Hey so I had just posted a version of this, but again decided that it was not how I wanted it to go. So here it is again, and I think I like how this one is much better than the two drafts before it. I really hope you all enjoy, and I will try to update as often as I can. I'm working on multiple stories at the moment and my creative writing class isn't helping me control that any.
Summary: Her father would want her to move on…and she truly wanted to, but she didn't know how. She truly didn't think anything good could happen from here on out, and wanted nothing more than to just curl up and hide away. She wanted to be saved and as much as she wanted to avoid it, her only choice was to dive in and hope not to drown.
Disclaimer: I do not own Free! Iwatobi Swim Club. I only own Madeleine Bellerose
Chapter 1:
I walked silently behind my cousin as we headed towards our new high school. Everything was new to me, and I really didn't want to be here. I let out a sigh causing my cousin to look behind him and slow down so I would catch up. He walked next to me silently for a minute and I knew it wouldn't be much longer before he started talking.
"So Maddie-chan, are you excited?"
I looked over at the blond haired boy and shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly causing him to pout and stop walking as I continued ahead. I wouldn't have stopped, but I didn't know where I was going so I had no choice but to stop and wait for him. I looked behind me and before walking to me said,
"Maddie-chan, can you please cheer up? A frown isn't a good look on you."
I let out another sigh before responding to my pink eyes cousin.
"I'm sorry Nagisa-kun, I just didn't sleep well last night."
He ran up to me and we continued walking to school when he asked,
"You had the nightmare again?" I nodded my head yes as I instinctively rubbed my wrist. All I wanted was to forget that day, but my mind wasn't having it. I never failed to have the memory haunt me in my dreams at least once a week. As much as I love my cousin, I was only living with him because my aunt and him were the only family I had left. After my father passed away, I had no one to stay with in France, so I had no choice but move to Japan and live with my aunt and cousin. I was very lucky that they took me in, but I still missed my home.
The school came into view and as we drew closer I asked Nagisa a question that I had been wondering about for a while,
"Do you know what clubs they have at Iwatobi High?"
He shrugged his shoulders and added, "I'm not sure, but I hope there's a swimming one, I bet my two friends from elementary school are already in it."
I already knew that Nagisa was excited about seeing his old friends here at Iwatobi, and I silently hoped that I would be able to make some of my own. I also silently hoped that there would be a dance club, but a sense of doubt came to me for both of those thoughts. I seriously doubted anything would go my way. We made it to our homeroom and took two seats next to each other. The bell rang and the teacher entered and began taking roll call, she then began to welcome everybody and talk about what we are going to do this year. As classes continued, I took out my notebook and began to doodle through them all. Soon it was lunch, and Nagisa quickly grabbed my hand and pulled me out of my seat and began running through the halls. We got outside and he continued sprinting with me trying not to stumble behind him.
"Nagisa-chan slow down!" He seemed to not hear me as we ran past a red haired girl and I said excuse me after we had already passed. We got to another building and stopped at the bottom of some stairs where Nagisa let go of my wrist. I looked up and saw two boys standing at the top of the stairs talking to each other, I was about to tell Nagisa to move when he yelled out,
"Hey, Makoto, Haruka!"
The two boys looked at him and then at each other before looking back and asking,
"Nagisa?!" To which my cousin just smiled at before walking up the stairs toward them. I followed behind and we made our way onto the roof of the building. As we made our way to the ledge on the side of the building, Nagisa introduced me to his old friends.
"Mako-chan, Haru-chan, this is my cousin Maddie-chan. She moved here all the way from France."
I met the eyes of both boys, Mako and Haru and bowed slightly while saying a greeting.
"H-hello…we actually have met before when I came to visit." When I straightened back up Mako spoke
"Yeah…I think I do remember you…France, that's a pretty big move."
"Yeah, it's a really big difference…" I responded
"So how did you learn Japanese so quickly?"
"My father taught me the language as I was learning French. He was originally from here and we would come visit frequently."
Mako nodded and asked the question I had been dreading, "So why did you move here?"
I hesitated and looked at Nagisa before looking at the ground, "Um…my father passed away, and my aunt and Nagisa were my only family left…"
"Oh, I'm so sorry for your loss."
"Merci…I mean thank you."
We ate lunch and boys caught up. I couldn't help smiling when I saw how happy my cousin was from seeing his old friends again. They began to talk about swimming and my smile only grew when I saw how excited Nagisa was about it. He mentioned starting a hot springs club to which the boy named Haruka quickly denied saying he hated the heat.
Soon lunch was over and we began to walk down the stairs to head back to our classrooms.
"Did you know that they're going to tear down the old swim club?"
The two boys perked up at hearing that and we all waited to hear what he would say next.
"I say we all go visit."
"To dig that up?" Makoto asked
Nagisa simply nodded and Makoto added, "But we're not all here…"
"So, Rin is in Australia, he wouldn't want us to leave it behind."
I knew exactly what they were talking about, the trophy they had won during grade school. I was here visiting with my father and went to watch that day. It was pretty amazing and I remember straining my throat yelling for my cousin's team to win. When I zoned back into the conversation, Makoto seemed to tempting Haru by telling him about the pool. I knew with the look that Haru gave Mako that they he would be joining them.
When we got back to our classroom, I looked over at Nagisa and asked,
"Can you walk me home before going to this abandoned place? I don't exactly remember which way to go?"
"Why would I do that? You're coming with us." He responded quickly
"Why would I come with you?" I argued
"Because it'll be fun." He claimed
I met his eyes and was about to respond when the bell rang and the teacher began roll call. I decided that I wouldn't go, and he couldn't make me and when class ended, I quickly responded to his earlier claim with,
"I can have more fun at home."
"Oh yeah? Doing what?"
I looked around at anything that wasn't his eyes, as I tried to think of something I would do that could be qualified as fun. I couldn't think of anything, and I slumped knowing I had been defeated.
"Ha, I win." He gloated
I rolled my eyes and soon all classes were over. I grabbed my backpack and followed Nagisa through the school halls and outside.