Chapter 103 – Yukio in a hurry

"Yukio-san!" In the lobby of the first-year dormitory building, Ishizaki happily carried a bucket in one hand and waved to Yukio, who had just walked out.

Yukio glanced at Ishizaki's red bucket: "Ishizaki, the school's text message came with a picture. The water provided by the cafeteria is all in one-liter standard jugs; we don't need to bring buckets."

"Ah?" Ishizaki paused for a moment, looking around, and realized that among the friends called over to fetch water—Albert, Komiya, and Kondo—he was the only one with a bucket, immediately feeling a bit embarrassed: "Ah, haha! I, I knew that!"

"The picture attached to the text message was so big, how could I not see it!"

"I just, I brought out the bucket thinking that after getting the jugs, I'd directly pour them into the bucket. I can carry it by myself, so you don't have to, Yukio-san."

Oh? Yukio gave Ishizaki another look, impressed, thinking whether his friendship had influenced him. Even someone as dumb as Ishizaki, who had been with him for a while, had learned to speak with substance.

"Alright then." After saying that, Yukio led the group to the nearest cafeteria to collect water. After hanging up the phone with Karuizawa, he had asked who was available and did not need the two liters of water from the cafeteria. The classmates who came all met the criteria.

They all had prepared enough water in their dorms to last until tomorrow, so they came along to give their share of water to Yukio for his use.

For the classmates, being led by Yukio to rise to Class A within a semester meant they could look forward to an incredibly joyful three years ahead, with the ability to choose any university or job they wanted after graduation.

Such a bright future was all thanks to Yukio, and now they were just coming to fetch some water. Who wouldn't be willing?

On the way, Ishizaki kept complaining: "Why do the water company's pipes always burst? I've encountered it several times a year before. Although the number of water outages is low, it's very annoying."

"If the pipes don't burst, how would the repair workers make money, right?" Yukio casually replied, too lazy to think much about it, simply treating it as small talk.

"Is that really how it is?!" Ishizaki looked shockingly surprised, as if he had seen through the dark truths of the world.

"Yukio-san, stop teasing Ishizaki." Komiya, who was a bit smarter, pointed it out to Ishizaki while also giving him a brief explanation about why water pipe repairs are so challenging, basically saying it's a difficult task.

After a serious explanation, Ishizaki just shook his head in confusion: "I believe what Yukio-san says, Komiya, your explanation sounds like nonsense to me."

"Seriously?" Komiya's face twitched in frustration, feeling his patience breaking.

Konda laughed out loud on the side: "Komiya, I think what Yukio-san says makes sense too. Repair workers need to eat as well."

"Konda understands me." Ishizaki grinned foolishly, then his smile turned from simple to mysterious: "By the way, are you guys free later? Why not come to my dorm? I recently found something great, it's about a repair worker's scenario!"

"Where did you find that?!" Konda was astounded, immediately pestering Ishizaki for details.

"Heh, didn't I go out for a basketball match last week? I bought it then!" Ishizaki raised his eyebrows, looking excited, making Konda and Komiyama excited as well. They discussed gathering at Ishizaki's dorm later to thoroughly critique it. (t/n: it's porn.)

As they chatted and reached the crowded cafeteria, the long queue and chatting lines made it clear that not only first and second-year students had come to fetch water.

The water outage on such a hot summer day was indeed torturous.

Worried about Karuizawa being stuck, Yukio didn't feel like waiting in line as usual and led Ishizaki and the others towards the front.

When the first-year students objected but then recognized it was Yukio, they backed off, muttering something under their breath with a glance.

Yukio wasn't in the mood to deal with other students and kept walking to the very front, only to see Ichinose and a few girls from her class at the very front.

"Ah, Yukio-kun, are you here to get water too?" Ichinose greeted him warmly, her attitude unchanged despite frequently facing setbacks against Yukio.

"Yeah." Yukio pointed towards the front: "Do you mind if I cut in line? You don't have to give the 300,000 points to our class next month."

"It's okay~" Ichinose gently smiled, like a gentle moonlight dissolving people's worries, and also revealed something: "It's the first time I see Yukio-kun in such a hurry, usually, you're quite laid-back about school matters."

"Now it's just about getting water, yet you came straight to the front, go ahead Yukio-kun, when classmates are in trouble, we should help each other."

"And there's no need for any thanks, that's too formal. As for the personal points, we will still pay as usual, please go ahead, Yukio-kun, this way I can also chat with everyone a bit more."

After saying this, Ichinose and her friends prepared to go back to the end of the line to avoid causing trouble for the students behind them.

The girls from Ichinose's class were also kind-hearted, and they all had no objections, leaving with laughter and chatter.

The students who initially had objections became silent after seeing Ichinose start to line up again.

Yukio didn't make any further courtesies with Ichinose, considering it a small favor that could be easily returned when the opportunity arises, and then called Ishizaki and the others to come and collect the water.

The water collection process was straightforward, just a scan of the personal mobile phone, and it's unclear if it was due to the rules of Advanced Nurturing High School, but the cafeteria staff had no objections to Yukio and his group cutting in line, as if having the strength to cut in line was all that mattered.

Eventually, they really threw all the water bottles into Ishizaki's bucket, forcing Ishizaki to use both hands to carry it.

A one-liter water bottle is light, and carrying two bottles in one hand is not a problem, but when many are combined, it becomes not so easy with one hand.

After sorting everything out and passing by the end of the queue, Ichinose cheerfully said goodbye: "Bye-bye, Yukio-kun~"

"Thanks for this time." Yukio nodded in response, knowing that if he had encountered anyone else, it might have been a bit more troublesome for him to cut in line. He could have used various methods to solve it, but nothing was as time-saving and effortless as dealing with Ichinose.

So, he was genuinely grateful to Ichinose.

"No need, no need." Ichinose hurriedly waved her hands back and forth, indicating Yukio shouldn't take it so seriously: "Oh! Right! Yukio-kun, the large swimming pool will be open for the last three days of summer vacation."

"Do you want to go play together then? It's more fun with more people!"

"Okay." Yukio agreed to Ichinose's invitation, then left with Ishizaki and the others.

***

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