I warmed up alongside Sudou, Hirata, Kushida, Karuizawa, and their friends. Horikita warmed up in another corner, alone.
Of course, Ike and Yamauchi spent their time staring at Kushida and the girls.
We were given ten minutes to play in the water for a bit. The pool was temperature-controlled so we didn't have any problems with the water being too cold. My body swiftly adjusted to the water's viscosity.
Hirata was playing with Karuizawa and some of her friends. Meanwhile, Sudou was... playing(?) with Ike and Yamauchi...? It looked like they were getting drowned though...
Anyway, I was enjoying my time, splashing water with Kushida and her friends. On the other hand, Onodera was having a fun(?) talk with Horikita. Because we were near them, I could barely hear the contents of their conversation.
"Your form was amazing earlier, Horikita-san! Did you compete during junior high?" Onodera asked excitedly.
"No... not really. I don't think that I'm particularly great at swimming..." Horikita's expression was cool as always. Although she didn't seem used to having these kinds of talks, I'm glad she's at least acknowledging the other person.
"You see, I've always loved swimming, so I can immediately identify a good swimmer just by looking at their forms. You're definitely one of them, Horikita-san." Onodera said with a smile.
"I see... Given your words, you're definitely the faster one, in my opinion, Onodera-san. I just learned swimming as a necessity, after all," replied Horikita. She's making good progress if she can give back compliments like that.
"Well, I definitely won't lose to anyone when it comes to swimming! You can count on me for that!" Onodera gestured like she was flexing her biceps.
While we were immersed in enjoying the water, our teacher finally blew the whistle.
There will be two races for the girls, with five competitors each. They will be placed according to their time in a very straightforward manner. Meanwhile, the boys will then have a similar competition. However, only the top two from each race will advance to the next round. After that, the top eight will compete for first place. All students in the top eight (separated by sex) will be safe from supplementary lessons. So, only the bottom two for the girls and the bottom eight for the boys will take them, along with those who didn't participate this time.
"Ayanokouji, let's compete in the preliminary round!" Sudou excitedly suggested.
"Sure," I replied.
Finally, our teacher blew the first whistle. Horikita and Kushida were in the same race. Their difference in speed became apparent immediately. In the end, Horikita finished first with Kushida coming in second.
"Not bad. 27.55 seconds for the first place and 30.89 seconds for the second place," he announced.
The boys cheered for Kushida and had their eyes glued on her wet body. The girls' jiggling butts and breasts caused some "accidents", prompting some of them to sneakily cover their crotches.
Of course, I also stared at the girls much like the rest. The only one who was avoiding visual contact with the girls' bodies was probably Hirata.
On a side note, I can't help but notice the domineering aura that Kouenji has been emitting since the start of this class. Wearing a red speedo, Kouenji smilingly observed the girls' competition with his arms crossed.
The girls were constantly showing expressions of discomfort whenever they looked at him. It's probably because their eyes would reflexively look at his crotch. That aside, Kouenji's physical constitution was amazing. He's clearly built better than Sudou. He'll probably be one of the fastest, if not the fastest student in our class.
When Sensei blew his whistle for the second round, Onodera took the lead by a landslide. She wasn't kidding with her words earlier.
"26.02 seconds for the first place and 30.75 seconds for the second place. Amazing results for the two of you," said Sensei. Onodera convincingly took first place with Horikita in second place. They were then followed by Matsushita and Kushida.
"Alright boys, line up! Get four asses in here!" called Higashiyama-sensei.
"I kinda don't want to swim yet..." I said with a tired expression.
"Hah? Are you pussying out, Ayanokouji? C'mon, let's do it right on the get-go!" Sudou implored.
However, before my decision could change, four boys were already in position.
"Kyah~! Go, Hirata-kun!"
"Hirata-kun, you can do it!" The girls' cheers rang, whether it was by the pool's edge or on the observation deck.
"Tch! I'll definitely show Hirata what's up when it's my turn!" Ike and Yamauchi grumbled.
"Heh, I'll beat Hirata once I get there," Sudou said confidently.
Hirata was not just a pretty boy. He was also well-built. His figure was probably the ideal one for a high school boy.
"Alright, ready!" Sensei yelled before blowing the whistle.
Hirata dove perfectly as his body cut through the water. He effortlessly swam across with speed, placing him ahead in the first round, with Minami following behind.
"Alright! It's our turn, Ayanokouji!" Sudou slapped my back. That hurt, you know?
"Fine..." Since it's just the preliminary round, I guess I can take it easy. I won't let Sudou take first place that easily though.
"Geh-! Sudou?! Nevermind, I'm dodging this round!" Ike backed off along with Yamauchi.
"Ayanokouji-kun, Sudou-kun, do your best!" Somehow, a lot of the girls cheered for us much like they did for Hirata. In my periphery, I can see Ike, Yamauchi, and some of the boys glaring at us with envious eyes.
"Ready!" And Sensei blows the whistle.
Water splashed as the five of us dove in. I wasn't perfectly used to moving my body at this point in time, but the comforting sensation of the water helped stabilize my form.
"Oh, incredible! 24.39 seconds for the first place and 25.12 seconds for the second place!" Sensei announced with vigor.
"Kyah~! What was that? That was amazing!"
"Ayanokouji-kun was super fast!"
"He looked so cool~!" Well, I finished first in our round with Sudou closely coming in second.
"What the hell was that, Ayanokouji?!" Sudou yelled at me.
"That was a close one, Sudou. Nice fight." I replied with a thumbs-up.
"Nice fight my ass! I expected you to be fast, but not that fast!" Sudou continued with a pissed expression.
"You can always get revenge on the final round. We're both in the top two, remember?" I said, holding out my fist.
"Tch, I'll destroy you next time," Sudou replied with a determined smile, bumping his fist against my own.
While the gymnasium was filled with the girls' cheering voices (for me), Horikita briskly walked in my direction. She finally stopped after arriving right in front of me.
"Is something wrong?" I asked, facing her terrifying glare.
"What was that?" she asked.
"What do you mean "What was that"?" I threw the question back at her.
"..." Horikita continued glaring at me.
"I already told you, didn't I? I'm above you in terms of physical abilities. It's the same with academics.," I said straight.
"At this point, all I can do is believe you. The results are absolute evidence, after all." Horikita sighed with a frustrated expression.
"Don't mind it, Horikita. You're still an excellent student overall. Just leave me out of the equation when you compare yourself with others," I replied.
"No, it's fine. I'm not really angry or jealous about your abilities. I'm just... disappointed with myself, I think," she narrated. "I'm disappointed not because you're better... but because I hastily judged myself as someone superior."
"You don't need to, really. If you grew up seeing yourself ahead of everyone else, it's natural to underestimate others," I mused. Her initial arrogance hinted at that kind of past. Seeing that she didn't correct me, I must've hit the bullseye.
"You're... right..." Horikita looked down at her feet. Before she and I could continue our conversation, Kushida and her friends ran up to me excitedly.
"Ayanokouji-kun, you were amazing!" Kushida said with a huge smile.
"Ayanokouji-kun, that was hella awesome! Were you on a swimming team back in middle school?! You must be, right?!" Onodera was the most fired up of the bunch.
"Not really... I guess I'm just pretty fast," I replied, while awkwardly scratching my head. Onodera's energy was too much for me.
"Ayanokouji-kun is from America, so he must've been used to seeing fast swimmers!" Kushida said proudly.
"Woah, America!"
"That's the first time I've heard of that!" Well, I guess she spilled the beans.
Eventually, the third round resulted in Miyake and Ike winning the top two places. While he wasn't particularly special, at least he was a bit faster than average. He didn't really have any tough competition, so he barely made it in second. At the same time, Yamauchi finished last, one second behind the fourth placer.
"You betrayed me, Ike!" Yamauchi cried.
"Hehe! Well, don't sweat it, Yamauchi, it's only natural that you'd lose to me in terms of swimming. I'm actually built for this kinda thing!" Ike said with confidence. No one knew if he was telling the truth or not.
Of course, the inevitable last round came. Kouenji stood on the fifth lane with his flashy red speedo for everyone to see.
Some of the girls cheered for Miyake after he placed first. Kouenji waved at them, thinking that the cheers were for him.
"It's alright, ladies. Don't cause a commotion because of me. I belong to everyone, so please calm down." Kouenji announced with his eyes closed.
When Sensei blew the whistle, water splashed violently as Kouenji dove without reserve. His aggressive style definitely caught everyone off-guard. Kouenji was incredibly fast. He was most likely faster than me and Sudou.
"23.22 seconds! That's the record for the day! Congratulations, Kouenji. Good job on taking second place with 28.61 seconds, Makida." Sensei said with a grin.
"My abdominal muscles, back muscles, and psoas major muscle seem to be in good shape, as usual. Not a bad performance." Kouenji said as he went up to the pool. He elegantly swept his hair up with a smirk. The guy wasn't short of breath at all, as if he didn't swim in the first place.
And with that, the top eight for the boys was completed. Honestly, I couldn't care less about placing high. I'm already safe, anyway.
"Alright, you mermaids! I want to see you fight until the end. That's why I'll give an incentive to the guy who finishes first!" Sensei's grin got wider as he announced the prize. "I'll give the first placer a generous sum of 10,000 points!"
Everyone gasped.
"Of course, I'll give Onodera 10,000 points too, for placing first among the girls," he continued.
"Heh~? No fair!"
"I would've taken it seriously if you told us that, Sensei!"
Some of the girls complained.
"Oh, sure. There are a lot of extra lanes. Go beat Onodera's record and the points will be yours." Sensei replied without hesitation. Of course, the result wasn't surprising- the complainers shut their mouths.
Horikita didn't seem like she was attempting to do anything. I guess even she knows her limits.
Now, back to the issue at hand. At first, I didn't really care about the results of this final round. I'd even let Sudou surpass my time... But 10,000 private points is quite tempting, especially since I'll need to spend on something.
Kouenji's time was a little over 23 seconds. I think I can perform better than my first attempt if I tried, but beating Kouenji is an entirely different story. Even the coordination of my limbs felt rusty, after all.
Well, all I can do is swim as fast as I can. Let's see how that goes.