"Alright—everyone, gather around—"
After everyone had entered the room, the muscular teacher, who had been waiting off to the side, radiated fierce intensity, as if he were shouldering the weight of an absolute victory or defeat.
"Not a single person in your class needs to learn to swim? Excellent!"
"Then let's get straight to the point. After some warm-up exercises, we'll head straight to the pool. We'll do a quick assessment so I can get a rough idea of your abilities, then I'll put together a lesson plan."
"If we already know how to swim, what will we do in the later lessons?" We chatted with the teacher while doing our warm-up exercises.
"Mostly learning proper form and working on your fitness. Of course, there'll be free time, too. You may only swim for fun now, but you never know when it might come in handy someday."
After the warm-up, we were instructed to swim about fifty meters. The pool wasn't deep enough to be a concern; even those who couldn't swim could touch the bottom if they relaxed.
I was the second-to-last person to get into the pool. Kanzaki was worried I'd have an accident on the pool ladder, so I lost my chance to be last. I had no idea what could possibly happen to make me get into an accident, but I accepted his kindness anyway.
It had probably been over a year since I'd last returned to the water. The pool was far warmer and more comfortable than I remembered. I wet my ears and tried swimming.
My movements were stiff, but it was all right.
I made my way across to the other side at a leisurely pace, following the group. There was no doubt I was near the back.
"Raku, you're really slow. You almost got beaten by the girls," Shiratori joked from the stairs.
"There's no rule in this world that says boys have to be better than girls."
"Can you do freestyle?" Kanzaki chimed in.
"Yeah, I've learned it before," I answered uncertainly.
"Freestyle's a little faster than breaststroke."
"I know, but it takes more energy, too." I climbed out of the pool, dripping wet, and sat down wherever there was room.
"We only swam fifty meters to warm up, and you're already panting and shaking. How long has it been since you exercised? Never mind, you're a lost cause. I won't say anything else."
It was true that I was panting, but it wasn't from exhaustion. I was excited. At the start of certain activities, my adrenaline always surged. I desperately tried to suppress the restless energy inside me and face the exercise ahead with a calm mind.
"Looks like your class will have an easy time of it in future lessons." The teacher gave us an approving look, but the malicious grin that followed filled me with a deep sense of danger.
"Then let's go straight into a swimming race. Fifty-meter freestyle, boys and girls separately."
"Whaaat?! We're racing already?" Takashima cried excitedly. "If it's a race, then I'll have to show off the full power of the 'Land Swordfish'!"
"You weren't that fast just now."
"I just wasn't trying. Now I'll show you what real skill looks like."
The teacher ignored the students' chatter and continued explaining the race.
"Of course, since it's a competition, there'll be a reward. The winner will receive a special bonus of five thousand points. On the other hand, the slowest swimmer will have to attend remedial lessons with students from other classes, so you'd better brace yourselves."
"There's remedial lessons, too?! But I'm not very good at swimming."
"With students from other classes? That means we'll embarrass ourselves in front of them, too."
"Nooo—!"
Hearing the cries of the less confident students, I couldn't help feeling a little sorry for them.
"Looks like you might be in trouble."
"...I doubt it." I glanced toward the girls and noticed a hint of concern in Ichinose's eyes.
"Let's start with the girls. You'll race in groups of five, and the student with the fastest time wins. You can choose your own groups; I won't interfere."
"Good luck, Ichinose!"
The boys cheered enthusiastically as the first group lined up, while Ichinose looked a little awkward. She'd gained a tremendous reputation in less than a month since enrolling, and had even made connections with students from other classes. She really was impressive.
"Ichinosе probably isn't very athletic, right?"
"I don't know. I've never asked."
"With that much weight up front, it must be hard to move around."
"Probably," I said uncertainly. If you were asking me about carrying a backpack or a weapon, I might've been able to answer with confidence. But I'd never experienced having breasts... Maybe it felt like wearing a backpack on your chest?
"Everyone, get ready!"
"Three, two, one!"
At the whistle, all five girls jumped into the pool. Ichinose took lane three, Shiranami lane two, and Kobashi Yume lane one. The other two had moved before I could get a good look at them, so I couldn't be sure who they were. Judging by their builds and hair color, though, they were probably Hosaka and Motohashi.
Motohashi took the lead right away, with Shiranami close behind. Ichinose seemed to be struggling a little, in fourth place. The standings remained that way until the race ended.
"Ah, I almost came in first."
"That was close!" Motohashi exclaimed, patting her chest.
"I didn't realize Honami wasn't very athletic."
"Ha ha, I've never been particularly fit. I do exercise, but it doesn't seem to help much."
"That's okay. That's cute, too~" While the girls joked around, most of the boys were staring at their shapely thighs and bottoms.
The winner finished in thirty-one seconds, while Ichinose took forty-one.
The races continued in an orderly fashion, and Wakayama Kayoko eventually took first place among the girls with a time of twenty-nine seconds.
"She's amazing."
Still, that was a long way from the world record. If I remembered correctly, the fastest women's fifty-meter freestyle time was around twenty-three seconds, while the men's was around twenty.
"Now it's our turn. Aren't you nervous?"
"I'm not nervous, exactly. I'm just a little worried I'll end up on the remedial list."
"You should have a little competitive spirit."
"I just need to meet the minimum requirement."
"...Then do your best."
"I'll take your word for it."
The boys were so eager to compete that I was assigned the fifth lane in the last group. The current leader was Shibata Sou, a young soccer club member, with a time of twenty-six seconds. It was hard to imagine that was the kind of time a high school student could manage. He was good enough to qualify as a national-level second-class athlete.
Now that I had a clear idea of most people's abilities, I started focusing on the race in front of me.
My friend Kanzaki was in the lane next to mine. On the surface, he seemed calm and composed, but his competitive spirit was incredibly strong. Honestly, he always seemed so levelheaded in everyday life, so why did he always get fired up at crucial moments?
Racing in the adjacent lanes and comparing myself to Kanzaki would make me look terrible.
Ugh, it was too late to switch groups now. I could only give it everything I had and try not to come in last.
As I thought this over, I jumped into the water as soon as the whistle blew.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kanzaki storm ahead and win our heat with a time of twenty-six seconds. I finished in thirty-eight seconds, putting me around sixteenth place.
At least I'd managed to avoid wasting time on remedial lessons.
"Wow, Kanzaki! Your time was the same as Shibata's!"
"That's insanely fast!"
"Not bad. It's not especially impressive, but that's still a result worth applauding." The teacher clapped. "But you two are evenly matched, so I can't very well award the points yet. How about you race each other to decide the winner?"
"Yeah, do it, Shibata!"
"Go on, Kanzaki! Take him down, Shibata!"
"Kanzaki, want to race?" Shibata asked as he walked over to him.
"Sure. Let's do it."
"Looks like he's fired up again," I muttered under my breath, looking toward Kanzaki.
I dragged my exhausted body to what could only be called the best spot for watching. Most of the others gathered at the far end of the pool, eager to find out who would claim first place.
I didn't care who won. The outcome wouldn't affect me, so I decided to just watch.
Just as the race was about to start, I suddenly sensed something approaching me, deliberately hiding its presence. My instincts told me to move away, and I glanced behind me. But since everyone here was a student, I decided to wait and see what happened.
"Are you ready?"
As the teacher called out, a hand lightly poked my back, tapping away repeatedly. Ichinose was curiously examining it.
"...What are you doing?"
"You have several faint scratches on your back, Raku. Did you get hurt before?"
"Oh, those. I got scratched by some thorny branches when I was walking through the forest park a few months ago. It really hurt at the time."
Had my skin still not healed completely?
Even after I explained, Ichinose didn't stop fidgeting with her hands.
"Most people have a few scars here and there. Do you really need to be so curious?"
Having someone poke my back with her fingers was torture.
"Sorry, I was just a little curious."
"Curious about what?"
"Your body looks like the type that'd be good at swimming."
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not confident about swimming."
"But you obviously weren't using all your strength."
"I don't know if I was using all of it, but I was definitely working every muscle in my body as hard as I could."
Ichinose stopped focusing only on my back. She slipped her hand through the space between my bent legs and my body, then kept touching my chest and stomach.
Poke, poke, poke, poke—
"Could you stop? Other people might see."
"Your muscles are really firm, Raku. Have you been working out?" Ichinose asked, unconcerned.
"Not long ago, Kanzaki called me 'soft and weak,' like pork at the market. If you're trying to make me feel better, I appreciate the thought."
"No, I mean it. Your body's great." She gave my forearm another squeeze. "Your forearm muscles are really well-developed, too. All over."
"Maybe it's because I'm thin. I'm a minimalist, but surprisingly, I never seem to gain weight."
"Oh...?"
Ichinose leaned even closer. Her ample chest filled my entire field of vision, pressing right up against my right arm.
This was getting dangerous. Wasn't anyone going to come save me? Or had nobody even noticed us?
"The race has started."
"Mm... Raku, flex for me."
"They're not that firm. You'll only be disappointed if you do that. Besides, I'm not very good at applying force on command..."
"Just flex a little. Could you satisfy my curiosity? If you really can't, you can use my arm as something to squeeze."
Don't get so close.
With Ichinose crowding me like that, I couldn't get a word in edgewise. Using a girl's arm as something to crush would be morally reprehensible no matter how I looked at it, so I decided to use a little strength.
"Is this enough?" I asked cautiously, with Ichinose right in front of me.
"I said all your strength, Raku."
"This is about as much as I can do."
"That obviously isn't true." Ichinose puffed her cheeks in annoyance and leaned even closer. Our noses were practically touching, while her impressive assets scrambled my thoughts. Without thinking, I leaned backward, bracing myself with my arms. Even then, Ichinose didn't move her hand from my upper arm.
This was bad.
"See? You're really firm..." Before she could finish, Ichinose stared blankly at my stomach. Her ears turned visibly red.
I hurriedly straightened up, but it was clearly too late.
"Ah..."
"..."
"Oooh! Shibata was faster after all—by 0.6 seconds!"
"Looks like it's over over there..."
"Yeah..."
Before you continue