"A camera? Oh my god, finally, the heavens have opened their eyes!" Shangguan Che stared at the new item he'd received from his daily draw, nearly slapping the table in excitement. "I knew I couldn't keep my Emperor-of-Luck status under wraps forever!"
He ran his fingers over the black camera in his hands, remembering his plans to take pictures with Sakura. His grin stretched almost from ear to ear.
They'd agreed to meet on a floor of the club building where there wasn't much foot traffic, and Shangguan Che arrived twenty minutes early.
At first, he'd just arrived early out of habit. But as he waited in the hallway, an idea suddenly occurred to him. Since I'm already here, why not use Clairvoyance and watch Sakura's entire trip over from the dorm?
He did as he pleased and used his skill to peek at Sakura's dorm, only to find it completely empty.
She's not in her room? Then I'll wait by the elevator on the first floor. He had barely shifted his gaze when he heard soft footsteps behind him.
"Sorry I'm late." Sakura stood there holding her camera bag, breathing slightly hard, her bangs a little messy.
Shangguan Che quickly pulled back his distant gaze and waved with a smile. "No, no, I got here too early."
He hadn't seen her whole trip, but getting to see her sooner wasn't bad either. He took in Sakura's appearance—black-rimmed glasses, bangs covering half her face, and the same loose uniform she usually wore. She looked plain, but somehow easy on the eyes.
Looks like I'll have to take normal pictures today. Wouldn't want to scare her. Shangguan Che made up his mind.
For the next two days, Shangguan Che's life was completely taken over by taking pictures, talking photography with Sakura, secretly slacking off with Clairvoyance, and scrolling through his phone.
The only thing he got out of it was seeing Ichinose appear frequently at the Student Council Office. He couldn't help wondering, Did Ichinose join the Student Council?
As soon as he got home that evening, Shangguan Che messaged her. "Ichinose, did you join the Student Council?"
It wasn't long before Ichinose replied. "I did, but Vice President Nagumo was the one who invited me. It's not like I'm anything special."
Looking at the screen, Shangguan Che couldn't resist grumbling. How is this any different from getting special treatment, then telling the people who didn't make it, 'I'm no different from you'?
He replied, "You're amazing too! I've seen Senior Nagumo at the Soccer Club, and he didn't even give me a second glance."
After sending the message, Shangguan Che suddenly had a ridiculous thought. Could Senior Nagumo be jealous of my soccer skills? No, no. He seems pretty friendly. I'm probably overthinking it.
"You're great too, Shangguan," Ichinose replied.
"Not at all. You're obviously much better than me, Ichinose." Whenever he got the chance, Shangguan Che praised her, while endlessly reminding himself to have a thick skin.
"No, Shangguan, you're actually..." Before Ichinose could finish her message, countless messages suddenly popped up on Shangguan Che's phone from the boys' group chat. He ignored them and continued praising Ichinose.
At the start of the new week, Shangguan Che had barely entered the classroom when he sensed something was off. The boys were sitting unusually close together, whispering to one another and occasionally glancing toward the girls.
Remembering the barrage of messages in the boys' group chat the night before, he immediately figured it out. Oh, we have swimming class today. They're discussing which girl has the biggest "front armor."
Shangguan Che rolled his eyes, thoroughly exasperated. The girls in this world are all gorgeous and have great figures, but the guys are ridiculously horny. Shouldn't they care more about their reputations? Is it really appropriate to talk about this so openly in class?
Sure enough, the girls noticed the boys' chatter and shot them looks of disgust and disdain. Shangguan Che nodded. See? My values are the normal ones.
When they reached the swimming pool, Shangguan Che read the notice on the wall and was completely dumbfounded. "You're kidding. Schools really do require students to know how to swim? I'd only heard rumors. I never thought I'd actually run into one."
What was even more distressing was that he was a complete landlubber himself!
He stared at the notice, which said, "Students who cannot swim may join the observer group," and breathed a sigh of relief. Then he noticed Blue Climbing in his skill list and couldn't resist complaining. "This skill is so useless. I can't use it at school at all! Wait, climbing? I remember reading a novel where rock climbing was the first stage of a knight's training. Am I going to end up cultivating immortality in the city?"
After thinking it over, Shangguan Che decided, "Forget it. I'll stay a landlubber and join the observer group!"
He followed the crowd toward the observer group's area, muttering, "The observer group's on the second floor, right? Why are there so many people? It feels like half the class is here. Are they all just too lazy to move?"
Standing by the railing on the second floor, Shangguan Che looked down at his classmates, who had changed into their swimsuits. He was nearsighted, and Clairvoyance didn't come with a "yellow filter," so he stared for a while without seeing anything special.
"The pool looks about the same as it does on TV. No one's going to relieve themselves in it, right? We're in high school. Surely no one's that ridiculous."
After watching for a while, Shangguan Che got bored and wanted to find someone to talk to. But when he looked around, he barely recognized anyone. He instinctively reached into his pocket for his phone, only to remember that he'd left it in a locker before entering the pool.
"Shangguan, you left your phone outside." Sakura stood beside him, holding a towel, and spoke in a gentle voice.
"Oh, Sakura." Shangguan Che scratched his head. "I was just reaching for it out of habit. Thanks for coming to the rescue. It would've been so awkward standing here alone." He thought saying "break the awkwardness" sounded a lot better than "create awkwardness."
Seeing Sakura lower her head again, her bangs covering her eyes, Shangguan Che had to take the initiative and find something to talk about. "Sakura, did you never get the chance to learn how to swim?"
"Mm. I rarely go places with lots of people," Sakura said quietly.
"I just never found the right chance to learn," Shangguan Che agreed. Then he asked curiously, "By the way, can you swim? Just asking. You don't have to say if you don't want to."
He considered it. People in the observer group either can't swim or don't want to. Sakura said she'd never had a chance to learn, but she didn't say she couldn't swim. There's no harm in asking.
"I can't," Sakura said, shaking her head.
A sudden idea came to Shangguan Che. "Then how about we have a contest to see who learns to swim first? Whoever loses has to grant the other person one request that they both agree to. Of course, we can just compete for fun, too."
Sakura hesitated. "Well..."
"If you don't want to compete, that's fine. I was just suggesting it," Shangguan Che said quickly, smoothing things over.
"It's okay. As long as the request is something we both agree to, we can compete." Sakura raised her head, her gaze earnest.
"Then thanks for humoring my sudden idea, Sakura!" Shangguan Che said with a smile, though inwardly he was thinking, If Sakura or I drops out, we won't be able to spend all three years of high school together. I need to help her avoid the pitfalls that could get her expelled. The reasons for expulsion are either failing exams or seriously violating school rules. I should ask how she's doing in class.
He cleared his throat. "Sakura, how are your grades? I'm just curious. Since we're competing, I want to know how strong my opponent is~ I can tell you how I'm doing, too."
"My grades... are so-so, I guess," Sakura said, a little embarrassed.
"Mine are about the same. If I don't put in the effort, I can't keep up with everyone else." Shangguan Che was telling the truth.
His heart sank. Sakura's not doing too well in school? Then there's a good chance she could get expelled for failing her exams. I need to figure out a way to help her.
If I just say, "I'll tutor you," it'll sound too much like a confession. If I say, "I don't want my classmate to get expelled, so let's study together," it'll sound fake, like Hirata. If I say, "I'll only tutor you," it'll sound like I think she can't handle things herself. If I say, "Let's tutor each other," will that be too deliberate?
Shangguan Che agonized over it for a while, then suddenly saw the light. I already eat with her. What's there to worry about when it comes to studying together? I'll just ask!
Just then, Sakura pointed downstairs and said, "Shangguan, look. Our class is holding a swimming competition."
"Huh? Oh, is it?" Shangguan Che had just come back to his senses when Sakura asked, "What were you talking about just now when you said, 'No, that idea is terrible'?"
"It was nothing, nothing. I was spacing out." Shangguan Che hurriedly changed the subject. "Are we having separate boys' and girls' competitions?"
"Mm. The boys and girls are competing separately," Sakura said with a nod.
The two of them leaned against the railing to watch the competition. Seeing Kōenji Rokusuke swim as fast as a fish, Sakura couldn't help saying, "Kōenji's such a fast swimmer."
"Yeah. He reminds me of the stones I used to skip across the water. He keeps bouncing along the surface." The words slipped out of Shangguan Che's mouth. Only afterward did he realize how that sounded. "Ah, that's not what I meant. I just meant he's really agile."
Sakura laughed, her eyes curving into crescents.
When the competition ended, Kōenji Rokusuke took first place among the boys, and Onodera Kayano took first place among the girls.
Shangguan Che took a deep breath and worked up his courage. "Sakura, I heard grades affect our Class Points. How about we start a study group and study together?"
"Study? Sure. Thanks, Shangguan," Sakura said with a smile and a nod.
"No need to thank me." Shangguan Che breathed a sigh of relief. For now, it'll just be the two of us in the study group. It'd be nice if I could help Sakura make some friends later, though. Having more people would be great.
After swimming class, Shangguan Che arranged to study with Sakura at the library in the future. He was feeling great. Today I not only dealt with the awkwardness of swimming class, I also got Sakura's study group off the ground. Absolutely perfect!
Before you continue