The boys are completely spellbound. Ike stares at Tal with an expression of pure awe. He looks like he just heard the voice of a god.
"Holy crap," Yamauchi whispers. "He's a genius."
"The Hidden Treasure theory…" Sotomura mutters, frantically typing new variables into his tablet. "I must recalculate the hidden potential metric immediately!"
Tal slowly stands back up and looks extremely satisfied with the absolute chaos he just injected into their brains. He turns his head and catches my eye. He points a finger right at my chest.
"See?" Tal says aloud, his voice returning to a normal volume. "I told you this is how to act like a normal high school boy. Do you get it now, Ayanokouji?"
I stare at him for a moment. I analyze the sheer absurdity of the fake physiological analysis he just fed them. He weaponized their puberty to make them accept him. It is brilliant.
"I did," I reply in a flat, even tone. "I understand perfectly."
It makes total sense. If you speak their specific language of degenerate gambling with absolute conviction, you become their leader.
"Good," Tal laughs, clapping me on the shoulder.
"I'll join too," I say, looking at Sotomura. "I'll bet on Hasebe."
"A safe, cowardly choice, but acceptable!" Sotomura nods, taking my entry fee.
"I'm telling you guys, my money's on Sakura," Yamauchi suddenly chimes in, trying to reclaim some of the spotlight Tal just stole.
Sakura Airi is a quiet, incredibly plain girl who wears glasses and shrinks away from any social contact. I honestly do not know much about her at all.
Yamauchi looks around nervously, then taps Ike and Sotomura on the shoulders. He lowers his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "I'm only telling you guys about this. The truth is, I actually confessed to Sakura."
"What?!" Ike violently recoils. He looks more panicked than surprised. "S-seriously?!"
Getting a girlfriend first is Ike's ultimate life goal. The thought of Yamauchi beating him to the finish line visibly damages his soul.
"Yeah, seriously," Yamauchi nods smugly. "Keep it on the down low, okay? I thought she was really plain at first, but then I saw her outside of class. She is huge, man. Total sleeper build."
Tal snorts loudly, crossing his arms again. "You did not confess to her, Yamauchi."
Yamauchi flinches. "What? Yes I did!"
"No, you didn't," Tal says, a wide grin spreading across his face. "I can picture exactly what happened. You probably walked up to her, stared at her shoes for thirty seconds, stuttered out something about the weather, and then ran away sweating. You call that a confession? That's a tactical retreat."
Ike bursts into a loud, obnoxious bark of laughter. He points a finger at Yamauchi's turning red face. "He got you! That is exactly what you did, you coward!"
"Shut up, Ike! At least I talked to a girl!" Yamauchi defends himself weakly, but the tension is completely broken.
I watch the dynamic unfold. Tal blends in perfectly. The conversation flows around him. Within less than five minutes, he completely erased his previous title.
Nobody is looking at him like the broke madman who blew his allowance anymore. He is just another guy in the circle, trading insults and spinning wild theories about the girls.
"All right! The pool!"
After lunch ends, the moment Ike and the others have been waiting for finally arrives. Without trying to hide his excitement, Ike leaps up from his desk and practically sprints out the door toward the indoor athletic facility.
Tal grabs his towel and falls into step right beside him, chatting loudly about the aerodynamic drag of school swimsuits.
I follow behind them, keeping a quiet, steady pace.
We reach the boys' locker room. The air inside smells heavily of chlorine and cheap deodorant. The tile floor feels cold and damp beneath my bare feet.
Sudou promptly rips his uniform shirt off and starts changing. He built up his body through years of playing competitive basketball. Even compared to the upperclassmen, he is in incredible shape.
While Ike and Yamauchi try to awkwardly wrap themselves in bath towels to change their underwear, Sudou stands right in the middle. He strips down completely unabashed, holding his swim trunks in his hand.
I pull my shirt over my head.
"Sudou, you're pretty bold," I say casually. "Aren't you nervous being around other people?"
"In sports, you can't get flustered every time you have to change," Sudou scoffs, pulling his trunks up. "If you act all shifty, it has the opposite effect. You just become the center of attention."
"He's right," Tal says from the next locker over. He pulls his uniform pants off. "If you try to hide, you look like a creep. Just own it. Besides, Sudou has an eight-pack. If I had those abs, I wouldn't wear a shirt to math class."
Sudou actually smirks at the compliment. "Damn right. I'm going on ahead." He grabs his towel and walks out of the locker room with the confidence of a gladiator.
Ike nervously tugs at the waistband of his swim trunks. He looks pale.
"Hey, Ayanokouji. Taru," Ike whispers, his voice trembling slightly. "What am I gonna do if I get a boner out there?"
Tal pauses, holding his goggles in his hand. He looks at Ike with total deadpan seriousness.
"If that happens, Ike, you must immediately drop to the floor and pretend you are having a severe leg cramp," Tal advises. "Scream loudly. Roll into a ball. The pain will distract the girls from your lower half, and the coach will carry you away to safety. It is the only honorable exit strategy."
Ike nods rapidly, absorbing the terrible advice like it is gospel. "Right. Leg cramp. Scream loudly. I can do that."
I quickly finish changing and grab my towel. I really hope Ike does not actually start screaming on the pool deck.
We walk out through the heavy plastic flaps and step into the main pool area. The sheer scale of the facility is impressive. A massive, Olympic-sized fifty-meter pool stretches out in front of us.
The water is a brilliant, crystal clear blue. Because the entire structure is indoors, the climate is perfectly controlled. The humidity hits my skin immediately.
"Whoa, this school is something else!" Ike cries out, his voice echoing off the high, curved ceiling. "It's way better than the city pool!"
He immediately starts looking around, sniffing the air like a hunting dog trying to catch a scent.
"What about the girls? Aren't they here yet?" Ike asks frantically.
"They take a while to change," I point out. "They're probably not ready."
Ike groans, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "Hey, I wonder what would happen if I just suddenly jumped into the girls' locker room?"
"They'd gang up on you, beat the crap out of you, and file criminal charges," I answer, giving him a realistic timeline of events.
"Don't give me such a deadpan answer and ruin my fantasy!" Ike whines.
Tal chuckles, stretching his arms over his head. "Ayanokouji is right. You wouldn't survive the breach. Horikita would probably drown you in a sink before you even saw anything."
A few minutes pass. The boys stand near the edge of the water and shiver slightly in the cool air conditioning.
"Wow! It's so spacious!"
A high, cheerful voice echoes through the cavernous room.
"A-are they here?!" Ike gasps, dropping into a slight crouch like he is preparing to ambush someone.
I scan the pool deck. There is no one walking out of the locker room doors. I look toward the shallow end. Empty.
"Hasebe isn't here! Wh-what's going on, Professor?!" Ike yells in a panic.
Sotomura stands a few meters away. He whips his head around, his glasses nearly flying off his face. He scans the entire ground floor. Nothing. His beady eyes widen in absolute horror. He looks left. He looks right.
"I cannot locate the targets!" Sotomura cries out.
Could they still be changing? Or could they have taken a different exit?
"B-behind you, Professor!" Ike suddenly points up.
I follow his finger.
The situation becomes immediately clear. A wide observation deck wraps around the second floor of the gymnasium, overlooking the pool. Standing right at the glass railing, looking directly down at us, is Hasebe Haruka.
One by one, the rest of the girls emerge onto the second-floor deck. Sakura is standing near the back, hugging a towel tightly to her chest. They are all wearing their standard, navy blue school swimsuits.
They are forty feet in the air.
"Wh-what's going on? How did this happen?" Ike collapses onto his knees. He buries his face in his hands, completely broken by this cruel twist of fate.
Hasebe seems highly self-conscious about her chest size. She clearly dislikes getting nasty, curious looks from the boys. She stares down at the group of us standing on the deck.
Even from this distance, her expression of absolute disgust is perfectly legible. She crosses her arms under her chest, amplifying the exact asset Ike wanted to see, while simultaneously denying him the angle.