Swimming Class

I hadn't expected the school to offer swimming classes this early in the year.

Uesugi Hara gazed at the gently rippling pool as he thought.

The school's facilities were always excellent. Even the pool was temperature-controlled, so the water wasn't painfully cold.

Still, he didn't feel like moving at all. For him, sitting by the pool and watching the girls splash around in their swimsuits was a rare chance to relax.

Even though his days had been pretty leisurely lately.

"Uesugi, aren't you going to get in and have some fun?" a girl's voice suddenly asked beside him.

He didn't need to turn around. He recognized her voice at once. "If Classmate Sakayanagi is willing to get in, I might consider it."

"Unfortunately," Sakayanagi Arisu replied, her tone touched with faint regret, though not a trace of it showed on her face. "My health doesn't allow me to do strenuous exercise."

Uesugi Hara turned to look. Sakayanagi Arisu hadn't changed into a swimsuit; she was still in her school uniform, one hand resting on the cane she always used. Kamuro Masumi stood behind her.

Wait. Kamuro Masumi?

Uesugi Hara gave her a puzzled look. Kamuro Masumi was standing half a step behind Sakayanagi Arisu, wearing an awkward, almost bashful expression.

"What are you looking at?" Kamuro Masumi snapped when she noticed him staring.

Ignoring her prickly response, Uesugi Hara gave her a casual once-over.

She wore the standard school swimsuit, and the skin it exposed was flushed with a healthy glow.

His gaze drifted down to her fair feet. Her toenails were neatly trimmed, and her rounded toes were as white and delicate as pearls.

Hmm. Food-grade.

The thought had barely crossed his mind when Uesugi Hara mentally slapped himself. How had those internet idiots corrupted him so badly? He was thinking all sorts of nonsense.

Steadying himself, he turned to Sakayanagi Arisu. As usual, she wore white knee-high socks that hugged her slender calves. Their petite design was nothing he hadn't seen before. He'd already looked at them plenty of times.

He raised an eyebrow. "Classmate Sakayanagi, have you got Kamuro wrapped around your finger?"

"Uesugi, that's not a very fair thing to say." Sakayanagi Arisu gently tapped her cane, her voice still mild, though a mischievous smile glimmered in her eyes. "Do I really look like the sort of person who holds someone's secrets over them to make them do things?"

She turned to Kamuro Masumi behind her and softened her voice. "Kamuro only saw that I have trouble getting around and kindly offered to help me, right?"

Kamuro Masumi pressed her lips together, looking furious but unable to say so. Her fists clenched at her sides, but in the end she forced out two words: "...That's right." Her sullen tone made it clear she wasn't happy about it.

Watching them, Uesugi Hara had a pretty good idea what was going on. Especially seeing Kamuro Masumi looking as if she had a stomachful of anger she couldn't vent, he couldn't help finding it funny.

He drew out his words as he picked up the thread. "But Kamuro, you don't exactly look like you're doing this willingly." He made no effort to hide the teasing in his voice. Clearly, he was just looking for some fun.

Kamuro Masumi had already been simmering with anger, and Uesugi Hara's comment made her cheeks flare red. She was about to shout back, but Sakayanagi Arisu tapped her shin with her cane, and the words caught in her throat.

She shot Uesugi Hara a furious glare, then gritted out, "What's it to you? I'm helping Sakayanagi because I want to, okay?"

Sakayanagi Arisu covered her mouth with a hand and chuckled, the corners of her eyes curving prettily. "Uesugi, don't tease Kamuro. She's shy." Her gaze shifted, and she added in an unhurried tone, "Besides, I'm surprised Kamuro offered to help me on her own."

"You!" Kamuro Masumi whipped around and glared at Sakayanagi Arisu.

Sakayanagi Arisu blinked, looking perfectly innocent. "I'm only stating the facts to Uesugi."

Leaning against the railing by the pool with his arms folded, Uesugi Hara watched the scene with amusement. Kamuro Masumi looked like she'd been played but couldn't get even, while Sakayanagi Arisu seemed perfectly composed, as if to say, "I'm innocent, and there's nothing you can do about it." He had to admit, the two of them made quite an entertaining pair.

"Fine, I'll stop teasing her." Uesugi Hara waved a hand, but his gaze secretly shifted to Sakayanagi Arisu, a hint of mischief in his eyes.

If he wasn't going to tease Kamuro, there was nothing wrong with teasing her instead.

He suddenly turned to Kamuro Masumi and jerked his chin at her. "Kamuro, want to make a deal? Give me 50,000... No, wait." He paused and looked at Kamuro Masumi, guessing she might not have 50,000 Points. So he changed his offer. "Just 30,000 Points, and I'll pin her over my knee and spank her. How about it?"

Kamuro Masumi's eyes shifted, then lit up—she was clearly tempted. But she stole a glance at Sakayanagi Arisu beside her, and the thought of facing retaliation afterward smothered that flicker of interest. She pressed her lips together and didn't dare agree.

Sakayanagi Arisu hadn't moved an inch. Her expression remained composed, and her smile elegant, but a trace of chill spread through her eyes.

She didn't look at Kamuro Masumi. Instead, she met Uesugi Hara's gaze, her voice drifting on the breeze. "That's a rather flexible business proposition, Uesugi. I wonder, though... have you considered whether you're capable of pinning me down?"

Uesugi Hara didn't answer. He simply walked over, reached out, and precisely gripped the back of her uniform collar—then gave it a gentle tug.

That was all it took to lift Sakayanagi Arisu clean off the ground with one hand.

Kamuro Masumi stared, dumbfounded. He could do that? This was nothing like what she'd expected!

Uesugi Hara adjusted his grip until they were eye to eye, then drawled, "Classmate Sakayanagi, isn't the view from up high lovely?"

Sakayanagi Arisu said nothing. Her normally pale cheeks were visibly turning pink.

Was she embarrassed by being lifted up in front of everyone? Angry at his shameless behavior? Or was her collar a little too tight?

Watching from the side, Kamuro Masumi couldn't tell.

Uesugi Hara paused, his hand still gripping the back of Sakayanagi Arisu's collar. When she remained silent and her cheeks grew even redder, he worried he might really be making her uncomfortable, so he let go and lowered her to the ground.

Sakayanagi Arisu took a light breath as she regained her footing, then raised a hand to smooth the collar he'd crumpled. She didn't look at him, and the tips of her ears were faintly pink.

"Classmate Sakayanagi," Uesugi Hara said, the corners of his mouth curling as he watched her. "I've proved what I can do." He paused. "I hope I'll get the chance to see what you can do, too."

Without waiting for Sakayanagi Arisu to respond, he turned and bolted, his shoulders shaking as he went.

Kamuro Masumi watched Uesugi Hara hurry away, then glanced at Sakayanagi Arisu, who was still looking down as she straightened her collar. Suddenly, the back of her neck felt cold. Wasn't this exactly what it looked like before a storm?

"Kamuro, what did you just see?"

Sakayanagi Arisu's voice drifted over without a hint of emotion, but the moment it reached Kamuro Masumi's ears, she felt as if she'd fallen straight into the depths of winter.

Kamuro Masumi desperately wanted to laugh. When Sakayanagi had been lifted one-handed just now, the tips of her ears had turned bright red. She hadn't looked composed and elegant at all.

But reason was frantically sounding the alarm in her head: If she laughed, she was dead. Absolutely dead.

So Kamuro Masumi wisely chose to play it safe.

"Did... something happen just now?" She blinked innocently, her voice full of wide-eyed naivety, as if she hadn't been the one staring in astonishment a moment ago.

Normally, she'd never have been able to put on such a foolish act. But in that moment, sheer survival instinct unlocked her boundless potential.

People really did find their hidden reserves when pushed to the brink.

Sakayanagi Arisu slowly lifted her eyes and looked at her for a moment before giving a slight nod. "Yes. Nothing happened at all."

Her voice was still as even as ever, not betraying a hint of emotion. Yet Kamuro Masumi felt as if she'd tumbled from a freezing winter night straight into a warm, fragrant spring.

The heart lodged in her throat dropped back into place with a thud. A thin layer of sweat had already formed across her back, and now she finally dared to let out a quiet breath. Her tense shoulders relaxed considerably. She'd made it through alive.

Damn Uesugi Hara! He'd stirred up trouble, then just walked away, leaving me here to suffer for it!

Kamuro Masumi cursed Uesugi Hara eight hundred times in her mind, but still had to keep up her innocent expression of having seen nothing. She didn't even dare glance at Sakayanagi Arisu out of the corner of her eye.

Who knew whether this young lady might suddenly change her mind and start asking about what had happened?

She quietly clenched her fist, resolving that the next time she ran into Uesugi Hara, she'd punch him first.

Meanwhile, Uesugi Hara had barely left the pool area before he couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Ha ha ha..." He leaned against the wall and burst out laughing. Sakayanagi Arisu had been calmly manipulating everyone one moment, then had been lifted up the next, her ears turning red. The contrast was just too funny.

The fact that he hadn't laughed out loud in front of her was already the greatest respect he could offer.

Once he'd laughed enough, he remembered his good buddy.

He wondered if Kamuro could withstand Sakayanagi's anger.

"Sorry, buddy," Uesugi Hara silently apologized. "Once I've got Sakayanagi wrapped around my finger, I'll make sure you get to spank her to your heart's content. Don't hold back when the time comes."

Thinking about it that way, he felt he was being pretty considerate. His steps grew lighter as he went.

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