Starting in class C: not completely defective.

Chapter 6: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for waiting.

Hi 👋 , author-san here before we start. There were a few comments in the last chapter that complained Ayanokouji was too emotional. This is intentional. The school valued Ayanokouji as class C level, because he has slightly better social skills than in the light novel. Just thought I'd clear that up. Also, in the swimming chapter, Ayanokouji blushes when Kushida talks to him after the race because she is in a swimsuit. She says "hmm? What's the matter? Your face looks red for some reason? Are you not feeling well, by chance?" Anyway, enough facts; on with the story!

"Good morning, Ayanokouji-kun!"
"Morning, Shiina."
Arriving to class, Shiina seemed as happy (and as tired) as ever.
"Are you looking forward to swimming today?" She asked.
"Yes. I haven't been swimming in quite a while." I said. The last time had been a few months before I came here, when it was compulsory for me to do so.
"I've never been swimming before. I can't wait to learn."
(Awwww 🥰)

Timeskip
"All right. The pool!"
After lunch had ended, it was finally time for swim class. Finally, the moment most of the class had been waiting for.
"Come on, let's go, Ayanokouji-kun," Shiina said, beckoning.
"Huh?O-okay."
We naturally separated when we got to the changing rooms. I changed quickly, and went outside with a few of the other boys.
Upon seeing the fifty-meter pool, Kondou cried out, "woah, this school is something else! It's even better than the city pool, don't you think?"
The water was clear and beautiful, and because it was indoors, we didn't have to worry about the weather. The perfect environment.
"Wow! It's so spacious! It's so much bigger than the pool at my junior high school."
I turned around and saw Shiina looking at the pool.
"Yeah, it's really something."
Shiina looked too cute in her school swimsuit. I decided it was better just to look at her face rather than her body. I'd read about the reactions that might take place.
"Why the pained expression?" Ryuuen examined my face closely, with a suspicious look.
"I'm in the midst of an eternal battle," I replied.
"Well, I think I know how you feel there."
Ryuuen then looked at my body.
"Hey Ayanokouji, do you work out a lot?" He asked.
"Huh? No, not really. I'm not particularly proud of this, but in middle school I was the kid who never had any after-school plans."
"Well, you say that, but... judging from the development of your forearms and your back muscles, you seem above average." Ryuuen observed.
"Yeah, well, you're not exactly out of shape either, you know?" I said.
"Of course I know. I worked out loads to get this figure." Ryuuen's body was almost as toned as mine, but most of his muscles would mainly be used in combat.
"Anyway, you're body is even better than mine. How did you do it?"
"I guess my parents blessed me with good genes."
Ryuuen came closer, and said quietly "come on, Ayanokouji. We're partners; we have to know each other's strengths and weaknesses."
He was right. I had agreed to help him pull the class up.
"Fine. Yeah I used to work out a fair bit, but it was mainly just to keep healthy. I had a lot of spare time outside of school."
"How tragic. I expected something more exciting." He appeared somewhat dissatisfied.
"Are you a good swimmer, Ryuuen?"
Although he gave a slightly puzzled look in response to my question, he answered "I haven't been swimming in a few months, but I suppose I'm pretty good for my age. What about you. And answer truthfully." Ryuuen looked at me expectantly.
"I'm probably an above average swimmer, even amongst the upper years."
"Kuku, I can believe that."
"All right, everyone, line up!"
A macho-looking middle-aged man, the kind of guy who apparently devoted himself to sports, gathered everyone together and started the class. He looked like a PE teacher, but also seemed like the kind of guy who was attractive to men and women alike.
"Good, all of you are here. After you warm up, I want to see what you can really do. Swim for me," the coach said.
"E-excuse me sir. I can't really swim though..."
Shiina raised her hand sheepishly.
"Since you have me as your teacher, you'll be swimming by summertime. Don't you worry about a thing."
"Well, we don't really need to force ourselves to swim, do we? It's not like we're going to the beach or anything."Kaneda said. He had said earlier that he could swim, just that he wasn't a very good swimmer.
"No way. I don't mind at all if you're bad at swimming now, but I'll make sure you guys are winners in the end. Besides, being able to swim will definitely come in handy later in life. Definitely."
Swimming would definitely come in handy? I looked at Ryuuen, who was deep in thought. Well, I suppose knowing how to swim would be convenient. However, hearing a teacher say something like that made me feel uncomfortable. Though, he probably just wanted to keep the students from sinking like rocks.
Everyone started their warm-up exercises. The teacher asked us to swim for about fifty meters. Students who could not swim, like Shiina, were allowed to touch the bottom of the pool with their feet. I hadn't been in a pool since last summer. The water must have been temperature controlled, because I didn't get chilled when I entered and adjusted right away. After getting in, I started to swim lightly.
After 50 metres, I waited for everyone else to finish.
"Well, it looks like everyone can swim, for the most part. In that case, I'll have you start competing against each other. We'll separate groups by gender. Fifty metre freestyle. I'll give out a special bonus to the first place winner: 5000 points. The student who comes in last place, however, will have to take supplementary lessons. Get ready."
The skilled swimmers cheered with joy, while the less confident students groaned.
"For each group, we will split in to groups of five. The top five finishing times overall will then move on to a final round. The winner of that round gets 5000 points."
It surprised me that the school would use points as a prize, especially for a small competition like this. Up first, it was the girls. Shiina couldn't compete, as well as another student called Rika, as the didn't know how to swim. The winner fastest time of the first round was Takeko Nishino.
Ibuki was competing in the next round, so me and Shiina gave a few waves of encouragement. Ibuki had the fastest time in that round, and was the fastest overall so far.
In the final round for the girls team, although there were other girls, it already looked as though Ibuki would win. Sure enough, after the whistle blew, there wasn't much competition, and she got to the other side a full 2 seconds before the runner up, Takeko.
"Hey, Ayanokouji." Ryuuen said to me.
"What?" I asked.
"Don't swim slowly. I want you to swim as fast as possible. At least, I expect you to come first."
"..."
"Promise me." Ryuuen was running out of patience with me, I could tell.
"I'll win, don't worry."

I finished my first lap in 28 seconds. I came 2nd in my round.
Ryuuen finished his lap in 26 seconds.
Kondou was the 3rd fastest with 31 seconds.
Albert, despite all of his muscle, came 4th with 32 seconds. Probably because of his massive body.
And Komiya was the 5th fastest out of all the boys with 34 seconds.

"What was that bullshit, Ayanokouji?" Ryuuen said, after I had got out of the water. He was pissed.
"Don't worry Ryuuen, this is only the preliminaries. I'll beat you at the final round."
"You fucking better." He said. Why was Ryuuen so angry?
"Are you angry because you want to know how fast I can actually be?" I asked.
"Yes. The class can't operated at maximum efficiency if I don't know everyone's strengths and weaknesses." He said. I felt a little sorry for him. He really did want to make the class as best as it could be, even if he usually had a weird way of showing it by beating up Kaneda or Ishizaki.
"Fine then. I'll show you just how fast I can swim in the final round. I was going to win anyway, but now I'll win by an unsurpassable margin." I said.
"Kukuku I told you to do your best, not to get cocky. Those are some big words. You sure you can back them up?" Ryuuen asked, trademark grin starting to appear on his face.
"I'm confident in my abilities."

Me, Ryuuen, Kondou, Albert and Komiya were lined up at the pool, ready for sensei to blow his whistle. The moment he did, I did a perfect dive into the pool, and swam with all my might. I'd been swimming before, but I had only ever done it because I was forced to. Swimming because I wanted to felt great.
I reached the end of the pool first. A few seconds later, Ryuuen touched the side of the pool.
"Kukuku wow Ayanokouji, you weren't kidding, you were really fast." Ryuuen smiled.
"Well, I can't go back on my word, can I?"
Albert came last this time.
"What was his time, sensei?" Ryuuen asked my time.
"21.2 s-seconds." The teacher was gobsmacked. I doubted even any of the upperclassmen in the swim team could beat that.
"It seems I underestimated you again kukuku." Ryuuen said.
"You shouldn't judge a book by it's cover." I responded.
"Kuku true enough."
We got out of the pool.
"Woah, Ayanokouji-kun. I'm pretty sure you broke a record there." Shiina's eyes were wider than I've ever seen them because she was so surprised.
"Yeah, you could probably beat professional swimmers, Ayanokouji-kun." Ibuki said, impressed.
"Well, I guess anyone can be this good with a little training." I tried to play down my accomplishment.
After that, sensei transferred me my 5000 points, amazed that a first year could swim so fast.
We got changed and headed home.

Kiryuuin pov
I'd heard from Nagumo, who'd heard from a first year, that Ayanokouji had broken the school swimming record. Unfathomable. I knew he was good, but I didn't think he was THAT good. Well, that's just another thing to bring up on our date on Saturday. Ah yes, the date. I'd picked the fanciest and most expensive restaurant on campus, a place almost exclusively visited by teachers, and a upperclassmen trying to impress first-years with their money. I suppose I fall into the second category right now. How amusing. But I'll be able to impress him with more than just money. That I can say for certain.

Authors notes
1829 words
The pool chapter. Not much interesting going on, but we see Ayanokouji's true abilities. They're pretty godlike.
Ryuuen now knows the extent of Ayanokouji's abilities, and will be able to formulate strategies around this.
Kiryuuin just wants to impress Ayanokouji 🥺.
We passed 1000 reads and 100 votes today. Thanks guys ☺️

Shiina is happy.

Not much else to say really.
Hope you're all doing well, and I hope you enjoyed.