6.7
When it was almost closing time, Ichinose proposed that we head back before the crowds got worse. We all agreed. While everyone got changed, I slipped away and waited for my visitor by the pool.
“Ah, I’m so drained,” I muttered.
Soon Karuizawa appeared, slapping my back as she walked up behind me.
“Good work. How’d it go?” I asked.
“It’s just like you said. Honestly repulsive,” she replied.
“Come on, don’t say that. It’s just youth run amok, right?”
Karuizawa gestured as though she was going to vomit, then scanned her surroundings.
“How was it? Being at the pool, I mean,” I asked.
“Whatever. I don’t feel much of anything, but…” Karuizawa looked around once more, as if worried about prying eyes. “Even though it’s fake, I’m still supposed to be going out with Hirata-kun. If I’m seen alone with you, weird rumors might spring up.”
“Really? Well, maybe they would if I were a pretty boy like Hirata. Sadly, I’m completely lacking in hotness. At best, people will think you’re part of our group,” I told her.
This was an innocuous place to be alone with a girl. It would have been a different story at night, on a secluded park bench, but not here.
Hirata, Karuizawa’s fake boyfriend, was nowhere to be seen. He was probably busy with club activities. I didn’t know much about the soccer club’s schedule, but he seemed like an active guy.
“We were allowed to wear rash guards today. You saw them, right?” I asked.
“Well, yeah. But are you really okay with spending money on a rash guard? They’re pretty expensive.”
“It was a necessary expense.”
Karuizawa held out her hand, and I grabbed it. I felt something hard against my palm.
“What are you planning, anyway?” asked Karuizawa.
“What do you mean?”
“Why are you different from the others? You could just sit back and enjoy the show,” she said. Ah, so we were discussing what I held in my hand.
“It could have ended up fracturing the class. I want to avoid that.” That was why I’d called Karuizawa to meet me, although getting her to enjoy the pool had been another of my goals. “Did you invite anyone else?”
“I’m alone. I was with two others, but I told them to go off on their own and have fun.”
“A wise decision.”
I started walking slowly along the side of the pool. Karuizawa trailed me.
“Are you aiming for Class A, then?” she asked.
“You’re not interested?”
“Hmm, I dunno. I do want points, and I’d be happy to get a job anywhere, but…” She kicked the air, hands in her pockets. “I don’t really feel like duking it out with those Class C students, I guess.”
Karuizawa was referring to a specific group of Class C girls. Even though I’d managed to contain things to a degree, Karuizawa couldn’t face the girls directly without triggering the past trauma of them bullying her. Until that mental prison released her, Karuizawa could never demonstrate her true talents.
“I want to talk to you about something. Just you,” I said.
“What is it?”
“I don’t know what our next test will be, but I was thinking about preparing a certain trick.”
“A trick?”
As we walked, blending into all the hustle and bustle, we discussed extremely important things. Things I hadn’t even talked to Horikita about.
“To have someone expelled.”
“Huh?”
Karuizawa stopped dead in her tracks, as though she didn’t understand what I meant. When I continued walking, she hurriedly chased after me.
“W-wait a minute. What do you mean?!”
“Exactly what I said. I’m going to have a first-year student expelled. The ideal candidates would be those three girls who know about your past. If we can’t get to them, then perhaps someone else. If that doesn’t work, then—” I began.
“Th-then what?”
“Probably some unnecessary human being from Class D.”
“You do understand what you’re saying, don’t you? Getting someone expelled isn’t that easy,” Karuizawa replied.
“You don’t think so? That’s not really true. I actually have the option available right now.” Fingers wrapped tight around the object Karuizawa had handed me, I drew her attention to my hand.
“Wait, don’t tell me. Is that what it’s for?” she asked, incredulous.
“Depending on the situation, I could get someone expelled in a single stroke. Right?”
“B-but wait. Why are you talking about this? You went all out trying to save Sudou-kun earlier, right?”
It was true that I’d rescued Sudou from the threat of expulsion. However, that was before I was forced to commit to reaching Class A. As Horikita once said, I had to prepare for the eventuality of cutting off people who dragged us down.
“Even though you saved Sudou-kun, you’re going to kick him out?” Karuizawa asked.
“Oh no. I have no intention of getting rid of Sudou. His physical skill will be quite valuable to Class D,” I replied. There weren’t many other students in the whole school with comparable abilities, including Kouenji.
“But what will happen to our class points if someone is expelled?” wondered Karuizawa apprehensively.
“The best option would be to expel someone from another class, of course.” However, if a student from our class was expelled, fear would motivate the survivors to struggle mightily. That wouldn’t be the worst thing.
“You’re awful, you know that?” said Karuizawa.
“Surely you already realized that about me?”
“I guess.”
I’d threatened Karuizawa. My actions had verged on assault. I couldn’t imagine that she considered me a good person.
“How about consulting Hirata-kun?” she asked.
“I have concerns about that. Hirata still isn’t someone I can fully trust,” I replied.
“Huh?”
“You know about his past?”
“Oh, yeah. He told me about it when I told him what happened to me. His friend tried to commit suicide by jumping, right?”
That was right. Hirata had told me that he still carried that regret around with him, which was probably true.
“Do you really believe that his friend’s suicide attempt turned him into a student who’d be placed in Class D?” I asked.
“Huh?”
“That can’t be the only reason for the school to assign a highly intelligent and immensely popular student to our class. Don’t you agree?” Placement in Class D would have been understandable if Hirata had poor attendance, or low grades like Karuizawa, but that didn’t appear to be the case.
“Wait. You asked about my past because…”
“I wanted to understand Hirata’s situation. Past trauma doesn’t equate to getting placed in Class D,” I replied.
Confirming things with Karuizawa had convinced me that she was someone I could trust. However, Hirata wouldn’t be easy to deal with. I’d need to discreetly figure out whether he was telling the truth or lying.
“You keep trying to gather information by poking and prodding, but you’re not telling me anything,” grumbled Karuizawa.
“Hmm?”
“You’re not normal, like, at all. Something definitely happened to you.”
“Nothing really happened to me,” I replied.
“That’s a lie.”
Nothing had happened. I wasn’t bullied in the past like Karuizawa, and I hadn’t had a beloved friend attempt suicide like Hirata, either.
“I can tell just from your eyes. You look like you could kill someone without hesitation.”
“Nothing that dramatic took place in my past.”
There really was nothing. So little had happened to me that I had nothing to talk about. My life was a blank slate.
Karuizawa’s eyes locked onto me. She probably couldn’t help but wonder what her future contained. Holding onto that fear could most certainly prove useful.
However, she’d asked me what I intended to do. Almost as if answering that question, I clenched my fist tighter. As I did so, I heard the plastic in my hand bend and crack.
“H-hey!”
I walked to the garbage bin and tossed away the bits of plastic.
“I won’t expel anyone from Class D. It’s about time for me to get back to the group. Thanks for today,” I said.
“Okay…”
“Let’s head back, then.”
As the pool closed, students started to flood into the locker rooms. Which group you belonged to seemed to determine when you headed back. There were groups that left before closing, like Ichinose’s, groups that left just when the closing call came, and groups that remained in the pool until the very last second. I wondered which groups would make it back the fastest.
We quietly watched the other students as they walked away. After some time, the area was deserted, except for some lifeguards.
“You’re still not heading back?” I asked.
“You already know the answer, so why even ask?” Karuizawa lightly patted the spot on her rash guard right above her scar. She looked desperate. Still, it wasn’t like she could go home without changing. She had to wait until she was the last person in the locker room.
“It would be fine if you just wore a school-issued swimsuit, right?” I asked. No one would notice her scar.
“Ugh, swim with one of those on? No way. They’re too lame. I already hate having to wear one during lessons.”
Apparently, the world of girls was crueler than I thought. Even an unfashionable bathing suit could demote you on the social ladder.
“Do you like swimming?”
“Huh? Well, I don’t hate it,” she said.
“How about taking a little swim now? There aren’t any students around. The only people here are lifeguards, and they look busy cleaning up.”
Karuizawa pondered the idea. After all, it was better than the crowded locker rooms.
“I’m okay,” she muttered.
“Come on.”
“No, I won’t ‘come on.’ I told you, I don’t want to.”
“Even if someone sees you, you’ll be fine, as long as you’re wearing the school swimsuit.”
“That’s not the problem. Why do I have to show you my swimsuit?” she huffed.
So, that was what held her back. In that case, I thought perhaps I should use a slightly more aggressive method.
“That’s an order.”
Karuizawa glared at me.
“You seriously are the worst. I absolutely hate you.” She scowled.
“You decide whether to obey me or not. So, what’ll it be?”
“I understand,” she replied.
Karuizawa reluctantly did as instructed, pouting with dissatisfaction. She removed her rash guard and left it on a chair. I inspected her in her swimsuit. Karuizawa stood with her back to me, not turning around.
“Maybe this will be the only thing I can wear swimming for the rest of my life,” she muttered. She was still terrified that her scar would draw people’s attention.
I closed the distance between us and grabbed her arm.
“Wh-what are you—?!”
I shoved Karuizawa into the pool. Splash! She crashed into the water. When a lifeguard heard the noise, she shouted at us with a megaphone.
“We’re closed! Please leave right now!”
“Pwah! What’d you do that for?!” Karuizawa shouted.
As she peeked angrily out from the water, I offered her my hand.
“Did you have fun?” I asked.
“Being pushed in isn’t exactly fun, you know.”
Karuizawa took hold of my outstretched hand. Then, without warning, she pulled me into the water. I didn’t resist at all, taking care not to crash into her when I fell. The resulting splash, even bigger than before, would certainly anger the lifeguards. Karuizawa laughed as they rushed over to us.
When I tried to surface, she held my head down and pushed me deeper underwater. Even though the situation was childish, seeing Karuizawa enjoy something ended up making it worthwhile.
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