29th May, Tuesday
As all forty of us entered the swimming pool gradually, most boys were excited and happy to be here. While the girls were almost forced to be here, since not attending would mean losing class points. Not like we had any, though. But we… hopefully would get them next month.
Thankfully, Ike and his infamous gang of class D had not planned anything. Or maybe got better at planning while keeping it a secret from the rest of us.
"So, sensei, are there any points for winning the race this time?" I asked, while stretching my body.
I was pretty confident I could get into the top 5 without having to spend any of my points, given that Ayanokoji kept holding back.
"Hahaha, of course, no. We don't really need to give you any more motivation now, do we?" The teacher laughed. "Anyways, sort yourselves up in groups again, we'll directly start with the race since now everyone knows how to swim."
Well, that indeed was true. Not like it matters much, since they would just end up with Koenji.
This time, I got in the first group, along with Ayanokoji and Ike.
We all jumped into the water as the whistle blew, trying to cover as much distance as we could. Although I had not entered the swimming pool after the only time we had been here during the first week, I could tell my form had instinctively changed a lot, easily cutting the wind and entering the water with much less surface area in contact with the water than the last time.
Before even I could register anything else, the race was over. I had been keeping the lead from the start, easily winning the race. I came out of the race, breathing heavily.
"You improved a lot. You needed about 29 seconds only this time, compared to about 40 seconds last time. Have you been secretly swimming or something?" Horikita asked, a bit bewildered.
'Why the hell does you remember all that? Forget it already, boo!'
I would have liked to say that, but I was busy catching my breath.
[Name: Horikita Suzune
Class: 1-D
Physical stats:
Stamina - 287
Strength - 229
Combat technique - ??
Average physical stats - ??
Mental stats:
Academic ability - ??
Memorisation power - 375
Critical thinking - ??
Average mental stats - ??]
Her stats were probably the highest I had ever detected from anyone. But that was precisely why there were two others who were even more ahead than her in all the stats.
That's right, Ayanokoji and Koenji were the only ones who remained fully undetected by my [Eye of Jealousy] in the whole year. And while I didn't have that many contacts with seniors, only Nagumo Miyabi, Horikita Manabu, Suzune's elder brother, whom she didn't like to talk about, shared the same feat.
Initially, I found it difficult to believe that Ayanokoji was someone of that skill level, but I still knew better than to doubt what was most likely true. But then, the more I thought about our past interactions, the more I realised how subtly, yet surely, he had affected the choices I made, pushing me to new ideas which I wouldn't have reached normally.
The first instance I could think of was when he intentionally solved the near-impossible question which I had added in the test, then justified it by saying that he 'memorized' it completely. Though now I doubt if it was the truth, that's beside the point.
Due to that, he had planted a seed of a new idea in my mind, which then later blossomed into me buying the senior's papers with the help of Kaito and Mai.
Moreover, if I didn't have [Eye of Jealousy], I wouldn't even have assumed that he was above average. I would be lying if I said I am not wary of him since getting manipulated into doing something is not that pleasant of an experience, but it simply feels like his way to help the class indirectly.
"So you are straight up ignoring me now?" Horikita said, shaking her head, knowing very well I was catching my breath.
Ignoring her, I simply walked away. The next round had Sudou, Hirata, and Koenji, basically turning it into the finals.
Though this time Koenji didn't seem to be swimming seriously… he was literally doing backstrokes in a race. So Sudou won with his personal best of 24.8 seconds.
The ones who didn't know how to swim or were too bad at it had daily classes till now, and showed drastic improvement. Though most others had nearly no changes.
In the finals, I was second only to Sudou, since Hirata and Koenji were already out. Though yeah, anyone could tell I didn't deserve it that much, but I did improve my score the second time to 28.3 seconds.
While this time there were nearly double the girls, the results were same. Onodera won, followed by Horikita and Matsushita.
———
30th May, Wednesday
As I peacefully enjoyed my self-made dinner, hearing the chirps of crickets.
'Leave it to Yamauchi to find the strategically worst birthdate possible…' I joked to myself.
Indeed, today was mine, or rather, Yamauchi's birthday. As for why it was the worst one? Well, simply because it was, as Chabashira-sensei would say, pointless.
After heavy spending in April and getting no new points in May, 30th May was the worst possible birthdate after 31st May at this school, since there were at least some chances for us to get more private points next month.
I took out my phone to check the new notification, presumably a wish from someone.
While I was nowhere as famous as Hirata, I was still second only to him in terms of popularity among boys.
[You have received 5,000 private points from Horikita Suzune!
New balance: 21,250 private points]
'Huh…?'
I suddenly got a new message.
Horikita: This is not a gift, I am merely giving you 5,000 private points for the test papers you bought. It's only natural that I pay for it since I took the credits.
Anyways, Happy birthday.
I blinked.
Well, that was a surprise… But totally a welcome one. Though her logic was flawed, I didn't mind one bit getting points from her, since she had more than 90k left at the start of May.
Yamauchi: Thanks a lot! (And yeah, you remembering to send those points on my birthday was totally a coincidence, as some guy says, "Coincidences can be freaky.")
She left me on seen… It probably wasn't a good idea to send that. Noted.
I had wanted to call Kaito and others for dinner, but chose not to since our relationship had become quite complex in the past month. Moreover, they would likely feel forced to spend on gifts since we did it last time for Yuna, too.
Everyone from the study group apart from Ike had given me chocolates, which I was quite grateful for, really, considering how broke our class was.
And since Ike was basically living off my points, I'd be quite mad if he sent me a chocolate.
As I finally finished my ramen, I heard a knock on my door.
"What, did you think we won't come for a party just because you didn't call us?"
I heard Hana's voice as I opened the door.
"Uhm… why? It's not like it's my birthday or anything, right? Oh wait it is!"
"Anyways, have you guys eaten? I have a ton of ramen ready, if you want. Though I was planning to eat all that…" I added.
"Of course we have! Did you even look at the time? We need to go back soon." Yuna said, shaking her head.
"Oh, right…"
I didn't.
"But seriously, what made you think not calling us was a good idea? If Mii-chan didn't ask us to wait, we would have barged in right after the classes."
Kaito said, moving aside to reveal Mii-chan, who was holding a box.
So they went ahead and did the one thing I didn't want them to… Maybe I was too obvious.
"Well… if you guys want, we can go to Keyaki Mall. Though most shops would likely be closed by now."
It would be wrong to take the gift, say goodbye, and close the door in front of their faces, right?
"Yeah, we have planned to check out the karaoke rooms, they are quite cheap and stay open till late at night. Just put this into your room and we'll go." Kaito said with a grin, while Mii-chan handed me the gift box.
"Brilliant! Just don't force me to sing…"
They all absolutely ignored me. Yep, they are gonna do it.
———
As I finished singing my third song in a row, a similar screen popped up in front of me.
[Congratulations, you have gained a new ability!
Ability: [(E+ Grade) Crappy Singer] - User's can sing songs which others can survive after hearing, just barely.]
So even the system didn't hold back from the compliments, huh? But the worst part was, I could tell that my voice improved after getting the ability…
After spending more time than I would like to admit, we all bid our goodbyes.
"Thanks, all of you… And sorry. It was dumb of me not to call you over."
"Hey, don't fret it. We all know you are dumb."
Hana, as always, didn't miss a chance to tease me. I would have probably laughed if it wasn't aimed at me, though.