There was no sequel to what happened that day. By the time I returned to the Activity Room, Ichinose had already left, and the Class C students who had brought Mountain Vegetable Set Meals to the room for dinner were gradually taking their seats.
Chef Sima started preparing the dishes, Aunt Hiyori began serving them, and dishwasher Ryuen got to work cleaning up. Everything was so ordinary, as if nothing had happened here before.
"Hey, hey, hey! Don't leave yourselves with any regrets in the classes to come!"
In the boys' changing room, Ishizaki had changed into his trunks at lightning speed. Standing on a bench with both hands raised, he loudly voiced his innermost thoughts.
"Don't make swim class sound like we're heading to the execution ground! Stop raising flags like that!"
But Ishizaki's enthusiasm won no support from the other Class C boys. Instead, everyone united to condemn him.
"Forget about those unrealistic fantasies. When a few of us went to escort the girls yesterday, they all bought Sukumizu. Haven't you had your fill of Sukumizu Hell since middle school?"
I shoved Ishizaki off the bench with one hand, and Albert caught him.
"I'm a member of the Traditional Literature Club too. Why didn't anyone tell me yesterday? And, Masaryu, how do you know they all bought Sukumizu?"
"Because I paid for it!"
I absolutely wasn't going to tell them that the girls had all chosen Sukumizu because I'd let the air out of their tires.
If they chose mature-looking swimsuits, the other boys would surely use them as material for their late-night fantasies. That absolutely couldn't happen!
Once the idea had been planted in their minds, the Class C delinquents could only reluctantly put down the barely-there bikinis in their hands and embrace modesty.
"It looks like a standard indoor pool. Somehow, I get the feeling this place means trouble."
I was a hopeless landlubber who had never been in the water in my life. I figured the teacher would probably give me special attention later.
"What's the problem? It's only a bit bigger than the pool we had in middle school."
Ryuen, standing beside me in sunglasses, looked puzzled by my reaction.
"This is a textbook example of common sense misleading you. In my country, even university campuses aren't guaranteed to have a pool. And even if they do, it might not be open to students."
That was absolutely true. My university in my previous life was a perfect example. It had an outdoor pool, and swimming was even offered as an elective, but the pool was never opened during my four years there. Swimming class was also the most popular "easy-credit class" every year.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!"
All right, it was Sukumizu Hell, but the Class C boys couldn't contain their excitement. Their cheers grew louder and louder as the girls came out.
Seeing this, I couldn't help but frown. I could only step in front of everyone to shield them, lest my image take a hit.
"Class is starting! Everyone, come gather around!"
As the bell rang, the teacher blew his whistle, and everyone assembled.
This teacher fit my preconceived idea of a competitive swimmer perfectly. He was a full-fledged muscleman, with a body so beautifully defined it could make certain people start spinning.
"You're all here already? This year's first-years have got something going for them!"
After taking attendance, the teacher seemed very pleased with us. To put it bluntly, if you ignored the students' swimming ability and judged them only by their attitude, we were the best class of first-years he'd ever taught.
And they were this lively over Sukumizu, too. What a bunch of "youthful" boys!
"All right, next I'll lead you through a warm-up, then you'll swim one lap so I can see what you're capable of.
"Don't worry if you can't swim. If you all already knew how, what would you need me for? You'll all learn to swim before summer arrives!
"Do you all have confidence in yourselves?"
"Yes."
After passionately promising the Class C students that he'd teach them to swim, the teacher received only a scattered, halfhearted response.
"I can't hear you! I can barely hear you! You think you can learn to swim with voices that quiet?"
The teacher waved a hand at everyone, then cupped it behind his ear and leaned toward us.
"Yes!"
"Good! That's the spirit!"
This time, the Class C students' response was still disappointingly weak, but at least they managed to sound spirited.
Since we couldn't break the rules during the first month, the teacher let us off and began the lesson.
After the warm-up, I swam fifty meters at an extremely slow pace. The whole process was bumpy, but at least I made it to the end.
But a performance like that clearly wasn't good enough, so I was singled out to receive one-on-one coaching from the teacher. For the record, I wasn't alone; Ryuen was among those who needed individual instruction too.
"Something's not right, Ryuen. Don't you think swim class is noticeably different from the other subjects, even though we're still in the first month's assessment period?"
Of course, I knew why the school was so intent on teaching students to swim. Wasn't it because the Uninhabited Island Exam came around every year?
"Learn to swim before summer. Does that mean there'll be a Special Exam in summer that requires every student to know how to swim?
"No, that can't be right. This school wouldn't be kind enough to teach us the rules and how to play before an exam. It's more likely that students who can't swim would cause problems for the school. That would make more sense.
"Drowning someone in a swimming pool during an exam would be too absurd. So it can only be the ocean?
"If it's the ocean, could it be a triathlon?"
After I gave him a hint, Ryuen started putting the pieces together too.
After all, the swim teacher was far more enthusiastic than the teachers of other subjects. Hoshinomiya-sensei even dared to drink during class, and the other teachers didn't bother enforcing discipline among the students either.
That was partly due to the first month's assessment standards, but once you set those standards aside, the swim teacher's behavior really stood out.
"Everyone rested enough? Next, we'll have a competition. Boys and girls will compete separately, one fifty-meter freestyle race each.
"The winners of the boys' and girls' races will each receive a special reward from me—five thousand private points. On the other hand, the slowest swimmer will join the others and take my remedial lessons. Now, get fired up! Prepare yourselves!"
By the end of the swimming competition, Albert had joined the remedial lessons.
What could you do? Have you ever seen a Black competitive swimmer? It was an innate physical disadvantage.
Before you continue