I stood in front of the Student Council room door, holding the key I had borrowed from Tachibana-senpai.
I told her that I needed it because I had forgotten my belongings inside the room.
Well, she had stared at me with a suspicious look, but in the end, she handed it over.
I changed into the formal school uniform. All that remained was for Ayanokouji and Horikita to arrive after she caught him red-handed in the girls' changing room.
I leaned against the wall beside the door as I waited for them, playing with the keys, tossing them into the air and catching them with my hand.
"Hikigaya..."
It didn't take long before they arrived. It had taken me some time to get ready and retrieve the key, so it was only natural that they would arrive this quickly.
Horikita had changed from her swimsuit into the regular clothes she had been wearing this morning.
Meanwhile, Ayanokouji had simply put on a shirt over his swimming trunks.
Anything other than the official uniform was prohibited inside the school building, but we didn't have time to think about that right now.
"Did it work...?"
"Yeah, more or less..." Ayanokouji replied while glancing at Horikita as he adjusted the collar of his shirt.
The plan had been for Ayanokouji to sneak into the girls' changing room—not literally sneak in. He would simply disappear from the group's sight. I wasn't insane enough to actually let him enter.
We were doing all of this just to prevent those idiots from going through with it.
After pretending that he had sneaked in, Horikita would catch him while making sure the group saw them so they would believe that their plan had been exposed and that the matter was now in the school's hands.
I thought Ayanokouji's looks made the reason obvious. Horikita had found this incident to be a perfect opportunity to rough him up and drag him around by his shirt.
She really was savage.
I turned toward the door, inserted the key, unlocked it, and stepped aside for them.
"Go on, get in..."
Ayanokouji sighed as he looked at the room before entering, while Horikita remained standing there, staring at me with an annoyed expression.
If it had been up to me, I wouldn't have let her in, but there was still a role I wanted her to play.
I kept staring at her with my trademark dead fish eyes until she finally gave in and entered reluctantly.
She didn't want to enter because it was the room ruled by her brother. Entering without permission was akin to breaking his rules.
It was fine to break a few rules from time to time.
I cast one last glance down the hallway before following them inside and closing the door behind me.
"Ayanokouji, send them a message and tell them to come to the Student Council room right now..."
The two of them stared at me, though Ayanokouji didn't show any reaction indicating whether he would do it.
"Well... if we summon them through the loudspeakers, the president will arrive before they do to greet us."
In situations like these, if the school wanted to call for you, they would announce your name through the loudspeakers scattered throughout the campus and instruct you where to go. But that option wasn't available here.
I doubted those idiots would notice that detail. They were probably cursing their luck and waiting for their execution.
Ayanokouji took out his phone and started typing a message.
"Are you incapable of doing anything other than deceiving people...?" Horikita asked as she crossed her arms, displeased with everything that was happening.
"Unfortunately, this is my way of doing things... Any suggestions?"
"Tch... what if the president comes and catches us...?" Horikita said, voicing her concerns.
"Well, Ayanokouji and I will get punished, and he'll forgive his little sister..."
"Th-that's not true," she said in a weak voice, her sharp eyes fixed on the floor.
"Horikita... just relax. We've already gotten involved with Hikigaya now," Ayanokouji said.
So now I was the bad guy here.
I'll remember that.
"Horikita... you caught Ayanokouji red-handed, didn't you? Why don't you testify and get him expelled?" I said while staring directly at Ayanokouji.
He didn't respond and continued looking back at me with the same indifferent expression.
"That sounds like a good idea... especially since he never does anything except slack off and hide his abilities," Horikita said.
I quickly turned toward her.
I had only been joking, but she had taken it seriously.
Poor Ayanokouji's future was in danger.
"Stop teaming up against me..." Ayanokouji said while shaking his head like a victim.
"You too, Hikigaya-kun..."
"Huh? Me...?"
Was this girl trying to get me expelled too?
"You're slacking off as well... During today's match, you were moving around the field like a penguin, and then all of a sudden you started showing off with acrobatic moves," Horikita said with a frown.
"No, that's not true... I was serious from beginning to end," I replied.
I hadn't been holding back or anything like that.
It was simply a matter of using the appropriate method at the appropriate time.
"Really...? What about Sudou-kun's case? I suspect that you had the solution from the very beginning, yet you chose to observe from a distance..."
"No, that's different..."
Sudou's case had been different, and I didn't want to talk about it right now.
"Anyway... they've seen the message. They'll be here soon," Ayanokouji said, ending our conversation.
Good.
"How do you know they'll come instead of just running away?" Horikita asked.
"Fear... They're probably terrified right now, which is exactly why they'll come," I said as I walked toward the president's chair to sit down.
"Hikigaya-kun, what are you doing...?" Horikita asked.
"What? I'm sitting down... I'm the one leading this meeting, so I'll sit where it's appropriate."
"That's not your chair..." she said, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks.
I stared at Horikita blankly.
Was she really that concerned about details like this, or was it simply because it was her brother's chair?
I crouched beneath the desk and looked underneath it.
Then I stood up and spun the chair left and right as though searching for something.
"What are you doing now...?"
"I'm looking for the president's name. Doesn't seem to be one, so the seat is vacant for now..."
Ignoring the murderous glare she sent my way, I sat down in the comfortable chair.
The view from here was completely different.
It felt like I was a judge.
The president was at the pool right now, so he wouldn't come.
Tachibana-senpai was busy...
I had never even seen the other members before, so the chances of them showing up now were low.
There was no reason to panic.
But... was I really ready for this?
I wasn't given the chance to answer my own question before I heard a knock at the door.
It seemed that the fake trial was about to begin.
Ayanokouji quickly approached me before they entered and handed me an earpiece and a camera. They probably belonged to them, which made things easier.
I took them and set them aside where they couldn't be seen.
"Please, come in..."
I called out loudly, prompting them to enter.
The door opened, and four familiar faces walked in.
They looked visibly tense, but their expressions quickly changed when they saw me.
"It's Hikitani... What's he doing here?" Yamauchi muttered to his friends after noticing me.
Let's begin.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen. I'm Hikigaya Hachiman, secretary of the Student Council. The president couldn't attend for personal reasons, so I'm here in his place," I said as I gestured for them to come inside and stand before me.
Well, what I said wasn't technically a lie.
He wouldn't attend due to personal reasons.
Like the fact that if he found us here, he'd expel all of us.
"Hahaha... So, what's going on? Why did you call us here?" Yamauchi asked with a nervous laugh.
They still wanted to play dumb at this stage.
Perfect.
"It's nothing serious... Horikita caught Ayanokouji attempting to sneak into the girls' changing room, and up until this moment, he's refused to talk. So I thought I'd have a little chat with his friends instead. Sorry for calling you here like this, but I didn't have your numbers," I said while forcing myself to produce an artificial smile.
"Ah... really? It's no problem," the glasses-wearing boy laughed awkwardly. I thought his name was Sotomura.
"So, do you know anything?" I asked.
Silence filled the room.
Their eyes shifted toward Ayanokouji, who still hadn't betrayed them.
What would they do?
Without thinking, Yamauchi stepped forward.
"Uh, actually..."
Before he could finish, Sudou reached out and grabbed his shoulder.
"Haruaki, stop..."
Sudou stopped his close friend, who had apparently been prepared to abandon Ayanokouji that easily.
Perhaps they had expected that simply arriving here would result in accusations immediately falling upon them.
Things wouldn't proceed that smoothly.
I'd make them confess every last detail themselves.
"But, Ken..."
"I said stop."
Yamauchi tried arguing further, but Sudou quickly pushed him back.
"Hmm... Should I take that to mean you don't know anything?" I asked while tapping my finger against the desk.
No one answered.
Only silence.
"Well then... if that's the case, you're free to leave," I said while lowering my head to look through the papers scattered across the desk.
The important thing was to appear busy.
"What? That's it...?" Ike asked, his legs barely able to support him anymore.
"Yeah... Well, if you don't know anything, there's no reason for you to stay..."
I heard sighs of relief from the group upon hearing those words.
"Then... what will happen to Ayanokouji now...?" Sudou stepped forward, trying to confirm Ayanokouji's situation.
"Hmm... Ayanokouji's case has already been settled. He was caught red-handed. However, we'll continue investigating those involved with him, even if he refuses to report them."
The faces of all four boys darkened instantly.
What had moments ago seemed like the end of their problem had now transformed into the beginning of an investigation that would almost certainly lead to them.
"Huh...? What do you mean?" Sudou asked, unable to understand.
"Hmm..."
I bent beneath the desk, picked up the earpiece and camera Ayanokouji had given me, and placed them on the table where everyone could see them.
Their eyes trembled at the sight of the new evidence.
"We found these in Ayanokouji's possession. We'll investigate the store that sold them and determine who purchased them. Since the buyer hasn't left the school grounds yet, we'll find them without fail."
I had gathered the firewood.
Now I had thrown in the match.
All that remained was to watch the flames spread.
"Hah..." Sotomura trembled after hearing my explanation.
Perhaps he had been the one who purchased the equipment.
The other three immediately turned toward him, trying to suppress his reaction.
"He's lying, right...? He can't really do something like that..." Ike said, desperately clinging to hope.
"It seems you don't fully understand the authority of the Student Council... I have a lot of privileges, including access to store records."
I had seen it with my own eyes when President Horikita had informed Chairman Sakayanagi about the stores I had visited at the beginning of the school year.
"Take a look at this..." I raised the earpiece before my eyes and examined it closely. "This small device has a serial number. Through it, we can identify the store that sold it, the price it was sold for... and even who bought it," I said while maintaining a calm expression and a fabricated smile that caused my cheeks to twitch.
Sotomura's eyes shook behind his glasses.
He was probably knowledgeable about electronic devices, which meant he knew I wasn't lying.
He stepped forward while trembling violently before turning toward his friends hesitantly.
"I'm sorry, but..." he muttered.
It seemed that he intended to confess that he had purchased the equipment.
"Are you kidding me...? He's obviously tricking us! Look at him! It's just useless Hikitani! What could he possibly do? He spends the entire class pretending to sleep, and now all of a sudden he has all this authority?" Yamauchi shouted loudly throughout the room, trying to force Sotomura into backing down.
"If we confess, maybe our punishment will be lighter..." Sotomura said, unable to look directly into his friend's eyes.
Anyone familiar with movies knew that a criminal's confession could reduce their sentence.
Unfortunately, that option wasn't available in this school.
"W-What...?" Yamauchi stepped forward to stop him.
"Don't you understand, idiot? He's fooling you! He's just manipulating us! Just keep quiet and let Ayanokouji take the blame!" Yamauchi shouted shamelessly.
He intended to sacrifice Ayanokouji.
I turned to look at him.
He was calmly observing the argument unfolding before him, as though everything he was hearing was perfectly ordinary.
Perhaps just as Yamauchi didn't consider him a friend, Ayanokouji didn't care much about him either.
This conflict would've been entertaining for me to watch if I hadn't been standing in the middle of it.
"Do you really think Ayanokouji won't report us if he's cornered?" Sotomura said as tears gathered in his eyes.
"He's... tricking us..." Yamauchi muttered, his voice gradually losing strength.
Then he suddenly turned toward me.
"A loser like you using these kinds of tricks on us...? Do you think sitting in that chair changes who you are? Just look at yourself!" Yamauchi staggered toward me, tears filling his eyes.
This was pressure giving birth to an explosion.
I understood physics.
But this wasn't the time for that.
He closed the distance between us and quickly reached toward my neck, attempting to grab my collar.
I extended my hand and caught his arm before his fingers could touch my shirt.
"If you raise your hand again... I'll break your fingers. Now go back to your place."
I relaxed my facial muscles as much as possible, allowing my dead fish eyes to release their full intensity.
A perfect intimidating expression.
"Hah... Ngh... that hurts..."
I tightened my grip on his arm before pulling him toward me and then shoving him backward with enough force to send him falling onto the floor.
He clutched his arm in pain before staring up at me with tears streaming from his eyes.
" Ayanokouji, I have an offer for you... Confess who your accomplices were, and I'll make sure you won't receive any punishment." I declared with a serious expression in front of everyone.
Their gazes gathered on Ayanokouji, silently pleading with him.
"Oh, also... every name you mention will be expelled."
I added a little more fuel to the fire burning in the wood. It might set everything in its path ablaze.
Perhaps... it might burn me as well.
I turned toward Ayanokouji, who once again showed no obvious reaction, as though he were a scientist observing the results with complete neutrality.
It was still difficult to understand what he was thinking. He truly was a code that was hard to decipher.
"Hikigaya... if we confess everything, will you... spare us from expulsion?" Sudou stepped forward as well and spoke without looking at me.
No, it wasn't that he was trying to avoid eye contact with me, but rather...
I turned toward Horikita, who was standing quietly, observing them as though they were insects on the roadside.
Did he not want to disappoint her or something like that?
Sudou's offer wasn't bad...
"You too, Ken..." Yamauchi finally began losing hope, clutching his head in his hands without caring that he was sitting on the floor.
"Fine. I have one condition... You have to confess everything from beginning to end."
"What do you mean...?" Ike asked as he practically hid behind Sudou's large frame.
"I mean who came up with the idea, who made the plan, who did what... every single person's role in exhaustive detail."
"No way. You're joking. You can't possibly take it that far..." Yamauchi said as he finally stood up from the floor.
"That is my condition. After that, I'll decide whether or not you deserve expulsion."
The four of them stared at one another before deciding what to do. Then they turned toward me and stood side by side in a single line.
"Then... let's begin. Who came up with the idea?"
"It was all of us..." Yamauchi answered in a barely audible voice.
"I don't want that kind of answer. Who thought of it first?" I said, unconvinced by their response.
"I-It was me and Kanji..." Yamauchi answered on behalf of his friends as tears overcame him.
With every confession they made, Horikita's gaze seemed to kill them. The girls would never forgive something like this, no matter who they were.
And that was Horikita's role here.
For unpopular boys, being humiliated in front of a beautiful girl was practically a death sentence.
"Fine... How did you convince the others? Who agreed quickly, and who didn't?"
"Ayanokouji and Sudou hesitated a little, but they eventually agreed..." Ike said about his partners in crime.
"Then who came up with the plan?"
"I did... I was even the one who bought the equipment..." Sotomura said as tears filled the lenses of his glasses.
"What was your goal in doing all of this?"
"What do you mean...?" Sudou muttered.
"Why did you want those pictures? Blackmail? Selling them? Spreading them? Why exactly?"
"N-No, none of that. Just... for fun," Sudou replied as he practically shrank into himself from embarrassment.
Seeing someone as huge as him affected by Horikita's gaze wasn't something you witnessed every day.
It seemed her cold stares had finally found a purpose in torturing these guys.
Perhaps the one wishing for death the least right now was...
I let out a difficult sigh as my eyes moved from one person to another.
"After hearing all of this... it seems to me that your expulsion is only a matter of time."
"You tricked us! Didn't you say you wouldn't expel us?!" Yamauchi shouted angrily after realizing he had been deceived.
I raised my hand to stop him from shouting again.
"I said clearly that I would think about whether you deserved expulsion or not. And you truly do deserve it."
"Impossible... It's over for us..." Ike muttered.
"Oh, and also... spying is considered a crime. You could be prosecuted as well." I threw my final bomb at them—my last card.
Yukinoshita had told them this before during the pool lesson. Things like this were crimes that neither society nor the law tolerated.
Ike collapsed to his knees while Sotomura leaned against the wall and slowly slid down until he reached the floor, tears streaming from their eyes.
The only one who remained standing was Sudou. If we ignored his flushed face, perhaps his temperature had risen as well.
"It's all over..." Yamauchi muttered as he crouched beside his friends.
I watched them from the student council president's chair. Each of them was being devoured by regret from within and shame from without. Anyone in this situation would consider it the end.
The end of your social life, and perhaps even your future if the case reached the police.
I had never tried to hurt someone to this extent before, but thinking about what they had intended to do made it unforgivable.
At the very least, we had succeeded in stopping them before they entered, meaning no actual crime had been committed...
A few harsh punishments would suffice.
All that remained was to say that the president would decide their fate and order them to leave.
I raised my head to inform them of this, but I was surprised to see Sudou rushing forward to stand directly before me.
Our eyes met. For a moment, I thought he was crying, but his eyes were merely red.
Suddenly, he lowered his head and bowed deeply, as though kneeling.
"Hikigaya-kun, please forgive these idiots. Yes, we made a mistake. I know that very well. We acted rashly... I should've punched them all when they first suggested it and stopped them. If you want to expel someone, expel me. I'm the one to blame..." Without warning, Sudou pleaded for forgiveness on behalf of his friends.
I could only stare at him with my mouth half-open.
Perhaps their relationship hadn't been superficial after all. All those stupid jokes and empty boasting had perhaps... made them genuine friends.
Or perhaps he was simply so embarrassed in front of Horikita that he wanted to be expelled just to avoid seeing her again.
"Sudou..." I slowly rose from the chair and extended my hand so that Sudou could see it. "Raise your head..."
He slowly lifted his head, unable to look directly at me, settling instead for staring at his shoes.
"The matter isn't in my hands... The president will make the decision and determine your fate."
The others raised their heads as well and began staring at me.
There was hope that they wouldn't be expelled. That alone was enough for them.
"R-Really...?" Sudou muttered as he clenched his fists at his sides.
"I'll report everything to the president. He'll make the decision. We'll take your confession into account, as well as the fact that you were caught before entering..." The four of them began looking at one another as though a light had appeared at the end of the tunnel.
"Leave now, and don't leave your dorm rooms until you receive the final decision," I announced, ordering them to leave the room immediately.
The boys got up from the floor and wiped away their tears. One by one, they left the room. Sudou cast one final sorrowful glance before quickly shutting the door and departing...
I collapsed back into the chair behind me.
This was truly exhausting.
"Hikigaya-kun... you're really deceptive... Do you enjoy this?" Horikita asked, her voice carrying a mixture of disgust and respect.
"No. This isn't enjoyable..."
Who would enjoy something like this? I had a heart too.
It even beat properly and sped up whenever I climbed stairs, saw Max Coffee, or even when I saw—
No, that wasn't the point.
"Horikita... you'll be the one to inform them of their punishment."
"Hah...? Why me?" Horikita asked, dissatisfied with the assignment.
"Because the student council staff won't be able to notify them... and you're, well... a class representative."
Horikita stared at me as though unable to believe my words, but she reluctantly agreed.
"So... what is the punishment?"
"First... don't tell them the outcome for three days."
Psychological suffering was the strongest weapon.
"Second, tell them that three-quarters of their monthly allowance will be deducted for a year, and that they must hand the amount over to you."
The school couldn't deduct their points because it knew nothing about this.
"What if they don't believe it and complain to the school?"
Good point.
"You're right. They'll go to the president and ask why our points are being deducted and why we weren't expelled," I said blankly as I stared at her.
I nodded while she placed a hand on her chin.
"What will we do with those points...? You don't intend to take them for yourself, do you?" Horikita asked.
Did she think I was greedy?
"Of course not. Part of it will go to Chabashira-sensei so that she'll keep watch over them without informing the school. They'll sign an agreement stating that if any of them ever does something like this again... they won't even have to think about it—they'll all be expelled."
"We'll expel all four of them..." Horikita murmured.
"Exactly. That way they'll keep each other in check."
I didn't have time to watch over them myself.
Each of them would watch the others.
"Fine... What about the rest of the points?"
"Hmm... distribute them among those leading study groups. Use part of them as rewards for students who improve academically."
That would encourage students to move forward while also reducing those four idiots' spending money so they wouldn't buy something like that again.
I looked at the camera and earpiece.
They had clearly been expensive.
They had spent all those points for this.
How pitiful.
I raised my head to see if Horikita had any further objections, only to find her staring at me with her mouth slightly open.
"Huh...? What is it?"
"Ah... It's nothing. For a moment, you really seemed like a student council president," Horikita said as she blinked rapidly.
"Hah? Stop making fun of me..."
"Horikita is right. I felt the same way," Ayanokouji said.
"You too...?"
Why had these two suddenly started teasing me? I hadn't done anything.
Ignoring them, I reached for the camera and earpiece.
I needed to dispose of them. If anyone found them here, they'd become suspicious.
I slipped them into my pocket to get rid of them later.
"What about Ayanokouji-kun...?" Horikita asked.
I raised an eyebrow, unable to understand what she meant for a moment.
She meant his punishment, since he had also been involved.
"Would you like to be a witness?" I suggested.
That would be a guaranteed way to expel him.
"Mercy..." Ayanokouji said in surrender.
I couldn't help smiling like an idiot at that ridiculous exchange.
"Come on, let's go. We should leave before someone arrives," I urged them.
All that remained was returning the key to Tachibana-senpai.
I stood up, adjusted the chair back into its original position, and followed them outside.
Ayanokouji had frozen in place while Horikita refused to take her eyes off the ground, as though trying to merge with the background.
Standing before them was Student Council President Horikita.
"Hikigaya... what are you doing here?"
The worst possible scenario had occurred.
The president had arrived immediately after we finished.
He stood before us, blocking our path in his formal uniform.
"Ah... well..." My eyes wandered between Horikita and Ayanokouji, searching for any logical reason for us to be here at this hour.
There was no other choice.
"Ahem... Well, you know Ayanokouji's behavior. He gets into fights in back alleys and isn't cooperative. On top of that, he bothers everyone with that face of his... so, as a member of the student council, I was trying to correct his behavior," I said while struggling to swallow.
The president stared at me from behind his glasses, clearly unconvinced.
He turned toward Ayanokouji to confirm my lie.
"Is that true...?"
Ayanokouji looked at me before letting out a weary sigh and nodding in agreement.
That was good.
It made things easier.
"Suzune, are they telling the truth?" Without taking his eyes off us, the president questioned his sister.
I quickly turned toward Ayanokouji, who stared back at me with an expression that said, This is the end.
Horikita would never lie to her brother.
Horikita didn't answer immediately.
She remained frozen in place like a statue.
"Ah... W-What they're saying... is true," Horikita said hesitantly.
My eyes widened slightly as I stared at her.
She had covered for us in front of her brother...
The president also glanced at her briefly before ordering us to leave.
"Very well then. If you're finished, leave."
Without wasting another second, Horikita hurried away, with Ayanokouji following after her.
I tried sneaking away behind them, but the president had other ideas.
"Hikigaya, don't think you can deceive me that easily..." the president said as he fixed me with a stern gaze.
"Hahaha... sorry..."
"As long as I don't catch you red-handed, I'll overlook it this time," the president declared, granting me my freedom.
But what stopped me was the rare sight before my eyes.
The president's expression softened, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
"I'm happy that Suzune lied to me for the sake of her class... It seems she's finally beginning to grow."
What was wrong with this crazy president?
Was he actually happy that his sister had lied to him?
I would never accept that if Komachi lied to me.
Well, she never tells me the truth anyway.
The president extended his hand toward me.
I didn't understand what he wanted and merely stared at it...
Did he want to shake my hand?
I looked at him in confusion, waiting for him to explain what he wanted.
"The key you borrowed from Tachibana..." the president said.
So he had already heard about it...
I slipped my hand into my pocket, pulled out the key, and placed it in his hand.
"Was this the reason you came all the way here...?"
"No. I have other business here."
Other business during summer vacation? Did he ever take a break?
"I've received reports from some third-year students. There's a student from your class named Kouenji who's been going around asking questions about the system," the president said.
Kouenji?
That narcissistic guy was interested in the system?
"Questions...? Like what?"
If I knew the kind of questions he was asking, I might be able to understand his objective.
"About the method of transferring to Class A," the president replied.
A method of transferring?
He meant the twenty million points.
Kouenji, who had never shown any interest in competition, was thinking of an alternative way to advance on his own.
20 million points was an enormous amount.
Did he intend to gather them somehow... or had he already given up?
I stared at the floor while pondering Kouenji's unusual behavior, until the president's voice pulled me from my thoughts.
"By the way... at the end of this week, the first-year students will be going on a cruise aboard a luxury ship."
"Huh...? A cruise ship?"
"That's right."
"For us first-year students...?"
"That's right."
What was this sudden announcement from the president?
And what was this ridiculous generosity from the school?
I highly doubted it would be free.
"Your homeroom teacher will explain the details soon enough," the president said.
I nodded.
At least he wasn't assigning me the task of informing the class. That was a relief.
"If you're done here, you may leave."
The president finally released me.
I turned toward the exit and began walking with slow steps.
The amount of information he had just given me was considerable...
Yet I had the feeling I had forgotten something.
Suddenly, Yukinoshita's face appeared in my mind.
Right...
I had left without telling her.
She was probably angry by now.
I needed to hurry.
I increased my pace and started running down the hallway.
"Hikigaya, don't run in the corridors."
I heard the president calling out from behind me.
Was he still standing there watching me?
I slowed down and started walking quickly like some ridiculous penguin.
I just hoped she wouldn't scold me too harshly.
---
After changing into a T-shirt and a pair of swim trunks, I hurried back to the pool.
Unlike the morning, when it had been crowded with people, the atmosphere was now quiet.
In fact, I spotted Yukinoshita almost immediately.
She was sitting alone beside the pool, her feet dangling in the water.
I approached her slowly and cleared my throat before speaking.
"Yukinoshita-san, how are you...?"
I had intended to start a casual conversation to test the waters, but formal language escaped my mouth instead.
"I see, Hikigaya-kun... You've finally returned. I thought you had run away back to your room."
I couldn't tell whether she was angry or not, so a dry laugh escaped me involuntarily.
"Where were you?" she asked while staring into the water.
"Uh... I was at the student council office..."
"Hmm... Work, then."
"Yeah..."
She didn't seem angry.
She simply continued gazing at the water as though lost in thought.
"It was urgent, so I didn't have the chance to tell you."
She had to be upset because of that.
"It's fine. Don't worry about it."
She slowly lifted her slender legs from the water before standing beside me.
Together, we looked down at the surface of the pool.
So there wasn't a problem after all.
Suddenly, I felt a powerful shove from behind.
I lost my balance and fell straight forward.
The pool welcomed me with open arms.
I plunged into the cold water, my entire body instantly soaked.
I surfaced quickly, trying to catch my breath.
I understood now.
She had been testing the water temperature with her feet.
She had planned this from the start.
"Why did you do that...?" I asked, brushing my wet hair away from my face.
"That's your punishment," she said as she walked away toward the changing rooms.
Punishment...
Even my shirt was completely soaked.
I looked down at my drenched clothes and let out a weary sigh.
Then I stretched out on the water, allowing it to keep me afloat as I gazed at the clear sky and the sun nearing the horizon.
Another troublesome day...
But at least it was finally over.
There was also that strange trip...
Just what awaited us there, I wondered.
But seriously...
I hadn't even planned on swimming today.