Sukumizu Hell During Swimming Class

There was no follow-up to that day. By the time I returned to the activity room, Ichinose had already left, and the Class C students who had brought their Mountain Vegetable Set Meal to eat dinner were arriving one after another.

Chef Sima began preparing the dishes, Auntie Hiyori started portioning the food, and dishwasher Ryuen began cleaning up. Everything was so routine, as if the events that had occurred here previously never existed.

"Hey, hey, hey! Fellow comrades! Don't leave any regrets in the upcoming lessons!"

In the men's locker room, Ishizaki, having changed into his swim trunks at light speed, stood on the bench and raised his hands high, loudly venting the thoughts in his heart.

"Don't talk about swimming class like we're heading to the execution ground! Stop setting such ominous flags!"

Ishizaki's enthusiasm didn't receive support from the other boys in Class C; instead, he was met with unanimous condemnation.

"Stop holding onto those unrealistic fantasies. When a few of us went to act as their escorts yesterday, the girls bought nothing but Sukumizu. Haven't you seen enough of the Sukumizu hell back in middle school?"

I pushed Ishizaki off the bench with a single palm, and Albert was responsible for catching him.

"I'm a member of the Traditional Literature Club too, so why didn't anyone notify me yesterday? And Masaryu, how did you know they were all Sukumizu?"

"That's because I was the one responsible for paying!"

I would never tell them that the reason all the girls chose Sukumizu was because I had slashed their tires.

If they had chosen mature swimsuits, they would definitely have been used as material for the other boys' nightly "spells." I absolutely could not allow that to happen!

Once this idea was planted in their brains, the delinquent girls of Class C had no choice but to reluctantly put down the bikinis that were practically nothing at all and embrace the conservative path.

"It looks like a standard indoor swimming pool. I have a bad feeling about this."

I am a complete landlubber who has never been in the water in my life; I reckon the teacher will be paying special attention to me later.

"What's the big deal? It's just a bit larger than the pool from middle school."

Ryuen, standing next to me wearing sunglasses, felt my reaction was very strange.

"This is a classic example of common sense misleading you. In my country, even university campuses don't necessarily have swimming pools, and even if they do, they aren't necessarily open to students."

This is absolutely true. My university campus in my previous life was a prime example: despite having an outdoor pool and swimming as an elective PE course, it hadn't been opened once in my four years there, and the swimming class had become the most popular "easy credit" course every year.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!"

Well, even if it was a Sukumizu hell, the enthusiasm of the Class C boys couldn't be contained; as the girls appeared, the cheers grew louder and louder.

Seeing this, I couldn't help but frown, choosing to shield everyone in front of me to avoid my image being tarnished.

"Class time! Everyone, come over and gather!"

As the bell rang, the instructor blew his whistle, signaling everyone to assemble.

This instructor perfectly matched my inherent impression of a swimmer: a muscular hunk with beautiful body lines, enough to make certain people start spinning.

"You're all actually here on time? This year's freshmen are really something!"

After taking attendance, the teacher was very satisfied with our performance. To put it bluntly, regardless of swimming ability, just looking at their attitude, this was the best group of freshmen he had ever taught.

And to have such vitality even for Sukumizu—what a truly "youthful" bunch of teenagers!

"Now, I'll lead you through a set of warm-up exercises, and then you'll swim a lap so I can see what your strength is really like.

Don't worry about not knowing how to swim. If you all already knew, what would you need me for? Before summer arrives, you will definitely learn to swim!

Do you all have the confidence?"

"Yes."

After the teacher passionately guaranteed to the Class C students that he would make them master the skill of swimming, he only received scattered responses from the students.

"I can't hear you! I can't hear you at all! You want to learn to swim with voices that soft?"

The teacher waved his hand in front of everyone, then cupped his ear toward the crowd.

"Yes!"

"Good! That's the spirit!"

Although the response from Class C was still lackluster, they at least managed to muster the momentum.

Since we couldn't break the rules during this first month, the instructor let everyone off the hook and began the lesson.

After the warm-up, I finished the fifty meters at an incredibly slow pace. Although the process was bumpy, the result was acceptable.

However, my performance clearly didn't meet the standard, so I was singled out to receive individual guidance from the teacher. Incidentally, I wasn't alone; Ryuen was also one of the members selected for individual tutoring.

"Something is very wrong, Ryuen. Don't you think swimming class is significantly different from the other subjects? Even though we are still in the first month of the assessment period."

I, of course, knew why the school placed such importance on students mastering swimming skills—isn't it because the uninhabited island exam happens every single year?

"Mastering it before summer—is it because there's a special exam in the summer that requires all students to have this skill to participate?

No, that's not right. This school wouldn't be kind enough to teach us the rules and how to play before the exam. It's because if students can't swim, it would be detrimental to the school; that fits human nature better.

It's too absurd to drown people in a swimming pool during an exam, so it must be the sea?

If it's the sea, could it be a triathlon?"

After being prompted by me, Ryuen also began to brainstorm.

After all, the gap between the swimming instructor's proactive behavior and that of the other subject teachers was too large. One must remember that Hoshinomiya-sensei would even drink alcohol during class, and other teachers wouldn't impose such strict disciplinary requirements on students.

Although the first-month assessment standards were at play, once you leveled the playing field, the issues with the swimming instructor became apparent.

"Rest time is over! Next, we're having a race. Separate into boys and girls, fifty-meter freestyle each.

The first-place student in both the boys' and girls' groups will receive a special reward from me—5,000 private points. Conversely, the slowest ones will join their ranks and receive remedial lessons from me. Get your spirits up! Prepare yourselves!"

At the end of the swimming race, Albert joined the ranks of those receiving remedial lessons.

There was no helping it; have you ever seen a Black competitive swimmer? This was an innate disadvantage in physical constitution.