Episode 28 – Swim competition

When I arrived at the rendezvous point with Nanahoshi, she was no longer attracting attention as usual.

Nanahoshi is wearing a black T-shirt, white trousers and a white hat.

It’s a simple outfit, but I guess it’s Nanahoshi Chiha who can pull it off.

Thinking about this, as I walked up to Nanahoshi, I called out to her.

“Nanahoshi.”

“Whaa!?”

When I called out to her, Nanahoshi raised her voice as if she was surprised.

Then, he quickly turned towards me.

“W-What is it, Magiri? I was surprised.”

I feel like I was treated rudely as soon as I saw his face, but I asked Nanase why he was so surprised.

“Why were you so surprised?”

“N-no, I just thought for a moment that M-Magiri’s voice sounded …… like someone I know.”

An acquaintance… I don’t think it’s that surprising, but I don’t think it’s something I need to worry about.

“I see, well, let’s get to the swimming meet quickly”

“Yeah!”

Nanahoshi and I get on the train and get off at the station closest to where the tournament will be held, and we talk while heading towards the venue.

“By the way, I’m going out to dinner tomorrow with a person I’m interested in, so can I talk to you for a moment?”

“What is it?”

When I asked that, Nanahoshi said.

“If I say I want to go out alone with him after having dinner with a large group of people, do you think I’ll get pulled away?”

Naturally, I don’t want you to say that,……, but I knew from previous experience that telling her that would likely have the opposite effect, so I decided to give her a vague reply.

“Well, doesn’t that depend on the level of intimacy you have with the other person?”

When I said that, Nanahoshi said in a loud voice.

“That’s right~! I don’t know what he thinks of me at all! I wonder if there’s any way to find out for sure~!”

“Why don’t you just ask him honestly?”

I thought that if you asked me honestly, it would be easier …… for me to tell you exactly what I’m thinking.

“I-I can’t! If he says he doesn’t like me because of that, I’ll fall asleep and never recover!”

Apparently, for Nanahoshi, it’s a bigger problem than I thought.

“That’s a problem.”

“That’s right~! I wonder if that person will be at this swim meet today too, then we can naturally talk together just during this swim meet~”

I’m planning to watch that swim meet, but unfortunately, because I’m not as Toiro, Nanahoshi’s wish will not be fulfilled.

As we were having that conversation, ────

“That’s the venue for the swim meet?”

“It’s huge!~”

We walked straight into the venue, handed our tickets to the staff and sat down in the bleachers where the swim meet was to take place.

“T-there’s a lot of people there.”

“Yeah, there are.”

It’s almost summer, or maybe it’s already summer for some people, so the seats are almost full.

While Nanahoshi and I were surprised by this, the host’s greetings began, announcing the start of the swimming competition—a few minutes later, it seemed like the first match was about to begin.

The rules were simple: a mixed group of high school students of both genders would compete in four events: breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly and freestyle, in that order, and the team with the highest overall ranking would win the competition.

The qualifying rounds had apparently been completed by the previous day, and the winning high school was to be decided from the eight remaining high schools until today.

The athletes from each high school enter the pool.

“Ah! There’s that person!”

“Yeah”

Naturally, there was a woman with light blue hair among them, and because she was on the middle course, it was an easy position for us to see her.

Then the whistle blows and the swimmers start swimming at once.

“E-eh! S-she’s so fast!”

Everyone started breaststroke at the same time,────, but that light blue-haired woman was the fastest by far, and Nanahoshi seemed to be surprised at her speed.

“…….”

As I watched them swim, I came to an idea, and when I saw that the light blue-haired woman had won an overwhelming first place, I stood up from the audience.

“Eh, Magiri?”

“Sorry, I need to wash my hands.”

When I said this to Nanahoshi, who was puzzled by my sudden departure from my seat, I got up from my seat and headed for the zone where the players’ waiting room was located, following the sign that said “players’ waiting room” instead of “toilets”—

Then, I was spoken to by a security guard there.

“Hmm? You, you’re not allowed beyond this point, except for the players and their officials.”

I was told that, so I showed him the student certificate I had brought with me and said.

‘I’m Magiri Iroto, a first-year student at Special High School, and I’ve been asked to deliver something by a senior who is participating in this tournament.”

A student ID card with a photo, should be enough to prove your identity.

The guard nodded and then said.

“Okay, but don’t stay too long, because it’s not a long time before the next event, and, of course, don’t bother the other competitors.”

“Yes”

After hearing that much, I arrived in front of a private room with a sign that read “Special High School 2nd Year, Mizushiro Aoi.”

I looked around and saw that there were no other private rooms at the special special High School, so Mizushiro Aoi was probably the name of that light blue-haired woman.

It was here that I learned her name for the first time, but I knocked on the door of the private room without worrying about it.

“Yes~”

Then I heard the light blue-haired woman’s voice from inside, and when the door was opened, a light blue-haired woman wearing a school swimming costume and her whole body wet from swimming came out.

“It’s break time now, ──── eh?”

The light blue-haired woman who saw me looked surprised, but immediately said in her normal tone.

“What is it~? Did you come to celebrate onee san winning first place in the first match?”

“……”

Once I’m inside that private room and close the door, I approach the light blue-haired woman.

“Eh……? What? Did you perhaps just now realise your attraction to onee san in swimming costumes?”

I ignored those words and approached ──── the light blue-haired woman and crouched down, and lightly gripped both ankles of this light blue-haired woman.

Then, the knee of this light blue-haired woman’s left leg almost collapsed a little.

“……!”

“It’s this, isn’t it?”

The fact that Nanahoshi said she was fast and the fact that she won first place by an overwhelming margin, there is no doubt that this light blue-haired woman is a fast swimmer.

In fact, if I hadn’t seen her swim once before, I wouldn’t have noticed this ────.

“The way you swam just now, there was more waste in your swimming than before, to be more specific, it’s like you’re protecting something.”

After that preface, I got right down to business.

“Since then, did you injure your left ankle in the middle of your swimming practice?”

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