How About You Stop Being Mad?

Horikita lay on the bed, breathing unevenly, her face flushed and her eyes bright with pleasure as Kiyotaka tormented the two soft mounds on her chest. Every so often, her body shuddered as she endured wave after wave of lingering sensation.

"Kiyotaka~ You're getting better and better at this. I really can't take it anymore. How are things going with Kikyo?"

Kiyotaka kept his hands busy as he answered.

"Kikyo has too much on her mind. Even now, she's still thinking about how to get you expelled. I might have become one of her targets, too."

Kiyotaka glanced at Horikita's dazed expression, then continued,

"I'll introduce someone to you another day."

Horikita opened her eyes, still enjoying herself.

"Who? Sakura?"

Kiyotaka gave her a curious look and said nothing, silently confirming it.

Horikita rolled her eyes at him and sighed.

"These past few days, Sakura's been looking at you strangely. It's like you're the only person she sees. Anyone could tell. I don't like you getting involved with other people, either. Just keep treating me well, and that's enough. After all, your... I'd die if I had to handle it alone."

At that, Kiyotaka pulled Horikita into his arms and continued to caress her.

After Sudo's time was up, fortunately, nothing else major happened. The relationships among the class gradually settled into place. Among the boys, Hirata Yosuke—whose abilities in every area were far above the class average—took the lead. Things were more complicated among the girls.

Half of them belonged to the circle led by Kushida Kikyo, while the other half followed Kei Karuizawa, who had become Hirata Yosuke's girlfriend. Kei even showed signs of overtaking Kikyo in popularity, as her group-buying chat seemed to be growing by leaps and bounds.

Fortunately, though, everything passed peacefully. It wasn't exactly a dramatic improvement, but at least Class D's score gradually rose.

With the end-of-term exams over, summer vacation arrived.

Early one morning, the hot weather sent Horikita straight to the bathroom for a shower. When she came out wearing a bath towel, she noticed an incoming call on her terminal.

Horikita picked it up. When she saw Kiyotaka's name, she hung up without hesitation, but it rang again a moment later.

She sighed helplessly and answered.

"Don't you know I don't want to take your calls?"

"Still mad?" Kiyotaka's calm voice came through.

Hearing his voice, Horikita couldn't help feeling aggrieved.

"Who told you to treat me like that the other day? You actually tried to get into my back... back there! I'm only talking to you now to humor you. Go find your Airi instead!"

Kiyotaka gave a sheepish chuckle on the other end of the phone for once. After all, there was no way Suzune would believe him if he said it had been an accident.

"Suzune, want to go to the pool?"

Horikita froze for a moment. Hearing his tone, she realized he was trying to make it up to her, and the anger in her heart immediately faded away.

"Sure."

The day before their pool outing, rain poured down in torrents.

Three figures in raincoats and another holding an umbrella appeared in the downpour.

"This damn weather. It's so hot."

"Yeah, it's boiling. We need something to comfort our overheated hearts."

"Did you bring it?"

"I did!"

"Good. Tomorrow will be the first step in our grand plan! This time, the plan is called 'Secretly Filming in the Girls' Changing Room'!"

The people in raincoats chatted excitedly, while the figure holding the umbrella could only sigh in silence.

On the day they'd arranged to meet, Kiyotaka arrived at the pool entrance on time. He spotted Kikyo and Airi chatting nearby and walked over.

"Good morning, Ayanokoji," Airi greeted him, a hint of excitement in her eyes.

"Good morning," Kiyotaka replied.

Kikyo looked at the two of them, an odd smile appearing on her face.

"Good morning, Kiyotaka~"

Kikyo greeted him with a beaming smile.

Kiyotaka gave her a calm glance and nodded.

But Kikyo simply wrapped her arms around him and leaned against him intimately.

She'd meant to see how Airi would react, but Airi's expression remained perfectly calm. Kikyo found that rather boring.

"Where are Sudo, Ike, and Yamauchi? Why aren't they here yet?"

A cool, slightly aloof voice sounded behind them. Horikita had arrived. She glanced at Kikyo, who was clinging to Kiyotaka, then glared fiercely at him before nodding to Airi in greeting.

"Uh... They should be here soon," Kiyotaka said mildly, though he was innocent.

"Sorry, sorry. We overslept and kept you waiting."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sudo and the other two hurried over from behind them.

"If you overslept, why are you coming from the direction of the pool? Your dorm isn't over there."

Sudo and the others were startled. Then Sudo laughed it off.

"Come on, let's go! Everyone's here, and I can't wait to get inside and have some fun!"

As they reached the entrance, they happened to run into Honami Ichinose and the others from Class B, who had come to have fun as well.

"Hello! Are you here to have fun, too?"

Ichinose greeted the students from Class D warmly.

"Yeah. Today's the last day the pool is open, so we figured we'd come enjoy it while we could," Kikyo replied. Then they all went inside together.

Inside the women's changing room, the girls were changing into their swimsuits.

Horikita looked at the ample flesh on Ichinose's chest and couldn't help asking,

"Ichinose, when did you get so big?"

At that, Ichinose gave her chest a lift.

"This? Let me think... It started developing about two or three years ago, and it just kept getting bigger."

Horikita looked down at herself.

"Mm. I think I understand why you find it bothersome."

"Come to think of it, this might be my first time hanging out with Sakura. Do you really like swimming, Sakura?"

Kikyo had changed and was looking at Sakura, who had withdrawn to one side.

Airi Sakura still wasn't used to talking with other people. When Kikyo addressed her, she jumped a little before replying,

"Um... No, it's just that Ayanokoji invited me..."

"I see. Ayanokoji invited you," Honami Ichinose said with a nod.

"Is... is there a problem?"

"It feels like there have been more and more people around Ayanokoji lately."

Kikyo gave Horikita a pointed look and continued,

"Horikita, don't you feel threatened by that?"

Horikita let out a quiet snort.

"Who Ayanokoji gets along with has nothing to do with me."

With that, she walked out of the changing room.

"Oh~ I see," Kikyo said with a smile. Once Ichinose had finished changing, the girls all headed out together.

Chapter 19: How About You Stop Being Mad?

"Kiyotaka, are the girls still not out yet?" Sudo asked, walking over to him.

"Not yet, I guess. The women's changing room is farther away," Kiyotaka replied blandly.

Sudo looked around but couldn't see Horikita or the others. He put an arm around Kiyotaka's neck and whispered conspiratorially,

"Kiyotaka, you're one of us, so make sure you cover for us later. Don't let us down."

Yamauchi and Ike grinned sleazily beside him.

"...Fine."

Kiyotaka glanced at the excited group and sighed inwardly. These guys really knew how to cause trouble.

"What are you all whispering about over here?"

Kikyo and the others had changed and come out. Seeing the boys huddled together, she asked what they were up to.

The three boys jolted at the sound of Kikyo's voice.

Yamauchi gave an awkward laugh.

"Ahaha, nothing. We were just talking about what to do later."

Kikyo nodded and didn't think much of it. Only Horikita looked at Kiyotaka, who wore a perfectly calm expression, with some suspicion.

"Let's play beach volleyball. It'd be a waste to come here and not play."

"Agreed!"

Ichinose asked to join, making it four against four. Horikita, Kiyotaka, Yamauchi, and Ichinose formed one team; the other four made up the opposing team.

The match began. Both teams were about evenly matched, and the game went back and forth. Still, it drew plenty of attention. All the girls except Sakura were wearing bikinis, and they were all beautiful, with slender figures, flat stomachs, and long, pale legs. Most distracting of all were their movements as they reached for the ball. Apart from Horikita, whose soft flesh barely moved, the other girls' chests bounced with every play, making the spectators want to reach out and hold them, afraid they might fall.

Sakura stood out in particular. Though she wore a modest swimsuit, her figure was incredibly alluring. Her athletic skills weren't very developed, so her movements were a little clumsy, making the two soft mounds on her chest sway especially hard. The spectators' eyes moved up and down with them.

At that moment, Sudo spiked the ball straight into Yamauchi's face, and Yamauchi's nose started bleeding on the spot.

"Yamauchi, are you all right?" Kikyo asked quickly.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I'll go take care of it. You guys keep playing."

Yamauchi gave the boys a meaningful look, then hurried off.

"That makes it three on three, then. I'm... tired. I want to rest for a while," Sakura said, raising her hand, her face flushed red.

"Okay, then. Let's keep playing," someone said.

They played for a while longer, but Yamauchi still didn't come back. Ike watched for a bit, then said,

"Why's Yamauchi taking so long? Do you think something happened?"

Sudo put down the ball.

"I'll go check on him. Let's take a break and do our own thing for a while."

"Okay, hurry back," Kikyo said, looking concerned.

After Sudo left, the remaining students gathered beneath a parasol to rest.

"Ah... It's so hot," Kiyotaka complained, unusually willing to criticize the weather.

Ichinose heard him, picked up a bottle of soda from the cooler, and handed it to him.