Simple Friendship Between Boys

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, Hachiman Hikigaya had already spent a week at this school.

During that time, he had become much more familiar with his classmates, especially the girls.

Not only that, but he had also become more integrated into this dreamlike campus.

The boys in class were unusually restless today, because swimming class was coming up.

Hachiman was honestly confused. Why did Japan have so many recreational classes, while in China, students could not even be sure of getting two PE classes a week?

It really was enough to make one jealous!

The reason the boys were so restless was that they would soon get to see the girls in swimsuits. For teenage boys going through puberty, seeing their female classmates in swimwear was undoubtedly something to look forward to.

Besides that, several boys had gathered together and were whispering among themselves.

"Let's make a bet on which girl has the best figure!"

Kanji Ike of the Idiot Trio suggested this.

The other two, along with Professor—the bespectacled guy who looked like a veteran otaku at first glance—enthusiastically agreed.

Just like the girls had their own little cliques, the boys had cliques of their own. The four of them were one such group.

Aside from them, Hachiman and Ayanokoji were also relatively close to their group.

The other boys were either sunny, handsome guys like Hirata who drew everyone's attention, or shy by nature, or part of their own cliques and therefore not particularly close to them.

Of course, there was one exception. Koenji, a tall and handsome man, walked past them with a smile.

"I think first place should be Hasebe..."

"Idiot, it's Kushida."

They discussed which girls they thought had the best figures, looking no different from a bunch of lecherous guys.

"I think Sakura has the best figure."

Airi Sakura was an inconspicuous girl in the class, and also one of Hachiman's main subjects of observation.

"Huh? Why her?" Ike asked in particular confusion.

"Hey, isn't this kind of thing bad?"

Hachiman spoke up.

Besides ranking the girls' figures, over the past week they had even ranked the girls' looks. The most popular were gentle Kushida and the elegant beauty Hasebe.

If this behavior were exposed, the girls would definitely sentence them to death.

"Relax, relax. The girls ranked us boys too, so there's nothing to be afraid of." Ike waved a hand calmly.

Yamauchi indignantly waved his fist and shouted, "Exactly! And the ones they talked about the most were Hirata and Hikigaya. My name wasn't even mentioned at all! What terrible taste those girls have!"

Everyone fell silent. It was perfectly normal for your name not to be there, wasn't it?

Hachiman could not help but snark internally.

"Really? What were the results?" Hachiman asked as if he did not care much.

"How would I know? I wasn't on it, so why would I care about something like that?"

"Fine."

Hachiman lowered his head in disappointment. He really was curious which of them was more popular with the girls: himself or Hirata.

Judging from everyday life, Hirata's popularity unquestionably crushed Hachiman's.

After all, as soon as class ended, a whole crowd of girls surrounded Hirata. Meanwhile, Hachiman only had this bunch of idiots around him, and even Horikita rarely paid attention to him.

"I heard Hikigaya was ahead by a narrow margin of ten to nine."

At that moment, the silent Ayanokoji spoke up and answered Hachiman's question.

Ten to nine meant that one person had not voted. There was no doubt that person was Horikita. She did not look like someone who would be interested in this sort of thing.

"No way! Hikigaya doesn't even look more handsome than me!"

Yamauchi unconvincedly walked over to Hachiman so the others could compare them more easily.

"Enough already."

Sudo and Ike walked over, grabbed Yamauchi by the arms, and carried him away.

The shimmering swimming pool came into view before the boys. The boys led by Hirata were all eagerly anticipating the start of swimming class.

Meanwhile, the six led by the Idiot Trio eagerly waited for the swimsuit-clad girls to appear.

"Huh? Hikigaya, Ayanokoji, do you two usually train or something?"

Sudo, who had joined the Basketball Club and possessed excellent athletic ability, stared curiously at their firm muscles.

Both of them had eight-pack abs, though Ayanokoji's were less obvious.

Hachiman's muscles could even compare to Sudo's, despite Sudo's consistent training, and were perhaps even more impressive.

"No. I'm in the Going-Home Club," Ayanokoji was the first to deny it.

His reclusive nature would not allow him to stand out that much.

Hachiman did not have that concern. Smiling, he said, "I used to play some ball sports."

"Oh? Ball sports? Did you play basketball too, Hikigaya?"

Sudo's eyes gleamed with even more excitement than they had at the prospect of seeing the girls in swimsuits.

Hachiman scratched his head and said, "I did, but I'm nowhere near as good as you, Sudo."

Sudo's basketball skills were fairly well-known at this school. He could practically be called the king among freshmen.

"Heh heh, we should spar sometime."

Sudo flashed a broad white grin, held out his fist, and spoke happily.

"Sure. Just don't look down on me."

Hachiman held out his fist as well and lightly bumped it against Sudo's.

Was this the friendship boys talked about?

A different kind of feeling stirred in his heart, and Hachiman felt a little happy too.

Is that how it works? Maybe I should learn basketball too?

Watching the two form a friendship so easily through basketball, Ayanokoji felt a trace of envy.

"Ohhh, the girls are coming out!!"

Ike and Yamauchi cried out excitedly at the same time, staring toward the direction the girls would emerge from without even wanting to blink.

Soon, the girls filed out of the changing room one after another. Each wore a relatively conservative swimsuit, but that did nothing to hinder the boys' appreciative gazes.

Hachiman was no exception. On the outside, he was as calm as an old dog, while enormous waves churned inside him.

Karuizawa and her group came out first. Although she was rather cute, her figure could only be considered average.

Then came Horikita and Kushida. The combination of one cold and one gentle sent the Idiot Trio into a frenzy.

Their figures were about evenly matched, but compared with Kushida, Hachiman was more interested in Horikita.

Who would have thought the aloof Horikita would look like this in a swimsuit? That was truly unexpected!

After that, all the girls arrived beside the pool.

The PE teacher was ready to begin the lesson as well, leading all forty students through warm-up exercises.

"Alright, next the boys and girls will compete. First place will receive five thousand points, while the slowest person will have to attend remedial lessons. Prepare yourselves!"