After finishing the warm-up exercises, everyone was given free practice time. To prevent anyone from struggling due to suddenly entering the pool, the P.E. teacher had everyone practice by the poolside first.
After making sure everyone could swim fifty meters, the fifty-meter freestyle test would be conducted.
Unlike the eager boys, the girls practiced somewhat hesitantly near the pool.
Horikita and Amane stood off to the side chatting, attracting quite a few glances in the process.
"Hey, Yamauchi, look! Kushida's... they're huge!"
"Whoa, they really are! But Ike, why are you looking at my Kushida with such lecherous eyes?"
"Hah? Are you already talking nonsense in broad daylight? Kushida is clearly mine!"
Ike and Yamauchi seemed to be arguing over who Kushida 'belonged to,' their voices so loud even people on the observation deck could hear.
All the girls cast looks of disgust in their direction.
"Boys are just so immature," Hasebe said, crossing her arms as she sat on the stands, watching Ike and Yamauchi's disgraceful display with disappointment. It seemed the boys of Class D were just like this.
"I think it's a bit unfair to generalize like that," Yukimura chimed in from beside her.
"Oh? Really? Then please show me the mature side of the Class D boys. I truly hope they have something else in their heads besides discussing the girls' figures and faces." Having said that, Hasebe turned her head towards the group of girls, not giving Yukimura a chance to retort.
Just as Yukimura was feeling frustrated, someone patted his shoulder.
Turning around, he saw it was the person who sat behind him, a guy named Miyake.
"Arguing further will only put you at a disadvantage. After all, guys like Yamauchi have no filter. But to be fair, there are quite a few good-looking girls in our class, so you can't entirely blame them."
Miyake's words made Yukimura frown.
"But publicly commenting on the girls' faces and figures is genuinely impolite. It also affects the reputation of us boys in the class. Others will just think we're all shallow like that."
Hearing Yukimura's words, Miyake seemed to form an impression of him: This guy probably studies hard and is a bit rigid in his thinking.
"So, Yukimura, if you were to get a girlfriend, who would you choose?"
The sudden question caught Yukimura off guard. He wasn't close enough with Miyake to discuss such private matters. But since the other guy was taking the initiative to build a rapport, refusing to answer might upset him.
Yukimura thought for a moment. "It would probably be Miyako-san..."
"Eh? You like Miyako-san's type?!" Miyake exclaimed in surprise.
Instantly, quite a few boys and girls on the observation deck looked over.
"Shh! Shh!! Why are you so loud? And is it really that surprising? While Miyako-san isn't as flashy as Karuizawa or Kushida, her cuteness is definitely in the top three among the girls in our class."
Miyake's eyes widened. This guy... He's actually seriously analyzing this! Just a moment ago, he was criticizing others for rudely commenting on the girls' figures and faces, and now he's turned around and started earnestly ranking their cuteness himself.
"How about you, Miyake-kun? If you had to choose someone to be your girlfriend, who would it be?"
Feeling awkward under Miyake's gaze, Yukimura realized his outburst had damaged his image. He quickly changed the subject.
"Hmm, I'd probably choose Miyako-san too? But in my case, it's because we might share similar hobbies. I haven't paid much attention to her appearance before, but now that you mention it, she is quite cute."
Miyake's face flushed slightly. A word like 'cute' felt utterly incongruous coming from the mouth of a former delinquent like him.
"So, Miyake-kun, you've already started learning about her preferences, have you?" Yukimura narrowed his eyes. Did this guy make a move that fast?
"I just overheard it occasionally," Miyake tried to deflect.
"Is that so? How fortunate for you." Yeah, right. Who are you trying to fool?
Nearby, Ike and Yamauchi, having finished their roughhousing, suddenly looked over at Ayanokōji, who was preparing to enter the water.
"You made a killing on points this time, Ayanokōji," Yamauchi said, his voice tinged with jealousy.
Ayanokōji looked at Yamauchi in confusion, seemingly unaware why he would say that.
"What's with that look? Don't tell me you forgot about the bet we made before swimming class?"
Jogged by Yamauchi's reminder, Ayanokōji seemed to recall something. Before swimming class, he had participated in a guessing game, betting a thousand of his personal points.
Unfortunately, he didn't really know or understand any of the potential candidates on the list, so he just picked one at random. He considered it a necessary investment to blend into the boys' group.
Regarding the choice, the only girls he recognized were Horikita Suzune and Miyako Amane. Based on his intuition, he almost immediately bet on Miyako Amane.
Even though he was prepared to lose, he still hoped to bet on a candidate with a higher chance of winning. He just wondered if Miyako would beat him up if she found out.
Since most of the popular candidates on the list were on the observation deck, the race between Amane and Kushida seemed very close—at least from Ayanokōji's perspective. However, some 'experts' had calculated that Amane actually held a slight lead, meaning Ayanokōji had won.
While happy about his victory, he was more curious about how one could possibly estimate such... private data just by looking.
Of course, he was purely curious. He didn't have any other thoughts about it.
Meanwhile, the very subject of discussion was circling around Horikita, much to the latter's annoyance.
"Are you good at swimming, Suzune?"
"Can you do underwater swimming, Suzune? You know, holding your breath all the way to the other side?"
"I think the breaststroke would suit you too, Suzune. But seeing that might just make my heart stop."
"I've heard there's something called the dog paddle. I wonder if you can do it, Suzune?"
"Suzune..."
"Suzune..."
"Suzune..."
"Shut up! If you say another word, I'll... I'll cut out your tongue... No, I should just seal your mouth...!"
Horikita had intended to threaten Amane, but after running through a few options, they all seemed too cruel. This gave Horikita a headache. Since when do I worry about whether the person I'm threatening will get too scared?
"Whaaat!!! Suzune, you're going to kiss my mouth until it's swollen?!" Amane covered her mouth with an exaggerated expression of disbelief.
Kushida, who had been just about to come over and invite Amane to swim together, froze in place.
Uh...
Are Miyako-san and Horikita-san already in that kind of relationship?
Maybe it's better not to go over right now?
Seeing Amane's performance—covering her mouth with that overly dramatic act—a vein throbbed on Horikita's forehead.
This girl is a total drama queen.
She's so lovely to look at... why did she have to be cursed with such a mouth?
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.