"Well, it looks like everyone can swim, for the most part," the swimming teacher announced.
"Since our warm-up exercise is done, we'll move straight into the competition. Because we don't have very many girls, I'll split you into two groups of five, and the student with the fastest overall time will be the winner.
"As for the boys…" He glanced over the crowd. "I'll look at the top five finishing times and then move on to a final round."
The girls went first and the boys, dripping from the earlier warm-up, gathered at the sidelines. Ike and Yamauchi, predictably, couldn't keep their mouths shut for long.
"Whoa, check it out—!" Ike's voice cracked halfway through his sentence.
"Yeah, that's what I'm talking ab—" Yamauchi started, leaning forward.
At their sudden noise several girls nearby in the pool glared at them, their stares instantly silencing the noise.
Even the other boys put distance between themselves and the pair, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire of glares.
That left Ike, Yamauchi, and Sudo huddled together, their irritation and bubbling frustration clear as they turned sharp glares toward Hikigaya.
Hikigaya who was standing nearby smirked faintly, as he sensed their heated glares without even looking their way, knowing it would only needle them further.
Sure enough, their glares only sharpened, and they began muttering some wonderful words for him under their breath.
"Tch… damn that fucker…" Ike muttered, his voice low but dripping with annoyance.
"Piece of shit," Yamauchi hissed, "ruined the whole damn day… we were supposed to enjoy some tits and ass, not this crap."
Sudo clenched his fists, his expression tightening with barely restrained anger.
Yamauchi caught the look and sneered. "We should teach him a lesson Sudo. Let's rough him up a bit."
Sudo gave a sharp nod. "Yeah… that's what I was thinking too."
Before the thought could take root any further, the teacher's loud whistle rang out, snapping everyone's attention toward the pool.
Soon, the competition began.
The whistle blew again, and five girls jumped into the pool, splashing water everywhere.
Horikita was in the second lane among the other girls. From the moment she started swimming, she took the lead. Her strokes were quick and smooth. She kept her distance from the others, never letting them close the gap, and reached the end of the fifty meters with ease.
Her time was around twenty-eight seconds, which drew a few surprised comments from the sidelines.
"Wow! Awesome, Horikita!" someone shouted as she and the other girls climbed slowly out of the pool.
To the boys sitting there, the actual results didn't matter much. Their eyes were mostly drawn to other things mainly the sway of hips and the jiggle of their swimsuit-clad butts.
Even Hikigaya wasn't an exception. Without realizing it, his eyes drifted toward Horikita especially her long, beautiful, pale-toned legs.
Realizing his situation, he quickly cleared his throat into his hands, averted his eyes, and tried to calm himself down.
'Begone, foul temptations! I call upon the power of my inner monk, yes! I am ascetic. I am detached. A sentient rock unmoved by filthy desire or shame. I have transcended it all… I have… okay, fine, I just looked again. Yeah, I'm a disgrace to Buddhism.'
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, He turned his attention back to the pool as the second race was about to begin.
Kushida was in the fourth lane. Many of the boys seemed like they wanted to cheer for her, but most stayed quiet, not wanting to draw attention to themselves after the awkwardness Hikigaya had caused around her earlier.
The second race began, but it quickly became one-sided. Onodera, a girl with swimming team experience, won by a clear margin.
Though Onodera took first place and Horikita came in second, most of the boys and girls were actually supporting the one who finished fourth.
"Kushida, go for it! You're the best!"
"She's doing her best!"
"Keep it up, I support you Kushida!"
Kushida turned around and smiled brightly at the boys, purposely giving them a cute wink. The gesture instantly won over a bunch of loyal fans, breaking the earlier tension and easing the awkwardness surrounding her.
Watching this, Hikigaya couldn't help but think to himself,
'Man, her social skills are off the charts as usual. She really is like one of those idols you see on TV. Seeing stuff like this makes me wonder are we even the same species?'
As the cheers died down, the teacher called out, "Next up, boys! Get ready!"
The swimming competition kicked off pretty quickly, with students split into groups of five.
"Kyaaa…!"
"Look at Hirata's arms!"
"He's so cool!"
Many girls let out a joyful scream as Hirata took his starting position. Whereas Sudou's body had attracted the boys' admiration, Hirata's body attracted the girls. He was slender, but also very well built.
After hearing the girls' delighted squeals for Hirata, Ike spat in response. Sudou didn't seem very amused either, and shot Hirata a glare.
True to expectations, Hirata finished first, drawing deafening cheers from his supporters.
Hikigaya also came out of the pool after finishing in second place, but hardly anyone bothered to notice him.
'Well,' He thought dryly, 'at least I've avoided supplementary classes. That's what really matters.'
"Hirata-kun, you were so cool! You're not just good at soccer, you're really good at swimming too!" one girl cried.
"You think so? Thank you!" he said.
"Hey, why are you ogling Hirata-kun like that?" another girl said. "Huh? I'm 'ogling'?!"
There was an indignant squeal, and their friendly bickering drew a few giggles from the nearby crowd.
Hikigaya glanced at the scene, watching the girls bicker and blush. 'Guess girls aren't that far behind either when it comes to things like these, huh.'
The whistle blew for the next round. In this one, Sudo tore through the fifty-meter race with impressive speed, finishing in just under 25 seconds.
A few boys offered half-hearted cheers, but most of the girls remained unmoved some even sending him cold glares, still remembering his earlier behaviour.
Sudo's jaw tightened, irritation boiling under the surface… and sure enough, his eyes found Hikigaya, glaring like it was somehow all his fault.
Hikigaya, however, hadn't been paying Sudo any attention during the race. Unlike the others, his eyes had been fixed on Ayanokoji. Even though Ayanokoji had placed fourth, his performance while less spectacular, was still very notable.
'His form's pretty refined,' Hikigaya noted, narrowing his eyes. 'Feels like he could've pushed harder, though. With a physique build like that, he should've been able to give Sudou some serious competition. Seems like he's purposely avoiding drawing attention to himself.'
Before he could dwell on it, the competition moved into its final phase Hirata, Sudou, and Koenji who had each won their earlier matches were now set to face off. Many students leaned forward in anticipation, eager for the outcome.
As expected, there were no surprises. Koenji claimed the first place with ease. His physique looked more like that of a trained athlete than a high school student.
'Guess all that screaming about his own perfection wasn't just for show.'
On the other hand, the much-anticipated Hirata, the star, ended up in third place. Everyone thought that his popularity would take a serious hit, but when they saw the girls coming up to comfort Hirata.
Other boys, including Sudou, couldn't help but click their tongues in frustration because of jealousy.
Looking at the scene he couldn't help but thought.
'Beauty and charisma… they really do keep you ahead, huh? Doesn't matter what the actual result is. Especially around here, it's less about who actually wins and more about who can make their performance look good. Win or lose, if you can make it count in people's eyes, that's what really matters in the end, I suppose.'
Hikigaya snapped out of his thoughts as faint footsteps approached from behind. He turned his head a little and saw Ike and Yamauchi coming his way, with Sudo following close behind.
They stopped right beside him, standing close enough to block any easy escape, and then gently pushed him. Hikigaya made no effort to steady himself and let himself fall straight into the pool with a loud splash.
As he surfaced, Ike laughed harshly. "Hey, fish eyes, maybe try paying attention next time, yeah?"
"Yeah, can't see a thing with those weird eyes of yours!" Yamauchi added, his voice dripping with condescension.
Some other students nearby chuckled, their laughter echoing around the poolside.
Sudo, standing quietly beside them, said nothing but looked satisfied though there was a hint of hesitation and doubt in his eyes as he glanced down at Hikigaya in the water.
Hikigaya stayed in the water, his hair plastered to his forehead, droplets sliding down his face. He didn't flinch or sputter. Instead, he locked eyes with them one by one, his gaze cold and unblinking, like a predator sizing up prey.
'Judging by how they're acting', he thought silently, everything's lining up just right. Looks like I'll have this plan wrapped up even sooner than I expected... but I still need to push them a little further.
"Wow," he said, voice calm and flat. "Three guys working together to push one person into a pool. Must've taken all your combined brainpower to pull that off."
Yamauchi's smirk faltered as he asked. "What'd you say?"
Ike shot back. "Hey, it's your fault we didn't do anything, Hikitani."
"Yeah, you're the one who can't keep his balance. Don't blame us for your mess," Yamauchi added.
Sudo crossed his arms, "Next time, maybe watch your damn step instead of acting like some big-shot, loser."
Hikigaya floated silently, staring at them with unblinking eyes. The coldness in his gaze was unsettling, like he was silently daring them to make a move.
"Interesting," he murmured. "So, you guys don't remember shoving me into the pool just now?"
Yamauchi scoffed. "Obviously, we don't."
Hikigaya's eyes flicked toward the group of girls lingering nearby.
"Maybe you'd remember better if I told those girls about all the notes and data you collected to rank their Assets. I'm sure they'd love to hear more about your 'pure' thoughts, too. After all, I barely said anything last time. Don't you think?" His voice was dripping with sarcasm.
He glanced back at Yamauchi. "Especially you Yamuchi-san wasn't it just the other day Sakura confessed to you? I'm sure everyone here would be thrilled to hear all about your 'popularity' and 'manly charm.'"
Yamauchi's face flushed red, "What the hell are you talking about? Sakura did confess to me. That's not a lie!"
Hikigaya's smirk didn't waver. "When did I ever say it was a lie?"
Yamauchi fell silent, but Sudo and Ike weren't done.
Sudo's jaw tightened, his knuckles whitening. "Nobody's gonna believe all that crap you're spouting."
Ike snorted from the side. "Yeah, who'd believe that? You're just making stuff up again, Hikitani."
Hikigaya smirked. "Oh? How about we test that? I'm pretty sure you remember what happened to you guys' last time."
No one said a word, their frustrated glares heavy as they remembered what he'd done to them earlier. They didn't dare get any closer with him still in the water.
Hikigaya tilted his head, voice calm but cutting. "So… do you remember now? Or want me to remind you?"
Yamauchi's shouted loudly. "So what? What if we did? What are you gonna do about it?"
Before he could get another word out, their heated exchange had already drawn the attention of nearby students. Heads turned, whispers spread, and the crowd started to gather, eyes locked on the confrontation.
Hirata stepped forward quickly and extended his hand toward Hikigaya, silently offering help out of the pool. Hikigaya declined with a small shake of his head, and Hirata shrugged before pulling himself out on his own.
He glanced at Hikigaya with a complicated look part concern, part something unreadable.
Turning his attention to the three boys, Hirata continued, "This isn't the way. You're all classmates. Fighting like this only drags everyone down. Let's just cool off before things get worse."
Ike grumbled, scowling as he took a hesitant step back, his eyes flicking between Hikigaya and Hirata like he wanted to argue but didn't want to escalate.
Yamauchi clenched his fists tightly, jaw twitching, his glare burning holes into Hikigaya. "Yeah, whatever…" he muttered through gritted teeth, but made no move forward.
Sudo paused, casting a sharp glance over his shoulder at Hikigaya before muttering under his breath, "Tch… don't think this is over, you cocky piece of shit."
The words hung in the air, heavy and sharp, a warning rather than an empty threat.
Hikigaya didn't bother responding. Hirata, standing beside him, looked concerned and asked quietly,
"Why are you doing this, Hikigaya-kun? You'll only get bullied and isolated if you keep this up. Please, just stop it."
Hikigaya met Hirata's worried gaze without flinching. "You don't need to concern yourself with what happens to me," he said quietly.
"Besides, if you're worried about me getting bullied, you don't have to. Things won't come to that. I know how to handle it properly."
Hirata opened his mouth to reply, but Hikigaya cut him off with a faint shake of his head, deciding to lie.
"Besides, whatever happened today... it was just a coincidence. I was a bit angry hearing them say those vulgar things, so I blurted it out. Nothing more. So don't think too much about it."
Seeing that Hikigaya wasn't going to open up, Hirata sighed softly and said, "Well, if you say so, Hikigaya-kun, I trust you. But still, if you ever have a problem, please don't hesitate to come to me."
Hikigaya gave a slight nod. "Alright. Thanks for stepping in earlier Hirata. I appreciate it."
Hirata managed a small smile. "Just looking out for a classmate. Don't hesitate if you need anything."
Without another word, Hikigaya turned away, slipping back into his usual guarded silence. Hirata watched him go, a lingering look of concern etched on his face.
Ever since the incident at the start of swimming class, Hirata had been keeping a close eye on them. He had noticed how Hikigaya seemed to be subtly provoking those guys for a while now. A few days ago, he'd even heard rumours about conflicts between Hikigaya and Sudo's group.
All of it only deepened the questions swirling in Hirata's mind, especially given Hikigaya's unpredictable behaviour.
'Why would he do something that only makes things worse for himself? Is he really not afraid of being ostracized by others, or is there something else?'