Kiyotaka returned to the swimming pool just as their teacher finally arrived. Miyajima-sensei had short hair, a bit bulky in physique, and looked like he was in his late 30s. He quickly gathered everyone who was participating at the end of the swimming pool, separating the boys from the girls.
"It makes me sad that not everyone will be participating today, but there's still a lot of you here! Now tell me, is there anyone here who doesn't know the basics of swimming?"
Miyajima-sensei waited a few seconds, but nobody raised their hands.
ραпdα n?νa| сom The teacher smiled. "All of you know how, that's good! However, my role here is to teach you anyway, but we'll work that out later. I'll let you do some warm-ups and practice with your swimming. You'll be having a race against each other fifteen minutes from now. That way, we'll know which of you needs more help above everyone else."
Kiyotaka chose to do his warm-ups with Sudo, who looked pissed at him for some reason, as shown by the angry looks he's been sending here and there. The young man could already guess why, but he felt like asking anyway just for the fun of it.
"If I did something wrong in your eyes, then say it already."
Sudo grumbled. "Did you really have to leave me behind earlier?"
Knowing that he was referring to his little conversation with Kayano, Kiyotaka only shrugged. "I didn't want to interrupt your conversation with Onodera. Would you like it if someone interrupted you while you're talking with someone else?"
That made the angry expression on Ken's face disappear right away. "N-No, but-"
"Then I did nothing wrong, and you're only embarrassed about talking to a girl. Were Yamauchi and Ike perhaps right about something going on between you and Onodera?"
"Argh! You heard that?" the red-haired teen groaned as his face turned into the same color of his hair.
"It's hard not to listen when those two were practically screaming about it," Kiyotaka pointed out.
"Damn it..."
If he could, then Kiyotaka would have smirked as this was the perfect time for it. Having this little banter with his friend was a nice break after what he went through with Suzune, Chiaki, and Kikyo, and then followed immediately by that little incident at the restroom.
"So, is there something going on between you and Onodera?" he asked again.
In typical tsundere fashion, Sudo scoffed and looked away, though his face never lost its red hue. "No. Don't be an idiot. There's nothing happening between me and her."
"If you say so," Kiyotaka shrugged, not believing him one bit.
While Ken was grumbling about two perverts being unable to keep their mouths shut, Kiyotaka snuck a glance towards the girls, looking for a certain redhead in particular. Airi was performing her warmups with Karuizawa's group, but it was clear that she wasn't feeling herself. Her head was low, hiding her face from everyone else, and she had her hands close to her chest, as though she was bracing herself for another incident involving her clothes...
"At least she's not embarrassed enough to the point that she doesn't want to participate anymore," he thought to himself, trying to find some kind of light in this situation. No, he absolutely wasn't referring to what he saw in the restroom earlier. He was actually glad that he didn't scare her off or anything, and it's even more of a good thing that she hasn't told anyone about it, at least that's what he thought.
When he looked at Airi, she met his gaze for a brief moment before turning her gaze away, a deep red blush taking over her features. Even though she was the one who walked into the wrong restroom, he couldn't really blame her for acting like this. It's not everyday that a guy accidentally walks into a girl while she's in the middle of changing her clothes.
Speaking of which, he had left her uniform at the restroom. There's no way he was giving that to her in the middle of class where everyone can see him. To ensure that nobody would think of going inside and by extension, see a girl's uniform by the sink and do whatever they want with it, he put up an 'out of order' sign on the door. Hopefully, no janitor gets there before their swimming class ends.
Also, now might be a really good time to apologize to his three heroines, all of whom he had inadvertently embarrassed earlier when he made that comment about them while they were wearing their swimsuits. He really didn't need both that issue along with his current predicament with Airi bothering him from all sides, so it's better if he apologizes now, and deal with their anger afterwards should they be mad at him.
"I'll be right back. I need to talk to someone," Kiyotaka told his friend as he looked at Suzune, who was doing her stretches on her own without anyone else. She would be the easiest to talk to because of that and at the same time, she would be the hardest to reason with because of her personality. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if she slaps him the moment he shows his face to her again.
But... he's been through worse in the White Room. And that broken skill hasn't been activated yet, so he's still in the clear, right?
"Heh. Is that 'someone' Horikita? Is there something going on between you two?" Sudo asked, taking this as a chance for some payback by teasing Kiyotaka about the girl that he normally hangs out with.
Kiyotaka ignored him and started walking towards Suzune, who immediately noticed his presence once he was nearby. She frowned at him for a few moments, before raising an eyebrow curiously.
"Where have you been? You said that you were only going to talk to Sudo-kun, but I didn't see you with him earlier."
Kiyotaka was a bit surprised that she asked him about that instead of getting angry about his earlier words, but chose to answer her nonetheless. "I went to the restroom for a bit. When I came back, Miyajima-sensei was already here."
"I see..." she nodded in acknowledgement, before continuing with her stretches like it was nothing, which surprised the young man even further. She wasn't going to complain, or be mad, or even slap him for that perverted comment earlier
Seeing that she wasn't going to bring up the matter, Kiyotaka decided that he would do it himself. Oh, he could only imagine how she would react...
"Uh, about what I said earlier..." he spoke, making Suzune turn her head to look at him. "I apologize for it. It wasn't my intention to make you mad. It was completely uncalled for, and I regret saying it."
"...why would I be mad?" she asked, looking at him as he had grown a second head.
"Because it's an inappropriate comment that I made?" he answered as though it was the most obvious answer in the world. "Don't girls get angry when boys say things like that to them?"
However, Suzune didn't look affected by it. If anything, she felt more offended that Kiyotaka thought she would be offended by a harmless compliment. "I know you didn't mean it in a perverted way. I'm not mad. Do you honestly think I'm that shallow?" she frowned at him.
"That's not what I'm saying at all. I was only worried about my words having a different impact towards you."
"There is no need for you to worry, unless you actually meant it in a perverted way," her frown turned into a smirk. "Wouldn't that be a sight to see? I thought you would be different, but it turns out you're nothing different compared to those two boys who would rather use their lower regions to think instead of their brains."
"Oi, oi, don't compare me to those two..." he deadpanned. "What about Kushida and Matsushita then?
"I can't speak for the two of them, but I don't believe they're angry with you, either. After you left earlier, they left as well. Of course, you can talk to them and find out for yourself. Now," she folded her arms and went back to looking serious. "Is there anything else you wish to talk about, Ayanokouji-kun?"
"I could just talk to them later. Our fifteen minutes are almost up, anyway. I don't have any reason to doubt Horikita as well, so... if what she says is true, then I really have nothing to worry about," he thought, before shaking his head. "Not really. Thanks for not being angry with me, Horikita."
Unsure if what he had in mind was the right thing, Kiyotaka still felt the need to do it. He reached out with his hand and patted the girl on the head a few times, making her freeze and blush in embarrassment. Deep down, though, the girl felt happy that she was experiencing the soothing feeling of his touch once more.
[You have gained 5 Affection Points with Horikita Suzune!]
"Er... yes..." she mumbled, terribly flustered but too weak to do anything to stop him. And honestly, Suzune didn't feel like she wanted him to stop.
Unfortunately, Kiyotaka did stop patting her head a few moments later, not wanting to let anyone else see him do such a thing. This made Suzune let out a displeased grunt, which the young man didn't notice, thankfully. The girl herself was surprised at what she was feeling right now, as well as her reaction to him suddenly stopping in his actions.
"W-Why did I want him to keep on patting my head...?" she asked herself. "What is going on with me? Am I sick? Or is this all natural?"
At that same moment, their teacher blew his whistle, signaling everyone to gather around him so he could explain what would happen.
The boys and the girls will have their own races; two for the girls, and four for the boys. They will be ranked according to the time that it takes them to finish swimming through the whole 50-meter pool. Since the number of female participants were cut down in today's class, there wouldn't be many swimmers to keep track of and they can finish their races without any problems.
In the boys' case, the first three races would be a preliminary round of sorts, with the two top swimmers from each race competing in the final round. There, they will finally be ranked on who is the fastest. Either way, the final eight male participants along with the four top placers among the girls will be exempted from the supplementary lessons and will instead help teach their classmates the proper form and how to swim more effectively. Miyajima-sensei even sweetened the deal, saying that the top three winners from the boys and girls will receive some points from him as a reward.
"Good luck," Kiyotaka told Suzune while walking past her, as he and the rest of the boys moved towards another side of the pool to give the girls some space.
In response, the black-haired girl blushed, but nodded regardless. She didn't know why, but she felt strangely motivated to win this race!
The first race between the girls then began. Suzune and Kikyo were both part of it, with the former ending up as the winner with 28.22 seconds. Kushida came in second, ending up with a time of 30.12 seconds. The difference in speed was clear and bright as day.
Most of the boys cheered for Kikyo, their eyes glued towards her wet body that was only hiding behind a swimsuit. However, instead of responding to their praises like she usually does, she turned her attention towards one particular person and bounced over to where he was.
"How did I do, Ayanokouji-kun?" she asked, smiling brightly at him.
Kiyotaka didn't answer her right away, because he had to take a quick look at the people around them. He didn't expect the girl to do this in front of their other classmates, but maybe she just did it at the spur of the moment. However, that didn't help his case one bit, because a lot of their classmates (the boys, mostly) had just turned their attention towards him, mainly because Kikyo was talking to him.
"I-I never knew Kushida-chan was close with Ayanokouji..."
"Maybe they're just friends?"
"Are you kidding me?! He already has Horikita, now he's going to take away Kushida too?!"
"Kushida-chan is mine! I won't let Ayanokouji have her! You hear me, Ayanokouji?!"
Thankfully, it was only those boys who were watching him, which included Minami, Hondo, Yamauchi, and Ike. Everyone else had their attention elsewhere but still, did it really have to be a couple of guys who can't keep their mouths shut? At this rate, the day won't end without them blurting out to the whole class that he had a little talk with Kushida. If only the system had a skill that can mute people entirely and prevent their voices from being heard.
Kiyotaka rolled his eyes. It's not like this was never going to happen. There will always be the inevitable scenario where everyone else finds out what's going with him. Well, at the very least, they don't know that he lives on the same floor as Kikyo, right? That would garner a worse reaction.
He turned back towards Kikyo and gave her a nod. "You did great, Kushida. Second place is no easy feat."
[You have gained 1 Affection Point with Kushida Kikyo!]
The smile on the girl's face widened, to the point that she could kill a person with sheer cuteness. Even Kiyotaka couldn't stop himself from feeling a little heat in his cheeks when he saw her smile, and he knew it.
"Thanks, Ayanokouji-kun! Good luck on your race, by the way! I hope you win!" she cheered him on, before heading back to her friends.
"Why does she have to be a horrible person under that mask? Anyone would be lucky to have her as a girlfriend, but she's not what she seems," the young man said to himself in disappointment as he stared at the girl. "I hope the system can do something about it. Surely it doesn't expect me to handle a crazy girl who's hellbent on expelling one of her classmates just because she's from her old school."