Practical Classroom: Kaoru Hanayama's Classroom of Merit

The heavy door to the women's changing room slowly slid open to one side.

The female students, dressed in navy blue swimsuits, stepped onto the poolside one after another, with a hint of shyness.

Originally, this moment should have been the time when the male students would be most excited, blatant, or awkwardly casting their gazes.

Whether it was Karuizawa Megumi, Kushida Kikyo, or even the other girls, they were all mentally prepared to ignore those rude stares.

They even prepared lines to retort, such as "Wait a minute, where are you looking?"

however.

"One, two, three, four!"

None of the male students on the other side of the pool intended to look in the girls' direction.

They stared intently at the tile floor, stretching their Achilles tendons mechanically like robots, performing flexion and extension exercises.

Especially those like Kanji Ike and Haruki Yamauchi, who had large red bumps on their heads, looked like they were being subjected to some kind of punishment game, continuing to stretch while clutching their heads.

"...What is that? It feels disgusting."

Karuizawa Kei frowned, as if deflated. Her voice held a hint of dissatisfaction.

"Everyone is doing their warm-up exercises very seriously. That's amazing."

Kushida smoothed things over with an angelic smile, but inside she felt a faint sense of emptiness, thinking, "Huh? Am I not being watched at all?"

Since the girls' much-anticipated "gaze from the boys" completely failed, an indescribable and subtle sense of unease began to permeate the air.

What completely erased this displeasure was the black rock mountain standing at the end of the warm-up team.

"Wait a minute... what's that?"

Following the direction Karuizawa pointed.

There, completely covered from ankle to wrist to neck by pitch-black fabric, Kaoru Hanayama, dressed in a huge racing swimsuit, stood upright.

"Pfft... What kind of clothes are those? Are they for divers? Or are they imitating orcas?"

"No, I feel more like a villain from a tokusatsu drama."

Led by Karuizawa, the girls began to laugh and make unfiltered comments.

Kushida also covered the corner of his mouth with a wry smile.

"Is Hanayama-kun very afraid of the cold? But, he's quite imposing with his size."

Horikita Suzune, who was staying a little away from the center of the commotion, still directed her cold red eyes at Hanayama and quietly moved closer.

She stood beside Huashan Mountain, wearing a swimsuit, and sighed as if speechless.

"Are you... dressed like that for real? Did you mistake this class for a diving class or something?"

Faced with Horikita's cold questioning, Hanayama answered without wavering, looking straight ahead.

"Swimming naturally requires the right equipment. I'm serious about that."

"Is that so? Well then, let me take a closer look at your so-called serious body."

As soon as Horikita finished speaking, she quickly stretched out her fair and slender hand and stabbed it towards Hanayama's side abdomen in the shape of a hand chop.

It was a joking gesture, yet it was also a sharp blow delivered with a slight increase in her weight.

For an average person, it's normal to have a slight muscle indentation and react with "Ouch, that hurts!"

Bang!

"...!?"

Horikita's face instantly lost its expression.

What she felt from her fingertips was not the elasticity that human muscles should have.

It was as if it had been pierced by a thick concrete wall, generating an extremely strong reaction force.

She immediately concealed her expression and quickly hid her bright red hands behind her back.

A tingling pain shot from my fingertips straight up my arm.

"Wait a minute...you, do you have bulletproof steel plates under your skin?"

Horikita frowned slightly, forcibly suppressing his pain as he uttered those words.

"Just ordinary muscle. Horikita, you should take some calcium."

Huashan answered calmly.

Looking at that calm face, Horikita clicked his tongue softly.

"Hey! Class D, are you all done your warm-up exercises?!"

Just then, a sports coach wearing a red tracksuit and looking very enthusiastic walked over, blowing the whistle hanging around his neck.

"Alright! Everyone assemble! Trainees, head to the second-floor stands! Today we're having an intra-class timed swimming competition!"

The coach clapped his hands to get the students' attention, then grinned.

"As you all know, you need points for everything you do in this school! Therefore, I've prepared a special extra reward for you today. The first place winner in both the boys' and girls' groups will receive 5,000 points from my own pocket!"

"Really?!"

"Five thousand points!"

A very real cheer erupted from the male students.

"Swimming skills will definitely come in handy in the future! Don't fall behind at the starting line!"

As the coach spoke, he began to divide the participants into groups.

Because there were fewer girls participating, only ten in total, they were divided into two groups of five.

There were sixteen male participants.

Since the pool only has five lanes, there will always be one extra person if it's divided into three sessions.

Just then, Chi, whose head was still throbbing, timidly raised his hand.

"Um, teacher! If we need to adjust the number of participants, how about we seed Hanayama and have him directly enter the finals!?"

Behind the pond, Yamauchi, Sudo, and even Hirata nodded repeatedly.

Their only honest opinion was: never swim with Huashan.

"Oh? Alright then. If you have no objections, Hanayama-kun can stay until last."

The coach readily gave permission, and Huashan did not raise any objections.

He simply stood near the finish line deep in the lane and quietly crossed his arms.

The girls' group started first.

With the sound of the whistle, the female students jumped into the water in unison.

Horikita Suzune parted the water with a graceful, effortless movement.

Her breathing rhythm was also very accurate, and it can be seen from her swimming style that she has a high level of skill in all aspects.

However, a swift shadow was cutting through the waves in the adjacent lane at a speed far exceeding hers.

Kayano Onodera.

Although she was petite, the agility she displayed upon entering the water was on a completely different level from the other students.

The supple muscles unleashed astonishing propulsion, creating almost no splash as they steadily widened the distance between them.

"Finish line! First place in the first group, Onodera! Time: 26.2 seconds! Next is Horikita, 28.3 seconds!"

The coach announced the time aloud.

Onodera climbed to the edge of the pool without even panting, took off his swimming goggles, and casually brushed the water droplets off his hair.

Her expression revealed a pure focus on winning or losing, and an unwavering confidence in her swimming.

Horikita, slightly out of breath and with a hint of resentment in his eyes, went ashore without saying a word.

Next, the boys' group started.

On the starting platform for the first group, stood Ken Sudo and Yosuke Hirata.

"Hirata-kun! Good luck!"

"We absolutely have to get first place!"

Most of the girls by the pool cheered for the refreshing Hirata.

That scene ignited the dormant, dark resentment in the boys' hearts.

"...Hey, Sudo. You absolutely can't lose, kid."

"We absolutely cannot let Hirata steal the spotlight! We must preserve our dignity!"

With red eyes, Ike and Yamauchi sent a shout to Sudo that was hard to tell whether it was a cheer or a threat.

Sudo yelled back, "Shut up! I don't need you to say anything!" and got into a diving position.

The whistle blew, sending up a violent splash.

Hirata's swimming style is very balanced; it's a freestyle without any strain.

But Sudo was completely different. He had no grace whatsoever; he simply relied on his strong physique and power to violently smash through the water and keep charging forward.

"Finish! Sudou, 24 seconds 7! Hirata, 25 seconds 3!"

The outcome was decided by an extremely small margin.

As Sudo touched the pool wall, he raised his arm high as if letting out a victor's roar.

"Ora! Did you see that, Hirata?!"

"...Haha, utterly defeated. Sudo-kun is really amazing."

Despite his uneven breathing, Hirata still displayed the good manners of a young man who frankly admitted defeat.

This left Sudo with no target for his excessive hostility, and he could only end with "...Hmph, of course."

The next group.

Rokusuke Koenji demonstrated perfect diving by eliminating all unnecessary movements.

Glide through the water like a dolphin, leaving everyone else far behind and achieving an overwhelming victory.

The time was an astonishing 23.2 seconds. It was an exaggerated result that left even the coach speechless.

Then the third group.

On the diving platform stood Ayanokoji, Ike, Yamanouchi, and Sotomura side by side.

(...What a terrible combination.)

The whistle blew, and Ayanokouji entered the water with a pace that was neither conspicuous nor too slow.

However, he immediately sensed something was off as soon as he started swimming.

In the adjacent lane, Chi was nearly drowning due to failing to breathe, while Yamauchi had exhausted himself and was now doggy-paddled.

As for the outer village, he even got a leg cramp halfway through and was clinging tightly to the lane buoy, groaning.

(No matter what, this is just too horrible to look at.)

Ayanokouji judged that if he slowed down any further, he would end up just floating on the water and would be the first to hit the wall.

"The finish line... um, first place is Ayanokouji. His time is 33.7 seconds. As for the rest... well, it's good that they're still alive."

The coach announced the time in a somewhat helpless voice.

Hanayama stood beside the finish line, looking down at Ayanokoji, and slightly lowered his chin.

Ayanokouji sighed softly and climbed onto the edge of the pool.