The girls' locker room.
Horikita asked Ichinose outright, "When did you start developing?"
Hey, hey, was it really going to get this explosive by the second line?
Ichinose made a strange noise and said, "You're pretty bold. I never thought someone as aloof as Horikita would ask that kind of question... I guess I started growing more and more around the time I was in my third year of middle school."
Meanwhile, Kushida said to Sakura Airi, "Come to think of it, this is my first time going out with you, Sakura! Do you like swimming?"
Sakura Airi seemed startled and stammered, "N-no... That's not it. Zhuge invited me."
Ichinose put on a gossipy expression. "Oh, so you came because Zhuge invited you!"
Sakura stood with her toes turned inward and said softly, "W-what's wrong?"
A hint of darkness flickered in Kushida's eyes, but she quickly regained control of her expression. "Come to think of it, quite a few people have been gathering around Zhuge Linghao lately. He seems to get along pretty well with Ichinose, too, doesn't he?"
Horikita, already changed into her swimsuit, nodded in agreement.
Seeing this, Kushida pressed on. "Horikita, you wouldn't be interested in that sort of thing, would you?"
Horikita tossed her hair. "That's right. Who Zhuge gets along with has nothing to do with me."
Kushida gave her a meaningful smile. "I see."
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!"
"Really?"
"I'm fine!"
"I think you should go to the infirmary while you still can."
"I'm really fine!"
"Fine? Your nose is gushing blood!"
"Then I think I can still be saved!"
That was a conversation between Zhuge Linghao and Ayanokoji.
After plugging his nose with some medical cotton, Zhuge Linghao asked, "How's the plan going? Is everything going smoothly?"
"Yeah. Yamauchi's already inside."
Just then, the social butterfly Kushida came over and invited Zhuge Linghao and Ayanokoji to play beach volleyball.
Of course they had to play! Zhuge Linghao's favorite sport was playing with balls, after all!
At the center of the volleyball court, Ichinose, a curvaceous girl with long pink hair, was full of energy. "All right! Let's have some fun!"
Kushida started acting up again. She said to Sakura, "You even bought a cover-up, Sakura!"
Without her glasses, Sakura appeared before everyone for the first time. Still lacking confidence, she said, "I... I'm not good at showing my skin in front of other people."
Kushida stretched languidly, as if she understood, and set off a chorus of wolf whistles from the guys around them!
She spoke cutely. "I bought a new swimsuit, too. I'm just not sure if it looks good on me. What do you think, Zhuge?"
The cotton stuffed in Zhuge Linghao's nose turned a little redder. He replied with a straight face, "Kushida, I think it suits you perfectly! It'd be even better if there were less fabric!"
Ichinose clapped her hands. "Okay, ready? Let's play! Here we go!"
They hadn't played many rounds before the weakling Zhuge Linghao was exhausted, so he asked to switch places with Sakura.
Sakura looked hesitant. "Eep, I'm not good at sports..."
Zhuge Linghao said, "It's okay. Look, we're on the same team as Ayanokoji, and he's insanely good! Relax and have fun. You said yourself that you wanted to get stronger, so why not start here?"
After hearing that, Sakura didn't say anything else and went onto the court.
Zhuge Linghao, who was only pretending to be exhausted, found the perfect spot to watch. He pulled out some sunflower seeds, his bloodshot eyes half-lidded, and muttered, "I can't miss a single frame from here on! Ah, this is a visual feast worthy of the pinnacle of the world!"
On the other side, Yamauchi Haruki had already come back. The person inside the girls' locker room now was Kanji Ike.
Ryuen led a group of underlings toward the locker room. A yellow wet-floor sign suddenly appeared in their path. Without a second thought, Ryuen kicked it away and said coldly, "Out of my way!"
At the same time, Sudo rushed toward the locker rooms with the lame excuse that his leg had cramped.
Startled, Kushida said, "Your leg cramped, but you're running that fast? Anyway, there are a lot of people by the restroom. Zhuge, do you know what's going on?"
Zhuge Linghao immediately replied, "Maybe someone's constipated!"
"..."
"Or maybe someone crapped their pants?"
"..."
The scene shifted. Sudo had blocked Ryuen and the others in front of the men's and women's locker rooms. He angrily demanded, "Hey, didn't you see the sign saying this area was off-limits?"
It was impossible to tell what kind of expression Ryuen wore. Oh! He was wearing sunglasses!
He arrogantly declared, "I didn't see it. Going wherever I want—that's who I am."
At that moment, another group arrived at the locker room entrance.
Sakayanagi Arisu's pleasant voice rang out. "The squabbling between the bottom-feeders is so ugly."
Ryuen said, "I don't have time for you. Take your dogs and get lost."
Sakayanagi Arisu shot back, "Oh my. Perhaps I should keep you as a pet, too."
Caught in the middle, Sudo was in an awful position. He had no idea how to stop either group from barging in.
"What are you arguing about?"
Horikita Manabu leaped down from the second floor, his tone leaving no room for argument.
Wait, he jumped straight down from the second floor? Even action movies wouldn't dare film something like that!
As expected of Horikita Manabu, the strongest man at the very top of the entire school! What a terrifying man!
Horikita Manabu continued, "Although the recreational facilities here are open to the public, I should remind you that this is still school property, so you must follow the basic school rules."
The scene shifted. Zhuge Linghao had taken Sudo's place on the court. He clicked his tongue, still nowhere near satisfied with what he'd seen!
Still, getting to see his teammates' boobs up close wasn't bad either...
Then a pair of breasts, neither big nor small, drew near.
Full and round, firm and perky—perfection incarnate!
Horikita Suzune said, "Hey, you're barely using your lower back. Are you really so young and already suffering from kidney deficiency?"
Zhuge Linghao would rather die than admit it. A man couldn't say he was useless, much less let a woman call him useless!
Zhuge Linghao deliberately changed the subject. "I'm just not especially athletic!"
He really wasn't lying this time. His athletic ability was genuinely C today!
Horikita Suzune said, "Why won't you show what you can really do?"
Zhuge Linghao was speechless!
Lady, which of your eyes saw me holding back?
Every single time, I've been trembling as I give it everything I've got, okay? Otherwise, how would I have made it this far?
Come on, compared with those monsters, do I even have the right to hold back?
Just then, Ayanokoji came over and asked Zhuge Linghao for a favor.
A minute later, Zhuge Linghao stared at him in disbelief. "Nani? You want me to give a speech from the five-meter diving platform? Right now? So suddenly?"
Ayanokoji leaned close to Zhuge Linghao's ear and whispered, "The plan ran into a problem. I need you to draw the people from the locker rooms over here."
All right, this kind of attention-grabbing stunt really was perfect for Zhuge Linghao!
So Zhuge Linghao stood above the pool with a megaphone in hand and shouted toward the locker rooms, "Hey, listen up! My Lady Horikita Suzune has something to say!!!"
Hearing this, Horikita Suzune glared up at him, furious enough to tear his mouth off!
That guy was using her name to talk nonsense again!
Someone in the crowd shouted, "Hey, that Zhuge guy looks like he has something to say. Let's go see."
Another person shouted, "No, I heard Horikita Suzune told him to speak! We'd better go before it's too late!"
So Sakayanagi Arisu's group, Ryuen Kakeru's group, and even Horikita Manabu all left their spots.
Seeing this, Ken Sudō let out a huge sigh of relief! He'd managed to save a teammate, though just barely!
"Ding! A special event has been detected. Triggering options! After completing the speech, the host must choose one of the following actions."
Option A: Maintain a Ge You-style slouch in midair while entering the water.
Option B: Keep your fingers posed in an orchid-finger gesture in midair while entering the water.
Option C: Cover your chest bashfully in midair while entering the water.
Option D: Keep your toes turned inward and cover your crotch in midair while entering the water.
Damn it! Social death! This is absolutely a legendary social-death moment!
System, what the hell are you doing? Can I request a normal system instead?
"Ding... Request approved. Preparing to change hosts. Countdown to death: 1 minute."
No, no, no! System, bro, I was joking! Come on, you can't take every joke seriously...
Ugh, this is a headache. Which one should I pick?
Before you continue