Chapter 3:

School Dazed

I Planted a Girlfriend


“It is 7 in the morning and here I am scrambling to get ready for school! Ever since I first started going to Yozakura Academy, I’ve never missed a single day! Unlike some people, I actually take pride in my personal attendance! So waking up late on the first day of my final year isn’t exactly how I pictured this going!” Minato mumbles to himself, haphazardly dressing himself without any regard to Sakura being in the same room.

Due to his phone's faulty speakers, Minato managed to sleep through all five of his alarms, leaving him with only an hour and thirty minutes to make it to his first day of classes. Minato isn’t the type of person to spend money carelessly, so the idea of upgrading his phone to a newer model has never been of interest. The only reason he was able to wake up at all was Sakura’s curiosity as to why such a device kept vibrating.

As he digs through a pile of clothes in search of the remainder of his uniform, a disgruntled Sakura voices her concerns. “What do you mean I can’t come with you?! I have a uniform ready and everything!” she says, spinning as a way to show off the sailor uniform that she dug out of the stores lost and found.

“We’ve been over this. You aren’t enrolled in the school. Everyone will think it’s weird if a girl that doesn’t even go to our school ends up following me around all day.” Minato replies, throwing a pair of unwashed jeans to the side.

“And what exactly is so weird about that? I’d just be like everyone else! Are you just embarrassed with the thought of being seen with me or something?!” Though she’s shouting, there’s no malice in her voice. Her reaction towards him isn’t out of anger, but genuine confusion. Having come from a line of royalty where her education had been handled by private tutors, she’s never had the luxury of experiencing day to day school life.

Inhaling deeply, she stomps at the floor, impatiently waiting for his explanation.

“Why would I be embarrassed? I mean, aside from the fact that the ‘uniform’ you’re wearing is literally a costume leftover from last year’s Halloween celebration. There’s nothing to be embarrassed of. If it were for any other occasion, I’d be all for it. Hell, if you want my complete honesty, it actually looks kind of hot on you.”

This sudden compliment makes Sakura blush. Realizing what he said, Minato sighs. “Besides, I’m going to need someone to take care of Granny Haru and the store while I’m gone. She’s still not in a good enough condition to even leave her bed, so I’m really relying on you here.”

As he sifts through the pile, his eyes fill with glee. “Gotcha! Here I was thinking I lost you!” It’s his old uniform jacket, and by the looks of it, it’s in the same condition it was in when he put it away in mid-March.

“You can’t be serious about wearing that?!” Sakura backs up, pinching at the temple of her nose. Minato is unaware but, due to her plant-based physiology she is able to pick up on scents leagues stronger than a human can.

“It’s a little sweaty, but I’m sure it’s not that bad,” he reassures, moving the blazer closer to his face. But as the soft polyester meet’s his nose, a pungent aroma clings to him. He gags, turning it over to look for the source of such a smell. That’s when he sees a thin lining of black spores. Due to the heavy humidity of spring, his sweat had time to breed a soft mold-like texture on the interior of the jacket.

The emotion drains from his face as he sets it down.

Attempting to recollect himself, Minato stumbles toward his bedroom door. He has never been one to care about his reputation, but he knows that going to school wearing it would be social suicide. “I’ll be back in six hours or so.” He states, clutching at the door frame in an attempt to regain his balance. “You know how to run the store better than I do, so just make sure that everything is taken care of, okay?” With the final request, he exits.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

Stupid Minato. I’m not some type of house plant. What gives you the right to just leave me here? Since they first met, this is the first time that the pair has been separated.

Though Sakura is more than confident in her ability to run the store by herself, a part of her wishes that Minato didn’t have to leave for classes. He’s the first friend that doesn’t cater to her whims because of her bloodline. In her younger years, the only form of companionship she was allowed was from potential suitors. Men that her father would allow to spend time with her in hopes of finding an heir. So, Minato treating her like a regular girl is a breath of fresh air.

The store has only been open for an hour, but Sakura has yet to serve a single customer. Every time a passerby stopped at the display window, she eagerly awaited serving them, only to be disappointed when they walked away shortly after. She expected the store to be livelier, yet the only thing keeping her company, is the incessant ticking of the grandfather clock on the wall.

Determined to not let her boredom drive her mad, Sakura’s eyes scan the room in search of something to pass the time. “There’s gotta be something I can do around here! With my luck, all of our customers are probably all at school. Am I really supposed to just sit around for six hours doing absolutely nothing!?”

Her eyes light up when she notices a lonely Venus fly trap in the display window. Despite it having been destroyed the previous day, the plant appears to be in perfect health. The only thing damaged is the pot, which Minato took it upon himself to tape back together. Sakura’s powers only work on organic life, so no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t restore the pot back to its former state. The thought of being able to do so, leaves her with an idea however.

“Of course! Why didn’t I think of this sooner!” She remembers how whenever she’d go on nightly hunts, her father would bestow sentience upon lower plant life to aid her in battle. “I’ve never attempted to do this myself, but I watched him enough that doing so should be a cake walk for me!”

So, mimicking his actions, she places her thumb in between her teeth and bites down just enough to break the skin. Sakura’s eyes widen with excitement as the blood pools from her lips and into the mouth of the plant below. The plant moving its leaves in a rhythmic motion is enough to show her that the effects of this spell have already begun.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

“So, let me get this straight. You’re telling me that you have an absolute bomb-shell staying at your place rent free, and you’re still simping over boring old Sayori?! Tell me why I shouldn’t kick your ass right now!?” The person shaking Minato is none other than Shin Takahashi, A third year student who openly idolizes him, seeing Minato as the model upperclassmen. To Shin, Minato could never do anything wrong. So this scolding is something that surprises even him.

“Look, man, I know that out of context it sounds like me and her have a thing, but you got it all wrong. This isn’t like one of those rom-coms. If anything, she’s more like an employee than anything. Now, would you kindly let me go? Classes start in like fifteen minutes, bro.” Minato asks, calmly setting a hand on his friend's wrist.

Down the hall, the two spot a young woman entering their homeroom. For a moment, her gaze collides with Minato’s before sadly lowering her head.

“Hey, what’s wrong with Sayori today?” Minato asks.

“Wait, you don’t know? She posted about it on her social media. Apparently, her boyfriend totally ghosted her last night. Guy hasn’t been returning any of her texts or calls since. I’m not even sure if bro’s at school today.”

Letting out a sigh, Minato digs his hands into his pockets. “I had a bad feeling about the guy, but a part of me hoped that I could just chalk it up to jealousy. I’ll talk to her after school to see if everything is okay. But for now, I think it’s best to just give her some space until we have more info on everything.”

Their conversation halts when the battered body of a fellow student soars past them. With a loud thud, it crashes into a trash bin. Fear grabs hold of them as they identify the body to be that of Seiya Suzuki, a delinquent student who practically runs the school. Purposely failing every year so that he can indoctrinate more and more people into his ‘gang’. Which in reality is just a group of teens who aim to revive the ‘Yankee’ style of the late 90’s. “T-that’s Seiya Suzuki, leader of the thorn gang! He and his gang have been untouchable long before even I started attending this school! Who the hell is strong enough to just yeet him like a rag doll?”

Minato’s question receives an immediate answer in the form of a guttural shout bellowing from the depths of the crowd before them. “Seiya! I’m not done with you yet! Do you hear me you coward!?”

The floor shakes underneath them as the origin of noise gradually gets closer. Though some students move out of the way, a majority of them are thrown to the side to make way for the behemoth.

“Hey, big bro? Maybe now would be a good time to run before we end up like Seiya over there.”

Despite usually being the rational one, Minato is paralyzed, thinking of what could possibly be responsible.

As the hulking beast of a man breaks through the crowd, his attention shifts to Minato.

Realizing that his mentor is as good as dead, Shin’s cowardice gets the better of him and he abandons Minato, making a run for his homeroom.

There before him is a student unlike any he has encountered prior. He has muscles that appear as though at any moment they’ll pop right out of his uniform. Though his expression remains serious, a toothy smile forms across his face. Due to his incredible size, he easily towers over his peers. Though he cannot see the man's eyes through his sunglasses, Minato can feel his rageful gaze burning straight into him.

Yet, as he charges closer, Minato remains surprisingly calm about the situation.

So, this is how I die, huh? Face-to-face with someone who could literally eat me if they wanted to. Can’t really say that I imagined things going down like this, but I’m not sure if I can really complain.

This can kinda be seen as a good thing. With my luck lately, I might end up getting isekai’d into a world where an average schmuck like me somehow gains a harem overnight! I can see it now, waifu’s as far as the eye can see! In this vision, Minato can hardly see himself due to the countless women surrounding him. Envisioning such a world is enough to make Minato drool on himself. Through them all though, there’s one that stands out from the crowd. A familiar face just barely out of his reach. Kind of a shame I didn’t get to spend more time with that plant girl though. What was her name again? He thinks to himself, mindlessly stretching his arms out to his vision’s recreation of Sakura, blissfully ignorant to the incoming threat. I really think if we had more time, we could have been a great-

Before he can continue, the air is forced from his chest. The surrounding crowd composed of students and the teachers who were called to break up the altercation collectively gasp.

“Minato, is that really you buddy? How the hell have you been?! And why the hell didn’t you hit me up even once during spring break! I thought we were best friends!” The man lifts Minato into the air, shaking him for an answer.

Wait… You’ve gotta be absolutely shitting me!

“Kenta?!” he exclaims, looking down to see tears streaming down his pursuer's face. Before he and Sayori met, Minato only had one friend, Kenta Majima. Despite his current appearance, Minato has always known Kenta to be a weakling. No matter how old they got, Kenta has never been the kind of person to stand up for themselves. Due to his weak stature, Minato always had to fight his battles for him.

As Kenta sets Minato down, Minato asks,

“How the hell did you even get this, big bro?! You look like you could bench press a truck if you wanted to!”

Scratching his head, Kenta laughs. “You’d have known if you answered any of my calls! I got tired of you having to fight all my battles for me, so I made a vow after the final exams to get stronger. Day in and day out, I was at the gym pushing beyond my own natural limits. It was hard and most people told me that my goal of becoming stronger in so little time was impossible. There were many times where I wanted to give up, but I told myself that I would never let myself touch another otome game if I ever turned my back on my routine. And as you can see…” He stops momentarily, to inhale. As his chest tightens, the buttons on his uniform shirt fly off one by one. With one deep exhale, Kenta flexes his arms to the point that the seams of his uniform blazer rip, revealing more of his muscles.

“It worked.” All it took was that one action to have all the girls in the hall and oddly enough Minato swoon over him.

“So cool,” they all say in unison as the first bell rings.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

Their homeroom is as lively as ever. Nearly every seat has been filled by students catching up with their peers, exchanging stories of their spring break.

At the head of the room stands their homeroom teacher, Ayane Tachibana. Clipboard in hand, she politely waits for the class to quiet down.

Like a statue standing tall in the corner of the room is Kenta, waiting for the teacher's instructions. Due to his massive growth spurt, he simply cannot fit in any of the desks. Despite having no assigned seating chart, Minato and Sayori made a promise at the start of high school to sit by each other every year.

She seems to be taking this a lot better than Shin said she was, Minato thinks as he notices that Sayori is smiling and doodling something in her notebook. She’s even using the time before class starts to sketch something, I wonder what she’s drawing. Such optimism is shattered the moment he realizes that she’s doodling Ryonosuke being mauled by a crudely-drawn tiger.

Having felt his eyes watching her, Sayori pauses and turns to face him.

Thinking fast, Minato turns to face the window in an attempt to save face.

“All right, class! I’m glad to see that everybody’s in high spirits today!” Mrs. Tachibana begins. “As you can see, there is an empty seat today!” She states, gesturing to the desk in front of Minato. “Unfortunately, I received a letter this morning letting me know that Ryonosuke Akuji, our beloved transfer student, will no longer be attending classes with us.”

Though everyone is saddened by this revelation, Minato can’t seem to muster up a reaction. Honestly, I don’t know if I can blame him for leaving. I’d ditch town too if I ghosted my girlfriend on the anniversary of her brother’s death. Having heard all that he needed to, Minato’s interest wanes. Good riddance, he thinks, resting his head in his arms.

“But with the bad always comes good I say! Just shortly after I received this message, I got a call from the principal letting me know that we already have a new student! Isn’t that so exciting!?” As Mrs. Tachibana opens the door, there is a brief pause.

Having had a direct line of view with the door, Kenta is among the first to react, their beauty is enough to bring him to his knees. Kneeling before them, Kenta places a hand over his chest.

“I-it’s a girl?” One of the male students comments as she enters the classroom.

“Don’t go getting any ideas!” A female student chimes in angrily.

Upon recognizing this student, Sayori’s gaze once again shifts to Minato, but she can’t muster the strength to say anything.

“Come now dear, there’s really no need to be shy.” Mrs. Tachibana suggests, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. “Why don’t you introduce yourself to the class? I’m sure everyone here would love to meet you!”

Though she appeared to be shy, this new student is anything but. In fact, by the way she’s eyeing Minato’s resting body, she’s exactly where she wants to be. “Ahem.” She takes a moment to clear her throat. “It is a pleasure to meet you all and I am truly honored to partake in this educational venture with you lovely people.”

Minato's ear’s perk up the moment he hears her speak. Hold on. There’s absolutely no way she could have followed me here, right? This has to be someone who just sounds like her. No… That’s too easy. That cheeky tone in her voice is too jarring to not immediately recognize it! Despair takes over Minato as he lifts his head, prepared for the worst.

Standing before the class, wearing the same schoolgirl cosplay that he criticized, the mystery student introduces herself. “My name is Sakura Chiba. And I do hope that we all get along going forth.”

John Lee H. Wu
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