Book the whole place? What booking?! Shirogane Miyuki suddenly realized that the traffic in the entire swimming pool had dropped to zero at some point.
Which meant... there were zero visitors besides the three of them.
"Uchiha... what did you do?"
Uchiha Ryo smiled brightly. "I just simply booked the place. Don't worry, you're still a lifeguard, and you'll get paid normally when the time comes."
Shirogane Miyuki looked at Uchiha Ryo helplessly. "So it's just the three of us? What do we do now? Just stare blankly here all afternoon?"
Uchiha Ryo snorted lightly. "Don't worry at all. I've already invited the friends I met at Shuchiin."
"Ryo-oniichan!"
What? This voice is! Shirogane Miyuki turned his head sharply and saw silky silver hair fluttering towards him as Shirogane Kei ran over quickly.
Uchiha Ryo: "Oh, Kei-chan is the first to arrive. Enjoy the pool."
Kei-chan nodded, then turned her head to look at Shirogane Miyuki. "What's this? Onii-chan is here too."
"What do you mean 'Onii-chan is here too'! I was the one who invited Uchiha and the others!"
Shirogane Kei pouted. "Yeah, yeah. But in my memory, Onii-chan has never been to the beach or a swimming pool. Can you swim?"
Shirogane Miyuki fell silent.
Can he swim? Of course not! And he was a complete landlubber, so he didn't dare to come and be a pool lifeguard alone, which was why he dragged Uchiha Ryo and Ishigami Yu along.
"Ahem, Uchiha didn't just invite you, did he?"
Shirogane Kei shook her head. "I saw a lot of pretty senpais outside. They should be your classmates, right?"
As her voice fell, led by Fujiwara Chika and Chitanda, the members of the Classic Literature Club and the student council entered one after another.
Uchiha Ryo raised his binoculars. "See, everyone is here. But it seems a few are missing. Are they late?"
In the crowd, Uchiha Ryo didn't find the master-servant pair of Shinomiya Kaguya and Hayasaka Ai.
At the same time, Shinomiya Kaguya, who was hiding outside the swimming pool, was stomping her feet.
"What should I do? Tell me what to do, Hayasaka!"
Hayasaka Ai: "What else can we do? Uchiha-kun has already sent the tickets, so let's just go in."
Shinomiya Kaguya gritted her teeth. "But I clearly saw Fujiwara Chika running in just now. With that person here, I have no chance of winning at all."
Actually, Hayasaka Ai wanted to say, even without Fujiwara Chika, you have no chance of winning at all, but she was the young lady she had raised for several years, after all.
"It'll be fine. So let's hurry in."
...
Perspective returns to Uchiha Ryo standing on the shore. "Hey, are you two sure you don't want to go down and swim together?"
Ishigami Yu: "....Senpai, you overestimate me. How could I dare to play with girls."
Shirogane Miyuki couldn't swim, but he didn't dare to say it.
"Hey! Ishigami, you delinquent, daring to casually invite classmates to the swimming pool on the weekend... so improper!"
A vein popped on Ishigami Yu's forehead. "Uchiha-senpai, I think I'm having auditory hallucinations. It must be because I'm too tired recently, so I'm hearing flies buzzing."
Iino Miko: "Huh? Who are you calling a fly? And you dare to ignore me! Let me tell you, I didn't come because I accepted your invitation, but to supervise you and make sure you don't do anything bad!"
Ishigami Yu turned his head and looked in terror at Iino Miko, who had walked in with the main student council group.
"Uchiha-senpai! Why is this guy here too!"
Uchiha Ryo patted Ishigami Yu on the shoulder. "I gave her the ticket. But before I gave it to her, I told her that you asked me to pass it on."
Ishigami Yu: "...."
"Senpai, do you know what it feels like to have a mosquito flying around while you're sleeping, to find out you haven't done your homework when you're ready to play for a day, or to have a fly fall into your favorite food!"
"This woman is a noisy mosquito, annoying homework, and a disgusting fly."
Iino Miko's fist hardened. She stepped forward and grabbed Ishigami Yu's ear.
"Ishigami-kun, it seems neither your teachers nor your parents taught you how to get along with your classmates."
"Uchiha-senpai! Shirogane-senpai, save me! Is this getting along? Violence! This is pure violence!"
Iino Miko snorted coldly, let go of Ishigami Yu's ear, and looked up at Shirogane Miyuki.
Shirogane Miyuki, who was 1.75 meters tall, met the gaze of Iino Miko, who was 1.45 meters tall.
"You're Shirogane-senpai, who became the student council president of Shuchiin High School in his first year, right? Hello, I'm Iino Miko from the middle school division. In next year's high school election, I will defeat you and become the new president."
Shirogane Miyuki: "Oh, my position welcomes anyone to challenge it. (Where did this kid come from? What nonsense is she talking about!)"
Ishigami Yu hid behind Uchiha Ryo. "You want to become the student council president? Let me tell you, next semester I'm joining the student council as the treasurer, ohoho~"
Iino Miko puffed out her cheeks. She really wanted to chop up this smug Ishigami Yu right now.
Ignoring the quarreling Ishigami and Iino, and Shirogane Miyuki who was frozen on the shore and didn't dare to enter the water.
Uchiha Ryo walked towards the small group formed by the student council and the Classic Literature Club.
"You're all here."
Hearing the voice, Fujiwara Chika and Chitanda turned their heads.
Fujiwara Chika: "Of course! Thanks for the pool ticket, Uchiha-kun. This place is newly opened, right? I haven't been here yet."
Chitanda nodded along. "It's been a long time since we played in the water together since the last time we swam. Yukino, let's go swimming."
Yukino smiled. "Eru, you changed your swimsuit again."
Chitanda: "Hehe, because the one I wore last time doesn't fit anymore. So I changed to a size larger."
Yukinoshita fell silent: "....."
Shinomiya Kaguya, who followed behind, didn't want to speak: "....."
Amakusa Shino, who was inflating a raft on the other side, was speechless on the spot: "....."
Fujiwara Chika: "I understand, I understand. After all, at our age, our bodies are still growing. It's common to change swimsuit sizes often~"
Yukino, who hadn't changed her swimsuit size in a year, fell silent again.
Shinomiya Kaguya, who hadn't changed her swimsuit size in two years, had a dark expression.
Amakusa Shino, who hadn't changed her swimsuit size in three years, wanted to go home. Let's... just stop playing for today.
Happiness seemed to be something that couldn't be shared. Happiness only appeared in the larger group.
Uchiha Ryo: "....It's okay. Even if it's the Robert Precipice, there will be people who yearn to climb it."
"Who is the Robert Precipice!"
Yukino suddenly pulled Uchiha Ryo to the edge of the pool, and Shinomiya Kaguya pushed him hard from behind.
Uchiha Ryo fell into the water and turned his head to look at Amakusa Shino, who had thrown the inflatable raft onto the water to drift.
"President Amakusa didn't lose sleep over the invitation this time?"
Amakusa Shino: "Well.... anyway, I still slept for a while. Wasn't it all because of Uchiha's invitation!"
"My invitation?"
Amakusa Shino said seriously, "Didn't you say yesterday that you wanted to book the pool for a [beep—censored] party?"
"Who said anything about holding a [beep—censored] party?! I just simply wanted to invite everyone to swim together. It's not like I'm here to climb the Robert Precipice."
Amakusa Shino didn't want to talk. What's wrong with being flat? As the oldest person present, what's really wrong with being flat?! She saved a lot of fabric for the clothing store!