Everyone believed it, so she could only follow along and believe it too. She would settle accounts with Hachiman after the results were actually measured.
"Nanasaki, wait!"
Sakurai Rihoko had a softer temperament, and couldn't win against Nanasaki Ai, so she hurriedly tugged at her competitive swimsuit to make sure nothing suspicious would be seen before following Nanasaki Ai outside.
"President Hachiman, let's hurry out too. If we go out openly together, no one will suspect anything."
Tsukahara Hibiki immediately pulled Hachiman up when she saw this. Although her legs were still a bit weak, she thought, 'I thought you weren't afraid, but it turns out you're still a little worried.'
Hachiman let go of Hayase Saki and set her on the ground. While touching the blushing, silent, big fool Saki who was lowering her head, he teased Tsukahara Hibiki.
"I'm not afraid of the Disciplinary Committee, I'm afraid other clubs will find out you have the ability to quickly improve people's results. If the number of competitors increases, how can I keep you? The Girls' Swimming Club still has many pretty girls, but their desire for results isn't that strong, so it's hard to pull them in," Tsukahara Hibiki rolled her eyes at Hachiman, then turned to Tachibana Mikari, Uenohara Ayano, and Orizuka Momoka.
"Don't you think so? We just started training, and Hachiman's already going to run off. We'd have to go to other clubs to snatch people back."
"...", Orizuka Momoka quickly glanced at Hachiman's side profile, blushed, and didn't want to speak.
She was purely dragged into this mess by these girls.
If it weren't unavoidable, she would definitely make them pay.
"Hehe~ Sorry, President, but the tennis club already knows how amazing Manager Hikigaya is. Kitamura Chika, who's in my class, trained with me under Manager Hikigaya during tennis class today," Tachibana Mikari scratched the back of her head embarrassedly and gave an awkward smile.
"Kitamura Chika is cousins with the tennis club's ace, Kitamura Kaori. It's possible that tennis club captain Hayakawa Nishi might learn about it from the Kitamura sisters…"
"Hm? Mikari, what did you just say?"
Tsukahara Hibiki suddenly turned her head toward Tachibana Mikari, narrowing her eyes.
"Wait, I just said it's possible! Kitamura Chika is a Disciplinary Committee member! She might not tell anyone!"
"That still means she might tell! Mikari, get over here!"
"I'm not coming!"
Tachibana Mikari wanted to explain, but seeing Tsukahara Hibiki suddenly rush over to grab her, she quickly ran away.
"Manager Hikigaya, you're going to be stolen away? Then… should I take the chance before you leave…", The pessimist Uenohara Ayano looked at Hachiman hesitantly, wondering if she should absorb more training experience first.
"I'm not that easy to take away, okay? You're all so obedient and cute, I haven't enjoyed enough yet."
Hachiman reached out to pinch Uenohara Ayano's cheeks hard, then gave Hayase Saki a kiss on the face, smiling.
The Girls' Swimming Club had just become his turf, so how could he leave so soon?
Besides, the club training function had just unlocked, and he needed to test it several more times to improve their results.
The tennis club might have pretty girls, but it couldn't beat a Girls' Swimming Club full of swimsuit beauties.
"Uh… Then… can you kiss me too? Like Saki-senpai…", Uenohara Ayano stared at how Hachiman treated her differently from Hayase Saki, cautiously asking.
She was happy when Manager Hikigaya pinched her cheeks, but why kiss Saki-senpai and not her?
"...", Hayase Saki silently stared at Uenohara Ayano.
'Junior! You've crossed the line!'
She was the President's good friend. And you actually want to be the same as her.
"President Tsukahara… Manager Hikigaya… Vice President Orizuka… Vice President Hayase…"
Manager Kawanatsu Saki stood not far from the locker room door, looking resentfully at the group laughing and joking as they walked out of the locker room.
Does your conscience not hurt?
Everyone was having fun inside, while she was alone outside dealing with members who wanted to enter the locker room.
Who would know how nervous she was out there, afraid someone might barge in and expose the locker room's secret training…
"Hm?"
In the crowd, Hachiman, sandwiched between Hayase Saki and Uenohara Ayano, sensed an unfamiliar gaze and suddenly turned his head.
A flash of dazzling brown instantly disappeared around the corner of the locker room hallway.
Kushida Kikyo? What was she doing here staking out and peeping?
Although the Kikyo was very cautious, Hachiman still saw the face of the one spying on him. But he was still puzzled, he didn't seem to have had any interaction with Kushida Kikyo.
———
Kushida Kikyo, a transfer student from Advanced Nurturing High School, positive, energetic, cute in appearance, gentle in attitude, helpful, but in reality a big-busted little beach who wasn't the same inside as outside.
Like Ichinose Honami and Karuizawa Kei, she had a dark past she couldn't speak of. But hers was more serious. If exposed, it would severely damage her relationships and reputation.
In the original work, to prevent her dark past from being exposed, Kushida Kikyo desperately sold out her teammates, held them back, and tried her best to expel Horikita Suzune, who might know her past.
However, in junior high, he probably didn't go to the same school as Kushida Kikyo and Horikita Suzune. His junior high didn't have any major scandals, and he went to elementary school in his rural hometown, living an uneventful life.
Hachiman wasn't worried Kushida Kikyo would cause trouble for him, just puzzled about why she had set her sights on him.
This was his Sobu High, not Advanced Nurturing High.
Even without collecting evidence of Kushida Kikyo's dark past, he could easily deal with her.
However, Kushida Kikyo was probably already very troubled now. Even if she discovered he had some unspeakable relationship with members of the Girls' Swimming Club, she wouldn't say anything.
After all, Sobu High wasn't a closed-off school like Advanced Nurturing High and didn't have a clear expulsion system.
For the next three years, Kushida Kikyo would still have to spend time with her junior high classmate Horikita Suzune, who very likely knew her dark past. One slip and her carefully maintained friend circle could explode.
Rather than waste thought on this little beach whose only redeeming points were her looks and body, it was better to think about today's task reward.
The new club activity, club training, he had just experienced felt pretty good.
Although it wasn't done in the pool, training the members of the Girls' Swimming Club in the locker room still let him experience some special effects of training.
As everyone knew, club training was little different from a training camp, special activities to deepen relationships.
Before this, every time he trained someone, he had to do it personally. Even if others were around, they could only cheer and wait their turn.
Now, with the special status boost during club training, the girls kneeling before him could observe his guidance. With Tsukahara Hibiki's demonstration, they could still gain enough benefits.
This club training function, combined with Lala's Sympathy Wristbands, could truly let everyone share the benefits.
The more members in the training, the better the results. This feature was indeed impressive, worthy of the Love Live System's club activities.
However, it restricted participants to club members. Non-members who joined would only take away from the results the members had worked for.
Currently, with only the Service Club and the Girls' Swimming Club, his pool of training members wasn't large. People like Yuina and Ijichi Nijika couldn't enjoy the effects unless they joined one of the clubs, even nominally.
As for Shion at home. Well, she'd have to wait until she and Komachi got into Sobu High.
Hachiman set aside his thoughts and, together with Kawanatsu Saki, watched Sakurai Rihoko, Hayase Saki, and the others swim in the pool like mermaids, showing off their graceful and athletic bodies.
When they touched the pool wall and climbed out, Hachiman's eyes stayed on Nanasaki Ai, who was far behind and still struggling forward.
"..."
After a few seconds, Nanasaki Ai reached the wall, surfaced, removed her goggles, and wiped her face. While gasping for breath, she looked up at Hayase Saki, Sakurai Rihoko, and the others walking over to Hachiman, her eyes full of shock.
How could the gap be this big?
Vice President Hayase's strength aside, she and Sakurai's times had always been close, never with such a large gap.
This was just one training session, and Sakurai had already used up so much stamina in the locker room, so she wasn't even in top condition.
"Nanasaki, do you believe it now? I didn't lie to Sakura. Little Saki has recorded the time, you can see how much Sakura improved over her own record. Of course, if you think you weren't in top form, you can try again. I'm sure they won't refuse."
Hachiman looked down at the short-haired girl whose usually cool face was now flushed and charming from exertion, smiling.
Nanasaki Ai was already impressive, competing with second-years in her first year, with the ability to participate in nationals. But unfortunately, she met these unreasonable inner-world heroines.
They already had strong physiques from daily training, and under his training their bodies had improved even more. Add the Service Aura, and their physical abilities were beyond normal people.
Of course, in a world with extraordinary powers, these improvements didn't have much effect except to make daily life, studies, and club activities more comfortable.
"…I believe you. I won't question your training again, Manager Hikigaya," Nanasaki Ai met Sakurai Rihoko's eyes for a moment, then admitted it directly.
She'd only participated because she worried timekeeper Kawanatsu Saki would favor Hikigaya. Now that she'd swum alongside Sakurai and the others, the facts were undeniable.
Still, she felt something was off.
She'd witnessed all of Hikigaya's training with Sakurai, even if she sometimes looked away in embarrassment. The frequency, the timing… the intensity looked extreme, but they trained daily. It shouldn't have resulted in such huge improvement after just one intense session.
'Could it be… the real training effect came from Manager Hikigaya's…'
Thinking of the expressions Sakurai and the others had after training, just like drinking a bottle of coffee milk after a hot spring, Nanasaki Ai suddenly took a deep breath, dove underwater, and cooled her overheated brain.
"Nanasaki-san?"
On the deck, Sakurai Rihoko looked dazedly at the rippling water.
She was soft-tempered, and Nanasaki was cold outside but warm inside. Both were first-years valued by the President and got along well. Uenohara also had a decent relationship with them, though she was a bit awkward and self-deprecating, often isolating herself.
Sakurai had thought proving Hikigaya's training worked would make Nanasaki join them toward nationals.
But it seemed Nanasaki didn't want to be like them.
"Glub glub…"
After a while, bubbles rose and Nanasaki Ai surfaced, climbing up the ladder with a flushed, complicated expression. She glanced at Sakurai, Hikigaya, and the others, then quickly greeted Tsukahara Hibiki and left.
"President, I'm taking leave! I just remembered Shibu-san needs me!"
No one would force her to accept Hikigaya's training, she'd already just watched Tsukahara and Orizuka train together earlier.
But now that she'd cooled down, she couldn't face Sakurai, Uenohara, Mikari, and Hayase, who had all just trained so intensely and gained so much.
Compared to them, she was completely out of place.
"Heh!"
While Tsukahara and the others looked regretful at not dragging Nanasaki in, Hikigaya smiled at her fleeing figure.
Nanasaki was one of the few normal ones in the Girls' Swimming Club. But with so few normals, she was the odd one out.
Mm… Probably not the world's fault, but Sobu High's inner-world heroines were just too many.
They raised the average looks and figures of the girls, but lowered the average in other ways.
If not for strict school rules and every class appointing pretty girls as Disciplinary Committee members to set examples and supervise classmates, Sobu High might have had the lowest deviation value.
Still, in this environment, even normal people began to doubt if they were abnormal.
"Let's skip underwater training today. You've worked hard enough, just consolidate today's results later."
"Got it, Manager Hikigaya!"
"Then I'll go now, I have something to do."
"No problem, I'll walk you out."
After playing around with Sakurai and the others for a bit, Hikigaya, sent off warmly by Tsukahara, changed into his uniform in the locker room, finishing the Girls' Swimming Club request perfectly.
Although it wasn't a hard job, it was the second most time-consuming request he'd done, and today he'd suddenly maxed the progress, which made him a bit emotional.
The most time-consuming request, assisting the Elf Princess, was still quiet.
But there was no rush. Iris was already living at his house and had brought her sister, cousin, and people there. He just needed to follow the plan and help the elves regain their glory.
Yes, that goal wasn't hard at all, under his Service Aura, the elves would grow stronger bit by bit.
He didn't need to worry about Iris, who was already in his hands. What he did need to think about was Gabriel, who'd skipped class again today.
How should he punish her?
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