"Hey there! Wanna rent some diving equipment, little brother? Our prices are the best around!"
Compared to the Pab club members playing their high-spirited yakyuuken, Toshio Kotegawa was just about to leave to pick up his nephew. Seeing a customer, he gave a casual greeting.
After all, it wasn't yet summer. Aside from a few professional divers, only old-timers would be diving at this time of year.
Looking at Miyazawa Yu with his empty hands, he didn't seem like an experienced diver. He was probably just a newcomer looking around out of curiosity.
"Ah! A normal person!"
Amidst a sea of indescribable things, a normal, clothed person suddenly appeared! Even if it wasn't a beautiful girl, he was enough to save Miyazawa Yu from his current predicament!
He scrambled and crawled, carefully navigating around the central area of men on top of men. He quickly ran to the counter and asked in a panicked voice, "Uncle! Isn't this weird?! This diving shop is really, really weird, right?!"
"Huh? Weird? Are you talking about my apron, perhaps? My, my, I never expected a customer to say that. I really should get a new one~"
"That's not it!"
He slammed the counter!
While the uncle's pink apron was also strange, it was all relative!
With a bunch of naked weirdos exuding a philosophical aura gathered in the shop, a pink apron was practically unnoticeable!
"Huh? You're not talking about clothes?"
"No! It is clothes! But not your clothes, Uncle! Look over there!"
His expression was approaching a full-on gan'ei. Miyazawa Yu waved his hand, pointing the finger at the burly men still playing yakyuuken.
While a diving shop might have a lack of clothes, this was too little!
Especially that burly man with the crew cut! What was he doing?!
He took them off!!!
Feeling like his eyes had been violated, Miyazawa Yu slammed his head on the counter with a loud thud. If this was all a dream, he wished he would wake up right now!
"Woah! Careful there, kid! This is pretty normal, isn't it?"
"It's not normal at all! He took them off! He took them off right in front of me! What if the angelic Sister Nanaka saw this?!"
He was no longer thinking about himself. If he remembered correctly, Nanaka Kotegawa said she was going to change before she left. She should be back any minute now.
This was too terrible! If the pure, angelic Nanaka were to see this hellish scene, she would surely be damned!
"It's fine. Nanaka just told me she's going for another swim with Chisa. By the way, so you were brought back by Nanaka? I'm Toshio Kotegawa, Nanaka's father. Pleased to meet you!"
Toshio Kotegawa gestured for the young man to calm down. His face was full of indifference.
It was just a simple game of yakyuuken. Nanaka would sometimes join in herself, but Chisa was much more resistant to it.
"Is that so? That's great... Hello, I'm Miyazawa Yu, a new student at Izu University. I came here to find the Pab diving club. I apologize for not introducing myself sooner."
He became serious. Learning that Nanaka Kotegawa wouldn't be returning to the shop anytime soon, Miyazawa Yu felt a glimmer of hope in a sea of misfortunes.
And the overly calm uncle in front of him was actually Sister Nanaka's father. It was so wrong of him to have been yelling at him as soon as he entered. This was an unforgivable demerit!
"I see! So you're the new guy Ryūjirō and the others were talking about!"
Toshio Kotegawa stroked his chin. He suddenly remembered. It was true that Kaoru had boasted last night about tricking a new guy into coming.
He sized up Miyazawa Yu. Although the kid seemed a little off in the head and liked to bump into counters, he definitely seemed like the kind of person the Pab club needed.
"Ryūjirō! Your new guy is here! Hurry up and greet him! I'm off to pick up my nephew."
"What?!"
Suddenly, Ryūjirō turned around, his yakyuuken swing in mid-air. The consequence of being distracted was failure.
But Ryūjirō Kotobuki didn't care that his opponent had cheated by switching his hand mid-game. Instead, he gleefully took off his gear with a terrifying grin and walked toward Miyazawa Yu.
"Wait! What are you doing! Don't you come near me!"
He sat up in a fatal illness. Looking at the naked man walking toward him, Miyazawa Yu was terrified and retreated step by step until he was backed against the counter with nowhere to run.
Looking at the back of the only clothed man in the room, who was leaving without a second thought, he extended his arm in a desperate plea. "Wait! Uncle Toshio! Help me!"
"Help with what! Don't worry, we're seniors who really care about our underclassmen. I'm Ryūjirō. You must be 'Master of the Crystal Palace,' right?"
Ryūjirō Kotobuki naturally hooked his arm over Miyazawa Yu's shoulder and dragged the boy, who had completely lost all hope, back into the circle of burly men, loudly announcing his username.
"Don't say it out loud! You... are you really Ryūjirō-senpai?"
Surrounded like a rare animal, Miyazawa Yu felt an inexplicable mix of grief and indignation. He felt like a bride kidnapped by bandits, in danger of losing his life in every sense of the word at any moment.
On the other hand, the name Ryūjirō was indeed familiar to him. It was the name of the senior he had gotten along with so well in the freshman group chat.
But why was the inspirational youth, who was so serious online, talking about work and bartending, a terrifying, muscular man in reality who took off his clothes without hesitation?!
"Yep! I'm Ryūjirō! Welcome to our Pab club! Let's all have a drink to celebrate our new member's arrival!"
"Yosh! Welcome, new member!"
"WOOOOOHHH! I've been waiting for this!"
They raised their bottles and chugged. Miyazawa Yu broke out in a cold sweat watching his future seniors drink so heartily.
For some reason, he had a feeling—
It didn't really matter whether he was here or not. This group of people just wanted an excuse to have a drink.
"Um... actually, I haven't decided to join yet, have I?"
He weakly raised a hand. Miyazawa Yu decided he couldn't just let them have their way.
What kind of respectable club drinks like crazy just for a new member? It didn't look like a promising place no matter how he looked at it.
Besides, the purpose of his college journey was to build a harem in Izu. The only reason he wanted to join a diving club was because diving required no makeup, which would help him quickly filter out his targets. And he would get to see swimsuits!
But with the current state of the Pab club—where everyone was a naked, burly man—how could any girls possibly join?!
"Huh? What are you talking about! A new member who came here is definitely joining! Right, Tokita?"
"Yep, that's right!"
Sinking into a deep thought for two seconds, Shinji Tokita, who was only wearing a pair of underwear, gave a definite answer without a doubt.
A newcomer who shows up is someone who absolutely cannot be let go. To the Pab club, this should be common sense!
"Right, my foot! I walked in and saw you all taking your clothes off! In a situation like this, you should at least give me a chance to consider whether to join or not!"
He tried to get up, but his resistance was futile. Miyazawa Yu had never missed the strength he had before his muscles were sealed.
Although his V-shaped body had drastically reduced his popularity with women, it had also given him the ability to fight back against perverts. At the very least, he wouldn't be surrounded by a bunch of men if he wasn't careful.
"Hmm... You've got a point, Tokita! We've been so thoughtless. We haven't properly welcomed our new member!"
Ryūjirō rubbed his head as if he had just had an epiphany. He pushed Tokita's muscular shoulder and hinted, "Quick! Get our new guy a glass of water first!"
"Understood! Leave it to me! I'll make sure Yu feels our passion!"
Getting the message, Shinji Tokita gave a kind smile and left Miyazawa Yu's sight.
Seeing that the seniors weren't mad at him for refusing to join and were all smiling and comforting him, Miyazawa Yu slowly let his guard down.
In that case, he would just have a glass of water and then leave. Otherwise, he'd be disrespecting the seniors, and it would be awkward to see them around campus later.
"Alright! Here's your water! You've had a long trip! Please, drink up!"
Soon, Shinji Tokita returned with a glass of water and solemnly handed it to Miyazawa Yu.
Feeling the cool sensation of the glass in his palm, Miyazawa Yu smiled in relief. It seemed the seniors were still kind and knew he wanted something cold after being out for so long.
With this naive thought, and under the benevolent smiles of the seniors, he brought the ice water to his lips.
"Gulp, gulp, gulp—"
It tasted slightly spicy at the first sip, maybe the ice water was a little too cold for his teeth. However, as the liquid flowed down his lips, tongue, and esophagus and gradually warmed up, the spiciness didn't decrease. Instead, it intensified in his stomach and even rushed up to his brain.
Wait! This wasn't ice water at all!
His eyes widened. The glass fell onto the carpet, splashing water. Miyazawa Yu followed, kneeling on the ground, covering his throat and twitching. It felt as if flames were burning inside his throat.
"The new guy drank it! Everyone! Another round!"
"AWOOOOOOOHHHH!"
With their plan a success, and seeing that Miyazawa Yu was only choking and his face hadn't even turned red—which meant he could handle his liquor—the Pab club men all showed their ugly, smug faces and cheered. They raised their cups and drank to celebrate the birth of a new member.
In response, Miyazawa Yu, seeing their complete lack of senior dignity, was filled with rage. He forced out the most vicious curse from his burning throat—
"You! You Bunch of Naked Alcoholics Bastards!!!!"