Fujino Girls Academy is a prestigious, disciplined all-girls school, but the students secretly harbor a desire for romance. The story centers on the Student Council, a group respected for their academic excellence and strict adherence to rules. Their leader, the refined and beautiful Riko Kurahashi, hides a secret that shatters her prim reputation: she is a naive romantic obsessed with shoujo manga, desperate to experience true love.

When the tomboyish and pragmatic Natsumi Maki accidentally discovers Riko practicing a dramatic, manga-inspired romantic scenario in the council room, she expects to be silenced. Instead, she is forcibly recruited as an unwilling test subject for the Love Lab. The premise is set as Riko, the theorist who believes in fictional tropes, clashes with Natsumi, the realist who has no experience with femininity or romance. Their mission is to study love through experiments and simulations to prepare the council for the realities of dating.

The main characters are anchored by this unlikely duo. Natsumi Maki is the blunt, athletic representative known for her short temper and lack of charm, forced into the role of the boy in their practice sessions. Riko Kurahashi is the genius president whose logic regarding romance is entirely derived from fiction, leading to absurd and embarrassing situations. They are supported by the other council members: the calm and analytical vice president Suzune Tanahashi, the sweet and gentle treasurer Sayo Enomoto, and the stoic secretary Miki Andou, who provides deadpan commentary. The setting is mostly confined to the student council room, which transforms into their secret laboratory for dubious romantic experiments.

The narrative unfolds in notable arcs, beginning with the Theory vs. Reality arc. This establishes the laboratory where they practice everything from hand-holding to conversation starters, with Natsumi playing the male lead, leading to consistently awkward and hilarious failures. The conflict escalates when boys from the nearby private school enter the picture. The Practical Application arc sees the girls attempting to use their flawed techniques on real boys, particularly Natsumi’s childhood friend, the oblivious and kind-hearted Yuuya Shirogane. Natsumi’s inability to act cute clashes with her genuine discomfort and emerging real feelings, while Riko’s fictional expectations crash against the awkwardness of real male attention.

As the series progresses, the romance shifts from a group project to individual crises. The Confession Crisis arc involves the members realizing that their scientific data cannot measure actual emotions. Riko struggles with the fear that real men cannot live up to her 2D ideals, while Natsumi undergoes a reluctant transformation, discovering her own femininity and jealousy for the first time. The story eventually resolves in the Cultural Festival arc, where the entire school witnesses the council’s antics. The Love Lab is finally exposed, forcing the members to abandon their rigid research in favor of honest, messy, and real emotional connections. The manga concludes with Natsumi accepting her own feelings and Riko learning that true love is not a scripted scene but an unpredictable, imperfect experiment.