Chapter 21: Chapter 20: Swimming Pool and Tension – Part 1

It was the beginning of yet another normal school day.

I opened the sliding door into the classroom, however, today, it was a little more boisterous than usual. Even from the outside, I could the sound of distant chatter, it was still early in the morning so it seemed that some people must have arrived earlier than usual. As I looked inside, I noticed a group of people gathered around Fujiharu-san's desk.

"Hey Fujiharu-san, come to the pool with us after school today will you?" One of the boys asked.

"Yeah! Fujiharu should come with us!" One of his friends affirmed.

There were also a few girls who were also standing around the table

"Apparently they're opening a new waterslide at the local leisure centre," one of the girls added.

"Come on Fujiharu-san! It'll be fun!"

"Yeah, we're all going, you should come too."

They were quite desperately trying to convince her to go with them.

I didn't want to get involved in any of this so I tried to walk back ou—

"Oh, Mizuhara-kun, do you want to go to the pool with them?"

Before I could leave the room, I was quickly added to the conversation by Fujiharu-san.

It seemed her friends quickly grasped what was going on and rushed over to me.

"Ah, um, you should come!" Her invitation wasn't very enthusiastic. It was pretty obvious that she was only inviting me in order to convince Fujiharu-san to go as well.

"Uh, I th—" I didn't even get enough time to finish my sentence.

"Wait, since Mizuhara-kun's also going, I guess I'll go as well," Fujiharu-san suddenly declared—well, it looked like the girl's strategy worked pretty well.

I don't remember saying at any point that I was going...

"Yay! We can all go together, let's all meet at the lockers after school," one of the girls decided.

Hold on... 

Before I could speak, they had all decided the plan and left the classroom to do something. All that was left were the bags that they had dropped off at their seats.

Oh my.

I walked over to my seat and placed my bag down. I guess there was no argument left to be had, I pulled out my seat and sat down.

I mean I wasn't completely against the idea of going.

"Haa, I didn't think you were the type of person to want to go to the pool with everyone," said Fujiharu-san.

"Uh, well I just didn't..."

It was all too far gone at this point.

"Didn't what?" Asked Fujiharu-san.

"Nevermind."

I began taking out my workbooks and stationery for the day. It seemed that I had suddenly been invited to a pool outing and I didn't even get to decline. I guess I won't be able to tutor Kanako-san tonight then. I didn't really mind that much.

I suppose it wasn't all bad, I had never gone to the pool with friends before, it might be somewhat fun.

The of us sat in silence for a little while now that the others had left. I guess most students would just leave their bags in the classroom and go outside to socialise. Suddenly, the silence was broken by Fujiharu-san who asked quite a surprising question.

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"Mizuhara-kun, have you ever liked someone?"

Based on the emphasis on the word like, it was pretty obvious what she was referring to.

Well, I guess I have.

Whilst I never showed it on my face, there actually was an experience in my childhood where I felt feelings that could only be explained by love. It happened years ago, it was a time when the children in the Ideal Human Project were taken on a 'holiday' to another part of the country. We were supposed to spend our time studying the historical monuments and various other things.

However, our carer, who felt a great deal of empathy towards us, let us explore and have fun for one single day. Most of the children were overjoyed, breaking off into small groups to explore to the large outside world that we were almost never exposed to.

I didn't have any friends, I also had no desire to have fun. As a result, I simply took a seat on the grass as I waited for the day to pass. 

All alone, I stared off into the horizon as the soft breeze brushed against my clothes.

However, it was that day when I met her. She was a girl, around the same age as me, with long brown hair, a cute light blue dress and a smile that lit up the world.

My entire life was changed, ever so slightly, since I met her.

It was only one day that we spent together... but in that time...

For a while, I wondered if I'd ever see her again.

~

"Ah, well, I guess I have."

"Really?"

"Is it that surprising?"

"I mean, you're so cold all the time and... well, you know."

I assumed that she was referring to the fact that I barely ever reacted to her provocations. That was a completely separate matter altogether.

"It was a long time ago though."

"Tell me about it!" She was very intrigued by my response. She had completely turned her body around and moved her face closer to mine.

"It's not that interesting."

"No! Just tell me~ I'm curious now." 

"Maybe in the future, I don't really want to talk about it at the moment."

She seemed disappointed but she didn't continue to push me.

There was a specific reason why I didn't want to talk about it.

A few minutes later, most of the class had gathered in the classroom and the teacher began preparing her lesson for the first period. There were still a few minutes left so I decided to read a few pages of Being and Nothingness.

I thought about how we would be going to the pool today. Whilst I did have a swimsuit, I would need to go back to my dorm in order to grab it. I was confused as to how Fujiharu-san was going to get hers, she obviously wasn't informed of this beforehand either. I guess her house wasn't too far anyways, everyone would probably be happy walking to her house before we went to the pool.

Oh well, I'm sure it'll work out.

I wonder if it'll be fun.

I guess I'll let loose to some degree and try to enjoy myself.

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