Once again, it's another eight-way competition for the regional championship. North, South, East, and Western representatives from these quadrants gathered for one last time to determine their place in the national round, each hopeful to come out on top. Meiou Academy and former rival, Naroma Private Academy represented the eastern quadrant so contention between them was nothing new.

As Team Meiou made its way to the battlefield, Shuichi grew slightly concerned. There was a student who knew his secret. The same student behind the video that Shuichi's friends practiced their due diligence in defaming. How on earth was Shuichi going to make sure Kaito would keep his mouth shut? Perhaps a group text?

[Kiyoni] "Say what now?"

[Kuronue] "Did I read that correctly?"

[Shuichi] "I'm afraid so ( ー _ ー ゛ )"

"Has both video and audio recording"

[Kiyoni] "Audio?"

"Kaito managed to record our conversation"

[Kuronue] "Kaito…Kaito…"

"Who was he again?"

"Kaito Yuu. He's a third year student just like us."

"Classroom 3-B"

"Ah, no wonder"

"( ͡ ° ͜ ʖ ͡ ° ) "

[Kiyoni] "I think I know who he is"

"He viewed my TikTok profile recently"

"Turns out, he was at the prefecture round. He recorded you Minamino"

"So I was told ( ~ _ ~ ; )"

[Kuroune] "THAT lunatic?!"

"That wannabe conspiracy theorist?"

"Apparently so."

"Wait. Why was he looking at your profile, Ikeda?"

[Kiyoni] "Beats me"

"I think it's because I made a video about his video"

[Kuronue] "Yeah, he's a kook. I think he made a video about blaming the spirit of the Sessho-seki for the demise of the Prime Minister"

"That's neither here nor there right now."

"What matters are the threats"

"What threats bro?"

"Basically if my secret is to remain a secret, we have to do a few things"

"Such as?"

"1. End our friendship in favor of one with him"

"~WWW!~"

"That'll be the day ~W~"

"2. Ikeda has to be his girlfriend"

[Kiyoni] "Ikeda has to do what"

"Girlfriend?"

[Kuronue] "WWW!"

"Stop it I can't hold it together on the bus."

"No way in hell would I date someone like him"

"And all of this would have to last until the end of the school year or until Kaito thinks he's gained enough popularity"

[Kiyoni] "He'll be at regionals yeah"

"Yes and if I'm right he'll be there waiting to catch me"

"Not if he has two black eyes he won't "

"That won't be necessary. I'm prepared for him. Remember?"

"Eh?"

[Kuronue] "[three salt emojis]"

"Right?"

"Precisely ⟵ ( ๑ ¯ ◡ ¯ ๑ )"

[Kiyoni] "Eh…?"

"Ohhhh salt ( ； ^ ω ^)"

"Yes salt"

"I'll need you two to keep an eye on him"

"Think you can do that?"

[Kuronue] "You got it"

"Ikeda?"

Kiyoni took a few moments to type out her answer. It was going to be a paragraph letting whoever knows how she feels. What has Kiyoni ever done to attract jerks? The better question is why such jerks exist? Kiyoni only had to do two things in life, be herself and like it. Where was there ever room for boys who were just…ick?!

"Ikeda?"

[...]

[Kiyoni] "Yeah I got it"

"Creator give me strength ತ _ ತ"

Yuko Junior/Senior High School. Home of this year's regional round. A private academy like school, it's appearance had the look and feel of an old, brick style, American high school with the modernity of a Japanese high school. Remaining students were seen leaving campus for the day while others headed east towards the school's natatorium looking forward to the contest.

Multiple buses were expected to arrive outside of the school gym, two from each participating school with every bus transporting either the team or their supporters. The drop-off point was as standard as allowed. On one side was an open, freshly-defined soccer field surrounded by the school's race track where a few teens decided to pass the time. As they watched the buses pull up to the parking lot, the subject surrounding girls became the next topic. Which school has the best looking girls? Which girl would be the one to talk to? What are they like with other boys? Immature yet typical.

How impressive is this pool? At least that's what some spectators thought as they entered the area. Up to ten seating rows were lying in wait for an audience which was quickly filling up. School colors ranging from cranberry red to navy blue to maroon to gold to forest green to deep gray to plum purple made the stands look like a deeply-hued rainbow highlighted by neon-colored thunder sticks, horns, and red and white pom poms. More of the school's stranglers posted themselves in the hallway, watching it all through multiple glass panels.

On the back wall and above the entrance to the locker rooms, hung the scoreboard. The greeting, "Welcome, regional finalists!" was displayed in Japanese and English, surrounded by animated fireworks. Just below was the list of participants. Other than Naroma, Meiou Academy will be going head-to-head against northern prefecture representatives, Okazaki Higashi Junior High and Towada Junior High; the southern prefecture representatives, Hayato Private Academy and Ikuha Junior High; and the western prefecture representatives, Uwajima Junior/Senior High and Yokote City Junior High.

As people got comfortable with the barely audible background music for ambiance, Kiyoni and Kuronue went into detective mode with the former scoping out the pool itself. Above the eight lane, 50m long, man-made body of water were two lines of triangulated flags promoting the hosting school's colors, red, black, and silver. Another look at the uniform and Kiyoni grew secretly envious. Black blazer jackets with the school crest on them that looked similar to any of the house crests of Harry Potter fame, solid, crimson red neck ties, silver gray, perfectly-creased business pants for the boys and pleated, plaid-patterned skirts for the girls that were either knee or ankle length. Kiyoni is a sucker, borderline simp for plaid. Especially if the colors compliment each other that way.

Our uniforms are practically boring compared to theirs, she concluded. That's so not fair.

Meanwhile, Kuronue scoped out the area for any sign of Kaito. Sure enough, Yuu followed through on his word. He was found sitting nearly inconspicuously in the top row connecting his phone to a portable power bank only to blankly stare at it until it's time. Kuronue immediately felt something funny going on inside his chest.

"Yo…Ikeda?"

"Yeah," Kiyoni responded, putting her jealousy on hold.

"He's here."

"Who's here?"

"Back there. Top row. …Don't turn like that! You'll look suspicious!"

"Suspicious? Misaki, there is a schoolmate who wants to expose Minamino for what he is just to get his rocks off. You don't find that suspicious? I mean, clout chasing is a thing."

"Look, it's stupid, I know but Shuichi said to keep an eye on him…and for you not to act like a bully. Besides, Shuichi has his secret weapon, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah," Kiyoni snuck a quick peek at Kaito just to keep him under her radar, "But if he makes just the slightest of moves…"

Inside the locker rooms, Shuichi performed the final step of his preparation plans. Salty, unscented lotion was applied all over the body from the face and ears to the trunk, arms, and legs to every nook and cranny of his fingers and toes, supplemented by two shots of salt water that tasted quite bitter. Considering the looming aura of one Kaito Yuu, Shuichi didn't want to leave anything to chance.

"Yo, Minamino," Karasu called, "You okay?"

"Fine. I'm…what happened to your hair?"

Shuichi was so used to Karasu being a blonde, it was surprising to see the vice captain go dark on this day.

"What are you talking about," Karasu challenged, "This is my natural hair color. It's the regional competition. Familiar with the term, solidarity?"

"But I thought you were a blonde."

"Ever heard of hair wax? You should probably try it."

A signifying horn blew through the speakers, silencing everyone in the locker room. Through the speakers, all team representatives for the first race of the competition were asked to come to the front in order of their respective lane. It's showtime.

"Minamino?"

"Yes?"

Karasu had displayed his most serious, competitive face when he spoke, "Don't ruin this."

"Same thing goes for you."

Let the games begin. After the 50m freestyle, butterfly, backstroke, and breaststroke races were complete for the boys and girls, it was time for the 4x100m medley relay. Post team introductions, every athlete was allowed a few minutes to prepare. While some used the time to get acquainted with the water, Shuichi attempted to join only to step back. Kuronue and Kiyoni were on him like a hawk.

"What was that about," Kuronue asked.

"What was what about," Kiyoni followed.

"You didn't notice that? Shuichi isn't doing his usual routine."

"...Oh…oh, you're right," Kiyoni realized. Another quick peek behind her and she noticed Yuu still attentive to his phone. Only this time the camera was angled Shuichi's way. There were a few others doing the same thing so Yuu didn't look too suspicious.

"I think I know why…" she surmised.

"Yeah?"

"He's playing a game with Kaito."

"You think so?"

"Just watch. You'll get it."

It was a hard decision to make for the coach but once again, Shuichi was designated the piston while Karasu served as anchor. That's just fine. Shuichi actually wanted to see if Kaito would follow through on his plans. It made the desire to break them that much stronger. Once in the water, officially, Shuichi took his mark. Seeing nothing but human skin proved fruitless for Kaito as he continued to observe. He didn't care though. A hypothesis Yuu had, stated that Shuichi tends to "fish out" whenever he's in active mode. If Yuu could catch Shuichi in the act and in the moment, it's a one-way ticket to viral city.

Silence. Silence so dominant, a burp would echo in the room.

"...Set…" a speaker announced.

By the sound of a horn, the race began, a clean start across the board. By the time the backstroke was officially executed, Uwajima Junior High claimed first place.

"Gogogogogogogogogogo," Kiyoni cheered.

"Don't fish out, don't fish out, don't fish out…" Kuronue added.

Just after completing the turn, Shuichi realized the push off was a bit too strong. Could it be that ningyo possess inhuman strength too? Maybe. Yuu caught that detail though. By the time everyone cleared their turn, the average time was about twenty-eight seconds with Shuichi taking a 1.5 second lead to finish his run.

A bit tricky, Minamino, Yuu concluded. Tricky, indeed.

At the end of that event, Meiou came in second with a 3:56.02 total finish, Shuichi clocking in at 56.01 seconds. The girls did better with a 3:54.12 total finish.

"That's good, right," Kiyoni affirmed, "Second place?"

"If we want to win this thing, no," Kuronue answered, "If we wanted Shuichi to play it safe from four-eyes, yes."

Forty-six. Forty-six seconds was the average time recorded for the 100-meter freestyle. That was on Shuichi's mind as he stood on the platform, ready to go. If he took longer than forty-six seconds, he'd let his team down since they're currently in second place at this point but was pushing closer to third. However, Yuu will have nothing to brag about. If Shuichi clocked in faster than forty-six seconds, his team would be closer to or shift to first place…and Yuu would have something to say. What's a team captain to do? Better yet, what's a young man who's teetering the line between humanity and a life under the sea to do?

Lady Botan…are you watching…?

"...Set…" the announcer spoke.

The run was off to a roaring start. Supporters of the top three schools were cheering their loudest with their own choreographed acclamations. Thunder sticks clapped, horns were blown, and pom poms waved as swimmers gave it their all. Shuichi was doing fine as he completed the first quarter of his run, in beast mode as some would say. By the time he made it into the deep end of the pool, a familiar image appeared underneath him.

Lady Botan…?

While she didn't present herself in full, an outlined image of her did. Yes, she was watching and she didn't have to be in Shuichi's dreams for him to see her. Once the first fifty meters were completed, Botan did her thing by playing the role of a diversion. Through the surrounding lanes, Botan made sure Shuichi's competition got just enough of a view of the former empress to startle them but not to the point they couldn't finish their swim. The plan worked. Shuichi was able to take first place but by the looks of things, he did so in an acceptable fashion. The victory went to team Meiou, finishing at 45.59 seconds. Second place went to Towada Junior High at 45.64 seconds.

"Yosh," Kiyoni and Kuronue cheered through their teeth. It was a tight race from their viewpoint. Yuu, on the other hand, was disappointed. Especially once Shuichi was out of the pool. The meet is almost over and still nothing? Damn. The girls fared well too, finishing at 45.38.

"Yo, Misaki, look," Kiyoni pointed out.

"What," following Kiyoni's direction, Kuronue noticed Yuu developed a pained, disgusted look on his face while staring at his phone, "Ohhhhhh. Yeah, he's pissed."

One more event, Minamino. One more. "That regional title is as good as ours. Look at the times."

With a few more races to go, Meiou was still in second place but with wins from the team captain and the fastest female swimmer, the school was closer to first. First place was held by Uwajima.