Hi there! I hope you enjoy this I wrote for the Free! board :) I remember when this was just rumored to be an advert but then it was announced to be an anime. I never had the chance to watch it but I was hooked from the advert and the other day I saw the first episode :) Plus, I know the summary seems to tip into favor with Haruka, but I will need to see who the OC has the most chemistry with lol, but it won't be Nagisa because he's too shota for me ^^"
Disclaimer: Don't own Free!
Summary: A boy who likes nothing but eating fish and swimming in any bodies of water he can get his hands on, including fishtanks!? Finally, I've met someone who is stranger than I am! Pairings undecided
A SERIAL URINATOR, CPR AND A SUBARU
"Scrub scrub scruuuub...rub a dub dub... Cleaning everywhere...washing everywhereeeee!"
"Ew...look at that loser...she's getting off from cleaning grout."
"That's the most disgusting thing I've ever seen in my whole entire life."
I turned round with the handle of the broom in hand. Both girls in tiny, revealing bikinis stared at me, blinking numbly for a moment before their expressions darkened and their neatly waxed eyebrows slowly drifted back with spite as though waiting for whatever witty response that I could think of. Too bad there wasn't really one. I'm those kinds of people who don't do anything, then think about and realize I should've done this or that, etc. Instead, all I did was take a deep breath and say, "He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot, will be victorious."
"...What?" muttered one of the girls, as I prodded my glasses further up my nose.
"It's from Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War'." I uttered.
"Sun...Too? What?"
"Don't even bother pronouncing his name. You'll just embarrass yourself. It's too bad you're only endowed here-" I made a gesture over my chest and the girl instinctively lifted an arm to cover her own chest, "While up here-" I pointed to the top of my head, "...Is obviously empty."
"Weirdo." snapped the girl, turning away with her nose in her air.
"Nerd." Her friend vocalized next.
"What a freak." She added.
"Loser." Her friend chimed in, before she lowered her voice and whispered, "It's no wonder no boy in school has ever confessed to her."
"Who in the hell would have the right mind to?"
"Never mind, let's go see Makoto-senpai~"
With that, the two girls stalked away snootily with their butts and hips waggling to and fro and I turned back round to focus on what I had been doing, albeit with shaking legs. Ahhh...that was so scary. I've never stood up to people like that before. I tried not to let the comments get to me but my fingers were gripping the brush so tightly I thought the handle would snap in half, and my legs were trembling so much I thought I would've collapsed. My stomach had twisted into this tight knot and I actually feel sick. Usually, I could handle insults, but this time I just had to do something.
With a sigh, I pushed my glasses further up my nose again and continued to scrub at the tile I had been cleaning. I had been in a good mood until that happened... Now I just feel sick and wanting to go home. I shouldn't even be here.
A few weeks ago, I got detention from a teacher who looped me in to clean the pool of the Iwatobi High swim club. Now I need to go report to Coach Goro every Thursday afternoon to clean the pool for the rest of the month. Maybe more.
It's not too bad, I guess, because every now and then, half-naked guys will come running past me. It's even better than Baywatch because it's actually happening in front of my eyes. Now, before you make a judgmental decision on my character right now from that pervy comment I just made, do you see that scrawny girl with long, uncombed, tangled and frizzy, shaggy brown hair hanging all over her face like Cousin It from the Addam's Family? It's not that hard to miss her; she's standing by herself at the edge of the pool while everyone else is having fun, splashing around and swimming freely in the pool...
Yep, that's me.
Now, today's society is so notoriously shallow anyone who will walk past me will immediately point and laugh or at least mentally make some blunt remark about this geeky spectacled girl, thinking that she was probably a devout bookworm and nerd, a geeky loser girl who hadn't been kissed, hugged or held hands with a boy, for her whole sixteen years of miserable existence... I agree, because it's kinda true.
I'm not surprised. My life has never been a shoujo manga or those Korean romantic dramas I watch on TV. My life doesn't revolve around tragedy, melodrama or hot, handsome guys who give me second glances (let alone one). Nope. Nothing like that. No hot guys in my life with awesome hair or pouty lips or shimmering soulful eyes fawning over me. Don't get me wrong, the swim club is full of hot guys but they don't even look at me (not that there's a lot to look at, either). They don't know who I am anyway; I come here after they're done with the pool. When they're finished with swimming practice, they all head off to get a shower and clean up for the rest of the day and go home. Then I come to clean up. I don't see anyone. They don't see me. I'm I.N.V.I.S.I.B.L.E. Oh well, I have more important things to do, like get this swimming pool nice and clean for folks to use.
Ah! I just remembered. Want to hear something really disgusting?
Apparently, someone peed in the pool the other day...and this has already happened several times. Not once, but several. I need to find out who this serial urinator is so I can beat the living daylights out of him (or her) for making my life a misery whenever I clean the pool. At the moment though, the serial pee-er is not my concern since I haven't started on the pool yet as at the moment, I'm still cleaning the grout out of the tiles, but I'll still need to get to the bottom of it. Can't let a serial urinator go. What next? A serial pooper? Eurgghh! I tried not to think about it.
"Scrubbing this and there~ Scrubbing everywhereeeee~!" I picked up where I left off in my Happy Working Song, trying to get the long scrub brush into every possible nook and cranny granted. Hmm, perhaps a change of song will change my mood. Ah, okay, here goes! "I get knocked down! But I get up again, you're never gonna kick me down! I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never gonna get me down-"
Ever since Iwatobi Swim Club became more and more popular - these kind of girls began to come in. They don't even come here to learn to swim or to improve (were they even allowed to join?). They come here to deliberately wear teeny-weeny, itty bitty bikinis so their assets can jiggle around and also because they like to ogle at the male students and also like it when the male students ogle at them. Sure, the male swimmers are so muscly and toned with nice, shapely butts, broad shoulders and bulging pecs in all the right areas...it's a little hard to believe that they're only high school students since they're so refined and toned...Mmm, yummers...haaaah...drool drool drool...
Anyway, so about half an hour later, practice was over and everyone had headed home. It was just me left and I was about to finish up when I felt a force on my back as I scrubbed at the poolside and I was in the water. I'd been pushed and I hit the water. I went under completely and I tried to resurface but then there something pushing down on my head and every time I tried to get up, or at least, whenever I poked my head above the surface of the water of the pool, something kept shoving me back in.
"Ack! *cough cough* Help!" I shouted, spluttering and flailing my arms around helplessly as I bobbed up and down. When I opened my eyes, I could see two familiar figures standing at the pool side. It was those girls again! And they were using my scrub brush to constantly dunk me under. "Help! Stoooop! Ack! *glug glug glub* Nooo!"
This went on for a few minutes by the way. Everytime I went under the water, it went silent and my vision was naught but blue, as though there was a completely different world down here...and when I would bob back up, I could hear them laughing, and my vision was now growing darker and darker and my arms were getting weaker when...
"Hey! What are you doing?!"
"The pool's closed now!"
"Haru-chan! There's someone in the water!"
"Hurry!"
Now, I don't remember much but when I woke up, there was a guy's face hovering in front of me. He has the purest blue eyes I have ever seen, like a clear blue ocean, and for a moment, I found myself lost in them for a split second before he blinked and withdrew his mouth from mine. Oh. Right... So he was performing CPR on me, with a hand pinching my nose and the other under my chin and tilting my face closer to his and then there was also a thin stream of saliva that was linking our mouths together. It was kind of gross and disgusting, like dew on a spider's web. Sorry, I'm so graphical. I'm just like that. You know those kinds of people who...well, when they are presented with a picture or something... they point out all the weird things first? Yeah, I'm one of those people. Sorry, ahem.
"Heeey, she's awake!" exclaimed a boy with orangey-blond hair. He reminds me a bit of a rabbit, with his cheerful demeanor and the way how he was hopping around gleefully at my awakening, while Mr Cool, Blue and Sexy moves his hands away.
"Are you alright?" enquired another guy at my left; this time, the guy has light, olive-green hair. His face was gentle. Overall, he was hot, gentle and green. Ooh. Even his voice is as gentle as his face. So this is what heaven looks like...
"We should check if she's hurt anywhere, Makoto-senpai," said the guy to my right. He was tall, dark and geeky.
I coughed a little, squeezing my eyes shut and having to roll onto my side for a bit. The guy who'd finished resuscitating me moves away to sit and Hot, Gentle and Green tries to get me to sit up. "Uh...whu...what happened?" I asked throatily, coughing and hacking like there was no tomorrow.
"We managed to get you out of the water." said Mr Hot, Gentle and Green. "Are you okay? How are you feeling?"
"I...I'm fine..." I managed to croak out, "I'm fine, thank you. Unhhh...I'm all wet..." I glanced down at myself, noticing how my entire uniform was now damp and soggy and even my shirt had become see-through, giving everyone a view of my black underwear underneath. Urrrk. As if on cue, everyone seemed to have been unable to look at me in the eye.
"Here." said Hot, gentle and green, clearing his throat as he handed me my glasses.
"Thanks." I muttered as I scooped them off him, settling them over my eyes so I could get a clearer look of them; they were wet but at least I could see properly and I gasped as soon as my eyes had laid on the group before me. ERMAHGERD. They're all so f*cking cute! "GAHHH!" I suddenly cried out, clutching at my lower tummy as I doubled over without warning.
"Are you okay?!" asked Hot, Gentle and Green, and I nodded weakly.
"What happened? Where are you hurt?"
I shook my head this time.
"...Then, what's wrong?"
Still shaking my head, all I could do was let out a whimper, No more...I don't think my ovaries can take anymore...
"Oh! Your nose..." Hot, Gentle and Green then pointed to his own nose.
"My nose...?" I mirrored his actions and touched my nose with a fingertip only to pull back when I found it wet and red. "Argh! I-I'm bleeding! HELP!"
Again, the green-haired one was chuckling reassuringly at me, "It's okay, you'll be fine. It's just a nosebleed, that's all. Can someone get her a tissue?"
Sooner or later, a rolled hanky was handed to me from Mr Tall, Dark and Geeky which I then proceeded to jam up the bleeding nostril after mumbling my gratitude. "I am so sorry for all the trouble I have caused. Thank you for saving me." I said with an apologetic bow of the head, as I faced all the half-naked guys with their glorious, glistening chests and rugged, chiseled six-packs in front of me. "But I don't know why my nose is bleeding. I can't imagine what caused it."
"Did they do that to you?" said Mr Hot, gentle and green, gesturing to my bleeding nose.
"They?"
"Yeah, those girls. They ran off after Rei and I saw them." said Mr Bunny Blond, crossing his arms over his chest, "What they did was really dangerous!"
"Indeed, I shall make sure this incident gets reported to Amakata-sensei..." murmured tall, dark and geeky as he hid his eyes behind the gleam of his glasses. It was a bit sinister looking, but nonetheless, his words meant well.
I shook my head in response. "No, don't...if those girls found out we told sensei...they'll just do something else to me..."
"It really bugs me when a team member is being bullied." said bunny blond, pouting slightly. "We should do something! They were talking to Mako-chan earlier on, you know! How could they do such a horrible thing?"
"I'm not being bullied. I don't even know those girls." I said.
"...But...aren't those your bag and shoes?" Hot, gentle and green pointed to the numerous items which I hadn't noticed that were floating on the water's surface.
My face reddened as I caught sight of my schoolbag and my books and jotters along with my school shoes and socks in the pool. "Oh." I croaked out again, throat going slightly dry, "I-It's no big deal. This happens frequently. I'm used to it." ...But I'm not used to having a group of people actually witnessing this kind of thing happening. This is so embarrassing...
"You should tell someone!" asserted bunny blond, "You should!"
"No, honestly, it's nothing." I said sternly, trying to stand. However, my legs swayed slightly and to my astonishment, it was not hot, gentle and green who managed to get to me first as I had expected since he'd been nothing but caring the whole entire time since I woke up – it was Mr Cool, Blue and Sexy – maybe because I was about to fall on top of him if he hadn't caught me. He'd saved himself and myself from an embarrassing situation. His hand was placed gingerly on the small of my back before I could collapse and I tensed up all over, my entire body going as still as a statue. However, my mind and heart was racing at 100mph simultaneously: Ahh, finally! My shoujo moment has come! And they say this only happens in the movies! Hey, wait a minute! I almost drowned! There's nothing romantic about this at all!
Again, bunny blond was the quickest to react out of the group, "Whoaaa! Are you okay?" He prodded at my side with a curious index finger, noticing how rigid I'd become.
"Y-yeah." I stammered out; as Bunny Blond retreated his finger, Mr Blue removed his hand as though he hadn't even sensed my sudden hunching and bunching and I kept my head low so they wouldn't see how warm my face had become. "Thank you...I'm, uh, I'm not even on the team anyway. I'm... just the cleaner. I clean the pools regularly every Thursday, so..."
"Oh, wow!" Bunny Blond continued to exclaim, whilst I hung my head low. It was really embarrassing for me to say those words, but how else was I supposed to tell them that I was the pool's caretaker? "So it's YOU who keeps our pools so clean, so nice and refreshing and sparkly! Thank you so much!"
I was a little taken back from the overwhelming gratitude I was hurtled with from out of nowhere. "Huh? Oh...wow...oh, oh gosh, t-that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me before...oh...ohhh..." I let out an awkward chuckle, rubbing at the back of my neck sheepishly before twiddling two fingers together, "Yeah, that's right. I stop the pool from going green or pink from bacteria. And at the moment, I'm trying to find the one who keeps peeing in the pool. It's happened three days in a row now."
Almost immediately, there was a hubbub amongst the more talkative of the group:
"Ew! Yuck! Mako-chan, I feel sick..."
"Me too. That's horrible."
"Unhygienic. Who would do such a barbaric thing, Makoto-senpai?"
To my surprise, Mr Cool, blue and sexy immediately stalked towards the poolside. "...What's wrong, Haru-chan?" asked Mr Green.
Instead, Mr Blue ignored his friends, attention on me solely. "When did this begin?"
I hadn't heard him speak at all but he had such a nice and calm, mature and leveled voice. I found myself unable to answer all at once, instead all I was capable of was gawping at him uncouthly as I sat dripping and wet in my damp uniform. "Haha! Haru-chan's really grossed out!" said Bunny Blond, a wide grin plastered on his face.
"I-I dunno. A few days ago, I think." I finally spluttered out. Before I knew it, bunny blond had leapt over and he was in my arms. Huh, I'm pretty sure it's meant to be the other way around when it came to guys and girls hugging. "Oof!" I grunted out, struggling with his weight. He might be shorter than me a little but since he's still a guy, he's still pretty heavy.
"I have an idea! Let's catch this guy together!" He exclaimed, still with his arms tangled around me. Normally I wouldn't like random strangers glomping me but I guess my drowning-spell made me a little woozy at the moment. I was not quite myself. "I mean, we're so grateful to have you around! Thank you soooo much! We really appreciate it! I know! Let's make you our official pool guard! Join us! Here, have a penguin!"
"Uh...whu..." Suddenly there was a plastic emperor penguin toy rammed into my hands thanks to bunny blond.
"Nagisa, please! She just woke up..." Hot, gentle and green chided him, peeling him off me before placing him back onto his feet on the ground, "Oh, we should introduce ourselves! I'm Tachibana Makoto. This is Hazuki Nagisa-"
"Hi!" said bunny blond, waving at me cheerfully.
Makoto, aka Hot Gentle and Green continued, "This is Ryugazaki Rei, and-"
"This is Haru-chan!" Nagisa said, gesturing to the blue-haired boy who hadn't said anything since he'd found out about the serial urinator, "He dived into the water immediately when you were drowning!"
"Nagisa!" Makoto reprimanded harshly, but still gently.
"What? It's true~"
"Yeah, but you don't have to sound so happy about it..."
"Oh, sorry!"
I watched the group before me, then a giggle escaped my lips as I watched them bicker jovially amongst themselves. All boys turned to me expectantly. "What's your name?" Makoto asked, "We do see you around but we haven't had much of an opportunity to introduce ourselves. Sorry."
"Huh? You...see me?"
"You always come fifteen minutes early." muttered Haru, and I turned to him with acute surprise. "Today, you were five minutes late..."
If he wasn't so hot, I guess that would've been a creepy statement. I would've thought he'd been stalking me or something. "Oh!" I exclaimed, clasping my hands together, "Yeah, I was a little late coming in today. Well, t-that's okay. Don't worry about it. You're always so busy, getting ready for relays and stuff. I don't get noticed often. I'm used to it anyway." I said, a little cheerfully now, "Subaru. My name's Mitsushige Subaru. It's nice to meet you all. I apologize about the serial urinator, though. I do try my best to have the pool as clean and tidy as much as possible."
"Hehe, it's not your fault. Nice to meet you too, Subaru-chan!" Makoto said cheerfully, shaking my hand warmly.
"Yes, a pleasure to meet you, Mitsushige-san." came Rei's stoic response.
"I hope you clean the pools more often! You're doing a great job, Su-chan!" Nagisa cheered.
The overwhelming nicknames and sudden introductions were a little too much. In fact, I think I'd forgotten who was who. It had all been rather quick. "T-thank you, you're all too kind..." I muttered; my eyes automatically swerved towards the direction of the guy called Haru, but he seemed more engrossed with staring at the swimming pool before him instead. Oh well, never mind. At least most of the poster boys of Iwatobi are nice. Can't hope for them all to be friendly, right?
How wrong I was.
So yeah! There goes the first chapter :) I wasn't sure if it was OOC or not thought, and I still can't decide if it should be a Haruka OC or Makoto OC or Rin OC (even though he hasn't appeared yet), so I'll need to think about this. Laterz!
