ight now, I should be hearing the sound of the shutter being pressed rapidly!

"Muttsulini? Oh, he's over there replenishing his blood."

"..I see, no wonder he's so silent.."

Muttsulini doesn't even have the time to take photos. That figure of him desperately replenishing his own blood is too agonizing.

☆

After playing for a while, Yuuji and I leave the pool to rest on the bench beside the pool. Of course, we naturally ended up looking at our friends who're playing in the pool.

"I say, Yuuji.."

What is it?"

PAM! The loud sound of the beachball hitting the surface can be heard.

"Maybe I'm thinking too much.."

"Ahh."

BAM! And the forceful sound of the ball being hit can be heard.

"Those two..are supposed to be playing water volleyball. Why is the atmosphere around them so precarious?"

"Don't worry, I'm thinking the same thing as well."

"I won't lose, Minami-chan!"

"Just what I wanted, Mizuki! You can't beat me in sports!"

With spirit that looks like it's going to break the ball in half, Himeji-san and Minami continue to launch attacks at each other. They seem to be pretty friendly just now, and for some reason, it ended up like this.

"Oh yeah, Akihisa."

"Hm? What is it?"

"What about the movie ticket I gave you?"

He's talking about that right? Because I forced Yuuji and Kirishima-san to take part in the wedding experience, he specially gave me the movie ticket as a gift, right? I remember that thing is—

"Because Himeji-san and Minami seemed like they wanted it, I just gave it to them."

"..Can't be wrong now. That's the reason."

"Eh? What is it?"

"The loser will have to give it up. Don't forget!"

"I won't forget! If Minami-chan loses, she can't break the agreement!"

"You too!"

Ahh, they seem to have used something as a bet, which explains why they're so into this match. Forget about Minami, I'm shocked that even Himeji-san's so enthusiastic about it.

"Ahh..Himeji and Shimada..the match between them looks interesting. Which side has the advantage?"

Maybe Hideyoshi's tired as he left the pool and joins us on the bench. The sight of him scratching his head is ridiculously bewitching for some reason..

"Himeji has the advantage right now."

"Hm? I find this unexpected. If it's ball sports movement, Shimada's at the advantage."

"That may be so if it's a 1v1 match."

While saying that, Yuuji lifts his chin and points to their bases.

Himeji-san as Kirishima-san helping her, and beside Minami, the girl called Miharu (?) is chasing the ball around.

"I see. That Kirishima's sporting ability's rather good. She sure is impressive to be able to take on Shimada like that."

The difference in ability between Himeji-san and Minami is apparent, but the winner isn't decided by this. It's because Himeji-san's partner—Kirishima-san is really good. She skillfully hit the ball into places where Minami can't reach, allowing for easy points.

"Speaking of which, Shimada's partner isn't moving very naturally. I find that she's deliberately allowing them to win."

"Ah, so Hideyoshi feels the same way?"

On the other hand, Minami's partner been making mistakes one after another. The serves are all awry, and either she missed her receives or she smacked them out of bounce. Looking at her pose and movements, she should be rather skilled in that.

"Miharu! You must be letting them win, right!?"

"Of course not, onee-sama! Miharu is seriously (letting them win) playing! It's pointless to go on a date with that kind of thing at all!"

"So you deliberately became my partner just to make me lose.."

"Onee-sama! The ball's coming here!"

"Eh? Damn it! You should have said so earlier!"

Just as Minami's team is squabbling for some reason, the ball the Himeji-san served silently landed on Minami's side.

"Okay, it's 15 points now. First set goes to rep and Himeji-san's team!"

The referee Kudou-san raises her hand to declare the winning team of the first round.

"First round?"

"I guess it's a 3 set match. Can't probably be all the way till 5."

"That's the case."

Though it's a game, they're really serious about it, even remembering to change sides.

"Onee-chan, do your best!"

Hazuki-chan's innocently cheering for her older sister, almost forgetting that there's an ominous atmosphere here.

"And the 2nd set will now begin. The one serving this time is Shimada-san's side, right?"

Kudou tosses the ball at Minami, who picks up the ball and passes it to her partner.

"Ok, so the 2nd set begins now!"

"Ahh! My hand slipped!"

The moment Kudou-san said that, the beachball that was thrown into mid-air got tossed behind for some reason.

"Ok, Love 1."

Kudou-san picks up the ball that hit the wall and bounced back, and tosses it at Minami's side.

"If the partner is like that, Shimada won't have a chance of winning."

Yuuji said this as he sees the situation.

"Ya, no matter how good Minami is, she can't win on her own."

"According to how I see it, this match is decided."

Me and Hideyoshi agree with Yuuji's view. If Minami's partner can be a bit more focused, that won't be much of a problem. But it seems like she doesn't intend to win at all.

"Miharu! The next time you serve, do it with all you got!"

"Tha, that's too much, onee-sama! Miharu's doing her best for onee-sama, how can onee-sama suspect my hard work!?"

"No need to put up such a lousy act! Listen up Miharu! This is my final warning!"

"Please believe me, onee-sama! Miharu won't lie to onee-sama at all!"

"Listen up! I'll give my final ultimatum! If you still won't get serious—"

"That's why I say that Miharu's been serious in this."

"—From tomorrow onwards, I'll call Miharu 'Shimizu-san'."

".."

"Oi, did you see that serve just now? That was a 12-6 curveball!"

"I'm stunned. What in the world did she do for this high-difficulty technique!?"

"Even Shouko couldn't reach that ball.."

"Sorry onee-sama! Miharu lied to you!"

"Don't worry, Miharu! We'll continue to be best friends!"

Both of them hug each other tightly.

What's going on? For some reason, they seem to be having some sort of a drama skit.

"But seeing how things are doing, the situation has reversed."

"Ya. Though it's pitiful to say this, I say that Himeji isn't really good at sports."

Ah, another 1st strike. That partner of Minami is a whole lot different from before. Even her expression is full of killing intent.

"Sigh, Himeji's really pitiful. The rare chance got lost like that."

Beside me, Yuuji muttered to himself.

PA! At this moment, the sound of something bursting can be heard as it deafens the entire pool.

"Woah, that's a powerful hit. That girl actually burst the beachball."

"Eh? Was that the sound of the ball being burst?"

"Ya, the moment Shimada's partner served the ball, I saw the ball explode."

I turn to look at the pool. There seems to be what's left of the ball flowing on the water. What sort of power did that girl use to play..

"Ah! Sorry, Miharu seemed to have used too much force. I'll go find another ball; onee-sama and the rest, please rest first."

After saying that, the girl who's Minami's partner walks out of the pool. She's probably going to the pool store.

"..I'm a bit tired."

"You're right. Let's rest while she finds another ball."

The girls who were playing volleyball in the pool came up to rest. I warn myself not to be too attracted by their swimsuits as I ask Himeji-san,

"You people worked hard. Everyone was so serious, even we found that interesting."

"Ah, yes, thank you for your praise. I feel really happy to be able to play with everyone."

"Haha, that's good to hear."

Hearing her say this, at least our punishment from Ironman is worth it.

"Oh yeah. Why could Akihisa-kun borrow this pool?"

Himeji-san lowers her chin and asked. That's right, it seems like I never told her why.

"Well, a lot of things happened, so we're in charge of cleaning the pool. The benefit is that we get to use the pool for the entire day."

Of course, I can't just honestly tell her that Ironman punished us.

"Eh? You have to clean? The whole pool?"

"Yup. But it's not just me. Yuuji, Hideyoshi and Muttsulini will be helping as well."

Speaking of which, to be able to spend such a happy time together, cleaning the pool isn't much at all.

"Cleaning the pool? I'll help out as well."

Of course, Himeji-san naturally raises her hand. Such a good girl.

"Thanks, but as for cleaning, the four of us should be enough. And we only prepared four people's worth of cleaning tools."

I'm really grateful that you have such intentions, but leave the menial work of cleaning the pool to us.

And if I have to say it, it's thanks to you two that Muttsulini agreed to help. In other words, you two helped us quite a lot.

"Well.."

"Uu~it can't be helped that you don't have any cleaning equipment."

"Ah, I know! If that's the case.."

Himeji-san suddenly looks like she has a great idea. 'THOMP!', at that moment, Yuuji, Muttsulini, Hideyoshi and me all realize instinctively. Is she trying to..

"Because there was a slight failure, there's not enough for everyone to eat. I didn't want to say it—"

Himeji-san smiles sweetly as she says,

"—Actually, I made 3 chiffon cakes this morn.."

"ROUND ONE!!!" (Yuuji)

"THE BATTLE OF THE FASTEST!!!" (Me)

"FIGHT IT OUT, SWIMMING RACE!!!" (Yuuji and me)

""YEAH!!!"" (Hideyoshi and Muttsulini)

Before Himeji-san could complete her sentence, we shouted the code.

The girls seem like they couldn't catch up to the current developments as they all look shocked.

"Explain the rules, Akihisa!"

"OK! The rules are simple. Swim one lap in the pool. The first one to reach the end wins. It's a very ordinary swimming race!"

That's right. This is really an ordinary swimming race. It's basically about seeing who's the fastest.

However, the winner and everyone else have to face different outcomes. Why? Do you ask? That's because Himeji-san made 3 chiffon cakes, and there's only 4 of us. In other words, there can only be one person who'll remain alive. Whether it's 2nd or 3rd place, there's no difference in the disaster that awaits us.

"Baka onii-chan, what's with you? Hazuki is shocked that onii-chan suddenly wants a swimming race."

"Hazuki-chan, listen. Sometimes, men have to bet on something important."

"Wah~ onii-chan's so cool. You're betting on your pride, right?"

Nope, we're betting on our lives.

"I don't know what's going on, but a battle to see who's the fastest between 4 of you seems interesting."

"Ya, in terms of physique, Sakamoto-kun should be the best.."

"..But in terms of speed, Yoshii and Tsuchiya aren't too far apart."

We can hear them whispering to each other. To us, it doesn't matter who wins, the most important thing is whether we can safely live to see the next day.

"Heh~ seems interesting. I'll be your umpire then."

After Kudou-san said this, she stands up and moves towards the umpire's place at the end point. The school's pool is 25m long. In other words, this means that this is a 50m race.

With burning will, we get away. Yuuji's standing to my right, and Hideyoshi's on my left.

"Ok. We're about to start. Contestants ready—"

Kudou-san shouted loudly.

While getting into position, my mind starts to move.

Muttsulini's normally a strong opponent, but he's rather weak now because he lost a lot of blood, so he isn't much of a threat. Hideyoshi isn't weak, but in terms of atheleticism, I won't lose to him.

"GET READY~~"

There's only one person who can survive. Muttsulini's extremely weak now, so he won't pose much of a threat. I should be able to handle Hideyoshi as well. Thus, I only have one enemy—

"—START!"

""GO TO HELL!!!"

The moment Kudou-san shouted out, Yuuji and I exchange glances with each other leap fiercely at each other.

"Damn it, so Yuuji's thinking the same thing as me?"

He actually jumped at me instead of into the water. How evil is that guy!

"Aren't you doing such a despicable thing as well! You shameless bastard!"

"I can say the same to you!!"

I get into position again and jump at Yuuji.

Since the leap wasn't as effective as what I expected, I can only rely on my fists if I want to make Yuuji shut up! Both of us are wearing trunks, so neither judo nor akido can work. In this short distance, if I can control the platform, I can gain victory..

"Onee-chan, onii-chan wanted to have a race. Why aren't they jumping into the water?"

"Hazuki, you can't look at them. Idiocy can spread!"

I seem to hear such a disrespectful conversation.

"I say, you two, you can continue to fight all you want, but Kinosheeta-san and Muttsulini-san are almost back!"

Matching Yuuji's movements, I intended to launch my killer blow, but the referee just said something really unsatisfying.

"Oi, Akihisa! Muttsulini and Hideyoshi seem to be coming back already!"

"Ya! Now's not the time to fight with Yuuji."

For some reason, I got engrossed in my fight with Yuuji. Let me see, Hideyoshi and Muttsulini are—

WAH! WHY ARE THEY ONLY 20M AWAY!

"Yuuji! We'll lose if this keeps up!"

"How can we allow them to do what they want! I'll stop Muttsulini! Akihisa, stop Hideyoshi!"

"Got it! Let's have a ceasefire for now!"

Yuuji and I jump into Muttsulini and Hideyoshi's lanes respectively. Since it ended up like this, even if I have to use despicable moves, I have to stop you from reaching the end point!

I frantically swim towards the halfway mark, and I see Hideyoshi swimming back at me. No matter what, I have to stop you here!

"Wha, what going on, Akihisa? Your lane should be the other one, right?"

"No way, Hideyoshi! I won't let you get past me here!"

My limbs tangle up Hideyoshi, who intends to swim past me. Uu! It's not easy to hold down someone in the water..

"Akihisa, let go of me!"

Hideyoshi continue to struggle as he moves forward. Damn it, I can't hold him up for long!

"DON'T YOU DARE GET AAWWWAAAAYYYYY!!!!"

Even so, I continue to hold onto Hideyoshi. No matter what, if there's any part that I can grab—

—loosen!

Suddenly, the thing I'm grabbing onto loses all resistance.

"..What's going on?"

I stood up straight in the water and confirm the thing that's left in my hand. What's this? This looks like something really important.

"Ah, Akihisa-kun! What are you doing!?"

"Eh?"

"That thing! That thing in your hand!"

Himeji-san turns pale as she points at my hand.

This is, this—

"Ahhahahm this looks somewhat similar to Hideyoshi's swimwear."

"Humm? Why do I feel that it's chilly in front of my chest.."

Seemingly realizing that something's wrong, Hideyoshi stood up from the water.

Seeing Hideyoshi like this, I seem to realize something fatal. That's strange, I seem to have seen a large piece of naked back? Did I—JUST PULL DOWN HIDEYOSHI'S VEST?

"..Even if I die, I have no regrets!"

On the other lane, I seem to hear Muttsulini mutter this.

A while later, the water's dyed red.

"Eh? Is this Hideyoshi's swimsuit? Soo, soo, soo, sooorryy! I swear to god that I never saw anything!"

"Hold on a minute, Akihisa! I'm a guy! Why are you panicking?"

"Woah! Muttsulini! Are you alright!? This amount of blood loss isn't good!"

"..It doesn't matter, this is my one hope.."

"Aahhh!! Muttsulini isn't doing well now! His nosebleed is ever violent now!"

"Ki, Kinosheeta! Cover your chest first! Tsuchiya's blood won't stop flowing!"

"Uuu, I don't want! I'm a guy! Why must I cover my chest!"

"Kinosheeta-kun! Now's not the time to be so stubborn! Tsuchiya-kun will really die if this keeps up!"

"..Aiko, can you call an ambulance?"

"Okay~ class F people are really interesting."

"Baka onii-chan and company are always so happy. Hazuki's really envious!"

"Onee-sama, I love you.."

In the end, though Muttsulini was on the verge of death, with the emergency help of us and the paramedics, we finally managed to save his life.

☆

It's another Monday morning.

"..Yoshii, Sakamoto. I got something I want to ask you about."

Without even greeting us this moment, Ironman called us out with a blow voice.

"I refuse."

"I have the right to remain silent."

Facing Ironman, both Yuuji and me show a pose of refusal.

On getting this response, Ironman trembles violently.

"..Why—"

Finally managing to say these words, Ironman suddenly inhales deeply.

"—WHY IS IT THAT WHEN I ASKED YOU TO CLEAN THE POOL, THE POOL GOT DYED RED!? SEEMS LIKE YOU WON'T LEARN IF I DON'T GIVE YOU TWO SOME PUNCHES! COME EXPLAIN CLEARLY IN THE COUNSELLING ROOM!"

The loud bellowing voice of Ironman seem to rumble the entire classroom.

"WHAT KIND OF JOKE IS THAT, TO HEAR YOU LECTURE US!? IT'S THANKS TO US BEING AROUND THAT NOBODY DIED. I EVEN WANTED TO ASK YOU FOR SOME CREDIT!"

"THAT'S RIGHT, THE SITUATION THEN WAS REALLY DISASTROUS!"

"SHUT UP! I DON'T UNDERSTAND A SINGLE BIT OF YOUR JAPANESE! IT'S BETTER TO SETTLE THIS WITH FISTS!"

"DAMN IT, THIS TEACHER! AKIHISA, RUN!"

"GOT IT!"

"THIS WON'T BE SETTLED BY WRITING A REFLECTION OR CLEANING THE POOL, YOU TWO!"

After a moment of resistance, it's all futile. In the end, Yuuji and I got caught.

While we're being beaten up, we roughly explain the event over again. Ironman sighs reluctantly—

"..It seems like Kinosheeta can't bathe together with everyone else the next time when we have our training camp. Got to let him have his own personal bathroom.."

Ironman muttered.