“Alright!”
“Now it’s time for the final race!”
“The winners of each heat, plus our seeded swimmer, will compete for first place!”
The PE instructor raised his whistle.
Four swimmers stepped onto the starting blocks.
Ken Sudō stood in Lane 1.
Without looking directly at Hanayama beside him, he muttered under his breath.
“…I’m not losing again.”
His competitive spirit burned fiercely.
Next to him, Rokusuke Kōenji casually brushed his damp blond hair back, wearing his usual self-satisfied smile.
On the opposite side stood Kiyotaka Ayanokōji.
(…This is troublesome.)
(Because Ike and the others completely fell apart…)
(I somehow ended up in the finals.)
(I’ll just swim normally, finish last, and avoid standing out.)
That was his plan.
Only Hanayama stood completely motionless.
Like a stone statue.
His enormous frame radiated such overwhelming pressure that even the girls watching from the poolside unconsciously fell silent.
To them…
He looked less like a swimmer…
And more like some gigantic sea monster.
What none of them knew…
Was that Hanayama himself was secretly troubled.
(…This is bad.)
(Come to think of it…)
(I’ve only had one swimming lesson in my entire life.)
(That was back in middle school.)
That was the truth.
Kaoru Hanayama had almost no experience swimming.
His only instruction had been a single middle school class.
He was, for all practical purposes…
A complete beginner.
But the pride of the Hanayama-gumi would never allow him to admit,
“I can’t swim.”
Nor would he withdraw from the competition.
(…It should be simple.)
(Move my arms.)
(Kick my legs.)
(That’s swimming.)
Having reached that conclusion…
Hanayama calmly prepared himself.
“Take your marks!”
The instructor raised his whistle.
The four swimmers leaned forward.
Tweet!
The race began.
Sudō.
Kōenji.
Ayanokōji.
All three launched cleanly from their starting blocks, diving gracefully into the water.
Hanayama…
Was half a beat slower.
Not because he hesitated.
But because his diving technique was terrible.
Then—
CRACK!!
A deafening sound echoed across the pool.
Hanayama’s tremendous leg muscles contracted explosively.
The reinforced plastic starting block beneath him shattered instantly.
Its metal supports twisted apart under the unimaginable force.
“…WHAT?!”
The instructor’s jaw dropped.
Using the destroyed starting block as a springboard…
His dive wasn’t elegant.
It wasn’t streamlined.
It was simply…
Violent.
Swimming experts minimized water resistance.
They became one with the water.
Hanayama chose an entirely different philosophy.
He had no intention of adapting to the water.
He intended…
To overpower it.
His massive body shot nearly ten meters through the air.
Then—
BOOOOOOM!!
He hit the pool like a falling meteor.
An enormous column of water exploded into the sky.
The impact sent a violent shockwave racing through every lane.
Sudō.
Kōenji.
Ayanokōji.
All three immediately lost their balance.
But Hanayama was only getting started.
Still underwater…
He began wildly swinging his enormous arms.
He wasn’t performing freestyle.
He wasn’t using breaststroke.
He wasn’t using any recognized swimming technique.
He was simply forcing the water backward with overwhelming physical strength.
Each arm stroke churned the pool into chaos.
WHOOSH!!
Massive waves erupted.
The pool resembled a stormy sea.
A miniature tsunami rolled outward from Hanayama’s lane.
“W-What the hell?!”
Sudō barely had time to react.
A towering wall of water slammed into him from the side.
The impact lifted him completely out of the pool.
He landed on the wet tiles with a loud splash.
“Cough! Cough!”
Spitting water everywhere, he stared blankly at the pool.
“…What just happened?”
Kōenji fared little better.
“Hmph.”
“No amount of turbulence can disturb my perfe—”
A whirlpool swallowed him.
“Wha—?!”
His elegant swimming instantly dissolved into complete chaos.
He spun helplessly before crashing into the side of the pool.
By the time he resurfaced…
His carefully styled hair was completely ruined.
“My beautiful hair…”
He looked genuinely devastated.
Meanwhile…
Ayanokōji had already made his decision.
(This is dangerous.)
The instant Hanayama entered the water…
His mind calculated the turbulence.
The wave velocity.
The water displacement.
Continuing to swim normally carried a genuine risk of being dragged under.
Without hesitation…
He abandoned the race.
Just as another enormous wave approached…
He grabbed the lane rope with both hands and held on tightly. Find the original chapter at g.com.
Like someone surviving a flood.
The destruction wasn’t limited to the swimmers.
Huge waves spilled over the pool’s edge.
“Ahhh!”
“My swimsuit!”
The girls standing nearby were drenched instantly.
Buckets of water couldn’t have soaked them more thoroughly.
Kushida…
Kei…
The other girls…
All stood dripping wet.
Even Suzune Horikita wasn’t spared.
Her long black hair clung to her face as water streamed from her swimsuit.
She stared silently toward the center lane.
“…What…”
“…is that?”
Then—
THUD!
A heavy impact echoed from the opposite end of the pool.
The waves gradually settled.
Overflowing water drained away.
Silence returned.
Standing at the finish wall…
Kaoru Hanayama slowly rose from the water.
Covered in his black full-body swimsuit…
He resembled a giant monster emerging from the ocean.
His breathing remained calm.
Almost relaxed.
Hanayama casually wiped the water from his face.
Then quietly looked toward the instructor.
The instructor looked back…
Then looked at his stopwatch.
Then looked back at Hanayama again.
“…Huh?”
The stopwatch displayed:
18.7 seconds.
A time that didn’t merely surpass any high school record.
It bordered on the physically impossible.
The instructor blinked several times.
Then smacked the stopwatch against his palm.
“…Strange.”
“It must’ve gotten water inside.”
“Cheap stopwatch…”
“It must be broken.”
He casually put it away.
“Ahem!”
“Although the exact time couldn’t be recorded because of equipment failure…”
He cleared his throat.
“Sudō was forced out of the pool.”
“Kōenji left his lane.”
“Ayanokōji effectively withdrew.”
“Therefore…”
“I declare the winner of this race…”
“…Kaoru Hanayama!”
No one applauded.
No one celebrated.
The entire class simply stared.
Some in disbelief.
Some in shock.
Some in awe.
Hanayama quietly climbed out of the pool without the slightest trace of pride.
Inside…
He secretly sighed with relief.
(Good.)
(At least I managed to finish the race.)