COTE: Class D's Masked Guardian

Vol 1. Chapter 18 - Endless Curiosity

"Take your mark!"

Our teacher's voice bellowed through the building as we prepared ourselves on the starting blocks of the pool.

"Hey, Ayanokouji!" Sudou, who was in the lane adjacent to mine, called out to me. "I didn't notice it before, but you're really ripped, aren't ya? But that doesn't matter, I'll still beat ya. You've got your thing, and that's bein' a smartass, so I'm not gonna let ya outshine me in sports. That's my thing!"

While his tone didn't convey it, his words revealed a sense of inferiority. The reveal that the class' resident 'smartass' also has 8-pack abs probably didn't sit well with Sudou, who had already made a name for himself as the athletic kid in Class D.

Losing to me in this race would mean losing his recognition and the little popularity he had for being the 'basketball star'.

Sudou Ken looks, and behaves, like a delinquent. His dyed hair, rough look, and tall stature all intimidate those who interact with him. However, in reality, Sudou is only a boy who seeks for the appreciation that he believes he deserves.

His hardwork in basketball has garnered him a considerable amount of attention, and in addition, he was commonly associated with the word 'athletic'.

But he still thought that what he had achieved so far wasn't enough, and that's what I suspected to be the reason for his short temper and violent behaviour he had been repeatedly displaying in the past week.

After Horikita had told me of the incident with him and the upperclassmen after the first day, I had come to the conclusion that, in order to improve our chances of reaching Class A, I had to deal with him.

Unfortunately for Sudou, I wasn't going to go easy on him. Flattery worked once, but it wasn't a long term solution.

Sudou needed a good humbling, and I was the perfect person to give it to him. After all, I am the best.

"Try your best, Sudou, but know that in the end, it'll all be in vain," I muttered to myself, as to not let Sudou hear what I was saying.

But, I really didn't need to bother, as Sudou was already in the pool and, along with the other competitors, was swimming as fast as he could.

"What's Ayanokouji-kun doing?! Sensei's already blown the whistle!"

"Is he not going to swim?"

"Ayanokouji-kun, hurry up and dive!"

969 milliseconds...

That should be a large enough headstart, shouldn't it?

With my classmates still yelling at me, I dived into the water, basking in the cold feeling of the liquid that engulfed me.

Rapidly, I closed the distance between me and Yamauchi, who was in fourth place, and quickly passed him.

As I continued to speed through the water, I felt a tug on my trunks. Before I took a breath, I looked back to find out what was going on, only to be met by the sight of Yamauchi, desperately clinging onto my trunks.

Was he trying to hitchhike his way to the end of the race?

Yamauchi had already slowed me down way too much, so I kicked the nuisance off of me, and got back to swimming as fast as I could.

Soon, I had already passed Kikuchi and Ike, and was neck and neck with Sudou. But that wouldn't last for long,

With a sudden surge of energy, I propelled myself to the end wall, touching it and resurfaced from the water. After another 3 seconds, Sudou also emerged in his line, followed by Yamauchi, Kikuchi, and then Ike.