Once he found his purpose, it drove him to exert an effort on a level far beyond the reach of ordinary people.

#nana56b


Synopsis

The second hand of the classroom clock ticked away,
sounding like a hammer pounding on his heart.

For Tomoya, the forty-five-minute class felt like
torture that would last forever. The sound of a
pencil lead scraping against paper, the breathing of
the student sitting next to him, the shadow of a bird
flitting past the window—every sensation poured into
his brain like a muddy torrent, leaving him unable
to sit still.

“Not again, Tomoya.”

The voice of his homeroom teacher, Akutsu, cut
sharply through the air. Tomoya had been
unconsciously tapping his foot and tearing his eraser
into tiny pieces, which he’d lined up on his desk.

“I’m sorry, but…”
“Enough with the excuses. You’re always like this.
You lack both concentration and patience.”

Akutsu looked down at Tomoya from the teacher’s
desk with a cold, piercing gaze. The icy stares of
his classmates pierced him.

“Listen, Tomoya. People like you are of no use to
anyone once you enter society. You won’t be able to
accomplish a single thing, even if you spent your
whole life trying. At best, just find a way to live
without holding others back.”

Those words left an indelible mark on young
Tomoya’s heart. He felt like a broken clock. A
defective product—expected of by no one, destined to
get nowhere.

What saved him was the swimming school his mother
took him to.

The moment he entered the water, his world was
transformed. The noise that had tormented him so much
on land vanished, leaving only the resistance of the
water and the echo of his own heartbeat. There was
“silence” there. His unstoppable impulse turned into
propulsion, and his overflowing energy became a blade
slicing through the water’s surface.

“Faster, faster!”

He swam—as if to shake off Akutsu’s words, to prove
the world that had rejected him wrong. The hyperfocus
characteristic of ADHD, once he found a goal, drove
him to a level of effort that ordinary people could
never hope to reach.

When he entered middle school, Tomoya joined the swim
team. He devoted himself entirely to practice and
gradually improved. His coach recognized his
dedication and put him through special training.
Though the inner conflict continued, it was only
through swimming that he found hope for the future.

In high school, his talent blossomed. He won
tournament after tournament and advanced to national
competitions time and again. The cheers of his
teammates and his coach’s encouragement sustained
Tomoya. He began to believe he could become an
Olympian.

A few years later.

The television screen showed a man with his 20th gold
medal—a record number in history—hanging around his
neck.

Standing at the top of the podium, Tomoya looked up at
the sky as he listened to “Kimigayo.” The boy who
had once been told he “would never amount to
anything” had now become the person who had achieved
the most glory in …