Chapter 80: Peace (Part 1)

Coming out of the changing room, they listened to the teacher's instructions.

Some waited by the side, some went into the water to play, and some started swimming, but there was no communication between them.

All eyes were fixed on the exit of the girls' changing room.

After a long wait, a girl finally emerged from inside. The moment she stepped out, she felt numerous gazes moving over her, and she immediately looked towards the boys' side.

She let out a contemptuous snort.

This snort seemed to travel far, instantly breaking the psychological defenses of many boys, who shamefully averted their gaze.

But more brave warriors remained fearless, not sparing a second from staring intently in that direction.

Soon, the girls gradually poured out, gathering there to listen to the teacher's instructions.

Those long legs, varying in skin tone but appearing uniformly pale, were extremely eye-catching.

Ishikawa Hayato leaned back in a nearby chair, looking utterly composed, his gaze like a scanner, rapidly recording each girl's physical data into his database.

However, after a while, he noticed that Kita and Hitori still hadn't come out.

Perhaps something had happened to Hitori again.

He wondered if Kita could handle it.

Just then, he sensed something.

...

A few minutes earlier.

The girls were happily and boisterously changing clothes, occasionally playfully sizing up each other's figures.

Kita's gaze swept around, and then her expression changed from a natural smile to one she was trying hard to maintain.

After quickly changing her clothes.

She was a bit concerned about Hitori's situation.

After all, she had seen Hitori's fear of interacting with people while working at the store, and she worried about how she would cope in this setting.

But when she walked to the Class 2 changing area, she looked around but couldn't find Hitori.

Instead, some classmates mistook her for looking for them and pulled her into a long conversation.

After extricating herself from her friends, she started searching again, from the trash can in the corner to under the lockers.

But she couldn't find her anywhere.

Finally, the girls who had finished changing into their swimsuits began to leave, leaving behind an empty room, and Kita blinked blankly.

She had clearly seen Hitori come in earlier.

After searching the changing room for a long time.

She opened each locker that she felt couldn't possibly fit a person.

Finally... inside a locker, Hitori, who was sitting with her legs hugged to her chest, was startled when she saw the light, but upon recognizing Kita, her gloomy face showed a hint of embarrassment as she raised her hand and spoke.

“Ah... Good morning, Kita-chan.”

Kita didn't complain that Hitori had made her search for so long. She just stared dumbfounded at Hitori huddled inside and said.

“Gotou-san, why are you hiding here?”

Hitori's gaze dropped. Thinking of some scene, her face suddenly turned even paler.

“I-I really can't wear a swimsuit outside, it's too embarrassing!”

Although she was saying something cute, Hitori's panicked expression didn't make her seem cute at all.

“The teacher will get angry, Gotou-san!”

Although Kita also felt a bit shy, the class still had to happen. She could already hear the roll call outside, and she urgently urged Hitori.

“Ah, ah, ah...”

Hitori immediately thought of being scolded by the teacher, instantly feeling like she was doomed.

In despair, she frantically pulled out a piece of paper.

But while she was hesitating.

“Yo, Bocchi, what do you need me for?”

Ishikawa Hayato's voice suddenly rang out nearby.

Kita stared blankly, turning her head in the direction of the voice, only to see Ishikawa Hayato standing beside her, bare-chested and wearing only swimming trunks.

Her gaze lingered on Ishikawa Hayato's muscular chest for a moment before her mind suddenly reacted.

“Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!”

This time, Kita was startled.

She immediately hid in a nearby locker, peeking her head out from the door and calling out frantically.

“Ishikawa-kun, this is the girls' changing room!”

Ishikawa Hayato thought seriously for a moment, then tilted his head.

“Is there anything wrong with a pervert being in the girls' changing room? And Kita, why are you hiding? Haven't you already put on your swimsuit?”

Kita's face grew redder and redder as she yelled.

“Because you're here!!”

Ishikawa Hayato was confused by her logic. What did having clothes on have to do with who was here?

He pressed his head, annoyed, then asked Hitori, who was in a nearby locker, already steaming like a boiling kettle.

“Hitori, what's wrong? Are you stuck in there?”

Hitori hadn't expected the summoning to actually succeed, but the timing was all wrong! Why did he have to appear here?!

“Ah, ah...” Hitori ‘ah’ed for a long time before she could finally speak.

“Hayato... don't look...”

After she spoke, she curled up tightly like a ball.

Seeing the two girls stubbornly hiding in the lockers and refusing to come out, Ishikawa Hayato sighed, preparing to use a powerful move to force them out, when...

The teacher's shout came from the doorway.

“Kita-san, Gotou-san, please come out quickly.”

And with her shout, footsteps approached.

The two girls' expressions immediately changed. They quickly emerged from the lockers.

Kita grabbed Ishikawa Hayato, pushing him into the locker she had just been hiding in, while urgently whispering.

“Ishikawa-kun, hide quickly!”

If a boy was discovered in the girls' changing room, it wouldn't be a small matter. Being called in, reprimanded, or even expelled were all possibilities.

Hitori also had basic common sense and likewise frantically pushed Ishikawa Hayato.

Seeing the two of them like this, Ishikawa Hayato smiled and waved his hand.

Then he braced his hands on top of the locker and silently flipped over it.

At the same time, he left a note.

He had just flipped over the locker when the teacher walked over from the side.

Although this school was relatively lenient, it wasn't to the extent that students could do whatever they wanted. Skipping class without a word was definitely not allowed.

“Kita-san, Gotou-san, why didn't you respond after I called you so many times?”

The female teacher said angrily.

Kita glanced at the note Ishikawa Hayato had left, then looked at Hitori, who was about to break down from being scolded by the teacher, and said.

“I'm sorry, Teacher, Gotou-san isn't feeling well.”

The teacher had already noticed Hitori's condition without Kita saying anything. That expression was simply not something a human could make, and she immediately dropped the matter.

“Then Kita-san, go to class. I'll take Gotou-san to the infirmary.”

As soon as the teacher's voice fell, Hitori's expression crumbled even more severely.

Kita hurriedly interjected.

“Teacher! I'll take Gotou-san. She gets very nervous around other people.”

After the teacher agreed and left, the two finally breathed a huge sigh of relief.

At the same time, Kita recalled the note Ishikawa Hayato had left.

‘Kita, please, just tell the teacher Hitori isn't feeling well. I'll make up for the swimming class she missed later.’

How would he make it up?!

Kita thought, angry and a little shy, as she clutched the note tighter.

“Then, Gotou-san, let's change back into our clothes and go to the infirmary.”

She turned back with a bright smile, but upon seeing Hitori, a strong pull made her gaze drop.

Her eyes lingered on Hitori's magnificent chest, and the light in her eyes gradually faded.

Then, amidst Hitori's bewildered expression, she squatted into the locker and started to self-isolate.

“I'm really sorry for being so small. This is something I was born with, so I can't help it. This isn't my fault. I wish I were bigger, Mom...”

“Ki... Kita-chan...!”

This time, Hitori outside the locker was so flustered she didn't know how to get Kita out.

...

After coming out of the locker, Kita nervously checked the changing room for a long time but couldn't find Ishikawa Hayato.

Worried that he might be hiding somewhere peeping, Kita reluctantly opted for them to use bath towels to cover each other, taking turns to change clothes.

But compared to the united and harmonious two, the communication among the girls by the pool on the other side was not so harmonious.

The girls, wearing swimsuits, sat in the shade waiting to go into the water. While waiting, they watched the boys who were having a blast, and quietly exchanged the latest gossip.

They spoke in turns, sharing the fragmented information they learned.

“Kita-chan broke up?”

“It seems Ishikawa has been cheating.”

“And the third party is Gotou from Class 2.”

“Gotou? That gloomy, strange girl?”

“Poor Kita-chan.”

“Speaking of which, when I was changing earlier, I noticed Gotou-san has really big breasts.”

“Could that be the reason?”

“Boys are all idiots, to be swayed by something like that.”

“Then Kita-chan really is pitiful...”

...

Although he always hoped to make the surrounding relationships relaxed and harmonious, Ishikawa Hayato knew very well that conflict was human nature.

Nature can be restrained, and it can be released.

Not everyone restrains their nature.

There aren't that many gentle people in this world.

The beginning of bad things might be very bland, just a small matter.

Bad things that happen might start out with pure intentions, often only end as minor incidents.

But the scent of blood attracts sharks. Once you fall into a school of sharks, they won't eat you, they'll just keep tearing at you.

He could make those who act maliciously without reason weigh their strength and consider the consequences before acting, but he couldn't stop those who believed they were in the right.

He understood it so well that he was a little tired of it.

So he chose a different way, chose another path.