Another week had passed, Kazuo was leaning back on his chair in the classroom, snacking on some bread during lunch break. He had seriously started to wonder what Haruka meant when she said she would do something about Kayano. Things had continued the same way as the past couple of weeks, Kayano wouldn’t stop clinging, Haruka would still glare and Mabuchi was still cheering the whole thing on. To top it off, after Kazuo realized how blurred the lines were between him and Haruka it felt like things should happen at any moment but there was something holding it back. This could make the mood a little stingy when things were just about to get cuddly on a Friday night. Haruka was still working part time thought, which gave Kazuo a little time alone to breath. He could however still not help being nervous for what Haruka would do and when she would do it.

Suddenly the sliding door opened and Kayano entered with Haruka, they were back from the cafeteria. Kayano instantly waved at Kazuo and skipped over to his seat before he could even properly react. Kayano started to chat him up as usual after borrowing a chair from someone's seat while Haruka stood up beside them, quietly eating her bread.

“- Hey, you wanna taste this new snack they were selling? “ Kayano held out the snack towards Kazuo’s mouth.

“- S-sure, but would you mind not shoving it in my face? “ Kazuo tried to take the snack with his hand but Kayano pressed on.

“- No no, open wide! “ Kayano pushed the snack against Kazuo’s lips practically forcing him to open his mouth and eat it. As Kazuo chewed he glanced towards Haruka who pretended to not notice what was going on and was looking in another direction while crushing her bread to death. Kazuo sighed for himself as Kayano went on.

“- We have swimming class in PE today, right? “

“- Yeah, I think so… “ Kazuo subtly realized that Haruka didn’t have a swimsuit.

“- I’ve heard it’s coed, that means you’re gonna see me in a swimsuit! Although, it’s just the plain school one… “

“- Haha… Yeah… “ Kazuo glanced at Haruka again and noticed she was more fidgety than angry.

*- What happened now? * Kazuo thought as Haruka blatantly looked away and started to fidget more when she noticed Kazuo was glancing at her.

“- What is it Haruka? “ Kayano had also noticed.

“- Are you conscious about your flat chest? Or maybe that you can’t swim? “ As was obvious from Haruka’s reaction, both of the questions were critical hits that struck all the way home.

“- N-no… “ Haruka blushed a little and started to, as was familiar to Kazuo by now, fidget so much she couldn’t get her words out properly.

“- Come on! It’s not like your chest is 90° and it’s not a problem that you can’t swim since that’s what swimming class is for! “ Kayano started to bombard the flustered Haruka with encouragement while Kazuo watched on.

*- Typical Haruka to worry about something like that… * Kazuo sighed as he watched Kayano trying to give flat chests justice, which was very ineffective as Kayano’s chest was far from flat and right in Haruka’s view.

Kazuo left the changing room in his bath shorts and stepped out into the warm air. The wind felt weird against his bare chest after not openly exposing it since the last summer. Kazuo slung his towel over his shoulder as he walked into the outside pool area with his swimming goggles in hand. Swimming was far from Kazuo’s favourite activity since he wasn’t very fit and tended to feel like he’d rather drown than to keep swimming after a certain point. After the actual practice was done however, students were allowed to play around using the pool if the swimming club wasn’t going using it.

Rjuji and all the other boys were formed up in a big group at one end of the pool area whilst the girls were all on the other end, obviously not really liking the idea of coed swimming class even though the school swimsuit wasn’t too revealing. In the midst of the all the girls was Haruka, she had managed to get a hold of a swimsuit which was a little relieving. She was keeping close to Kayano and crossing her arms over her chest. Amusingly, her height was short even compared to the other girls and she was visibly bothered by her lack in several areas. Kazuo still found her unbearably cute as she skipped around on her bare feet and with her insane hair somehow tied up in buns, her legs weren’t bad either. After sneaking looks at Haruka, Kazuo walked over to a bench that was situated in the middle of the two groups on the long side of the pool. He sat down and relaxed for a moment in the nice weather, he noticed how pale his skin was but couldn’t be bothered even though he almost looked transparent. Suddenly, as was dreadfully expected, one of Kazuo’s two big annoyances turned up and sat down beside him. Of course it was Mabuchi first. He started with some comment about how cute Haruka looked in her swimsuit and that Kayano wasn’t bad either. He then asked who one would choose if one could as if it wasn’t obvious for Kazuo. Then after getting on Kazuo’s nerves he pointed out that it was because of him that the other guys wouldn’t dare to go near Haruka like there wasn’t any backlash from that at all. Kazuo could in fact barely hang out with the other guys anymore as he would only get nervous looks from everyone and they would be as polite as they could to avoid the wrath of the Yakuza. Finally, after he had his fun being an annoyance he left after leaving some stupid one liner. Of course, he wasn’t completely done just yet, as he left he waved at Kayano to draw her attention to poor Kazou. At least Haruka would come near him now.

Kayano noticed and, with a charming smile on her face she waved back at both Mabuchi and Kazuo. The other guys weren’t completely used to the new and seductive Kayano and they all pretty much froze up even though Kayano wasn’t even waving at them. Right after, she started to walk over towards Kazuo’s bench basically taking the whole group of girls with her, despite their reluctance. Now all of a sudden Kazuo became the middle ground between the boys and the girls. Kazuo was the centre, to his left were Kayano cheerfully chatting him up and all the other girls including Haruka. To his right, much further away than the girls were all the boys who quickly realized how they could capitalize on Kazuo’s position. Kazuo noticed how the boys inched closer and closer until they were right beside him. With such strong motivation as girls in swimsuits hey had managed to overcome their fears of the Yakuza. Now Kazuo had the whole guy gang directly on his right and all of the girls on his left including a seductress sitting right next to him and his increasingly frustrated love interest.

After an excruciating five minutes the teacher finally showed up and everyone had to line up at the end of the pool. Kazuo felt the load ease as he stepped into line, there was even a nice surprise. He didn't immediately notice but Haruka was stood right next to him glancing up towards him.

“~ I was worried you wouldn’t find a swimsuit. “ Kazuo looked straight ahead as he whispered to not arouse any attention. He noticed Kayano was in the front row so she wouldn’t possibly notice anything. Mabuchi however was not in Kazuo’s line of sight but he couldn’t be bothered.

“~ O-oh… Yeah, I borrowed an extra one from one of the girls since Kayano’s extra was a little… Um… Big. “ Haruka who had had an awfully flustered day seemed to ease up a little.

“~ Ah, your chest is fine though, don’t worry about it. “ Kazuo could feel himself getting a little embarrassed and unsure if he said too much.

“~ Right… “ Haruka mellowed out which made Kazuo a little unsure if he should’ve pointed out her chest or not. The teacher had finally found his way and were now shouting instructions whilst pulling out embarrassed students who would demonstrate. Kazuo decided to keep quiet and so did Haruka. The class went on and Kazuo was reunited with the painful feeling of exhaustion which he despised so much. After finally clearing the practice he got back to his bench as the class commenced the playtime, it was relaxing at first but he would soon notice trouble coming his way once again.