November Sun 6
“I see…”
Hearing the explanation, Chika nodded in agreement.
“That makes sense. If I keep holding your hand, I can feel safe knowing you’ll be there to help if anything happens. But are you sure about this, Sōma-san? Isn’t it embarrassing?”
“Well, it is embarrassing.”
Walking around the pool holding hands the whole time would make them look like a stupid couple.
If he saw a man and woman doing that, he’d surely think, “Go explode.”
But today’s goal was to give Chika special swimming lesson.
“If holding hands can alleviate your fear even a little, then my embarrassment is a trivial matter. We shouldn’t get our priorities wrong.”
With that firm declaration, Chika showed a gentle smile.
“Sōma-san, you always have this way about you. When you decide something is the most important, you don’t look away and go straight for it, or should I say, you’re earnest.”
“I’m just not good at doing many things at once.”
If he were capable of multitasking, it would have been better, but Sōma lacked such dexterity.
Fully aware of this, he had decided to focus on one thing at a time.
“I really like that about you, Sōma-san.”
“…Thanks.”
Feeling embarrassed, he responded gruffly, and Chika squeezed his hand tightly.
“At this moment, I’m your number one priority?”
“Let’s just start practicing.”
“Okay!”
And so, Chika’s special swimming training began.
Despite the grandiose term “special training,” the training was not intended to be like that of a swimming school.
First and foremost, it was essential to overcome Chika’s aversion to water.
There was no way she could learn to swim while still being afraid of water.
So, he started by getting her used to the water.
“If you’re afraid of water, why don’t we start by splashing water on your face? I’ll splash it, and you can get used to it little by little.”
As he splashed water with his free hand, Chika pondered.
“That’s a good idea, but it’s frustrating to have water splashed on me one-sidedly. Can I splash back?”
“You want to make it a contest? Fine, but I won’t hold back.”
“Bring it on. Here I go. Splash! Splash!”
“Hey, don’t dodge and splash at the same time. What do you think this water splashing is for?”
“Well, it’s to get Sōma-san soaking wet?”
“Please don’t forget the purpose from the very start.”
After a good amount of splashing and getting used to having a wet face, they moved on to the second phase.
“Next, let’s try diving underwater. Make sure to keep your eyes open.”
“Isn’t that too difficult? It’s a bit scary to do it alone.”
“Then, let’s make it another contest. I’ll dive too, and we’ll see who can stay under longer.”
“Hmm, that alone doesn’t motivate me enough. How about the winner gets to give one command?”
“Fine, but… what kind of command are you planning to give?”
“I want to ride on Sōma-san like a human surfboard.”
“Why do you come up with such sadistic ideas so easily?”
After the diving contest, which he was determined not to lose, they decided to practice floating in the water.
“Floating? That sounds really scary. Sōma-san, could you hold me tightly?”
“If I hold you, you won’t feel the floating feeling properly.”
“I don’t mind, please just do it. I want to get a feel for floating first.”
“It kind of feels like we’re getting a baby used to the bath.”
“A baby!? I want to do that to you, Sōma-san!”
“No, I can swim and float, so there’s no need.”
While they were practicing swimming, a group of high school boys watched them with envious expressions, but the two of them focused earnestly on their practice.
Thanks to that, Chika gradually became accustomed to the water and seemed to gain confidence.
“Hey, Sōma-san, I think I might be able to swim now. I want to try swimming.”
“You’re getting confident too quickly after just a few hours of practice. If it were that easy, all the swimming schools in the world would go out of business.”
However, he could understand her point.
It would be strange to come to practice swimming and not swim at all, and it would be hard to maintain motivation.
“Then, how about we practice flutter kicking? I’ll hold your hands, and you try to float and kick your legs like earlier.”
“Oh, that sounds good. It really feels like swimming practice.”
Chika, eager to try, gripped Sōma’s hands tightly, relaxed her body, and floated face down on the water.
“…it’s really amazing…”
He muttered, looking at the curve emerging from the water.
“Did you say something?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Her T-shirt clung to her body because of the water, highlighting the line from her back to her bottom.
He was always reminded of it when she hugged him or wore revealing clothes. Her bottom and chest were very full.
Chika is the type of girl who looks thin in clothes.
Probably, no other boys knew about her incredible figure except for him.
“Alright, try moving your legs alternately and slowly.”
He forced his gaze away from the temptation and fixed it on her face, focusing on teaching her to swim.
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“Don’t tense up weirdly. You’ll sink.”
“Okay.”
She started to flutter her legs as prompted but soon began to grimace as if struggling.
“This is kind of hard. I don’t understand how to apply strength. If I don’t use strength, I can’t kick, but if I do, I sink.”
True to her words, Chika’s buttocks kept sinking and rising.
“You’re tensing up in the wrong places. Relax, don’t bend your knees, and move your whole leg with the feeling of pushing the water back.”
“If I use my whole leg, won’t that make me tense up? I don’t understand your explanation, Sōma-san. Make it easier to understand please.”
“Even if you say that…”
Sōma was by no means a strong swimmer, so he didn’t have the knowledge to explain it in a simple way.
As he tried to remember how he felt when swimming, he attempted to describe it.
“It’s kind of like, imagine you’re a firm piece of konnyaku and move your body with that in mind.”
“Konnyaku? I don’t get it at all. Besides, as someone aspiring to be a patissier, shouldn’t you be saying something like jelly or pudding?”
“Give me a break. To me, it feels more like konnyaku than jelly.”
Sōma’s advice was of no help, so Chika had no choice but to keep trying and struggling with the flutter kick on her own.
How long had they practiced the flutter kick? She had quickly given up when it came to running, but perhaps because she had suggested it herself, she persevered quite a bit.