A little late to be Elite

Diving Deeper

Ayanokouji POV

We were given a twenty minute break after the warm-up, a time to use the pool leisurely or relax in the sidelines, I wanted to do the latter, but fate had other plans and instead I spent around fifteen minutes of the time talking to, being pulled by, and splashed by the girls in the pool, I began to think that being an ikemen is such a pitiful existence, hated by the male population and subjected to such torture by the female population. Luckily I was finally able to excuse myself to rest for the remaining break, now just sitting on the pool edge, with my feet submerge in the water, it was something I found oddly satisfying to do way back then.

"You surely made yourself quite popular in a short amount of time."

I looked to my right and saw Horikita standing, arms crossed as she literally was looking down at me, does she ever get tired of frowning?

"Do you want to trade places? I'm starting to envy you really."

She gave me an immediate glare for that jab, before taking a seat beside me.

"Have you thought about it?"

I nonchalantly continued our previous conversation, this was most likely her reason for approaching her reason for approaching me anyways.

"Yes, I did. I'll give you my contacts later, just message me the details then."

That made me look at her again, to say I was surprised was an understatement. The deal was, in retrospect, heavily in her favor, to have her disregard such and just agree as well, something must've happened, or rather... I was lacking crucial information.

"What changed your mind?"

"Changed my mind? You're mistaken. Not once did I believe that you had that amount in the first place. I believe I took pity on you, so you don't have to embarrass yourself later on."

Ouch, I asked one question and she decided to throw daggers at me, talk about a sharp tongue.

"Besides...I need to earn class A..."

Horikita looked sternly at the class, strangely it felt like she wasn't telling me that in particular.

"If this meeting of yours is nothing but a farce, I'll make sure you live a life in regret."

And her cold demeanor is back...

"Relax, I wouldn't do this if I didn't need to."

"The-"

"Hey guys! What are you guys talking about?"

Horikita was cut off when Kushida suddenly joined our conversation, swimming towards us in the pool. Horikita quickly shifted her gaze to Kushida then me. I get it, I'll deal with her...

"I was just asking her about the class. I wanted all the information I could get since I'm trying to lead."

"Oh! Let me join! I wanna help too!"

Kushida eagerly wanted to join in the conversation just a moment from finding out.

"That's great for you Ayanokouji, since Kushida is here then I'll take my leave. I believe she can answer more questions about the class than me."

"Eh?"

Horikita quickly left after that, not even allowing me or Kushida to speak.

"Sorry... That's my fault."

Kushida suddenly apologized, making me look at her, her voice was laced with sadness and her expression told the same story.

"I've pestered Horikita-san about being friends for months, recently she just started avoiding me all together..."