Chapter 62 This doesn't seem right, does it?

Perhaps failing to pry any juicy gossip out of Ryuichi's mouth, and feeling quite exasperated by it, Shota Sato eventually accepted the outcome.

He had known Ryuichi for quite a while and was well aware that this guy was an utterly romantic-blind blockhead.

The only thing he found a bit regrettable was that he might have missed the chance to go to karaoke with the gyarus.

After all, since nothing happened yesterday, gyarus at the top of the social hierarchy would likely find Ryuichi dreadfully boring and lose interest in him.

"Clang—!"

"I hope you won't live to regret this."

As the bell signaling the start of class rang, Shota Sato patted Sugawara Ryuichi on the shoulder, let out a long sigh, and returned to his seat.

From his perspective, Ryuichi's behavior was very much like the Monkey King causing havoc in the Heavenly Peach Garden—freezing the Seven Fairies yet doing absolutely nothing, a complete waste of a golden opportunity.

"Probably not."

Sugawara Ryuichi possessed no mind-reading abilities and had no idea what kind of mental journey his friend had just been through, so he simply nodded.

Even without any physical contact, he and Yuki Takanashi had experienced plenty of emotional resonance, earning him a massive surge of heart-fluttering points.

Perhaps some extraordinary events had occurred, but once the teacher walked into the classroom, everything returned to normal.

Because their conversation hadn't been conducted in secret, quite a few people learned the truth and were left smiling wryly, losing all appetite for further discussion. By the time the break after the first period arrived, the atmosphere in Class 3-1 had reverted to its usual state.

A matter only attracts attention while the outcome remains undecided.

Once the truth comes to light, or a conclusion is reached, people inevitably lose their sense of novelty, stop paying attention, and eventually cast the affair to the back of their minds.

The subsequent classes passed peacefully, an outcome that Sugawara Ryuichi was quite glad to see.

Even though he didn't care about the opinions of others, having people endlessly gossip behind his back was still somewhat annoying.

This was precisely why he hadn't beaten around the bush when chatting with Shota earlier.

The truth was what it was; it didn't matter if everyone knew, and clearing Yuki Takanashi's name would prevent people from continuing to speculate wildly about what had happened between them.

When one listens attentively and focuses on studying, time always flies, and before they knew it, the lunch break had arrived.

Having broken the precedent earlier, Sugawara Ryuichi and Shota Sato once again headed toward the cafeteria.

Though going to the cafeteria was a bit troublesome, piping-hot meals were far superior to cold bento boxes, convenience store sandwiches, or instant bakeries.

"Sugawara-san."

Just as they reached the entrance shoe-locker area of the school building, a friendly voice brought them to a halt.

"?"

Hearing this sweet voice, Shota Sato turned back to see Yuki Takanashi standing there, and was instantly dumbfounded.

Wait, why did he have such an inexplicable sense of familiarity? It seemed to be just like yesterday.

Same time, same place... but the only difference was the form of address used.

This didn't make sense, did it? According to his assumptions, since nothing interesting had happened yesterday, the gyaru quartet should have lost interest in Ryuichi by now.

Sugawara Ryuichi looked in the direction of the voice and spotted not only Yuki Takanashi but also her three friends.

"Hello ~ Sugawara-san."

Because she had a boyfriend, Yoshino Sakai felt completely at ease interacting with him, walking closer and raising a hand in a light wave of greeting.

"Hello... What's up? Calling me over so suddenly."

Returning her greeting, Sugawara Ryuichi turned his attention to Yuki Takanashi.

"Are you guys heading to the cafeteria for lunch? Come with us."

Standing at the front, Yuki Takanashi blinked at him playfully while asking, looking as though she were acting cute or hinting at something.

"I was planning to go to the cafeteria with my friend... Provided he doesn't mind tagging along."

Instead of answering directly, Sugawara Ryuichi deferred the decision to his friend.

Actually, he wanted to decline. After all, if he went to the cafeteria with the gyaru quartet, he was bound to run into Tsukiyama Yamabuki.

However, considering he hadn't been able to bring Shota along to karaoke yesterday, out of a desire to make it up to him, he decided to let Shota make the call.

"I don't mind at all."

Catching his gaze, Shota Sato didn't hesitate for even a second, shaking his head decisively.

He wasn't as hopelessly dense as Ryuichi; when four girls actively invited them to lunch, any man with a normal brain would find it impossible to refuse.

"How about you guys?"

Noticing Shota's eager response, Sugawara Ryuichi shot him a look of exasperation before soliciting the opinions of the other three gyarus.

Displaying absolute compliance, or even excessive enthusiasm, in front of girls was never a good idea.

Perhaps catering to girls' thoughts and feelings might make one seem gentle and gentlemanly, but that was all.

"I don't mind."

Though the grouping was slightly different from last night's, Yoshino Sakai didn't care.

Kyoko Utada, being a hopeless fan of good looks, was entirely indifferent to anyone who wasn't a handsome guy; plus, since Shota Sato's attitude was friendly, she naturally didn't mind either.

"Same here."

Aine Ishiguro glanced at Shota Sato and raised no objections.

"Let's go then."

With unanimous approval, Sugawara Ryuichi thought it over and agreed as well.

If he ran into Tsukiyama Yamabuki, so be it. He had already gone to karaoke with the gyaru quartet yesterday anyway; having lunch together in a public place like the cafeteria today was nothing by comparison.

"Let's go!"

With a consensus reached, Yuki Takanashi breathed a silent sigh of relief and pumped her arm in an ecstatic cheer.

Actually, her stomach had been churning with nervous tension just moments before, terrified that Sugawara Ryuichi might refuse.

After all, she had already been rejected once before, and getting Sugawara Ryuichi to come to karaoke yesterday had required opening the way with money.

With that, after changing their shoes at the lockers, they officially set off for the cafeteria.

"No date prompt triggered... Could it be that the system defines a date as making plans beforehand and then meeting up?"

Along the way, Sugawara Ryuichi pondered this question.

Since the system lacked any conversational interface, he still had to figure out its mechanics through trial and error.

The path to the cafeteria saw their group drawing considerable attention.

The gyaru quartet was already quite famous at Wano High School, guaranteeing high turning heads, not to mention the presence of Sugawara Ryuichi among them today.

Furthermore, walking together like this undoubtedly confirmed one thing: yesterday's rumors were not groundless fabrication, but actual fact.

Halfway there, an exchange took place that made Sugawara Ryuichi too pained to watch.

"Hello there, I'm Shota Sato."

"I know you, you're one of the top-student duo."

"You actually know who I am?"

With just a single sentence, Yuki Takanashi left Shota pleasantly surprised and utterly flattered.

Witnessing this scene, he finally understood why Shota could never successfully court a girl—he was simply being played in the palm of their hands.