Chapter 030 The Matter of Fishing / Nanase Tsubasa's Cute Swimsuit
At 1:00 PM, the third designated area was announced: F7. Since Shimizu Akira had just rushed back from a task location, he only managed to get the basic check-in points.
Around 3:00 PM, he noticed a fishing task refreshed nearby. When he arrived at the scene, he happened to register as the seventh participant.
"Alright, all eight students are here. Let the competition begin!" The teacher in charge scanned the group and skillfully announced the rules.
"One-hour time limit. The victory condition is the same as yesterday—whoever catches the heaviest total weight of fish wins. The top three will receive five, three, and one point respectively. Additionally, you are free to keep any fish you catch."
With that, he handed everyone a standard fishing rod and marked out the boundaries of the fishing zone. Shimizu was positioned in the third spot. He skillfully hooked the bait and cast his line into the water.
'Yesterday, Suzune probably participated in this same task, right? Alright, alright, today I'll reclaim some honor for my girlfriend!' He gripped the rod, brimming with confidence.
An hour later.
Shimizu looked at the few tiny fish in his bucket—similar to the ones Suzune caught yesterday—and his lip twitched.
Fine. Even if he took a turn, he couldn't do it either.
The students to his left and right both had buckets full of several large fish; only in his patch of water did nothing seem to want to take the bait.
"In this kind of fixed-position fishing, you can't account for changes in weather, water temperature, air pressure, or wind direction, nor can you prepare different bait or rods," the teacher consoled them while announcing the rankings. "Don't be discouraged if you didn't catch anything; to put it bluntly, it's just bad luck. By the way, the fishing task is available every day. In a couple of days, I'll bring more rods and bait and add a rotation phase where you change positions at set times. Those who didn't place today, just come back and try again tomorrow."
Hearing this, Shimizu immediately felt relieved. If that was the case, it was simply his own bad luck.
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The area where Shimizu was located was about an hour's walk from the nearest relief station. He had thought that with only one day of preparation, there would be nothing more than a simple makeshift shack.
However, when he arrived, the scene before him made him pause slightly...
Folding tents for six or more people, chairs, sunshades, folding stools for resting... everything one could need was there, arranged neatly in the clearing.
Just as he reached the entrance of the canopy, he saw two third-year senpais leaving with a bottle of water each, chatting and laughing. Shimizu lifted the curtain and stepped inside.
Katsuragi Kohei was skillfully holding a thermos, pouring water into several mineral water bottles with steady, orderly movements. Totsuka Yahiko was assisting him, stacking the filled bottles into crates one by one.
Totsuka looked up and saw the newcomer. He was startled for a second before showing a delighted expression.
"Someone's here! Classmate, do you need... Huh? Isn't this Shimizu!"
Shimizu nodded to him, his gaze falling on Katsuragi, who was still focused on pouring water. "Yo, Katsuragi."
Hearing the voice, Katsuragi looked up and glanced at him, but his hands didn't stop moving. "You're here? Find a place to sit; the water will be ready soon."
Shimizu didn't stand on ceremony; he sat down on a nearby folding stool and scanned the layout of the tent.
Crates of mineral water were stacked in the corner, with bags of sealed dry rations next to them. On the other side were several first-aid kits and medicines, seemingly prepared for emergencies. A few walkie-talkies hung in the center of the tent, likely for communicating with other sites.
"You've set this up quite professionally," he remarked.
"Ichinose requested it." Katsuragi filled the last bottle, screwed on the cap, and handed it to Totsuka. "She said if we're going to do it, we should do it right. We spent all of yesterday running between these points and finally got everything finished before noon today."
Totsuka added from the side, "Katsuragi-aniki and I are in charge of this spot. Kobashi and Shiratori went to the northern site, and Ichinose and Amikura are at the southern one..."
"Enough, you don't need to report our duties," Katsuragi interrupted Totsuka and looked at Shimizu. "Are you here for water?"
"Yeah." Shimizu nodded. "If it's not too much trouble."
Katsuragi took two 2-liter bottles from a crate and handed them over. "Is four liters enough?"
"Plenty, plenty." Shimizu took the water. "By the way, how many points per bottle?"
Katsuragi waved his hand. "Ichinose said you get special treatment—free of charge. Besides, you're the one who got Totsuka and me to join Class D. How could I possibly charge you points?"
"Fair enough." Being men, Shimizu didn't push back. He packed the two large bottles into his backpack and asked casually, "By the way, why are you managing this station? Didn't you want to aim for a high rank?"
"After all, Class 2-D completely lost its class budget because of the two of us," Totsuka scratched his head and interjected. "So Aniki's idea was that we should at least help out for a few days. I planned on doing the same!"
He checked his watch and suggested, "Oh, oh! Katsuragi-aniki is a great cook! It's already 5:30 PM; why don't you eat before you go? The neighbors sent over a few large fish, and we have all kinds of seasonings."
"No thanks." Shimizu declined with a smile. "Someone in our group is in charge of cooking; I'll just take the water."
Katsuragi walked over, glanced at the small bag of fish in Shimizu's hand, and couldn't help but palm his forehead. "Looking at that, did you strike out?"
"Sigh... bad luck." Shimizu shook his head helplessly.
Katsuragi didn't say more. He turned around, rummaged through a crate, pulled out a grass carp weighing about a pound and a half, briskly put it in a plastic bag, and held it out to him.
"Since you aren't eating here, take this back to cook."
"Ah? This...!" Shimizu hesitated. Taking both the water and food felt a bit excessive.
"Take it." Katsuragi shoved the bag into his hand. "I'm very comfortable and at ease in my current class; consider this a small token of my appreciation."
Shimizu looked at the fish in his hand, then at Katsuragi's serious face, and finally nodded. "Alright, then I won't be polite."
"That's more like it." A rare sliver of a smile appeared on Katsuragi's face. "Go back and cook a good meal. Don't waste it."
Totsuka said proudly from the side, "Shimizu, Aniki is amazing at preparing fish! He just finished cleaning those fish. We're going to grill them in a bit!"
"Then you two enjoy." Shimizu carefully placed the fish in his backpack alongside the two bottles of water. "I have two people waiting for me back there."
"By the way," Katsuragi suddenly remembered something, "your two teammates... they're Horikita Suzune and Karuizawa Kei, right?"
"Yeah."
"How were their results today?"
Shimizu thought for a moment. "They got some points this morning. I haven't asked about the afternoon yet, but they should be doing fine."
Katsuragi nodded and didn't ask further. Shimizu shouldered his backpack, preparing to leave. When he reached the entrance of the tent, he turned back and said, "Katsuragi, even though your starting point this time is Class D, you don't have to worry at all about whether there are traitors in the class anymore. You can finally let loose and do great things, right?"
Katsuragi was slightly taken aback, then nodded. "Yeah!"
At the very least, he finally didn't have Sakayanagi Arisu around to cause trouble.
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Early on the third morning, Shimizu made a special trip back to the starting point. It wasn't for anything else—the free toilets and showers were there. Having not bathed for two days, his whole body was starting to itch. Fortunately, he arrived early and there was almost no line.
After a twenty-minute shower, he emerged feeling refreshed, his overall state much improved.
"Shimizu-kun! Good morning!"
Just as he stepped out of the shower room, he heard someone calling him. Shimizu turned around; what a coincidence—wasn't this the middle-aged man who was in charge of verifying Leader Cards last year?
He walked up to say hello. "Morning, Uncle! Up so early today?"
"Well, this time I'm in charge of monitoring the students' watches." The man smiled a bit helplessly. "A student's watch broke just now, so they ran over to have me replace it with a new one."
"Speaking of which..." Shimizu asked as the opportunity arose, "Is it okay if a watch breaks and isn't replaced?"
"The school hasn't made a mandatory rule about that," the man explained patiently. "However, no watch means no GPS tracking and no way to check in. If you insist on not replacing it, theoretically, that's allowed."
"What about multiple replacements? Are there penalties?"
"None for that either." The man shook his head. "If they made a rule for that, there's no guarantee students wouldn't deliberately sabotage others' watches."
Shimizu was deep in thought. The watch carried the GPS. This meant that if it was broken and not replaced, by the time the GPS function opened on the fourth day, no one would be able to track him. And there were no limits on multiple replacements.
Then again, if there were a point-deduction penalty, to say nothing of others, someone with Ryuuen's temperament would absolutely be capable of doing something like that.
The man had personally witnessed Shimizu's stunning maneuvers on the final day last year; he wondered if this young man was cooking up some new plan again. He thought for a moment and gave a pointed hint. "By the way, if you have time this morning, you might want to head toward I5. The 'scenery' by the beach there at noon is quite nice. As a man, you shouldn't miss it."
'Good scenery near I5?' Shimizu thought to himself; this likely didn't refer to the landscape. The man was reminding him, intentionally or not. He politely thanked him and took his leave.
At 7:00 AM, the first designated area was H7. He couldn't make it in time.
But at 9:00 AM at I5, because he had scouted the location in advance, he successfully secured first place, earning a full 10 points. This was his first time taking first place in a check-in phase.
It seemed the man knew all the routes in advance. Shimizu wasn't surprised why the man only tipped him off on this one spot. After all, this was already a "gray area" operation; if he precisely took first place every single time, the school would definitely become suspicious.
Besides, he hadn't transferred any personal points to the man this time; for the guy to give him a hint was already generous enough.
Shimizu chose to stay in place for a short rest.
"Shimizu-senpai!" A familiar voice came from behind.
Shimizu turned around to see Nanase Tsubasa jogging toward him. The moment he saw her, the same thought from yesterday popped into his head—she was like that Golden Retriever he used to have. Come to think of it, "his dog used to do the same thing every time he saw him, rushing up without a second thought. Except his Golden Retriever would pounce directly on him.
This cute kouhai probably wouldn't go that far.
Nanase ran up to Shimizu, slightly out of breath. "Senpai, what a coincidence! I ran into you again!"
Shimizu nodded. "It is quite a coincidence."
He noticed Nanase looked a bit different today compared to yesterday. Her blonde hair, which was usually tied up, was down today, draped over her shoulders. The collar of her school shirt also had one button undone, revealing a bit of her collarbone.
"I finished the bag of chips Senpai gave me yesterday," she said with a smile. "They were delicious. Thank you, Senpai."
"You're welcome."
Nanase sat down beside him, a bit closer than yesterday. "How are Senpai's results today?"
"Not bad, I got a first place."
"So strong. I knew Senpai was amazing."
Shimizu felt her gaze and turned to look at her. Their eyes met, and Nanase's face flushed slightly, but she didn't look away.
"Senpai...!" she whispered.
"Hmm?"
"Um... regarding what I said yesterday, is it really no good?"
"The matter of moving together?"
"Yes." She nodded. "I really want to move with Senpai. Not just because it's easy to get points, but because I feel very at ease when I'm with you."
Shimizu was silent for two seconds. "Nanase."
"Yes?"
"To be honest, are you hiding something from me?"
Nanase's body stiffened slightly. "N-no... why would Senpai think that..."
"I just mentioned it casually."
Shimizu looked at her. Nanase felt a bit guilty under his gaze, lowered her head, and sat obediently.
"Nanase, you aren't planning to trap me, are you?"
"How could I!" She looked up, speaking with extra seriousness. "I would absolutely never trap Senpai! I can swear to it."
She said this with extreme gravity, unlike her previous stumbling manner. It seemed she really didn't intend to harm him.
Shimizu shook his head and looked down at his tablet; a new task had just refreshed.
Beach Flag Grab Competition. Recruiting eight boys and eight girls to participate individually. The reward was six points—only for the first-place finisher—but one could choose an additional reward from several gift items. It was similar to the event he participated in yesterday.
Beside him, Nanase had been sitting with her head down, looking like an obedient student taking a lecture, for several minutes now.
Shimizu put away his tablet and waved his hand. "Alright, alright, stop with that pitiful expression. There happens to be a Beach Flag Grab competition nearby; let's go check it out. If I take first place, I'll share the snacks with you."
Nanase's eyes lit up, and she immediately broke into a happy smile. "Okay! Thank you, Senpai!"
The two hurried toward the beach.
"Senpai."
"Hmm?"
"When you said just now... that if you take first place, you'd share the snacks with me... was that for real?"
"When have I ever lied to you?"
Nanase thought about it; it seemed he really hadn't.
The beach wasn't far; they arrived in about ten minutes. A fair number of students had already gathered, with boys and girls standing on opposite sides. There were very few people on the girls' side, but many on the boys' side—about a dozen or so, and most of them were third-year senpais.
"If Senpai can't participate, I won't participate either," Nanase said, looking at him seriously.
"Err..." Shimizu had a bit of a headache. He scanned the crowd and actually saw an acquaintance among the dozen people: Kiriyama Ikuto.
Kiriyama also noticed him. He first cast an anxious glance not far away, then shook his head helplessly. He looked toward the registration teacher and ultimately didn't move, only signaling with his eyes for Shimizu to hurry over.
Shimizu was startled, thought for a moment, and walked directly toward the registration teacher.
"You're in luck, classmate! You're the last one to register!"
Even though there were many people, he successfully signed up. Seeing this, Nanase also signed up without hesitation.
"Alright, the rules of the competition..." the teacher began to explain. "The flags are placed on one side of the beach; contestants need to sprint to grab them. To facilitate movement, boys and girls must change into swimsuits provided by the school. The boys will compete first, followed by the girls."
Hearing this, Shimizu suddenly slapped his thigh. He glanced over at the several senpais not far away who had already changed into cute swimsuits and had a sudden realization.
"Senpai? What's wrong?" Nanase was a bit puzzled; why did the usually steady Senpai suddenly have such a big reaction?
"Nothing." Shimizu waved it off.
'The "good scenery" the uncle mentioned this morning that a man shouldn't miss—could he have meant this?'
After all, there were girls' swimsuits to appreciate. In a sense, he really wasn't wrong.
Subsequently, Shimizu followed the other third-year senpais into the changing room, changed into a pair of gray shorts, and walked out with bare shoulders. On the other side, Nanase also went to the girls' changing room.
With some time left before the competition started, Shimizu found Kiriyama Ikuto and took the initiative to speak. "Thanks for giving me the chance, Vice-President. You should have been able to participate too."
Kiriyama sighed. "This is probably the last thing I can do for you in this exam. From now on, according to Nagumo's stance, we might be enemies."
It seemed he was treating this task as a final favor. Shimizu nodded and didn't say more.
After waiting for a few minutes in his original spot, Nanase's voice came from behind him. "Senpai!"
Shimizu turned around. He froze for a second.
Nanase had changed into a bright yellow bikini. Her long blonde hair fell naturally over her shoulders, and the bright yellow fabric outlined her tight, well-proportioned body lines. She held one hand across her chest, perfectly supporting her exceptionally full bust. Her sky-blue eyes were slightly wide, looking at Shimizu with a hint of nervousness.
"S-Senpai... does it look good?"
Shimizu froze for two seconds, then looked away. "It's very pretty."
Truth be told, Nanase's figure was indeed excellent. The volume of her chest, while not quite matching Airi or Haruka, wasn't far off.
"Is that so?" Nanase was clearly a little happy. "That's great."
Just then, the teacher's whistle blew. "Boys' group, get ready! Assemble at the starting line!"
Shimizu began a simple warm-up. "I'm heading out."
"Mhm! Good luck, Senpai!"
Eight boys lined up at the starting line. As he walked toward the line, Nanase naturally picked up the bag containing his clothes from the ground, her eyes fixed on his back without blinking.
Shimizu stood at the far end, stretching his wrists and ankles. Several third-year senpais nearby exchanged looks.
"Is that the second-year Shimizu?"
"I heard he's a good fighter."
"Grabbing flags isn't fighting; what's there to be afraid of?"
The whistle blew. Eight people charged out simultaneously.
Shimizu's start was extremely fast; his feet hit the soft sand as if it were flat ground, and he surged to the front in a few strides. The red flag was planted about several dozen meters away on the beach. Someone behind him tried to catch up, but they couldn't at all.
He snatched the flag in one go and ran back. The entire process took no more than fifteen seconds.
"Shimizu Akira, first place!" the teacher raised a hand and announced the result.
The third-year senpais looked at each other. "That was way too fast..."
"Completely impossible to catch up..."
"Holy crap! My dead memories are finally coming back! Isn't this the monster from last year's Sports Festival? Who could possibly beat him!"
Shimizu planted the flag back in its original spot, brushed the sand off his hands, and walked back to Nanase. Nanase looked at him with admiration. "Senpai is amazing!"
Next was the girls' group. Nanase handed his and her clothes to him, took a deep breath, and walked to the starting line. She was wearing that yellow bikini; several third-year senpais sized her up, and someone muttered, "The first-years are quite bold with what they wear."
The whistle blew. Nanase charged out. Her speed was also very fast; Shimizu remembered her physical ability was B+, and after nearly ten seconds, she had pulled several meters ahead of the others. Ultimately, under the envious or complicated gazes of the other senpais, she successfully took first place.
When she ran back to Shimizu, her face was all smiles. "Senpai! I got first place!"
"I saw." Shimizu nodded. "Great job."
She felt inexplicably shy. "I'm still far behind Senpai."
The teacher began distributing rewards. As the first-place winner of the boys' group, besides the six points, Shimizu could choose a gift. This time he chose a bag of snacks. When he walked back to Nanase, he handed the snacks over.
"Here."
Nanase was stunned for a moment, then her eyes lit up. "Senpai... are you really giving them to me?"
"I promised you."
She took the snacks with both hands, but this time she didn't rush to eat them, instead clutching them somewhat preciously in her palm.
Shimizu didn't say anything, but he inadvertently glanced at the bag by her hand. The bag provided by the school was opaque—wait, was it not opaque? He clearly saw the flash of pink underwear and panties inside.
She wore a bold bikini, but her underwear was surprisingly conservative. Nanase clearly noticed his gaze as well, and her face instantly turned beet red.
"Senpai, um... since the competition is over, please give me my clothes."
"Err... right." Shimizu handed the bag back to her.
She snatched the bag and ran into the changing room at top speed. A few minutes later, having changed back into her school uniform, she emerged. However, she didn't come directly back but made a special trip to the registration teacher.
When she returned, Shimizu noticed she had an extra bag in her hand containing the swimsuit. "Did you buy it?"
Nanase nodded shyly. "Yes, I 'rented' it permanently. It's very comfortable, and I can occasionally go to the pool with Senpai."
'Shimizu-senpai seemed to like it just now; he even called her pretty.'
And she didn't want any other girls to wear that swimsuit again.
However, she suddenly realized a problem. Just now, her underwear and panties had been inadvertently seen by Senpai—that was clearly a perfect opportunity for seduction!
Why was she so stupid as to ask for the bag back? She lowered her head in vexation.
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