"I'm back!"
After tidying up her diving suit, Chisa Kotegawa pushed open the door to Grand Blue with a slight feeling of anxiety.
A little while ago, while taking off her diving suit on the reefs by the sea, she had seen her childhood friend whom she hadn't seen in ten years.
Although she hadn't been able to say a word to him because of her father, she wondered what Iori was like now...
"Woooooooah! Why am I losing again! You're playing a dirty trick on me, aren't you!"
"Hahaha! Too bad, Iori! You only have your last pair of underwear left! Are you going to take it off?!"
"Are you kidding! Of course! Even without my clothes, I'm going to destroy this bastard in the next round!"
It seemed there were a few more strange customers in the shop. And among the two unfamiliar faces, the one who was throwing his underwear on the floor seemed to be her childhood friend.
As for the other cool and composed boy, he was still neatly dressed, but his movements were extremely wild because of all the alcohol he had drunk.
Holding a beer mug high, he was shouting as if he had won some kind of honor, surrounded by the naked, burly men.
"I! WIN! YOU! LOSER!"
"..."
Her expectation seamlessly transitioned into disdain. In that instant, all the light in Chisa Kotegawa's eyes faded.
She walked to the counter and asked her sister, who was watching the commotion, in a cold tone, "Sister, what's going on? Has our family decided to change our business into a 'Naked Men's Club'?"
"Oh, my! Chisa, what are you saying? Iori-kun just has bad luck!"
Hearing this, Nanaka Kotegawa furrowed her brow and scolded her sister softly.
'Honestly, they're childhood friends. It's one thing for Chisa not to cheer for Iori-kun, but how can she say something like that!'
"Hmph..."
Chisa Kotegawa scoffed. Being a childhood friend with such a messed-up person, she felt like the first half of her life had been a waste.
But at this point, she didn't want to get involved.
Since Iori Kitahara loved yakyuuken so much, she'd just let him be. She was going back to her room to wash her eyes first.
"Damn it! I lost again! Why! Why haven't you lost a single round!"
On the other side, Iori Kitahara took two steps back in disbelief. He stared at his trembling hands, unable to accept the cruel reality.
Ten times! A full ten rounds of yakyuuken!
He hadn't won a single time, and this was even with Miyazawa Yu being chugged with alcohol.
How was this possible! Had the goddess of luck abandoned him too?!
"Heh— You're pathetic, Iori. This is the will of heaven! For I am the King of Yakyuuken!"
He chuckled with his head down. Miyazawa Yu's mind was already delirious from the alcohol.
But dancing on the ashes of a loser's remains was something coded in his genes!
Even if he were to be buried in a coffin one day, he would use his rotting voice to sincerely mock the defeated Iori!
"Damn it! I... have lost!"
Although he hated to admit it, Iori Kitahara could no longer find a single piece of clothing left to take off.
Without a doubt, he had completely lost any chance of a comeback.
"Ooh-ooh-ooh! The first winner of the new guys' yakyuuken has appeared! And that person is— Miyazawa Yu!!!"
"Hoo-hoo! He's strong!"
"What an awesome new guy. I'm next! I'm gonna make him take off his clothes!"
"No way! No way! It should be my turn! You only have one pair of underwear left, but I still have my socks on!"
As Ryūjirō Kotobuki officially announced Iori's defeat, the atmosphere in the room was once again pushed to a new height.
No one cared about Miyazawa Yu's opinion anymore. Everyone was fired up and wanted to make this arrogant new guy strip so he could feel the might of his seniors!
"No! Stop! According to the agreement, you can only continue playing with Yu-kun's consent!"
Nanaka Kotegawa stepped in just in time. She hadn't forgotten the original intention of proposing the two-person yakyuuken match.
This meant that if Miyazawa Yu wanted to, he could leave at any time.
"Huh? This is boring... Yu, do you want to keep going? Otherwise, I can take you to the bus stop."
Seeing this, the seniors, despite their wild antics, had no choice since it was an agreement they had made beforehand.
The still-sober Shinji Tokita got up, ready to send Miyazawa Yu home first, and then come back for the second half of the party.
"Huh? Do you even have to ask? Senpai Tokita, can you move back a little?"
"Yeah, I guess so. What do you want to do?"
Ryūjirō was baffled. Seeing that Miyazawa Yu didn't seem very sober, he thought the boy wanted to throw up and handed him a trash can.
"Not enough! A little further! Seniors, be careful not to get splashed!"
Miyazawa Yu squinted and scanned the room, feeling that the distance was not far enough.
Without waiting for anyone to stop him, he took three steps in two and ran to the entrance of the shop. He shouted, "Okay! Now, everyone, look at me! Look at me! I have an announcement to make!"
"...Sigh~"
She was just about to go back to her room, but then she thought about how if this new guy acted out while drunk, she would have to clean up the shop the next day.
With a slight sigh, Chisa Kotegawa had no choice but to stop and, along with everyone else, focus her eyes on Miyazawa Yu.
"Yosh!"
The distance was sufficient! Everyone's eyes were on him! Miyazawa Yu nodded in satisfaction and finally stopped beating around the bush.
He straightened his back, extended his hands forward in a commanding pose, and said gallantly, "Just now, I heard someone say they wanted me to go home... But that's impossible! Sister Nanaka! Please bear witness to my victory!"
As he clenched his outstretched hands into fists, everyone present felt a wave of air hit them.
The next second, Miyazawa Yu's ordinary tracksuit exploded as if it were filled with dynamite, tearing into pieces that flew all over the place.
"Come on! This will be a great gamble! I will use this last pair of underwear to take all of your belongings!"
Under Nanaka Kotegawa's astonished gaze, the 'Plus-size' Miyazawa Yu, now only in his underwear, made his grand appearance after the air wave. His exaggeratedly muscular body glistened under the lights.
"Whoa-whoa! Perfect muscles! It's been a long time since I've seen something like this! This is exciting!"
"You bastard! He's looking down on us! New guys should know their place. How dare he challenge his seniors with just a pair of underwear!"
"Now this is more like it! What's the point of a skinny new guy! Let me see what you've got!"
Their authority as seniors was challenged. Without a hint of sadness for the deceased tracksuit, all the seniors, including Ryūjirō Kotobuki, turned into giants!
Their eyes glowed red as they swarmed forward, engulfing Miyazawa Yu. It was clear that a fierce battle was about to ensue, with no room for anything other than one side ending up completely stripped!
"...Did I just, see things?"
One of her eyes was twitching uncontrollably. For a moment, Chisa Kotegawa felt as if she had just seen a god descend from the heavens.
Did a physique like that really exist in reality? His knotty muscles were even more exaggerated than Senpai Ryūjirō's. She felt that a single one of his arms was as thick as her waist.
"Yeah, I never expected Yu-kun to have such a great body. He looks so skinny when he's wearing clothes!"
"That's not a matter of 'looking skinny'! How did such a big person even fit into that tracksuit in the first place!"
Her face was filled with disbelief. Chisa Kotegawa picked up a piece of the exploded tracksuit that had hit her face and tugged at it gently.
It was just ordinary tracksuit material, both in feel and stretchiness. There was no way to tell that it had once contained an ancient beast, which it had somehow made into a refreshing-looking boy.
"Well, well~ What does it matter? Since Yu-kun was willing to show his true self to us, doesn't that show his trust in us?"
"I guess so, but I think he's just acting crazy from all the drinking..."
Looking at Miyazawa Yu, who had already completely blended in with the Pab club's wild celebration, his proud pectorals prominently displayed, Chisa Kotegawa was speechless for a moment.
But just as Nanaka Kotegawa said, showing one's true self is part of getting to know someone.
At the very least, Miyazawa Yu had now piqued Nanaka Kotegawa's curiosity.