An Accident

Hoshino quickly changed and walked out of the changing room.

Looking toward where Sakura and the other girl were sitting in the distance, she saw that they seemed to be discussing something.

Come to think of it, the introverted, solitary Sakura was now able to talk with someone like this. That was quite an improvement. Hoshino deserved a lot of credit for it.

"What are you talking about?"

Hoshino walked over and greeted the two girls.

"Hoshino... Ah!"

Sakura started to answer, then let out a quiet cry.

"Hmm? What's wrong, Sakura?"

"N-no, it's nothing..."

"You saw Aki with his shirt off and wearing swim trunks, and got embarrassed, didn't you?"

"L-Long Hasebe!"

"No fair. Didn't we agree to call each other by our nicknames?"

"K-Kaka..."

"Hehe, Airi, you're so easy to read."

Teased by Hasebe, Sakura's face turned red, and she curled up into a ball in embarrassment.

"By the way, Aki, you can't tell when you're wearing your uniform, but you're unusually muscular."

Hasebe eyed Hoshino with interest.

"I think I'm pretty ordinary."

"No, you're definitely not. Do you think I can't tell?"

"But I really haven't joined any sports clubs. If anything, I've hardly exercised since coming here. I can already feel my body getting sluggish."

"Then the only explanation is that you're naturally gifted. Some people are just born stronger than others."

Hasebe came to her own conclusion. Although Sakura didn't dare look Hoshino's way at all, she gave a small nod of agreement. She must have thought of how bad she was at sports and taken Hasebe's theory as confirmation from the opposite perspective.

"If you're really that curious, you can feel them."

"...Aki, that sounded pretty perverted. I'd call it sexual harassment."

Hasebe looked at Hoshino with disgust.

"If someone touches me, wouldn't I be the one losing out?"

"No matter how you look at it, the girl would be the one getting taken advantage of, wouldn't she?"

"But isn't that a little unfair?"

"Unfair?"

Hasebe tilted her head in confusion.

"Everyone's always talking about gender equality, but people treat the same thing differently depending on whether a boy or a girl does it."

"In this case, switching our roles wouldn't make it okay. If anything, it'd be even worse sexual harassment."

"If Hasebe or Sakura told me I could feel their muscles, I'd probably get really excited."

"Please don't say such perverted, lewd things."

Hasebe's gaze had gone cold enough to freeze.

"Sorry, that joke was a little inappropriate. Boys just can't help wanting to get a pretty girl's attention, whether by showing off or acting silly. Either way, we end up acting stupid. Forgive me."

"I already know perfectly well that Aki's a lecher. But please, don't corrupt Airi's innocent mind."

As if protecting Sakura from Hoshino, Hasebe stood in front of her, shielding her from view. She spoke while cautiously edging backward.

"I'm not exactly innocent, but your actions have already hurt my feelings, Hasebe. Seriously."

"Pfft, serves you right, Aki."

Their lighthearted banter continued, and Sakura seemed to relax a little. Her expression wasn't as tense as it had been at first.

"Okay, I'm going to start swimming?"

"Hurry up, hurry up."

"One last time, are you two really not going to swim today?"

"Why are you still asking? Airi and I didn't bring our swimsuits."

"I'd love to see you two in swimsuits, but I'm fine with you swimming without them."

"Fine, my foot! If you say anything like that again, we're leaving right now!"

Hasebe pretended to hit him. Hoshino darted away from her, then used the momentum to sprint and dive into the pool.

"Whoa, not bad form."

"Hoshino, you're amazing..."

The two girls on the poolside couldn't help exclaiming in admiration. Keeping his body beneath the surface, Hoshino propelled himself forward at great speed using only his body and legs.

Even someone who didn't know how to swim could tell it was an advanced technique. He was moving remarkably fast, too.

Hoshino swam more than ten meters like that. Just as his body was about to rise to the surface, something unexpected happened.

He suddenly lost his balance and went upright. He flailed his arms underwater, struggling desperately to stay afloat.

"Kaka, Hoshino..."

Even the slow-to-catch-on Sakura realized something was wrong.

"Airi, stay here!"

Before she could even think, Hasebe's body was already moving. She dashed off, tossing out those words as she went.

She ran along the poolside to the closest point to Hoshino, jumped straight into the water, and swam toward him.

Someone reached Hoshino before her. The person treaded water expertly while giving Hoshino strong support. Hasebe arrived a moment later.

When she saw who was helping Hoshino, she was taken aback.

"Are you... Katsuragi?"

The sturdy man was none other than Katsuragi Kohei from Class A.

"Are you his friend? It looks like he's got a cramp in his calf."

Katsuragi spoke in a calm, steady tone. Hoshino gave a wry smile.

"Thanks for helping me, Katsuragi."

"No need to thank me. Let's get you to the side and have you rest."

With Katsuragi's help, Hoshino slowly made his way to the edge of the pool. Hasebe followed alongside them.

Fortunately, Katsuragi was there to help. Hoshino struggled to climb out of the pool. For some reason, several more figures had gathered by the poolside.

"Huh? Matsushita and Sato, what are you doing here?"

"What, are we not allowed to come?"

It was a simple question, but Matsushita shot back with surprising hostility. Was she still angry about the joke during swimming class?

"Katsuragi, I'm okay now. Thanks."

"Are you sure you're all right?"

"I haven't fully recovered yet, but I should be fine after a while."

Hoshino endured the sharp pain in his calf. Now that he was out of the water, there was no danger. Katsuragi nodded to him, then turned and swam away.

"H-Hoshino, that was so dangerous! I'm glad you're okay..."

Sakura still looked worried.

"Hmph. You tried to show off and messed it up. You jumped straight into the water without warming up and got a cramp. You really embarrassed yourself this time."

"Did you see the whole thing? When did you get here, Matsushita?"

"Chiaki and I happened to see you talking with Sakura and Hasebe when we arrived. Then you jumped straight into the water. By the way, are you good at swimming, Hoshino? Your dive looked really cool!"

Sato spoke with excitement shining in her eyes.

"But then you cramped up in the water like an idiot."

Hoshino could tell Matsushita was definitely still angry.

"By the way, what are we going to do about Hasebe?"

Matsushita suddenly changed the subject.

Hoshino instinctively looked toward the pool, but Matsushita quickly grabbed his head and turned it away.

"Aki! Don't look at me! I'll get mad!"

Hasebe cried out in embarrassment. Hoshino immediately understood what had happened: she'd rushed straight into the pool without even changing, and now she was completely soaked.

He'd only caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye, but the stunning sight was already etched into his mind.

Hasebe kept her body underwater, showing only her head above the surface as she looked at everyone awkwardly.

"W-What should I do? I didn't bring a change of clothes at all."

"I have an idea. Maya, go to the changing room and take the towel from my bag. That should be big enough to wrap Hasebe up completely. Then she can go into the changing room..."

"But Chiaki, even if Hasebe gets to the changing room, she still won't have any spare clothes to change into, right?"

When Sato pointed out the problem, Matsushita, who had come up with the plan, faltered.

"I thought Hasebe could borrow my clothes and then go back to the dorm..."

"Chiaki and Hasebe are about the same height, but they're built really differently. She wouldn't fit into your clothes, would she?"

"Ugh, shut up, Maya! You're so annoying!"

The two of them started bickering. The fact that they called each other by their first names was a sign of how close they were.

Even so, Matsushita still hadn't let up on keeping Hoshino "in check." Just how little did she trust him?

"Um, I could go back to the dorm and get my clothes. Kaka should be able to fit into them..."

At that moment, Sakura cautiously offered a suggestion.

"Oh, Sakura's clothes should definitely fit!"

"Enough, Maya. Shut up and get moving!"

"I-I'll hurry back, too!"

At Matsushita's command, Sato and Sakura set off in different directions.