Swimming Class

"Gojo-kun, can you swim?"

As they walked to the pool, Ayanokoji, who was beside Gojo Satoru, asked.

"A little. What about you?"

He answered without giving it much thought.

"Me too, but I haven't swum in a long time."

"Why aren't you changing? Didn't you say you could swim?"

Inside the pool building, Ayanokoji, already changed into his swim trunks, looked at Gojo Satoru, who was still wearing his uniform, and asked in confusion.

"Didn't the teacher say that anyone who wasn't feeling well didn't have to take swimming class? We just have to sit on the sidelines."

Gojo Satoru explained with a smile.

Ayanokoji could hardly believe it. Gojo Satoru looked full of energy—not at all like someone who was unwell.

"You're not feeling well?!"

"Of course I am. I just don't want to participate, that's all."

As he spoke, he headed for a seat in the bleachers.

"..."

Faced with that utterly contradictory explanation, Ayanokoji felt his fists clench!

Sitting in the bleachers, he ignored the laughter and chatter around the pool and turned his head toward the glass in the upper left.

Through the glass and the one-way curtain, he sensed two people behind it.

'Tachibana-senpai and Horikita Manabu?'

Why was there a meeting room right beside the pool?

"Did he notice us?"

Seeing Gojo Satoru turn his face toward them, Horikita Manabu was a little shocked.

'He's even more unusual than I imagined.'

Tachibana Akane, standing beside Horikita Manabu, looked puzzled.

"Why is the president paying so much attention to a Class D student? Someone who received an invitation from the Student Council and still doesn't know how to appreciate it doesn't deserve our attention. He's terribly rude."

"You wouldn't understand. If anything, I would've been surprised if he'd accepted the invitation."

He fell into thought for a moment, then continued with a sigh.

"I once thought I was a genius, too. It wasn't until I met him that I understood what a true genius was.

The gap between us can't be bridged by hard work. We could spend our whole lives trying and still not reach the level he's at now!"

Hearing her admired president speak of someone in such glowing terms, Tachibana Akane stared in disbelief. She knew he had no reason to lie to her, but Gojo Satoru had made a terrible impression on her.

"But he looks like a lunatic!"

"All geniuses are lunatics!"

As he spoke, he left the meeting room, worry weighing on his mind.

'I hope Suzune can take the blow.'

"What are you thinking about, Gojo-kun?"

Sakura Airi and Hasebe Haruka walked over and sat down beside Gojo Satoru. Seeing him gaze upward, Airi blushed and asked.

"Nothing. I was just spacing out because I was bored."

Gojo Satoru came back to himself, turned toward Sakura Airi, and answered calmly.

Then he turned to Hasebe Haruka, sitting on Airi's other side, and asked curiously,

"Your friend?"

At that, Sakura Airi excitedly explained,

"Yeah! This is Hasebe Haruka. After what happened this morning, people started talking about both of us.

Then Haruka came to find me during lunch. We talked and found out we were both on our own, so we became friends!"

'They've known each other for less than half a day, and they're already calling each other by their first names? Girls make friends in such a strange way.'

"Then congratulations!

Hasebe, I'm leaving Airi-chan in your hands. Take good care of her!"

Hearing Gojo Satoru say this in such a strange tone, as if Sakura were his daughter, Airi was stunned.

"Eh?! What?!"

"I will. You can leave her to me!"

Hasebe Haruka played along, her expression so serious that she looked like a fine young man receiving his daughter from her father.

"Ehh?!! Kaka, you too?!"

Sakura Airi stared at them, her face bright red.

"Hahaha!"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Their serious expressions crumbled, and they both burst out laughing.

"Gojo, you're really funny. I thought you'd be hard to get along with."

"Gojo?"

Gojo Satoru was a little confused by the familiar nickname.

Seeing his puzzled expression, Airi quickly explained,

"It's Kaka's special quirk. She likes giving her friends nicknames."

'Did you really just meet?'

"So does that mean you consider me a friend?"

He smiled again and asked Hasebe.

"Yeah! You looked so cool this morning, Gojo. I almost fell for you."

"Yeah, Gojo-kun really was cool this morning,"

Sakura Airi agreed from beside her.

"Eh? So you're saying I'm not cool the rest of the time? That hurts!"

Seeing Gojo Satoru's wounded expression, the two of them didn't know what to say. But they both knew one thing:

'You can't praise this guy. He'll get carried away!'

"By the way, why aren't you taking swimming class, Gojo?"

Hasebe asked, puzzled.

"Because wearing an eyepatch is too inconvenient. It gets soaked so easily."

"Why not take it off?"

"Don't worry about the little details. Why aren't you two taking part?"

When Gojo Satoru changed the subject, the two assumed there was something under his eyepatch he didn't want people to see, like a scar, and didn't press him.

"Those boys stare in such a lewd way. They sneak looks even when we're in our uniforms. I can't imagine how much worse it'd be if we wore swimsuits."

Hasebe spoke indignantly.

"But I'm a boy, too."

Gojo Satoru pointed at himself and smiled.

"Eh? Not you, Gojo. You're different. With that eyepatch on, no one can tell where you're looking."

"Waaah~ Are you saying I'm a weirdo?"

Seeing Gojo Satoru crouch down and draw circles on the ground with his finger, Hasebe Haruka looked both stunned and helpless.

'Why does it feel like I'm taking care of a child?!'

Sakura Airi, unable to get a word in, watched the two of them "happily" chatting and began to regret coming along.

Was she just getting in the way?

"Good afternoon, Horikita-senpai!

Huh? That sounds a little strange! Did I just say 'Horikita, senpai' or 'Horikita Manabu'?

How about I just call you Manabu-senpai from now on? What do you think?"

He pushed open the Student Council doors and, ignoring everyone else inside, cheerfully joked with Horikita Manabu.

Tachibana Akane couldn't sit still after hearing that. She pointed at Gojo Satoru and shouted,

"Don't give me that smug grin! This is the Student Council. You're a student, yet you barged in without knocking, and now you're making fun of the president!..."

As Tachibana Akane started to continue, Horikita Manabu raised a hand to stop her.

"It's all right. I don't mind."

"Good afternoon, Gojo-kun. You can call me whatever you like."

Asahina Nazuna and Kiriyama Ikuto, standing off to the side, were both taken aback.

In their eyes, the president was stern beyond compare. Yet he was letting a student joke about him—and even greeting him in return.

Kiriyama stared in disbelief at Gojo Satoru's cheeky grin, wanting to make him show some respect. But since the president hadn't said anything, he couldn't very well intervene.

Ignoring what the others thought, Gojo Satoru walked over to the sofa and sat down, crossing one leg over the other as he asked comfortably,

"Then I'll call you Xiaoxue from now on!

Xiaoxue, this sofa's really comfortable. Could you get one for my dorm? I'll pay double the points."

Watching him act so brazenly, Kiriyama couldn't take it anymore. He shouted angrily,

"Show some respect! This isn't a place for you to fool around!"