The Springtime Of Their Youth

Lunch finished and classes started back up. The four of us moved our desks back to their intended position but not before we all agreed to hang out after school was done. Well... I had asked to meet up with them, and they agreed. But still, I managed to become their friend.

Step one complete.

Now, for step two. Which I really had no idea about yet. I guess it would just be hanging out and studying together for the time being. Which I did offer Honoka at one point. The stuttering that resulted from that was hilarious, but she did eventually agree. And not just because Umi was giving her meaningful looks. Her satisfied nod when Honoka agreed did make me smile a bit.

Now I was back to listening to teachers drone on about their subjects. I was tempted to ignore them and just look out the window, or better yet fool around with the girls but I decided that there was time for that after school with the Idol Trio. But I still put my other earring on so that I wouldn't be distracting.

Speaking of earrings, I still needed to record that Normality that I made earlier. I brought out my phone and did so, and kept my phone out in case I came up with other ideas for Normalities.

My eyes wandered around the classroom. I looked at all the different girls, ogling their legs and thinking about all the things I could do to them. It was when I was staring at a particular girl for a bit too long that a thought hit me. That girls skirt was shorter than every other skirt in the room.

I looked around again and realised that everyone's skirts were at varying lengths. Some kept theirs short while others seemed more modest.

I supposed that this was their way of showing individualism while in uniform.

Hmm... Was there something I could do with that? Could I spin a Normality about their uniforms? I mean, it's not like they don't look good in them. It's just that, what if I could make them sexier?

And I'm talking small changes here. Nothing drastic like full nudity or just underwear. I could try doing that with other schools and their uniforms. But for this one I wanted subtlety. Like shirts that were a lot more sheer, or skirts that were dangerously short and made of lighter materials so that they flapped more haphazardly in the wind. Or both. No reason to limit myself here.

Not sure what to do with the blazers though. I did think they were kind of cool and I'm pretty sure I didn't want to get rid of them. Maybe with the skirts being shorter and with the blazers already being long it would make the girls look like they weren't wearing skirts at all. Like they were going bottomless.

While the sexy businesswoman looking teacher, a Sasahara Kyouko, was going over English phrases on the board, I used my phone to search up the school's regulation skirt length.

Fifteen centimetres above the knee.

I looked back at all the girls around me and tried to guess at the lengths they kept their skirts at. Though, I wasn't good at measurements by eye so I got out a ruler from my pencil case, which apparently was fifteen centimetres exactly. I quietly got out of my chair and knelt down next to the girl to my right and directly behind Kotori.

She barely glanced at me as I leaned in close to her side. With my ruler I tried measuring the gap between her skirt and her kneecap.

Seventeen centimetres.

Hm, hm, naughty girl. I approve.

I got back in my seat and thought for a bit. Once again, I needed to think about the wording for any Normalities I would make. Now let's see.

"It's normal for Otonokizaka High School's regulation skirt length to be twenty centimetres above the knee." I said quietly. Though I didn't have to be quiet with these earrings on, I still felt compelled to in class.

I waited for a few moments but nothing seemed to change. No one felt compelled to adjust their skirts in the middle of class.

Huh, maybe after class then.

Anyway, moving on.

"It's normal for Otonokizaka High School to start making their summer uniform skirts with lighter materials, and to make their shirts more sheer." Now, I knew that this Normality wouldn't take effect yet. So, I didn't expect any kind of sudden change. I'd have to wait for their suppliers to make them first.

But then I got another idea.

"It's normal for Otonokizaka High School students to be allowed to either go topless or bottomless on school grounds on especially warm days." Hello summertime. When it finally gets here, of course. Also, to avoid the girls being too embarrassed to under dress... "It's normal for Otonokizaka High School students to not be too embarrassed to go topless or bottomless while on school grounds, but it is up to each individual on whether or not to remove their underwear."

Sometimes bras or panties could make someone sexier than if they simply bared everything. And a girl's underwear could be colourful and fun to look at. Not gunna lie.

I wrote these new Normalities in my phone and went back to thinking. And girl-watching, naturally.

But now I couldn't think of anything to add. There might be something else but my mind was drawing a blank at the moment. I went back to paying attention to the lesson. Sasahara-sensei was calling on students to try and read some of the phrases on the board. I smiled at what was written.

Not to brag but I had gotten well above average grades for English studies in my old school. What the teacher had on the board I felt I could say quite decently. Plus, I had some interest in some western songs and TV shows.

And what was on the board seemed somewhat basic in comparison to what I already knew. So, maybe I should be a good little student and volunteer.

I removed my Normalcy earring and waited for the teacher to roam the room with her eyes, looking for her next student to call on. Our eyes met and she smiled.

"Nakano-kun. Are you feeling confident?" Sensei asked.

"Um, just a little, sensei." I said, showing a small amount of nervousness as I stood up. I didn't want to sound too cocky.

"Then maybe you'll want to try your hand at one of these phrases?" She asked. Though, since she was a teacher asking it, then it really wasn't a question at all.

"Yes, ma'am." I said. I looked over each sentence while noticing that a lot of eyes were on me. Just about every girl was interested in how well I'd do. That nearly had me shaking in actual nervousness. But I persevered and picked which English phrase to say.

"The library is my favourite place to study." I recited in front of the class. It felt like I had to physically stop myself from saying "Za" instead of "The." The "Th" in English words always seemed like the most difficult part to me. Also, words like library and favourite could trip me up sometimes. But I always liked learning the correct pronunciations so I was fairly confident.

That confidence was bolstered when almost half the class let out exclamations of surprise.

"Very well done, Nakano-kun! That's the best I've heard yet this year." Sasahara-sensei praised. She was beaming at me with the smile of a teacher having found her best student.

"Th-Thank you." Was all I could say as I sat down, blushing like mad. I could hear the class muttering to each other, gossiping about what they just heard. I even saw Honoka, Kotori and Umi staring at me looking impressed. They blushed and turned back to the front of the class when they noticed me looking though.

I bet that garnered me some extra brownie points with them.

It was after school now and the Idol Trio and I moved our brainstorming to the library. They really wanted to figure out a name for their group and I was more than happy to help. Or just sit with them and stare at their bodies like the pervert that I was. Of course, I would give some input from time to time. It's just that sitting with three cute girls after school was really novel to me.

And of course, I was enjoying the wonderful sight of really short skirts on these three. Not to mention the moment when classes ended and just about everyone got up to fold the top part of their skirts to meet with the regulation. Even though they really didn't have to since it was only a guideline to avoid indecent exposure. They could definitely have kept theirs as is. And some did. But a lot decided to toe the line.

I saw so many mini-skirted girls on the way here to the library that I was tempted to go a little nuts. But I reminded myself that I was focusing on the Idol Trio today.

While sitting here in the library I couldn't help but smile a little. I was feeling a little giddy knowing that I was spending time with some girls. It was a big step up from my old life in my previous school. Back there I only had a couple female acquaintances that I never spoke to outside of school. This was a massive change in pace for me.

I also removed the Normalcy earring once again so that we could really talk instead of being treated like talking furniture.

We were sitting at one of the tables in the library. Honoka and Kotori on one side and Umi and myself on the other. Spread out all over the table were notes and scribbles with all their ideas for a name. There were even some reference books and a dictionary that they perused through briefly.

"I can't come up with anything." Honoka said, sounding tired. We had been thinking for a while now.

"It would be easy if we had some kind of distinguishing feature..." Kotori said thoughtfully.

"Our personalities are all different." Umi said doubtfully.

Yeah, no kidding. You'd think that these three had very little in common if you didn't see them hanging out constantly.

"Then, we'll simply use our names..." Honoka began. She looked off into the distance as she described the three of them simply introducing themselves on stage like some kind of comedy group.

Honoka Umi Kotori! Hello! I imagined, as all three wore garish outfits to an unlikely applause. Honoka! Umi! Kotori here!

"That sounds like a comedy group..." Umi surprisingly read my mind. Wow, great minds think alike.

"Yeah..." Honoka said as she visibly deflated. Then suddenly an idea sprung up behind her eyes. "I know! Umi-chan, you're Ocean! Kotori-chan, you're Sky! I'm Land! Together we're Land Ocean Sky! Protect the peace of the civilians!"

Err, what? Why did that whole bit remind me of a military billboard that I saw once? Navy, Army and Airforce. This girl...

"That doesn't sound very idol-like at all..." Kotori told her friend. To which Honoka just slumped onto the table, defeated.

"Yeah..."

I tried not to laugh throughout Honoka's antics, too much, but that whole recruitment ad was a little...

Umi and I just shared a look of deadpan expressions before Honoka sat up once again, this time with her hands clamped to her head. Her eyes were squeezed shut and I could hear her say, "Then... then..."

Suddenly, once again, she sat up straight. Face lit up by a new idea. "I know!"

Oh? What could it be this time?

We were now standing out in the hallway in front of a bulletin board. Honoka had just finished making a suggestion box and doodling all over a piece of paper. The poster read: Otonokizaka High School Idols, First Concert Notice.

There were chibi versions of the three of them pointing at a star with the school in the background. Underneath them was a speech bubble saying: And... Requesting group names!

Well... At least the art was cute. I'll give her that.

"That should do it!" Said Honoka triumphantly, marker pen still in hand.

"You're leaving it up to others..." Umi sighed. I shook my head next to her. It started to sound like this would be a common occurrence, this sighing thing.

"I bet people will be more interested this way." She said cheerfully.

"You might be right." Kotori chimed in.

Actually, now that I think about it, that might be true.

"Since they get to name your group, that might make them feel more represented." I said thoughtfully, nodding along with my own words. "Seems like it could work." Still, I was somewhat doubtful.

"Exactly!" Honoka said, looking happy that I thought it was a good idea. Though, I somehow doubt that she thought of it exactly how I described it. Umi, however didn't look fully convinced but appeared thoughtful at what I said.

"Okay, now let's practice our singing and dancing!" Honoka exclaimed as she turned to her fellow idols in the making.

The trouble now was finding a place for the girls to practice.

We were walking around the campus looking for a nice open area but just about every place was taken up. We were near the track field, an area that had a lot of open space, and yet even here a bunch of students were playing around or participating in their sports clubs.

A couple girls were shooting some hoops by the side of the school building. The track club was running around. The baseball club wasn't far behind chasing after the baseball around their field.

After a while of looking outside we gave up on finding a place out here.

"We'd probably get in the way here..." Honoka said dejectedly.

Next, we tried peeking into the gym. Even here we found that the gym was being used by the tennis and volleyball teams.

"This place is totally full, too." Honoka moaned quietly to us.

Next, we even tried finding an empty classroom. Right now, Honoka was fruitlessly pulling on a locked door. Though, the first pull should have told her that it was closed.

"It's locked..." Kotori pointed out, but Honoka wouldn't listen.

"We can't just use an empty classroom..." Umi said. I guessed we needed to have permission for that.

So, we tried going to the faculty office to ask to use any empty classrooms. We found one of the P.E teachers and tried with her.

"An empty classroom? Why do you want to use it?" Yamada-sensei asked.

"School Idol practice..." Even Honoka felt embarrassed to admit that to a teacher.

"You? Idols?" Yamada-sensei asked sceptically before letting out a doubtful laugh and a grin.

Honoka gasped while all three of them blushed. "You laughed!"

I tried to stifle my own laughter by looking away and coughing into my hand. This teacher was savage.

"So..." Honoka said.

"We'll have to use this place..." Umi finished.

"Looks like it." I added.

We were standing on the roof of the school. The view from up here was quite stunning, especially during springtime as it currently was. All the cherry blossom trees around campus really gave it that warm springtime vibe. A three-metre tall fence surrounded the edge of the roof for safety reasons, but that didn't diminish the sight.

"There's no shade, and we won't be able to use it if it rains. But beggars can't be choosers, can they?" Kotori said, looking around the wide space that the roof offered.

"Yeah, but at least we won't have to worry about making too much noise up here." Honoka deduced. She then looked determined as she clenched her fists before her. "All right! We've got to practice hard!"

I took a seat near the entrance to the roof with my back against the brick wall as the girls lined up by the fence. I found that at this level I had quite the long view of the girl's legs, but sadly, at this angle, I couldn't catch a glimpse of their underwear, which was fine since I wasn't planning on trying anything yet. But I guess it would have enhanced the view a bit.

Regardless, I was a little excited to actually hear them sing. If they were good then I'd be treated to a front row seat to an idol groups first practice song. If they were bad... Then I'd have to try and not laugh too much.

No, no, I needed to be supportive of my new harem. I couldn't laugh. No matter how ironic it would be. Idols that couldn't sing... Stop. If I laugh it might hurt their feelings. Can't start things off like that. So, I took a deep breath of fresh air and waited.

"Let's start by practicing our singing!" Honoka was saying.

"Okay." "Okay!" Both Umi and Kotori said in unison. All three straightened their backs.

This is it. Will they be good?

Seconds passed and I heard no singing. Just the chirping of birds.

Kotori hesitantly turned to the others and asked, "What song?"

"I don't know..." Umi admitted.

"Me, neither..." Honoka, the one that wanted to do this the most, also admitted.

"Pff." I couldn't help it anymore. I laughed, but I tried to make it as quiet as possible.

They noticed, however.

Their faces blushed red as they stared blankly into space.

This could take some work...