A peaceful day passed, and the remaining days were equally uneventful. Apart from the usual study tasks, Uesugi Sakura added an extra three hours a day for bottle throwing.
April 1st, early morning.
Which is to say, six days later, today Uesugi Sakura woke up early. As an excellent student, he had to prepare early for the school opening ceremony.
Even though he really detested such things that wasted his reading time.
Having washed up, Uesugi Sakura put on his school uniform, admiring his particularly handsome reflection in the mirror.
It must be said, Kamigoe High School's uniforms are indeed quite stylish. The mandarin collar uniform with a white shirt paired with a black coat made him look upright and spirited.
Walking down to the living room, he greeted his parents with the usual "good morning" and, after finishing the prepared breakfast, shouldered his bag and prepared to leave.
"Be careful on the road."
Changing his shoes at the entrance, Uesugi Sakura waved to his mother and headed towards Hanabi's house next door.
Skillfully pressing the doorbell, a "beep" sounded, and Hanamaru Meiko's voice came through the small speaker by the door:
"Little Sakura, please wait a moment. Hanabi is changing. Of course, if you can't wait, you can come in."
As soon as she finished speaking, there was a click, and the lock seemed to open, revealing a narrow gap.
Uesugi Sakura naturally did not go in, standing quietly at the door waiting.
About ten minutes later, footsteps were heard from inside, and a flustered Hanamaru Hanabi opened the door. She had her bag over her shoulder, looking at Uesugi Sakura waiting at the entrance, apologetically said:
"Sorry, Uesugi-kun, for making you wait."
Uesugi Sakura replied, noticing Hanamaru Hanabi in her school uniform.
Kamigoe High School's girls' uniforms are traditional black sailor suits, with a red ribbon tied below a white collar.
The neckline is quite wide, revealing a glimpse of the delicate collarbone below the neck.
The pleated skirt and long socks are also black, complemented by a pair of shiny leather shoes. Just a glance would make one feel she's adorably cute.
The long-missed school uniform, Uesugi Sakura said to her:
"You look very pretty today, Hanabi."
"Ah, tha... thank you..."
A blush spread across Hanamaru Hanabi's face, her bright eyes becoming a bit evasive.
"Hanabi, Hanabi, you forgot your bento."
Hanamaru Meiko came out from inside, handing the bento to Hanamaru Hanabi.
Watching her slightly blushing face, then looking at Uesugi Sakura standing outside, she bent down, whispering so softly it was almost inaudible:
"Remember what I said."
Hanamaru Hanabi clutched the bento tightly, biting her soft lips, and nodded cautiously.
"Good morning, Auntie." Uesugi Sakura greeted politely.
"Good morning," Mrs. Hanamaru replied with a smile, pushing Hanamaru Hanabi out and waving her hand, "Hurry along now, hurry along, it's getting late, and you have the opening ceremony today."
Uesugi Sakura glanced at Hanamaru Hanabi, who had her head buried deeply, and nodded towards Mrs. Hanamaru at the door:
"Then we'll head out."
"Yes, be careful on the way!"
Hanamaru Meiko smiled, then closed the door.
After Hanamaru Hanabi placed the bento in her satchel, Uesugi Sakura said to her:
Hanamaru Hanabi walked obediently beside Uesugi Sakura, glancing at him before quickly lowering her head again.
Uesugi Sakura could naturally sense this; today Hanamaru Hanabi was particularly shy, unable to bring herself to look at him more than twice, quite unlike usual when they went to school together. Perhaps she had reverted to her childhood state again.
It seemed that Auntie said something to her just now, which caused this situation.
Uesugi Sakura didn't think too much about it; Hanabi didn't want to talk, and he wouldn't interfere too much.
So, maintaining this state, the two walked towards Kamigoe High School.
Kamigoe High School is a private high school located in Tokyo Shinjuku, officially called Kanzaki Togoshi Private High School.
The school has a good source of students and a high admission standard; comparatively, the tuition is also high.
The average deviation value of the entire student body is around 65, ranking quite high nationwide.
The deviation value is a standard for evaluating students in the archipelago, providing a quantitative assessment of students' abilities using a fixed formula, very important.
However, the deviation value does not represent students' scores; it represents roughly where a student stands in the overall student body, indicating a student's "distance from the average."
This often serves as the sole criterion for many schools' admissions.
Uesugi Sakura's deviation value was 71 during his entrance exam, but after one semester in high school, it had dropped to 69.
A deviation value of 70 is the top 2%; now he was on the edge of the top 2%.
This didn't mean he had become dumber, but rather those who worked hard became even more diligent, raising the overall student level, causing his deviation value to drop accordingly.
Regarding this, Uesugi Sakura didn't have many options, only striving to do better than he could and widening the gap between his level and the average of the student body.
Walking beside him, Hanamaru Hanabi suddenly lifted her head, her bright eyes sparkling, her ten fingers tightly interlocking, her heart filled with unease.
Uesugi Sakura knew what these expressions and gestures meant for Hanamaru Hanabi; each time she was embarrassed, she would act this way and switch from calling herself 'I' to her name 'Hanabi.'
Though, she usually referred to herself as Hanabi most of the time.
"Hanabi... Hanabi..."
In a small alley, Hanamaru Hanabi stopped, looking up at Uesugi Sakura's face.
It was apparent she seemed to have a lot of things bottled up, wanting to say something.
Hanamaru Hanabi's unexplained shyness left Uesugi Sakura puzzled about what she intended to do, yet he still stood there, quietly waiting.
As he usually did in the past.
With time passing, her heart pounded violently, her little hands restlessly fiddling with the black pleated skirt.
The sunlight of a spring morning shone through the white clouds, illuminating her shoulders, glittering and jumping. Bathed in sunlight, she looked particularly pure, her delicately rosy face even more beautiful like a flower at dawn.
Was she going to confess?
This phrase inexplicably appeared in Uesugi Sakura's mind.
If he were confessed to, he thought he might as well accept.
His already fading memories of being single for more than twenty years offered him no help.
A lively figure quickly ran over, an equally dressed black sailor-suited girl hugging Hanamaru Hanabi from behind, brushing her face against Hanabi's neck, jokingly saying:
"Good morning, Hanabi-chan! Long time no see!"
"Mm~ No... Don't do that... Rie-chan... It tickles..."
"I'll do it, I'll do it, huh? Why is your face so red?"
Ayaka Rie touched Hanamaru Hanabi's burning face, her golden eyes staring directly at Uesugi Sakura in front of her:
"Did you bully our Hanabi again, without any awareness of being a boy?"