Even though I warned Ike, I doubt he will give up an opportunity to peek on girls so easily.
Should I stop them or just care about my own business?
...After a few seconds of thinking about the matter, I arrived at my answer.
I guess I will stop them. It's not like I care about them peeking on some girls from our class but there is still Kei among them. And it's not only because I don't want them peeking on her but there is also a matter with her scar... I should protect her secret till the day she finally reveals it herself.
"Yo Walker-kun!" Hirata was standing in the secluded area all alone and immediately greeted me with a friendly smile. I guess he didn't get a good chance to greet me when everyone was around.
"Hey, you can simply use my first name." I lazily waved at him. Having a leader like Hirata on my side might prove to be useful.
"...haha, alright Felix-kun, please call me Yosuke from now on too" He seemed a bit surprised at first before releasing happy laugh.
"Heh, as you wish Yosuke-kun, by the way, how is Nagumo-senpai?" I asked him.
"Ah, you are probably worried about what happened during the last practice, right? He is completely fine and he doesn't look like a petty person who would hold a grudge for something like this." Hirata reassured me with a smile while waving his hand from side to side.
"Felix-kun, will you..." He didn't finish his sentence and only looked at my shirt with a concerned expression. He already saw my scars during the survival test so it's not weird for him to feel concerned.
"*sigh* I just don't like walking all around with only my swimming trunks on but I guess it's just my habit. This is the pool area so I guess there is no reason for me to wear it." I said and started taking off the shirt.
"Wait, wait! I didn't mean it like that. I don't want you to feel 'uncomfortable'." He tried to stop me but I already took it off. He said that perhaps because he thought that I don't want others to know.
"It's ok, I don't mind and if I will keep delaying it, it won't get better. They will get to know one day so it's better to tell them now." I said with a calm smile.
"I just hope you will help me clear any misunderstanding it might cause, haha" I laughed to ease up the serious atmosphere around us.
"...haha, of course!" He looked a bit surprised by my indifference towards the matter but he quickly laughed it off and nodded with a determined expression on his face. I guess he won't let anyone misunderstand or make some inappropriate remarks.
"So, how about we meet up with everyone or are you waiting here for someone especially?" I asked him with a shirt in my hand.
"I was waiting only for you so if you are really sure about this...we can go" Hirata sounded a bit uneasy, maybe he wasn't sure what reactions he can expect from our classmates. The first reaction is that the bullying might happen...heh that would be funny if anyone tried. And the second reaction is that everyone would distance themselves from me. These two have the most probability to happen.
Of course, I also prepared a decent story to tell them as an explanation.
Both I and Hirata were walking pretty close to each other so we could hear each other due to the noisy people all around. The pool was pretty much crowded but it wasn't surprising because today was really hot day.
We were just casually chatting and occasionally laughing but I couldn't help but freeze at the spot when I heard something.
"Oh! My! God! T-t-t that's the best BL material!"
I immediately turned my head slightly to the right and saw a girl holding her fully red cheeks with heart-shaped eyes looking at me and Hirata. It almost looked like steam was going out of her ears.
I returned my gaze at Hirata and he gave me a questioning friendly smile and I couldn't help but shiver.
"Are you fine, Felix-kun?" He asked me with a slightly concerned expression, maybe it was because he thought that I really wasn't ready to show everyone my 'secret' but this only made it look worse for bystanders.
I shivered again when I heard him call out my first name.
Fu*k! I shouldn't have told him to call me by my first name!
"Ah!" The girl groaned and fell unconscious, thankfully her friends caught her in time.
"What happened?!" Someone near them asked when he saw this.
"Umm...I guess dehydration, you know how it is in such hot weather right?" Her friend answered while giving me and Hirata knowing look.
"I am fine! Let's go!" This time I made a distance between us much larger so I was forced to shout at him but that was my last problem right now.
Crazy girl! Now, I will have nightmares because of her! I thought while gritting my teeth.
I have to remember to look for some good material before going to sleep today or I might even die in my sleep.
---
"Finally we found everyone but a few people are missing..." Hirata thought aloud while looking around with a thoughtful expression.
"Maybe they went to a different section?" Matsushita voiced out her opinion while taking a few sneaky peeks at me.
"Oh! It's so hot that even Walker-kun doesn't have a shirt on, haha" Ike who saw me walk out of the changing room with a shirt on, noticed the change right away and tried to sound funny. Even he was here sooner than us but I guess we spent too much time talking and there was also that crazy girl.
However, his not so funny comment caught everyone's attention. And why wouldn't it since I was always wearing a shirt even during the swimming classes.
"Now that you say that, it's the first time he is without a shirt" Sato muttered and shamelessly checked me out.
After that, a few other girls followed after her.
...Can you stop that? I am not painting in the museum.
"*cough* *cough* As I said before, maybe they went to the wrong section." Matsushita coughed a few times to gather the attention and repeated what she said while glancing at me from the corner of her eyes with red cheeks.
Thank you, Matsushita. Although, it feels a little bit weird to thank someone who has done it as the first person, at least she was ashamed of her actions and tried to do it secretly.
"Oh! That's right, this pool has 2 sections. I almost forgot about that, will someone volunteer to go there and take a look?" Hirata exclaimed after he remembered how big this pool actually was. This pool has 2 sections, 1 larger where we currently are standing and there is also a smaller one where it's more for sunbathing than swimming. Shortly put...it's more popular for women but even then, some women prefer to have pale porcelain skin over the tan.
"I will go" I volunteered because there were still a few girls checking me out and it was getting slightly uncomfortable.
"Walker-kun? I have noticed a few people looking at your back with a shocked expression." Yukimura tried to sound cold but it was apparent that he was worried that I was perhaps a victim of someone's prank.
"It's nothing, I will go take a look" I gave him grateful nod with a smile and said to Hirata.
I turned around and quickly left to look for others but I was still able to hear a lot of people taking a sharp breath when I turned around. Although I was already too far away to hear what they were saying, it seemed that there was a heated discussion.
It's a pity that I can't see their expressions, they must look pretty funny right now, hehe.
As I was making my way towards the second section of the pool I heard someone take a sharp breath which didn't catch my attention but I couldn't help but take a look behind me when I heard that person.
"!! How cruel!"
"Mako-chan! Don't say tha- t? Walker-kun?"
It was none other than Ichinose whom I already met today and slightly messed up, together with her friend Mako Amikura who had horrified expression on her face.
"Ichinose-san?" I responded with a confused expression and nodded at her and her friend.
"I am really sorry about what just Mako-chan said!" She said and bowed to me with her head kept down.
"I- I didn't mean it in a rude way! I am really sorry Walker-kun." Amikura quickly recovered from her shock and also bowed to me.
Well if it was said that people were giving me shocked or horrified looks, now I can definitely feel also a few hateful looks from men.
"Huh? It's fine, no harm done. Plus as Amikura-san said, it wasn't rude. I could feel pity in her voice so it's ok." I quickly said and urged them to stop this before I could gather even more hate.
*sigh* Ichinose sighed in relief when she heard my reply and Akimura quickly thanked me and apologized once more.
What a cute, naive and innocent girl...That was the only way how I could describe her.
"Um, Walker-kun? About that thing today...How to say it..."
It looked like Ichinose wanted to say something but she looked too confused and perhaps had no idea where to start. I noticed her quickly checking me out before turning her head to the side while blushing. I guess she is a bit confused because of what I said to her today...maybe this is a good chance to clear this misunderstanding or whatever it is.
However, it seemed that Akimura had different plans when she noticed Ichinose's strange behavior.
"Hehe, Honami-chan, I will go back I forgot something in the changing room. Can you go look for Hoshinomiya-sensei without me?" Even though she asked a question, she didn't even wait for Ichinose's answer before running away.
Ugh, that woman is also here? Wait, that means that Sae-chan is here too, considering their friendship. I wonder if teachers are using staff room for changing or a regular woman's changing room.
I mustn't forget about Ike's group, they will probably install a camera there and connect another device to it. I will have to follow one of them to find their 'base of operation'
"Where are you going, Walker-kun? That is if you don't mind me asking, hehe" Ichinose quickly changed the subject when she saw how her friend abandoned her.
"To the second section of the pool, I am looking for some of my classmates." I answered with a natural smile and pretended that I forgot what she previously wanted to say.
"Really?! As you have already heard, I am looking for Hoshinomiya-sensei and she said that she usually hangs out in the second section. How about going together?" Ichinose exclaimed in a happy tone with an innocent smile, combined with her white bikinis with a light blue and orange dots that made her look even more innocent and pure, she would be able to charm any cold man...I mean boy.
"That's fine with me" hopefully we won't find your teacher before I find my classmates. I wanted to say that but I swallowed those words. Well...if that happens then there is a great chance that I will be able to tease Sae-chan.