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Volume 4.5, Chapter 5: Classes Gathering Part 4

"This is already totally a luxury facility.....".

The large pool facility that is normally used for club activities, seemed completely different today. Naturally there were a large number of students crowding the place but in addition to that, food stands were also extensively opened all over the place. Light meals, the staple of food stands, in other words junk food were also abundant.

Hot dogs, yakisoba and okonomiyaki and the such. Although that in itself was a surprise, even stranger was the fact that senior students seemed to be managing it all. From serious students without a smile to students happily working away, there were various students like that. It\'s almost like I\'m looking at a special examination.

"I wonder what kind of plot this is?".

I don\'t know about that but the certain thing is they seem to be in a festive mood in any case. As I stood around waiting for the girls to arrive, I felt the atmosphere around me make a complete change.

Putting in effort is a basic prerequisite for people to attract positive attention to themselves. To put it in an easy-to-understand manner, take studying for example. If you were the foremost at it or took 1st place, people around you will take notice of it. Once again, demonstrating remarkable success in sports will also cause people to pay attention to you.

But there are also exceptions to that. One of those is a conspicuous appearance. Handsome men and beautiful women, it doesn\'t matter which, that class of people will find it easier to bathe in attention than the ones I cited above. Of course I\'m not saying they\'re not putting in effort to maintain their outward appearances but there\'s no denying that such a special element exists to this.

I can\'t speak for other schools but at the very least in regards to this school, I can safely say that the \'appearance\' level is high. The members of the group currently going out with us aside as a matter-of-fact, a lot of the students around us I don\'t know the names of are also obviously high-level visually speaking.

Of course there are all sorts of people and there\'s no denying that but normally the cream doesn\'t rise to the top to this degree. It would be natural that Ike and the others spend each and every day aroused and excited. And on top of that outside appearance, I wonder how it would be if even their inside personalities were to be perfect. Cute and fashionable around people and excelling in academics. Anyone\'s gaze would be stolen away by a girl like that.

In the loud corridor of the facility, all the male students almost simultaneously turned their gaze towards a single place.

"Hey---, this is a huge crowd, isn\'t it?".

Then, without even noticing their gazes and bathing in their attention, the figure of Ichinose appeared at the scene of the meetup.

"Hey.....".

Not knowing where else to look, I directed my gaze towards the wall as I lightly raised my hand to answer her.

"Where are the others? I thought the boys would be faster at changing" Ichinose said.

"They\'re still changing".

It could be said that due to various circumstances at play they were late too.

"But really, you\'ve finished changing rather quickly".

Considering that it wasn\'t that far apart from me, that\'s quite a feat.

"Nyahaha, I\'m confident in my changing speed". She answered with a slightly proud tone like that to something that\'s not really a feat to boast of. This innocence, too, may be the secret to Ichinose\'s popularity.

"Ohh? Ayanokouji-kun, you\'ve bought a rash guard?".

"You may think it strange for a man, but I don\'t like exposing my skin in front of other people. If it use it outside of classes there\'s no problem, I\'ve heard that and so I thought to buy one".

"I see, I see. I think that\'s fine too. It\'s not a violation of the regulations" she said.

There aren\'t very many but in this facility there are students like me who are also wearing an outer garment despite being men. Ichinose, who had started directing her attention towards me, used her index finger like a pin and poked my belly from over my garments.

"It\'s pretty hard. Also, your body\'s just the right ideal amount of slender without being excessively muscular".

Touching me all over without any reservation, she repeats the same action on my arms and my shoulders among other parts. I was fortunate enough to have the additional income to buy myself an outer garment. I\'ll have to thank Katsuragi.

"Do you exercise?".

"No, I don\'t. It\'s just the material of my garments or my skin simply being hard making it like that. It must be because I don\'t exercise daily" I said.

"Hmmm.......".

Ichinose dropped her gaze towards my legs but immediately stopped asking questions. But even so, being in proximity to Ichinose like this, I\'d become conscious of her monstrous---no, large breasts.

How am I going to swim or race in this condition? In the first place, my ability to properly move itself is suspect.

"...but really they\'re late. I\'ll go check on them". What am I doing and why am I doing what I\'m doing, I understand those well. It\'s because I could no longer bear to stand beside the swimsuit-clad Ichinose and so I turned heel and headed back towards the men\'s changing room. Then once again spending some time with Ike and the others, once preparations were complete together we all headed back out towards the corridor. Although it must be a result of some time having passed since then, all the girls including Horikita have assembled.

"Wow.....!".

Ike, whose voice leaked from the spectacular sight of the girls in front of him, desperately tried to rein in his voice. In regards to Sakura, she shrunk all the way towards the back. Naturally, she was wearing a rash guard that hid her chest.

But it seems like not everyone was able to conceal their arousal towards seeing the swimsuit-clad forms they would normally not be able to see.

"Fufufu, I can see it. Underneath that thin swimsuit layer, those breasts, that place!".

Ike and Yamauchi were looking at the girls as though they had X-ray vision. They really seem to be living it up.

"Then, shall we go? For now it looks like the one at the far back is vacant".

First we moved to secure a place where we could take out breaks. Even here, as if to take the lead, Ichinose walked ahead. Then, as if to match Ichinose, Kushida too. As they did, the boys fell in line right behind them.

It seems their objectives are the gently swaying asses of Ichinose and Kushida. But even amongst them, Sudou stood at Horikita\'s side and showed no signs of moving away. These two, in a way, are properly developed too. Unexpectedly they might become a good, well-suited couple.

Next, I routinely moved onto Sakura.

"Umm......thank you.......".

When only the two of us were left, Sakura ever so slightly thanked me.

Towards that figure, I could not help but ask a question.

"Why are you thanking me?".

"Why?".

Towards that question, Sakura answered me strangely. Then realized that there was no reason why I\'d have an idea.

"Umm that\'s, for inviting me out today.......".

"What\'s that even supposed to mean? This is normal isn\'t it? Because you\'re my friend" I told Sakura.

Towards Sakura, the word \'friend\' easily came out of my mouth. Hearing that from me, Sakura\'s eyes lit up like a little puppy and she happily gazed at me.

"That\'s why it\'s not something you need to be thanking me over".

I repeated that once again, but it doesn\'t seem like Sakura feel the same way.

"Still, thank you".

"No....well I guess it\'s fine".

A question mark floated above my head but let\'s allow her to conclude it on her own. She\'s probably this type of person. That\'s why I\'m able to relax while together with her without feeling any bad feelings.

But even so, Sakura\'s really becoming a straightforward person. She\'s matured to the extent she\'s almost unrecognizable as the person I first met. Even though a fellow classmate confessed to her, without running away from it she properly received it. Seeing her grow from day to day, I couldn\'t help but think that perhaps I too, might be able to change.

"I\'ve noticed this just recently but you know, during PE lessons the teacher\'s always telling us that swimming will definitely be useful to us later. That was referring to the uninhabited island test".

Towards the Sakura who informed me of this with blazing eyes, there\'s no need to bungle it up and depress her.

"I see, now that you mention it that\'s certainly true" I told her.

"As I thought!".

Perhaps she felt happy about her deduction but Sakura slightly bounced around innocently. I could see her large breasts swaying over the rash guard. This really makes her unable to take off her outer garments. As big as they are, the situation won\'t bring about anything good, I felt a little sympathy for the circumstances faced by girls.

In any case, through our conversation, I\'m happy that I was able to discover a new side to Sakura. But, Sakura immediately made an apologetic face.

"If I participated in the classes properly without being embarrassed, I wonder if I would have been more useful to you......I was just using the excuse of poor health to run away the whole time......".

"If you\'ve realized even that, isn\'t that more than enough?".

The students who\'ve lived only for themselves up until now have slowly begun to realize that this alone won\'t cut it. A person cannot live alone. Unless one plans on living like a hermit holed up on a mountain, there\'s no other choice but to live collectively together. The majority of middle and high school students don\'t realize this fact. They live in solitude absorbed in the internet or in their social games. Or there are delinquents who bother the public by committing minor offenses or serious crimes.

Unaware of how one should cooperate with and help others around you. Depending on the circumstances, there are also those who live their whole lives never realizing that.

But this school is different. Their way of doing it is unique but I feel like they\'re attempting to tell each individual student something. As a matter of fact, Sakura beside me has begun to realize this. That perhaps there was something she could do for the class. That will one day be a great asset.

"Hmm? If it isn\'t Ichinose and the others. So you guys also came here today".

As we walked around looking for space, three male students called out to Ichinose. One of them was someone I recalled and when he realized my presence, he lightly nodded. It was Class B\'s Kanzaki.

"Yahho---if it isn\'t Shibata-kun and the others".

The boy named Shibata raised his hand in answer. He also answered us from Class D with a smile too.

"This seems like a fun mix of people. Let us join in too".

"I\'m perfectly fine with it but.....is it ok?".

Kushida nods that there\'s no problem as though it was a matter-of-fact. By doing this, Ike and the others had their right to veto automatically annihilated. Ultimately the three from Class B joined us and the total number of people rose to a large household number of 13.

"Sorry for disturbing you guys".

Kanzaki, who knows that I\'m not the type to argue against the general flow, approached me and said that. Seeing that, Sakura took a step backwards. It was a brilliant way of erasing her presence so Kanzaki won\'t notice her.

"This is also fine isn\'t it? It\'s the last day of the summer vacation after all".

"There are few chances in this school to get along with students from other classes, you see. Shibata and the others also seem happy".

"You\'re not like them".

Kanzaki was calm as usual, or more like I felt as though he was making contact with me from a distance.

"I\'m just similar to you, Ayanokouji. I\'m not good at dealing with the liveliness".

As I conversed casually with Kanzaki while walking, from the direction ahead of us we could hear a wave of cheers rising up.

"They\'re being rowdy over there".

Sudou said that. As I raised my head to look, at the center of the uproar a splash of water rose up. And at the same time as that, a person and a ball both fluttered up towards the sky. A violently driven spike hit the opponent\'s coat underwater. It seems they were playing volleyball at the pool.

"Woah! That\'s amazing! That guy, isn\'t he really next level?".

Yamauchi, beholding that sight with his eyes, shouted out. In this large facility there were 3 pools that were prepared and they seem to be used for the playing of different games.

One of them is a standard pool you can go swimming in whenever you feel like it. One of them is something like a flowing pool. And finally, the last one is a pool geared towards amusement and is a sports-use pool. And now in that sports-use pool, surrounded by a large amount of girls a fierce round of volleyball was occurring. They were students I\'ve never seen before. A number of them seemed mature like an adult so the majority of them are probably 2nd year or 3rd year students. A male-female mixed team and their high-level plays were unfolding.

But even amongst them, there was one male student in particular who stood out conspicuously.

"He\'s amazing........".

The one who Sudou praised was indeed that male student with a conspicuous aura. That slender composition of his would at first glance, seem to be delicate. But on his body, one could see a six-pack. But what stands out most of all from him was the blonde hair that flows gently whenever he moves intensely and the extremely prepared look on his features. He was so handsome one could almost mistake it for an illusion of seeing a movie on a screen.

And it seems most of the female students too, had their eyes stolen away completely by this handsome man.

"Khhhhh, that\'s the type of guy I hate the most. It\'s not like he\'s that talented or putting in that much effort, he\'s just in the winning camp because of his good looks".

It\'s not like I couldn\'t understand Ike and the others with their venomous feelings, but their expectations were promptly betrayed.

A handsome man who bathes in attention. The sharp glint in his eyes vividly makes him stand out above all else. The ball tossed out of courtesy in that handsome man\'s own team, and in response he leaps up high. Forgetting the fact that in that moment, most of the girls raised their voices, I killed my breath and watched him.

He had an acute angle, and high speeds and the bullet, no, the ball assaulted the enemy\'s position.

The student on the other side who picked up that ball too, had superior physical abilities, as they showed an agile response in jumping in to play the ball.

Wow! As screams like that rose up all around, at the same time the handsome man\'s team received increasing points. No matter who looks at it, that handsome man\'s superior physical abilities should be evident. Looking at the way the lower half of his body was developed, perhaps he\'s involved in sports that focuses on the use of legs. Running club perhaps? Baseball and soccer are also possibilities.

"H-He\'s handsome, and smart and can handle himself in sports too......who the hell!?".

"Things are getting quite lively, aren\'t they? He alone rules over that place".

"It looks like it. I don\'t know who from where he is though".

Because both me and Horikita are weak in regards to knowing about other classes and students of other grades and their circumstances. In cases like this, it\'s best to ask Kushida, whose network extends wider than anyone else\'s. And the answer to our questions came immediately.

"That man is the 2nd year Class A\'s Nagumo-senpai. He\'s extremely popular amongst girls".

"Nagumo.......".

Recently, I\'ve been familiarized with that name. Ichinose then explains more about Nagumo.

"The current vice-president and the man who will become the student council president next year. He\'s really smart" Ichinose said.

Having been standing beside us listening to our conversation, Ichinose reacted to Nagumo\'s name and answered us like that. Furthermore, towards the keyword "Student Council" that Ichinose uttered, Horikita who was also standing beside me showed a slight reaction. And every time the student named Nagumo moves and shows off his activity, a high-pitched shrill scream rises. In the pools, at the same time there were also other matches occurring but most of the girls did not look at anything else except Nagumo.

"For all his popularity I don\'t know him at all. You too right, Ayanokouji-kun? Indeed his physical abilities seem to be that of a prodigy\'s but compared to his popularity I don\'t think it\'s really all that amazing. In this regard, the student coucil president would overwhelmingly surpass him, wouldn\'t he?" Horikita said.

That was rather brazen of her. Hiding the fact that he\'s her actual older brother while praising him like that. But in regards to that aspect, it seems Ichinose does not have any objections as she honestly admitted to it.

"Yes well the student council president is amazing, so there\'s that. In this school\'s history the current student council president can almost be said to be the most talented one ever. Speaking of which, he has the same last name as you, Horikita-san, doesn\'t he?".

"It seem so, yes".

It seems she has no intention of answering here, but Horikita simply shrugs it off.

"But, there are rumors that he isn\'t losing to that student council president in terms of ability too. As a matter of fact, in the elections held last year, President Horikita and Vice-President Nagumo fought for the seat of student council president they say. At the time, even though Vice-President Nagumo was only a 1st year student" Ichinose said.

"You\'re really familiar with student council business aren\'t you?" Horikita asked her.

"It\'s because I joined the student council. So about things like that, I inevitably ended up remembering them" Ichinose replies.

".....you did?".

Having heard that, it seems Horikita was unable to hide her surprise. But still, to think Ichinose joined the student council. Speaking of which the day I met her for the first time, she was talking to the homeroom teacher of Class B, Hoshinomiya-sensei, regarding \'student council business\'. Unfortunately I have no intention of working under "that" student council president but thinking about how the system of this school is set up, the significance of joining the student council must be extremely large.

"By the way, what\'s the condition to enter the student council? It\'s not like just anyone can enter is it?".

"Hmm, this school is a bit special. In the case that you are unaffiliated, between April and the end of June, if you pass the interview for the student council of October, then you can join, something like that. To tell the truth, the first time I was rejected, but since you can take it as many times as you want, I persisted at it. The student council president never really agreed but Vice-President Nagumo made the final decision on it. I heard it later from Vice-President Nagumo but it seems President Horikita is disappointed with this year\'s 1st year students. On average each year about 2-3 1st year students get accepted, but this year the only one who was accepted so far is me. That\'s why I\'d like to hurry up and triumph over this. Maybe in October, President Horikita might be stepping aside".

Just like how Horikita is putting in effort to get closer to her brother, Ichinose is probably also struggling her best.

"But I think my goal will definitely be Nagumo-senpai. Senpai had a similar start to me and we get along well too. In this school, all student council presidents in its history started out in Class A but Nagumo-senpai, just like me, started out in Class B. And before we realized it, he\'s already unmistakably in line to be the next student council president. That\'s why after Nagumo-senpai, I will be student council president---just kidding".

It seems inside Ichinose, compared to the older Horikita, her evaluation of Nagumo is higher. She spoke the words that she herself wanted to be student council president one day expressed her determination.

It seems some of that, no, probably from the bottom of her heart, it did not sit right with Horikita as she snapped at it.

"From the moment he started out late, you should already be capable of imagining his potential".

"Oi, oi........".

You\'re free to think whatever you want but isn\'t that self-destructive to you too? From the very fact that you started out in Class D you\'d already be judged......or could it be she\'s---

"Could it be you, still think you were assigned to Class D because of a mistake.......?".

"Isn\'t it obvious?".

She replied to me like that. No hesitation, boldly and even naturally.

"Well, I understand why Horikita-san would feel this is strange. It doesn\'t seem like the classes are decided based on ability alone. Your intellectual ability is of course as a human being, your maturity and cooperativeness. It\'s only after seeing all such abilities that we are evaluated, isn\'t it?".

"That is in other words-----saying there\'s a problem with my coordination ability?" Horikita asked.

"Ahh, no, sorry if that\'s how it came off to you I apologize. But you see, think about it for a bit. Basically Horikita-san is the type to believe in herself. If we turn that backwards, it could also be taken to mean that you\'re self-centered. When we head out into society, a person who\'s self-centered and a person who adheres to the instructions they are given, isn\'t it a case-by-case thing to see which one is more talented?".

Even if you are a self-centered person, if you are a talented person you\'ll still be needed in the world but that is not always absolute. However, on the other hand, those who adhere to the instructions will be vital almost anywhere and again will be people in demand.

"I\'m not convinced......".

Her attitude itself has not changed, but even so, Horikita\'s mental state should slowly begin changing. Since Ichinose called out to a friend, I slightly closed my distance with Horikita.

"Speaking of which, you didn\'t announce your candidacy to run for the student council, did you? Didn\'t you choose this school because you wanted to be by your brother\'s side?" I asked her.

".....this and that are different things. Even you can at least imagine it, can\'t you? Even if I wanted to join the student council and took an interview for it, I would absolutely not be acknowledged".

Certainly it\'s not that hard to imagine. Even Ichinose from Class B was not accepted initially, if it\'s Horikita from Class D.......he probably wouldn\'t allow the sister he wanted to expel from the school to join. So that means she\'s the one most aware of something like that. I watched the match for a while like that, but ultimately Nagumo\'s team overwhelmed the other team and won.

The girls who were cheering Nagumo on eventually began to gather around him as he climbed out of the pool onto the poolside.

"Hey, that guy\'s got a piercing on his ear! Is that even fine!?".

Ike, who could no longer find anything except that to interject in with, shouted that out.

"Right now we\'re in the middle of summer vacation so isn\'t it fine?".

But even those words were in vain because Ichinose retorted to him like that.

"N-No, but I mean. He\'s got a hole in his ear!? That\'s a big problem!".

"I think those are probably non-hole piercings, aren\'t they? You can put them on your ear without opening a hole up in it. Normally in school, he always dresses neatly".

"Ugugu!".

No matter how far the interjections go, it seems he\'s a completely flawless student.

"Hey, why don\'t we also play volleyball in the pool? We have Shibata-kun and the others so about 6 people and you guys have about 7 people so it\'ll be fine even if we play on rotation". Since we came all the way out to the pool, Ichinose made a proposal like that. The first one to agree with her was Ike.

"I\'ll do it, I\'ll do it! Like Nagumo-senpai, I\'ll also collect the passionate gazes of the girls!" Ike said.

I think that\'s probably impossible but a lot of the students seem to be in favor of it. Since they\'ve come all the way out to the pool, they probably want to play to their heart\'s content.

"U-Umm. I\'m bad at physical activity so...I\'ll just watch".

She pulled back reservedly, or rather, seeming like she really doesn\'t want to do it Sakura said that. Since it was obvious that she\'s of the attitude of not wanting to play volleyball, there were no objections in particular.

As for numbers, this is basically a 6v6 game but one seems to be leaking complaints about the volleyball match itself.

"I\'m not feeling it either".

Even though she owes me a debt, it doesn\'t seem like she\'s in the mood to play along.

"Horikita-san, are you going to run away?".

Laughing, Ichinose said that as if to provoke her.

"There\'s no such thing as running or anything when it comes to just a simple game".

"Indeed it\'s just a game. But it\'s also like a miniaturized version of our classes right? Which one is more ambitious, which one has superior teamwork. In a sense, this is a simulated competition between classes? Or are you saying you don\'t wish to fight against us?" Ichinose asked.

A proposal almost like an examination that includes analysis of our combat potential. If you think of it that way, there would be no reason to decline.

".....fine. Let\'s do it".

Class B, who would become our enemy in the not-too-distant future. Right now it\'s just a game, but they probably also want to confirm the ability of their opponents too. Horikita, who accepts the challenge from Ichinose.

"And now, to make the match more entertaining, the winner will enjoy the full expenses of lunch for free. Is it fine to add a bonus like this?".

"I\'ll accept that condition too".

Having submitted our application to use the court, until one is vacant we each devise our own strategies. The rules of the match are 15 points per set with 3 sets for the match.

The team who gets 2 sets first will be declared the winners. As for serve rights, it\'ll be done via rotation and the one that nets a point gets the right to serve again.

"This is a game. But a match is a match. Since we\'re doing it, we\'re winning it".

"Horikita-san, you\'re unusually fired up".

"If I hear that lunch would be free, I might think that. But that\'s not it. To treat this number of people there\'s a possibility of spending up to 10,000 points. In other words, it\'s still private points but it also means our gap with Class B will shorten by that much. On the contrary, if we lose the gap will widen by that much. It\'s just like a special exam" Horikita said.

Even if the losing amount were to be shared between everyone, it would be about 2000 points each. Not a cheap thing.

"Alright. Let\'s win this, Ken, Haruki!".

Motivations differ from person to person but Horikita seems to have shifted their mindset in a good direction.

"Leave it to me, Suzune. If I\'m here that\'s the strength of 100 men. Those kinds of meatheads, I\'ll scatter them all" Sudou said.

"No......meathead is a word that\'s used to represent a person like Sudou, you know?".

Towards the Sudou who seemed to be magnificently misunderstanding it, I interjected.

"What\'d you mean? Meathead means someone with a gold medal for their brains, in other words, someone who studies too much right?" Sudou asks.

It seems Sudou is misunderstanding magnificently like a meathead.

"That may be the case.....please forget what I just said".

Interjecting itself is just a troublesome matter. Because Sudou was looking at the members of Class B and laughed with room to spare. Giving off the confidence that there is no way he could possibly lose.

"Let me test out whether or not you can be used, Sudou-kun".

Even though when it comes to studying he was just pulling on her legs, in a situation like this he seems to be a reassuring ally to have. I can understand Horikita\'s feelings for expecting a lot from him. In Class D, the one with the best physical abilities would be Sudou. As an exception, there is Kouenji, but it\'s better for better or for worse to not count him.

"Sudou, do you have experience playing volleyball in a pool?".

"No. I\'ve played some volleyball in class is all".

"You\'re quite confident for someone like that......".

"Basketball connects to all sports---it\'s something that the seniors I respect have said" Sudou said.

Believing in one\'s own power without doubts. For Horikita too, it\'s a good chance to determine whether Sudou is all talk or not.