April 7th.
A week has passed since the enrollment in Advanced Nurturing High School. These past days,Kiruyin's life was very productive. He eat and slept in the weekend, then attended Ichinose's "Learn Japanese In 5 Minutes!" Class's to improve his Japanese.
The only problem is however it was incredibly boring and tortuous for his brain. It cries and complain every 5 minutes! Making him very distracted. And also getting scolded by Ichinose.
It wasn't his fault that his brain is distracting him right!?
Kiruyin can't help but feel wronged every time. Ichinose blames the wrong person. It was his brains fault! But alas, who is going to tell her...
But the results were there. Ichinose had used the previous quiz paper to test him and after a day of hard work(just the evening), he managed to get a wooping 40 in Japanese!
That day, he went to his dorm feeling all sorts of positive emotions and slept happily ever after~.
'Wait! I'm not dead yet!'
Suddenly getting his thoughts pulled back by the strange thought, Kiruyin focused on his surroundings again.
Right now, he, along with the other boys of the Class-B were going to the changing room to change into swim suits.
Today was a PE class and the teachers are doing a joint practice for... competitiveness maybe? He has no idea.
Kiruyin quickly changed into his swim suit which is just a shorts. Full black with blue stripes in the side and few other places for decoration.
"Hey Sakiho! You have sick build man! Do you exercise? How did you get those muscles!?"
A boy exclaimed beside him, making everyone turn to him. And their eyes widened as well. Kiruyin had lean but very musculer physique. His muscles defined and breaming with power. When he wears cloths, it just seems like he is a skinny kid.
"Nah. I just do calisthenics from time to time."
"Wow. So humble. You can't get a body like that by just doing exercise from time to time you know."
Kiruyin could do nothing other than to laugh it off. He didn't have the mental strength to explain. And not like they are going to believe that this was fruit of nearly 4 years of hard work.
Kiruyin was done with his preparation first. So he bid everyone goodbye for now and went to the pool. The swimming class takes place at the school's indoor pool facility. It's a massive, state-of-the-art Olympic-sized pool.
He noticed that there was no one here yet. So he found a sun lounger beneath a parasol. The moment he leaned again the lounger, as if the cosmic forces aligned with his body and mind, his body relaxed in a comfortable position.
He didn't move at all. Suddenly finding a comfortable place is very rare. It is one of the rare moments that is hard to come by. The last time he found one was on the floor, after he fell down from his bed but the position he fell off was very comfortable. So he slept like that the whole night and woke up with a sore neck but it was worth every pain.
He had no regret. And now he found such comfort in a sun lounger. How cool was that?
Drowsiness slowly started to desort his vision and mind when he was disturbed by Ichinose. She wore a bikini, exposing her fine curves of her body.
But none of it mattered to Kiruyin because his comfortable time was disturb.
'Why did I have to find such comfort today and let it go!? Why this-this...? Whatever man I don't know.'
He sat up with a sigh and rubbed his face to get rid off the remaining drowsiness.
"What did you say Ichinose-san? I didn't catch that."
"I came to wake you up. What if you slept through the whole class?"
Ichinose said with a smile. Her hands on her hips. She looked stunning. But Kiruyin didn't have the luxury to admire her beauty because his head was still throbbing from suddenly being woken up.
He rubbed his temple.
"...That won't happen."
He said as he looked around. There were certainly more students but the teachers still haven't arrived yet. So the students were just chatting or swimming.
"By the way Sakiho-kun. I didn't knew you had such defined physique! You look so skinny when wearing clothes! Do you exercise regularly?"
Ichinose suddenly exclaimed while looking at his muscles. Her statement was out of pure admiration. Nothing more. But Kiruyin had the edge to tease her a bit. A revenge for waking him up...
'That doesn't sound right. Isn't it me who is at fault? ... whatever.'
His sense of morality pointed out his fault but his sense of mischief beat it into pulp. A wide, teasing smile appeared on his face.
"You like what you see~~?"
"Ye-huh? No! I mean- what? No-e-eto-eto-eto-"
Ichinose's brain seemed to have stopped working. Her eyes started to dart around, her face started to turn red her hands involuntarily made defensive gesture.
"I don't know about you but I'm definitely liking what I'm seeing."
Kiruyin delivered a finishing blow with a smug smile. Ichinose's face turned beat red. She looked down in embarrassment, suddenly becoming very shy.
"S-Sakiho-kun! You can't bully Honami-chan like t-that!"
At that moment, a shaky but firm voice cut through the tension. A cute girl with brown hair and brown eyes stood up for the dismissal in distress while fidgeting with her fingers.
She looked like she would run away if Kiruyin did as much as move a finger. But the power of pure lo-
"Huh?"
A confused exclamation involuntarily leaked from Kiruyin's mouth.
'Love? Yo what is going on?'
He narrowed his eyes and looked closer to this girl who always seemed to be near Ichinose. He looked back and forth between the two. Ichinose was slowly recovering.
'What was her name, Chihiro? Shiro?'
He couldn't remember her name but this girl wasn't like that few days ago. He looked closer and he could see her whole vibe screaming "I'm in love!".
Kiruyin was suddenly overcome with awkwardness. No matter how much he wanted Ichinose to he his girlfriend, he definitely didn't want to be involved in a love triangle... and disturb love between pure women.
He took few step back as he took a defensive stance.
"Sakiho-kun! Your thinking something bad about me aren't you!"
Ichinose suddenly exclaimed at him. Wanting none of it, he made a run for it and joined the Kanzaki group. He joined in on whatever nonsense they were talking about.
Ichinose was left fuming but she shook her head with a sigh.
"Ho-Honami-Chan... are- are you okay?"
Chihiro asked hesitatently. Her cheeks getting slightly flushed. Ichinose looked at her friend who stood up for her and regained her usual smile. She smiled brightly and said,
"I'm fine Chihiro-chan! Let's go! Others are waiting!"
"Mm!"
Chihiro nodded with a cute smile. Ichinose grabbed her wrist and lead her to the girls who were playing in the pool. Chihiro suddenly felt butterflies in her stomach when Ichinose held her wrist. She didn't knew why she was feeling like this but she definitely didn't hate this feeling.
After a while, the teachers arrived. The supervisor of the whole PE class and the homeroom teacher of Class-B and Class-C.
The leading teacher was a musculer man who had a strict aura around him. His expression serious. Their arrival caused everyone to become vigilant. Everyone got out of pool. Under the silent leader ship of Ichinose and Kanzaki, both boys and girls formed a straight and impeccable line.
Class-C students however weren't as vigilant. They formed a line but not with the precision of Class-B.
Kiruyin noticed a handsome street thug with shoulder length magenta coloured hair and eyes looking at Class-B with a frown in his eyes.
He was the leader if Class-C... or so he has heard from Ichinose. He forgot his name. The only think he remembered was his name had cuck in it. Even that, he wasn't so sure about. But the name was certainly interesting to pronounce in English with extra steps. He just couldn't remember it.
The leading teachers brows frowned a little when he looked at Class-B but he didn't say anything. Not like he can. He stood in front of everyone with his dignified aura pressing down on everyone present. The indoor pool facility was silent. One could even hear pin drop at the moment.
"Listen up. I am Tomonari Mashima, the homeroom teacher for Class A. I will be overseeing the swimming curriculum for both Class-B and Class-C today.
The objective of this lesson is simple: evaluation of your physical baseline. This school does not merely value academic excellence; your physical health and capabilities are just as vital to your standing here.
We will begin with a standard warm-up. After that, you will be divided into groups for timed trials in the 50-meter freestyle. Any student who cannot swim must report to the side immediately for basic instruction, you will need it later. There will be no idling. If you aren't in the water, you are observing."
After Mashima-Sensei finished his speech, the girls were lead to a different pool to evaluate their physical aptitude by Honashimiya-sensei.
While the boys were left with Mashima-Sensei and another sensei who looked like he would fly back a mile if someone did as much as fart towards him.
Mashima-Sensei told everyone to get in line. He will hold a small competition. The winner will get 5000 points. Two winners, on from girls side and another from boys side.
Kiruyin also moved in sync with his classmates. Although he was present physically, his mind lay else where.
'Why would sensei say that we will need it later?'
A statement made by Mashima-Sensei bugged him. The whole speech was fine. Strict, disciplined. Perfectly within the vibe the teacher has. He could understand the school's code of conduct so the teacher would require students to know basics about swimming... but why add an extra line?
Among all the instructions, it seemed extremely trivial. He felt that the placement was intentional. Near the end of the speech, right after a sensitive statement. Students would naturally have less attention after a while in speech. And their attention would have already been grabbed by the line where the teacher "commands" them to learn swimming.
Everyone's attention would be on the ones who can't swim. Trying to find them and feel validated. And the ones who can't swim will try to avoid everything to shake off the embarrassment. Effectively making this statement harmless and trivial.
Those who noticed will probably connect it with something else. Even Kiruyin would have dismissed it but the timing was too perfect. Just yesterday, Honashimiay-sensei told the class that they are going to be spending their summer vication on a cruise ship.
A suspiciously generous offer.
And now this hint by Mashima-Sensei. Kiruyin took a good look at this homeroom teacher of Class-A. He seemed like a guy who genuinely cared for the students regardless of class. Unlike other teachers.
'What would require one to be proficient in swimming...?'
His subconscious mind calculated many possibilities. Only one answer seemed valid.
'A special exam.'
He had confirmed that spacial exam's do happen through Asahina-senpai but he got nothing else about them.
'Exam's on vication huh... doesn't sound too out of context for this school.'
"Kiruyin Sakiho! Take your stance."
Before he could finish his thoughts, the sensei called him out. It was his turn. He temporarily helted his thoughts about the special exam. He got the lead. And the answer was within grasp. But for now. He would focus on swimming.
He walked up to the pool. He cleared his mind of all the distracting thoughts. This will be the first time he will be swimming after the incident that happened 4 years ago.
4 years later, he was stronger, taller and was more in control of his body. So he at least wanted to beat his personal best.
He crouched and took a professional stance. He regulated his breathing as he waited for the teachers whistle. His mind crystal clear. Devoid of any kind thoughts. His sole focus was on the water and remembering the feeling of gliding through it.