After only a short walk, they saw a large patch of grass and many cherry blossom trees in full bloom. The countless flowers on the branches seemed like endless clouds that created a beautiful contrast with the blue sky and the green earth.
Brilliant, gorgeous, passionate… all of these words could describe this scene, yet these words were also insufficient. The cherry blossoms in full bloom were their own type of beauty. The petals falling to the ground were yet another type of beauty.
Right now, not that many petals were falling yet. Still, there were some that were beginning to fall.
The cherry blossoms would bloom for seven days. Petals would begin falling right after.
If one ignored the sadness of the wilting, then the falling cherry blossom petals could be termed among the top of the world rankings for beautiful and romantic scenes.
Anyone who wasn't completely wooden would naturally become entranced by the sense of romanticism in the air as they entered such a verdant grass patch covered in falling cherry blossoms.
As expected, there weren't that many cherry blossom viewers in Koshou Park compared to other places. There was only a medium number of people.
Seiji's group of seven attracted a great deal of attention from others.
There was only one tall and handsome boy in the group, who seemed like he could be an idol. He was together with six beautiful and charismatic women of various ages and styles. They all laughed and chatted together in this scenery of falling cherry blossoms. This completely seemed like a scene out of a television drama or a movie.
Most people's first reaction upon seeing this group was to look around to see if there were any cameramen. They really thought that perhaps some studio was making a movie or tv show right now.
After confirming that there were no cameras, the women began gossiping, while the men became envious of how the only boy was surrounded by so many beautiful women. They all sighed that it was because he was lucky enough to be born with such a wonderful appearance.
'If only I had such an appearance, that could be me…' 'If only I had such a face, I'd be able to attract more girls…' Some of the men thought like this.
But, unfortunately, no matter how envious they were, none of the men had such an outstanding appearance.
Seiji placed the picnic cloth at an appropriate location. Everyone started setting the food on the cloth and then sat down.
Nozomi poured some tea for everyone except for Reo. Reo didn't like tea, so she was drinking fruit juice instead.
Seiji sipped on some tea. At this moment, a cherry blossom petal just happened to fall into his tea cup.
A cherry blossom petal landing on his tea? This scene caused him to smile.
Mika and the others that witnessed this felt their hearts skip a beat upon seeing his smile.
"So beautiful…" Seiji praised the cherry blossoms on the trees.
He looked all around at the cherry blossoms and truly immersed himself in enjoying the scenery, losing himself in this quiet environment.
This moment was the most relaxed Seiji had been for a long while.
So many things had happened, and his worries about the future… Seiji set everything aside for the time being, and concentrated fully on the beauty before him.
That was why he didn't notice that none of the girls were admiring the cherry blossoms at all. They were all looking at him.
*Click!* The sound of a cell phone taking a picture broke the silence.
Everyone turned around to see that Chiaki had taken a picture.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself." The tomboy stuck out her tongue. "Still, I got a really good picture. Who wants a copy?"
She showed off the picture of the handsome boy lifting his teacup and gazing at the scenery. Seiji had a calm expression with a deep look in his eyes. A flower petal just happened to be floating towards him. The scene was as beautiful as a movie poster's advertisement.
Two seconds later, Mika was the first to raise her hand.
And then, Shika, Kaede, and Reo all raised their hands. Even Nozomi had a wide grin as she raised her hand as well.
"You're very popular, Seiji. Make a few more poses, let's take some more pictures!" Chiaki chuckled.
Seiji was rendered speechless.
"This is interfering with the mood for enjoying the blossoms… Well, it's fine." Seiji took out his own cell phone. "It's okay to take pictures of me, but in exchange, I'm going to take pictures of you as well. Prepare yourself!"
"Yah~ Don't take embarrassing pictures of me~"
"Don't make it sound like I'm going to take weird pictures! Make a normal pose!"
"So forceful… but this feels nice as well~"
"Stop making such a strange expression! Have a more normal smile!"
"Eh~ So you like that type, sure~" Chiaki placed her chin on her hand and tilted her head slightly, smiling ambiguously like a mature woman.
"I said have a more normal smile!" Seiji kept retorting as he took a picture.
The next moment, someone called his cell phone.
The caller ID showed that it was Natsuya.
"Seiji, have you all arrived?"
"We're already here. We're at the picnic location, and the specific place is…"
Seiji told Natsuya where he was.
Not long after, Natsuya, Hitaka, Rana, and Mai all appeared.
The four girls all had outstanding appearances and auras. They also received a great deal of attention like Seiji's group.
Mai was wearing a windbreaker and long pants as she walked on the right side. Hitaka was wearing a jacket and shorts as she walked on the left. Natsuya was wearing a one-piece dress and black stockings, walking together in the middle with Rana, who wore a hooded sweatshirt. Combined with the falling cherry blossoms, the scene was so beautiful that people could just about imagine the background music!
Seiji silently brought up his cell phone and took a picture of them.
"Sorry for being late," Natsuya said as she walked up to Seiji's group.
"Nah, we just arrived as well."
After both groups greeted each other, they sat down together.
Chiaki strongly requested that Rana sit next to her. After Natsuya indicated that it was fine, Chiaki immediately hugged the cat girl.
"Meow." Rana uttered a sound of resistance, but was hugged tightly regardless.
"Ahh~~ So cute! Kirin-chan~" Chiaki got absorbed in the delight of hugging the cat. She had an addicted expression.
"Meow!" Rana lifted her hands and pushed away Chiaki's face. Yet, Chiaki kept approaching adamantly, and Rana kept pushing her away… This process kept repeating itself.
Hitaka sat next to Mika, who struck up a conversation with her.
Mai sat down next to Kaede. Both smiled as they conversed.
Naturally, Natsuya sat down next to Seiji.
Nozomi poured some tea for both of them.
Now that everyone was here, the cherry blossom viewing picnic formally began.
Everyone had fun while chatting. After having lunch, Chiaki took the opportunity to suggest a game.
They were going to play the famous "King's Game"!
The specific rules were as follows...
The eleven people present would each draw a random card from twelve cards. The person who drew the joker would become the "king", while the extra card would also go to the king.
If nobody drew the joker, then everyone would redraw.
The "king" had an extra card, and could use it to give a "command" to any target they wished. The person who received the extra card would have to carry out the "command", even if it involved the "king".
The "command" couldn't be something unreasonable, and it had to be a "command" that could be carried out within a short period of time. Also, the "command" needed to be something ero.
"That's how the rules are. Everyone understands, right? Let's begin now!" Chiaki clapped her hands.
"Wait a moment! There's something wrong with that last rule! Shouldn't it be that the 'command' can't be about anything ero instead!!" Seiji objected.
"There's no problem at all. This rule is the very essence of the King's Game!"
"Essence, the hell! Don't just decide on your own to call the King's Game an ero game!!"
"Honestly, it can't be helped. Then let's change this rule to 'The command has to be an ero act related to Seiji'."
"Wait a moment! You've changed the rule to become even stronger, hey!!"
"How is it strange? If any of you agree with me that this rule isn't strange at all, please raise your hand!" Chiaki said this to everyone as she raised her hand first.