Laid-Back Life in Tokyo: I Really Didn't Want to Work Hard
Chapter 283 - 225: Transfer Student

Chapter 283: Chapter 225: Transfer Student

September 1st, Weather: Light Rain.

On the first day of school, Uesugi Sakura, who was sleeping with the big shark plushie, almost dragged himself out of bed at the last minute.

He lazily took out his school uniform and pants from the wardrobe.

It was only when he wore them that he realized they didn’t quite fit anymore.

After having a regular breakfast, Uesugi Sakura and Uesugi Shio took an umbrella and left the house together.

"Kai, aren’t you coming?" Uesugi Shio noticed that Uesugi Sakura wasn’t following when they reached the corner.

Turning back, she found him standing in front of Hanamaru’s house sign, holding a transparent umbrella, gazing at the door inside.

Uesugi Sakura stared at that door for a long time.

If she were still here... she would probably be at the entrance, using her foot to hold her little black leather shoe, and when she looked up, she’d smile at me and say:

"Good morning, Sakura-kun."

Uesugi Shio walked over: "Kai."

"It’s nothing," Uesugi Sakura shifted his gaze, his shoulder bag slung across, "Let’s go."

The train wandered on the track, the swaying carriages carrying people to their various destinations.

For Uesugi, opening day didn’t evoke happiness or sadness.

It was just that there were more things to do, that’s all.

In front of the gates of Kamigoe High School, students walked in groups, the skirts under their black sailor uniforms exuding a youthful vibe.

Everyone was discussing where they went for the brief summer vacation and what was worth sharing.

Uesugi Sakura understood this had nothing to do with him, so he quickly went to the 2-4 classroom.

Tsubokawa seemed to have arrived a bit earlier than him.

"Yo~ Good morning."

Uesugi Sakura responded, "Yeah, good morning."

Then, before the morning reading began, he picked up a book at random to read.

Tsubokawa leaned over and asked, "Uesugi, honestly, that thing the other day... how did you do it?"

"What thing?"

"You know, that really cool move of yours, knocking that guy down with just one hand."

Uesugi Sakura knew Tsubokawa was referring to that tattooed guy.

"I just tripped him with my foot, that’s all."

"Don’t kid me, Uesugi, my hands may be useless, but my eyes aren’t blind."

Uesugi Sakura: "Why don’t you try chopping yourself on the neck and see if you can knock yourself out."

Tsubokawa Takahiro looked at his own hands, then at him, "Forget it, I’ll tell you some news. Today, a transfer student is joining our class."

"Oh."

"And she’s a pretty girl!"

"Oh."

"Hehe, Uesugi, doesn’t it feel like some cliché from a light novel?" Tsubokawa gave a strange laugh.

"I haven’t read that stuff."

Tsubokawa Takahiro glanced at the male students already present in the class, "I bet they’re all imagining right now that the pretty girl transfer student has come just for them!"

Since it’s not the start of the spring term, the principal’s speech in the auditorium isn’t much to write home about.

Just the usual: work hard, do your best, they’ll earnestly enhance the study environment and conditions for the students here.

As far as Uesugi Sakura was concerned, Kamigoe High School had plenty of facilities already.

The canteen was big enough, the fields were big enough, the gym was big enough, the club building was big enough, and there was even a back garden where one could rest peacefully during lunch and in the afternoon.

Yet as he stood in the middle of the student body, he looked through the hall window at the huge banyan tree outside.

Suddenly, he thought of the graduation photo taken beneath it, which would always be missing one person.

After the opening speech, the first mathematics class ended, and Goto Iwao, who had been craning his neck, turned around and curiously asked Uesugi:

"Why haven’t I seen Hanamaru, did she already take leave on the first day?"

"She dropped out."

"Dropped out?!" Goto stared at Uesugi, who was seriously reading, with wide eyes, "Why would she drop out suddenly?"

"She went to study in England."

The teacher, Haneda Kimu, walked in from the doorway, clapped her hands, signaling the students in the classroom to sit down and look at her.

Wearing a professional women’s suit, Teacher Haneda stood on the podium, both hands resting on the desk, glancing around the classroom, confirming that nobody was missing before slowly speaking:

"Class, it’s no secret that Hanamaru has gone to England to study. I believe most of you know this."

However, in reality, most of the class instinctively looked at Uesugi, except for the few female classmates who were closer to Hanabi.

Sitting at the front desk, Goto leaned back and asked softly:

"Is it really true?"

Uesugi Sakura: "Yeah."

Teacher Haneda Kimu continued:

"Hanamaru was a very popular girl in our class, kind and personable, and really hardworking. Frankly, it feels a bit sudden for her to leave."

Haneda Kimu smiled twice and then reached out towards the door.

"But this term, we’ll also have a new female student joining our class, and I hope you’ll get along well with her."

The class immediately became noisy.

"A new student? A transfer student?"

"I thought Kamigoe didn’t accept transfer students?"

"I heard it’s a female student."

A girl dressed in a black sailor uniform, carrying a shoulder bag in both hands, walked slowly to the classroom podium.

Tsubokawa poked Uesugi Sakura in front, "See? Wasn’t I right about her being a pretty girl?"

Uesugi Sakura looked at the podium expressionlessly, not because the transfer student was ugly, but because he already knew who she was.

She even glanced his way.

On the podium, Haneda Kimu smiled and said, "Please introduce yourself, Kitagawa-san."

The girl in the black sailor uniform bowed to the classroom:

"Hello everyone, I’m Kitagawa Sakisa, the new student. I look forward to getting along with all of you."

After speaking, she particularly glanced at Kyujuu Rika, sitting at the front.

...

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In a Japanese high school, a transfer student is sure to be surrounded and bombarded with questions like hobbies, interests, and where their home is.

But Kitagawa Sakisa didn’t seem very happy and wasn’t paying much attention to her classmates’ questions.

After deflecting the enthusiastic classmates, she walked over to where Kyujuu Rika was organizing study materials, propped her right hand on her desk, and asked:

"Why is Hanabi-chan studying abroad?"

Kyujuu Rika replied slowly to her childhood friend: "I was going to ask how come Sakisa decided to study here? Didn’t you always dislike school?"

"I, I, I..." Kitagawa Sakisa blushed and stammered, "If it weren’t for you and Hanabi-chan studying at this school, I wouldn’t have come!"

"Originally... I wanted to surprise her, but when I followed Haneda at the entrance, I heard Hanabi-chan isn’t here..."

"If I knew Hanabi-chan wasn’t studying here... I wouldn’t have come..." Kitagawa Sakisa muttered.

Kyujuu Rika looked up: "When did you become so close to her?"

"Hanabi-chan always gave me things to eat! Rika, don’t you dare try to ruin our relationship."

"When did I ever say I wanted to ruin your sisterly bond?"

Kyujuu Rika looked away, "And now that she’s gone, even if I wanted to ruin it, I can’t..."

"So you’re admitting you wanted to?" Kitagawa Sakisa became alert.

Kyujuu Rika didn’t even want to tap her seemingly empty head, "I didn’t."

"Then do you know why Hanabi-chan went to study abroad?"

"Something like that... you’d better ask Uesugi."

Kitagawa Sakisa’s gaze turned towards Uesugi Sakura, who was positioned by the wall.