Starting in class B: Ayanokouji Kiyone

Arc 1 chapter 8:

"Are you a good swimmer, Kanzaki-kun?"

Although Kanzaki gave a slightly puzzled look in response to Ichinose's question, he quietly answered. "I wouldn't say I'm particularly good or bad at it."

"I was really bad at swimming when I was in junior high. But I gave it my all and practiced really hard, and now I think I've gotten better." Ichinose said.

"Well, good job," Kanzaki congratulated Ichinose's apparent progress.

"All right, everyone line up!"

A macho-looking middle-aged man, the kind of guy who apparently devoted himself to sports, gathered everyone together and started the class. He looked like a PE teacher, but also seemed like the kind of guy who was attractive to men and women alike.

"Good, you're all here. I had a class yesterday where only 16 students turned up."

I wonder which class that was?

"After you warm up, I want to see what you can really do. Swim for me," the coach said.

Everyone started their warm-up exercises. The teacher asked us to swim for about fifty metres. Students who could not swim were allowed to touch the bottom of the pool with their feet. I hadn't been in a pool since last summer. The water must have been temperature-controlled, because I didn't feel chilled when I entered and adjusted right away. After getting in, I started to swim lightly.

After fifty metres, I waited for everyone else to finish

"Well, it looks like everyone can swim, for the most part. In that case, I'll have you start competing against each other. We'll separate groups by gender. Fifty-metre freestyle. I'll give out a special bonus to the first-place winner: 5000 points. The student who comes in last place, however, will have to take supplementary lessons. Get ready."

The skilled swimmers cheered with joy, while the less confident students groaned.

"For each gender, we'll split you into groups of five, and you'll compete. The top five finishing times will move onto the final round."

I'd never imagined that the school would award points as a prize. Perhaps this was a way to light a fire under the students. Rather well thought out, I had to say. The girls started first, while the boys sat on the sidelines.

I was in the first group, along with Amikura, Ichinose, Shiranami and Sayo Ando.

The whistle blew, and we dived into the water. I was in the second lane. I took the lead at the beginning of the race and kept my distance from the others, maintaining my position at the front of the pack. I swam confidently, effortlessly covering the fifty metres.

"Wow! Awesome, Ayanokouji!" Kanzaki shouted to me.

My time was approximately 26 seconds. I hadn't really been trying, though. In second place was Sayo, and in third place was Ichinose. I slowly got out of the pool and went to the side. My eyes, like one or two of the boys, glanced at the girls jiggling butts. I stared at Ichinose, too. Was it because we were getting along? Well, she was really pretty. There was something there, I thought. Yeah.

(Still Hornykouji 🥵)

It was time for the final round of the girls. It was me, Sayo,
Ichinose, Yume Kobashi, and Kozue Minamikata.

This time, I would have to get serious. Yume had beat my time in the first round. I would have to swim a little faster, now. When the whistle blew, I dived into the water, and swam faster than I had last time. Again, I reached the end of the pool first. My time was 22 seconds; a very good time for a high school girl.