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Chapter 101 Part 1

Students Who Have Begun to Change (1) ~No.1~

It was now the last third of June. The height of the rainy season.

There were more cloudy or rainy days than sunny days, and it felt humid even when they were inside the house.

This was the time when places with a lot of people, such as inside trains, in front of stations, and on large streets, get hot and humid, and the discomfort caused by the stuffy air was at its peak.

However, on that day, as if it were a sunny break during the rainy season, intense sunlight was shining down upon them since the morning.

According to the weather forecast, the maximum temperature was expected to go up to 30 degrees Celsius, but it was expected to rain in the evening.

Yuu remembered how challenging it was to commute to work and school at this time of the year.

However, the current Yuu, or rather, boys in general were blessed due to how scarce they were.

After all, a bus would take them from the front of the apartment to the front of the second school building, so there was no problem even if they didn’t bring an umbrella.

Shuttle buses were not allowed to open their windows, but in return, they were equipped with air-conditioners, so they were comfortable.

When the bus arrived at the school and stopped in front of the entrance to the second school building, the male students on board got off one after another.

Following the second- and third-year students, Yuu got off the bus with Rei, but as soon as he stepped outside, he was greeted with a humid, hot air.

「It’s so hot today, too, isn’t it?」

「You’re right. It’s almost July, after all.」

「Yeah, once the rainy season is over, it’s midsummer. There’s about a month left until summer vacation, huh.」

Shortly after they started walking while having such a conversation, they saw a group of female students waiting in a cluster next to the entrance where a rope had been stretched.

Although the place where they were standing was directly exposed to the sunlight, the girls, dressed in short-sleeved summer uniform that left their arms exposed, were full of energy this morning too, not succumbing to the heat.

After all, the male students who got off the bus were walking right in front of them.

The number of female students waiting for them had been showing an upward trend recently.

When they asked their upperclassmen, they said that every year, the number peaked around the time new students enrolled to the school, started to decline after Golden Week, and suddenly dropped to about half during the rainy season. It increased a little around the time autumn transitioned to winter, but it seemed to be at its lowest around the end of the year.

And yet, even now that they had gotten into the rainy season, it had not decreased at all.

No, it seemed to be decreasing for a period of time, but starting from around mid-June, it took a turn and started to increase.

One more thing.

A scene they had never seen in previous years was unfolding before their eyes.

「「「「「Good morning!」」」」」

「Ou.」

「Good morning. So full of energy since the morning, aren’t you?」

「Morning~…」

「Mm.」

Faced with the energetic greetings from the female students, the male students, although in a varying manner, waved their hands and replied.

Perhaps seeing some familiar faces among the girls, there were even some boys who took the trouble to approach them and exchange a few words with them.

Yuu could think of one reason for this change.

It was the inter-class ball game competition held this month.

Until last year, almost no boys participated, but this year, at Yuu’s suggestion, they decided to have the boys cheer on the class they were in charge of.

In part because they had been provided with a preparatory period, the boys cheered enthusiastically during the actual event, and the further they advanced in each event, the stronger the sense of unity that was formed between the boys and girls.

Yuu had heard from various people that even after the competition was over, the sense of distance between the boys and girls seemed to be shrinking throughout the school due to the cheering connections.

Considering that it was a coeducational school whose purpose was to facilitate boys and girls to get together, this was a good trend, they said.

By the time the third-year students had passed by and entered the second school building, and the second-year students were halfway through, Yuu and Rei stepped into that place.

Today, Yuu was wearing a white polo shirt and beige chino pants. A summer-oriented refreshing-type outfit.

As for Rei, even in this hot and humid season, he was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and black slacks, which were close to formal attire. Perhaps because he had sensitive skin, he tended to hide it as much as possible.

However, coupled with his androgynous features, the girls seemed to find it irresistible in its own way.

As soon as they caught sight of the two, the high-pitched cheers immediately intensified.

「「「Kyaaaaaaaaa!」」」

「It’s Hirose-kun!」

「Higashino-kun!」

「Hirose-kun, you look really cool today too~」

「When it comes to cuteness, as expected it has to be Higashino-kun!」

「It’s, as amazing as always, isn’t it?」

Rei was a little taken aback, but as expected, after nearly three months, he had gotten used to it.

He showed no signs of being frightened by the voices of so many girls like he was at the beginning.

「Yeah, but it doesn’t feel bad, right?」

「Well, since I was always with you, Yuu-kun, I inevitably got used to it, or rather…」

Having been watching Yuu who, forgot being clam, enjoyed interacting with girls up close, it seemed that he had been influenced by him.

As such, Yuu and Rei casually approached the girls, who were standing in a row, from the closest end.

Yuu noticed that he recognized the faces of the girls who were lined up there with smiles filled with anticipation.

It was a group of about 7 or 8 girls from class 1-5 that participated in the dodgeball competition.

「「「Good morning! Hirose-kun!」」」

「Good morning.」

As he greeted them, he extended his hand and shook hands with them one by one.

Somehow, he felt like he was a celebrity that was interacting with his fans.

Most boys stopped at only waving their hands or lightly touching a few girls in the front row, but Yuu alone shook hands with any girls who extended their hands to him, not missing even a single one regardless of who the other party was.

While holding her hand, Yuu carefully observed the girl he was shaking hands with.

On the other hand, the girls were also looking at Yuu thoroughly from head to foot with feverish eyes.

Yuu was the only one who spent a lot of time interacting with them one by one.

That was also the reason for his increasing popularity.

Perhaps influenced by Yuu, Rei was also shaking hands with several tall girls from a little distance away.

「Did I shake hands with everyone?」

「H, Hirose-kun! I’m, not yet…」

Aramaki Yoshie, a member of the Class 1-5 class committee, was jumping up and down with her hand outstretched in the back row.

「Yocchan, this way.」

A girl in the front row opened up a place for her, so Yoshie came forward while thanking her.

Sweat was already glistening on Yoshie’s forehead, and her long black hair, which was tied in a half-up braid, had ended up getting a little disheveled.

「U, umm… Hirose-kun, good morning.」

Taking the hand she timidly extended to him, Yuu shook hands with her.

「Good morning, Aramaki-san. Your hair that you’ve taken the trouble of styling is getting disarrayed, you know?」

Yuu stroked Yoshie’s hair with his other hand, brushing the ones sticking on her cheeks to the back.

Feeling his hand touching her face as he did so, Yoshie’s cheeks turned even redder.

「Hau…」

「That hairstyle, I think it suits you well. It’s very cute.」

「「「Ooh…」」」

For some reason, an uproar arose from those around them.

「T-t-t-, thank… you. H, Hirose-kun…」

The eyes behind her glasses were sparkling as she stared at Yuu, and it looked as if a heart symbol was floating on them.

Personally, Yuu also harbored goodwill toward Yoshie, a very earnest class rep type of person.

He even had the desire to do naughty stuff with her someday.

The shortening of distance between boys and girls through each grade had also affected Yuu.

In the past, Yuu was the only first-year boy who got along well with girls, but nowadays, like his classmates Rei and Haruto, the number of boys who grew less resistant to interacting with girls was gradually going up.

As such, he was not as overly standing out as before.

Even so, Yuu, who didn’t detest touching them and always smiled at them, was a special existence to the female students.

Even after he was done with the girls from class 1-5, Yuu greeted back the girls who called out his name, and slowly moved on while exchanging handshakes and high-fives with them.

While some of the girls there were regulars with whom he had gotten acquainted, there were also some whom he had seen for the first time.

Eventually, as he neared the end of the line, a group of tall girls called out his name simultaneously.

Rei had already entered the school building first.

「Huh? If I remember correctly… you girls are form class 1-1, the ones who participated in the volleyball competition, right?」

「That’s right. So you remember us?」

「You know, at that time, we couldn’t help but feel jealous of the class 1-5 that was so enthusiastically cheered on by you, Hirose-kun.」

「Ahaha. Well, I was in charge of their class, after all.」

The six girls there were the players from the class 1-1 that won against class 1-5 in the finals of the volleyball section of the inter-class ball time competition.

Half of them were clearly taller than Yuu, maybe 175-180cm.

They seemed to belong to some kind of athletic club, and even from over their uniforms, he could tell that they had toned bodies.

They also had the characteristic of sporting hairstyles that wouldn’t get in the way of their athletic activities, like short hair or simply tying it into a single bundle.

In spite of that, like any other Sairyou’s students, each and every one of them fell into the cute category.