Chapter 62: Confirmed Rumors

The next day, it was the start of the swimming training session of the Help club. After classes were done, the Help club members went straight to the pool area of the school. The pool was located in a separate area inside the school grounds. It was surrounded by a wired fence with a single door for entry. There were changing rooms just beside the pool itself and inside the boundary of the wired fence.

The five of them changed into their school swimsuits and swimming trunks, respectively. Soon afterwards the participating students arrived. There were eleven boys and fourteen girls that registered. Those students changed into their swimming clothes as the Help club conducted a short meeting. They formed a circle while standing at the poolside.

"I'm sorry that I'm a participant instead of helping you guys teach the others…"

Sanaka looked at the ground as she spoke.

"I already punished you for that by making you work for the poster and registration. Your job now is to learn how to swim so you won't drag our class down during the competition!"

Akuma glared at Sanaka as he crossed his arms together.

"Yeah, I did a good job! I even accepted more than the twenty people you said we should accept."

Sanaka puffed her chest up.

"Who told you it's okay to do that? It's more work for me!"

Akuma pointed at Sanaka and stomped his foot.

"Angelie-san said—"

"You were going to work hard, anyway. What's a few more students? Or are you saying you can't even handle that? Well?"

Angelie interrupted Sanaka and looked at Akuma with a condescending smile.

"I knew you were somehow behind this… You all will be working hard, too!"

After Akuma glared at Angelie for a moment, he walked away from the group. Angelie did the same immediately afterwards.

"Ah, we are now again the victims of their squabbling. What about us that don't want to work that hard?"

Kiba shook his head as he placed his hands on his waist.

"Please do not include me in that category. I don't mind working hard."

Mimi stared at Kiba.

"So, can you take some of my workload, then?"

Kiba beamed at Mimi.

"No."

Mimi turned around and walked away from Kiba.

"Ah, direct as ever. You could learn a thing or two from Hana-san about acting cuter."

Kiba followed Mimi.

---

Once all the other students were done changing clothes, they were instructed to stretch and warm up for a bit. After that was done, they were asked to get into the pool.

Akuma stood by himself along the poolside. Angelie, Mimi, Kiba and Sanaka were in the pool together with the participants. Akuma started speaking toward the students inside the water. They were all focusing on Akuma. He then became stiff and stuttered some of his words.

He explained the activities they would be doing twice a week for a few weeks before the competition. He also said that there might be sessions during Saturdays. He then proceeded with teaching breathing techniques and other basics for swimming.

He watched everyone while he stood by the poolside. Angelie, Mimi and Kiba assisted students who were having trouble inside the pool and gave them pointers. Akuma jumped into the pool once in a while when he saw someone making a mistake or not following his directions. He did so in a formal manner, not too brash and not too gentle.

Two hours went by and the first day of the swimming training session ended. The sun was starting to set as the other students finished changing and left the pool area. The Help club members were in charge of locking the door and making sure the pool area was clean. Just before they left, they made a final check of the area. They then locked the door and headed for the school gate. Akuma walked behind everyone else.

"My muscles hurt… How much more do I have to do?"

Sanaka was slumped as she walked.

"This is just the beginning, Sanaka-san. It'll get harder the next few sessions."

Angelie looked directly at Sanaka and smiled at her.

"Even though you said that with a smile, I didn't feel comforted one bit, Angelie-san…"

Sanaka further slumped while walking.

"I think it was a good start. Doesn't seem like there were hopeless cases in that group."

Kiba put his hands behind his head as he looked up at the sky.

"So, you've been watching everyone?"

Mimi made a side glance at Kiba.

"Yeah. Especially the girls!"

Kiba grinned at Mimi.

"At this point, I am not surprised. What I'm surprised about is that those girls didn't get out of the pool and run away."

Mimi shook her head.

"You know what? I noticed some of the girls looking at Kiba-kun's direction. What if he's secretly popular—"

"He's not."

Mimi and Sanaka simultaneously cut off Angelie's thought.

"I know the standards for what makes a guy popular with girls. He certainly doesn't qualify."

Sanaka sternly looked at Angelie.

"Maybe they were only looking because they were creeped out by him? I remember a certain incident with the Gardening Club that was similar."

Mimi faced Angelie with a serious look.

"I see, so they were looking at him because they were uneasy around him…"

Angelie looked up as she reached her conclusion.

"Um, guys? I'm still here. I can hear all of your 'generous' words for me."

Kiba scratched the back of his head. The three girls then laughed out loud.

---

They had another training session for that week. They focused on mastering the basics and then some floating and threading techniques. It was a little harder for some to grasp the new lessons. The session ended while not many students progressed for the day. The Help club decided to continue the same lessons for the following week.

The weekend passed by and it was the start of another school week. There was no planned training session for the start of the week. The Help club members met inside their clubroom after classes.

"Will we only focus on the swimming training until the competition? Or will we still accept any request that come?"

Mimi looked at Angelie who was seated beside her.

"I want to help others as much as possible. If we can do their request when we don't have a training session, I don't see why not."

Angelie smiled at Mimi.

"I see. Then I won't put this signage on our door."

Mimi held up a signage that said 'We're closed. Please bother someone else.'. She showed it to Angelie.

"W-what is with that signage?! Who wrote that?"

Angelie snatched the signage away from Mimi and ripped it to shreds.

"I did. I only said I'd work hard for the swimming training sessions. So, we're concentrating on that."

Akuma looked up at the ceiling as he leaned back on his chair.

"Why the heck did you write 'bother someone else'?! We're the Help Club! You'll make them feel they're a nuisance!"

Angelie glared at Akuma while still grasping some pieces of the torn signage.

"I wrote 'Please', didn't I? And they'll really be a nuisance since we're busy with the training sessions."

Akuma glared right back at Angelie.

"Writing 'Please' doesn't make it any less offending! You stupid Demon Lord!"

"At least I don't try to carry the problems of the whole world, you pretentious Saint!"

Akuma and Angelie's voices could be heard outside of their club room. The door of their clubroom suddenly opened. There was a male student standing outside. He had short, black hair. He smiled and pointed at Akuma and Angelie.

"So, the rumors were true!"

---

The male student sat down on the visitor chair. All of the Help club members were looking at him. The male student remained silent for a few moments as he seemed to gather his thoughts. After quietly waiting for a while, Akuma loudly cleared his throat.

"Ah, yes. I'm sorry… My name is Shinsetsu Yuujin of class 1-B. I wanted to ask for your help about something…"

Yuujin looked at his lap while talking.

"Can you tell us more about your request, Shinsetsu-kun?"

Angelie stared at Yuujin.

"You see, I have a classmate. Well, he is my friend. And, um, he suffers from chuunibyou… He's getting bullied because of it. No one is hurting him or anything like that. But they're making fun of him and I can't do anything about it…"

Yuujin looked straight into Angelie's eyes.

Chuunibyou, or middle schooler syndrome, could be described as a condition where a person behaved like they were living in a fantasy world, had grandiose illusions, or convinced that they have some secret powers. They sometimes act this way in order for them to stand out.

"You earlier said something about rumors being true. Does that have anything to do with you coming to us?"

Kiba rested his chin on his hand as he looked at Yuujin.

"Well, yes… There was a rumor that the members of this club suffer from chuunibyou as well. So, I thought they might know anything that could help me."

Yuujin directly answered Kiba with no hesitation.

"And I wonder where those rumors came from…?"

Kiba slowly looked at Sanaka. Akuma, Angelie and Mimi also stared at her. Sanaka looked away and whistled innocently.