A Cheap Affection

The second round of swimming trials began, and Qiuyue only used half his strength to take third place.

...About right, not bad. After all, relying solely on physical fitness, I only know the basics of swimming anyway.

After finishing his trial, Qiuyue found an open space, sat down to rest, and waited for class to end.

But things never went as Qiuyue hoped. Someone came over to him again—it was none other than Ike Kanji and Yamauchi.

...Why...? I don't think I'm familiar with these two, am I?

"Yo, Qiuyue, why are you sitting here all alone? Not gonna watch the trials?"

"No, I'm not interested."

"...Ike, why are we coming over here? Isn't there plenty of open space over there?"

"But... I saw Qiuyue here by himself. We can sit anywhere, right? What's the big deal, Yamauchi?"

"Fine, let's sit here then. Huh? The viewing angle here is pretty good. Did you pick this spot on purpose? Impressive, Qiuyue."

Yamauchi naturally sat down beside him, looking at the girls cheering for Hirata in the distance and letting out an admiring remark.

"Really? Yamauchi, move over."

...Thanks for the explanation, but I wish you'd ask me before sitting next to me.

"Sigh..."

Qiuyue let out a heartfelt sigh.

"Little Kushida, no matter how many times I see her, she's adorable... I really, really like Little Kushida."

"No, I like Kushida more. Kushida is super gentle, you know? Hey, Ike, when I fell before, Kushida asked me with concern, 'Are you okay?' She's an angel!"

"Little Kushida... she's the best! Alright! I've decided! I'm going to date Kushida! I'm confessing!"

"Ike... are you serious? No, you're definitely going to get rejected. There's no way you're good enough for Kushida. You can't even compare to me."

Yamauchi thought it over seriously.

"No, Ike! Go confess! After Kushida rejects you, if I confess then, my chances will be way higher, right? Go for it, Ike! Even if it's for me!"

Qiuyue thought: (...How is your brain wired? Why do you think you have any chance? That actually made me laugh. Hilarious.)

"No, no, no, why are you assuming I'll get rejected? What's wrong with me?"

Ike seemed unconvinced, waving his arms to defend himself.

"Think about it yourself. First of all, you're not good-looking, Ike."

"And you think you look good?! Even if I get rejected by Little Kushida, what makes you think you'd succeed, Yamauchi?"

Thank goodness, in this life, I'm at least a little handsome.

"You wouldn't understand this. When Kushida is suddenly confessed to and flustered, after she rejects you, I'll suddenly appear, and she'll settle for second best and choose me."

"...You... what kind of twisted logic is that?"

"You don't get it, do you? The key is inner qualities, inner qualities. A guy as interesting as me is rare."

Yamauchi confidently posed.

"Ahahaha, hahaha."

Ike and Yamauchi both looked at Qiuyue, who had suddenly burst out laughing. Qiuyue caught himself.

"Sorry, sorry. Haha... go on, you two, continue, continue. I won't laugh... snort... sorry..."

Qiuyue's quick apology made it hard for them to say anything.

Ike continued talking with Yamauchi.

"Yamauchi... are you really that confident in your inner qualities? I think... your inner..."

"Don't worry. Kushida definitely isn't the type to only look at handsome guys. She'll definitely notice my shining points."

No... if she were actually here, I bet she'd throw up last night's dinner.

"...When you put it that way, you're right. Little Kushida definitely wouldn't be as shallow as other girls, flocking around Hirata just because he's handsome."

"That's hilarious."

Holy crap... I accidentally said that out loud. I'm screwed.

Qiuyue's slip of the tongue was grating to Ike and Yamauchi.

"Qiuyue..."

"What did you say? What's so funny? What do you know? Don't think just because you're decent-looking, girls will like you. Only shallow girls would fall for that."

Compared to Ike, Yamauchi was more agitated.

...Unbearable. In my past life, I wasn't good-looking either, but I've never seen someone this ugly who thinks this highly of himself. I need to teach him some manners.

"It's because of people like you that girls' opinions of guys keep dropping. You should be thinking about how to improve yourself instead of daydreaming here.

Besides, you're the one who doesn't value girls' inner qualities by assuming they don't care about yours.

And on top of that, do you really think someone like you can beat a handsome guy with just inner qualities? Are you really that confident in your inner self?"

But once people get to know your inner self, they find out—what's the big deal?

Or worse, they think, "He's not even as good-looking as that handsome guy," and then you're worthless, aren't you?

In the end, aren't you just using "judging by looks" as an excuse to escape reality?

Kushida is pretty, right? Cute, right? Her figure's amazing too.

So you all like Kushida. You want to date her. You want to do all sorts of things with her.

But what do you actually know about Kushida? What does she like? What does she hate? What's she like normally? What's she like at other times?

You don't know anything. It's only been five days since school started. You've only known Kushida for five days. Just five days.

What can you learn in five days? A person's life spans seventy, eighty, ninety years. Five days is less than a thousandth of that.

Do you really have the confidence to say you understand Kushida?

When it comes down to it, how is that any different from judging by looks? Have you ever truly valued her inner self?

I know, right now you're probably thinking "love at first sight." But if Kushida weren't that pretty? If she didn't have that figure?

Would you still say it was love at first sight then?

Your "love at first sight" is just lust dressed up in fancy words to cover your desires.

If this is really what you call liking someone, then all I can say is—your liking is way too cheap.

Qiuyue's every word struck like thunder. Ike and Yamauchi were left speechless, unable to refute him.

But it wasn't because the truth hit home that they couldn't argue. Yamauchi was the type who never listened to reason. He didn't argue because...

A clapping sound rang out. The source seemed to be from above. Qiuyue looked up.

"Well said. You really know how to talk, Qiuyue. I'm starting to fall for you."

There on the bleachers, Hasebe was clapping as she spoke.

"...Huh..."

Hasebe caught the confusion in Qiuyue's eyes and explained.

"Forgot? Sakura's here too. She and I skipped swim class because... you know."

"..."

Qiuyue lowered his head, avoiding Hasebe's gaze in embarrassment.

...So cringey... I never thought I'd be publicly executed like this...

"Don't be shy, Qiuyue. Since I really liked what you just said, I'll specially forgive you for betting on my big bombs~."

"...How do you know about that?"

"Look at those two big mouths next to you. What don't they know?"

"..."

End of Pool Chapter

Next chapter returns to the main storyline.