The Only Way to Go is a Swimsuit Chapter (Part 1)

Before one knew it, more than half a month had passed since the start of the school year.

During this time, the situation in Class D remained largely unchanged. Issues such as tardiness and whispering during class continued to emerge one after another. Or rather, some students took the teachers' silence as encouragement and became even more brazen.

Hoshino had tentatively tried to hint to Karuizawa and the others that they should moderate their spending, but it seemed to have little effect. Alternating between "Oh, this is a necessary expense" and "I spent too much money and need to reflect," this was perhaps the common ailment of all those who spent money recklessly.

Based on his observations, this situation shouldn't continue indefinitely; if anything, he felt more and more that the day of reckoning was approaching. What would the class look like when that time came? Hoshino began to feel a faint sense of anticipation.

Another major gain was that, by chance, Hoshino stumbled upon a conflict between his classmate Horikita Suzune and her brother, the Student Council President Horikita Manabu, which served as an opportunity for him to strike up a conversation with her.

It might not sound like much, but this Horikita-san wore a sour face toward everyone; until now, the only ones who could converse with her normally were Hoshino and Ayanokoji. Even the social butterfly Kushida couldn't manage it. Seen in this light, it was quite an impressive achievement.

Although Hoshino's original intention was merely to use Horikita to increase his opportunities to talk to Ayanokoji, who sat next to her, after interacting with her more, Hoshino slowly began to feel that this girl was actually quite interesting.

There was one more subject worth observing. Hoshino felt from the bottom of his heart that it was truly great to have ended up in Class D.

And so, today arrived—the day that would most test his powers of observation.

"Hurry up, Kanji, what are you dragging your feet for?"

"Coming, coming!"

The ones exchanging these words were Ike Kanji and Yamauchi Haruki, two members of the class's so-called "Three Stooges." The third member of the group, the red-haired boy Sudo Ken, although not participating in the conversation, had changed into his swimming trunks faster than anyone else with a single, fluid motion.

"Are they really this eager to attend swimming class?"

"No, don't you think they have some other reason?"

Hoshino wasn't in a rush at all, taking off his clothes in a leisurely manner. Beside him was Ayanokoji, and next to him was Hirata.

Hoshino and Hirata chatted idly, while Ayanokoji listened silently without a word.

"It's useless to go out early. The girls won't change that fast."

"I can't say I don't understand their eagerness, though."

"Hirata, you actually have thoughts like that?"

"I am, for the time being, a healthy high school boy. Isn't that normal?"

"So, beneath that righteous expression of yours, you're also harboring lewd fantasies about the girls in our class? This is what they call 'sanctimonious,' isn't it?"

"Don't tease me. Or are you saying you don't have any thoughts at all?" Hirata smiled helplessly.

"That would be the abnormal part. I, for one, have been properly fantasizing about what the girls look like in swimsuits, rest assured."

"That's nothing to be reassured about. This must never be known by the girls. It's very rude to fantasize too much behind people's backs."

"I know that, of course. By the way, neither of you participated in the vote yesterday, did you?"

What Hoshino was referring to was a poll initiated by Ike the previous night in a group chat consisting only of the boys in the class, the content of which was to vote for the three girls they most wanted to see in swimsuits.

As of now, the top three girls were Kushida, Horikita, and Hasebe. Fourth place was Karuizawa, and fifth was Matsushita.

"I still feel that such a vote is a bit too rude," Hirata said, frowning. As a "good guy," he really found it hard to accept this kind of behavior of judging girls. However, he also couldn't bring himself to stop it.

Ayanokoji looked blank. "What vote? I didn't know about it at all."

"Eh? Are you not in the group chat, Ayanokoji?"

"I go to bed quite early at night, so I didn't see it."

Ayanokoji looked very innocent. Hoshino took his phone out of his pocket and pulled up the voting screen to show him. He remained silent for a moment, then shrugged helplessly.

"I can't choose. Among the girls in class, I've only spoken to Horikita and Kushida; I don't know anything about the others."

"Well, don't be so rigid," Hoshino patted him on the shoulder. "You just need to vote between Horikita and Kushida."

"You really are..."

Hirata couldn't help but smile wryly, though he also looked at Ayanokoji with some curiosity. Ayanokoji thought for a moment and pointed his finger at Kushida.

Hoshino whistled.

"I assume you didn't just follow the crowd because Kushida is in first place? I'm a little curious."

"Because I'm constantly being oppressed by Horikita, so I can't feel her feminine charm for the time being."

"Pfft, hahahaha, that's classic you."

The three of them chatted and laughed as they finished changing and walked out of the locker room together.

"Hey, Hoshino, you're too slow!"

The one who called out was Sudo. Although he had shown an uncooperative attitude on the first day of school, he was essentially just a simple-minded, hot-tempered sports idiot. Once you saw through that, it wasn't difficult to befriend him.

In the current Class D, in terms of interpersonal relationships, the most prominent was undoubtedly Kushida, and among the boys, it was Hirata and Hoshino.

There was a difference between the two. Hirata treated everyone with equal kindness and was very popular with the girls, but because of this, he was also envied by some of the boys. Although Hoshino was also close to many girls, he appropriately displayed a frivolous and lecherous side, so he wouldn't be ostracized by the boys.

"Ayanokoji was having a difficult problem just now, so Hirata and I were helping him out, which delayed us."

"Ayanokoji? That doesn't matter. Forget that, come look at this!"

Sudo pulled Hoshino toward Ike and the others, who were gathered in a circle.

"What... is this?"

Just from the way Sudo inadvertently showed wariness toward Hirata, Hoshino realized that what they were about to do probably wasn't anything aboveboard. With that premise, when Hoshino actually saw what was on the tablet in the center of the circle, he was still left dumbfounded.

The Excel spreadsheet on the screen listed the names of every girl in the class, followed by a variety of information, the most conspicuous column being "bust size."

"You guys... are you actually planning to use the swimming lesson as an opportunity to record the girls' physical measurements?"

"Yeah. Professor is going to sit out with a fake illness, and he's already got the recording equipment ready."

"Professor" was a nickname for a slightly chubby boy named Sotomura.

"Hey, hey, hey, staring at the girls is already rude enough, but you're actually planning to take photos? That is way over the line, no matter how you look at it."

"Keep it down! Don't let Hirata hear you."

If he found out about their plan, the upright Hirata would absolutely not stand idly by.