Chapter 29: Locker Room Conflict

As he was about to make his way to the swimming pool, a voice suddenly stopped Ying Ye Zhenshi in his tracks.

He was patted on the shoulder, and then a bubbly and gentle figure came into view as he turned to look at who it was.

It was evident that the individual had chased after him.

"What's wrong?"

"You didn't go with them? I spoke with Ike-kun and he said that he would help you to become a part of the group."

Seeing Ying Ye Zhenshi was alone, Kikyo Kushida butted into the affairs of someone she thought could be considered one of her many friends at the school to ask about his situation.

"I didn't get along with them."

Ying Ye Zhenshi glanced at her for a moment and left his answer vague without explaining much.

Funnily enough, there were a lot of topics that came to mind in his head, with one of them being his desire to ask the girl before him if she even knew of what they were talking about.

'Does she know that those guys are discussing her large melons? And they're even making a ranking and whatnot for all the girls.'

Of course, thought in his head would remain just thoughts, and Ying Ye Zhenshi didn't think he had such a good relationship with Kushida to be telling her of the group's misbehaviour anyway.

"Oh~ So that's it."

Kushida Kikyo seemed to come to an understanding of what was going on.

Then, she continued on the same topic.

"Then, do you have any goals? Who do you want to make friends with...? Whether it be boys or girls, that's fine, since I can introduce you to them."

Kushida Kikyo was quite adept at saying misleading things that sounded very ambiguous to him.

He wanted to open up her mind and unpick all the decision-making that lead to her saying such things.

While she stared at Ying Ye Zhenshi expectantly, he felt it was as if the girl hoped that he would choose to ask to become more acquainted with herself.

If it had been a boy with poor willpower, he would surely have made a 'certain' choice without hesitating when seeing the watery look in her expectant eyes.

"Goal? I have no such thing."

Ying Ye Zhenshi thought over it for a moment and then shook his head in denial.

As far as his current class was concerned, he had no intentions of socialising with anyone in it for now.

"Sure enough, you do have a secret you aren't telling me. Tell me, what is your goal? Come on, tell me! Tell me!"

While acting in a cute and coquettish way, she clasped her hands together while staring at him.

Kushida Kikyo really wanted Ying Ye Zhenshi to tell her what he was thinking of doing.

Unfortunately, by the time they had arrived at the indoor swimming pool, she had not been successful in persuading him to speak.

"I'm going over to the girls' side. Ying Ye-kun needs to work harder to make more friends, otherwise, you will be lonely. See you!"

Leaving her words of wisdom, Kushida Kikyo ran towards her friends who were waving her over.

Her huge melons shook as she ran, causing the group of boys ogling her to giggle mysteriously.

Whether or not she was aware of all this, Kushida Kikyo just displayed a warm and vibrant smile.

***

In the boys' changing room at the indoor pool...

In addition to the school's issued swimming trunks, one could also bring their own trunks, as the school had no regulations preventing one from doing so.

As soon as Ying Ye Zhenshi walked into the locker room, the once-busy changing room became quiet.

And Ike Kanji had on a dissatisfied look.

"Stop talking to Kushida-san. People like you always put on an act to attract the attention of girls like Kushida-san. It's disgusting, and it makes you look like a 'pick me'-bitch. Not like a real man."

Leaving these disdainful words, he intended to leave Ying Ye Zhenshi behind.

He had vented his dissatisfaction with Ying Ye Zhenshi having quit the chat group and vented his displeasure at having seen Kikyo Kushida and Ying Ye Zhenshi walking together so chummily just now.

Not only was it Ike Kanji who ignored him but the other boys too, displaying a clear rejection from the remainder of the boys in his class to his presence.

This was a more serious situation than before, but…

"Idiot."

Looking at Ike Kanji who thought he was so manly, Ying Ye Zhenshi uttered the insult disdainfully.

'This guy is an unequivocal simp.'

"What did you say?"

Ike, who had been planning to leave, turned around instantly.

Beside him, Haruki Yamauchi and Ken Sudou watched the spectacle together.

Over the last few days, the trio had clearly built up a pretty decent relationship and stuck mostly together.

"I said you're an idiot. Are your ears bad or something?"

Ying Ye Zhenshi had on a rare smile while gazing at the frenzied look of the boy opposite him.

"Asshole."

It was a grave insult to Ike to have been looked down upon by the guy he himself looked down upon.

The frenzied boy rushed up to Ying Ye Zhenshi, with his fists raised as he got closer.

"Stupid."

After the third time uttering out some words, Ying Ye Zhenshi's body side-stepped, and with a sore of his foot, Ike Kanji, who was clearly an amateur at fighting, lost his centre of gravity.

Then, Ying Ye Zhenshi pushed hard on his opponent's unbalanced frame.

With that, Ike-Kanji's head hit the metal locker behind Ying Ye Zhenshi like the splattering of an egg in the egg-and-spoon race.

*Bang!*

With a loud thud, the metal locker door was left with a dent.

And while there was no blood let out, Ike Kanji had a large red mark on his forehead and was left discombobulated and confused.

"What are you doing?! You went too far."

"Ike, are you okay?"

At first, his friends had thought that Ike Kanji could get away with bullying their classmate without issue.

Unexpectedly though, the situation had turned on its head.

One of the two looked at Ying Ye Zhenshi viciously, while the other ran to Ike's side to help him up.

"I didn't do anything. I was just scared of him rushing up. I wanted to help him after I tripped him up, but he fell too fast. I'm really sorry, Ike-san. Oh, I guess your brain should be working better now, and it won't be full of stupid complaints like the ones from earlier. After all, I doubt it can hold anything like complaints in it anymore since your brain should have turned into meat paste after that crash."

Glancing at Ike Kanji who hadn't recovered yet, Ying Ye Zhenshi spoke to himself.

"You faker! Do you think we're afraid of you?"

Haruki Yamauchi had become a little timid after the display, but Ken Sudou looked like he was ready to throw hands but was stopped by Kiyotaka Ayanokouji.

"Ayanokōji, what are you doing? Don't hold me back."

Sudou Ken's loud shouts reverberated within the locker room.

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