Horikita: You Have No Right to Refuse!

If there was one guy who didn't look at the girls strangely, it was Hirata. Had this guy already achieved enlightenment or something?

After the whistle blew, Horikita, in the fourth lane among the five girls who dove into the pool, took the lead as soon as the race started. Kikyo followed close behind, but she was clearly a little slower.

Horikita maintained her lead all the way to the finish line without a single close call. She swam the fifty meters beautifully. As expected, Horikita was strong in sports. Combined with her ability to study, she definitely wouldn't have been placed in Class D if she weren't so poor at socializing.

"Whoa!!! Great job, Horikita!"

"So close, Kushida! You almost had it!"

The time was about twenty-eight seconds, while Kikyo was a little slower, at thirty seconds. That was pretty fast, but Horikita still climbed slowly out of the pool without even getting out of breath.

But the boys clearly weren't focused on the results. Their eyes were mostly fixed on the girls' firm, bouncing bottoms. Ju Ji was no exception. The girls' races really were more fun to watch.

The good times flew by, and in the end, Onodera, a member of the swimming club, took an overwhelming victory with the flawless time of twenty-six seconds. Wasn't the competition between clubs at this school a little too intense? Even ordinary club members were this good.

"Horikita, you're really good at swimming."

"I wouldn't say that."

"I wasn't very good at swimming in middle school, but I trained really hard and eventually learned."

"I think you swim very well, Kushida. But you trained hard, huh? Maybe someone else should give it a try, too."

Perhaps they acknowledged each other's abilities, because after the race, Horikita and Kushida began chatting amiably. Of course, Kikyo did most of the talking.

"Is that Ju Ji? You two really are close."

"Shinomiya? We're just ordinary classmates. You're the one who calls him by his first name, Kushida. Did he threaten you?"

"Threaten me? Of course not. Isn't it normal for friends to call each other by their first names?"

On the surface, the two seemed to be getting along pretty well. For some reason, Ju Ji felt a chill down his back, as if something pretty bad was about to happen.

Sudo won the first boys' group by a wide margin, swimming the fifty meters at an incredible pace. Both the boys and girls cheered in admiration.

"Great job, Sudo! You only took twenty-five seconds."

He really was impressive, a full second faster than Onodera from the swimming club. Even Ayanokoji couldn't help exclaiming in admiration. For the record, Ayanokoji came in twelfth, right in the middle of the pack.

"Sudo, want to join the swimming club? With a little training, you'd be more than capable of competing in major meets."

"I'm devoted to basketball. Swimming's just for fun."

"Ugh... I really hate people who are naturally athletic. Right, Shinomiya?"

Ike jabbed Sudo in the elbow, clearly jealous. And don't drag Ju Ji into it. He was just bad at swimming; it wasn't as if he were bad at sports in general.

Although Sudo was more skilled, he was clearly much less popular than Hirata. The moment Hirata stepped up, most of the girls in the class cheered for him.

Hirata's popularity had gone beyond infuriating and reached the point of being downright dumbfounding. Even Ju Ji had to admit he was a little jealous.

Nothing unexpected happened. Hirata won his group by a wide margin, though his time of 25.30 seconds was quite a bit slower than Sudo's.

"Please don't fight over me. I belong to everyone. Just watch and see what a truly capable person looks like when he swims!"

Koenji seemed to think all the cheering was for him. His words were guaranteed to make people hate him, too. And for some reason, he wore a pair of briefs that drew attention to his crotch, making quite a few girls look away.

The next race went just as expected. Koenji won the boys' group decisively, with a time of twenty-three seconds. He was top-notch in both physical ability and academics. But he was too aloof and arrogant, acting as if nobody else mattered. In a way, he was a little like Horikita. But he was clearly a bona fide genius.

"Ju Ji, why's your face so red? Are you still not feeling well?"

"No, I'm fine now. It's just a little hot."

After the races ended, Kikyo came over to talk to Ju Ji. But did she really not know why? With a beautiful girl in a swimsuit right beside him, it was hard not to feel his heart race. The boys around them were staring so intensely. Could they please stop?

"Come to think of it, isn't it strange that the school has swimming lessons starting in April?"

"Maybe it's because we have such a good indoor pool. But you're really good at swimming, Kikyo."

"Oh, not really. I wasn't very good before, either. How about this? I'll teach you how to swim from now on. I've got plenty of experience with swim practice. Teacher, can I join the remedial lessons later?"

"Of course! You're very welcome!"

Kikyo seemed not to give Ju Ji any chance to refuse. She went straight to ask the teacher. But compared to a male teacher covered in muscles, Ju Ji would rather practice with a beautiful girl in a swimsuit. There was no reason to refuse, anyway, and it was true that he wasn't good at swimming.

"Then I'll be counting on you, Kikyo."

"Mm-hm. See you later!"

After getting the answer she wanted, Kikyo returned to the girls' line. The swimming lesson wasn't over yet; it was time for free practice. The remedial lessons would take place after school that evening.

Just then, Ike suddenly pounced on him with a face like a demon's.

"Ike, what are you doing? I haven't done anything to you."

"Aren't you doing it right now?"

Ike wrapped an arm around Ju Ji's neck and whispered to him.

"You already have Horikita, and now you're making a move on Kushida, too. Kushida's my target."

"I get it, but Horikita and I aren't in the kind of relationship you think."

For some reason, everyone seemed to misunderstand Ju Ji and Horikita's relationship. They just spent a lot of time together. Friends did that, didn't they? Besides, the two of them weren't even friends. Thinking about that made Ju Ji feel a little stung.

Besides, Ike was aiming a little too high. There were things people could do and things they couldn't. Kikyo wasn't someone on Ike's level could win over. They weren't even in the same league.

"Shinomiya, I'm joining the remedial lessons later, too. I've already gotten the teacher's permission. I'll help you train. Until you've completely learned to swim, get ready to train until you drop."

"No, I..."

"What were you going to say? As my assistant, it'd be pathetic if you couldn't swim. You have no right to refuse."

Horikita was as forceful as ever. It was as if she'd beat Ju Ji up the moment he tried to refuse. With no other choice, Ju Ji decided to save his own skin. But why had Horikita and Kikyo both ended up joining in?

Wasn't this repetitive? Was it still too late to turn Kikyo down? In the end, Ju Ji gave up thinking about it. Things would work themselves out. It was only swimming lessons, nothing strange. It wouldn't be a problem even if both of them came along, right?