As everyone knows, revenge shopping refers to the phenomenon where people, after being restricted from consumption for a certain period, splurge uncontrolbly once those restrictions are lifted.
And revenge staying up te? Well…
Smack!
The door to the room swung open as Kanzaki Ryūji stepped inside, revealing the sight that greeted Ichinose Honami—Uesugi Gen, sprawled out on the bed, completely knocked out.
Lying in a starfish position, Uesugi’s arms rested over his chest, fingers loosely curled, occasionally twitching as if pressing buttons in his dreams.
Ichinose rubbed her temples in exasperation before turning to Kanzaki. “What time did he sleep st night?”
“Not st night.”
Kanzaki let out a wry smile as he corrected her.
“He only went to sleep at seven in the morning.”
“This guy shot us all a fake-out yesterday.”
Hamaguchi Tetsuya took off his gsses, massaging his temples. “The moment we fell asleep, he pulled out his handheld console. I should’ve known something was up when he went to bed too early.”
“Yeah,”
Shibata Sō nodded in frustration, his tone filled with both resentment and helplessness.
“We thought he was exhausted, so we made sure to turn in early ourselves so we wouldn’t wake him.”
“And then, when we woke up—he was still fully immersed in his game. It wasn’t until we forcibly took his console away that he finally agreed to sleep.”
Hearing their expnation, Ichinose’s rare expression of mild anger surfaced, but she quickly sighed in resignation.
“You guys go ahead. I’ll stay here with him a little longer. We’ll catch up soon.”
Kanzaki and the others nodded before leaving the room.
In thirty minutes, somewhere on the cruise ship, B-Css was set to hold a victory celebration—a party to commemorate their achievement in surpassing A-Css and officially taking their position.
The current point standings among the csses were as follows:
A-Css: 1006 CP
B-Css: 1439 CP
C-Css: 470 CP
D-Css: 100 CP
This special exam had not only propelled the former B-Css into the coveted A-Css ranking, but they had also widened the gap by over 400 points—an unprecedented victory.
And without a doubt, all credit for this triumph belonged to the sleeping figure in front of Ichinose.
However, just as the B-Css students had booked a private room, ready to celebrate in full swing, Kanzaki sent them a message.
The message read:
“Our biggest hero is currently ‘hard at work farming in another world’ and might not make it…”
...
With Kanzaki and the others gone, only Ichinose and Uesugi remained in the room.
She took slow, light steps toward the bed and gracefully sat down on the floor beside it. Her skirt spread over the polished wooden floor as she rested her chin on one hand, quietly watching the peaceful, sleeping expression of the boy in front of her.
He’s sleeping so soundly…
For some reason, a scene from the uninhabited isnd fshed in her mind—the moment when Uesugi had firmly grasped her shoulders.
I was so close to succeeding back then…
At that thought, Ichinose instinctively puffed out her cheeks slightly.
Then, with her delicate fingers, she lightly poked Uesugi’s cheek.
“You… You’re really smart, you know. So tell me—are you really that dense, or are you just pretending?”
“…”
Seeing no response, Ichinose wrinkled her nose in dissatisfaction.
“Did you hear me or not? Give me an answer already. Even Mako and the others have been hounding me about us tely. Honestly, it’s kind of embarrassing, you know…”
As if in response to her words, a light sea breeze blew in, making the curtains sway gently.
“Hmph! You always keep everything bottled up. If you don’t say anything, how am I supposed to answer them~?”
She retracted her finger, continuing to stare at Uesugi’s sleeping face.
Gradually, a faint blush crept onto her cheeks.
She gnced left, then right, as if making sure no one else was around.
Biting her lip slightly, she slowly stood up, leaned forward, and moved toward Uesugi’s cheek…
At that moment—
In his sleep, Uesugi felt something warm and soft graze his face, leaving behind a faint trace of moisture.
His eyelids fluttered open groggily.
Still drowsy, his unfocused gaze nded on Ichinose, who was now staring back at him with flushed cheeks and wide, unblinking eyes.
“…”
Uesugi’s sleep-addled brain took three seconds to reboot.
Then another two seconds to process the situation.
And finally, he reacted.
Without hesitation, he turned his entire body away, pulled the nearest bnket over his head, and wrapped himself up like a burrito.
He then proceeded to pretend he had seen absolutely nothing in an attempt to return to standby mode.
Unfortunately, his pn was instantly foiled by a single sentence from Ichinose.
“I just saw your handheld console sitting over there. I’ll go ahead and keep it safe for you.”
Though her voice was as sweet as ever, Uesugi felt a chill as if a Siberian wind had just blown through the room.
A dying man suddenly sits up in his sickbed!
With a whoosh, Uesugi threw off the bnket and sat upright.
He turned to Ichinose—then quickly realized he was completely at her mercy.
“…But, Ichinose, I’m sooo tired…”
“Then don’t stay up all night pying games.”
She gently took his hand and pulled him up.
“You promised everyone yesterday, remember? You can’t just ditch them now.”
Ichinose’s voice was soft, but there was no room for negotiation.
Uesugi pouted, but ultimately, he had no choice.
“Ughhh…”
With droopy eyes, he let out a reluctant groan.
Hand in hand, Ichinose led him out of the room.
...
The two of them made their way through the winding corridors of the ship, attracting curious gnces from the other first-year students.
The moment they arrived at B-Css’s gathering spot, all eyes immediately locked onto them.
A certain someone was the first to react.
Amikura Mako’s eyes gleamed as she practically radiated excitement.
“See?! I told you they were totally a thing! Look at them! You can’t tell me I was wrong!”
Shiranami Chihiro, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes at Uesugi, her voice ced with reluctance.
“…No way. It has to be fake. There’s no way Uesugi didn’t use some underhanded trick to threaten Honami into this. I refuse to accept it!”
Meanwhile, Kanzaki, ever the logical analyst, rubbed his chin in deep contemption.
“I’d be more surprised if they weren’t together. Based on my long-term observations, they exhibit a distinct complementary-conjugate retionship…”
…
Unfortunately, none of this mattered to Uesugi.
Because at that moment, sleep trumped all.
As soon as he reached his seat, he immediately colpsed—straight into Ichinose’s arms.
---
T/N: I AGREEE SLEEP TRUMPS ALL!!!
