What's Wrong with Liking Gekota?

It was only a few days ago that Ju Ji had joined a boys-only chat group at Ike's invitation. It was a great opportunity for him to make friends, and of course, he hadn't turned it down.

"Good morning, Ike!"

"Good morning, Sudo!"

"Oh, good morning, Shinomiya!"

As soon as he entered the classroom, he saw Ike and Sudo chatting animatedly about something.

To avoid being late and to arrive at a different time from Kikyo, Ju Ji usually got to the classroom twenty minutes early. At this time of day, the classroom was normally empty. It was clearly unusual for these two to have arrived so early.

"Hahaha, this school is seriously the best. I can't believe we're already having swimming lessons this season. And when you think of swimming lessons, you think of girls! And when you think of girls, you think of school swimsuits!"

That was right: this was why they'd arrived so early. Today was swimming class, and the school held it jointly for boys and girls. In other words, they'd get to see Horikita, Kikyo, and the other girls in their school swimsuits...and see some skin, too. They weren't the only ones looking forward to it; even Ju Ji was a little excited.

Even so, it was probably best to keep his distance from them for now. Otherwise, he'd get dragged into their conversation and end up putting the girls off.

"Hey! Professor, come over here!"

"Heh-heh, you mean me, Professor?"

The chubby boy nicknamed Professor slowly came over.

"Professor, you'll keep a good record of the girls' swimsuits, right?"

"Leave it to me. I'm planning to use feeling unwell as an excuse to sit out and observe the lesson."

"Record?"

"I'm thinking of having Professor make a ranking of the bustiest girls in our class. And if he gets the chance, he can take pictures with his phone."

"Hey, hey, hey!"

"That's not okay."

Ju Ji wasn't the only one who disapproved of Ike's plan. Even Sudo was against it. If the girls found out about something like this, they wouldn't let it go as a joke. It would definitely lead to a serious argument.

"It's fine. They won't find out. Want to bet on the girls' cup sizes?"

"There's even a betting-odds sheet."

Professor took out a tablet and opened an Excel file.

It listed all the girls in the class, along with the odds for each one. Honestly, a bet like this was completely pointless for Ju Ji. He could figure it out with X-ray vision. Not that he had any reason to do that.

"No, I'll pass."

It wouldn't be fair if he joined the bet.

"How boring. Shinomiya, do you even understand the romance of being a man?"

[Hey, Ike, keep it down. Can't you see the girls are looking at us like we're trash?]

"Still, this is way more thorough than I expected. You've been observing them pretty closely."

"Because we're men. Our heads are always full of breasts and butts."

Well, it was true, but there was no need to say it so bluntly. And it wasn't something to be proud of, either.

As Ju Ji grumbled to himself, all the boys in the class noisily crowded around. They openly and enthusiastically discussed the girls' bust sizes. Some of the girls in the classroom looked at them as if they'd seen something filthy and despised them even more.

"Hey, Horikita, you don't have to look at me like that. I'm not taking part."

"Your head's full of plenty of perverted trash, too. You're probably thinking the same things they are."

"I'll sue you for slander."

"Yeah! The pool!"

After lunch ended, the swimming lesson Ike and the others had been looking forward to finally arrived.

To change quickly, Sudo immediately started taking off his uniform, showing off the physique he'd built through intensive basketball training. His muscles were sharply defined. He was in much better shape than the other students.

While the other students had towels wrapped around their waists, Sudo simply stood there naked and pulled his swimsuit out of his bag. Ju Ji couldn't help but admire his confidence, both physically and mentally.

"What the hell is that?"

Sudo, already changed into a racing swimsuit, stared at the swimsuit in Ju Ji's hand with a dumbfounded expression.

"Ah, what a cute swimsuit. So you're into that kind of thing, Shinomiya?"

"Isn't that a little childish?"

At Sudo's exclamation, the other boys who'd already changed gathered around. Ju Ji became the center of attention because of his unusual swimsuit, which had a Gekota design on it.

"What? We're free to wear whatever swimsuit we want. Besides, what's wrong with liking Gekota?"

"Hahaha, I never knew you were such an interesting guy, Shinomiya. I'm heading out first... Damn, why is it so huge?"

After this, Sudo seemed to have changed his opinion of Ju Ji a little. Once he'd changed, he walked straight out of the changing room. As he left, he seemed to mutter something under his breath.

"This school really is great. The water in the pool is so clear and clean. Where are the girls? Aren't they done changing yet?"

Ike hummed as he looked around for the girls. Maybe it was because he was so frivolous that he couldn't get a girlfriend.

"What would happen if I couldn't stop myself and barged into the girls' changing room?"

"I'd personally hand you over to the police."

"Hey, you don't have to betray your friend like that!"

Ike grew angry at Ju Ji's remark. But did that mean they were friends now? Was it really that easy to make friends? Had he already managed to pull off the feat of making a friend without even realizing it? Ju Ji couldn't help wondering about the label.

"Ike, since we're already friends, let's exchange contact information."

"Sure, but why so suddenly?"

"Don't worry about it. Hurry up and give me your contact info."

"Wait, don't rush me."

The word "friend" seemed to have triggered something in Ju Ji. He grew agitated, and under his insistence, he successfully got Ike's contact information. He'd made his first friend other than Kikyo.

This was truly worth celebrating. Ike really was a good guy. Ju Ji would be sure to help him out when he needed it. After all, Ike was the first person Ju Ji had truly made friends with.

"If you pay too much attention to the swimsuits, the girls will hate you."

Now that they were friends, Ju Ji figured he ought to give him a warning.

"Would any guy not pay attention...? What if I get an erection?"

Yeah, there was no saving this guy. Ju Ji was already wondering if he should just end their friendship. But if that really happened, the girls would probably hate Ike all the way until graduation.

"Whoa, what a huge pool. It's even bigger than the one at my middle school."

A few minutes later, the girls' voices rang out.

"T-they're coming!"

Ike had already struck a pose to get a good look. At the same time, Ju Ji quietly took two steps back to make it clear he didn't know the guy.

Honestly, though, Ju Ji was looking forward to seeing Kikyo and Horikita in their swimsuits, too. As for Hasebe's chest, supposedly the biggest of them all, there was no need to look forward to it. He already knew she'd be absent and assigned to the observation group...