Apparently the Gal who Bullies me Likes me

Chapter 13

Pool at Night

This week we are currently having our examination period. That's why everyday I'm staying up late to study for the next day's test.

Today is no different as right now I'm memorizing a lot of English vocabulary for tomorrow's English test.

My table is now full of textbooks and notebooks.

The time is past 22:00.

I wonder what time I can go to bed today.

Ren must be studying by now and Tachibana seems to be sleeping.

Drowsiness then hits me.

I'll sleep just a little while I just need 10 more minutes to study.

But I can wake up early in the morning and continue reviewing.

Nope, I won't do that.

I'll believe in myself that I can still review for 10 minutes.

Please, me, just 10 more minutes, don't sleep yet, wake up!

While I'm thinking that I decided to put down my pen, sit down straight then close my eyes.


...


I heard a beeping sound from my alarm clock.

Oh no! I slept too long! What time is it?

I hurriedly checks the time and it was past 23:00.

I must have slept for about an hour.

Well, an hour is all right.

I noticed that I got a notification, when I open my phone and look at the notification I saw that there was a message from Tachibana that read "Are you still awake?"

I then replied "Yup I'm still awake."

"If you're done studying why don't we go to the school tonight?"

"You want us to go to the school tonight? What are we going to do there?"

"It's the pool! It looks like the swimming club has cleaned it up yesterday!"

"Don't worry I will pick you up and I'll give you a ride home too!"

"Whose car is it?"

"Our car, I also have my own driver!"

Chauffeur! Tachibana's family has a chauffeur? They are really rich.

"Let's go! It'll definitely be fun!"

Uhmmm the English test or going to the pool at night with Tachibana.

I know which one I'm going to do.

"OK, I'll be there. I'll wait for you at the station."

I put away all the notebooks and textbooks that is currently in my desk.

I've decided not to study for the English test anymore. Sorry future me.


...


I'm waiting for Tachibana on a bench in front of the nearest station.

I thought about wearing plain clothes, but somehow I decided to wear my school uniform.

My parents were already asleep, so I left the house quietly so as not to wake them.

The train has already stopped and since it was already late, there were no people walking in the streets, and it was really quiet.

The only sound is coming from the occasional car passing by.

After a few minutes I saw a car coming towards me from the distance.

Is that Tachibana's car?

"Hey!"

Tachibana looks out the window and waves down to me.

Then the car stops in front of me.

What the heck is this car?

It is longer than a normal car and at the same timne it is really huge.

I saw a familiar emblem on the front of the hood.

I don't know much about cars, but I know that this is a luxury car.

"Sorry I'm late! Come on, get in!"

Tachibana says that from inside the car and it looks like Tachibana was also wearing her uniform.

I got into the car with a puzzled look on my face.

The car was very spacious, clean, and quiet.

The seat was so comfortable, that it feels like I'm sitting on a sofa.

It may be only in my imagination, but it smells really luxurious.

I felt like I was out of place.

"Th- thank you very much for picking me up."

When I look at the driver, I noticed that he has a gray hair and he is wearing a thin-framed glasses.

"I'm sorry to have to ask you to pick me up."

"No, don't apologize, it's what ojou-sama asked me to do."

Ojou-sama?

I knew that she was rich but that was really surprising.

The way the driver talks to me conveys a sense of elegance.

He is very cool and I can't imagine him being upset about something.

I can tell that he's really austere.

When I grew up I want to be an adult like him.


The car then starts moving.

"Are you sure it's okay to go in the pool at this hour without permission?"

"Don't worry! They won't find it out! Besides, even if they did find out, I can handle it."

Well, it is true that Tachibana's parents have connections to Eisho High School.

"Hey, I know that invited you so suddenly, but is it really ok for you to come with me?"

"Oh, of course it's all right as I'm already done studying."

Of course that's a lie and it's not okay at all.

The car then stops on the road besides Eisho High School, since it's already late there's no people around anymore.

"I will wait here, don't worry about me and take your time."

The driver sees us off with a mature smile.

"Let's go!"

We then got out of the car.

How are we going to get in the school anyway?

After a while we passed the school gate, which we are always using to enter and exit the school, and we arrived at the back gate.

"Are we going to enter from here?

"Yes that's right, after all if we go in using the front gate we will stand out."

The back gate isn't that high. So the two of us climb up on the gate.

We then stand on top of the gate and jump to the school side.

Finally we enter the school at night.

"I'm so nervous."

Tachibana said happily.

"Uhmm."

The atmosphere of the school at night was very exciting and it is really different from the atmosphere when it's daytime.

There was no sound coming from the school, we can only hear the sound of our own footsteps.

I thought we would walk more crouched down so that no one will notice us, but Tachibana is walking proudly.

From the parking lot, we passed by the playground and headed for the pool.

While walking I realize the gravity of the situation of what we are doing.

"If they find us we'll be in a lot of trouble."


"It's fine, don't worry about it!"

We then arrive in front of the pool.

The pool is surrounded by wire mesh and the entrance door is, of course, locked.

I wonder where do we enter?

"This way."

When Tachibana said that I followed her.

"Here! We're going to enter through here!"

When she said that I noticed that there is a hole in the wire mesh that is big enough for a person to pass through.

"You really do know your way around here."

"Yeah, sort of."

We enter the pool through the wire mesh and we are now walking along the side of the pool.

It is dimly lit and I can't see much, but it doesn't appear that the pool is filled with water.

After a while we reached the front of the changing rooms.

"I wonder where is the light switch?"

Tachibana is looking for a switch to turn on the light.

Apparently there are lights here because the swimming club sometimes practices at night.

"Ah here it is!"

Tachibana then turns on the pool light.

The area then became a little brighter.

It was so beautiful.

The area looks pale and fantastic.

The underwater lights at the bottom of the pool illuminated the whole pool up until a few centimeters above the water.

It was freshly cleaned so it was very beautiful.

When I look at clock on the side of the pool it showed 24:00.

Tachibana's eyes were sparkling.

"Let's go down!"

We both take off our shoes and go barefoot.

I then roll up my uniform pants.

Then we use the ladder to get down to the pool.

We get off the ladder and our feet touched the bottom of the pool.

The floor of the pool is cold because there is a little water on it.

And it is very slippery.

"Wow! It's slippery here!"

Tachibana is innocently sliding at the bottom of the pool.

"Yeah, this is really great."

She is making a happy voice then she turned around to face me.

Her long black hair while being illuminated in a pale blue light is very beautiful.

"Don't get too excited or you'll fall down."

"Don't worry I'm fine."

Tachibana then slides over to me.

"Wah! I can't stop!"

Then she bumps on on purpose, when she did that I scoop up the water at my feet and pour it on Tachibana.

"Kyaa! Hey!"

Tachibana then splashes water on me.

Both of us are really excited and it feels like we were kids again.

"Now I'm soaking wet."

Tachibana then grabbed her skirt and wrung out the water.

"Kyaa!"

Tachibana gets her feet caught at the bottom of the pool so I quickly grab her hand to support her.

"...Thank you"

Tachibana isn't letting go of my hand.

"This is fun, isn't it?"

"Yeah"

I completely forgot about the test.

It seems that this extraordinary and fantastic atmosphere brought us closer together.

Then suddenly.

"Is someone there?"

We can hear a voice coming from the wire fence at the entrance to the pool.

It looks like someone's here!

"Tachiba! Over here!"

Holding Tachibana's hand, we run to the wall of the pool.

We both squat down and hold still with our backs facing the wall of the pool.

I can hear the sound of the pool's wire mesh lock being unlocked.

It seems that person is going to turn off the lights.

Then the footsteps stop just above us.

"It looks like no one is here."

"Did the swimming team forgot to turn off the lights?"

Then that person turned off the pool lights. The area becomes completely dark.

I found myself still holding Tachibana's hand.

But I did not want to let go of her hand.
　
In this situation, I could feel the body heat of Tachibana's hand.

Tachibana's hand is so small.

Once again, I held Tachibana's hand tightly.

Tachibana responded by squeezing my hand back.

She was holding my hand strongly with her small hand.

Though it is too dim to see Tachibana's expression.

I wanted to stay like this for a long time.

Then we heard the footsteps moving away from me.

It seems that person didn't find us and left as I couldn't hear any footsteps anymore.

I then talk to Tachibana with a queit voice.

"It's looks like he's gone."

But she isn't responding to me.

"Tachibana?"

"Uh... yeah."

"Ah, sorry."

In the darkness, when I heared Tachibana's voice I suddenly feel embarrassed and I let go of her hand.

"...Shall we go home?"

I can clearly hear Tachibana's voice in this darkness and I can still feel the warmth of her hand.

"I guess so."

We went back the way we came and we walk back to the car.

The driver then gets out and greets us.

"Welcome back. This way, please."

He both gave us a bath towel.

"Did the both of you have a good time?"

""Yes""

When our voices overlap, we face each other unintentionally then we both smile shyly.

The driver then smiles at us.

After a while We arrive at a station near my house where they pick me up.

I then got out of the car.

Tachibana looks out the window and talks to me.

"I'm so sorry that we ended up playing too late."

"No, it's okay as I also had a lot fun."

"See you tomorrow."

I see off the car that I was riding until a while ago.

The car is now completely out of sight.

I stare at my hands.

In this darkness, I remember holding Tachibana's hand and Tachibana holding my hand back.

It was so fun.

I felt that I may never be able to experience such an event again and it was a memory that I will never forget.