I sat silently watching my classmates play in the pool. Until I realised that I didn't have to be there.
Might as well just go to class. I mean it's not like I have anything that I'm doing here.
I was about to leave for class, but then I turned to look at the pool for a while, seeing some guys planning a race.
At first, I wasn't interested but my curiosity sat me down to watch. However, something unexpected happened—
"Hey Nakamura, wanna join in?" Ito asked.
"Uh, sure."
This is a chance to make friends, I shouldn't throw it away.
Ito brought me into the competition, it was an attest to his good will. Despite the situation before now, he was surprisingly calm.
"Ito get ready to lose," Miyamura stated pridefully.
"Are you sure you'll win?" Ito asked.
"Sure as ever."
"Nah, I'll win," Inoue butted in.
"So you do read manga?" another contestant asked.
The other contestants were bantering between themselves, however one of them was just sitting by himself, Arakawa.
I walked over to him because there was something I wanted to learn about before starting.
"Yo."
"…"
"Uh, hello?"
"…Oh, were you speaking to me?"
No, I was talking to my mom…Heugh.
"Yeah, I gotta question," I ignored the impolite thought in my head.
"I'm sorry that I wasn't paying attention, I was lost in thought," Arakwa replied.
Damn, now I feel like a jackass for my earlier thoughts.
"If you don't mind me asking, what were you thinking about?"
"Oh, nothing much. Just how extremely exuberant this situation is."
"Oh, really why?"
"Because my graciousness is performing in it?"
Hmm…?
"So, the situation is good because you're in it?"
"Precisely, want me to tell you more?"
I completely take back what I said–this guy is so self-obsessed it's no wonder he didn't hear me.
"Yeah, go on," I said sarcastically.
"I am the most perfect in the world and such my presence is so wonderful that it is a miracle that I grace you with it. Aren't you euphoric?"
Does this guy not know what sarcasm is?
"Yeah," I lied. "But can I ask you a question?"
"Hmm. Oh, I suppose I can allow it."
"What's the average swimming time?"
"It's 20 seconds."
"I see."
"Now back to me…"
He immersed me in all how perfect he is, telling me about how perfect his daily schedule is and how he lives his life.
It continued until—
"I'm sure you all know the rules, but I'll go over it again cuz of Nakamura. The winner gets 10,000 Rp while the last two must pay 5,000 Rp each. Now since everyone is ready let's begin."
A male student from my class was the announcer, everyone in class was paying attention.
My savior!
At last I could leave that egotistical prick, who just went on and on and on and on.
I was sure that if not for this interruption by my savior, Arakawa would have gone on forever.
However, I didn't hear about any loser paying before now, this bad, I really don't want to lose any Rp.
This is why you should listen to terms and conditions before doing anything.
Heugh.
I sighed internally.
Why'd I join again?
We all got on in a horizontal line, ready to start. The people participating were Ito, Inoue, Miyamura, Takashiro, Kurosawa, Arakawa, and me—the last three were names I had just learnt during swim class.
"We're starting in 3, 2, 1—Go!!!"
We immediately diverged ourselves into the pool though I started late as I was lost in thought about something.
I was swimming at quite a reasonable pace, focusing on stamina rather than speed, but I noticed something unexpected.
Huh?
I didn't mind it, and continued swimming. I kept up until Miyamura passed me, then so did Inoue, then Ito, then Arakawa.
I ended up finishing the race in fifth, the position just above the penalty. A completely average position.
I think that was good enough, about 20 seconds.
However, Miyamura, Inoue and Ito tied, so the race had to be a tie breaker. I sat at the sidelines to watch them do their race.
So Arakawa didn't make it, huh?
In the second race, Miyamura dusted the opposition, or should I say drowned considering it was in the water.
Miyamura won the entire event getting 10,000 points, I just sat back admiring his athleticism.
Wow, this guy's amazing. He's the thorough definition of a jock though I expected Inoue to win considering he's muscular.
After the bet everyone went to play in the pool as we still had time left, I remained on the bench.
"Now pay up."
"L-Let's talk about this."
"Nope," Miyamura put Takashiro and Kurosawa in a headlock with one hand each.
"Dude!"
Everyone laughed as Miyamura 'joked' with his friends, though I was sure no one would want to be in their position.
After they paid, everyone went back to what they were doing before and the boys continued to play though Arakawa was out of sight.
"Dude my muscles are way bigger."
"Your arm is a literal twig."
"Look at my abs, abs matter more."
"Just cuz you've got a rock for a stomach doesn't make you better."
"You're one to talk."
They were arguing about who had bigger muscles. However, that wasn't what I was focusing on, I watched intensively at a certain gender—the female gender.
While ogling is wrong, there were times a man couldn't help himself.
This was one of those times.
Wow, their busts are amazing, especially Suzuki's. Damn, I should be down there with them, shouldn't I?
Yeah, I should go there—
"Nakamura."
"Huh? Hello."
A group of girls came up to me, the person who spoke was someone who I didn't know their name.
"Hey so uh—don't worry. Guys let's just go."
One of the girls left visibly disappointed, but the question was at what?
"Uh sorry about that we just uh, forgot why we came. Yeah?"
"Yeah, sorry for wasting your time."
The two others, being more polite, apologized and left.
Huh? What the hell just happened?
The girls left just as soon as they came.
"Did you see his face?"
"Yeah, he looks like my little brother. I can't believe I almost wanted to get his Acc. name."
"Like for real. Damn, why's he so well-built with such a cute face, he makes me feel like asking out a baby. I didn't have the gall to ask for his Acc. name, I might look like a creep."
It seems the girl came to meet me because my body looked well-defined, but they got discouraged when they saw my face.
Heugh.
Body shaming at its finest.
"Baby-face," Arakawa came from nowhere.
"Huh?"
"I find you interesting, you can now feel honored."
"Uh…" I stared at him with a confused look.
"I know what you did in the race."
"I'm confused," I said so outright since it seemed he couldn't tell from my expression.
"You rigged your scores."
"Why would I intentionally rig my own scores?"
"To appear average."
"Why would anyone do that?"
"I don't care enough to listen to your lies. I'll just tell you what you did."
"I see," I said. "Fine, then just humor me and sit down."
"But of course, someone as perfect as me shouldn't exert energy when he doesn't need to."
"…"
He sat down beside me.
"So, you asked me the average swimming time because you wanted to fake your scores, right?"
"Nope."
"And you also were thinking about how to reduce your speed, that's why you started late. Moreover, you didn't join that barbaric showcase of muscle because you wanted to appear average."
"No, not really."
I answered each question nonchalantly, but I could tell Arakawa didn't believe a single word, though nothing I said were lies, he was actually wrong–very, very wrong indeed.
Ring, ring, ring.
"Well, I cannot have late attendance, so I see you later, liar-boy."
"…Will you tell anyone this?"
"No, why would I concern myself in such matters? I am way above all that."
"Then why tell me all this?"
"For you to remember that I'm above you."
"I see, then why did you fail intentionally?"
"…"
I noticed something during the race, Arakawa was also holding back because he was just fluctuating between slow and fast constantly like he wanted to say within a range.
I couldn't understand why someone so obviously egotistical would hold back.
"You think I would overexert myself for this, as long as I don't lose then it's ok."
Those were his last words before leaving for class, I followed suit after a while.
The day went in a flash, and it was finally time to go back to the dorms and I could rest or so I wanted.
Ito brought up the case again, this time asking a question that required the total attention of all my classmates.
***
Author's Note:
Ahh, I can see the comments already:
"Fake Koenji."
"Koenji clone."
Or something like that. At any rate, Nakamura is really something, huh?
I mean faking a race or maybe we should believe him since he said that he didn't.
Anyway, I hope you are looking forward to the next chapter because this is where the story gets serious.
Anyway, please comment, share, and leave a review. Thanks for reading the chapter and see you in the next one.