Before the Match

To help those students who could not swim quickly master the crucial skill of swimming,

the swimming instructor began organizing swimming practice. By coincidence, half of Class A's forty students could not swim, so the instructor divided them into two groups:

students who could swim and students who could not, with roughly equal numbers of boys and girls.

Each group consisted of one student who could swim and one who could not, with the former teaching the latter one-on-one.

By sheer coincidence, Sakamoto and Yamamura were assigned to the same group.

"Please take care of me, Sakamoto-kun."

Miki greeted Sakamoto softly by the poolside, but her voice was so quiet that Sakamoto could barely hear her. Yamamura was simply too introverted.

To help her relax, Sakamoto decided to try being more familiar with her.

"Miki-chan."

Surprise flickered in Yamamura's eyes. That form of address was far too intimate.

Still, she was happy inside.

"Was that too abrupt? Then I'll just call you Yamamura."

"No, Miki-chan is fine."

Miki-chan shyly fiddled with her fingers.

As long as he could keep the conversation going, things would be easier.

"Miki-chan, have you had any experience with swimming before?"

"A few times in elementary school."

"It'll be easier if you have some foundation. The first step in swimming is to..."

Sakamoto carefully explained the essentials of swimming bit by bit.

He personally demonstrated how to enter the water and the proper swimming posture for Yamamura Miki.

Combining explanation with demonstration made things easier to understand. She should be able to learn the first step quickly.

That was what Sakamoto thought as he leaped into the water with an exceptionally professional and natural posture, fully focused on demonstrating the swimming movements.

However, Sakamoto had never expected this.

Because his physique was simply too outstanding, Miki-chan was so busy staring at his body that she forgot to pay attention to the essentials of swimming.

Yes, as the son of a wealthy family, Sakamoto maintained excellent habits.

He exercised consistently and planned his various workouts scientifically. His body was well-proportioned, his muscles firm without looking overly bulky.

Broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and abdominal muscles that appeared and disappeared beneath the splashing water.

As he swam through the water, he radiated both strength and fluidity. Every movement carried the charm of confidence and composure.

With a man like that around, Yamamura felt as if she would never learn to swim in her entire life.

It was not really Miki-chan's fault. At that moment, every girl in the class had been drawn to Sakamoto, and even quite a few boys were staring at the figure beneath the water, forgetting that they were in swimming class.

"Sakamoto-kun may act uniquely, but he really does have that young-master aura, doesn't he? What do you think, Rinaka-kun?"

"..."

"So? Isn't it obvious once you see it?"

"Uh..."

Sakamoto stared at Yamamura's awkward manner in astonishment.

Only then did he notice a great many gazes gathered around him.

Because he had been too focused on teaching, he had inadvertently displayed skills that were too professional and too dazzling, affecting the other students' lessons.

"That was more unexpected than I thought."

Sakamoto pressed one hand to his forehead.

At last, the instructor reacted.

"Continue practicing, everyone. Stay focused and don't get distracted..."

The commotion around the pool subsided, and the students resumed their practice.

"Sakamoto-kun, come over for a moment."

The instructor was sharp enough to call out to Sakamoto, the root of the matter.

"You're excellent, Sakamoto."

"You flatter me, Instructor."

"Too much modesty can be pride," the instructor said, patting Sakamoto on the shoulder.

"Here's the thing. I made a bet with the swimming instructor from neighboring Class D to see which class has the better swimmers. We'll choose four people for a match, so..."

"You want me to take part, right?"

"Yes, yes, that's exactly it."

"No problem."

"No problem?"

Sakamoto raised one hand in a friendly gesture, and the swimming instructor, who had frozen for a moment, quickly shook it.

"First place will receive a reward of nine thousand personal points."

"To make it more exciting, I'll personally add another thousand points."

The swimming instructor thought highly of Sakamoto and did not hesitate to show his appreciation.

Sakamoto was interested as well. If it was Class D, then this would be quite a spectacle...

Next, Kito Hayato, Kamuro Masumi, and Morishita Ai, who barely had any presence, all performed well in swimming class and were chosen by the instructor as competitors.

There was no need to mention Kito. His physical ability ranked among the best in the entire first year.

Kamuro's athletic ability was in the top tier among the girls.

Clap, clap, clap.

The swimming instructor clapped to gather the students, then pointed at Sakamoto and the others as he began speaking.

"Ahem. After testing, these four will be Class A's seeded competitors. To ensure fairness,

there will be two boys and two girls. Our opponents in Class D will be the same.

This match may not be an official competition, but to boost everyone's morale, first place will receive ten thousand points.

All right, this Thursday, all students are welcome to come to the pool and watch our match..."

"Dismissed!"

"A match against the class ranked last in class points?"

"Sounds like it'll be boring."

During the break after the instructor left, the poolside became noisy and chaotic.

"Compared to the match, swimsuits are what really matter, okay?"

"Kushida from Class D is seriously cute. I absolutely have to see what she looks like in a swimsuit."

The boys' conversations never strayed far from such topics. It was perfectly normal.

Though it made Kamuro, who was listening from not far away, feel uncomfortable all over.

Her eyes swept around as she looked for somewhere quieter.

"Hi~ Kamuro-san."

A hand waved excitedly through the air.

It was Hashimoto.

Seeing Kamuro standing alone, he warmly invited her over to rest as though they were close friends.

But she clearly did not see it that way.

Kamuro Masumi looked toward Sakayanagi, who was sitting by the pool in the distance, then left Hashimoto's sight without looking back.

The dejected Hashimoto could only dive back into the water.

Sakayanagi, who still wore a white beret during swimming class and had not entered the water due to her health, sat by the poolside the entire time.

She smiled as she looked at Kamuro sitting beside her, while Kamuro began reporting on being caught last time.

After hearing the report,

Sakayanagi merely smiled. There was no need to care about it.

After all, there was already a good show coming up.

What convenient bet? Sakayanagi had simply approached the instructor herself and persuaded him to have Sakamoto participate in the match.

She had prepared plenty of arguments, but none of them had been needed.

Sakamoto always looked completely unruffled, and he no longer restrained his own behavior.

He did whatever he pleased and was unwilling to interact with her much.

And then there was Ayanokoji-kun. She still could not see through his thoughts.

Although a swimming match was merely a contest of physical ability and lacked the interest chess held for her,

both Sakamoto and Ayanokoji were targets Sakayanagi found immensely interesting.

Which was stronger: an artificial genius or a natural genius?

Before the Match