Crazy for You, Wild for You, Crashing into Walls for You (Swimming Lesson Continued)

The changing room was empty; there was no one else left.

Uesugi Hara changed into his swim trunks at a leisurely pace—since no one was around, there was no need for modesty; even if someone were here, he wouldn't necessarily care. After all, being "well-endowed," it was others who should feel inferior.

He hadn't intended to get in the water at first, not even bothering to change into his trunks beforehand. That was until the swimming instructor blew his whistle just now, announcing a 50-meter freestyle race with 5,000 points as a reward for first place.

A race? Boring.

But 5,000 points... that was interesting.

Uesugi Hara stuffed his discarded uniform into his locker. There was no reason to turn down points delivered right to his doorstep.

When Uesugi Hara appeared by the poolside in his swim trunks, the previously noisy water surface suddenly went quiet for half a second.

"Wow—" someone whispered, and immediately, several gazes locked onto him. A girl whispered to her friend with a blushing face, "I didn't expect Uesugi-kun to have such a great body on top of that handsome face..." She didn't finish her sentence, but her eyes were bright.

Someone nearby secretly counted, "1, 2... 6! It's a six-pack! The definition is so clear..." As she spoke, she tugged at her companion's arm, lowering her voice even further, "I really want to touch it and see what it feels like..."

Even the boys paddling in the pool couldn't help but take a few extra looks—broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and smooth, firm arm muscles. They weren't the kind of knotted, overly-developed muscles, but they exuded a sharp sense of power. Standing by the pool, he made the boys who had just been showing off their own physiques feel inexplicably deflated.

Uesugi Hara didn't pay any attention to these gazes; they were all just superficial people.

He scanned the length of the pool, mentally calculating how much time he needed to aim for.

They were just a bunch of students; there was no need to use his full strength.

"Morishita-san," Uesugi Hara's gaze fell on Morishita Ai, who was sitting by the pool, and he said casually, "Do you want me to cheer for you later?"

As he spoke, his gaze drifted downward involuntarily.

What met his eyes first were her snow-white thighs. Of course, it was impossible to wear stockings in a swimming class, so Uesugi Hara finally saw the "stocking monster's" true skin today. The complexion was a pale shade that lacked blood, likely due to a lack of sunlight, with fine blue veins faintly visible beneath the surface, which instead added a strange, alluring quality.

His gaze moved further down to her equally snow-white calves, so slender they looked like they would snap at a touch.

Finally, his eyes landed on her feet dangling by the pool. Those feet were submerged in the water, the tops of her feet tensed with faint tendons, her toes curling occasionally, playfully kicking up tiny splashes.

Another food-grade specimen.

(I don't know when it started, but Uesugi Hara had discovered a new fetish of his—a foot fetish.)

The moment this thought popped into Uesugi Hara's mind, his throat moved instinctively, and he swallowed hard.

As luck would have it, this subtle movement was caught by Morishita Ai, who had looked up.

Morishita Ai didn't speak; she simply followed his gaze down to her feet submerged in the water, then raised her eyes to meet his.

"Uesugi Hara," she said in a flat tone, her face expressionless, as if stating the most ordinary fact, "did you come here just to look at feet?"

Uesugi Hara was choked by her blunt question. Instinctively wanting to avoid her look of disdain, he raised a hand to rub the tip of his nose to deflect. "Of course not." He deliberately emphasized his tone, bringing up his previous words again. "Didn't I just say? I'll cheer for you later."

Morishita Ai stared at him for two seconds without responding, but her feet, dangling in the water, retracted slightly, her toes curling against the pool wall as if she didn't want him to see them anymore.

"Whatever you want."

Uesugi Hara felt a sense of relief and didn't try to strike up another conversation, turning to lean against the pool edge to wait for the instructor's whistle.

Thinking back, did he really make Morishita Ai uncomfortable by staring?

Strange.

She gets embarrassed too?

Uesugi Hara didn't dwell on it, simply assuming it was a normal reaction for a girl.

Excluding the few who explicitly stated they couldn't swim, the remaining students were divided into two groups by the instructor, with the girls' group going first.

Morishita Ai was in the first group.

If you can't find the book title, try searching for the author; maybe the title was just changed!

Following the instructor's whistle, the race began.

Uesugi Hara, standing by the pool, didn't hold back, shouting at the top of his lungs: "Morishita! Morishita! You're the best! Go—"

He got carried away as he shouted, his tone drifting: "I'm crazy for you! I'm wild for you! I'd crash into a wall for you!"

With that attitude, the only thing missing was a sign in his hand that read "Morishita Must Win."

His voice was loud and wild, completely lacking any rhythm. The others watching the spectacle couldn't help but turn back, staring at him in stunned silence.

Seriously, brother, with this kind of display, don't you feel even a shred of embarrassment?

And, did Morishita-san commit some heavenly crime?

If she had committed a crime, then let lightning strike her, rather than suffering this kind of social death.

Of course, as long as Uesugi Hara wasn't embarrassed, everyone else was.

The girls swimming in the pool were so startled that they all slowed down by half a beat. Morishita Ai, in particular, stiffened, her stroking motion faltering for a moment, and her previously smooth form wobbled.

The result was predictable: Morishita Ai almost finished in last place.

As soon as she climbed onto the deck, Morishita Ai covered her face with a towel and walked quickly toward Uesugi Hara.

Uesugi Hara was just about to ask why she swam worse after he had cheered so hard for her.

Isn't that how they do it in TV dramas?

Just as he was about to voice the question, his calf was kicked hard.

He froze for a moment, not yet having reacted, when he saw Morishita Ai with a taut face. Without sparing him a glance, she turned and walked briskly toward the locker room, not even bothering with the water dripping from her damp hair.

Uesugi Hara was stunned by the kick and instinctively turned to look at Kamuro Masumi beside him—she had been watching the commotion by the pool earlier, so she might know the reason.

Kamuro Masumi shuddered at his gaze and shrank back, waving her hands like a rattle: "Don't include me! Don't include me!" She was terrified that his next sentence would be to offer to cheer for her.

Uesugi Hara raised an eyebrow: "I didn't say I was going to cheer for you, what are you being so narcissistic about?"

Kamuro Masumi, however, seemed to heave a massive sigh of relief and nodded in hurried agreement: "Mm-hmm! I am being narcissistic! As long as you don't cheer, that's fine, that's fine!" In that submissive state, she uncharacteristically didn't retort with a single word.

"I need to go warm up too; the second group is competing soon," Kamuro Masumi said, while subconsciously shuffling further away from Uesugi Hara.

Uesugi Hara gave an "oh," bent down to rub his kicked calf, and remained puzzled: in TV dramas, don't heroines usually get a burst of energy when they hear someone cheering for them? How did it become a "motivation obstacle" when it came to Morishita?

Without Uesugi Hara's chaotic cheering by the poolside, Kamuro Masumi's heat went very smoothly.

Kamuro Masumi ended up taking first place in the girls' group.

There was no suspense in the boys' competition. As soon as the whistle blew, Uesugi Hara shot out, practically skimming the surface of the water. His strokes were clean and powerful; while the slowest person had only just reached the halfway point, he had already splashed against the pool wall, coming to a steady stop at the finish line.

The numbers on the timer stopped at "23.11 seconds," nearly three seconds faster than second place—a solid, absolute advantage.

The teacher walked over with the stopwatch, eyes bright, patting him on the shoulder and urging: "Student Uesugi, would you like to join the swimming club? With just a little practice, you'd be more than capable of competing in major tournaments."

Uesugi Hara waved his hand, wiping the water off his body with a towel: "No thanks, teacher, I'm not interested." He was more concerned about those 5,000 points.

After declining the invitation, he draped the towel over his shoulder and went to look for Morishita Ai—he had to get to the bottom of this; what exactly was wrong with that cheer, and why did it earn him a kick?

But after waiting outside the natatorium for a long time, he didn't see a trace of her.

Where was there any sign of Morishita Ai? She was long gone.

This was what he learned from the mouth of Kamuro.

Uesugi Hara scratched his head, feeling a bit bewildered: She ran that fast?