"Good morning, Yamauchi!"
"Good morning, Ike!"
Arriving at class, Ike wore a broad grin as he called out to Yamauchi. It was rather unusual for them to get here so early. It's been one week since the entrance ceremony, and Ike and Yamauchi would always make it to class right before the bell rang.
"Whew, man! I was looking forward to today so much that I barely slept last night!"
"Ah ha ha! This school is just the best! I can't believe that it's almost time for swimming! And when I say swimming, I mean girls. And when I say girls, I mean girls in school swimsuits!"
It was true that the swimming classes were co-ed. In other words, that meant that Horikita, Matushita, Karuizawa, Kushida, and all of the other girls would be...showing off a lot of skin. The girls backed away from Ike and Yamauchi's rabid excitement.
(SHLUUUURRRRRRP GIMME GIMME SHLURRRRRRPP)
{Someone kill him, please}
Fortunately, my parents had taught me to keep my more degenerate tendencies to myself. However, just then...
"Hey, Professor! Come here for a second!"
"Uh, you called?"
A chubby boy, apparently nicknamed "The Professor," approached them slowly. If I remember correctly, his name was Sotomura, the person I wanted to change my seats with when school started.
We were friends, I think. He's been calling me as well as Ayanokouji the quote, "Deuteragonists" for some reason. I couldn't infer the reasons for the moniker, but whatever.
He's also called me "Fujiwara-sama, Slayer of Milfs" which I don't mind. He just needs to drop the "Fujiwara" and the "Sama" to make the title more perfect.
"Professor, can you record the girls wearing their swimsuits for us?" Ike asked.
"Leave it to me. I'll pretend to be sick so that I can skip class and observe."
I was with Karuizawa and her group, who were looking on in apprehension of the situation.
"Augh. I can't with these perverts! Can't they just keep it in their pants? I'm skipping." Karuizawa huffed, clearly irritated. She planned on skipping swimming class because of horny teenage boys, I could respect that.
She, like I had predicted became the quote "leader" of the girls, most of them following whatever she did as an example. Many, who were surrounding us, followed suit in similar declarations.
"Those guys are the worst," Satou said.
Matsushita blew a raspberry. "I was looking forward to swimming but I just feel sick just thinking about it."
Thank goodness they all thought I was normal. If any of my actual thoughts leaked from my brain then I would be in trouble.
"Are you good at swimming, Matushita-san?" I asked. There wasn't anything beyond this question besides wanting to make conversation. I also just thought Matushita was a good swimmer; not by any concrete evidence, but by inference.
She tilted her head, her hair swaying slightly, pursing her supple lips. She had that Onee-sama vibe to her for some reason. Very refined and graceful, if I were to say so myself. I haven't heard her say "Ara~ ara~" yet so I cannot confirm my theory, sadly.
"Hmmm~ Swimming's fun, but I wouldn't say I'm particularly good at it, I guess. What about you?" She shot back the question.
"I'd say I'm fairly good at it," I said with a wink, crossing my arms over my chest. My brown-haired classmate lightly chuckled.
"Hey. What's...Ayanokouji doing..." Karuizawa murmured to herself, looking up from her phone.
I glanced over toward the poor introverted child with curiosity, only to see him interacting with those 3 idiots. I slowly deflated in disappointment. Is he going to go and interact with those people?
Matsushita sighed. "Robokouji is at it again~"
"Pfft..."
"I'm going to drag him over here. Just wait a bit." I mumbled, walking over toward the quite large group of guys that were gathering around Ike and Co.
...
..
.
..
...
"So what's your wager? It's 1000 points to join," I overheard Ike explaining the situation to my introverted companion. Oh no, you will not corrupt him on my watch! He is too pure and squishy to be corrupted by the evil arms of SEXUAL HARASSMENT!
{Pot calling the kettle black}
"I see..." Ayanokouji's voice trailed off as he responded. I intervened by patting his shoulder, causing him to break his gaze and look over at me.
"What's going on here?" I inquired, tilting my head in a display of curiosity.
Unfortunately, Yamauchi wasn't quick on the uptake and blurted out the answer, unaware of the situation I was intervening in. "We're betting on the girls with the—" Ike then slapped his hand over his mouth before dragging him away to scold him on something. He seemed angry.
I sighed.
I turned my attention back to Ayanokouji, quietly questioning him. "Were you planning to participate in this...?" My tone held a subtle reprimand as if I were a parent admonishing a mischievous child.
His response carried a hint of sheepishness. "No..."
I rewarded him with a reassuring pat on the back.
"Good boy. Why don't we go back to Karuizawa-san's group and not...you know...do...this?"
He hummed in affirmation as we went to the OPPOSITE corner of the class.
"You really gotta choose your friends right, sometimes they'll get you into trouble, but try not to get into the trouble that will get you arrested, m'kay?" I lectured.
I envisioned Ayanokouji's eyes sparkling like a child receiving the greatest wisdom from their parent as he glanced at me. He really was like a child.
"Got it."
"We're your friends too, you know?" I said as we arrived.
Karuizawa huffed. "Yeah, what Fujiwara-kun said. Don't go and hang out with those perverts! It's freaking disgusting. Got that Ayanokouji?"
Okay, maybe Karuizawa is a bit harsh in how she speaks to him, but it's fine I guess. As long as she doesn't bully him constantly.
"Ah...sure..." He said in a monotone voice. "So...we're friends, right?"
"Are you freaking stupid or something? Yeah, we are. Who said we aren't?"
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka paused in his place, he was like a statue. Did he not know what the concept of friends was? If you get along with another person, it doesn't need to be said, you are friends. It's fascinating that someone like him doesn't know what a friend is or cannot grasp the concept of friends.
I wonder where the hell he came from to be such a socially illiterate monkey. Homeschooled? No, you'd theoretically have access to the internet and television, if your family wasn't cruel. That notion is illogical.
{Well his entire face is illogical}
Ah, but maybe I'm looking too far into this and he's had like 0 friends for all of his life or something tragic like that. Hehe...
(Cough)
{Cough}
[No comment]
"Is that so..." He said, blinking. There was no telling if that was a good "Is that so" or a bad "Is that so". There was no information I could get out of him because there were no expressions to read.
I snorted. "We have to get you more expressions, man."
"But I have trouble expressing myself."
Satou chimed in. "Ohh! Maybe there's a store on campus we can go to so we can find Ayanokouji-kun some expressions!"
The mood lightened considerably as...well we started to get hyper again. It was something common as soon as someone opened the door if that made sense. Sort of like a dam holding back a bunch of water, you know?
"Ouuu maybe we can search for it after school?"
"I'm down!"
I lightly chuckled. Whether Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was enjoying the banter, I didn't know. But I silently hoped for that to be the case.
♔ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐞 ♔
So this is what having friends is like? They all look so happy. Their smiles are pleasant to look at, like looking at multiple stars. This is what normalcy is, right? Friends laugh and joke with one another, right? This is what camaraderie is, right?
Right, Matsuo?
♔ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐞 ♔
"All right! The pool!"
After lunch had ended, it was finally time for swim class. Finally, the moment Ike and the others had so desperately been waiting for. Without even trying to hide his excitement, Ike leapt up and headed with the others toward the indoor pool.
I glanced at the girls. They were going to skip either way.
"I'll see you all later then."
Karuizawa lightly smirked. "Yeah, I'll definitely see you later Fu-ji-wara-kun~!" She giggled, going to her group. There were light gasps and chatter, but nothing that I could make out.
Sighing, I waved goodbye. What am I going to do with that girl?
"Come on, let's go together, Ayanokouji!"
"Huh? O-okay."
Ayanokouji was promptly drug by the back of his collar by a very ecstatic Ike. His body went limp as he stretched out his hand as if pleading for help.
'Help me, friend! I don't want to be drug into the depths of hell!'
That was what I think my brown-haired classmate wanted to say at the moment, but that could just be my imagination trying to compensate for the lack of characterization he has. I simply smiled and waved, leaving him to his fate.
A parent can't always be there for their child. They've got to learn independence. Hopefully, he can understand.
♔ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐞 ♔
𝐅𝐔𝐉𝐈𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐀 𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐌𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌! 𝐅𝐔𝐉𝐈𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐀! 𝐅𝐔𝐉𝐈𝐖𝐀𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐀𝐀𝐀𝐀𝐀𝐀! 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐏 𝐌𝐄!
[Ayanokouji Kiyotaka doesn't understand parental affection.]
♔ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐞 ♔
There's a boy's locker room and a girl's locker room, did you know that? Yeah, me too! I never knew I could see so many insecure people in one place!
While the others wrapped themselves in bath towels, Sudo and I unabashedly wore only underwear.
"Woah, Fujiwara. You're quite built." Sudo said out of nowhere.
I looked down at my stomach. It wasn't that impressive, sure there were signs that I exercised like the abs and stuff, but I think that's just my body fat percentage. For me, I would say it hovered around 15%. Nothing too impressive.
"Eh? Do you think so? Look at yourself, you've got some serious size on me, man."
The red-haired lightly chuckled. "Yeah, but still. In comparison to everyone else here, you're impressive. What's your workout routine?"
I felt a cold sweat run down my spine.
"I haven't seriously worked out since getting here, hehe. I've only done light at-home workouts, you know? Push-ups and stuff like that."
"Ohhhh. We gotta get you in the gym man! You're gonna lose it if you don't!"
"Hehe..."
"Sudou, Fujiwara, you're both pretty bold. Aren't you nervous being around other people?"
Ayanokouji blurted unexpectedly.
"In sports, you can't get flustered every time you have to change. If you act all shifty, it has the opposite effect. You become the center of attention."
He could say that again. In these sorts of places, sneaky guys got mocked.
I hummed in agreement. "True. Just get changed and get out. No one sees you, no one teases you. You know?"
"Hm."
I stretched. "Alright, I'm going ahead!"
"Right behind you."
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...
Upon seeing the fifty-meter pool, Ike cried out, "Whoa, this school is something else! It's even better than the city pool, don't you think?" The water was clear and beautiful, and because it was indoors, we didn't have to worry about the weather. The perfect environment.
"What about the girls? Aren't they here yet?" Ike looked around, sniffing the air like a dog.
"They take a while to change, so they're probably not ready," Ayanokouji said.
"Hey, I wonder would what happen if I just suddenly jumped into the girls' locker room?" Ike said.
"They'd gang up on you, beat the crap out of you, and then file charges, probably."
"Probably throw you off a building, maybe." I chimed.
"Don't give me such a realistic, scary answer and ruin my fun!" Ike began to tremble with fright as he played that scenario in his head.
"If the girls sense you staring at them in their swimsuits, they'll probably hate you."
"Come on, like there's a guy out there who wouldn't stare! Agh. What am I gonna do if I get a boner?"
"Wow! It's so spacious! It's so much bigger than the pool at my junior high school."
A few minutes after the boys had arrived, a girl's voice could be heard. It sounded like Kushida.
"A-are they here?!"
Ike looked ready to strike. If you were that obvious about it, the girls were bound to hate you.
I walked to the edge of the pool and dipped my toes in the cool—huh? Oh wow, a heated pool! This is the best thing I've ever experienced!
"Hasebe isn't here! Wh-what's going on, Professor?!" Ike cried.
The Professor, who had been watching the class, was now in a panic. Standing on the second-floor observation deck, he scanned the room. Ike and the others also looked around. At this height, the Professor's beady, bespectacled eyes should have spotted his prey instantly.
However...
He couldn't find the girls anywhere. He looked to his right and left, as if in disbelief. Could they still be changing? Nah, they're most likely—
"B-behind you, Professor!"
"What?!"
Ike pointed and shouted. The situation had become clear. Hasebe stood behind the Professor on the observation deck. One by one, the rest of the girls appeared, until they'd all emerged onto the second floor.
"Hehe, oh dear..." I murmured in amusement.
"Wh-what's going on? How did this happen?"
Ike slumped to the ground and buried his face in his hands, shaken by this unbelievable turn of events. Hasebe seemed to be self-conscious about being considered a beautiful girl. Furthermore, she seemed to dislike getting curious looks from the boys. She was not amused at their attempts to ogle.
"Aw, but I thought I'd get to see big tits! Big tits! I thought this was my chance!"
Ike appeared to be contemplating suicide. His wails of agony reached Hasebe.
"Gross," the girls muttered among themselves. I made eye contact with some of the people in my group, giving them a wry smile. I swear I could hear Karuizawa whistle. Give her some water, please.
(Or shove her in the pool?)
{That's an option too}
"Ike, don't be sad! Come on, there are still tons of girls out there for us!" Yamauchi said.
"Y-yeah, that's right. You have a point. I can't get down in the dumps now!" Ike cried.
"Bro!" Yamauchi and Ike reaffirmed their manly bond of friendship, clasping their hands together.
[...]
{...}
(...)
"What are you two doing? That looks like fun."
"K-K-Kushida-chan?!"
Kushida showed up between the two of them. She was clad in her school-issued swimwear, which nicely showed off her voluptuous figure. In an instant, nearly all of the boys' eyes were glued to Kushida's body.
She wasn't my type, but I will say one thing. "Damn..."
"Why the pained expression?" Horikita asked, coming up from behind me with her arms crossed.
"Pained? I'm just adjusting to the water; it's quite cold." I gave a convincing excuse.
In reality, I was having a tough time controlling my hormones.
Horikita was in a school swimsuit. How to put it? Yeah. She looked good. Not bad at all. But if I stared, it was likely that something bad would be the result like in the image with the collar. I shudder just thinking about it.
(BAG HER! MEDIUM IS PREMIUM!)
{As much as I agree; No.}
"..."
"..."
Stare
Stare...
Stare...
STARE!!!!!!
Why is she ogling me like I'm a piece of meat? I glanced toward Ayanokouji for a brief moment. He was chatting with Hirata, good for you!
Is she still...augh...
"Horikita-san, you perv~! Do you always ogle half-naked men in your spare time or am I just that irresistible?" I said with a smug smirk, resting my head in my palm for dramatic effect.
It seemed to have worked as her eyes widened, face flushing red.
"W-what?! I-I'm not—"
(Can we keep her? Please~! She's so CUTE! Please!! I'll take her on walks, feed her, pamper her, you name it!)
{...}
"No, no. I get it. I would do that too." I waved her off.
My black-haired classmate's face flushed a deeper shade of red. "I-I'm not staring at you, Fujiwara-kun! Don't get the wrong idea!" She shouted.
I maintained my smug demeanour. "Whatever you say~ Tsunzune~"
Hopefully, that nickname didn't reach her ears. If it did, I would be placed on a list of missing persons, and there would be no evidence to support my case.
Horikita coughed into her hand. "Fujiwara-kun, do you exercise?"
I blinked once, then twice while staring at her blankly.
"Does it look like I exercise?"
"Well, considering the development in your forearms and back muscles, you seem rather fit," she observed.
I nodded in response. "Yeah, but I haven't exercised since coming here. I'll maybe start again before May or something," I said.
"I see."
I observed some of my classmates having fun in the pool with freestyle swimming. Ayanokouji and Hirata chatted to the side. I'll go talk to them later.
Suddenly, Kushida came up from out of nowhere.
"Are you a good swimmer, Horikita-san?"
Although Horikita gave a slightly puzzled look in response to Kushida's question, she quietly answered. "I wouldn't say I'm particularly good or bad at it."
"I was really bad at swimming when I was in junior high. But I gave it my all and practiced hard, and now I think I've gotten better," Kushida said.
"I see." Horikita gave a disinterested response and backed away slightly, clearly signalling that she didn't want to continue the conversation further.
"All right, everyone, line up!"
A macho-looking middle-aged man, the kind of guy who devoted himself to sports, gathered everyone together and started the class. He looked like a PE teacher but also seemed like the kind of guy who was attractive to men and women alike.
"There are sixteen of you, huh? I thought there would've been more, but this is all right."
Only around 40% of the class came to swimming class. Attendance isn't mandatory, but still; having such a low attendance rate is kind of...bad.
"After you warm up, I want to see what you can do. Swim for me," the coach said.
"Excuse me, sir. I can't swim, though..." A lone boy sheepishly raised his hand and spoke up.
"Since you have me as your teacher, you'll be swimming by summertime. Don't worry about a thing."
"Well, we don't need to force ourselves to swim, do we? It's not like we're going to the beach or anything."
"No way. I don't mind at all if you're bad at swimming now, but I'll make sure you guys are winners in the end. Besides, being able to swim will come in handy later in life. Definitely."
Huh? Why "Definitely"? We can't go to the beach for 3 years, and Tokyo Bay is full of pollutants and chemicals. Where are we going to go swimming? On a deserted island in the middle of the Pacific?
Augh...whatever...
Everyone started their warm-up exercises. Ike kept peeking at the girls. The teacher asked us to swim for about fifty meters. Students who could not swim were allowed to touch the bottom of the pool with their feet.
To be frank, I did quite enjoy the water. It sort of reminded me of those obese cat videos, you know, those. You know? Where the cat is on the treadmill in the water, and it's super fat? You know, those!
"He he he, that was an easy win for me. Did you all see my super swimming skills?" Ike crowed.
No, Ike, your performance wasn't that different from anyone else's. Heck, even Ayanokouji swam faster than you.
"Well, it looks like everyone can swim, for the most part."
"Of course, sir. Back in junior high, people called me 'the flying fish,' you know."
I highly doubt that. It would be more like 'Flopping fish'.
(If we drowned someone right now would they notice?)
{Maybe. Wanna try?}
"I see. In that case, I'll have you start competing against each other. We'll separate groups by gender. Fifty-meter freestyle."
"C-compete?! Are you serious?" Ike cried.
"I'll give out a special bonus to the first-place winner: 5000 points. The student who comes in last place, however, will have to take supplementary lessons. Get ready."
The skilled swimmers cheered with joy, while the less confident students groaned.
"Because we don't have very many girls, I'll split you into two groups of five people, and the student with the fastest overall time will be the winner. As for the boys, I'll look at the top five finishing times and then move on to a final round."
"Are you good at swimming, Fujiwara-kun?" Kushida asked from beside me.
I swear I've heard you say that same question to Horikita.
"I think I'm fairly good at it."
...
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.
..
...
The whistle blew, and five of the girls dove into the water. Horikita was in the second lane. She took the lead at the beginning of the race and kept her distance from the others, maintaining her position at the front of the pack. She swam confidently, effortlessly covering the fifty meters.
"Wow! Awesome, Horikita!" Someone shouted.
Her time was approximately twenty-eight seconds. She was pretty fast. Horikita slowly got out of the pool and went to the side, not even appearing out of breath.
"She's fairly fast," I commented to no one in particular.
"Mhm. I wonder if her hair gets in the way..." Ayanokouji murmured.
Hirata chuckled from beside us. You know, we kind of look like a trio of Shounen protagonists; those stereotypical ones.
Hirata is the kind soul, Ayanokouji is the blank-faced moron, and I'm the perfect one.
"Horikita-san good job!" Said my blonde-haired friend. Horikita nodded in response, not saying another word.
"Ehhh~ if she talked more then she'd be popular~" I stretched as the next whistle, signalling the next race came blaring into my ears.
A girl named Onodera, who had been on swim teams before, won by a mile. She finished with a time of about twenty-six seconds, netting her the win. Kushida finished at about thirty-one seconds, which was a fairly good time but only resulted in her getting fourth place.
I think the reason is because she's less aerodynamic, meaning she's top-heavy.
[For some reason, Ichinose Honami sneezed]
Sudo was paired up with Ayanokouji, which was one of the worst matchups I've ever seen; I mean...
Sudou finished the fifty-meter race with incredible speed. The boys and girls cheered in admiration.
"Wow, you're amazing, Sudou. You finished the race in twenty-five seconds!" Onodera cried out.
My brown-haired classmate on the other hand finished with 36 seconds, which was...What was the average again? It didn't matter—he did OKAY...
"Sudou, won't you consider joining the swim team? If you practice, you could probably win at competitions!"
"Basketball is my only sport. Swimming's just for fun." Sudou, who hadn't even broken a sweat, calmly got out of the pool.
"Next! Fujiwara, Hirata..."
Oh, please kill me.
...
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.
..
...
You know, have you ever felt conflicted about what you want in life? It's like having a craving for indulgent junk food while also aspiring to be the fittest person alive. I'm like that but with attention. Sometimes I want it, and sometimes I'd rather melt into the shadows.
Now, back to my current situation. The coach had the brilliant idea to put me and Hirata in the same group. It didn't help that the girls were cheering for both of us. Hirata seemed unfazed by the attention, but I was practically squirming in discomfort, wishing I could die.
"You ready, Fujiwara-kun?" Hirata's voice cut through the noise of the cheering crowd. He took a deep breath, clearly in his element.
His body was a product of years of soccer and other endurance sports, giving him strong leg muscles and cardiovascular fitness — a perfect setup for swimming.
"I'm alright. Don't make it too easy for me to pass you," I replied with a playful grin, mustering some bravado. Hirata chuckled in response.
"Let's do this, then!"
As we got ready for the race, the cheers for our names only intensified. I wished the ground would swallow me whole as the encouragement reached an unbearable volume.
"Go, Fujiwara-kun!"
"Go, Hirata-kun!"
"❤️Kyaaaa ❤️"
Please don't climax when I'm having a panic attack!
...
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.
..
...
"Fu-Fujiwara's time is 22.18 seconds," the coach's voice rang out as I propelled myself out of the pool and hastily regained my footing. I couldn't help but feel a sense of relief that the ordeal was over.
Hirata emerged from the water, his time announced shortly after. "Hirata's time was 26.13 seconds!" A clear difference of 4.04 seconds behind my time. A small smile tugged at the corners of my lips – the difference was the same as my room number. A mere coincidence, of course.
Predictably, the class burst into a mix of shock and disbelief at my speed. I wished I could just blend into the background and disappear from their attention.
"Fujiwara's fast!"
"YEAHHAAA, YOU GOT 'EM, FUJIWARA!"
"Kya! Fujiwara-kun's so cool!"
"He was even faster than Hirata-kun!"
"I wonder how else he could use those arms and legs..."
Please, just let me die for a while...
Hirata walked up to me, his breathing still somewhat heavy from the exertion of the race. "You're pretty fast, Fujiwara-kun," he complimented, a friendly grin on his face. "I wasn't even able to catch up."
I chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I used to swim for fun and stuff, you know?"
"Haha. Say, are you free tomorrow? I would like to discuss something."
I tilted my head. "Oh, yeah I am. Text me the time okay?"
The two of us smiled at one another while the girls squealed in the background.
"IMPREGNATE ME FUJIWA—"
[OKAY WE'RE SKIPPING THAT!]
...
..
.
..
...
"Why on earth is Kouenji wearing a speedo?" I muttered under my breath, a mixture of disbelief and amusement in my tone.
Although the school allowed such tight swimwear, Kouenji was the only one in our class wearing it. The briefs drew attention to his crotch, and the girls all looked away. However, in the third race, all eyes were on Kouenji.
The stance he took at the starting line was just like an athlete's. His posture wasn't the only impressive thing, either. He looked to be in even better physical shape than Sudou. Sudou and all of the other boys in class held their breath as they attentively focused on Kouenji.
"I'm not particularly interested in winning or losing...but I don't like losing," said Sudou to no one in particular.
As the whistle blew, Kouenji dove into the pool in textbook form.
"Whoa! Wow!"
Sudo gave a surprised shout in response to Kouenji's unexpectedly aggressive swimming. Hirata also stared in apparent amazement. Kouenji splashed fiercely as he swam, but it didn't slow his incredible speed. He was unquestionably faster than Sudo. After checking the time, the teacher reflexively looked at his stopwatch twice.
"23.22 seconds."
"My abdominal muscles, back muscles, and psoas major muscle seem to be in good shape, as usual. Not bad, not bad," Kouenji said.
"Kouenji's speed is impressive!"
"But he's still not faster than Fujiwara-kun!"
"I still want Fujiwara-kun to crush my head with his thigh—"
[I am going to find whoever said that]
He then came up toward me, his taller frame making him look rather intimidating. I looked at him with innocence.
"You've won this round, Fish-boy but rest assured that someone as perfect as me shant be defeated more than thrice!"
Doesn't he mean twice?
"Hehe...whatever you say Kouenji-kun..."
"Hahaha!" he laughed heartily, thoroughly enjoying the competition and the attention he garnered from his classmates.
Oh, dear...
"I'm fired up!" Sudou's competitive spirit blazed as he refused to accept defeat. Honestly, he was probably the only one who stood a chance against both me and Kouenji. "Watch yourself, Fujiwara! I'm comin' for you!"
I smirked. "Oh really now? Beat Kouenji-kun first, m'kay?"
"Haha! Watch me!"
...
..
.
..
...
"Are you all ready?!" our coach called out. The final round included me, Hirata, Kouenji, Sudo, and another classmate, Miyake.
"Mhm!" we all gave affirmative grunts in response.
"I shall claim victory this time, Fish-boy," Kouenji asserted.
"I won't be losing to you, Fujiwara!"
"Hehe, Fujiwara-kun, you seem to have quite the spotlight," Hirata commented to my left, and I sighed in reply.
"Let's do this. I wanna go home..."
"Hehe..."
PFRRRT!
The sound of the whistle triggered an immediate surge of anticipation and excitement within me. I was the first to dive into the pool as soon as the sound reached my ears, leading the charge.
Do I really look like a fish?
...
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..
...
"21.81!" the coach's voice rang out, a mix of surprise and amazement evident in his tone.
In the final round, I managed to secure first place with an even better time, improving it by 0.37 seconds. Kouenji trailed behind me with a time of 22.37, not managing to surpass my initial time. Sudo followed suit with a time of 24.38, and so on.
"Hmph! This round is yours, Fujiwara-boy!" Kouenji declared in defeat. "But let it be known that this changes nothing! I remain, the Perfect Existence!"
Ah, the charming narcissist in all his glory. While many may find him insufferable, I can't help but find his antics entertaining.
And then came the inevitable...
"Fujiwara!"
"Fujiwara-kun!"
I want to go home.
[He is lying, he actually enjoyed the attention.]
♔ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐞 ♔
Oh? 21.81 seconds, huh? Just 0.06 seconds off the record. And from a kouhai nonetheless...
Class D as well?
Not even a full month in and everyone's making noise about this person. Hotness rankings—doesn't matter.
What is this? Step on Me Ranking—Of course, he's first.
I felt myself grin madly. Such an interesting batch of Kouhais I have the pleasure of seeing, isn't it?
Maybe I'll call in a favour or two...
*********