Ibuki Asaba felt that she was performing extremely well today.
She estimated that her timed swimming result would be several seconds faster than usual.
But just as she was about to reach the finish and proudly raised her head, she suddenly froze.
Ibuki Asaba's body stiffened slightly, and she even forgot to move her arms.
Because she discovered that before she had reached the finish, Akane was already standing on the poolside.
And judging by that relaxed posture, she definitely hadn't just gotten out of the water. She had clearly reached the finish a while ago and had been waiting there for her.
Ibuki Asaba clenched her teeth, suppressing the disbelief in her heart, and forced herself to swim to the finish.
She then quickly climbed out of the pool and went to Akane's side, asking in disbelief, "Akane-chan, when you raced me just now, did you really only use your legs to swim?"
Akane smiled and nodded, "Yes."
Without even waiting for Ibuki Asaba to speak, Akane continued, "Of course, it's normal for you to find it unbelievable and have doubts when I beat you by that much using only my legs."
"How about this? You time me yourself, and I'll swim another round trip right in front of you."
Akane had Ibuki Asaba take out her phone and start timing.
She herself leaped into the pool and began swimming again.
Seeing Akane move at an unbelievably fast speed, flying from the start to the finish like a swordfish, Ibuki Asaba hurriedly pressed stop.
Then she looked down at the stopwatch, and her entire body was stunned.
"5… 50 seconds?"
Looking at the result, Ibuki Asaba's face was full of disbelief.
If she hadn't recorded the time herself, she absolutely wouldn't have believed it.
Because it was simply too outrageous.
At this speed, she had not only left the school swimming club's ace swimmers far behind; even among professional swimmers, it would be enough to put her among the outstanding competitors.
"H-How could this be…", Her gaze was fixed on Akane, more precisely, on the prominent chest rising and falling heavily from the intense exercise. Her voice was full of shock and confusion.
She simply couldn't understand how Akane, who was clearly burdened by the same weight on her chest as she was, could still produce such an unbelievable result.
The sight before her was too far beyond her understanding. Ibuki Asaba subconsciously raised her fair hand and fiercely pinched her own thigh. The sharp pain came instantly and spread with a burning sensation.
It wasn't an illusion, and it wasn't a dream. All of this was real.
"Too fast… too fast!", Her voice trembled, and even her breathing had become somewhat hurried, "Akane-chan, h-how exactly did you do it?"
The urgent question came out, and Ibuki Asaba was already impatient to get the answer from Akane.
Akane raised a hand and swept her wet long hair back behind her head, water droplets running down her neck into her swimsuit, outlining smooth lines.
She walked over to Ibuki Asaba with a brisk bearing, a sweet smile on her lips, "I told you before, didn't I? It was Hikari-kun's support. It was his love that allowed me to break through my limits."
"Love… can really do all this?", Ibuki Asaba still didn't quite understand. With her brows tightly furrowed, she pressed on, "By the way, Akane-chan, now that you're so good at swimming, why don't you rejoin the swimming club? With your ability, you could completely use this to get into a good school, and even enter the professional world and make a name for yourself!"
Akane gently shook her head, her smile still sweet, "Because I promised Hikari-kun that from now on, I would only show my swimming to him."
"Huh? Why?", Faced with this answer, Ibuki Asaba was completely stunned, her face filled with confusion.
Akane didn't answer directly. Instead, she affectionately hooked her arm around Hikari's, even rising onto her tiptoes to lightly plant a kiss on his cheek, leaving a trace of water behind.
Only after doing all this did she turn back and say to Ibuki Asaba with a smile, "Because everything I have was given to me by Hikari-kun. Naturally, I only want to show this happiness that I found again because of him to him alone~"
"Uh…", The corner of Ibuki Asaba's mouth twitched, leaving only helplessness in her heart.
She really couldn't understand Akane's lovestruck way of thinking.
Swimming speed had always been built up through talent and day after day of hard practice. At most, other people could only play a supporting role. How could all the credit possibly be attributed to another person?
But Akane's words really did give almost all the credit to Hikari.
She had even given up such a good future for him.
If it were her, she absolutely wouldn't give up a future and career she loved because of someone else.
But in the end, this was Akane's personal choice. As her friend, Ibuki Asaba really had no grounds to interfere too much.
The inexplicable discomfort in her heart gradually subsided. Ibuki Asaba took the initiative to change the subject and began chatting about the amusing things the two of them had experienced in the swimming club back in middle school.
While they were chatting enthusiastically, Akane suddenly changed the subject, "Ibuki-chan, are you dating anyone?"
"Uh… this… not yet," Ibuki Asaba hesitated for half a second before answering honestly.
Akane seemed to have expected this and immediately moved closer, smiling as she advised, "Then Ibuki-chan, hurry up and find yourself a boyfriend too! Maybe being in love can give you new strength and help you break through your limits~"
Hearing this, Ibuki Asaba immediately gave a wry smile, "I'm a new idol right now, so I'm busy every single day. Not only do I have to practice singing and dancing and work on my expressions and posture, I also have to attend all kinds of events. I'm busy from morning to night and don't even have time to catch my breath. Where would I have time to meet some guy, let alone date one?"
"I see…", Akane's eyes turned, and she suddenly hooked her arm around hers.
Then, with a teasing smile in her voice, she said, "That's easy! You don't have time to meet any good guys, so how about I lend you Hikari-kun as your boyfriend? He's really super amazing. I guarantee you'll be satisfied!"
"Pfft!", Ibuki Asaba had just taken a sip of water from her bottle when she heard this and immediately sprayed it out.
She hurriedly took out a tissue and wiped the corner of her mouth, looking helplessly at Akane, "Akane-chan, stop making fun of me! What is this supposed to be? A shared boyfriend?"
"Yeah, I don't mind~", Akane smiled brightly, her tone so serious that it was impossible to tell whether she was joking or not.
"Uh…", Ibuki Asaba stared at Akane's smiling face, completely dumbfounded. For a moment, she couldn't even tell whether she was joking or serious.
She subconsciously turned her head toward Hikari and carefully looked him over.
It had to be said, Akane really did have good taste.
This boyfriend of hers really was a rare, high-quality man.
Not only was he tall and well-built, that face of his was also unbelievably good-looking, practically without a bad angle. He was even somewhat more handsome than the male celebrities on TV who relied on makeup and filters to carry their appearances. His manner was also clean and refreshing, giving people the feeling of a gentle spring breeze.
'If I could have a boyfriend like this… it does seem pretty good?'
The thought had barely appeared in Ibuki Asaba's mind before she violently shoved it away.
She still couldn't quite accept the idea of a shared boyfriend.
So, in response to Akane's words, Ibuki Asaba ultimately said nothing.
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