Someone Special REMADE

Volume 1 Chapter 4 - A Glimpse of their Abilities

"What a lovely morning this is, Ike!"

"Ah, it is quite splendid indeed, Yamauchi."

I wonder what has put these two fine young men in such a mood today.

***

We quickly discovered why Ike and Yamauchi were so excited for today's lessons. The boys changerooms were filled with anticipation as we prepared for our first lesson in the school's pool. Attempting to hide my presence as much as possible, I got changed in a far corner, trying to ignore many of the boys' enthusiastic screams.

"There is no way Hasegawa-chan loses! I'm gonna win this bet!"

Huh?

"Ahh, but Kushida-chan..." Whatever sentence Ike was trying to formulate was quickly lost forever as he entered a daze.

"What's this about?" I decided to enter the conversation.

Most of the boys roars went silent immediately after my question. Ike began to fidget and couldn't meet me in the eye.

"uhhh..."

His friend Sudou came to his rescue.

"Woah, Ayanokouji! I didn't know you were that built! What have you done to make your body like that?"

"I guess I'm decent at some sports..."

It was the most unnatural and obvious diversion anyone could make, but I decided to let it go for now. His words also happened to draw a lot of attention to me. Initially I had hoped the blonde man Kouenji and Sudou had kept the spotlight, but I suppose I brought this upon myself.

Everyone eventually left the changerooms and tried to make as much distance from Ike as possible, who was making strange animal noises. Much to his dismay, around half the girls decided not to participate.

***

It turns out the lesson had a purpose beyond merely measuring everyone's abilities. Not only was there a race separated by gender to be held, but the person to win the competition would earn 5000 points.

"Only seventeen of you, huh? Well, that's alright. We're just gonna do a quick lap around the pool to see how well you can swim. But no matter if you can't, you should be able to swim before summertime."

Miharu and I made eye contact. After the school's previous hints, the teacher's strange wording was hard to ignore. I decided to keep a mental note of what he said in case we can link it to anything later.

After the beginning lap, we began to do stretches, with Ike staring in a particular direction. Since there were only 10 girls, it was decided that they would race first. It began with the first race being dominated by a girl called Horikita, who swam the full lap in 28.50 seconds. Despite not having an optimal technique she managed to win through superior athleticism.

The next race, however, caught my attention, along with the rest of the boys. The participants included Miharu, Kushida, and a girl named Onodera, who apparently was striving for a place on the swimming team.

The whistle blew, the boys cheered, and they all dove into the water. Everyone had been discussing who would be the fastest (and other things), and after just a few moments, the pool building nearly went silent. the splashing of water could be heard echoing off the walls as Miharu tore through the water.

After they all had left the water, I approached Miharu.

"Not ba-"

"22.18 SECONDS?" a horde quickly surrounded her and barraged her with questions and cheers. I couldn't get anywhere near her as the mob of crazed teenagers swelled larger with each second. It seems she was over a second ahead of the female record?

"Hahahaha!" she didn't have anything to say, but she certainly didn't shy away from the attention in the slightest.

"Alright everybody... Um, calm down... we should begin the boys races now." Even the teacher found it hard to process.

The format for the boys was different. Each person would swim individually, and the people with the five fastest times would compete against each other.

Sudou was the first to swim, finishing in a valiant 25.07 seconds. Unfortunately, his score only acted as a pedestal for Miharu's score, making it seem even less believable with his impressive muscles. He left the pool muttering to himself and occasionally glancing towards us.

Hirata managed to achieve a 26.53 second run, and Kouenji seperated himself from the pack with a 22.88 second run.

"Don't fret, boys and girls. i am simply saving my energy for the final race," he claimed, making direct eye contact with me. He appears to have singled me out as his largest opponent. Although his explanation sounded like an excuse, I found it quite plausible based on his refined technique, as well as the fact that he didn't show any signs of being out of breath.

"Good luck matching your girlfriend, Ayanokouji!" It finally came to my turn, and the boys for some reason didn't want me to succeed.

Before I could advance towards the diving board, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around to face Matsushita Chiaki.

"Do you need anything, Matsushita?"

"Umm... Kouenji-kun mentioned something about you and Hasegawa-san before the races, and... well, you know how her race turned out," she smiled nervously.

"Oh? Kouenji said something?"

This piece of information could only mean one thing.

"We should probably have a chat about this after the race," I said before climbing onto the diving board.

My classmates couldn't hide their anticipation to see how fast I could go. everyone's eyes were fixated on my every move, with many of the boys blatantly praying on my downfall. Ike was even repeating a Shaolin monk mantra.

The instant the whistle blew, I channeled as much energy into my legs as possible, propelling myself off the pool's edge. I attempted to maximize my speed through each stroke, using the best possible form for power and hydrodynamics.

It wasn't a rare occurrence for me to swim with such intensity, and yet, it felt like a completely foreign experience. I realised that this was the first time I could feel and enjoy the sensation of water rushing past my body.

I was greeted by a situation similar to Miharu's as I exited the pool. Ike was completely unconscious, and nobody made any attempt to raise him up from the floor. As I made calm strides towards the stands, someone finally spoke up.

"S-Sensei? What was his time..?"

"Ahem, oh, yes, right. Uh, it was..." His eyes widened in disbelief.

"19.36 seconds."

Complete, utter silence. Unfortunately there weren't any noises of splashing water to fill the atmosphere this time.

When the silence became too much to bare, a booming laugh emanated from the back.

"Thank you, Ayanokouji-boy, I didn't expect you to care about your time," Kouenji used a hand mirror to comb his wet hair back to perfection.

***

"What the fuck, Ayanokouji? You say you are decent at sports, and then you obliterate a fucking world record? What's up with that?" Sudou and a few others surrounded my desk the moment Chabashira-sensei left the classroom during lunchtime.

I made a desperate glance for backup, but Miharu was facing a similar situation.

"I've just spent most of my life improving my strength. There isn't really any secret to it."

"That can't be true, Ayanokouji-kun! Your form was flawless!" Onodera shouted before meekly shrinking into the crowd, with her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

Although Sudou's spit was flying all over my desk, I couldn't help but feel grateful after getting a glimpse of Miharu's predicament. Their yelling informed me that she already has a fan club named after her.

***

Quite a lovely chapter? If there are any writers that would wanna help make suggestions and proofread my work, I think it would be pretty fun. What was Kouenji yapping about? We will find out tomorrow!

June 13 2024