Swimming Competition

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

On Sakura Island, most students are exposed to swimming at 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 lecture those who already know how to swim. Mind your warm-ups; you are free to do as you please for the rest of the period. 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?"

The moment the class was dismissed, a provocative voice rang out right beside Katsuya Shinjo.

The only person who would use that nickname was Koenji.

"Racing and all that is 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?!

Katsuya lifted his eyelids slightly: "Are you planning to go all out, then?"

"Hahahaha! Intentionally holding back is ugly. To face an opponent like you, going all out is the only thing that fits my aesthetic, for 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 lose for sure? Forget it, you should go find someone else. Aside from me, there should be others qualified to be your opponent, right?"

Katsuya Shinjo wanted to divert his attention toward Ayanokoji.

Upon hearing this, Koenji glanced at Ayanokoji nonchalantly, 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 would certainly be me. Although even if he went full throttle, he couldn't possibly defeat the beautiful me, I still don't 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."

Koenji seemed very eager to settle the score with Katsuya.

"You really are a persistent guy... fine, fine. For the sake of those points, I'll race you, but you'd better not get your hopes up."

Katsuya Shinjo is no Hexagonal All-Rounder; he has many areas he isn't particularly skilled in, and swimming just happens to be one of them.

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

Koenji called out loudly to 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.

The other students, seeing that there was entertainment to be had, dropped what they were doing and gathered around. After all, who doesn't love watching a race?

"Are they racing? Are they really racing? Koenji and Shinjo, who do you think will win?"

"It should be Koenji, right? After all, he looks so bulky, and it seems like he's had very professional training."

"I think it's Koenji too. His muscle definition looks so beautiful..."

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

Of course, some people had their attention fixed on Katsuya. Aside from Ayanokoji... there was also someone else looking thoughtful.

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

"Ready... go!"

Following the teacher's whistle, both of them dove into the water almost simultaneously. Since there were no restrictions on swimming styles, Katsuya chose the faster freestyle, while Koenji, to increase the challenge, chose the more physically demanding butterfly stroke.

At the start, the two were neck and neck. Katsuya might have been slightly faster, but both completed the initial stretch in about 20 seconds.

"Hey, are you serious? At this speed, even world champions would be at this level, right?!"

"Are these two really high school students?"

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

But only Ayanokoji 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 put in some real effort!"

It was hard to imagine that Koenji 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. Katsuya didn't dare to relax, adjusting his breathing as he gave chase.

In no time, Katsuya pulled ahead of Koenji by half a body length, 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 declare a winner.

"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 race..."

"Koenji won."

Katsuya Shinjo made the ruling on behalf of the teacher. As the person involved, he could indeed see that the other had been just a hair faster than him, though that gap was so small it was almost negligible.

"Well, it really seems to be the case."

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

Katsuya Shinjo took a towel from the thoughtful Kikyo Kushida, thanked her, and headed over to a chair on the side to rest.

I suppose I've become a bit lazy; my body feels like it's rusted quite a bit...

"You're very impressive, Shinjo."

Ayanokoji 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 mention that he had lost, as that would sound like he was just humble-bragging.

After all, Katsuya Shinjo was well aware of just how inhuman the results he and Koenji had produced were.

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

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

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

"It influences a lot, at the very least. Take Sudo and Ike, for example. If they were to compete, Sudo would definitely win."

"Perhaps I am what you might call a case of survivorship bias."

Ayanokoji nodded and did not press the matter further.

However, the conclusion he reached was that Katsuya Shinjo was no pushover; he might just be someone raised by an organization similar to the White Room.

Katsuya Shinjo (Ayanokoji): This guy is dangerous; I need to keep my distance.