Real teaching, hypocritical gray life

"Hey, um...I'm fine."

Ichinose waved his hand, and Shiranami and his group breathed a sigh of relief. I took this opportunity to walk out the door.

"I have just taken care of Ichinose's sprained ankle, but she still needs to rest. If possible, could you help take care of Ichinose? I still need to continue my duties as a lifeguard at the swimming pool."

"Uh, oh, okay."

After hearing my explanation, the three of them nodded like chicks pecking at rice.

"It's troublesome."

After leaving the infirmary, I said hello to Kanzaki and the others, and then returned to the life-saving chair. At this time, President Horikita was sitting on it. When he saw me coming back, he jumped down from it calmly.

"President, can't you help me sit for a while?"

However, he did not pay much attention to my joke, but asked me another question.

"Do you know when pool lifeguards need to take action?"

"... bathers' lives are in danger, or they are warned before harm is caused."

"If it's just a sprained ankle, it's purely due to personal reasons. The responsibility will not be shifted to the pool lifeguard, and we don't have to be responsible for it. But your actions seem very anxious... Is it because Ichinose was injured?"

"Even if you are the student council president, please don't make such jokes casually."

"Then how do you explain your behavior? I am aware of the defects of the swimming pool, and I reported it to the school some time ago. Students often get injured in that area, but I know that the most serious injury is just a sprained ankle."

"Those accidents were all caused by luck, but the problem Ichinose encountered was far more than that. President Horikita should have seen the angle and direction of Ichinose's body tilting just now. If he hadn't stopped it in time, Ichinose's temple would have hit the edge of the swimming pool. I'm sure you are aware of the consequences of this."

The bone plate at the temple is only 1-2 mm thick and is the weakest part of the skull. It is easy to fracture if hit violently, which can directly affect brain function.

For future victory, Ichinose must not have any problems.

"But...is this really the case?"

"At least, that's what I think."

I returned to the lifeboat chair and began to look around at my surroundings again without any interest.

"So how did you do that just now?"

President Horikita straightened his black-rimmed glasses, and his gaze became sharp in an instant.

"...What are you referring to?"

"You just showed your skills."

"......skill?"

"Don't try to play dumb. Others may not have seen it clearly, but within my field of vision, I can easily see your every move... How did you manage to stabilize yourself in that situation?"

"..."

"Also, even if you knew the direction of the ball, the flaws of the swimming pool, and the accident that would happen to Ichinose in the future, you would not be able to help him in time at a normal human speed. The disaster should have happened on the way, but you arrived easily and rescued him."

"..."

"I can't do this kind of action efficiency. Your body functions - just how far have they reached?"

"..."

Ah, this man always focuses on these inconspicuous places.

I thought my movements were natural.

"I'm sorry, but it's hard for me to explain even if you put it that way. But I can explain your first question."

"About how on earth I just did that."

"..."

"As you can see, everything I do is done under your watchful eyes, that's all."

"..."

Ah, that's all.

Chapter 147: Inexplicable Sensibility and the Lethality of Beautiful Girls

When I think of a swimming pool, the pool of water used indoors in the required course comes to mind, nothing else. After all, I had no memory of entering a "swimming pool" before, and the first time I entered it was also in this school.

It may sound quite pitiful, but it is a fact that is only natural to me.

Swimming pools were originally considered places for bathing and worshipping, but only after decades of development did they gradually become places for people to swim, and then hold related entertainment events or competitions.

A swimming pool is just a pool of water.

Although I personally understand this correctly, I still think that planting some flower beds around this water park is a good choice. Although there are senior students setting up stalls on the side of the road to fill the surrounding space, it may be more pleasing to the eye to plant green seedlings and flower vines in the gaps between the partition walls.

It is inevitable that I think of the planting of flower beds again and again. After all, I am in a water park. As a result, words like "splash" and "ripple" will emerge uncontrollably from the depths of my mind to describe the details of each scene.

This feeling is very annoying. Not only can I not see what I want to see, but even the inability to continue my fantasy is quite annoying. If there were swimming rings blooming like flowers in the swimming pool, it wouldn't be like this.

However, as a junior high school student, needing to use a swimming ring to swim is definitely something that will make people laugh. I mean, it's ridiculous.

"..."

That’s great! I also want to use a swimming ring when I first go into the water. The fact of experiencing drowning from the very beginning is really terrifying, as if one’s life has slipped into the hands of fate in an instant.

But now when I think back on it, it’s not that scary, huh.

"......"

It seems like it would be nice to keep it like that at that time, huh.

"......"

Although it is summer, there is no corresponding habitat, and no corresponding cicada sounds. Without the natural hymn of summer, only the laughter of like attracts like remains, and the water droplets at best have only the weight of wandering. It seems that they respond to the sound and then sink into the water, swimming back and forth...

"..."

"Um......"

The people in swimming training dive into the water like little goldfish. Maybe there are any prohibited behaviors such as diving or snorkeling? But now I don’t want to pay attention to all kinds of rules and regulations. It would be more comfortable to dive to the left or lean back to the right.

"..."

"Um......"

The blue sky and white clouds float in the open sky, the breeze blows in your ears, and occasionally you can hear a few birds chirping. You can even enjoy such a beautiful time by closing your eyes.

Just kidding, I can't hear any birds singing right now. Although I don't know what I'm facing, I can tell it's definitely not a good time.

"..."

"Um......"

After a few responses, President Horikita quietly disappeared from my sight.

"......Um?"

Oh no, he seemed to be explaining something to me or giving me instructions.

So what is it again...?

I twisted the gray curly hair hanging down from my forehead. After some hard thinking and rigorous argumentation, I decided to ignore it. The man's strength should not be underestimated, so he must be able to observe my perfunctory attitude. Even in this case, he did not give me a serious reminder, which means that the conversation just now did not involve important content.

Maybe he was just dealing with a temporary incident again.

"..."

But judging from the reaction to this kind of thing——

"I seem to be in a very bad situation..."

"What does this sentence mean?"

Just as I was still regretting my confused consciousness, a female voice suddenly came from the lifeguard chair. I slowly wiped the sweat from my forehead, and my neck was already covered with sweat. In order to hide my physical ability, I also need to suffer. However, if I understand it as the price of "laziness", I will feel much more comfortable.

How to evaluate this sound...

Like "like a trickle of spring water, a cool breeze in the hot summer", or "this sound can only be heard in heaven, how many times can you hear it in the world!"

Kidding.

If someone really makes such a comment, it is simply because they don’t have many female friends around them.

"..."

There don't seem to be many around me.

I shook my head and patted my cheeks gently to regain consciousness, then turned my gaze to the source of the sound.

Horikita from Class D was standing in the shadow of the parasol, looking at me with indifference.

"...I don't think you're thinking about anything normal."

"... Putting aside the fact that this is just your subjective assumption, don't you think it's a bit too much to say this in front of the person involved, Horikita?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm just telling the truth."

"...It accidentally aggravated my injuries."

The volleyball match between Class A and Class D just ended. Although Ichinose sprained his ankle and was eliminated, the match was not cancelled. After a short break, Ayanokouji withdrew on his own initiative, resulting in a five-on-five situation.

Although our camp is missing a female combat member, we are indeed not inferior to the male members of the enemy camp such as Chi in combat, and perhaps we even have a small bonus in intelligence and combat power, so such a loss is not a good thing for us.

The ending was also expected. Class D won the game by winning two games in a row thanks to Sudo's unmatched form. That guy is still ecstatic and proud of the words of praise from his crush.

This might not be bad, to be praised or something...

At least I get to experience the result of not being threatened.

"So what did you just mean when you said you were in a really bad situation?"

"Ah, this. I mean, this job is so boring that I start to appreciate the surrounding environment, such as the beauty of nature, the growth of my mind, etc. In short, it seems that the laziness deep inside me is over-triggered. At this time, I will become very listless, or it would be more appropriate to say that I don't want to do anything..."

"...Is this different from usual? Weak and lazy... I've heard similar descriptions from others when they evaluated you. Even Ichinose, who was in the same class with you, described you this way when we worked together before."

"Hey, am I described like that? Is that true?"

"It's not just Ichinose, Kanzaki-san is the same as well."

"...If possible, I hope Horikita-san can hide this fact from me."

Although I was still engaged in a tug-of-war with Horikita, I didn't really care about it. My focus was on another aspect.

Maybe it will continue to develop like this?

No, man is a creature that acts according to purpose.

I don't think it's normal for Horikita to approach me and even ask me such a question. At least...she should be more indifferent to me.

"But, when you helped Ichinose out of danger just now, you didn't look like this."

What? Is this a test?

"...Does Horikita know that people's working conditions are divided into four stages?"

"..."

"The so-called four stages are: passive work, adaptive work, active work, and innovative work. Generally speaking, when entering a new work field, the work content and scope are different from the original ones. It takes about two years from the passive work stage to the adaptive work stage, from the adaptive work stage to the active work stage, and all the way to the innovative work stage."

"However, the metabolism of a pool lifeguard is obviously faster. Although I didn't perform this job for more than two hours, when I just provided assistance, I was already in an active working state, so it was natural for me to react so quickly. But now it's different."

"...According to what you said, you are currently working on innovation?"

"No, I'm still just a temporary pool lifeguard, which means I haven't even passed the qualification for regularization, so I can't explain the promotion and salary increase. In addition, I don't have any team under me, and there are no meetings or other events to deal with recently, so I can't give any constructive suggestions to others."

"That is to say, the stage of 'innovative work' would never have occurred to me when I was a temporary swimming pool lifeguard."

"So what are you talking about now..."

"In fact, I am now the kind of old man who is about to retire at a certain age. It's even so serious that I can only think about how to live the rest of my life."

"...Does this have anything to do with the work phase you just talked about?"

"Well, maybe there is a connection? To be honest, I myself have not figured out what situation I am in right now. Anyway, it is a fact that my will is lazy. Haha..."

I tried to cover up my embarrassment with a dry laugh, but such sounds sounded quite ironic and a little disgusting even to my own ears.

"...Hey, are you stupid?"

Horikita sighed helplessly and scratched his temple.

"I'm sorry, I've already warned Horikita about this from the beginning. I know that your unclear thinking is not a reason to tease you, but I have nothing else to do to make amends for you except apologizing."