Vol. 3: Chapter 19 - Small Blunder

Akito, Ken, Professor, Ijuuin, Okitani, and Makida were the guys left at the base camp to swim on the river, including me. Meanwhile, the girls were: Airi, Haruka, Horikita, Kikyou, Ishikura, Onodera, and Nishimura. Matsushita was here with us not too long ago, but she was fetched by Satou and Shinohara.

On a slightly farther riverbank, Ibuki observed the running water with a calm expression.

"Kokoro-chan and Mii-chan will be staying at the beach today. I think it'll be fine as long they have each other. Nene-chan and Ichihashi-san will be there with them as well."

"I see..."

"It's alright, Ayanokouji-kun. You didn't have to feel guilty or anything. Kokoro-chan just needs some time," said Nishimura.

It wasn't a surprise that Kikyou's friend group knew about what happened between me and Inogashira. After all, they should've been the ones who comforted her when she got back.

I faced Kikyou after Nishimura left.

"So she was the girl you were talking about from back then, huh?"

"Yeah..."

It seemed like Kikyou wanted to tell me more, but something was stopping her.

"Kikyou... I only heard about this from someone so correct me if I'm wrong, but is it true that a lot of the girls in our class like me?"

Kikyou was shocked by my words. She turned her head around, looking for anyone who might've heard me.

"K-Kiyotaka-kun, who told you?"

"You know I can't tell you that."

"That's understandable, and I can already guess who it is, anyway," she shrugged. "Well, since you're already aware, then I guess it's fine if I tell you more."

"Please do... I don't really know what to believe anymore..." I sighed.

"Hihi~. I'm the only one you can truly believe, after all~."

"Yes, yes, you're the only one. Now tell me." I dismissed her teasing with a deadpan response.

"Geez, you don't have to be sarcastic about saying it!" Kikyou pouted cutely.

I patted her head on reflex but retreated my hand after a few seconds. It would be bad if anyone came by. Looking a bit disappointed, Kikyou began to speak.

"Well, first of all, it's true that a lot of the girls in our class like you." Kikyou stopped herself before continuing. "But I guess it's more accurate to say that all of the girls in our class have a crush on you at the very least..."

"Are you serious...? I understand that Hirata's already taken, but..."

Objectively speaking, it should make sense that some of them would develop a romantic attraction towards me. Kikyou, Matsushita, Satou, Mori, Airi, and Haruka were the most plausible candidates given how close I was with them...

"Oh, you don't have to think too much about it. It's not like you're the only guy that they're crushing on. Girls can have more than one crush at the same time, you know? That's what makes us girls~!"

"O-Oh... Is that how it works...?"

"Yep~! But of course, once we find a person that we truly like, then those other crushes would naturally disappear... unless you're a two-timer or something..." Kikyou rolled her eyes.

She's told me a lot of stories about shitty people in the past. One of them was a guy who adamantly hit on her despite having a girlfriend. Of course, she still had to keep her face up no matter how much she wanted to chew him out. She had it hard back then, huh?

"I see... I'll keep that in mind."

"Kikyou-chan, let's change!" called Nishimura.

"I'll be there!" Kikyou replied before facing me. "Then, I'll be going now, Kiyotaka-kun. Look forward to my swimsuit later, okay?"

"Oh... Okay..."

"Your poker face doesn't hide your excitement, you know~?" she teased before turning around.

Well, I wasn't really excited... Or maybe I was. Just a little.

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3rd Day, 1:10 PM.

"Woo-hoo!" yelled Makida.

*Splash*

"Heck yeah!" followed Okitani.

*Splash*

"Pipe it down, boys... The water's getting all over the place." Ishikura scolded with a sigh.

"Haha, isn't it fine, Kayoko-chan? Let them have their fun~!" said Onodera.

"Ey! Take that, Kayoko-chan~!" Kikyou splashed water on Ishikura's face.

"Kyah! That was uncalled for, Kikyou-chan! Take this~!"

Professor and Ijuuin were also in their swimwear. I don't know what they were talking about, but it seemed like they were busy conversing about something.

Meanwhile...

"Don't be chickens, you two. Look at us go!" Ken told Airi and Haruka before diving in.

"I thought you guys went swimsuit shopping before? Aren't you gonna swim?" asked Akito.

"B-But..."

"Well, if Airi doesn't go in, then I won't!" Haruka grinned.

"It's up to you guys. The water is really nice." Akito swam after Ken. The two of them proceeded to hang out with Okitani and Makida.

"You're already wearing your swimsuit under your clothes, right, Airi? You don't want to swim?" asked Haruka.

"I thought I could do it, but it's embarrassing, after all." Airi hectically shook her head.

"Alright, I'll stay with you for a while. I'm not fond of showing my skin, anyway," she replied.

Apart from the two of them, every other girl from our class wore their swimsuits while dipping their body in the water. Kikyou teased me a lot, but I managed to survive. At least, that's what it looked like to me.

I walked towards them and crossed paths with Horikita.

"Oh, are you not going to swim?"

"I'm fine... It's better to be sure, given my condition. Swimming in this river water might bring back my cold," she replied.

"I see... Well, it's good that you're being careful now."

"Yes... About the other day... if I hadn't forced myself to help, then I would've been fully recovered by now..." Horikita faced me with an expression that I very rarely see from her. "I'm sorry..."

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"It's alright. Just don't be reckless next time. You can go rest inside a tent for now. I'll take care of everything here."

Horikita left after nodding.

I stood up and started walking towards the campsite. I saw Ibuki leaning against a tree while watching our classmates play around in the water.

"You can always join in, you know?" I said.

"Are you kidding? I don't belong here, in the first place," she scoffed at herself. "I'll just continue taking a bath with your shower. I'm already troubling you guys enough."

"Kikyou and her friends are very welcoming. They never treated you like an outsider, right? And besides, you don't really need to hang out with them. You can just swim in the river if you want."

Ibuki stared at me for a while before asking.

"That Kushida girl— is she your girlfriend?"

"Ah, no. She's just my friend, but a lot of people refer to us as best friends which isn't really inaccurate since she's probably the closest girl to me."

"I see..." Ibuki looked in Kikyou's direction once more.

"Well, if you need something, just tell any of us. I'll be changing over there." I waved my hand slightly before turning around.

By the riverbank, I approached Haruka and Airi, who were watching everyone else swim. At this moment, I was also wearing my own swimwear.

"You're still not going to swim?"

"Oh, Kiyopon~! Hey there!"

"Hello, Kiyotaka-kun. Onodera-san was looking for you earlier..." said Airi.

"Really? What did she need me for?"

"A swimming race," she replied.

"I see... Of course, it's a swimming race." I shrugged with a sigh.

"The water looks tempting though... Fufun~, what if I just push Airi in the water...?"

"H-Haruka-chan, that's not-"

"Well, if you're that worried about showing your skin, then just wear a colored shirt over your swimsuit."

Since we were mostly wearing our white jerseys, getting wet would just make them translucent. They must've been worried about that.

"Oh! But... I don't have dark-colored ones... Ah, Haruka-chan, can I borrow some from you? I'll let you borrow mine in return if you have a spare."

"Oh, you're finally up for it? Sure then. I have an extra indigo shirt."

"Thanks for the idea, Kiyotaka-kun. We'll go ahead and change." Airi nodded with a determined look.

The two of them walked back towards the campsite to change.

Slowly but surely, everyone's trying to improve themselves. 

I wonder if I can change as well...?

Wearing my own swimming trunks, I swam towards the guys.

"Kiyotaka!" waved Akito.

"Oi, Kiyotaka! Let's race!" As expected, Ken instantly challenged me.

"Ah-! Ayanokouji-kun is here! Let me join the race, too!" said Onodera.

I hung out with everyone and played around for hours. All things aside, I had fun. I sat by the edge of the river and grabbed a big stone lying around the river bank.

"Something around this size should be safe and decent enough, I guess."

After observing it, I simply dropped the stone in the water.

"Hmm... This should be a good place to h-" Using my finger as a guide, I traced an area arou-

"Ayanokouji-kun." Horikita's sudden arrival disrupted my train of thought. "Can I ask you a question?"

Horikita looked like she'd just woken up.

"Oh, Horikita? What is it?"

"Do you have your key card with you?"

"I don't have it on me, but I kept it tucked inside my bag."

Horikita's eyes narrowed in surprise.

"Wait, isn't it dangerous? After all..."

"You don't trust her?"

"Of course, I don't. You're not saying that you trust her, right?"

"I'm not, don't worry." The two of us looked around and saw Ibuki sitting by a tree. "Well, I guess I let my guard down this time."

"For now, let's check your bag. I'll hold on to the key card while you can't."

"Yeah, I'm counting on you."

When I arrived, I grabbed the clothes that dominated the space inside my bag. At the bottom was the special key card holding my name as Class B's leader.

"It's still here... Thank goodness." Horikita sighed in relief. "Please don't neglect this again, Ayanokouji-kun."

"Yeah... Sorry about this, Horikita."

It seems like I made a small blunder. Frolicking for hours without checking my bag a single time was such an irresponsible act by me. That's probably what Horikita and Ibuki thought.

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When the time got past 4:30 PM, I decided to wash up and change back to my jersey.

"I'll go check on Hirata and the others. Guard the base camp and please tell everyone that I'll be gone for a while."

"Understood. Please be careful," Horikita replied as she returned the key card to me.

I also bid farewell to Kikyou and some of her friends. After she occupied Ibuki's attention, I swiftly changed my name on the mechanism by the fishing area.

After a relaxing walk, I finally reached the beach area.

"Hey, Ike, another one!"

"Onizuka, stop pushing!"

On one corner, Ike and the others were catching some fish while playing around in the ocean. Hirata was also keeping most of our classmates company and a lot of the girls were still hanging out by the shore. I approached the tent stationed under the shade. A lone girl was sitting there.

"Karuizawa?"

I immediately noticed that she wearing her sweater over her swimsuit.

"Ayanokouji-kun? What are you doing here?" she asked in slight surprise.

"Well, I just wanted to check how everyone was doing. Why are you here all by yourself?" I asked in return.

"Oh... I didn't feel like swimming." Karuizawa smiled bitterly.

"I see."

Karuizawa always had a reputation for rarely participating in swimming classes. She must not like swimming if that were to be the case. And when she does, she opts to wear the school swimsuit even if Higashiyama-sensei permits personal ones.

"Don't you feel hot at all? "

"Not really," she replied. "Oh, it seems like Hirata-kun noticed us. He's coming this way."

The other class leader, Hirata Yousuke, walked in our direction with his usual smile.

"Hey, Ayanokouji-kun. Is everything alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, everyone had their fill on the fun. It seems like the people here are enjoying their time too."

"I'm glad that nothing bad happened today, as well."

Normally, I would've been more intricate with managing every student's role. However, if I were to break this exam apart, it would have a ratio of 80:20 with 80 being defense and 20 being offense. The most offense-oriented class, which is Ryuuen's Class D, is out of the count for the most part thus far. Both Class A and C are very very defensive with their approach. If Class B goes against the grain, it would be extremely hard to crack their shells. The ratio is slowly shifting into an all-out 99:1 defensive endurance contest.

The mechanics of this exam are really fitting to be our first. It doesn't focus heavily on the confrontational side of the competition. Instead, it focuses on every class's unity and teamwork. This special test will start to mold every class into what it will be for the rest of our high school years. That's why we can pretty much relax with the details and focus on surviving until the last day. As the leader, I would also do my part and take as many spots as I can.

After leaving some instructions for Hirata, I tread along the dense forest and occupied each spot in the same order as earlier. I got back to the base camp at around 6:30 in the evening with the hilltop spot still unoccupied. At 7:20 PM, our right of exclusive possession will be lost, so I will go back there and take it.