CHAPTER 367: CHAPTER 274: THE STRANGE CHILD

The games between kids, how should I put it, you have to show off your skills with actions to let them know you’re awesome.

They’ll flock to you out of admiration.

If it were in the past, Uesugi would definitely boast about it, with an air of "of course I’m this great".

But now, maybe he’s grown up, he seldom does that anymore.

Since it was morning and the school activities hadn’t started yet, Uesugi Sakura, feeling quite bored, was helping watch over Mr. Imanishi’s class of kids and played a round of their class-arranged bowling.

The bowling pins were made of standard maple wood, placed at the end of the classroom.

A long board was used to line the alley, keeping the ball from rolling away.

The bowling ball was lighter than the standard, around 6 pounds, so even kids with little strength could easily throw it.

As the big brother from Tokyo University, Uesugi Sakura gave them a demonstration of what a strike looked like, scoring perfect strikes each time, making them exclaim "awesome!" from their seats.

With his glasses and looks, he had a bit of an artsy big brother vibe.

A few precocious girls were whispering to each other with blushing faces.

There were prizes for the class games. Just participating earned you snacks and candy, and the first place took home a stuffed animal or toy.

The little gifts and snacks were piled in the corner of the class, the place the boys especially drooled over.

Uesugi Sakura accidentally found a shark plushie with "x" eyes in the pile of gifts.

That was the grand prize, so he discussed with the kids whether he could join in the activity later and maybe take first place.

But unexpectedly, they all shook their heads, firmly refusing to let him join the game.

Hanamaru Hanabi could join, but she was terrible at bowling—she couldn’t even beat several of the little kids.

Hoping for that shark from her was hopeless.

"U-Uesugi brother..."

Uesugi Sakura, who was resting on a bench waiting for lunch, noticed two girls hesitantly approaching, nudging each other shyly.

"Mizuno and Ui, huh, what’s up?"

Uesugi Sakura remembered these two girls’ names from when everyone did a self-introduction earlier under Mr. Imanishi’s guidance.

These two girls were among the taller ones in the fifth grade, looking more like middle schoolers, so they were easy to remember.

Fifth grade should be about 11 years old, right?

The two girls pushed and shoved for quite a while facing Uesugi Sakura’s question, and as he was about to speak again, the girl named Mizuno quickly raised her head to say:

"Big brother Uesugi! Ui said you’re a lolicon and wants to confess to you!"

The words were so shocking that Uesugi Sakura was left speechless, looking at her innocent expression.

How did he end up being labeled a lolicon?

And coming from the mouth of an 11-year-old girl.

Ui, seeing her friend pushing the blame onto her, hastily argued: "Mizuno, you’re lying! You said brother is a lolicon! You even made your hair a bit cuter hoping to win his affection!"

Feeling unfairly accused, Mizuno snapped back: "No way, that was you, Ui! You even said if the confession succeeds, you’d marry him right away!"

Ui, not willing to back down, muttered:

"Mizuno, you said he’s your first love! You told me brother looks great, handsome, and he’s a senior at Tokyo University!"

"Liar! That was you Ui."

Ui’s face turned red: "That was, that was Mizuno!"

Uesugi Sakura glanced at Hanamaru Hanabi, who was chatting with the kids on the other side of the classroom, ensuring she hadn’t noticed the commotion, then turned to the bickering girls raising his hand, helplessly saying:

"Alright, alright, I’m engaged, see, this diamond on the ring is huge, isn’t it noticeable?"

Hearing that Uesugi brother was engaged, Mizuno and Ui immediately stopped arguing.

Seeing that dazzling diamond.

Their feelings at the moment, to put it metaphorically, were as bad as finding out the goddess you fall in love with at first sight already had a husband.

After a moment of silence, Mizuno and Ui started bickering again.

"See, I told you Uesugi brother was married, it must be sister Hanamaru."

"It’s just an engagement, Ui, you dummy!"

Ui pouted in dissatisfaction, shouted: "Mizuno, you’re the dummy! I told you he wears a ring!"

"Liar, liar, liar, you never said that, big dummy Ui!"

"Big dummy Mizuno!"

"Big dummy Ui! I hate you!"

Ui crossed her arms, turned her head to the side, and snorted: "I hate you too, Mizuno!"

Then, without being able to say another word, Uesugi Sakura watched as they angrily went to sit at opposite ends of the classroom.

Are all little girls like this?

...

As lunchtime approached, Mr. Imanishi came to the classroom from the office.

But it seemed something at school needed her attention, so she rushed off again.

Before leaving, she asked Uesugi Sakura to help call a girl named Aei back for lunch.

That was a bit strange, weren’t fifth graders capable of coming back for lunch?

Perhaps she was a bit of a troublemaker?

Uesugi Sakura glanced at Hanabi, who was playing with the kids, told her the situation, and then went around checking all the spots Mr. Imanishi mentioned within the school.

After wandering around the campus for more than ten minutes, he spotted a girl matching the description under a tree near the playground.

She was wearing a tilted hat, standing motionless in the tree’s shade.