It's been a week since the entrance ceremony and I can say that everything's been fine so far. When our class found out the truth about the S-System, I'm sure each and every one of us panicked. The beautiful paradise that was the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School... actually held our futures by the throat.
As someone who was born into a well-off family, all I had to do was reciprocate the efforts of my parents by achieving academic excellence. We had mutual respect for our abilities in that regard and my kind parents had me grow up in an environment with no restrictions on my freedom.
In the end, I've envisioned many suitable futures for myself. Working as a flight attendant in an international airline or a major airport company, or simply marrying a financially capable man would've been satisfactory.
However, those changed when I entered this school because I could finally aim for much higher goals. It would be great if I could study at a prestigious university abroad. After that, countless opportunities would open up for me. Everything would've been smooth sailing from here on out, or at least that's what I thought...
There were a lot of "would" and "could" in my path to a good life, but of course, obstacles are inevitable. The S-System turned out to be a poisoned apple. I was assigned to Class D, which was actually a class for the so-called "defects".
For the past week, one thought still terrifies me. If it wasn't for him doing what he did on the first day, I can see our class's inevitable doom... I wasn't an idiot, but even I can grow ignorant. If Ayanokouji Kiyotaka-kun hadn't bought the information on the S-System, we would've been too complacent to even observe basic school rules. I can only shiver in terror when thinking about how low our class points would've been if we stayed ignorant... After being with my classmates for the past week, I can see that dark future happening.
"Sigh... What am I even thinking about?" I sighed.
"Yeah, I've been wondering about that, too." A voice reached my ears.
"Huh-? Ayanokouji-kun?" I panicked.
"Did I startle you? My bad." Ayanokouji-kun was calm as always.
The six of us were currently walking together on our way to Keyaki Mall. After doing some light shopping, we'll relax in Pallete. Well, that was the plan. Right now, Mori-san and Satou-san are talking with Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun.
Fufun~. Those girls really look like they'd rather talk with Ayanokouji-kun instead. But I understand that they don't want to leave a bad impression on him by ignoring the other two. At the same time, they're making him seek them out. A smart move. Luckily, I acted pretty aloof today, so Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun might've found it hard to approach me.
Now that I think about it, while being friends with Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun seems fine, and even fun sometimes, I just can't see myself entering a relationship with either of them. That would also be the case for most of the boys in Class D, which makes sense.
As someone who evaluates herself quite highly, I would like a capable partner.
"There you go again, Matsushita-san. Really, what are you thinking about?" Ayanokouji-kun asked softly.
"Oh? Why are you so interested, Ayanokouji-kun?" I asked with a smile of confidence.
"Those four really seem immersed in whatever their conversation is about. I thought it would be nice if we could talk about something ourselves. It's fine if you're too occupied with your thoughts, though," he explained.
"Too occupied with my thoughts? Who says that? Are you a psychiatrist, Ayanokouji-kun? Or perhaps a clinical psychologist?" I chuckled in response.
He's probably panicking right now. It'll be fun to see his composure crack with a little teasing. No matter how much of a critical thinker or academic genius Ayanokouji-kun is, I was confident in my ability to get in other people's heads. In other words, psychological warfare. On the surface, Ayanokouji-kun was an easy target because he didn't look like an expert conversationalist. I'll find out whether that's true or not.
"I'm not trying to say any trendy lines... You really just look like someone who thinks deeply about certain stuff," he said. "I was also curious about earlier. You were staring at me with a weird look on your face. I've always wondered; what you were thinking about during that time?"
Guh-! M-My one weakness... I can't believe he remembered that embarrassing moment.
Ayanokouji-kun was an impressive swimmer— no that's an understatement at this point. He was someone who was unmatched. When I was assigned to him, I was wholeheartedly excited because I knew he would rank among the top and it would be fun to time his performance. However, when Sensei blew the whistle, I was almost terrified at how fast he approached me.
In the end, he placed first, surpassing Kouenji-kun, who was favored to win due to his preliminary result. Of course, I didn't space out to the point where I forgot to time him properly. However, I couldn't believe what just happened and I thought I made some sort of mistake.
When I faced Ayanokouji-kun to tell him his time, I was quite... stunned. His toned body was wet, and it glistened as the droplets of water formed a puddle under him. It was one thing for him to be unbelievably fast, but he didn't even look out of breath. The face I saw as he slowly combed his wet hair with his hands looked incredibly... handsome.
His face has been on my mind since then, which resulted in my absent-minded staring when he got swarmed by our classmates. He was just so...
-?!
No, no... What am I even thinking about? Well, I don't want to sound defensive, but I don't have any strong romantic feelings for him or anything. But, I think it would be fine to say that I have developed a small crush on him— just a small one.
"Were you thinking about the results?" he asked.
That was basically a free run-away pass from absolute humiliation. If he genuinely meant to ask that question, then I'm lucky... But if he knew about my current mental predicament and chose to give me an escape... That would be... scary. I wasn't in his head. He was in mine.
"Uh, yeah. You didn't really answer anyone earlier, so I'll ask again. Just how did you swim so fast? In your introduction, you didn't say anything about liking swimming. But from that performance, it looked like you were training to be the best in the world," I explained.
Perfect, now the conversation is all about him.
"To tell you the truth, I've trained rigorously in swimming when I was young. That's probably why I got so fast. I didn't mention it in my self-introduction because I never loved swimming in particular," he answered.
That's fair... Still, I may not know what the world record is for the 50-meter freestyle, but even I can tell that his speed was almost superhuman. Well, there's no use in prying any further. If he's hiding anything regarding his past, I might just displease him.
"You were pretty fast, too, Matsushita-san. You even beat Kushida in the placements."
"I can't really say I got lucky, can I? Well, you see, I'm not that physically capable, but it's not like I'm a spoiled, sheltered girl," I explained. Of course, my choice of words was carefully handpicked.
"I see. If that's the case, then I guess your placement was well deserved." Ayanokouji-kun replied, with everlasting composure...
Why isn't he asking anything about my family or my background?! Is it because he knew I would bounce the question back at him?
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka— I can't get a good read on him at all.
I've decided that from then on, I'll keep my eyes on him. Of course, it's not because I'm in love with him or anything like that... I mean, I'm not dumb, so I know it's possible that things might eventually be that way... But right now, I don't feel that strongly about him. It's more like I'm curious about who Ayanokouji Kiyotaka is. Just how far do his abilities go? I may be an excellent student, but it's highly likely that he's leagues ahead of me. If there are more students like him in this school, then I might rethink my self-evaluation of being in the top 10%.