Chapter 69: Top Secret Info

"How the hell is that 'showing your gratitude'?"

Akuma pointed at Angelie.

"It's so you won't be known as a delinquent in this school! You have your precious 'image' to protect, right? I'm helping you protect it."

Angelie glared at Akuma.

"Tch. I hate it when you have a point…"

Akuma looked away.

The two of them went to the first floor of the school building. The first-year classrooms could be found there. They went to each classroom and Akuma looked inside to see if anyone was familiar. Most of the classrooms only had a few students since it was lunchtime already.

As they were done looking through the five first-year classrooms, they both realized it was a futile endeavor. They decided to head back to their own classroom in the second floor. Akuma walked ahead of Angelie. While walking toward the stairs, Akuma bumped into another male student. The other student fell on the floor.

"Sorry."

Akuma reached out his hand.

"It's okay. It was my fault for not looking… Oh, Senpai!"

The male student looked at Akuma as he grabbed the hand Akuma offered.

"Hey, it's you!"

Akuma pulled up the student.

"Are you alright? This guy is really careless. I hope you're not hurt or anything."

Angelie approached the male student.

"Fukushuu-senpai! It's good to see you're okay."

The male student smiled at her.

"Oh, how do you know my name… Wait, you're one of the students who joined our swimming training sessions, right?"

Angelie pointed at the male student.

"Yup. Which was why when Jizen-senpai asked for money earlier to buy you a sports drink, I gave it right away. He looked so worried when he approached me."

The male student continued to smile as he scratched the back of his head.

"Eh…"

Angelie made a side glance at Akuma.

"Anyway, Jizen-senpai. You don't have to pay me back. I wanted to repay you guys for conducting those training sessions. At least, I was able to help when your girlfriend was in need. See you around, Senpai!"

The male student ran ahead of them and waved back.

"Eh…"

Angelie was now facing Akuma directly beside her. When Akuma noticed this, his face turned slightly red.

"W-what?! That girlfriend stuff was all in his head!"

Akuma avoided looking straight at Angelie. He then turned his face away.

"Worried, huh…?"

Angelie furrowed her eyebrows as she continued to stare at Akuma.

"I wasn't! That kid must have misinterpreted it or s-something."

He closed his eyes and crossed his arms together.

"It makes me shiver to think that you were. I'm not happy one bit."

Angelie embraced herself while looking spitefully at Akuma.

"I said I wasn't! And you haven't repaid me anything! I didn't have to pay him so you're still indebted to me! Remember that."

Akuma opened his eyes and leaned closer to Angelie. He had his face inches away from her face.

"Sure, whatever."

Angelie walked away and headed toward the stairs again. As she had her back turned at Akuma, he wasn't able to see the very slight smile Angelie made as she strutted away.

"You still have a debt! I won't forget it even if you do!"

Akuma glared at Angelie as she got up the stairs.

---

The following day, the Help club members had lunch together at the rooftop. As usual, Akuma was standing while the other four were seated on the floor in a circular formation.

"I heard about what happened yesterday, Angelie-san. Are you sure you're alright?"

Mimi looked at Angelie while she grabbed Angelie's hand.

"Yes. I was just a little fatigued. I also had to do some chores at home during the weekend, so I wasn't able to rest. I guess that contributed to it…"

Angelie smiled awkwardly at Mimi.

"The swimming competition will be in a few days. Will you be good to go by then?"

Kiba looked at Angelie while he ate his lunch from his bento.

"I think so. I rested when I got home yesterday. But I guess our class needs to win since I failed my swimming exam yesterday…"

Angelie weakly laughed.

"Huh? That teacher is so stingy! You almost drowned! It's not like you meant for that to happen!"

Sanaka tightly gripped her chopsticks in her hand.

"Good luck on trying to win. My class is really preparing for the competition. It's scary to think about the measures they took just to increase our chances of winning…"

Kiba closed his eyes as he chewed his food.

"Oh, like what?"

Mimi tilted her head as she looked at Kiba.

"Well, you know about the mandatory swimming practice everyone in our class had to go through, right? Aside from that, they even scouted the other classes to gauge those classes' strength! You won't believe the information network they have. They probably know more about you than you do yourselves."

Kiba nodded his head while his eyes were closed.

"That really is scary… So, they know my measurements… Wait, that means YOU know about it, too!"

Sanaka pointed at Kiba and glared at him.

"They're not interested in that information! That has nothing to do with swimming! But… if you want to give me your measurements, I won't mind—"

Before Kiba could finish talking, the cover of Sanaka's bento flew straight to his face. Sanaka was breathing heavily as she let her arm that threw the cover hang in the air for a while.

During all that had happened, Akuma listened quietly and heard everything.

---

The day of the swimming competition finally arrived. It had been a few days after the Help club had lunch at the rooftop. During the morning homeroom session, the homeroom teacher of 2-B reminded everyone of the day's schedule and activities. The first-years would have their competition during the morning. The second-years' turn would happen around lunchtime, so they would have early lunch. The third-years would have their turn in the afternoon.

The competition would be a relay style race. The first swimmer should reach and tap the other side of the pool before the second swimmer could start swimming, and so on. Since not all classes had the same number of students, the class with the most students would dictate the number of participants required in the competition.

For example, class 2-E had the most students with thirty students. Class 2-A only had twenty-seven students, so three students would have to swim twice. The other classes would follow the same logic. In 2-B's case, they had twenty-eight students, so two students would have to swim twice.

The class which would finish first would win the swimming competition. Only the winning class would get bonus points. The other classes who wouldn't win would only have tired bodies and regrets, as their teacher put it.

All students in the school were allowed to watch the swimming competition, especially if it wasn't their batch's turn. This meant that the second and third-years could watch the competition of the first-years, and vice versa.

After the homeroom teacher made his announcement, he left the room. 2-B could change into their swimming outfits and then watch the competition of the first-years. They would have time to eat their early lunch before the start of the second-years' race.

Before the students of 2-B left the classroom to change, Akuma suddenly got up from his seat and went to the front of the classroom. He stood behind the teacher's desk and looked at everyone.

"Good morning, everyone. Before we start our day and get ready for the swimming competition, I would just like to say a few words."

The whole class looked at Akuma. Angelie had her jaw slacked as she saw Akuma talking in front of the class.

"I know that some of us may not treat this competition as serious as others. That is justified, in my view. But I would just like everyone to know that this competition is very important for someone… The P.E. teacher gave a failing grade to our very own Fukushuu Angelie! It wasn't her fault that she has a frail body, unable to withstand the rigors of swimming. She almost drowned, if it wasn't for yours truly. Did she deserve the failing grade? I don't believe so… Now, all I ask is that if anyone here has been helped by her, or even moved by her good deeds, please let us do our best to win this competition for her. I believe that in this small way, we can repay her kindness."

Akuma ended his speech by closing his eyes.

The class remained silent for a while. His classmates looked at each other. After a few moments, the class went into an uproar. Some cheered, some shouted while others clapped and whistled. They gave high fives to each other.

There were those who shouted 'For Angelie-san!'. Mizumi and Sumire clasped their hands together and were teary-eyed. Sanaka raised her head from her desk and rubbed her eyes. She looked around confused, as she just woke up from her sleep.

Akuma lowered his head, and then he flashed a giant smirk that no one seemed to notice, except of course for Angelie.

"Don't tell me… He's not done?!"