft lips with her fingertips, recalling the feeling from just now.
"Want to do it again?" Sakurai Saki chuckled when he saw her.
There was no reply. A few seconds later—
"What exactly is the relationship between us…?" Kaguya muttered softly.
"How should I put it? No matter how unreasonable your request is, I'll still make it happen." Sakurai Saki answered vaguely.
To him, that was already the most sincere thing he could say.
"Isn't there a more specific way to say it?" Shinomiya Kaguya reached out, taking his hand. "Something like 'lover', or 'boyfriend and girlfriend', or 'the person you liked', for example."
There was no one else on campus at the moment, so Kaguya was being much bolder.
"Why are you suddenly asking something like that?"
"I don't know how much longer I can keep liking you." Shinomiya Kaguya felt the warmth from his palm, lowered her head, and stared at her toes.
Her first love happened to be a jerk like Sakurai Saki. She didn't know whether to consider this a normal relationship or not.
After all, the person she liked already had a girlfriend — and that girl was her best friend.
But the fact that Kaguya still felt happy made her heart even more conflicted.
"If you don't like me anymore, then let's just be friends, like before."
"Why don't you say something sweet to me? Something like 'I won't let you hate me', or 'I'll make sure you'll always like me'. I want to hear something like that." The reason Kaguya said this was just to act spoiled.
But she refused to lower her pride, so the way she expressed it was clumsy.
"I want to always be with you, by your side."
"Half-hearted." Kaguya muttered.
"Haven't you heard? 'Companionship is the longest confession.' I'm with you now, and I'll be with you in the future. No matter how our relationship changes — even if we're just friends, or even strangers — I won't leave. As long as you want to see me, I'll show up right away. I can promise you that." Sakurai Saki tightened his grip on her hand.
"Those sweet words… you must have said them to other girls too, right?" Even though she said that, the corners of Kaguya's lips curved up, unable to hide her smile.
"Honestly, no. I only say one flirty words to one girl. Repeating them to someone else would be too embarrassing — even for a scumbag like me." Sakurai Saki grinned.
He actually looked quite proud of that "scumbag" title.
"Say one more line." Kaguya said softly.
"What?"
"I still want to hear it," she said.
"Jeez, that's a tough one." Sakurai Saki raised his left hand to rub his forehead.
"Is that really the limit of a scumbag's sweet talk?"
"Kaguya-san, do you know about baby bears in spring? Their whole body is covered in soft fur, and their eyes are round. They love rolling around with people too."
"The bear from Murakami Haruki's story?"
"Umu. But it's not as cute as you." As Sakurai Saki finished speaking, Shinomiya Kaguya froze on the spot.
He turned to look at her, "Still not enough?"
"..."
Kaguya stared at his dumb expression, held back her laughter for a few seconds, but finally couldn't help herself and leaned into his chest, giggling softly.
"Alright, stop laughing already." Sakurai Saki patted her back lightly.
The confession he'd just made really wasn't anything grand.
But did she have to laugh that excitedly?
"I like you." Shinomiya Kaguya's voice came from inside his arms.
"That counts as a confession too?" Sakurai Saki asked.
"Mn."
She really, really liked him.
...
Spring, the temperature in April gradually warmed up, and the winter uniform on their bodies began to feel a bit stifling.
Especially in the gymnasium, it was even hotter.
The opening ceremony + entrance ceremony for the new students — that was today's main event.
Thinking about how he'd have to endure the scorching heat in a few hours, Sakurai Saki couldn't help but feel uncomfortable.
Once he completely mastered his power, he would start the plan "let Japan wander around."
If it's hot, then move it to the Arctic.
If it's cold, then move it to the tropics.
Perfect!
Next to the school bulletin board, a group of students was looking at the class allocation list.
Most of them were new students.
"Sakurai, we're in the same class again this year, I'm counting on you!" Shirogane Miyuki patted Sakurai Saki on the shoulder.
"You already checked?" Thanks to his good eyesight, Sakurai Saki also glanced over the list.
Kaguya, Ai-chan, Chika, Maki, two girls from the media club, Ai-chan's two gyaru friends…
It felt like he was about to step into a real 'shurafield.'
This school year's goal — don't turn into Itou Makoto!
"Umu, I came early so I saw everything. By the way, Ishigami and Iino got put in the same class," Shirogane Miyuki nodded.
"Today you have to give a speech on stage as the student council president, don't mess anything up again."
Last year Shirogane Miyuki got sick, so Sakurai Saki was the one who gave the speech in his place.
The two didn't talk for long, they quickly changed their shoes and went up to the classroom area.
Reaching the top floor, they found class 3-A, and Sakurai Saki walked in.
A quick glance at his seat — next to the window, last row.
It felt quiet, a pretty good spot.
'Might as well lie down for a bit.'
A dozen minutes passed, the number of people in the class gradually increased, and by the time class was about to start, everyone had arrived.
The school bell rang, and the homeroom teacher walked into the classroom.
Sakurai Saki slowly raised his head and glanced at this year's homeroom teacher.
It was a tired-looking middle-aged man named Oobayashi Hikaru. His teaching skills weren't bad, he just looked like he lacked energy.
"Alright, everyone. I'll introduce myself briefly."
"Oobayashi Hikaru, your homeroom teacher this year. That's all."
Extremely brief.
Immediately after was the students' self-introduction. Although everyone in the class had known each other for almost three years, they still went through the motions half-heartedly.
"Well then, that's the end of the introductions. Next, I'll introduce two transfer students."
"There are two of them in total."
As soon as he finished speaking, one boy and one girl walked into the classroom and stood on the podium.
Shijo Mikado introduced himself: "Hello everyone, I'm Shijo Mikado, twin brother of Shijo Maki over there."
"Eve Lunatique."
After saying that, Eve turned her gaze toward the corner of the classroom.
"I'm Sakurai Saki's little sister, please take care of me."
In that moment, everyone who knew Sakurai Saki — whether male or female — simultaneously turned their heads to look at him.
The classroom instantly fell into silence.