Tuesday—Club Recruitment Day.
As a devout member of the Go-Home Club, Sakurai had no intention of converting. His loyalty was unshakable.
At Shuchiin Academy, clubs fell into two broad categories: sports clubs and cultural clubs.
The former included the Soccer Club, Kendo Club, and the famed Archery Club—proudly represented by none other than Kaguya Shinomiya. The latter spanned more niche interests: the Supernatural Studies Club, the Literature Club, and the quirky Tabletop Game Club, which Fujiwara Chika had recently joined.
If one were to classify students by their club affiliation, a pyramid would emerge:Top tier: Sports club members—strong, popular, and often the face of school events.Middle tier: Cultural club members—respectable, if somewhat nerdy.Bottom tier: The Go-Home Club—students who skipped the after-school grind entirely.That was Shuchiin's social order.Unless, of course, you were on the Student Council. That got you a free pass.
Early morning.Sakurai wheeled his bicycle toward the school gate and sneezed.
Springtime hay fever—an annual curse in the island nation. Statistically, 40% of the population suffered from it. Apparently, not even Superpower Users were immune. His weaknesses were nothing if not eclectic.
"Hey! You, put your blazer on properly! And your skirt length is off—don't think I can't tell you rolled it up! Student!"
The voice came from Iino Miko, standing sentinel at the gate with all the righteous fury of the Disciplinary Committee. She was currently accosting a blonde girl dressed like a textbook delinquent.
Sakurai glanced over.
Ah.Hayasaka Ai had been caught.
So much for being "inconspicuous," Ai-chan.
"This isn't the first time you've dressed like this! Last time you slipped away—but not this time, Hayasaka-senpai!" Miko barked, still using honorifics even in outrage.
She hadn't forgotten the humiliation of losing her last confrontation. That girl had vanished like smoke, and Miko had never recovered from the blemish on her record.
"Yo~ Ai-chan~" Sakurai greeted, arriving at the gate with a grin. He parked his bike and casually raised his hand for a high-five. Ai obliged.
Then, turning to Miko, he gave her a curious once-over.
"Hmm? Aren't you the Disciplinary Committee member?"
"You two!!" Miko exclaimed in shock. The two worst rule-breakers in the school—side by side like partners in crime?Was today the end of the world?
Sakurai made an exaggerated "oh right!" face, then rummaged through his bag and pulled out a stick of Umaibo.
"Sakurai-senpai! Are you trying to bribe me again?"
"Not at all." He handed her the snack. "Just a little seniorly care. You come to school so early every day—I figured you might not be eating properly."
Miko looked at him suspiciously, hesitated, then mumbled,
"I eat fine. But… thank you."
She turned abruptly, spotting another student.
"Hey! Your collar's crooked!"
Once the boy fixed it, she turned back—Wait.Wait!!
"Where's Hayasaka-senpai?! Sakurai-senpai, did you see where she went?!"
Sakurai pressed his fingers to his temple in mock thought. After a beat, he said solemnly,
"She must've fallen into the abyss called love."
"What? …What does that even mean?" Miko snapped, confused. Then her gaze dropped to Sakurai himself.
His blazer was buttoned. His collar straight. No violations.
"You dressed properly today?"
"Yup. I made sure everything was perfect just for you." Sakurai smiled innocently. "Miko, do you have any complaints?"
"M-Miko? What's with that!?" she stammered.
"A term of endearment," he said with a straight face.
Pervert! she thought, fuming. Who gave someone a nickname on their second meeting?
Still, even she couldn't deny—he was following the rules today. No sloppy uniform, no visible infractions.
She had nothing to penalize.
But still—
"Hayasaka-senpai ran away again…"
Sakurai looked into the distance, spotting Hayasaka Ai waving at him near the bike shed. She'd already made her escape.
"Miko, I'll be going now."
"Sakurai-senpai, goodbye!" she said with forced politeness, before scanning for her next target.
Hardworking to the extreme.Completely different from someone like him.
Sakurai pushed his bike toward Hayasaka Ai, who was still waving smugly.
"Ai-chan, what happened last night? You stood me up."
The moment the question landed, Hayasaka's expression changed.
What had she done last night?
...Right.She'd been helping Lady Kaguya understand the birds and the bees. Just thinking about the bizarre questions she had to answer made her want to melt into the pavement.
God, her face was heating up.
Sakurai watched her go silent and misunderstood immediately.
Had she done something shady last night?
Lately, high schoolers getting involved in compensated dating wasn't unheard of. Many girls sold themselves just to afford cosmetics or luxury goods.
"Ai-chan," Sakurai said gravely, "take care of yourself, okay?"
"Sakurai, you better take care of yourself," Hayasaka shot back instantly. She could already tell from his look that he was silently judging her. "Don't end up doing something dumb like being a rental boyfriend."
"I didn't do that yesterday," Sakurai replied coolly. "I was tutoring. You remember? The girl I mentioned before."
"The Five Sisters? My, my—how lucky you are, Sakura-chan~" Hayasaka Ai teased with a sing-song voice."Who knows? You might even stumble into a lucky pervert incident~"
Lucky pervert incident?
You know, like in those cliché light novels—where the protagonist walks into a girl's house, opens the door, and accidentally finds her in the shower?
Yeah, right.As if that kind of nonsense ever happened in real life.
Sakurai gave her a flat look."With all due respect, is there a tutor alive who could actually survive those Five Sisters?"The question came straight from the depths of his soul.
Hayasaka smirked."Probably not."
As a maid of the Shinomiya household, she was exceptionally well-informed—especially about school affairs.She already had a full dossier on the infamous Nakano quintuplets.Favorite foods. Favorite colors. Hobbies. Even what kind of boys they liked. She knew it all.
And after reviewing all this data, Hayasaka Ai had reached a very simple conclusion:
[Completely Harmless Targets]
If chasing Sakurai were a battlefield, and he was the grand prize—a flag planted in the center—then she and Secretary Fujiwara were already leading the charge.They were just a few steps away from grabbing that flag.
As for the Five Sisters?
Heh.They weren't even on the map.Forget competition—they weren't even participants.
There was no way Sakurai would fall for any of them.At least not in the short term.
Even if they tried to get involved later, the outcome between her and Fujiwara would already be decided.
There simply wouldn't be a seat left at the table.
That's why, in Hayasaka's mind, the Five Sisters weren't even worth considering as threats.
And yet...
'But he's never told me he likes me,' Hayasaka thought, eyes quietly trailing Sakurai as he parked his bike.
'So what does he think of me, exactly?'
That—She needed to find out.
And maybe... just maybe—If that person he liked was her—!