My Swimsuit? Dream On!

Inside the school building, in the hallway.

Arisu and Sae stood face to face. The latter asked with confusion, "Is there something you need from me?"

"I'm here to help you!"

"Help me? I don't think there's anything a first-year could help me with."

Sae stood with her hands on her hips, looking quite dismissive.

In contrast, Arisu looked completely composed, as if she had Sae exactly where she wanted her.

"I'm here to help you avoid being expelled by Kato Satsu, and perhaps even get him expelled instead."

Upon hearing this, Sae's expression shifted, but she quickly forced herself to remain calm. "I don't understand why he would want me expelled. Kuraku and Matsuyama brought that fate upon themselves by provoking him."

"Just as Kuraku was being expelled, he and Kato Satsu reached a secret agreement."

Arisu spoke unhurriedly, each of her words landing like a heavy hammer, striking blow after blow against Sae's heart.

"Kuraku handed over all his points to Satsu. In return, Satsu was tasked with ensuring both you and Matsuyama were expelled."

"Your homeroom teacher was present when they made this deal. If you go and ask, you'll naturally find out if it's true."

Hearing this, Sae leaned weakly against the wall. Her pupils flickered; she was clearly shaken.

Seeing Sae in this state, Arisu realized her words were having an extraordinary effect, so she quickened her pace and deepened her tone.

"If you do as I say, not only will you avoid the danger of expulsion, but you can also reclaim the points Kuraku and Matsuyama lost to Satsu."

"Why don't you consider it?"

Sae didn't answer immediately. She stared at Arisu in shock, her earlier disdain completely vanished.

Being able to uncover this meant the girl had some real methods at her disposal—at the very least, she was stronger than herself.

"What is your plan?"

Seeing that the target had finally taken the bait, Arisu smiled slightly and slowly laid out her plan.

Knowing the full scope of the plan, Sae was left dumbfounded.

Forget disdain; Sae even began to feel a sense of fear toward the petite girl before her. She instinctively felt that she must never make an enemy of her, or she wouldn't even know how she died.

After a long silence, Sae finally asked in a stutter, "O-one last question. Why help me?"

"You could carry out this plan yourself. Wouldn't it be better if you took those points for yourself?"

At this, Arisu's expression changed, revealing a sweet smile. The previous sense of cunning had completely vanished.

"Originally... I was planning to do it myself once the business in the class was settled."

"But clearly, someone couldn't wait that long. There was no helping it, so I decided to do a good deed."

Arisu slowly turned to leave. The crisp "tap-tap" of her cane hitting the floor seemed to sync strangely with Sae's heartbeat.

"Alright, let's begin this performance."

After leaving those words behind with a casual air, Arisu's figure finally disappeared at the end of the hallway.

On the other side, the competition in the swimming class had already begun. The teacher had generously put up 5,000 points as a prize for the winner.

"Are you really okay with forfeiting, Satsu?"

In the spectator stands, Hasebe looked at Satsu, who was sitting beside her, and asked.

"Why would I compete? A disabled guy like me definitely can't win. Just look at the muscles on Sudo and Koenji."

"And speaking of which... could you please put your shirt on!"

Hasebe quickly covered her eyes with her hands. Satsu just laughed heartily. "What's wrong? I'm in swimming class; what's the problem with dressing like this?"

"Pervert!"

Seeing Satsu acting like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water, Hasebe simply closed her eyes and turned her head away.

"Hahaha."

"Hey~ do you want to bet that I can go get the contact information of that girl sitting over there?" Satsu changed the subject.

Hasebe opened her eyes slightly and glanced at the person Satsu was secretly pointing at, then replied in an indifferent tone, "Go ahead if you want to. What does that have to do with me?"

"But don't say I didn't warn you. Sakura is famous for being bad with words. I suggest you pick a different target."

"Lest you get a cold shoulder~"

Seeing the plot unfolding exactly as she had imagined, the corners of Satsu's mouth were visibly struggling to hold back a smile.

"No! Can't laugh yet!" (Kato Satsu)

"Next, I just need to say that line!" (Kato Satsu)

"How about a bet? If I get it, we go to the swimming pool together this weekend. If I don't, you can do whatever you want."

"I refuse!"

Satsu spoke with confidence, and Hasebe replied without a moment's hesitation.

"The dagger is revealed at the end of the map, isn't it? You still want to see me in a swimsuit! Not a chance. Why on earth would I bet with you?"

Kato Satsu was stunned; how was this girl not following the script?

"At this point, you're supposed to show disdain, express disbelief, and then accept the bet."

"And finally, it should end with my beautiful victory!"

Kato Satsu clutched his head in his hands, his tone filled with regret. If he had known, he would have tried a different approach.

"You've been reading too many novels!" Hasebe retorted mercilessly.

"Are you that confident? Aside from Kikyo, I really don't know anyone else in class who has Sakura's contact information."

"Might as well give it a try. By the way, are you really not considering this bet?" Kato Satsu asked, refusing to give up.

"See me in a swimsuit? Keep dreaming!"

Hearing this answer, Kato Satsu finally gave up on the idea of seeing her in a swimsuit through a bet.

However, he still had to try and get Airi's contact information. After all, to complete his character collection plan, Sakura Airi was indispensable.

For some reason, Kato Satsu felt inexplicably nervous. Perhaps it was because he knew that if he messed up this first conversation, things would be even harder to handle later.

Airi's shyness far exceeded Kato Satsu's imagination.

The moment he stepped in front of Airi, she turned her head away, looking terrified, as if he were about to devour her.

Faced with this situation, Kato Satsu didn't choose to start with a conventional greeting. Even if he had mind-reading abilities and could pick up on any topic, it wouldn't matter if the other person wouldn't speak.

"I've seen your blog~ It's very cute, Shizuku."

In an instant, Airi looked at Kato Satsu in disbelief, then timidly asked, "Can you... not tell anyone else?"

"Of course, if you're willing to exchange contact information with me."

As he spoke, Kato Satsu smiled and held out his phone.

Airi slowly reached out, but didn't take it immediately. She looked at Kato Satsu's phone with a complex expression.

"It's just to be friends. You don't want this matter to be known by others, do you?"

"I've wanted to say that line for so long. I feel like I'm in a Japanese adult film!" (Kato Satsu)

Finally, Airi bit her lower lip, closed her eyes helplessly, and took Kato Satsu's phone.

Her eyes welled up with tears, making Kato Satsu feel as if he had committed a crime.

"Hey! We aren't actually filming a Japanese adult film!" (Kato Satsu)

This scene left Hasebe, who was watching from the side, dumbfounded. It was that simple? But why did Sakura look like she had been bullied?

That night, Kato Satsu lay in bed, thinking about what kind of message he should send to Airi.

"If I don't think carefully about this first sentence, it might really turn into a Japanese adult film." (Kato Satsu)

Suddenly, his phone chimed. He looked down and saw a message from Arisu.

"You still owe me a perfect dinner, Kato-kun."

Seeing this, Kato Satsu's fingers quickly typed two characters on the screen.

"Of course!"