At first, Sensei only used two stopwatches on each hand for the top placers, but now, he assigned helpers to record all of our times with precision.
"Alright, I'm assigning seven of you to assist me in recording your classmates' performance. At the same time, I'll assign seven supervisors to confirm your timings. You can use the stopwatch function on your phone. I'll give one piece of advice for the time setters." Sensei grinned. "Don't think about anything else. Focus solely on the swimmer you're assigned to."
From the other side of the pool, I can see that Matsushita was assigned for me, with Miyamoto behind her. Meanwhile, Horikita was assigned for Koenji, who was standing beside me. Okitani was the one supervising her.
The assignment of the lanes went like this:
Lane 1: Hirata - Kikuchi, Kushida
Lane 2: Miyake - Yukimura, Yamauchi
Lane 3: Ike - Karuizawa, Satou
Lane 4: Makida - Higashiyama-sensei
Lane 5: Minami - Maezono, Shinohara
Lane 6: Sudou - Onizuka, Ueno
Lane 7: Ayanokouji - Matsushita, Miyamoto
Lane 8: Kouenji - Horikita, Okitani
"Let's have a fun swimming time, Ayanokouji-boy," Kouenji said without looking at me.
He must be confident then. Like me, Kouenji doesn't look like he's interested in competing seriously. But of course, he wouldn't just let himself fall behind. Alright, let's see what you got.
"I won't lose this time, Ayanokouji," Sudou said, focusing his sight on the finish line.
"Yeah. Good luck to us," I replied.
"Ready!" I focused my attention entirely on the whistle's timing. When the sound reached my ears, my whole body felt a small jolt of lightning. Finally, the cogs in my body started working with each other.
It's time to let loose.
Splash.
My diving figure perfectly nailed itself into the water. When I started using my limbs for propulsion, I can faintly feel Kouenji and Sudou's presence beside me. At the same time, the sound of my classmates' cheers entered my ears. Well, I don't have the luxury to care about any of those right now.
I swam with absolute consistency and finished the race. When my body rose from the water, so did Kouenji's. I don't know who won between the two of us.
"22.17 seconds," said Horikita, with Okitani nodding his head in agreement.
"Hmph," Kouenji once again swept his hair up in an elegant manner. What a monstrous amount of stamina. He didn't look tired at all. This time, he looked at me with a smile. "Impressive, Ayanokouji-boy. I can only applaud."
At that time, I was also gently swiping my hair. When I turned, Matsushita was frozen while looking at her phone. Miyamoto was the same.
"A-Ayanokouji-kun... Your time was... 21.91 seconds..." Matushita stutteringly conveyed to me. "I didn't miss the timing, right, Miyamoto-kun?"
"Y-Yeah... Your timing was perfect, in my opinion..." replied Miyamoto.
While all of those were happening, not only the girls, but the boys also cheered loudly.
"That was insane!"
"Those three were basically zooming in the water!"
"What is this?! The Olympics?!"
"Did Kouenji win?!"
"Didn't you see?! It was absolutely Ayanokouji!"
"It was so close that I didn't even notice the difference!"
"Kyah~! Ayanokouji-kun! You were amazing!"
"Hirata-kun, you were so fast, too!" Everyone was going crazy. Even the students sitting on the observation deck stood up and went closer.
When I looked in Sudou's direction, he was glaring at me in frustration.
"You even went faster, you bastard!" he barked.
"It would be an insult to you if I held back, right?" I asked, shrugging my shoulders.
"That's... You're right..." replied Sudou. "Ahhh, shit! Fine, you win, Ayanokouji! But remember this, when it comes to basketball, I'll make sure that you won't even score one point against me!"
Sudou yelled, declaring war.
"Nah. Let's not compete in basketball. I don't wanna be your punching bag." I snapped back.
"Hahaha!" Thankfully, Sudou's mood wasn't bad at all. "I'll challenge you some time, so make sure to learn more about basketball!"
Our friendly banters didn't last long when Sensei dragged his huge body next to me.
"Haha! Ayanokouji, you got first place! Hold out your phone. I'll transfer the points now," he said with a grin, patting my shoulder with his huge hands. "Congratulations."
I'm surprised that things like these were allowed. Points really do drive the economy of this school...
The final standings were as followed:
1st: Ayanokouji - 21.91 seconds
2nd: Kouenji - 22.17 seconds
3rd: Sudou - 24.32 seconds
4th: Hirata - 25.11 seconds
5th: Miyake - 27.73 seconds
6th: Makida - 28.50 seconds
7th: Minami - 32.01 seconds
8th: Ike - 33.85 seconds
Sensei left us to play around using the remaining twenty minutes. The girls instantly swarmed me more than they did with Hirata. In fact, the boys did the same. They asked me all kinds of questions and my mind immediately went blank.
"Alright, everyone. You're all confusing Ayanokouji-kun. Please calm down." Thank you, Hirata. You're my savior.
From the corner of my eye, I can see Matsushita absent-mindedly staring at me. When I turned to look at her, she immediately averted her gaze.
"Ayanokouji! I heard you were from America! Were you on the national swimming team over there or something?!" Ike asked loudly.
"There's no doubt about it! Even if he's not, I'm sure Ayanokouji-kun competed in some tournaments, at least!" Onodera agreed with Ike.
"Uh... I guess I did some swimming back in the day..." Of course, I would answer vaguely. I don't want to fabricate a story if I can help it.
I've engaged in friendly conversations with a lot of my classmates afterward.
Even if Ike and his friends kept glancing in the girls' direction, they were genuinely talking to me and Sudou about the results. After that, a lot of the girls on the observation deck called out to me when I sat by the poolside below them. Of course, Kushida and her friends chatted with me, too. I've been thoroughly branded as the swimmer of the class alongside Onodera.
When the class ended, Sonoda and her friends invited me for karaoke. Of course, Karuizawa and Hirata will be there. At the same time, Kushida and her friends asked me to hang out with them too. Another offer came up as Sudou wanted to teach me some basketball. In the end, I humbly declined all of them. After all, someone already asked me first.
(14:54) [Being popular is hard, isn't it, Ayanokouji-kun?]
I was currently having a conversation with Mori Nene via text.
(14:54) [It's just the novelty. This will probably wane down tomorrow.]
(14:54) [Haha! I don't think so!]
(14:54) [But your ridiculous swimming speed aside, are you really cool with hanging out with us?]
(14:55) [Sure.]
(14:55) [You're the one who asked me first, anyway. And I always wanted to go to Pallete.]
(14:55) [Alright!]
(14:54) [I'll tell Satou-san and Matsushita-san that I got a yes.]
Apparently, Satou and Ike organized the whole thing, and Mori asked them if she could invite me. There will be six of us; three boys and three girls. At this point in time, I know that Ike and Yamauchi weren't acting at all. What they've shown thus far were their real personalities. While I'm a bit disappointed, it's pretty fun to hear their conversations.
I heaved a sigh of exhaustion as I slumped on my chair.
"How does it feel to be so popular?" Horikita asked curtly. Of course, she didn't look at me. She was currently reading the later parts of Crime and Punishment.
"Not so good. As a person who dislikes trouble, I can't help but get tired..." I complained.
"A person who dislikes trouble, huh? But you still agreed to hang out with a group, right? I thought you weren't a Yes-man," snickered Horikita.
"Oh shut it, Horikita. Why don't you come with us so I can talk to someone?" I asked, turning my head in her direction.
"What? There's no way. I can't even imagine myself hanging out with such a group." Horikita was... displeased...? Her words were certainly rude, but her expression wasn't really that of an upset person. It was more of a... neutral expression? An equitable expression? Unemotional? Detached? I honestly can't tell.
"Such a group? Ah, I can see where you're coming from. After all, Ike and Yamauchi are coming with us. But putting them aside, Mori and the rest are pretty okay. I think you can become good friends with them," I explained.
As usual, Horikita was quick to judge them in a negative light. She truly was a veteran loner.
"You were thinking of something rude, weren't you?" Horikita asked with a glare.
"No, not really," I replied, averting my eyes away from hers. Our conversation probably ends there. Or so I thought...
"Will it not inconvenience them if I go?" Horikita suddenly asks.
Wait, huh? What? Did she just-?
I was so caught off-guard by her words that the only thing I managed to do was stare at her with a dumbfounded look. That reaction proved to be a big mistake.
"Nevermind. I take back what I said. You can go have fun on your own," said Horikita.
Her tone was noticeably deeper, which indicated her anger. With unfortunate perfect timing, the dismissal bell rang. Horikita swiftly fixed her stuff before getting up to leave.
"Horikita--" I tried to call out but it was too late.
Seeing her retreating figure made me slightly depressed. I can't believe I messed that up...
Author's Notes:
To put things into perspective, the world record for the 50m course overall is 20.19 seconds by César Cielo (2009). Meanwhile, the junior world record is 21.46 seconds by Michael Andrew (2018). Both of which are long courses (50m pool, same as the one in here).