The Water Chapter Is Here~

"Water Style! Great Waterfall Technique!"

"Quit messing around."

Satonaka elbowed Naoki Shimizu, who was playing with the water beside him, and sighed repeatedly with an exasperated look.

"Ah, you idiot..."

"Exactly," U Amakusa chimed in.

You're no better, Satonaka silently grumbled at the two of them. Who plays with water while washing dishes? Are you kids?

If you want to play, at least wait until the dishes are done. Honestly.

The three of them were cleaning up the dishes from dinner. One washed them with dish soap, another rinsed them with clean water, and the last dried them with a towel.

They had to admit, their movements had gone from uncoordinated at first to something like an assembly line in a factory.

And since there wasn't much work to begin with, the three of them had finished washing the dishes in just a few minutes.

U Amakusa thought it was pretty nice. He got to enjoy a simple school life with a few close friends, with the occasional romantic comedy thrown in.

He was also chatting with Sakura on Line more and more often. Still, he alone wasn't enough to help Sakura truly step out of her own world.

He couldn't really call himself Sakura's true friend, either. After all, U Amakusa knew he had ulterior motives when it came to her.

At first, U Amakusa had only planned to coast along and take life as it came.

But every Chinese person had one deeply held conviction: since you're already here, you might as well.

Wouldn't it be a waste not to build a harem?

"Yoshi." Satonaka clapped his hands, as if to say they were done. "Want to play something? It's still early."

They'd had dinner, and the Advanced Nurturing dorms were all together in one huge building, with both boys and girls living there.

The only difference between the boys' and girls' dorms was which floors they were on.

"Sure, sure! What should we play?"

You're the most enthusiastic one here.

As soon as he heard they were going to play something, Naoki Shimizu reacted as if he'd been triggered. He scrambled over and took a seat beside the table.

"Anything's fine with me."

U Amakusa accepted their suggestions, set a few bottles of drinks on the table, then sat down to Naoki Shimizu's left.

He glanced at the drinks. Three of the bottles were sodas, and only one was barley tea. U Amakusa set the barley tea right in front of Sanada.

"Thanks."

Sanada thanked him quietly, pulled the tab with one hand, took a sip, and set the bottle back on the table.

The barley tea had been prepared for Sanada. After all, U Amakusa and the other two had similar tastes.

Though, maybe not entirely? Technically, they all liked soda, but they didn't all drink the same thing.

Naoki Shimizu drank Mitsuya Cider, while U Amakusa and Satoshi Satonaka both drank cola—one preferred Coke and the other Pepsi.

The two had even argued about it before. U Amakusa thought Coke was better, while Satoshi Satonaka preferred Pepsi.

Really, each had its own merits. One was fizzier, while the other was sweeter.

(An expert opinion from an author who's been drinking cola for years.)

"So, what are we playing? You suggested it, Satonaka. What do you want to play?" Naoki Shimizu said, unable to sit still.

Satoshi Satonaka scratched his head. "Uh, I haven't decided. I just thought that if we went back to our rooms, we'd end up lying around on our phones anyway, so we might as well play something together."

U Amakusa suggested, "Video games?"

Sanada asked in confusion, "A mobile game all four of us can play?"

"..."

Right. U Amakusa's room didn't have anything they could use to play a game together. All they had were their phones.

U Amakusa quickly waved his hands. "Never mind, then."

It wasn't that there weren't any games four people could play. But Sanada would clearly have to download one, since he didn't look like someone who was into games.

Just as the three of them were at a loss, Sanada spoke up.

"How about... Truth or Dare? I have some cards in my room. Some girls from our class played with them before and left them with me for the time being."

"Sure, sure," Naoki Shimizu agreed without hesitation.

Beside him, U Amakusa couldn't help rolling his eyes. You'd probably agree even if someone suggested playing 'shovel shit.'

"I'm fine with it, too."

Seeing that U Amakusa and Naoki Shimizu had both agreed, Satoshi Satonaka didn't want to turn it down. He genuinely couldn't think of anything else to play.

Part of the reason was U Amakusa. His room had a minimalist style, and there was hardly anything interesting in it.

If he had to name something, there was Orange.

"Meow~"

While Sanada went back to his room to get the Truth or Dare cards, Naoki Shimizu thought it over from every angle. Something about this didn't seem right.

"Why would a girl's stuff be at Sanada's place?"

Naoki Shimizu posed the question of the century.

But U Amakusa and Satoshi Satonaka weren't puzzled at all. They exchanged a glance and both smiled discreetly.

"?????"

U Amakusa shook his head and patted Naoki Shimizu on the shoulder.

"Remember what I told you before? Some things are better left unknown."

"Huh?"

Satoshi Satonaka spread his hands. "Take a look at us. Which one of us isn't handsome? If they leave their stuff with Sanada, they'll have an excuse to go see him again. It's obviously deliberate."

That might be true, but neither U Amakusa nor Satoshi Satonaka had ever had this happen to them.

Satoshi Satonaka was a little too set on keeping to himself and kept people at arm's length. Naturally, no one tried to get close to him.

And U Amakusa...

There was no need to say more.

"So, how should we decide who draws first?" Sanada placed the cards on the table and looked at the three of them.

"Let's play rock-paper-scissors. It's quick and easy."

"I agree."