Outdoor swimming pool.
Before the swimming test had officially begun, the boys of Class 1-D were already struggling to contain their restlessness. The girls had changed into swimsuits, and the air was thick with youthful energy, leaving the boys thoroughly excited.
The boys gathered in small groups. Some pretended to stretch while their eyes kept drifting toward the girls' line; splashing water, whistles, and rough horseplay filled the air.
Hasebe Haruka had come too. She wore a dark blue school jacket with the zipper pulled all the way up and the collar tightly fastened, wrapping her figure up completely.
She had claimed a corner at the very top of the bleachers well in advance. It was more than a dozen steps away from the boys' line and happened to fall into a blind spot beneath the shade canopy, making her hard to notice.
Airi Sakura quietly moved over and sat beside her, then handed her an unopened bottle of water. The two girls sat shoulder to shoulder against the backrest, speaking softly and keeping far away from everyone else.
Tatsuya Sakuya stood halfway down the boys' line, his peripheral vision falling on the top of the bleachers.
Up in the stands, Airi Sakura looked down. Once she spotted Sakuya among the crowd, she whispered something in Hasebe's ear, then waved at him.
Sakuya waved back before finally looking away.
"Hey, Yamauchi, up there."
Ike Kanji nudged Yamauchi Haruki beside him with his elbow and jerked his chin toward the stands. "Look over there. Hasebe actually came. It's scorching out, and she's wrapped up like a dumpling. Isn't she hot?"
Yamauchi narrowed his eyes and glanced upward, a lecherous grin curling his lips. "Wrapping up won't help. With her size, they're bigger than my head... No way she can hide them. Wonder who'll get to enjoy them someday."
Several boys around them gathered together and let out strange laughter.
Ike Kanji raised his voice. "Just talking is boring. I'll bet three thousand points that Hasebe is at least an F."
"I think she's probably a G."
"Then I'll put down five thousand on E!"
The moment the subject came up, the boys all got louder.
"Hey, how much did you bet?"
"I put down three thousand on G!"
"Then you'd better hope you still have spending money later."
"Who says I'm scared?"
Ike and Yamauchi were clearly taking advantage of the noisy, chaotic atmosphere in class and the setting of an outdoor swimming pool.
The girls had changed into swimsuits, lowering the usual social boundaries. Chabashira stood far away and was not paying much attention, so those two idiots thought they had found a lawless place where they could run their mouths without restraint.
Tatsuya Sakuya stood among the crowd, coldly watching the few people who were heckling without restraint. His gaze shifted toward Hasebe.
On the bleachers, Hasebe's fingers suddenly tightened. She had clearly caught wind of some of what they were saying.
The plastic water bottle in her hand crumpled under her grip. Her expression turned unpleasant, and she seemed ready to leave this troublesome place immediately.
Airi Sakura tightly grabbed her wrist. She said nothing, only shook her head desperately, her eyes full of anxiety and pleading.
Below the stands, Horikita Suzune was stretching before entering the water.
Ike Kanji and Yamauchi's voices carried over from behind her. She heard every word clearly.
Horikita did not turn around immediately.
She had never been one to meddle in other people's affairs, much less the kind of person who would rush forward as a champion of justice for the sake of so-called classmate bonds.
But as a girl, the instinctive disgust she felt upon hearing such brazenly vulgar remarks overwhelmed her rational judgment.
This ugly display of complete disorder was ruining what little class atmosphere Class 1-D had left.
She walked over to the group of boys.
"Ike. Yamauchi."
Horikita Suzune had no intention of being polite.
"Your words and conduct just now constituted public sexual harassment of female classmates. I will report everything truthfully to Chabashira, without leaving out a single word."
Seeing that they had been caught, Ike Kanji intended to muddy the waters. He immediately stuck out his neck and shouted, "Hey, hey, Horikita, we were just joking around. Do you really have to run off and tattle? You're being way too nosy!"
"Exactly."
Yamauchi gathered his courage and curled his lip.
"We didn't even name anyone. You're the one insisting on butting in. Why are you acting so high and mighty?"
Seeing this, several boys who enjoyed stirring up trouble let out scattered, mocking laughter.
Horikita Suzune clenched her fists at her sides.
If the school allowed students to fight, Horikita probably would have wanted to knock out the scoundrels in front of her right then.
She was clearly in the right, but these two shameless scoundrels did not care about threats to report them to a teacher. Moral persuasion meant nothing against people who refused to follow rules.
Most of the boys in Class 1-D had long been dissatisfied with her usual aloof manner, and now she had instead become the target of collective jeering.
The situation fell into an awkward deadlock.
Tatsuya Sakuya silently shook his head to himself.
Against scoundrels like Ike and Yamauchi, who had neither shame nor any concern for class order, simply threatening to tell a teacher would have no practical effect.
The only way was to crush them with absolute fear beyond their understanding.
A set of light footsteps broke the heavy silence.
Tatsuya Sakuya walked over and pulled Ike and Yamauchi aside.
"Ike, Yamauchi, cut it out."
There was a faint, gentle smile in his voice as he smoothly suppressed the jeering around them.
"When Horikita gets serious, you really can't handle her. If she says she'll report you, she definitely will. You know that, don't you?"
Ike Kanji opened his mouth to argue. "Report us if she wants. There's no evidence anyway, and Chabashira can't be bothered to—"
Before he could finish, Tatsuya Sakuya smoothly took over.
"Chabashira is indeed a small matter. At worst, she'd scold you a little. But listen carefully: her surname is Horikita. Horikita Suzune's Horikita."
"So what if she's Horikita? Is Horikita the greatest surname in the world? Hahaha?"
Ike and Yamauchi had no idea what he meant.
"The Student Council president's surname is Horikita too."
A pear blossom had drifted past your window—you had wandered into heaven by mistake.
Ike and Yamauchi's expressions changed, and they nervously swallowed.
They might not fear Chabashira, but if the Student Council president decided to make trouble for them behind the scenes, they would be in serious trouble.
If Horikita Suzune really went to complain to her brother, their good lives would probably be over.
"Horikita, we're sorry. We were wrong. We'll never do this kind of thing again. Please be the bigger person and don't hold it against us."
Ike and Yamauchi completely abandoned their earlier scoundrel-like attitudes and ran up to Horikita Suzune, apologizing again and again.
"I didn't know. I really didn't know your brother was the Student Council president. If we'd known, how could we have dared joke around with you?"
"We apologize to everyone. Every mistake was ours. We only ask that you be merciful and forgive us."
The two of them nearly dropped to their knees to beg for forgiveness.
At the back of the crowd, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka silently observed everything.
With the matter settled, Tatsuya Sakuya turned to return to the line.
However, Horikita Suzune did not move.
She had never told anyone about this matter.
She had enrolled because of her brother, and since entering the school, she had never exposed that relationship to anyone.
How did the person before her know?
"Shiba."
Horikita called out to stop him.
"What exactly did you do?"
Before you continue