In the scorching heat of August, the trees lining the school path stretched their lush branches outward, forming a natural canopy of shade. They wove a refreshing corridor for students passing through.

  Kanzaki Ryūji walked at the front, his expression dark with frustration as he led the students of Css B.

  Meanwhile, Uesugi Gen and the others deliberately gged behind, whispering among themselves while watching Kanzaki's back.

  "Uesugi, who do you think Kanzaki likes?"

  "It’s definitely someone from our css! He didn’t deny it yesterday!"

  "Which girl in our css is closest to Kanzaki?"

  …

  Walking ahead, Kanzaki Ryūji silently clenched his fists.

  You guys… Do you really think I can’t hear you from up here?

  He took a deep breath and suddenly turned around. "You guys are—"

  "Kanzaki, is something wrong?"

  Uesugi and the others stared back at him with innocent expressions, as if they hadn’t just been gossiping seconds ago.

  Don’t get mad, don’t get mad. Kanzaki Ryūji, you’re a member of an elite family—you have to maintain your composure.

  Forcing a stiff smile, he replied, "No, it’s nothing."

  The moment he turned back, another hushed conversation started up behind him.

  "Hey, so about—"

  …

  These guys are hopeless… Not only that—

  Kanzaki lifted his gaze to the sky, the blue so clear it was nearly transparent.

  Even the well-behaved students in their css had been corrupted by Uesugi. If this had happened at the beginning of the semester, those guys would’ve pretended they hadn’t heard anything and buried the topic.

  Yet in just a single semester, his cssmates had been turned into a bunch of gossiping busybodies.

  With that thought, Kanzaki sighed in resignation and quickened his pace, hoping a swim would help everyone forget about this.

  ---

  Miss Horikita was, as usual, diligently studying in her room.

  Unfortunately, a phone call interrupted her study session.

  "You’re inviting me to go swimming?"

  Horikita Suzune frowned as she spoke.

  She couldn’t understand it. The woman on the other end of the call had made it abundantly clear that she disliked her. And yet, she was inviting her to go swimming as if nothing had ever happened.

  "That’s right! It’s the st day of summer vacation, so everyone wants to enjoy it properly!"

  Kushida Kikyo’s sweet voice came through the phone.

  Horikita gnced at the unfinished book on her desk and decisively replied, "I refuse."

  Then, without hesitation, she hung up.

  She looked outside at the leaves bathed in golden sunlight, then back at the water bottle on her desk.

  In this kind of heat, knowing him, he’s probably staying in his room all day, just like me.

  With that thought, Horikita picked up her phone, scrolled through her screen, and tapped to check Uesugi’s location…

  ---

  Unlike Horikita Suzune—

  As the leader of Css C and an unrepentant delinquent, Ryūen Kakeru never spent his breaks studying. Instead, he spent his days scking off, hands in his pockets, loitering around.

  From morning till night, you could find him in KTV lounges, pool halls—anywhere befitting his delinquent image.

  Of course, he hadn’t forgotten his top priority: finding a chance to beat the hell out of Uesugi as payback for the time he got pyed.

  The problem was that his target was practically a shut-in. No matter how long Ryūen lurked in the shadows waiting, he had no guarantee of ever catching Uesugi alone.

  But then—an opportunity presented itself.

  He had successfully added Uesugi as a friend.

  There were certain times when Uesugi left his location settings open, meaning Ryūen could track his movements.

  Yet, this hadn’t been useful at all. Uesugi rarely went anywhere alone, making it difficult to catch him off guard.

  Still, Ryūen was nothing if not persistent. Whenever he had nothing to do, he’d pull out his phone and check Uesugi’s location.

  Today, as usual, he absentmindedly took out his phone and checked.

  Huh? This direction… The swimming pool?

  Staring at the map marker, Ryūen’s lips curled into a grin.

  "That bastard really knows how to enjoy himself."

  Driven to boredom these past few days, Ryūen turned to his underlings and ordered, "Grab your swim trunks—we’re going swimming!"

  ---

  "You’re saying… he’s headed to the pool?"

  "Judging by his direction, I don’t think there’s any doubt."

  Sakayanagi Arisu didn’t look pleased after hearing Kamuro Masumi’s report.

  Over the past few days, she had sent Uesugi several invitations for a rematch in chess.

  And his responses?

  "I’m busy saving the world…""A friend of mine fell for someone, so I need to check on their progress…""I forgot to turn off the gas at home…"And worst of all— Read and ignored.

  "My, my, Uesugi-kun… You’d rather go swimming than py chess with me?"

  Sakayanagi smiled pyfully.

  "Let’s go, Masumi. I want to see what excuse he’ll come up with this time."

  "…"

  Kamuro Masumi pressed her fingers against her forehead in exasperation.

  This girl seriously has issues.

  ---

  "We should be almost there. Hurry up! We’ve already wasted enough time on the way."

  As the group neared their destination, a refreshing coolness swept over them, stirring excitement in their hearts.

  "Rex, the pool is huge. There’s plenty of room for us—uh…"

  Uesugi came to a halt.

  At the entrance of the swimming pool, students from all four first-year csses had gathered.

  "Oh, you guys are here to swim too?"

  The four first-year csses had all arrived at the pool at the same time.

  Ryūen gnced at the rge group of forty-plus students behind Uesugi, then at the scattered few following him.

  Yeah… Maybe I’ll hold off on ambushing him today.

  Not only that—he also needed to be wary of Uesugi pulling the same trick as st time and turning the tables on him.

  "Hah? What are you trying to say, Vice President? Our css isn’t allowed to swim?"

  Having been ghosted by Uesugi for several days, Sakayanagi had no intention of being friendly. She immediately went on the offensive.

  "You—wait, Sakayanagi, you’re swimming?"

  Uesugi gnced at her cane.

  "If you fall in, don’t expect me to save you."

  "How heartless. Unlike you, Uesugi-kun, if you were the one drowning, I’d at least consider saving you—if you begged."

  Sakayanagi shot back with a sharp retort.

  Ignoring her, Uesugi turned to the st remaining css and smiled.

  "Horikita, you’re here to swim too?"

  "Even bookworms need to exercise sometimes."

  Horikita brushed back her bangs and averted her gaze.

  Finally—

  Uesugi voiced the one question that was on his mind.

  "So… did the three of you actually pn this together?"

  Horikita Suzune: "…"Ryūen Kakeru: "…"Sakayanagi Arisu: "…"

  ---

  T/N: LMAO