Swimming Competition

"Is there anyone in class who can't swim, or is unable to swim because they're feeling unwell? Please raise your hand."

In Sakura Island, most students started learning to swim at a young age, so those who had never learned were actually in the minority.

As expected, only a few girls raised their hands.

Everyone else looked at the pool, eager to jump in.

"All right. I won't say much to those of you who can swim. Make sure you warm up properly. You're free to do as you like for this lesson. Those of you who still can't swim, come with me and I'll teach you the basics."

"Want to race me, Yorozuya Boy?"

As soon as they were dismissed, a taunting voice rang out beside Katsuya Shinjo.

Koenji was the only one who would call him by that nickname.

"Racing is such a hassle. Besides, there's no need for you to race me, is there? I forfeit."

"If you can win, I don't mind giving you five thousand points."

Five thousand points... Who did he think he was looking down on?!

Shinjo lifted his eyelids slightly. "Are you planning to go all out?"

"Ha ha ha ha! Deliberately holding back is ugly. Against an opponent like you, giving it my all is the only thing that suits my aesthetic. After all, I am the most beautiful man in the world!"

Well, it looked like he had no intention of holding back.

"Huh? Then I'd be guaranteed to lose. Forget it. Go find someone else. There must be someone besides me who's worthy of being your opponent, right?"

Katsuya Shinjo tried to draw his attention toward Ayanokoji.

At that, Koenji casually glanced at Ayanokoji, then shook his head.

"Even if he agreed to race me, I doubt he'd use his full strength. In that case, I'd be certain to win. Though even if he gave it everything he had, he still couldn't defeat the beautiful me, I don't want to bully the weak."

"Here's what I'll do. If you agree to race me and give it your all, I'll give you five thousand points. If you win, I'll give you another ten thousand."

Koenji seemed eager to settle once and for all who was better.

"You really are a pain... Fine, fine. For the points, I'll race you. But don't get your hopes up."

Katsuya Shinjo wasn't a Hexagonal All-Rounder. There were plenty of things he wasn't good at, and swimming happened to be one of them.

"Teacher! Could you please act as the judge for our race?"

Koenji called loudly to the teacher. Though he used words that sounded like a request, his tone had none of the deference one would expect. It sounded more like an order.

But teachers at Advanced Nurturing generally didn't take offense at their students' attitudes. The teacher nodded, picked up a whistle, and walked over to the pool.

Seeing that something interesting was happening, the other students abandoned what they were doing and gathered to watch. After all, who didn't like watching a race?

"Are they racing? Are they racing? Koenji and Shinjo, huh? Who do you think will win?"

"Probably Koenji. He's so big, and he looks like he's had professional training."

"I think so too. Just look at how beautiful his muscles are..."

"Come on, this isn't the time to swoon over him!"

Some students, of course, had their attention on Shinjo—besides Ayanokoji, there was also someone watching with a thoughtful expression.

"One hundred meters, any stroke you like. When you're ready, we'll begin."

"On your marks... Go!"

At the teacher's whistle, the two leaped into the water almost simultaneously. Since there were no restrictions on swimming styles, Shinjo chose the faster freestyle, while Koenji made the race harder for himself by choosing the more exhausting butterfly stroke.

At first, they swam neck and neck, with Shinjo perhaps a little faster, though both completed the distance in around twenty seconds.

"Hey, seriously? At this speed, they're practically at world-record level!"

"Are these two really high school students?"

Even Horikita, who always thought highly of herself, and Sudo, who was quite confident in his own athletic ability, had to admit that Shinjo and Koenji were far beyond them.

Only Ayanokoji could tell that neither of them was showing everything they had. They should be capable of going much faster.

"Ha ha ha ha! Not bad! In that case, I'll really get moving!"

It was hard to imagine that Koenji still had enough energy to laugh and taunt his opponent at a time like this.

He drove his legs forward with a sudden burst of strength, surging ahead at incredible speed. Shinjo didn't dare relax either. He adjusted his breathing and kept close behind.

Before long, Shinjo had pulled half a body length ahead again, but within half a second, Koenji had overtaken him.

They chased each other back and forth. No one could call the outcome until the very end.

"Time!"

At last, a whistle sounded, bringing the swimming race to an end.

To the naked eye, the two seemed to have reached the finish at almost exactly the same time. Without professional cameras to record the race, the judge was at a loss.

"The winner of this race..."

"Koenji won."

Katsuya Shinjo made the call for the teacher. As one of the contestants, he'd been able to see that his opponent had beaten him by a hair, though the difference was so small it was almost negligible.

"Well, it does seem that way."

Koenji wiped his carefully maintained hair with a towel. Although he'd won, he couldn't bring himself to smile. Swimming wasn't Shinjo's strong suit, but it was one of Koenji's specialties.

Shinjo took the towel Kikyo Kushida kindly handed him, thanked her, then went to rest on a chair nearby.

I've really been slacking off. My body feels like it's gotten pretty rusty...

"You're impressive, Shinjo."

Ayanokoji handed him a bottle of mineral water.

"I'm decent. My family's pretty much a family of swimmers."

At a time like this, he couldn't say something like "I'm average" or "I lost, after all." It would sound like humblebragging.

After all, Shinjo knew exactly how inhumanly fast he and Koenji had been.

"That's impressive. You and Koenji have such different builds, yet the race was almost a tie."

"Oh? Do you really think build is the key factor that determines who wins?"

Shinjo narrowed his eyes slightly. Ayanokoji was always trying to get information out of him. He really was a dangerous person.

"At the very least, it has a big impact. Take Sudo and Ike, for example. If they raced, Sudo would definitely win."

"Maybe I'm just an example of survivorship bias."

Ayanokoji nodded and didn't press him any further.

Still, he could conclude that Katsuya Shinjo was no pushover. Maybe he'd been trained by an organization like the White Room.

Shinjo (Ayanokoji): That guy's dangerous. I need to keep my distance.