Swimming Competition

"Is there anyone in the class who can't swim? Or anyone who can't swim due to physical discomfort, please raise your hand."

In Sakurajima, most students are exposed to swimming from an early age, so those who have never learned at all are actually in the minority.

Sure enough, only a few girls raised their hands.

The others looked at the pool with eager expressions, ready to jump in.

"Alright, I won't nag those who can swim. Remember to warm up; you are free to do as you please for this lesson. As for those who can't swim yet, come over here with me and learn the basics."

"Would you like to have a race with me, Yorozuya boy?"

Just as the class was dismissed, a provocative voice rang in the ear of Shintō Katsuya.

The only person who would use that nickname was Kōenji.

"A race or whatever... that's such a hassle. Besides, there's no need for you to compete with me. I concede."

"As long as you can win, I don't mind giving you five thousand points, you know."

Five thousand points... who are you looking down on?!

Shintō slightly lifted his eyelids: "Are you planning to go all out, you guy?"

"Hahahaha! Deliberately holding back is ugly. To face an opponent like you, going all out is the only thing that fits my aesthetic, because I am the most beautiful man in the world!"

Great, it seems this guy has no intention of holding back.

"Huh? In that case, wouldn't I be guaranteed to lose? Forget it, you should go find someone else. Aside from me, there should be others qualified to be your opponent, right?"

Shintō Katsuya wanted to divert his attention toward Ayanokōji.

Upon hearing this, Kōenji glanced at Ayanokōji inadvertently, then shook his head:

"Even if he agreed to race me, I doubt he would bring out his full strength. In that case, the winner of this match would definitely be me. Although even if he went all out, he still couldn't defeat the beautiful me, I don't really wish to bully the weak."

"How about this: as long as you agree to use your full strength to race me, I'll give you five thousand points. If you manage to win, I'll give you another ten thousand points."

Kōenji seemed very eager to settle the score with Shintō.

"You really are a persistent guy... fine, fine. For the sake of the points, I'll race you, but you'd better not hold any expectations for me."

Shintō Katsuya is not some kind of all-around hexagonal warrior; he has many areas he isn't particularly good at, and swimming just happens to be one of them.

"Teacher! Could we trouble you to act as our referee?"

Kōenji shouted at the teacher. Although the sentence contained the word "trouble," there wasn't a hint of a request in his tone; it sounded more like a command.

However, teachers at Advanced Nurturing rarely lose their temper over a student's attitude. He nodded, picked up his whistle, and walked to the edge of the pool.

Seeing the entertainment, the other students dropped what they were doing and gathered around. After all, who doesn't like watching a race?

"Are they racing? Are they really racing? Kōenji-kun and Shintō-kun... who do you think will win?"

"It should be Kōenji-kun. After all, he looks so big, and it seems like he's had very professional training."

"I also think it's Kōenji-kun. After all, his muscle definition looks so beautiful..."

"Give me a break, now is not the time to be swooning!"

Of course, some people's attention was focused on Shintō. Aside from Ayanokōji... there was also someone else lost in thought.

"100 meters, any stroke allowed. If you're ready, we're starting."

"Ready... go!"

Following the teacher's whistle, the two jumped into the water almost simultaneously. However, since there were no restrictions on swimming styles, Shintō chose the faster freestyle, while Kōenji, to increase the challenge, chose the more physically demanding butterfly stroke.

At the start, the two were neck and neck. Shintō might have been slightly faster, but both were completing the laps in around 20 seconds.

"Hey, are you kidding me? At this speed, even world champions are probably only at this level, right?!"

"Are these two really high school students?"

Even Horikita, who always held herself in high regard, and Sudō, who was quite confident in his own physical fitness, had to admit that the strength of Shintō and the other was far beyond theirs.

But only Ayanokōji could tell that both of them were still holding back; their true speed should be much faster than this.

"Hahahaha! Not bad! In that case, I'm going to exert some real effort!"

It was hard to imagine that Kōenji still had the stamina to laugh wildly and provoke his opponent at a time like this.

He kicked off with his legs with explosive force, and his entire body surged forward at high speed. Shintō didn't dare to relax either, adjusting his breathing as he gave chase.

Before long, Shintō regained a half-body lead over Kōenji, but within half a second, he was overtaken again.

The two chased each other back and forth; until the very last moment, no one dared to call the outcome.

"OVER!"

Finally, with the sound of a whistle, the swimming race came to an end.

To the naked eye, the two reached the finish line almost at the same time. Since there were no professional cameras recording, the referee was momentarily caught in a dilemma.

"This match..."

"Kōenji won."

Shintō Katsuya made the judgment for the teacher. As the person involved, he could indeed see that the other party was just a hair faster than him, even though that gap was so small it was almost negligible.

"Well, it seems that really is the case."

Kōenji wiped his meticulously groomed hair with a towel. Although he had won, he couldn't bring himself to smile; swimming wasn't his opponent's specialty, yet it was one of his own greatest strengths.

Shintō took the towel thoughtfully handed to him by Kushida Kikyo, offered a word of thanks, and then headed over to a chair on the side to rest.

I suppose I've become a bit lazy after all. My body seems to have rusted quite a bit...

"You're very impressive, Shintō."

Ayanokōji handed him a bottle of mineral water.

"It's alright, I guess. My family is something of a swimming dynasty."

At a time like this, he couldn't say something like "it was just average" or "I lost anyway," as that would sound like he was just humble-bragging.

After all, Shintō was well aware of just how inhuman his and Kōenji's results were.

"That really is remarkable. Even though there's such a difference in physique between you and Kōenji, the results were neck and neck."

"Oh? Do you really think physique is the key factor in determining victory?"

Shintō narrowed his eyes slightly. This guy Ayanokōji was always trying to fish for information; he really was a dangerous individual.

"It would at least have a significant impact. Take Sudō and Ike, for example; if they were to compete, Sudō would definitely win."

"Perhaps I'm just what you'd call a case of survivorship bias."

Ayanokōji nodded and didn't press the matter further.

However, the conclusion he could draw was that Shintō Katsuya was no pushover; he might even be someone raised by an organization similar to the White Room.

Shintō (Ayanokōji): This guy is dangerous; I need to keep my distance.