Swimming Competition

After the class began, the swimming instructor walked over.

It was clear that this instructor was the highly professional type; his streamlined muscles certainly lived up to the title of a physical education teacher.

The instructor looked at the group of people standing to the side, who made up nearly half the class, and pinched the bridge of his nose in resignation.

"Students, theoretically, you are allowed to request an absence for this class, but! Mastering a swimming skill is still very important!"

"However, we'll let it slide for today. Starting from next class, unless it's absolutely necessary, I hope you will all participate actively."

"As for the arrangement for this lesson, I want to gauge your skill levels. How about this: after the warm-up, we can hold a race. We'll split into two groups—boys and girls—and offer a special reward for the winner of each group... let me think... how about 5,000 points!"

"But! The two people who finish last! You are staying behind for remedial lessons! Prepare yourselves!"

Suddenly, the students of Class D became polarized; those confident in winning cheered, while those who knew their own limits wore miserable expressions.

The one shouting the loudest was the boy named Ike Kanji.

"Whoa! This is going to be too easy. Back in middle school, I was known as the Agile Flying Fish. Watch me take these 5,000 points easily! It's perfect, since I've already spent most of the points I got last month."

Yamauchi Haruki walked up and patted Ike Kanji on the shoulder.

"100,000 points, and you spent them all in half a month?"

He waved his hand with an indifferent expression.

"What does it matter? We get these points every month anyway. Once I spend them, I'll be back at full strength next month!"

Then, as if he had remembered something, he added.

"Don't think I don't know, that game console of yours wasn't cheap either, right?"

"Hehehe."

Onizuka watched from the side as the two of them threw their arms around each other and laughed loudly.

Sure enough, these people had no idea they were already standing on the edge of a cliff. People like them had likely already fallen off without even realizing it. He couldn't wait to see the look of despair on their faces.

However, it seemed the teachers at this school had the authority to award points. If even a swimming instructor had a budget of at least 5,000 points, did that mean the homeroom teacher had even more?

At that moment, far away in the office, Sae Chabashira let out a violent sneeze...

Excluding the few students who truly couldn't swim and the girls who were indisposed, almost everyone participated: ten girls and seventeen boys.

Whether it was due to the numbers or because it could better stir up the boys' enthusiasm, the instructor had the girls race first.

Almost instantly, the front row by the pool was packed with boys cheering joyfully for the girls.

The only boys left on the periphery were Onizuka Tsukasa, Koenji Rokusuke, and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

Onizuka looked up at the well-proportioned muscles on the two of them; they must have been formed through long and professional training, definitely not the type that was just for show.

"Hey, Koenji, Ayanokoji, want to have a race?"

Ayanokoji looked confused. "Aren't we already about to race?"

Koenji laughed heartily. "Ayanokoji-boy, Onizuka-boy means we should have an additional wager between us."

He then looked at Onizuka. "If it's just the two of you, that's fine. After all, you are both so beautiful, though I am the most beautiful of all, hahahaha."

Seeing that one had agreed, Onizuka shifted his gaze to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka standing nearby. "What about you? Have you decided?"

He thought for a moment, then slowly took two steps back and waved his hand.

"I'll pass. I'm actually not very good at swimming."

Koenji Rokusuke glanced at him. "How boring, Ayanokoji-boy."

Onizuka didn't press the matter and began discussing the wager amount with Koenji. "How about 70,000 points?"

"How beautiful, Onizuka-boy, but my points have been a bit over budget lately. Let's make it 20,000."

Onizuka looked at him twice upon hearing this. "No problem."

By now, the girls' race had ended. The winner was a girl from the swimming club named Onodera, who pocketed the 5,000 points.

Afterward, Koenji Rokusuke and Onizuka Tsukasa went directly to the instructor and, with him as a witness, signed a contract for a 20,000-point wager.

Because there were so many boys, they were divided into three groups of five. The two of them were the independent fourth group.

The first three groups finished quickly, and Onizuka finally learned the name of the hot-headed redhead—Sudo Ken.

Should he be surprised? A fool with nothing but muscles and no brains, he finished the entire length in just twenty-five seconds.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, on the other hand, took over thirty-six seconds to finish, placing him right in the middle of the pack.

Heh, he probably didn't even use half of his strength, right? He was really looking forward to seeing him go all out.

Finally, it was the showdown between Onizuka and Koenji.

Following the swimming instructor's introduction, the students in the class learned of the wager between them—20,000 points.

At first, the students didn't feel particularly surprised, simply because they hadn't yet realized the importance of points.

But as the instructor gave the signal and both men entered the water, everyone's emotions were instantly stirred.

The two of them moved through the pool at high speed using the freestyle stroke. They chased each other, fierce and intense.

In the end, both of them touched the other side of the pool almost simultaneously.

At this moment, the instructor walked from the surveillance room to the poolside, his gaze sweeping over the two people in the water.

"Uh... both students were very fast, but in the end, there must be a winner. Koenji Rokusuke, 22.57 seconds, and Onizuka Tsukasa's time is..."

"22.33 seconds!"

(As a side note, the men's freestyle world record is 21.95 seconds.)

He cleared his throat, cast his gaze toward the two competitors, and continued, "I wonder if you two students have any interest in joining the Swimming Club?"

"The point rewards and such are quite substantial. How about it, care to consider it?" He held out towels to both of them simultaneously, awaiting their response.

However, both of them rejected the instructor's invitation at the same time.

Afterward, the instructor did not pester them further; he left after Onizuka collected his 45,000 points, still muttering something about it being "such a waste."

Koenji Rokusuke walked over to Onizuka's side.

"You might be even more beautiful than me today, Onizuka Boy, hahahaha."

Onizuka, who had assumed Koenji came over to say something meaningful, rubbed his forehead; as expected, he still couldn't adapt to this guy's train of thought.

And in a corner that neither of them noticed, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's gaze was ice-cold, fixed firmly upon the two of them.