It's three-thirty, and the second class in the afternoon has ended.
The students are packing up their things, wrapping up the first day of classes.
Most of the classmates need to participate in club activities, being second-year students, they are considered seniors.
And the seniors are supposed to help freshmen get familiar with the rules and duties in the clubs.
It's an orientation, in other words.
Today, Uesugi Sakura can't avoid it either; she has to attend the Kyudo Club's orientation, as promised in the morning.
"Uesugi, see you tomorrow."
"See you."
"Mm." Responding to the voices of Goto and Tsubokawa, who were speaking out, Uesugi Sakura replied while packing.
Zipping up her shoulder bag, Uesugi Sakura glanced ahead to see Hanamaru Hanabi, Ayaka Rie, and Kyujuu Rika chatting.
Thinking about attending the club activities today, it was a good chance to go back with Hanamaru Hanabi.
Ayaka Rie noticed Uesugi Sakura coming over and asked with a friendly face, "Why? Looking for Hanabi again?"
"Yeah," Uesugi Sakura glanced at the three of them, "mainly wanted to ask where your Painting Department is, so we can go together this afternoon."
Kyujuu Rika, who hadn't even looked at him before, frowned and looked at him after hearing this.
"Why do you suddenly want to go together?" Ayaka Rie asked, grabbing her bag and swinging it over her shoulder, "Aren't you in the Returning Home Department?"
"Now I'm in the Kyudo Club."
Kyujuu Rika ignored him upon hearing that and continued to pack some materials on the table into her bag.
Ayaka Rie's face showed surprise, as if she heard something bizarre:
"Eh? What? Uesugi Sakura actually wants to join a club? Class president, what did you do to get him out of the Returning Home Department?"
Kyujuu Rika glanced at him and then looked down and said:
"That was his own decision, nothing to do with me."
Ayaka Rie acutely sensed the class president's attitude, glanced once at Uesugi Sakura, who had no reaction, and rubbed her chin with her right hand, showing a meaningful smile:
"Oh~ really? How come I heard this morning in the courtyard two people, a guy and a girl, were discussing something."
"That handsome guy even asked the other person to be in charge of something, it sounded very, very ambiguous just to hear."
Hanamaru Hanabi raised her little head upon hearing this, her eyes directly looking at Uesugi Sakura.
Ayaka Rie's gaze darted between the two: "The class president's probably not..."
"Don't overthink it."
Kyujuu Rika paused, "Uesugi rejected my invitation. His decision to join the Kyudo Club is unrelated to me."
Uesugi Sakura could tell, although she was still a bit angry, she had calmed down a lot.
Probably in a couple of days, she would completely forget about it, and he could quit the club then.
Ayaka Rie pouted: "I don't believe it, I won't believe Uesugi can voluntarily join a club; in the past, he wouldn't even help move a table."
Move a table? It was clearly half a classroom worth of tables, come on.
Uesugi Sakura muttered silently in his heart.
"Hanabi... believes in Uesugi-kun..." Hanamaru Hanabi suddenly raised her hand, her voice very timid.
Uesugi Sakura: "Hanabi believes in me."
Ayaka Rie remained skeptical but still disbelieving:
"Hmph~ Handsome guys, few aren't jerks, their favorite thing is deceiving innocent girls, especially ones like Hanabi, I'll wait for your true colors to show."
Saying this, she grabbed Hanabi's hand and prepared to head out of the classroom.
"Let's go, we're going to the club, there's still the orientation today."
Hanamaru Hanabi grabbed her blue shoulder bag and told Uesugi Sakura, "Uesugi-kun... we're in the second floor of the club building, in the largest painting room."
"Okay." Uesugi Sakura responded.
Seeing the two leaving, Kyujuu Rika also turned, picked up her shoulder bag and followed them, giving Uesugi Sakura one last look as she walked out.
...
The Kyudo Club isn't in the club building, but rather at an open-air dojo next to the sports field.
Passing by the road-side sakura trees, taking a turn, Uesugi Sakura saw a wooden sliding gate with the sign "Kanzaki Togoshi Private High School Kyudo Club" hanging on it.
With a gentle knock, after waiting for a moment, someone opened the door.
Opening the door was the senior from the morning, Seisuke Yooya.
"Senior."
"Ah, it's Uesugi," Seisuke Yooya smiled, "Come in, the orientation is about to start."
The dojo was spacious, and the floor was clean enough to reflect light, seemingly just cleaned.
Upon entering, a wooden shoe cabinet was visible, already stacked with many pairs of shoes, both male and female styles, indicating quite a few people were already here.
Uesugi Sakura took off his shoes, stepped on the wooden floor, and turned right to see two rows of students sitting on the floor.
A few guys and girls each formed a "circle," gathering to chat, occasionally sprinkling laughs in their conversation.
"Hey, hey, Misuzu-chan, a handsome guy's here."
"Really?"
"Looks a bit unapproachable, cold faced handsome guy?"
"That's exactly the type Sena-chan likes, what do you think, want to go ask for her line?"
"No, not going. Besides, why should I ask for her, cold faced handsome guys with Kyudo are a perfect match, you go ask him for me."
"Hmph, if I go, I won't give it to you."
"Dare you!"
...
Uesugi Sakura glanced at them, didn't recognize them, unsure if they were first-year freshmen or second-year students.
If Goto were here, he'd definitely know... a thought inexplicably popped into Uesugi Sakura's mind.
After all, that guy almost evolved into the "Kanzaki Togoshi Girls Encyclopedia", if they were even slightly pretty, he could say which class they were in and whether they had boyfriends now.
One could easily tell if they were first-year students.
Yet he's still a virgin.
Uesugi Sakura sat alone at the back, really coming here by himself, looking somewhat lonely.
After another round of whispers, one of the girls was pushed out.
She looked at Uesugi Sakura's face and shyly asked:
"Um...classmate...my name is Tanuma Rika, may I add your line?"
"Line, sure."
Uesugi Sakura took out his phone and gave his account to the girl named Tanuma Rika.
"Is it... 'Rain'? Such a visually poetic name, and the profile picture you took looks so handsome."
"Thank you."
Uesugi Sakura smiled politely, which made him look stiff, giving off a "stay away" vibe.
He felt a little conflicted.
Why does his charm of 7 have a feeling of 9?
Unfortunately, he could only see his charm now, without others for comparison, so he couldn't make any sense of it.
Tanuma Rika quickly returned to the group of girls, and a few black sailor uniform JKs immediately surrounded her, starting to whisper and tease, occasionally glancing his way.
Uesugi Sakura was entirely uninterested in this; how could these women compete with the importance of studying?
The line number he gave was specially created by Goto Iwao, said to be a "wingman exclusive number," anyway, Goto always managed it, and he couldn't bother to care.
As Goto originally said:
"There are so many girls asking for your line, it would be a waste not to use it, I'll help you manage it."