COTE: Horikita Is My Childhood Sweetheart

Chapter 164: First to surrender

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As the girls were fighting for Rin's attention, a proud and hearty male voice came over.

"Rin boy, come and compete with me. I really want to know what your performance will be when you are at full strength."

Rin and the group of girls looked in the direction of the voice and saw Koenji standing confidently with his arms crossed.

"Koenji, I already gave it my all just now," Rin replied.

"No, boy, you didn't. My eyes, as sharp as an eagle's, can clearly see that you didn't use your full strength," Koenji declared, pointing at his eyes with confidence.

- Wow, this guy didn't miss the chance to praise his own eyes. He's truly narcissistic.

Kei, who wanted to see Rin's graceful swimming style again, urged, "Rin, accept it and let him give up completely."

"Come on, Matsuoka-san!"

"I haven't even agreed yet. Why are you all cheering me on?" Rin said, caught between amusement and exasperation.

When Arata, who was acting as a lifeguard, overheard that Koenji wanted to challenge Rin again, his eyes lit up with excitement. He, too, wanted to know how good Rin's performance would be when he gave it his all.

"Matsuoka, please accept this student invitation to compete!"

"Teacher, why are you joining in the fun?" Rin sighed.

Faced with the expectant eyes of the girls and Arata, Rin felt a wave of pressure.

Thinking about how he planned to use Arata to deal with Nagumo, Rin nodded reluctantly. "Fine, I'll compete with Koenji."

Rin glanced at Koenji, and a cunning look flashed across his eyes. "But, Koenji, a simple competition is a bit dull. How about we make it interesting by betting personal points?"

"Of course, we can," Koenji replied without hesitation.

When Arata heard that Rin and Koenji planned to bet personal points, he opened his mouth as if to say something but hesitated. In the end, he said nothing.

The school had a rule in place to protect freshmen: during their first month of enrollment, no one was allowed to engage in activities related to personal points with other freshmen.

However, since Rin and Koenji were both freshmen and the content of their bet was swimming—a competition determined by physical strength and not deceit, Arata decided not to intervene.

"Then, you decide how many personal points we'll bet, Koenji-san," Rin said, leaving the amount to him.

"Eighty thousand," Koenji declared confidently.

At that moment, Koenji had 81,247 personal points. He boldly put up 80,000 points, essentially going all-in.

"What? Eighty thousand personal points?!"

"Is this guy serious? Betting that much?"

Everyone looked at Koenji in astonishment when he announced the number. Although the students believed the school would remit 100,000 personal points to them on the 1st of every month (or so they thought), there were still more than 20 days left until May 1st.

Rin also looked at Koenji with some surprise. He had assumed the bet would be around 10,000 or 20,000 points, but 80,000 points was far beyond what he had anticipated.

"Isn't that bet a bit excessive, Koenji-san?" Rin asked.

"That's right, boy. The more points at stake, the harder you'll try. Eighty thousand personal points will push you to give it your all—it's worth it," Koenji said with unwavering confidence.

As the only son of a chaebol, Koenji was not a stingy person. He believed it was worth spending 80,000 personal points just to see Rin's full strength.

Moreover, Koenji didn't think he would definitely lose.

Rin glanced at Koenji, whose expression showed no hesitation, and he knew that the golden-haired man was completely serious.

Since you're serious, Rin thought, I won't hold back.

"Alright, I accept," Rin said decisively.

"Haha, you didn't disappoint me, boy," Koenji laughed heartily. Rin then turned to Arata, who was standing nearby.

"Teacher, please act as the witness for this match. Blow the whistle and time us," Rin requested.

"Alright, alright," Arata replied, though he seemed slightly exasperated. He had allowed the gamble between Rin and Koenji, but he hadn't expected the stakes to be so high.

Eighty thousand personal points was a considerable amount.

"You two warm up first. I'll go activate the swimming pool's timing touchpad system," Arata instructed.

Arata took the competition seriously, treating it like an official match. He activated the swimming pool's timing touchpad system to ensure accurate results.

While manual timing could result in slight deviations, the touchpad system accurately recorded the time as long as the swimmer touched the pad at the finish line.

As Arata worked on the system, Rin walked up to him and said, "Teacher, I think you should record the match between me and Koenji."

"Why?" Arata asked curiously.

"Because you're planning to report my performance to the school later. If you have a video of my match with Koenji, it will make your report more convincing."

"That's true!" Arata exclaimed, realization dawning on him.

As the saying goes, seeing is believing.

No matter how much Arata described Rin's swimming skills to the school, it wouldn't be as compelling as a recorded video.

With this in mind, Arata used his authority to activate the surveillance cameras installed in the indoor swimming pool. He began recording the competition between Rin and Koenji.

Rin and Koenji stood on the diving platform, ready to compete. Meanwhile, Karuizawa and a group of excited girls cheered for Rin enthusiastically.

"Come on, Rin!"

"Crush that golden retriever!"

The girls' cheers were loud and full of energy. On the other hand, the boys, including Ike, silently rooted for Koenji. Their jealousy of Rin made them hope that Koenji wouldn't lose.

Why silently, you ask?

Because they weren't foolish enough to openly go against the girls.

Of course, not everyone was that smart...

"Come on, Koenji! Don't let that guy win—smash him in the face!" Yamauchi shouted loudly.

His outburst drew angry glares from the girls, and the other boys quickly distanced themselves from him. They wanted to make it clear they weren't associated with this idiot.

Ike was the first to surrender under the intense glares of the girls. In fact, he was the first to step away from Yamauchi, acting as though he didn't even know him.

Despite the noise from Kei and the others, Rin and Koenji remained focused on the diving platform, ready for the race.

Arata, having finished setting up the touchpad system, held his whistle in hand and addressed the two competitors.

"You two, get ready," he said.

"Ready... beep!"

The moment the whistle blew, Rin and Koenji dove into the swimming pool simultaneously, racing toward the 50-meter finish line.