Chapter 63 — Swimsuits, the Point of Summer

Issei

A few days passed after Sirzechs-sama and Grayfia-san stayed at my house.

Or rather, after they used my house as their base and then spent an amount of time in Kuoh that made their “inspection” feel suspiciously like sightseeing.

Seriously.

I know I’m not exactly in a position to criticize anybody’s priorities, but when the current Maou and his [Queen] spend that much time walking around town and looking at stores, it gets hard to believe every second of it is official business.

Still, I couldn’t complain too much.

Not when the holiday after that had finally arrived.

Because today was the day.

The pool-opening work day.

The Student Council had asked the Occult Research Club to clean the pool before it officially opened for summer use. Buchou had accepted on one very important condition.

We got first use.

Which meant—

Swimsuits.

Girls in swimsuits.

My beloved upperclassman and the rest of the girls in swimsuits.

Summer was a sacred season.

I was walking to school with Buchou and Asia, and apparently my face was betraying every sinful thought in my heart.

“Why are you smiling like that?” Buchou asked.

Her tone was flat, but slightly teasing.

The kind of exasperation she always had when I was being exactly myself.

“No reason,” I said.

She gave me a look.

A beautiful, green eyed, completely unconvinced look.

Asia walked on my other side with her school bag in both hands, looking a little embarrassed already just from being near the conversation.

“I-Ise-san,” she said softly, “I think Rias-san can tell.”

“That’s because my face is honest.”

“Maybe it’s too honest,” Buchou said.

“Buchou, that’s cruel.”

“No, I’m accepting reality.”

Asia made a tiny sound that might have been a laugh she was trying to hide. “I think maybe he’s just... very excited.”

I pointed at her. “See? Asia gets me.”

“She’s just too kind,” Buchou said, “and that worries me.”

That made Asia go pink.

Honestly, that was adorable.

This was more like it.

The morning was already warm, the kind of early summer day where the air felt bright and promising instead of heavy.

Cicadas screamed from somewhere farther down the street.

The sky was blue enough to make your chest feel lighter.

Even my school bag didn’t seem too annoying to carry.

And more importantly, Sirzechs-sama was gone now.

I didn’t realize how much of a difference that made until he wasn’t around anymore.

The weird pressure he brought with him, the way the air changed around Buchou, the way Kusari-san had gone too quiet around him.

It had all eased after he left. Not disappeared, exactly. I still couldn’t shake some of the things he’d said to me in my room. And I definitely couldn’t shake the way Buchou had been around him.

But things felt more normal again.

At least on the surface.

We were partway to school when Xenovia joined us from another street.

She was already in uniform and walking with the same severe posture she always had, like she was marching into a fight.

“Good morning,” Asia said politely.

“Morning,” I added.

“Good morning Xenovia.” Bucho said

Xenovia nodded. “Morning.”

Then she frowned just slightly at the weather. “This is already warm enough to be troublesome already.”

“It’s summer,” I said.

“That is not a defense.”

Buchou sighed. “Please don’t treat the season like an enemy.”

“It behaves like one,” Xenovia replied.

Asia smiled helplessly. “You’ll get used to it eventually.”

“Perhaps,” Xenovia said. “This country is very different from what I am used to. I may take a while to adjust.”

“Just give it time and you’ll love it here,” I said.

She seemed to consider it.

“Perhaps,” she admitted. “But it’s still hot.”

“I’ll pray for the Lord’s guidance for you.” Asia said

“Ah, I’ll pray as well.”

The two of them began to pray together as we walked.

Buchou watched them and then massaged her temples.

We knew where this was going already.

“Amen.” They said together.

“Ahhh!”

“Ouch!”

Asai and Xenovia grabbed their heads in pain.

Buchou sighed while I chuckled at their antics.

A little farther ahead, near the route leading in from the older school building side, I spotted Kusari-san.

She was already there, like she had been expecting where we’d intersect without needing to say it.

If someone didn’t know her, they’d just see a beautiful but slightly sickly, quiet second-year girl with silver-white hair and strange purple eyes.

A little reserved. A little hard to approach.

Probably sheltered.

Maybe just the kind of girl who made normal students invent stories about her because she didn’t fit neatly anywhere.

Murayama-san, Kiryuu, and Katase-san had basically decided all three of Asia, Xenovia, and Kusari-san were just weirdly sheltered girls with exchange-student energy.

That was probably the safest version of the truth available.

When Kusari-san noticed us approaching, her gaze moved over all four of us and paused on Buchou for just a fraction longer.

Then she looked at me.

“Morning,” I called.

“Morning,” she replied.

There was a tiny softness there that made something in me settle.

She still felt more herself than she had during Sirzechs-sama’s visit.

Still quiet, obviously.

But not closed off in that frighteningly perfect way she had around him.

“Good morning,” Asia said.

“Good morning,” Kusari-san answered.

Xenovia inclined her head. “Morning.”

Kusari glanced at her. “You look like you’re preparing for a battle.”

“This is a coordinated labor task involving water and potentially compromised surfaces.”

Kusari was quiet for a second.

Then, “So yes.”

I chuckled. 

Asia covered her mouth with her hand to hide her smile.

Even Buchou’s mouth twitched.

That was definitely more normal.

We headed the rest of the way to school together.

Because it was a holiday, Kuoh Academy felt strange.

Quiet, but not empty.

The sports clubs were still active in some places.

A few teachers were around.

Some students had shown up for other duties.

But compared to a normal school day, the silence at the normally lively school stand out.

It made the pool area feel even more special once we got there.

Until I actually saw the condition of the pool.

“...This is awful,” I muttered.

Leaves. Dust. Dirt. Grime.

The kind of general neglect that made it look less like a place for dreams and more like a punishment detail.

Buchou crossed her arms under her chest and gave me a sideways look. “What were you expecting?”

“Nothing this bad.”

“We will be done with it in no time.”

“I’m here because I’m passionate about swimsuits, not cleaning!”

Koneko-chan was already there, of course, holding a long-handled brush and looking completely prepared.

“Your passion is worthless for cleaning,” she said.

I clutched my chest. “Koneko-chan, why are you so cold? It’s summer!”

She gave me a glare before turning to head to work.

Akeno-san arrived a moment later carrying extra supplies, smiling like she’d been listening long enough to decide that me being bullied was entertaining.

“My, my,” she said. “Ise-kun is full of spirit already.”

“That’s because today matters!”

“Yes,” Buchou said, “which is why the sooner we get started the sooner we can get to swimming.”

Akeno-san covered her smile with one hand. “Ara, Rias. Isn’t that a little harsh? We all know what part of today he’s looking forward to.”

Buchou turned slightly red. “I’m not denying that.”

Then she looked at me. “I just want him to finish the cleaning before he starts drooling.”

“I’m not drooling yet!”

“Yet,” Koneko-chan repeated.

Yuuto-san arrived then too, having apparently finished the separate errand she’d been handling earlier.

She stepped in through the gate carrying a smaller bag and looking as calm and graceful as ever, like a holiday work day at school was somehow still elegant if she was present for it.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said. “I finished the other task sooner than expected.”

Her eyes shifted to me for a moment, warm and relaxed.

“Good morning, Ise-kun.”

“Morning,” I said, probably too fast.

She smiled just a little.

Not teasing like Akeno-san. Not brightly flustered like Asia.

Just warm, quiet, and natural.

Then she looked at the pool and sighed. “You’ve already seen the state of it, I assume.”

“It’s a nightmare,” I said.

“Then let’s finish quickly.”

That was the kind of thing Yuuto-san always said in a tone that somehow made you want to do exactly what she suggested.

Buchou clapped her hands once. “All right. We’ll clean it in sections. Akeno, Yuuto, take the far side. Koneko, with me. Asia, Xenovia, handle the deck and remaining leaves. Kusari, take the filtration side and ladder area. Issei, you’ll move where needed.”

“That sounds suspiciously like I’m everyone’s labor support.”

“That’s because you are.”

Cruel.

So we got to work.

And honestly?

It wasn’t bad.

Okay, it was bad physically.

Hot, sweaty, and more annoying than I wanted to admit.

But doing something like this with everyone made it feel weirdly fun.

Or maybe I was just too excited about what came afterward to complain properly.

Asia worked hard in that same gentle, earnest way she did everything, trying her best and apologizing every time she thought she was even slightly in anyone’s way.

Xenovia handled cleaning like she was clearing a battlefield, with total seriousness and way too much focus for something involving leaves and pool brushes.

Yuuto-san moved with the same effortless precision she brought to sword practice, except now applied to dragging debris into neat piles.

Akeno-san teased all of us whenever anyone slowed down.

Buchou led the whole thing like a commander trying not to smile.

Koneko-chan was terrifyingly efficient.

Kusari was just unfair.

She worked with that quiet precision of hers, every motion exact, every tool put back neatly, every pass of the brush clean and efficient.

She didn’t waste effort.

Especially since she was using magic to help her clean faster.

She was using her demonic energy to make water to help her brush clean the walls better and wind to blow the leaves and other debris out of her area. 

It was something I couldn’t manage to do, so it was unfair.

She just got the work done like she’d already measured the entire job in her head and decided the fastest path through it.

At one point, I caught myself watching her too long.

She noticed immediately.

“What?” she asked without looking up.

“Nothing.”

“Then focus on cleaning.”

“I was just thinking you’re weirdly good at this.”

Kusari-san scrubbed a little more grime off the metal ladder and said, “That’s not a compliment.”

“It kind of is.”

“It really isn’t.”

Akeno-san laughed from the far side. “Ara, Ise-kun, you really do say interesting things to girls.”

Buchou glanced over at me at once. “He’s paying special attention to some girls.”

She sounded annoyed.

Just enough jealousy to be real.

“I didn’t mean anything by it!” I protested.

Akeno-san’s smile brightened. “Really? That’s disappointing.”

“Please stop making it worse!”

Yuuto-san looked over with the faintest smile. “You’re doing that yourself.”

And because this is my life, Murayama-san and Katase-san picked exactly that moment to pass by the fence.

They stopped.

Looked at me.

Looked at the girls.

Looked at the pool.

Then looked at me again with the exact expression reserved for shameless trash.

Murayama crossed her arms. “You girls need to be careful around him. You can’t let your guard down if you go swimming with him around.”

“W-Wait, what!?”

Katase-san sighed. “We already know how you, Matsuda, and Motohama think.”

Murayama-san snorted. “At least you’re slightly less unbearable than those two.”

Slightly less unbearable.

That wasn’t even praise.

Asia looked embarrassed on my behalf.

Xenovia just frowned. “Why are they always so convinced you’re a deviant?”

“….Because he is,” Koneko-chan said.

“Koneko-chan!”

Katase-san looked at Asia, Xenovia, and Kusari. “Don’t listen to Matsuda and Motohama if they try to explain how normal boys act. And don’t listen to Hyoudou either unless you absolutely have to.”

Murayama-san added, “You three are all smart enough, but seriously, don’t let those idiots teach you anything.”

Asia smiled awkwardly. “We’ll be careful.”

Xenovia nodded once. “That seems sensible.”

Kusari didn’t look up from what she was doing. “I had already assumed that.”

Murayama-san stared at her for a second.

Then laughed.

Katase chuckled, and the two of them kept walking.

I was left standing there, spiritually wounded.

“They barely tolerate me,” I muttered.

“That is still a form of achievement,” Yuuto-san said.

I looked at her.

She looked back, calm and composed.

Then she added, “Compared to Matsuda and Motohama.”

“That makes it sound way worse!”

“Well, they are worse,” Akeno-san said.

Eventually, after much labor and disrespect, the pool was finally clean.

Or clean enough that it looked like a place worthy of dreams.

I was sweating. Tired. A little sore.

And absolutely ready for my reward.

Buchou looked over the finished pool and nodded. “Good. Then we’ll take our break.”

My heart slammed against my ribs.

Akeno-san smiled slowly. “At last.”

Asia flushed before anyone had even said the next thing.

Xenovia blinked once, like she still didn’t fully understand why the mood in the air had changed so drastically.

Yuuto-san adjusted the strap of the bag she’d brought with her and glanced at me.

Buchou turned toward the girls. “Go change.”

I had to physically brace myself against the bench.

This was it.

This was really happening.

They all headed off together.

Buchou first.

Then Akeno-san.

Then Asia, still visibly embarrassed.

Yuuto-san walking beside her, calm enough that she seemed like she was gently steadying Asia just by being there.

Xenovia after them, questioning why they hadn’t simply worn their suits while cleaning.

Koneko-chan looked indifferent.

Kusari brought up the rear after setting down the last of the cleaning supplies.

Then I was left alone with my expectations.

I had worn my swimsuit already so I wouldn’t have to change after cleaning.

I took off my shirt and waited for them to come back.

Time passed too slowly.

I heard voices from the changing area.

Akeno-san laughing.

Buchou saying something that sounded exasperated.

Asia making a small, embarrassed protest.

Xenovia asking a question in a tone so serious I immediately knew it was going to be something insane.

Yuuto-san’s quieter voice answering something in that calm, reassuring way she had.

I couldn’t hear Kusari-san or Koneko-chan, but that was normal.

I was going to die.

Then the girls came back out.

Buchou was first.

Red bikini.

A crimson bikini that matched her hair and somehow made her look even more like the perfect noble devil beauty she already was.

Her long hair spilled over her shoulders, her skin looked even paler against the color, and her chest—

Her chest was justice.

Her breasts were proof that the gods had not abandoned mankind.

“Well?” Buchou asked, one hand on her hip, cheeks just faintly pink even while she tried to sound composed.

I stared.

Then stared more.

Then somehow forced words out.

“B-Buchou... you’re amazing...”

She looked pleased despite herself.

Then she huffed while trying to act more composed. “At least that much is the correct reaction.”

I looked to Akeno-san next.

She was in a dark bikini that was basically an assassination attempt.

There was no other way to describe it.

My nose was already bleeding from Buchou but now I might die from seeing her too.

Mature. Beautiful. Slightly too small.

Completely unfair.

And she knew it.

“What do you think, Ise-kun?” she asked sweetly, leaning forward just enough to make my soul leave my body.

“It’s perfect!”

“Ara, do you like it better than Rias-Buchou’s?”

Buchou crossed her arms. “Akeno.”

“Buchou,” Akeno-san replied with an innocent smile that fooled nobody.

There was a sharp little competitive spark that always showed up when Akeno-san deliberately pushed at me in front of Buchou.

Buchou was clearly exasperated by me, but she also wasn’t pretending she didn’t know exactly why Akeno-san was doing this.

“Well if I’m not allowed to bother Ise-kun I can always spend time with Kusari-chan.”

Akeno-san had a smile on her face that made me happy it wasn’t directed at me.

Asia stepped out after them in her school swimsuit.

And just like always, the effect was completely different and just as devastating.

She stood there blushing from head to toe, shoulders drawn in a little, hands fidgeting near the hem, eyes already flinching away from me before I’d even said anything.

“I-Ise-san...” she said softly.

“You’re really cute, Asia!”

That only made her blush harder.

Her eyes widened. “Ehehehe. thank you very much!”

She looked so earnest saying it.

Then Yuuto-san stepped out.

And for a second, I forgot how to breathe.

She wasn’t trying to destroy me like Akeno-san.

She wasn’t overwhelm me the way Buchou did.

She wasn’t adorably shy the way Asia was.

She was just... beautiful.

A simple but elegant swimsuit that suited her build and her calm presence perfectly.

Not flashy. Nothing crazy..

Just graceful and quietly feminine in the exact way Yuuto-san always was.

“Ise-kun?” she asked, tilting her head slightly.

She sounded composed.

Maybe a little amused.

Maybe also a little aware of what kind of damage she was doing.

“You’re... wow,” I said.

I couldn’t think of anything more to say.

Yuuto’s cheeks colored just faintly, but she smiled in that gentle, relaxed way of hers.

“Thank you,” she said. “You don’t have to look quite that stunned.”

“I can’t help it!”

“I’ll accept the praise.”

But she sounded pleased..

Quietly pleased in a way that made it even worse.

Asia moved a little closer to her, still pink. That somehow made both of them look even more dangerous.

Then Xenovia emerged in a dark green one-piece that emphasized her figure.

“This is standard aquatic attire,” she said.

“Yes,” I answered immediately. “Thank you.”

She frowned, thinking that over seriously. “I am not sure that is something I should be thanked for.”

“It is from him,” Koneko-chan said.

Finally, Kusari-san and Koneko-chan stepped out.

Koneko-chan came out next in her school swimsuit, pale and compact and calmly adorable.

“…You’re staring too much,” she said.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment since Buchou said we were using the pool. You can’t blame me.”

“…Beast…”

Kusari-san had changed too.

Not into something flashy.

Not even something meant to draw attention.

But the swimsuit she wore suited her in a way that made me realize very quickly that “quiet” and “safe” were not remotely the same thing.

She wore a simple black two piece bathing suit with a light purple kimono over it.

It was enough to keep the sun off but also sheer so that she wouldn’t be too warm.

Skin pale in the sun, a long white hair contrasting against the dark material of the swimsuit.

Her long legs and the curves of her body were more apparent in her outfit.

She looked amazing and she seemed relaxed.

And because it was only us, she’d stopped bothering to feel like she needed to diminish any of that.

I stared before I could stop myself.

Kusari looked at me once and sighed very softly. “I imagine that expression is becoming repetitive.”

“I can’t help it!”

“Stare at Rias-Buchou or Akeno-san. They’ll both enjoy it.”

Akeno-san laughed.

“Ara, Ara. Kusari-chan you know me so well. I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to stare at me as well.”

Akeno-san was already enjoying herself with her teasing.

“Thank you but I’m sure Issei-san will stare enough for all of us.”

“Akeno-senpai is teasing you, so why am I being made fun of?”

Kusari-san glanced at me then chose to ignore me.

Akeno-san moved closer to her and leaned forward closer to Kusari-san while emphasizing her breasts with her arm.

“So Kusari-chan, does that mean that I can get a better look at you then? I don’t know if I’ve ever seen you wear anything other than our school uniform.”

Kusari-san leaned slightly back from Akeno-san as she got closer.

“You can look from further away.”

Akeno-san chuckled dangerously as she got even closer.

I saw that she checked Kusari-san’s face to make sure she wasn’t going too far.

“You don’t have to be shy, Kusari-chan. I just want a better view of you. You look amazing in that swimsuit. Even Issei-kun hasn’t stopped staring since you came out. Right Ise-kun?”

“A-Ah, yeah! You look great, Kusari-san!”

Akeno-san chuckled at my flustered response.

Then I noticed Buchou giving me a look.

Buchou looked at Kusari-san for a moment, then at me, then back at Kusari-san.

That same small current ran through the air again.

Buchou frowned slightly while giving me a small glare.

Kusari-san just raised an eyebrow at our exchange as she slowly backed away from Akeno-san.

Then Buchou exhaled and put a hand on her hip again. “All right. The pool is clean, and we have first use. But before anyone gets carried away...”

She looked directly at me.

That was bad.

Very bad.

Because that was the face she made when she was about to assign me something.

“You’ll help Koneko with her swimming,” Buchou said.

I blinked.

Then looked at Koneko-chan

Koneko-chan looked at the water. Then away.

Then back again.

Ah.

I didn’t know she couldn’t swim.

The mood shifted.

Just enough that all my swimsuit-fried brain cells slowly remembered we were here to swim too.

And I had apparently annoyed Buchou enough with staring at every girl in the peerage to the point that she was giving me a task possibly out of spite.

Though I wouldn’t mind giving Koneko-chan a hand.

This was summer.

This was the pool.

This was paradise.

And I was absolutely not surviving it with my dignity intact.