It seems my intuition was right. When I arrived at the changing rooms, the female one was locked. It was unlikely it was another visitor, so I knocked on the door.

"Suzuki-san. Everyone's waiting for you."

I didn't get a response. Instead of knocking again, I waited. Suzuki was a gyaru, but her personality was quite distant at times, like mine.

The door of the changing room opened. I peered inside to see the swimsuit-clad Suzuki, who had a bag with her casual clothes inside. In the upper corner of the stall, there was a small camera.

"Takanori? What the hell are you doing here..."

"I could ask you the same question, you know."

"Get out of my way."

I moved as Suzuki left the stall. As she did, falling out of her bag was a pen with its lid uncapped. Becoming alert, she swiped down to pick the pen up. Instead, leaning down caused the clothes in her bag to spill onto the floor.

It wouldn't be a problem, except, sitting on top of the pile was an open notebook with all sorts of scribbled kanji on it. Panicking, she snatched up the notebook and held it tightly to her chest, turning away from me, and grabbing her shirt from the floor.

"You didn't see anything, did you?"

Suzuki used a threatening tone against me.

"You were writing while everyone was swimming?"

Shoving her things into the bag, Suzuki kicked me in the shin. However, since she was also barefoot, it did little damage.

"Grr..."

"I won't tell anyone what I saw today."

I tried to reassure her, but instead it angered her.

"Ugh... you're the worst!"

In the first place, it was strange to see a sociable person like her hide from everyone else. What was putting her off from joining the group?

"Suzuki-san. Do you not like swimming?"

"What kind of stupid question is that? Of course I do."

She shoved her bag into a locker.

"Then... why did you coop yourself up in that stall?"

"It's none of your business."

I didn't want to weaponise it, but Suzuki left me with no choice.

"...I'll tell them about the notebook."

"Oh, and here I thought you'd keep your mouth shut. Dirty blackmailing loner."

There was no winning with this girl. The moment I used threats on her, she just snapped back ten times harder.

"I'm genuinely curious. Give me some sort of explanation."

"Forget it, you wouldn't understand."

"I've lived my life as a loner. I think I'd understand better than anyone else."

Those words made Suzuki freeze in place, and bite her bottom lip.

"You're so annoying!"

She began to storm away from me. I followed her. The more she wanted to hide it, the more I wanted to know.

"Is it because Fujimura-san wanted to spend time with Nora-san instead of you?"

Suzuki laughed.

"Ha, you don't know a thing about Shouko-chan, do you? She has a crush on him, of course she'd want to spend time with him."

Well, that's not the information I was trying to search. I could've inferred that from Fujimura's actions today, but to get it confirmed by her own best friend... I really couldn't see her and Nora as a couple. Especially after all the nasty things Fujimura did.

I suppose Nora was the forgiving type, since he managed to befriend Yukimura who wasn't kind to him at first either.

"Then... you can't swim?"

"I know how to swim, dumbass. Don't talk down to me."

So the obvious secret for wanting to avoid swimming wasn't the correct answer.

"You don't like large crowds?"

"Huh? I'm not like you, I love being the centre of attention."

"Or perhaps, you just didn't want to come out here today."

Suzuki stopped. She turned around, and grit her teeth. It was safe to say this was the correct answer.

"So what if I didn't want to play today? None of your business."

"You could've made up an excuse not to come at all."

It's what I would've done if things went awry.

"You don't understand a thing about friendships. Stupid loner."

Suzuki didn't want to have a proper conversation with me. She just wanted me to leave her alone.

"Did the peer pressure get to you?"

"...no, not at all."

That delayed response says differently.

"Was there something else you wanted to do today?"

"Not... particularly."

Her aggressive tone started to calm down.

"Really?"

"Really."

"It doesn't sound that way."

Suzuki sighed, crossing her arms.

"God, you're so lame."

"Lame?"

"You keep asking me all these stupid questions. Why do you care so much? We're not even friends. Get a hint, I hate you."

Ouch. It wouldn't be the first time a girl said something like that to my face.

"We're classmates, and Fujimura-san asked me to find you."

Even though I replied honestly, Suzuki bursted out laughing.

"You're so lame... and stupid... ha ha..."

I didn't find it funny at all.

"Everyone's doing races right now. We're participating in the second race, which is going to start soon."

"Wow, they saved a space for me? How considerate."

Suzuki rolled her eyes. Our talk had to abruptly end, as the entrance to the pool was at the end of this corridor.

However, Suzuki stood outside the entrance and glared at me.

"Takanori. Promise me that you won't tell anyone about the notebook."

I raised an eyebrow. Why was that notebook so important to her?

"I won't."

"Don't use it to threaten me either, you hear?"

"Yeah. I won't."

"Good."

"But why? Why didn't you want to come today?"

"...girl problems."

"Girl... problems?"

"A boy wouldn't understand..."

Suzuki, who was red in the face, entered the pool. For some reason, I feel like I could understand what she meant, but didn't want to dig any deeper into it.

I followed after her, and it seemed everyone was waiting for our return to start the second race. Nibiiro was writing on a whiteboard the results.

Race 1 results
1st: Katsumi Kou
2nd: Shinomiya Mai
3rd: Himeji Kazuto
4th: Sakigamiya Alice
5th: Demiza Taiga
6th: Hono Ria
7th: Tanaka Houji
8th: Nora Takayuki

Katsumi looked like she didn't even break a sweat. However, both 2nd Years were going through to the finals, so it was gonna be difficult to compete against them. Tanaka, who nearly came last, was on the floor breathing heavily.

Nora, who did come last, was sitting at the table with a bright red face, trying to catch his breath. Fujimura was by his side, rubbing his back and giving him water to drink.

"Haa... haa..."

"Don't worry Takayuki-chan, I'll get your revenge by winning the next race."

Fujimura was determined to win for his sake. Nora weakly cheered her on.

"Good... haa... luck... haa..."

Sakigamiya was also sitting at a table, out of breath. Even though she came 4th, the gap between her and Himeji's abilities must've been huge.

"Alright, the second race will begin!"

Himeji announced, making us get ready at the starting platform. Since I was the 16th stick, I got one of the lanes at the end, the complete opposite to who was most likely to win, Yukimura. I did some light stretches to make sure I wouldn't get a cramp.

Considering my major enemy in this race was Yukimura, I tried not to focus on the other competitors. All that mattered was beating Yukimura, as I was sure I could beat everyone else there. Pulling down my goggles, Himeji began the countdown.

"On your marks... get set... goooooooooooo!!"

With that, we all leapt from the starting platform and into the water. Since this was freestyle, I did a front crawl, which was known to be the fastest out of all front strokes. My arms pierced through the water like an arc, and I saw flashes of blue and white as my head bobbed up and down the water surface.

The front crawl was effective because it allowed for a good range of motion for the arm in the water, and had above-water recovery to reduce drag. I worked my arms harder, doing my best to increase my speed while fighting the water resistance that tried to drag me back. The water splashed around me, rippling away with each stroke.

Since this was a fifty metre pool, I decided to push my body at the final quarter like a final sprint. At the three-quarter point, I kicked my arms into overdrive, and increasing the force of my stroke to cut through the water faster. Up against Yukimura, I had to go all out, so I pushed my limbs to the absolute limit and drove through with all my strength.

I was so concentrated on reaching the end, the water that splashed around me became a white blur. I discarded all unnecessary information about my surroundings, including the fact that Yukimura also existed. All I could feel in this moment was the burning of my muscles as I used speed and power to win the race. Just a little more, and I-

As my arm reached up to drive through the water, it hit the surface of the wall instead. Immediately, I raised my head out of the water, taking deep breaths to replenish oxygen. I leaned against the wall, looking to my far right.

"I'm above you, loser."

I looked up, and Yukimura stuck his tongue out while pulling his eye. Unfortunately, I fell short compared to him. However, looking around, no one else from our race had gotten out of the water, so I was sure I got 2nd place at the very least. Slowly, more students began to finish the race after me, with Mitsuba coming in last to signal the end.

I got out of the water to check the whiteboard Himeji filled in with the results. It seems Yukina had safely made it to the next round.

Race 2 results
1st: Yukimura Fudou
2nd: Takanori Yuuto
3rd: Nibiiro Suzui
4th: Kazuraba Yukina
5th: Sanou Nozomi
6th: Fujimura Shouko
7th: Suzuki Mayuri
8th: Mitsuba Jun

Mitsuba slumped onto the floor next to Tanaka, breathing heavily. Nibiiro looked relieved that he had secured 3rd place. Yukina huffed, her face all red and sweaty as she held her thumping chest. Fujimura defeatedly walked over to Nora, sitting down next to him. This time, it was his turn to console her.

"Y-you did good, Shouko-san..."

"Thanks, Takayuki-chan..."

Fujimura fell onto Nora's lap, sighing. Nora, flustered, just let her relax in his presence. It seemed that, slowly, their relationship was improving.

"How was that, Sakigamiya-san? I absolutely crushed them, didn't I!"

Yukimura flexed his arm muscles, before Sakigamiya shook her head, looking in disbelief.

"You know that Takanori-san over took you halfway through, right?"

"Huh?! No way, that's impossible!"

I had suddenly became the centre of attention. No had expected me to come 2nd, let alone somehow overtake Yukimura partway through the race.

"No, Takanori-san overtook you for a good bit of the race."

Demiza rubbed her eyes, as if trying to wake up from a bad dream. Even if I managed to do that, he still won in the end, so it doesn't really matter.

"Good job, you two! That was a super close race! I couldn't tell who would win it in the end!"

Himeji complimented the both of us. I gave a light nod in acknowledgement.

"Super close?! No way, that's impossible! I crushed Takanori, didn't I?!"

Yukimura still didn't believe that I had the ability to swim.

"Nope. We honestly couldn't tell who would win between you two."

Himeji laughed, while Yukimura huffed. He walked up to me and threw his fist just short of my face.

"Listen up, Takanori! In the next race, I'll absolutely crush you, I promise it!"

Scary.

"H-Himeji-senpai... can we please have a break...?"

It was the exhausted Yukina who requested that. She looked really thirsty after pushing herself that badly. I felt the same. My mouth was all dry and sticky sweat was coating my body.

"Good idea. I'll give everyone a fifteen minute rest to get our stamina back."

With that, most of the students left to go to the changing rooms to get a drink or their phone, so they could pay for a drink in the lobby's vending machine.

Fujimura, who regained her breath, looked at the whiteboard. Ignoring she came sixth, she threw out a semi-sarcastic reaction.

"No way, Takanori actually has a talent?"

"U-um... Shouko-san, do you want... to get our drinks?"

"Of course, after all that, I'm beat. You can some of mine if you want~"

Okay, maybe I can see them become a couple. I also went to the changing room to get my bottle of water.