Hello all. Welcome back to another chapter of this story, and I hope that you're all doing well.

Now a summary of the story... in the words of Apollo: "this happened, this happened, and this happened, and now we're here". To be honest, I don't exactly remember, and for reasons which I'll explain at the end of the chapter, I am not going to check either. Kanon kissed Keima, and there was mostly stuff between Eri and Hinoki, and now that's over...

This chapter is a bit fillerish, but I do hope that you enjoy it. In any case, I will see ya'll at the end of the chapter.

"So the question on the table," Ayumi pressed both hands on the teacher's desk, "is porn helpful or harmful in terms of a young adult's sexual development? Please raise a hand if you have a response to this prompt."

Tsukiyo and Yui's hands rose. Ayumi called the latter, who'd been faster.

"I'd say it's helpful," she responded, "it's how you can find what your tastes are before you ever have sex."

Shiori's hand shot up, and there was a moment of silence as everyone turned to her in shock. Shiori herself looked surprised at herself.

"Umm," her thumbs circled each other on her lap, "what happens in porn isn't really what happens in sex. W-wouldn't it be setting unrealistic expectations?"

"I was going to say the same," Tsukiyo piped up, "porn removes all the realistic parts of intimacy in lieu of people going at it like animals."

"You do have a point there," Ayumi looked thoughtful.

"Also," Tenri piped up, "I read somewhere that masturbating decreases the quality of a guy's orgasm."

"Though it does also increase the time it takes to orgasm," Chihiro added.

"Is tha' a good thing or not?" Nanaka wondered.

"I think so. Guys get all self-conscious about finishing early, so clearly that would help," Chihiro responded.

"But that's the issue Keima is having now," Tsukiyo piped up, "it's a problem so big that we literally had to bring a devil to fix it."

"Fair point. He signed his soul to a devil not to have a refractory period," Chihiro leant on her backwards chair thoughtfully.

"Guys, focus!" Ayumi waved her hands, "it's porn… this conversation is not about masturbation, and it's certainly not about any devils…"

"Ya can' separate porn and masturbation though," Nanaka scratched her chin, "unless ya mean the vids 'eselves?"

"That's exactly what I mean!" Ayumi indicated to Nanaka, "is porn a good representation for sex for people who've never had it before?"

The group ohhed as realisation hit.

"I still think yes," Yui responded, "there's a lot of variety so you can learn more about yourself through watching it."

"But porn also shows things like rape and not caring about consent," Tenri countered, "porn validates bad people's beliefs."

"Not all of it," Yui protested, "you can find consensual and loving porn as well."

"There's also a saying that good people are just bad people who don't act on their urges…" Chihiro added, "I'd rather people get freaky there than actually hurt people."

"But why should it exist at all?" Nanaka argued, "is the variety not just giving people worse thoughts?"

"But by that argument, all movies, games and TV shows are bad, because they show people being violent and immoral," Chihiro shook the top of her chair, "porn isn't meant for kids, and people would know better that porn are just fantasies."

"But those other media don't put you in the mind of the person who is doing the immoral act, unlike porn," Ayumi added.

"Sex is immoral!?"

"Obviously not… rape is immoral!"

"Sex in a public place is also immoral."

"But you gotta admit that it's hot…"

"Everyone, be quiet," Tsukiyo put her hands up, "can Shiori say something too?"

Sure enough, the quiet girl had her hand up, and her mouth opening and closing as she was seemingly debating whether to speak or not. Still, the group fell respectfully quiet. Shiori put down her hand.

"I also think porn is disrespectful to women…"

There was a bit of a lull before everyone started speaking at once. Tsukiyo sighed, her head falling into her hand.

To be honest, she didn't care for this discussion at all, and everyone was just being obnoxious, which made her care even less. Still, she felt ill at ease, thinking about what happened a few minutes ago.

"Are you alright, Tsukiyo-chan?" Shiori asked. Her friend really wasn't one to get flustered.

"I-I am," Tsukiyo made sure not to catch her eyes, "I just wanted to give Nagase-sensei and Hinoki-san their privacy," she blushed, squeezing her hands into fists.

"I see," Shiori responded, "you're right that it doesn't concern us."

"Exactly," Tsukiyo made the mistake of looking up and meeting Shiori's brown eyes, which were watching her with a puzzled expression.

"Why are you blushing though?" Shiori cocked her head, "I get that you don't want to see it, but not why it would embarrass you that you did?"

Tsukiyo gritted her teeth, trying to figure out how to answer that… would it be better to deny it or deflect to something safer. Shiori was just too damn perceptive!

"I-I was remembering what it was like kissing Keima…" Tsukiyo responded, her eyes on her neatly filed nails. Deflecting was the way to go!

"How was it?" Shiori wondered, and Tsukiyo froze.

"W-why are you asking me that!?" she sputtered, "I don't want to talk about that."

"I guess that's fair," Shiori took a deep breath, "just, we've talked about Katsuragi-kun before, and I don't think I've seen you get like this."

"Today is just a weird day," Tsukiyo retorted, "can we just sit down and leave this?"

"Fine by me," the two girls moved towards the chairs that they'd been occupying before, and Tsukiyo was happy to be reunited with Luna. Hugging her really helped soothe her rapidly beating heart.

"Nee…" Shiori said after a minute of silence, "can I ask a question?"

"Hmm?"

"What do you think it would be like to kiss a girl?" Tsukiyo gripped Luna tighter for a moment.

"I-I-I don't know," Tsukiyo stroked Luna's hair a bit rougher than she normally would, "why do you care?"

"I want to try it sometimes," Shiori shrugged, "I feel that it might be different than kissing a boy like Katsuragi-kun."

"Probably," Tsukiyo glanced at her friend, "why aren't you more embarrassed saying it?"

"It's been a weird day, as you said," Shiori smiled gently, "I also want to know what Tsukiyo-chan's lips feel like…"

Tsukiyo threw her head back, trying to resist the urge to groan. What the hell was that supposed to mean!?

It was one thing if Shiori has seen through her lies or noticed how Tsukiyo's eyes may have glanced down to her lips, but what she said was a whole other matter.

Of course, nothing had come of it. Soon after that, they had joined the rest of the class in the front and the conversation didn't go any further, but the confusion still had yet to leave.

Shiori's words didn't make much sense to her, but it still made more sense than what the hell Tsukiyo was feeling before, looking at Kosaka and the idol kissing… or when she imagined sitting on Shiori's lap…

Also, why the hell had everyone quiet and crowding around Shiori's chair?

"Umm… what is this?" Tsukiyo asked.

"I'm just showing Shiori some porn which is more respectful to women," Yui responded, waving her iPhone, "do you want to see?"

"It's fine," Tsukiyo sighed, "I've tried it before… never found anything that I liked."

"That's impossible," Yui gasped dramatically, "there's porn for every taste in the world…"

"Maybe for you, but porn in its nature is crass and ugly…" Tsukiyo flipped her hair, "you don't need to involve me."

"Goido-san, can I borrow your phone for a minute?" Shiori asked. Yui nodded yes, and the librarian promptly typed something into the site. Tsukiyo felt her stomach clench in nervousness.

"What is that?" Yui wondered out loud.

"I think I might know something that Tsukiyo-chan will like," she passed over the phone. Tsukiyo gingerly took it and watched two seconds of it… the amount of time it took to read the title of the video.

Lesbians oil massage

With silent fury, she closed the website tab and handed the phone back.

"I'm going to get some air," Tsukiyo spoke through clenched teeth as she stood up and walked to the balcony. A hurt look came on Shiori's face which had more to do with the tone than the words, but she was glad that the the site was opened incognito… at least no one would be able to see what she'd opened.

"Wow…" Nanaka whistled, "she really di'nt like tha'."

The shougi pro couldn't have been further from the truth.

Kanon was a millisecond away from bumping into Tsukiyo, but she managed to stop herself in time. Tsukiyo glanced up before returning her gaze back down.

"Sorry," she spoke curtly and continued walking to the balcony. Kanon looked a bit concerned for a moment before taking a breath. She didn't think there was anything she could do to help with her current lack of closeness with Tsukiyo, so she continued along to the back of the class, where Haqua was sitting side saddle on a chair, her arms and head draped over the back of it while she chatted with Nikaidou.

"So I asked Rimyuel to bring an insta-cooker with her from Hell," Haqua mentioned, "that should save some time with the preparation."

"How long does it need to be cooked?"

"Five days in total…" she sighed, "she better not forge–" Haqua quickly sat up, and Kanon raised her free hand.

"Don't mind me," Kanon waved her free hand, "I just came to drop off some of Katsuragi's hair…"

"You did that quite quickly," Haqua noted, "thanks for that."

"No problem," Kanon opened her fist flat and pulled up the strands with the fingers of her other hand, "do you have a place where I could put them?"

"Oh, right," Haqua sat and fiddled with her hagoromo, "in here, please," she opened a small container that she fashioned with the cloth, "probably should've given that to you sooner."

Kanon waved that off, and Haqua shrugged. Nikaidou turned to Kanon.

"Though I am curious" Nikaidou folded her arms, "was there a reason you didn't join Jun and the others? Collecting Katsuragi's DNA could have waited."

Kanon's eyes widened, but she composed herself quickly.

"Nothing really," she let off a small laugh, "I figured that three people shopping is about as effective as four, and I wanted to finish this task quickly."

"Is that so?" Nikaidou scrutinised her, and Kanon looked away.

"It is," she answered, "I just wanted an easy task…"

"That makes sense," Nikaidou shrugged, "you just want to join the forum and see what they're discussing."

"Exactly!"

"And you'll have a less easy discussion with someone else…"

"Exact–wait!" Kanon froze, her cheeks darkening as Haqua started snickering.

"On the money, huh?" Kanon quickly shook her head, but she was certain that she wasn't convincing anyone.

"I just want to hang out with my friends… is that so hard to believe?"

"I guess it isn't," Nikaidou shrugged, "and how you got to two tallies isn't really any of my business."

"You're right, it isn't," Kanon responded defiantly.

"Now now…" Haqua waved her arms, getting their attention, "just let Kanon do what she wants to do and I…"

"Can join us," the idol responded excitedly, "I'm sure the others would love to have you join the discussion."

"Eh," Haqua leant away, "but I don't have anything in common with all of you."

"Why?" Nikaidou raised an eyebrow.

"Because they all like and have ki–" Haqua paused for a moment, "oh…"

"Exactly…" Nikaidou raised a finger, preemtively silencing Haqua, "and you can't discount yourself because you're a devil… we've got plenty of magical creatures here…"

"I mean, if you're going to help with the potion, you may as well join the lesson and learn something new from it…"

"Geez!" Haqua buried her face in her hands, "did you have to remind me of that?"

"Yeah, we did," Kanon patted her shoulders, "we may as well see what everyone's discussing…"

"Fine," Haqua grumbled as she got up, "just to make it clear, I don't want to do anything else with Katsuragi…"

"Sure, sure…" Kanon grinned as she followed Haqua's drooping figure to the front of the class. Nikaidou laughed and plopped herself into the purple-haired devil's chair. She was actually really happy at how little she had to do to keep this lesson rolling.

Minami was a bundle of conflicting emotions as she made her way to the school's indoor pool: relief from being away from the crowd, annoyed that she'd volunteered herself for this, a bit excited and antsy about getting to spend time with Senpai after this, worried about whether the pool doors may be locked, and unease at the impending doom what would come when her phone would ring.

Sure enough, Minami barely had time to be relieved that the pool area was open despite no practices being held today, when her phone vibrated, making her jump. Just like her worst fear for the day had been, it was her mother.

Still, the young swimmer paused only for a few deep breaths before answering her phone. Considering that the sun was on its way to setting, she couldn't blame her mother from wanting to know where she was.

"Hi mama," Minami greeted, her voice, while not quite deadpan, did reflect the weariness she was feeling.

"Hi, Minami," she cut to the chase, "I know you said that you're staying at school, but are you not done yet?"

"Not yet, mama," she busied herself by walking into the pool area, "I don't know how long it's going to take either."

"What are you even doing?" her mother asked, and Minami blanched. She hadn't really had time to cook up her story, and if she told her mother the whole truth, her mother would probably appear in a second to escort her out, and then she'd never get a chance to spend time with Katsuragi-senpai.

Luckily, in moving into the pool area, there was a loud splash as someone jumped into the water.

"Are you by the pool?" her mother asked inquisitively. Minami jumped at the opportunity.

"Y-yes, I'm by the pool!" she moved closer to the sloshing water, "we w-wanted to have an end of the year party before school closes up."

"Oh, it's like that," Minami's mum laughed, "you must really be having fun."

"I am!" Minami nodded unnecessarily, "it feels like it's been a while since we've gotten to spend time like this."

"I can understand that," Minami gave a relieved sigh, "you're only young once, so you should enjoy this time with your friends."

"T-thanks, mama…" the swimmer smiled, "I'll come home as soon as we wrap up here."

"Don't worry about it," her mother assured, "just call when you're done and Papa will pick you by car. I don't want you walking home in the dark."

"That would be great," she breathed out, "hopefully it won't be too long…"

"Cannonball! Cannonball! Cannonball!" Minami looked up for the first time, noticing that the two girls were watching her. They'd clearly heard enough of the conversation to follow what was happening.

"T-that's for me," Minami blushed, "I should go."

"Have fun then," her mother laughed, "We'll talk later."

"Bye," she hung up the phone, and the chanting stopped. Minami looked at them for the first time. Before giving them a grateful bow.

"Thank you for the help," she raised her head. While she didn't have the guts to look them in the eyes, she could tell that there were two senpais. The one in the pool had a cap and goggles on, while the other was wearing a swimsuit and a light jacket, her long brown hair open behind her and a stopwatch hanging around her neck.

"No problem, Kohai-san," the girl outside gave her a smile, "add some plausibility to your story."

"If I had my way, I probably would have said something rude," the girl in the pool swam to the edge. Minami raised an eyebrow.

"Like what?" the girl smirked and opened her mouth.

"Get off Tsubasa's lap! I want my turn now!" Minami blushed bright at the mental image, and the girl outside threw a flip flop at the other girl's head, which she had to dodge.

"Stop saying stupid things, Izumi," the landbound girl yelled, "don't mind her… she's needs to pick on people her own size…"

"I-it's alright," Minami shrugged, "both of you still helped me."

"Hey, cut me a line of that coke too!" Izumi shouted, and the other girl facepalmed. Minami wasn't embarrassed by this, but she did have to stop her eyes from rolling.

"I'm going to go now, Senpai," Minami gave the long-haired girl a bow, "just need to find something from here and then I'll be on my way."

She started heading towards the pool storeroom, when Izumi from the pool called.

"Wait, you didn't tell us why you're still on campus at seven o'clock!"

"Like hell she would after that," there was another slap sound as the second flipflop made contact, "now show me your butterfly stroke."

Strangely enough, Minami wasn't as perturbed as she expected she'd be, talking to the seniors. She knew for sure that they weren't people from her club, but there was something… almost comforting about those two girls. Almost like how it was with Akko and Saitou.

Those two almost certainly would have shouted something embarrassing to her mother over the phone.

The storeroom was open, piled high with kickboards and spare swimming goggles, but the actual thing that she was looking for wasn't in view… most likely, it was inside the locked door near the end. Minami groaned, squeezing her palms into fists. She'd need the pool keys after all.

The swimming club member took a deep breath as she headed out to talk to the girls again. Considering they were here first; it was possible that they had the keys with them… she was just a little worried that the senpai in the pool would be mad because she didn't bow to her as she left.

Minami cautiously approached the girls. The girl with the timer looked up and smiled.

"Did you find what you were looking for…" her voice trailed off, as she realised that she didn't have a name to address.

"Ikoma," Minami quickly responded, "unfortunately not, Senpai."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Ikoma-san," she glanced at her stopwatch, "maybe you can ask at the lost-and-found," she turned back to the pool, "Izumi, it's been 45 seconds! You can come out!"

Minami died a little inside at being misunderstood, but she knew she had to ask.

"I-it's not something that I lost…" she spoke weakly, but the senpai didn't pay her any mind.

"Izumi, it's been long enough! You can come up now!" Minami bristled, suddenly getting a very bad feeling in her stomach. The girl grabbed her whistle and blew hard.

"Izumi!"

Minami dove in right there, all thoughts of potions and sea salt and being home late forgotten.

Minami was in shock as she pulled herself out of the pool, a few feet away from the coughing senpai who she'd pulled out of the pool… well, half-pushed… the other girl had the sense to try pulling the shorter-haired girl when she saw Minami struggling to get her out over the pool walls.

"Y-you saved me," Izumi looked around, bewildered, "I-I couldn't breathe, and the water was too h-heavy…"

"T-technically, the other Senpai pulled you out – whoa!" Minami teetered as she got up, not expecting the weight of water on her thin body. Looking down, she was soaked and dripping water all over.

"You alright," the other girl appeared at her side, holding her upper arm so she didn't slip and fall in the pool again. Minami nodded.

"Yeah… was just surprised when I got up," she blushed, "you don't have worry about me."

For a moment, Minami met eyes with the taller girl next to her, and her blush got darker, the feeling of insignificance hitting her again for the nth time…

"Okay," she let her arm go, "and I don't like that?" Minami felt her stomach sink.

"L-like what?"

"Don't minimise what you did there…" the girl spoke with narrowed eyes, "you jumped into the pool without hesitating and swam back to the side with the extra weight. You saved her…"

"N-not really, I…" Minami shrunk as the other girl's stare became a glare, "it's part of our training in the swimming club, so it wasn't anything special…"

"I see…" the girl frowned, "so you pull people out of pools often?"

"Well, not really…"

"Then stop being humble," Izumi responded impatiently, "it's okay to give yourself credit when you actually did something good."

Minami felt herself shrink further, but now for a different reason… she was so used to feeling insignificant and small around other people that it was hard to take the compliment.

"Alright…" Minami shook her head and looked up with a smile, "I'm glad that I got to help you."

Izumi was taken aback at how cute the smile was.

"Thank you," Izumi suddenly scooped the younger girl in a tight hug, "though I didn't catch your name."

"I-Ikoma… Minami…" the swimmer tried to struggle away. The longer-haired Senpai laughed and moved to help Minami escape from her friend's clutches.

"Terada Miyako," she introduced herself, "and she's Ishikiri Izumi… this girl's been bunking swimming classes, so she's going to be tested by the teacher on Monday, which is why I'm stuck helping her practicing…"

"Ohh…" Minami paused, "that's a surprisingly normal reason." Izumi laughed.

"Did we disappoint you, Minami-chan?" the younger girl laughed and shook her head.

"Nothing like that… it just feels like something that would happen in my class…"

"Eh, of course… senpais are just kohais who stop giving a shit what others think of them."

"Izumi!" Miyako slapped her arm.

"Ow!" Izumi pulled a face, "you know I'm right…"

While the two of them squabbled, Minami paused, noticing things fall into place… this was why she found all the girls who were in this class to be so cool… they were just doing as they liked without letting other people pressure them.

"Just to iterate, this isn't exactly true, Ikoma-san," Miyako pushed Izumi's head away, "while some people are more comfortable being themselves, some people only learn that later, or they grow out of their interests, so it's no ha–"

"Ne, Terada-senpai, how do you feel abo-" Minami suddenly sneezed. That was Miyako's cue.

"Let's get you out of those clothes, Ikoma-san," the longer-haired girl steered Minami to the bathroom.

"Hey, at least buy her dinner first," Izumi snorted, and Minami felt herself blush slightly.

"And you stop saying unnecessary things," she snapped at her friend, "Ikoma-san, do you have your tracksuit on you today?"

"N-no, I didn't have gym today."

"Then I'll lend you mine… both you and Izumi can take a quick shower and I'll be back."

Minami let out a little shiver as the door closed, and Izumi and Minami were left alone. Each shower was blocked with curtains, which normally felt like enough when she was just rinsing down herself in her swimming costume, but it was a wholly other matter now that she'd need to strip down completely. But her body felt way too sticky to forego showering.

"You alright there, Minami-chan?" the boyish senpai asked.

"Y-yes," Minami blushed, "I've just never used these showers completely naked, so I was thinking of how to do it."

Izumi smiled, understanding the unspoken issue there.

"I'll go in first and leave before you come out, so you don't have to worry about being seen," she promised, "would that be good for you?"

As she expected, Minami nodded, not completely comfortable, but satisfied enough. Izumi smiled and climbed into the further shower and turned on the water, staying out of the stream as it heated up.

"Though Minami-chan…"

"Yes, Senpai?"

"Do you get shy around your clubmates too?" Izumi tested the water, "I figured being in a swimming club, you'd be used to seeing people naked."

Minami blushed, pausing from undressing. Her senpai wasn't wrong there.

"You're right," the swimmer responded, "most of the girls aren't that shy about it, but I am…" she let out a sigh, "my friends tease me about it too."

"Though are you self-conscious of how your body looks?"

Minami paused as she eased down her skirt. Admittedly, she did wish that her boobs could be a bit bigger and her figure not be a twig otherwise, but that didn't feel like it was all…

"Not exactly," she stepped out of her skirt, "I guess I've always wanted the right person to be the one to see me naked."

"Ah…" Izumi brightened, "do you have a person like that yet?"

Minami rolled her eyes as she stepped into the shower. Akko and Saitou were the same when they were talking about love too.

"Maybe," Minami said cryptically as she turned on the tap, "I haven't decided yet…"

"So, are you going to tell me more?" Izumi asked after a few moments.

"Nah…" the senpai let out a sigh of disappointment.

"But I want to offer you the wisdom of all the senpais before you."

"You just want to tease me about it," Minami corrected, and Izumi laughed. This kohai was sharp.

Still, Minami felt her thoughts turning to Keima for the first time in a while… she'd been certain that she'd go through with doing something with him before she left, but she was starting to doubt if she actually liked him, or she just wanted to prove to the other girls that she was an adult too.

She didn't like feeling this wishy washy.

"Though Minami-chan," Izumi called after a few minutes of them washing up, "I don't think you should wait too long?"

"Hmm?"

"About that being seen naked thing…" Izumi laughed, "the longer you wait, the harder it's going to get, and the more disappointed you'll be if it doesn't work out…"

"I don't get what you mean, Senpai."

"It's hard to explain," Izumi took a breath, "it's like, the longer you hide a thing, the bigger a deal it becomes… you having a naked body is a normal thing, and you hiding it all the time will just make you more self-conscious of it."

Minami was quiet as she absorbed it.

"So it's in my best interests to get naked?" she summarised. Izumi laughed.

"At least around the people you're comfortable with," Izumi shut off the tap, "you might think you owe it to whoever you fall in love with to keep your body for them, but your body is yours, and it's better for your self-image to flaunt it proudly and get rid of the stigma people have."

"Really?"

"I think so, at least," Izumi left the shower, "and don't worry… the right person will get to see plenty which you'll only offer them."

Minami blushed, suddenly imagining herself pressed against a tree while A-kun peppered kisses above her chest, his eyes and lips burning as they set her on fire. Was this what Hinoki was getting at with her story and lesson all along?

"Nee, Senpai," Minami called, "how do you know all this?"

"It's just the extra years of experience," Izumi laughed, "I joined track and field years ago, because I wanted a body like all those models who were on ads and TV and stuff… you learn a lot about body positivity when you meet fit people who don't look like models, but they can kick your ass still."

Izumi let out a sigh.

"You can't really stop the media from brainwashing girls, but you can try to get the people around you to have a better image of themselves."

"That's very noble of you," Minami responded.

"You think so?" Izumi responded, "well, either way, I'm done now. I'll go wait outside for Miyako."

Still, Minami thought about it as she tried to wash herself as best as she could only using water… she hissed as she tried to clean the gelatinous fluid that clung down there from her previous masturbation session. The texture was honestly… interesting. She did look forward into looking more into this.

But yeah, she should finish up… Keima and everyone else was waiting for her.

Minami let out a sigh of relief as she pulled Miyako's T-shirt over her head, thankful to be fully clothed now. She caught a whiff of something nice smelling, but she tried not to pay it too much mind.

Miyako had also been prepared enough to bring a plastic bag for Minami to put her clothes in, so she had them hanging off her sleeve.

"Terada-senpai," Minami ran her fingers through her stringy locks, "what class are you in?"

"Oh yes, so you know how to find me," Miyako smiled, "I'm in 2-B."

Minami froze. That sounded suspiciously familiar.

"Are you in the same class as Katsuragi-senpai?" Minami asked, her stomach clenching slightly. Miyako nodded.

"Heh, trust Otamegane's reputation to go beyond the high school," Izumi laughed.

"Don't be like that… Katsuragi is a friend of our band," Miyako crossed her arms, "he's a good person if you look beyond the games. Why do you ask, Ikoma-san?"

"I was just wondering," Minami shrugged casually, "so he's your friend, Senpai?"

"Kinda… acquaintances is more like it," the three girls walked out the door, "I'd say the rest of the club is much closer to him than I am, so I've gotten used to him being around and sometimes helping…"

"He helps!?" Izumi gasped exaggeratedly.

"He actually does…" Miyako responded, "he ended up tutoring a bunch of girls for the final exams…"

Minami had to cover her mouth to not snort out loud. So there was a precedence which led to this Sex Ed lesson today.

"Man, no wonder Ayumi's smitten by him…" Izumi wondered out loud. Minami smiled at the familiar name.

"You're not wrong there, but I don't know…" Miyako sighed, "for all the girls who like him, he hasn't been very forthcoming if he likes anyone back… I'd hold him at an arms length."

"That makes sense," Minami agreed, suddenly coming to a stop "but a question… do either of you have the swimming pool keys?"

"I do…" Miyako nodded.

"Can I borrow them? Nikaidou-sensei needs me to get some of the rock salt which is in the locked shed."

Miyako handed it over, and it all went smoothly from there. They parted ways at the door of the pool, and Minami waved them off as she went along. Miyako smiled as she locked the door.

"She was nice, huh?" Izumi leaned against the wall, "I wish I could have gotten her number…"

"Yeah," Miyako paused, "come to think of it, was her phone alright? She did jump into the pool with her clothes on…"

"I don't know," Izumi scratched her chin, "she would have said something, surely."

"Probably…" Miyako sighed, "we should have asked."

"Don't worry… we'll ask the next time we see her," Izumi assured.

Out of view, Minami was sighing as well, trying to get her phone to turn on… as she expected, it was a gonner. She took a breath and put it in the tracksuit jacket… at least those senpais wouldn't know about it…

So there you have it... Minami has succeeded at her mission and gotten a bit of wisdom from her senpais, though at the cost of drowning her clothes and phone. In other news, Tsukiyo is... in denial, and Kanon talked Haqua into chatting with the other girls, because they have more in common than she lets herself believe.

And I actually posted after two weeks... though about that...

To my beta readers if they are reading this, they may have realised that I shuffled some parts around. I did this to keep the rating of this story down for this chapter, and I'll explain why.

Basically, Ramadan began on Saturday two days ago, and for religious reasons, I will not be working or updating this story during that time. I am sorry about saying that I would update every two weeks the last time I updated, but it slipped my mind at the time. I'm sorry for if anyone was actually excited by the story, but I'll probably post again near the end of May. The original part I'd wanted to post but then shuffled into the next chapter was kind of heavy and I didn't want to leave everyone waiting for a month, so I'm sorry again.

Most likely, I will work on some other story in this time, or just play Hollow Knight, which I've gotten quite fond of in recent days.

I'll respond to your review in the next chapter, Xellos. Thank you very much for sending it though.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you when I do. Stay safe and wash your hands.