Akira suddenly noticed, during a breath, that four competitors had appeared in the pool at some point.
'All five lanes are occupied?'
The cheers rising and falling around him surprised him a little, especially with his own name mixed in.
'Strange... I haven't done anything special for the class.'
Though confused, the feeling of being cheered on by everyone was indeed nice.
When he reached the tenth lap, he glanced to both sides as he turned, finding that only Koenji was still persisting in the lane.
Sudo and Hirata had already dropped out, and even the seemingly unassuming Ayanokoji was nowhere to be seen.
'Sudo and Hirata probably did their best... but that Ayanokoji definitely held back.'
Akira recalled Ayanokoji's well-built muscles, which were severely inconsistent with his apparent strength. The lines of his body moving underwater clearly contained powerful explosive force.
That kind of physique, formed through long-term training, couldn't be achieved by just casually swimming.
"Alright, that's enough!" The sports teacher, who had arrived at some point, blew his whistle, interrupting the impromptu competition. "You two are both winners!"
The teacher looked at his stopwatch and had to admit that the performance of these two students far exceeded expectations.
In order not to disrupt other classmates' normal lesson, he decisively ended the increasingly intense competition.
As a reward, the teacher transferred five thousand private points to each of them, then enthusiastically extended an invitation. "Would you consider joining the swimming club? With your skills, you could definitely become key players on the school team."
Akira wiped the water from his face and politely shook his head. "Sorry, sensei, I've already joined the boxing club."
"Hmph~" Koenji elegantly flicked his wet golden hair, revealing his characteristic arrogant smile. "This level of club activity isn't enough to interest me~"
Akira sat on the edge of the pool, beginning to rest.
Not far away, Karuizawa was surrounded by her gyaru group, occasionally letting out bell-like laughter.
Since joining the boxing club during lunch break, she seemed to have a new vitality—her laughter was more flamboyant, and the deliberately cultivated gyaru vibe in her gestures was much more natural than before.
Akira thoughtfully withdrew his gaze.
'With a protector, is she slowly starting to let go?'
However, to his surprise, Kushida walked directly toward him.
The girl moved with light steps, her voice clear and pleasant. "Shimizu-kun is truly amazing! He got first place!"
"Not first," he calmly corrected. "There's also Koenji-kun."
"Oh my," Kushida clasped her hands together, tilting her head with a playful expression. "Tied for first is still first! In our classmates' eyes, you're the undisputed number one!"
Akira knew very well why she was so fixated on the title of "first place."
It was nothing more than thinking that by standing in the spotlight, she could attract more attention, right?
"Shimizu-kun," Kushida suddenly changed the subject, leaning forward slightly with her hands behind her back.
"Are you and Horikita-san... dating?" She blinked her seemingly innocent large eyes, her tone as light as if discussing the weather.
"No." He answered clearly and concisely.
"Really? Really?!" Kushida unconsciously let out a sigh of relief, then, as if realizing something, quickly covered it with a smile. "Ah, I was just a little curious..."
Akira watched her silently. This girl certainly had her ways—just the right body language, and that look of wanting to say something but holding back.
Any other high school boy, experiencing his first crush, would probably have misunderstood that she was interested in him.
"Oh, that's right!" An expression of annoyance appeared on Kushida's face. "I need to sincerely apologize to you!"
"When I was chatting with Horikita-san just now..." Her voice gradually lowered, her fingers nervously intertwined. "I accidentally said the wrong thing, saying your strong physique was due to talent... I just brushed aside your daily efforts to train..."
By the end, her tone carried clear self-reproach. When she looked up to steal a glance at Akira's reaction, her eyelashes trembled slightly, like a small animal that had done something wrong.
Anyone seeing this would feel pity and be unwilling to be harsh.
Akira felt no ripples inside, even finding it a bit amusing.
This wasn't saying the wrong thing at all. It was simply accidentally revealing her true feelings, wasn't it?
However, Akira remained silent for a moment, then, with a subtle hint of emotion, said, "You actually weren't wrong. If this body wasn't naturally resilient, I probably would have broken down long ago."
Thinking about it, his training volume as a child was simply absurd—a hundred push-ups, a hundred sit-ups, and a ten-kilometer run every day, rain or shine.
Back then, he didn't even know what "muscle soreness" felt like.
How could an ordinary person's body withstand such training? They would probably be unable to get out of bed for a week after the first day.
Yet, he operated like a tireless machine, day after day, his muscles growing stronger after each extreme.
He had to admit that he indeed had the innate advantage of this body.
Consistent exercise was true, but without the immediate feedback provided by this steel-like body—muscles that wouldn't ache, stamina that wouldn't deplete, even feeling more energetic with more training—even the strongest willpower would likely be worn down by the daily torment.
Some things cannot be achieved by effort alone.
"..."
Kushida's eyes widened slightly.
Being sensitive since childhood, she had long been accustomed to observing the acceptance speeches of those "first place" winners on the podium.
Most people would passionately recount how they "worked desperately" and "overcame difficulties," as if not mentioning sweat and tears wasn't enough to prove their worth.
But this boy in front of her...
He actually so candidly attributed his achievements to "talent"?
This was the first time in over ten years that she had heard someone acknowledge, with such a matter-of-fact tone, that he was the one "favored by heaven."
However, rather than the superficial reason of appreciating his honest character, a more precise judgment had already formed in her mind.
'This Shimizu-kun... as I expected, he truly is quite naive.'
She was about to speak, but he broke the silence first.
"Kushida-san... you work very hard."
"...Eh?" Kushida was slightly taken aback, then showed a confused smile. "Shimizu-kun, why are you suddenly saying that?"
"Your skin tone is a bit darker than before," he seriously pointed to his arm as a gesture. "You must have gone to the pool to practice swimming last weekend, right?"
"Eh? W-was I found out...?" Kushida was slightly startled, her slender eyelashes trembling gently, a natural expression of surprise appearing on her face.
She really hadn't expected it—a detail that other classmates by the pool hadn't noticed, was keenly caught by this person in front of her.
"Look, everyone else's skin tone in the class is pretty normal. You're the only one who practiced swimming beforehand." He continued.
"Oh dear... don't say that, it's just because I'm not very good at swimming, so I practiced." Kushida lowered her head shyly, but the corner of her mouth curved upward almost imperceptibly.