Classroom of the Elite: Standing Firm in Class A — Chapter 13

Chapter 13: The Competition in Swimming Class

Swimming class.

For the average adolescent boy running on raging hormones, the mere mention of those two words triggered a very specific set of associations… almost all of them pointing toward the wet, clinging fabric of a girl’s swimsuit after she stepped out of the pool.

The boys’ locker room was thick with humid, heavy air and the sharp chemical bite of chlorine.

Kaedehara Tetsu unbuttoned his crisp school uniform shirt with a slow, deliberate grace. He ignored the loud, boisterous chatter echoing off the tiled walls, leaning his shoulder against the metal locker as he changed into his swim trunks at his own unhurried pace.

“Yo, Kaedehara. Spacing out over here all by yourself? Not going to go mingle with the rest of the class?”

A practiced, easygoing voice drifted over. Kaedehara Tetsu turned his head. Hashimoto Masayoshi stood leaning against the adjacent row of lockers, clad only in his trunks. His light blonde hair was swept back, and a perfectly calculated, commercial smile rested on his handsome face. He possessed a well-proportioned physique and the effortless aura of a natural social butterfly.

“Mingle?” Kaedehara Tetsu closed his locker door with a soft, metallic click. “The way you phrase that, Hashimoto, makes it sound as if my relationship with everyone else is completely fractured.”

“Haha, how could that be?” Hashimoto chuckled, closing the distance slightly. He nudged Tetsu’s arm with a friendly elbow, dropping his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “But honestly, I am much more interested in you right now. After all, you are probably the only person who could make our dear Sakayanagi look twice, let alone drag her to a club orientation on the very first day. Am I right?”

A spark of genuine curiosity flashed in the blonde boy’s eyes. In his calculating view, any man who could manage to get the Chairman’s daughter to go out with him in a single day clearly possessed some unique, highly valuable qualities.

“Perhaps my face simply suits her aesthetic preferences.” Kaedehara Tetsu turned to face him fully, his expression perfectly flat. “Everyone appreciates a good visual, after all.”

“Give me a break.” Hashimoto waved his hands in exaggerated disbelief. “Sakayanagi does not strike me as the type of shallow woman who only cares about a pretty face. You clearly have some exceptional qualities hidden away. Care to share the secret? We are all classmates in Class A, after all. Sharing information would be mutually beneficial, wouldn’t it?”

“Beneficial.” Kaedehara Tetsu’s dark eyes swept over Hashimoto’s features, easily reading the shrewd calculation hiding just beneath the friendly facade. “When you speak of this benefit, Hashimoto… do you mean a benefit for Class A as a whole, or a benefit strictly for yourself?”

The easy smile stiffened for a fraction of a second before Hashimoto forced it back into a natural curve. “I am thinking of our collective interests, of course. Please do not misunderstand me, Kaedehara. Unity is the absolute key to maintaining our relationships.”

“Unity.” Kaedehara Tetsu let the word drag out, his tone dripping with dry amusement. “I actually think that before we start preaching about unity, it is far more vital to figure out exactly who is qualified to do the uniting.”

Leaving the thought hanging in the humid air, he walked away, ignoring the blonde boy entirely as he headed straight for the exit.

Hashimoto Masayoshi stood frozen in place, his fingers slowly stroking his chin as he watched Tetsu’s retreating back. The friendly smile melted away completely, replaced by a heavy, guarded expression.

This man was far more difficult to read than he had anticipated.

Pushing open the heavy double doors, Tetsu stepped into the indoor swimming facility. Beneath the massive, arching glass dome, the azure water of the pool shimmered under the overhead lights, catching the glare until it was almost blinding.

The girls had already changed into the academy’s standard dark blue one-piece swimsuits. They were gathered near the edge, stretching and warming up, their light, girlish laughter echoing over the gentle lapping of the water.

Kaedehara Tetsu let his gaze sweep across the scene with a cool, analytical eye.

The physical quality of the girls in Class A was exceptionally high. Most possessed fair skin and well-proportioned figures that the tight swimwear did little to hide. His eyes lingered briefly on a few familiar faces he recognized from his knowledge of the plot, before locking onto a specific target at the far end of the pool.

Kamuro Masumi stood entirely alone, leaning her back against the tiled wall, deliberately isolating herself from the cheerful crowd.

She wore the exact same swimsuit as the others, but the dark, wet fabric clung tightly to her frame, perfectly outlining the slender curve of her legs and a silhouette that, while not overly exaggerated, possessed a distinct, quiet allure. Her head was bowed. Her purplish-grey hair was tied back in a loose, messy style, with several damp strands sticking to the pale skin of her neck and cheeks.

She had her arms crossed defensively over her chest, her eyes staring blankly at the water with an empty, unfocused gaze.

A faint, barely perceptible smirk curled the corner of Kaedehara Tetsu’s mouth.

‘It seems Yamauchi Haruki has already made his move.’

And judging by the deeply distracted, hollow look on Kamuro’s face, the psychological impact was surprisingly effective.

“Alright, everyone, gather round!”

The physical education teacher blew a sharp, resonant blast on his whistle, shattering Tetsu’s quiet observation. The students quickly scrambled to the edge of the pool, automatically separating into two distinct lines based on gender.

“The weather is excellent today, and I can see your enthusiasm is running high.” The teacher paced in front of the lines. “Before we officially move into free activity time, we are going to hold a quick warm-up race. Separated by gender, fifty-meter freestyle. I will personally award five thousand Personal Points to the student who takes first place in each group!”

“Five thousand points?”

“Not bad at all, that is a decent chunk of change.”

“I am absolutely taking first place!”

A wave of excited murmurs and restless shifting swept through the gathered students. The atmosphere shifted instantly. The relaxed, playful vibe evaporated, replaced by the sharp, heavy scent of competitive gunpowder. While Tetsu could not speak for the girls, the boys were practically vibrating with a desire to win that seemed to eclipse even the monetary temptation.

Kaedehara Tetsu felt absolutely no reaction to the announcement.

Five thousand Personal Points held zero attraction for a man with his resources. More, he was well aware that with his current, average physical stats, securing first place against this crowd was a statistical impossibility.

If victory was out of reach, expending the energy was a pointless waste.

Stepping out of line, he quietly informed the instructor that he had accidentally twisted his ankle that morning, smoothly securing permission to sit on the sidelines.

The event kicked off rapidly, with the boys taking the starting blocks first. The students crouched in their respective lanes, muscles tense.

“Not participating, Kaedehara?” Hashimoto Masayoshi glanced over at Tetsu resting on the bench.

“I have no interest in it. I prefer to leave the opportunity to those who actually need the points.”

The starting whistle shrieked. The boys launched themselves into the water like arrows snapping loose from a bowstring, kicking up a massive, chaotic wall of white water.

The pool instantly turned into a churning battlefield. The violent splashing of arms cutting through the surface and legs kicking furiously echoed through the dome. The physical fitness of Class A was generally superior, making the initial heat incredibly tight.

But in the very next round, one specific figure tore away from the pack.

Kito Hayato.

The perpetually silent, heavily built student. His swimming form was neither standard nor graceful, but it possessed a terrifying, raw explosive power. Every single stroke of his arms drove his body forward with the brutal force of a heavy oar, violently tearing through the water and leaving the rest of his competitors choking on his wake.

In the end, he slammed his hand against the far wall with an absolute, crushing advantage.

Scattered, slightly intimidated applause echoed from the sidelines. Kito hauled his large frame out of the water, his face completely devoid of expression. He ignored the breathless congratulations of the boys around him, simply grabbing a towel to wipe his face as he walked off to stand by himself in silence.

“What an absolute monster,” Hashimoto muttered, letting out a low whistle from the edge of the pool.