The next day.
Inside the luxuriously equipped indoor swimming pool of Shuchiin Academy, it was currently filled with noisy echoes.
Young male and female students wearing school swimsuits were standing by the poolside.
This was the time for the swimming class.
Because it happened that the classes of two sections coincided, plus there was a formal swimming test today that counted towards their grades, the physical education teacher simply had the students of both sections take the class together.
This also caused the number of people by the poolside to be significantly larger than when Ayanokouji had class a few days ago.
Before the official test started, the teacher gave twenty minutes of free warm-up time.
Allowing everyone to adapt to the water temperature and complete their warm-ups.
Unlike other students who were earnestly reviewing swimming stroke techniques or doing warm-up exercises by the poolside,
Kiyotaka seemed to have no intention of cherishing this precious time, and as usual, he avoided the crowd.
Soaking alone in the shallow area at the corner, with only his head exposed above the water surface.
“Mr.
Ayanokouji, you really have as little motivation as ever.”
A sweet yet playful voice sounded in Ayanokouji’s ear as he stood with his back to the pool.
As soon as he turned his head following the voice, before his vision had fully focused, with a splash, a snow-white thigh brushed against the edge of his cheek and unceremoniously kicked into the water.
“The splashes got into my eyes.
Next time you say hello, please don’t be so intense, Fujiwara.”
Ayanokouji helplessly rubbed his eyes and looked at the girl who had sat down right beside him with a cheeky, unrepentant giggle.
Fujiwara Chika’s signature long pink hair was casually coiled at the back of her head, and her azure blue pupils flickered with a seemingly tireless light.
Her overly energetic demeanor made anyone who took a single glance automatically experience a sense of synesthesia in their minds, producing a feeling of being “noisy.”
At this moment, that relatively conservative standard school swimsuit seemed to be experiencing a sizing crisis when worn on her body.
Her overly well-developed and proud curves were wrapped tightly, bringing a strong visual impact no matter which angle one looked from.
After greeting him, she naturally and proactively moved close to sit beside Ayanokouji.
Whether she completely didn’t realize it or simply didn’t care, the distance between the two of them underwater was a bit too close.
Under the swaying of the water waves, their thighs faintly touched each other.
The two were not classmates, and their relationship shouldn’t be as close as it appeared on the surface.
At this moment, the reason the girl had leaned over without any reservations was entirely thanks to an “accident” Ayanokouji encountered shortly after entering school.
One day during lunch break, Ayanokouji was quietly eating his bento hidden in a remote corner of the stairs, when Fujiwara Chika suddenly “popped” out from the bushes from somewhere.
She was holding a magnifying glass in her hand, with an unlit pipe realistically clenched in her mouth, cosplaying Sherlock Holmes.
Upon seeing Ayanokouji, she walked up on her own accord and vividly described a spotted white cat, saying it was the “prime suspect” that destroyed a rare plant in the gardening club.
Even though Ayanokouji stated that he hadn’t seen it at all, after staring at him up and down for a few glances, the other party forcefully announced:
“Since Ayanokouji-kun is here alone with nothing to do, then come be my assistant!”
“I’m eating, eh.”
Ayanokouji at that time looked at his bento box with one-third remaining, trying to communicate with her like a normal girl.
However, the protest was invalid.
Ayanokouji was forcibly dragged away by the wrist by Fujiwara Chika and dragged into an inexplicable detective game.
In the end, relying on Ayanokouji’s observation and logical deduction, the two of them actually found that cat.
But when they went to the gardening club to cross-check, they learned that the real culprit was actually another pet lop-eared rabbit raised by the club president.
Although catching the wrong “suspect” led to a very awkward result, throughout the whole process, it was basically Ayanokouji who used his brain and put in the effort, while the great detective Chika was only responsible for blindly giving directions from the side, or providing so-called emotional value.
Back and forth, this overly airheaded girl unilaterally declared Ayanokouji to be her “reliable good friend,” and occasionally would proactively run over to ask him to play together.
Without exception, all these invitations were rejected by Ayanokouji without changing his expression.
Although through several interactions he learned that her great-grandfather was a former Prime Minister, her uncle served as the current Minister of State, her father was a grand justice, and her mother was a diplomat…
In short, she was a thorough political young lady with an enviable and excellent background.
However, the surname “Fujiwara” did not appear on the list of people that man gave who must be contacted.
Therefore, in order to strive for the complete freedom that might come in the future, Ayanokouji, who had no choice but to make a bunch of important tasks for himself, chose to put the priority of getting along with her slightly further down.
Treating her simply as a classmate relationship no different from anyone else, for now.
Seeing that after saying hello, Ayanokouji soaked in the water like a block of wood and didn’t speak anymore, Fujiwara Chika was not discouraged.
Her gaze swept across Ayanokouji’s upper body exposed above the water, and she suddenly stretched out her hand and poked his lower abdomen.
Soft fingertips gently brushed across Ayanokouji’s firm abdomen and circled a few times, making Ayanokouji feel a slight tingling itch.
“How unexpected.”
Fujiwara Chika blinked, as if she had discovered a new continent, “Normally you always look listless and like you’d fall over with a gust of wind, but your muscle lines are unexpectedly firm?”
“Mr.
Ayanokouji, could you be secretly working out in private?”
“Sort of.”
Ayanokouji didn’t deliberately hide it either, and replied flatly, “I’ve always had the habit of exercising, starting from when I was a child.”
“Eh…” Fujiwara hummed meaningfully, and then her eyes mixed with a hint of teasing, as well as a little worry for Ayanokouji, turning the topic back to the present,
“Having a good figure doesn’t necessarily mean you can get a good grade in the test later.
If you fail, you’ll need to take a make-up test.”
“At that time, if you’re willing to humbly ask me, kind Chika wouldn’t mind showing mercy and teaching you.”
Just as the two of them were chatting, a crisp sound of entering the water, “splash,” suddenly came from a nearby independent swimming lane.
“Wow, it’s Kaguya!”
Fujiwara Chika was instantly attracted, and after seeing the identity of the person who entered the water, she let out an exclamation.
The gaze of the entire swimming pool was attracted by her voice.
As the all-rounded genius of Shuchiin Academy, Kaguya displayed a perfect swimming posture in the pool even just doing warm-up exercises.
The boys cast stunning and admiring glances one after another, while the girls whispered aside.
Even the physical education teacher standing on the bank couldn’t help nodding in satisfaction.
After swimming a few simple laps to adapt to the water temperature, Kaguya stopped her movements and broke through the water surface.
Like a lotus emerging from the water, her signature long, straight black hair clung wetly to her fair back.
A few wisps of loose hair clung to her delicate and cold cheeks, but without the disheveled look after being soaked in water.
Instead, matching her ruby-like clear and cold blood-red eyes, it further spread the aura of keeping strangers away from her.
Just when everyone’s attention, including Ayanokouji’s, was focused on her, Fujiwara Chika beside him suddenly waved her hand towards Kaguya with a mindless, brilliant smile.
“Kaguya——!
Over here, over here!”