"Yayyyy!!"
Reiji sighed as he watched Haruna bound over to Airi.
Though the earnest request played a small role, he had decided to put aside an hour or so for this 'party' for two main reasons.
The desperation may have played a role, or maybe she was just that smart, but Haruna had made much more progress than he was expecting.
In fact, they were more than a day ahead of where he thought they would be in terms of his lesson plans, a large part due to her being able to put his teachings into practice quite fast.
The second reason was that she was genuinely exhausted from the sheer amount of studying they had done over the weekend.
With barely any breaks, it wasn't surprising that she couldn't quite operate normally.
She'd even fallen asleep during roll call this morning and in another class later on in the day.
At this rate, he would be more worried about her having enough energy and health to even take the midterms in the first place, rather than her chances at entering the Top 10.
So a bit of fun might help her out.
"Wait, wait! What do you mean by tutoring? What's going on?" Airi asked, halting the excited gyaru in her place.
"I'm tutoring her for the midterms," Reiji shrugged as if it was no big deal.
"Ehhhh? Are you sure Yuzuki-san? Your rankings might actually drop, you know?"
"Haha, Reiji-tan is actually pretty smart. I heard about the bet you guys made, and I'd be worried if I were you," Haruna stuck her tongue out playfully.
"Hear that? You guys are sooooo screwed. I wonder what wish I should make after I win?"
Reiji rubbed his chin thoughtfully, off in dreamland to plan out the best way to make the most of this opportunity.
Ren and Airi, on the other hand, went completely pale at her words.
"W-Wait, you're j-joking, right Yuzuki-san?" the purple-haired girl asked nervously, almost sounding like Greeny with the way she was stammering.
In return, Haruna placed both hands on Airi's shoulders and looked into her eyes with the utmost seriousness.
"I'll pray for you, Fujimoto-san."
"Ah...."
As she slumped down dramatically, Greeny looked at Reiji with shining eyes.
"Are you really that s-smart?"
"Hehe, yep!"
"Noooo, I thought that at the very least I wouldn't be alone at the bottom of the rankings," Ren wailed.
He initially thought Reiji was just bluffing, but now...
While these two sets of people were exchanging chatter, Hina was still standing silently off to the side with an odd expression, flickering between Haruna and Reiji.
She slowly walked over to where her friend was jokingly trying to console the seemingly distraught Airi, hesitation embedded in her steps.
"Ah, Hina-tan! Can you grab her other arm? She refuses to get up!" Haruna complained as she tried to drag the limp girl, who was blabbering nonsense.
"No.....My food, my dreams, my WISHES!!"
"U-Um, Fujimoto-san, I don't know what bet they're talking about, but you can't give up now, right? Maybe you still have a chance?"
Airi turned to her with a deadpan look, but there was a small spark of fire within her stare that had been kindled by her words.
"...You're right, Sakuraba-san. Why didn't I think of this? I'm sure these two are in cahoots, trying to bring our confidence down so that they can sneak past us in the rankings, am I right, Yuzuki-san?" she hissed with a crazed grin.
"...At this point, I legit can't tell if you're overacting as a joke or you really are that dramatic," Reiji sighed.
She really seemed to enjoy performing a play whenever things didn't seem to go her way.
"Hmph, the real actors are you two. I was almost fooled, but too bad, I'm just that smart."
"I highly doubt that. Anyway, if you guys really do want to have a little food party, we should get started soon."
"But where should we go? The cafeteria is probably locked by now. Maybe we should go off campus?" Haruna asked with a tilt of her head.
"Rooftop! We can g-go to the rooftop," Greeny interjected excitedly.
"Won't that be locked as well?"
Airi and Greeny smirked collectively as they nudged Reiji forward, the hidden meaning behind their smiles quite clear to him.
His brows twitched at their smug looks as he pulled a key out of his pocket.
"....I have a copy of the key that opens the rooftop door. I guess we can go there," he mumbled with reluctance.
Aside from his two gluttons, the rest stared at him with a mix of puzzlement and shock.
"Wait, what? Why do you have a copy? When and how did you make it?" Haruna rattled off the questions in quick succession.
"That's.... not important, let's go!"
People generally weren't allowed to go up to the roof aside from special occasions for safety reasons, but OG Reiji was looking for a place he could use as a 'base' for his delinquent operations.
When he saw this secluded spot that was always locked up, he had Baldy sneak in one day during classes and use certain methods to create a duplicate key for him.
That's how he had access to the rooftop in the first place.
And when Greeny and Airi befriended him, it sort of became their go-to hangout spot.
"Wowww Reiji-tan, I wonder what the President will think about this," Haruna giggled while covering her mouth.
"Ugh, she'd probably kill me...."
Hina appeared to be a little uncomfortable at the fact that they were basically breaking a rule with this option, but she followed along quietly when no one else seemed to be against it.
Reiji glanced back when he saw her hesitation, wondering if he should say something.
"....If you don't like the idea of the rooftop, we can look for another place. You guys might get into trouble for something I did."
The brown haired girl jerked up at his words, turning red with embarrassment when she saw the others also looking at her.
"Hina-tan, don't push yourself. Let's find a more normal spot!"
Her eyes quivered as she adjusted her glasses, forcing a brave expression to deter them.
"No! The rooftop sounds perfect, we can go there!" she exclaimed, louder than she probably wanted to be.
Reiji couldn't help but chuckle at her feigned courage, but he didn't point it out.
"Alright, rooftop it is!"
***
"Woaahh, I've never been up here before. It's so spacious, and it's cleaner than I expected!"
Haruna gawked at the open area in front of her, looking up at the partial roofing from the entrance that provided sufficient shade from the sun.
As if they had practiced this dozens of times before, Airi unfolded a picnic blanket, which she took out from her backpack, while Greeny pulled out two thermos bottles and paper cups from his own.
He poured water into the cups and distributed the cold liquid to everyone.
Reiji took the containers from Haruna and Ren, unwrapping them and laying them out on the blanket carefully for easier access.
"....What the hell, do you guys do this often?" Ren mumbled with wide eyes.
"Haha, isn't it awesome? Reiji-kun cooks food every day, so we drag him up here during lunch so that he can feed us!" Airi laughed, her hands at her hips in a proud stance.
"....Again, when the hell did I agree to adopt two pigs?" Reiji muttered with disdain.
"Too late to b-back out now, Reiji-kun, you're stuck with us."
"You're telling me you two have been eating Reiji-tan's food... EVERY DAY???"
Haruna exclaimed in dismay, as if she were completely wronged.
"Wait, don't make it sound like I cook an entire banquet for them. We each bring our own food and distribute it, sort of like a mini potluck. So I'm not exactly making a whole batch or anything."
"Wha-, I'm so jealous!" Haruna squealed at the idea, finding it quite novel.
"...Is his cooking that good?" Hina asked, completely taken aback by this conversation and wondering if they were maybe exaggerating.
"You'll find out soon!" Haruna replied, pulling her towards the large blanket, which had enough space for all of them.
Ren, Haruna, and Hina joined the other three who were already seated in their usual spots. The three different dishes that the cooking club trio had made were spread out in paper plates, the aromas from the colorful fish tacos and creamy mushroom risotto making them drool subconsciously.
Reiji's mochi didn't really have much of a fragrance comparatively, but that was because of the type of dessert it was. The smushy sweets had a beautiful pink hue and looked just as appetizing as the other two meals, regardless of the subdued smell.
"Ok, before we start eating, I need to ask you three a few questions," Airi said, her demeanor shifting to a stern and serious nature as she studied the three newcomers who were tilting their heads in confusion.
"Do you bring your own food to school every day?"
"Yeah?" they all replied.
"Will you snitch on us about using the rooftop?"
The three shook their heads in unison.
Airi smiled and glanced at Greeny, who could barely contain his excitement.
"You have passed the initiation. Welcome! You are now officially...." she paused for dramatic effect.
"ROOFTOP GLUTTONS!!!"
Airi raised her hands to the skies in magnificent fashion, her head tilting upwards with pride and joy.
Reiji rubbed his temples slowly.
'Ah shit..... More pigs to feed.'