Reo's Swim Race
Pairing: Mai x Reo
Genre: Friendship/Romance
Disclaimer: I do not own Sono Hanabira or any of its characters.
Author's Note: Hello, everyone! So, this is something I came up with a while ago. So, I just started typing away. Enjoy~!
With the crowd gathered around, Yuuna holds up a small piece of paper from a black box in the middle of the room. She turns to the cheering fangirls with a bright smile on her face.
"Alright, ladies~!" The tall blonde says. "Today's main event is going to be...a 50-meter race! And the opponents will be..." She glances at the paper. "Oh~! Eris Shitogi-san against Reo Kawamura-san~!"
The petite blonde just growls under her breath as Mai sweat drops. She wasn't expecting this for the summer event, but the students were asked to write down some events for it, so there's nothing she can do about it.
Eris claps her hands excitedly as she turns to the petite blonde. "Isn't this great, Reo~? You and me racing together~!"
"Whatever..." Reo says in a bored tone.
Eris just smirks and leans down to her level to whisper in her ear. "Hey, just to get you motivated...if you lose...Shizuku is free to take Mai to her home~"
This definitely gets the petite girl's attention and quickly turns to Eris. "She wouldn't, would she!?"
"Oh, she will~" Eris says. "Considering how close they are, you might be left all alone all summer, maybe~"
Reo can't believe what she's hearing. Her beloved Mai Sawaguchi will be spending time with Shizuku Kirishima the whole summer? Now, this makes her motivated and determined to beat Eris no matter what it takes. She turns to the taller blonde and shakes her hand, gripping it a lot tighter than Eris thinks.
"Oh, it's on, Eris Shitogi..." Reo says. "I swear I'll beat you in this race!"
Once they let go, Eris just giggles as she rubs her hand. "Good luck on that, Reo. See ya~!"
Mai just stares at her petite lover in concern. She has a feeling that Reo is just being overconfident.
**Homeroom**
Mai is listening to the lecture when all of a sudden, a folded piece of paper flies in front of her. She stops taking notes and unfolds it.
"Get ready for the first battle ever," she reads to herself. "Eris Shitogi-san vs Reo Kawamura. 500 chocolates per bet." She sighs. "What is this? Why do they have to pick this event...?" She looks around to see the teacher still facing the board. "Heck, for all I know, Eris-san is going to dominate Reo. Haaaah...this is getting to be a pain..."
She looks around the room to find Reo, forms the paper into a paper air plane and successfully launches it, only to get the point stuck on her hair. Reo growls as she grabs it and looks around to find who did it until she notices Mai gesturing her to read it. The blonde does so, but as she examines it, she gasps and clutches the paper in anger.
"Why that little-" she whispers angrily. She then notices at the top of the paper, reading, "500 Chocolates per bet." She lets out a heavy sigh. She too has a problem and it's not just this event.
**At the School Pool**
All the girls are in blue one-piece swimsuits and are swimming in the pool for fun while Mai and Reo are at the edge. Mai is teaching her beloved how to swim and things aren't going very well. The petite blonde, who has her hair tied in a pony-tail, is refusing to sink her head in the water. The other girls are looking at both of them awkwardly.
"Come on, Reo," Mai says. "It's just like washing your face in the sink."
"Easy for you to say!" Reo growls.
The other girls whisper to each other like, "Can Reo-sama even do this?" Or "Not a chance. She's going to lose for sure."
"Just ignore them and keep kicking," Mai tells her girlfriend.
"That's what I'm doing!"
Just then, a soft giggle is heard from their right. "Well, you'll have to try extra hard if it's for Mai-san."
Both girls turn to a certain shy pink haired girl.
"Oh, hi, Kaede-san," Mai greets.
"Wh-what are you doing here?" Reo stammers.
"Oh, just watching you two," Kaede replies. "You guys make a good team. Keep it up."
The petite girl blushes furiously. "Wh-what? Who's the team?" At that point, she realizes she is no longer holding hands with Mai like she did earlier and begins to flail her arms helplessly until she sinks.
"Wah! Reo!" Mai cries as she saves her girlfriend.
**Reo's Apartment**
"Grr! I will never, ever practice during class again," Reo complains as she busies herself trying to do strokes while on the mat with Mai sitting across from her. "Virtual training is good enough."
"You can say that after you figure out how to put your face in the water without freaking out," Mai says as she reads a magazine.
The blonde sighs as she sits up. "What are we having for dinner?"
"Tonight I'm making my mom's favorite vegetable soup," Mai replies. "Carrots, celery, a little noodles..."
Reo pounds the table angrily. "How about less vegetables and more meat!?"
"Hey, calm down. Vegetables are good for you anyways."
Reo pouts as she rests her head on the table. "Dummy..."
Mai pets her girlfriend and stands up to head over to the kitchen. "Anyways, you better start practicing during class from now on. It's time to get serious."
"I can't get serious," Reo says. "Not with our friends watching me."
"That's another reason why you should try harder."
"Quit lecturing me. We all know who's to blame for me working so hard and dealing with these misunderstandings."
"I have no idea who you are talking about," Mai says as se starts boiling the water. "Aren't you doing this to keep someone from going to Shizuku-sama's place?" As she turns her head, a magazine already hits her face, which was thrown by Reo. "Ow!"
"Never mind, forget it," Reo say. "Just cook the dinner."
"What's your problem?"
"Just hurry up and cook. I'm going to train like crazy, so I need my nutrients."
For the next few days, Reo studies everything there is to know about swimming. Like how to to do proper strokes, putting her head in the water and so on. She practiced putting her head underwater while in the bathtub one time. And Mai continues to teach her swimming as well. And as the days go by, the petite blonde is understanding more and more. For her, she is sure that she will beat Eris in that swimming race.
But the next day, it's raining, meaning no swim classes. The girls in Mai's class are complaining about it. Especially Reo. While Mai is sitting at her desk, Reo is next to her, gritting her teeth.
"After putting all that heart and soul into practicing, why can't we use the pool, huh!?" Reo shouts.
Mai ignores her and just sits back. All of a sudden, two tickets are handed in front of her face.
"Hm?" She takes them and examines them. "These are tickets to the public pool."
"Mm-hmm~!" Kaede's cousin and girlfriend, Sara says. "I'm rooting for Reo-chan~!"
The petite girls is speechless. "O-oh, um..."
Kaede steps in beside Sara with a gentle smile. "Both of us are interested in this little contest, so we decided to cheer you on."
"Eh!? But I can't even swim! Why would you two do that!?" Reo says.
"Cause both of us believe in you, Reo-chan," Sara says. "You'll come out on top, I know it."
"Enjoy your practice, you two," Kaede says as she and her girlfriend take their leave.
Mai and Reo just stare at the two until they're gone. The short haired girl smiles and pets the blonde.
"Well, we'll have to repay them later, ne~?" She says.
All Reo could do is pout in a cute way.
**Later**
Mai walks in the halls and goes by the vending machine to order a drink. However, when she turns her head, she sees the tall blonde girl standing in front of her.
"Wah! E-Eris-sama!" She cries backing away in shock.
"Hehe~! What a coincidence, Mai-san~!" Eris giggles.
The two sit by a near by table and drink. Mai lets out a heavy sigh, making Eris giggle again.
"My~! Aren't you on low energy today?" The tall blonde says.
"Thanks to a certain someone..." Mai says.
"Ohhhh~! I wonder who that someone could be~!" Eris teases.
"Give me a break..." Mai says as she looks up at the third year.
"She's just jealous, that's all."
"Jealous?" Mai repeats. "No, it's because she doesn't like you."
"Goodness, Mai-san. Are you an idiot?"
"No, you are. Anyways, stop provoking Reo. And none of this bet on me coming to Shizuku-sama's place. She wouldn't really invite me, would she?"
Eris puts on a gentle smile. "She told me she wants you to come."
"Eh?"
"I'm serious about winning this. Shizuku hasn't really spent time with you for the past few weeks cause of studying. And I'm really fine with that. Cause I can spend time with Reo if I want to."
"I see." Mai says.
"Both of us are going to have the best time~!" Eris says happily.
Mai sighs as she stands up. "I'm gonna go. It's getting late anyways."
"Okay. Take care~!" The tall blonde turns her head and waves.
**Outside**
Mai opens up her umbrella when she hears a gentle voice call out to her.
"How nice of Mai-san~" Yuuna says.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Mai asks.
"During the past few days, I watched you and Reo work as a team. You're always helping her out."
"Ah, it's no big deal."
"But it's those no big deal things that matter the most."
"Yuuna-san..."
The blonde chairman giggles and holds out her hand. "Keep this up and I guarantee this race will be very interesting. Since I'm the referee of this race, I can't do much to help you out, but I'm rooting for the both of you. You can count on it."
Mai smiles and nods. "You got it!" She shakes the chairman's hand.
**Reo's Apartment**
The petite girl looks down at her one-piece swimsuit while sitting on the edge of her bed. These past few days have been rough with her, but she knows it's worth it to beat Eris in the race. It won't be long until the main event comes, so she has to be ready.
**At the Public Pool**
At last, today is a beautiful day with the hot warm sun shining. Mai decides to use this opportunity to use the tickets Sara gave her and take Reo to the the public pool to teach her more lessons. They arrive there in about a half hour by bus and change into their swimsuits with Reo wearing her one-piece.
At first though, Reo insisted on going to the shallow end of the pool, meaning the kiddie pool. Mai just sits there looking up at the sky while the petite girl just happily drifts along the shallow water, taking a few steps with a few little kids, about 5 or 6 years old watching her.
"Look, Mai," she calls. "It's like I'm swimming but I'm really not!" She laughs with the little kids joining in and one of them pouring a little bucket full on her.
Her girlfriend looks at her in annoyance. "You need to start to practicing for real ASAP."
With that, Mai insists on having Reo wear a round floatie while standing on the edge of the pool.
"Mou! What do you expect me to do with this thing?" Reo complains with a pout.
"The race is tomorrow and it's a little late to start practicing freestyle," Mai explains. "And that thing should do the trick.
"Mai, you idiot. This is so uncool..."
After taking a dip in the deep water, Mai gently takes both of Reo's hands and guides her along the pool. The blonde just glides with a bored look on her face. Even though it's a pain, she still has to practice. Mai smiles as she guides her half-way.
"Okay, you're doing good," she says. "Go on, try kicking your legs now."
"Alright, fine." Reo says.
All of a sudden, when Reo starts kicking, she does it aggressively, making large splashes behind her. Mai jumps back as the blonde rockets across the pool like a bullet train. She reaches the end within 10 seconds. Mai is stunned by this, but is very happy to see her improvement.
"Reo! That was amazing!" She exclaims as they get out of the pool. "You were like superhuman when you did that~!"
"Really?" Reo says. "For real? I wasn't doing anything special."
"Yes, but the important thing is we've got the advantage!" Mai says.
"Yeah...you're right." Reo rubs her chin in thought. "Maybe...just maybe...mmm...no. No maybes. I WILL win."
Her girlfriend nods happily. "There you go! That's the spirit!"
However, before they can keep going, Mai and Reo feels drops of water coming down from the sky. Then, it begins to pour down on them. All of the people have to leave, but Reo insists on staying inside the cafeteria foe a while. Mai obliges and orders some food and drinks for the time being.
The short haired girl sighs as she looks outside. "This rain won't let up." She turns to her girlfriend. "Hey, Reo. Want to head home?"
The blonde shakes her head.
"You want to keep going?"
Reo nods.
Mai smiles. "Good for you. It kind of makes sense, too. I mean...if not, we would be wasting the tickets Sara-san gave us."
Reo shoots her head up, but looks away. "Th-that's not...I-I mean..." she blushes furiously. "That's not why I'm doing this!"
"Oh, so who are you doing this for?"
There is silence until Reo hangs down her head, burying it in her knees. "Forget it. It doesn't matter."
It is then that Mai figures it out. "You've been doing this for me this whole time?"
Reo blushes even harder than earlier while shooting her head up. "N-No! That's not why I-"
"Hehe! I can see that," Mai giggles. "If I'm gone all vacation, you'll have to deal with Eris-sama, right? She can be overwhelming, but trust me. She doesn't bite."
Reo just looks away.
"Think about it, if you do lose, I'm the only one who has to spend time with Shizuku-sama. I'll make you some food before I go and stick it in the freezer."
Reo stands up, not making eye contact. "Is that it? Is that what you really want?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Is Shizuku Kirishima really that important to you? Is that why she invited you?" Reo clenches her fists.
"Reo, I think you're overthinking things," Mai says, raising her hand up. "Wait. Maybe that's why you're acting so weird lately. Since you saw me with Shizuku-sama, you..."
Reo unclenches her fists, but still doesn't face Mai. "Mai...I know we're lovers...but...sometimes, I...I feel that...I've been taken back to that time...that time when I felt so lonely...without friends...without my parents. And people just don't understand that."
"Reo..." Mai realizes how her girlfriend truly feels about this and feels very sorry for her. When she loses, she might get taken away from Reo and that can make her feel lonely.
"Let's just go..." Reo says. "I don't want to do this anymore..."
**Mai's Home**
Mai sits at the kitchen table with a sad expression. "Reo..." she whispers.
Mai's mother comes in the room and notices her daughter feeling down. "Hey, Mai-chan. Is everything okay? Did something happen between you and Reo-chan?"
"We just...I don't know. Reo seemed a little mad at me cause I said something to her, so...we kind of took a break."
Her mother sits next to her, putting on a gentle smile while gently putting her hand on hers. "You know you care about her right? And so does she. Even if she says things she doesn't mean, she still loves you. No matter what either the two of you do...both of you still care for one another. That's all that matters."
Mai smiles and hugs her mother. "Thanks, Mom. You're the best."
**Next Day**
Reo walks in the rain with her umbrella when she stops. She sees Mai standing there with her own umbrella. The blonde then keeps on walking until Mai holds up a wrapped up bento.
"Bet you didn't have any breakfast, huh?" Mai says. "And...I was hoping you would change your mind about the race. Anyways, I want to forget what happened yesterday and apologize. I want you to win and..." she gets cut off by Reo snatching the bento and just walking past her.
"I'll take this lunch cause I don't want it to go to waste," Reo says. She closes her umbrella. "But..."
Mai notices that the rain stopped so she closes hers as well.
**The School Pool**
And so, the day of the race finally arrives. All the girls in swimsuits are on the bleachers, cheering with Eris's fan club, Lily Platinum, gushing over Eris's black sexy bikini.
"Oh, my~!" Eris says as she does a few sexy poses. "Please, girls. Don't gush over my bikini too much. I bought it just a few days ago. I'm sure glad I can finally use it~!"
Mai sits in the front row with two other girls who are big fans of Eris between her. They have sparkles in their eyes.
"Holy cow!" One girl on her right says. "Eris-sama is so pretty in that swimsuit! And she's going to run laps right in front of us~!"
"And once she wins, Shizuku-sama will take Mai-sama out on a date!" The other girl says. She turns to the short haired girl. "Why does it have to be you...?" She grumbles.
"I could've gone with Shizuku-sama if I wanted to!" The first girl complains.
"Cut it out," Mai says. "The race hasn't started yet, so who knows if I'm going? And it's NOT a date."
"Oh, yeah? Reo-sama won't stand a chance," the girl on her left says.
"Hey, you won't know anything until...!" She begins to realize that her girlfriend still hasn't come out. "Until she...tries..."
**Meanwhile**
Reo sits at an empty classroom and opens up her bento. She is surprised to see what is inside. "Mai...that idiot...there's nothing but meat in here..."
Back at the Race
Yuuna looks at her watch worriedly as she hears some girls calling out to her.
"Yuuna-sama, how long do we have to wait for this?"
"Yeah, it's getting hot."
"I wonder what's taking Reo-sama so long," One girl from Mai's right says.
The other girl is drooling in satisfaction. "I don't knoooow~! But at least we have Eris-sama's black bikini to stare at~!"
"Hey, I don't know if we can make everyone wait in the heat much longer," Eris says as she walks toward the chairman.
Yuuna sighs. "Yeah, you're probably right."
"What are you girls babbling about?" A familiar voice says from their left.
They look up and see Reo walking up to them with a determined look on her face, one-piece swimsuit ready and her hair tied up in a pony-tail.
"Lets do this fair and square," The petite girl says.
"Reo-san!" Yuuna exclaims. "You made it!"
Eris waves at the petite blonde with a giggle. "Hey, little cutie~!"
Every girl stands up, including Mai, surprised to see Reo finally competing. Both Eris and Reo, who is holding a small swim board, stand at the starting line with Yuuna in the middle raising her hand up.
"Okay, everyone," she calls. "Time to start the freestyle 50 meter race! On your marks, get set..."
Eris gives Reo a smile as both of them get into their ready positions. Reo turns to the taller blonde.
"Hey, you got something on your boob," she says.
"Huh!?" Eris cries in surprise. But before she can do anything, Reo quickly lowers her strap, exposing her breast. "WAHHHH!"
"Just kidding! YAH!" Reo dives in and kicks her feet as fast as she can.
"Y-you're so unbelievable!" Eris cries as she struggles to get her strap back on.
"Wow!" One girl says. "Reo-sama shows up late and then she soars like a rocket? Goodness, she's definitely going to win now!"
Eris grits her teeth. "Oh, I'll show you, Reo!" She starts stroking as fast as she could to catch up to the petite blonde.
Reo reaches the end first, turns around and puts her feet against the edge to push herself to start. However, she feels a strong cramp on her foot, making her stop and struggle. Mai takes notice of it.
"Reo!" She cries. "What's wrong!?"
"Uh, oh!" One girl says. "Reo-sama seems to be in trouble! Which means Eris-sama still has a chance to win!"
While all the girls are rooting for the taller blonde, Reo still struggles to keep herself from drowning, but a pair of hands soon hold her up. She turns her head to see Mai behind her.
"It's okay, I gotcha!" Mai says. "Is it a leg cramp?"
Reo growls as she sees Eris reach the end and turn around. "Let me go! I can still...ah!" She feels her leg cramp again.
"Reo, you have to stop!"
"No!" Reo shouts. "Can't you see your girlfriend is pushing through the pain for you!? Mai, you idiot!"
Mai gasps as she can see how determined her girlfriend is. She sees Eris swim past them. Reo grits her teeth in anger.
"Okay," Mai says. "Get going! Show them what you're made of!" She pushes Reo forward a few feet and then, the petite blonde starts kicking her legs aggressively.
Mai watches her girlfriend swim like a bullet, nodding. "Go get her!" She says to herself.
She hears some girls cheer from her right. But at the corner of her eye, she sees them pushing each other to get a better view, but three of them lose their balance, stumble towards the edge and fall on top of the shocked Mai, knocking her out.
Reo turns around to see her girlfriend slowly falling at the bottom of the pool. "MAIIII!" She cries as she throws her board to the side and dives under the water.
Mai slowly opens her eyes to see bubbles, but only for a little bit. Then, when they clear, she sees her girlfriend coming in to rescue her. 'Huh? R-Reo?' She thinks.
**10 minutes later**
"Sawaguchi-san! Sawaguchi-san!" One of the swim teachers call. "Can you hear me!?"
Mai moans as she slowly opens her eyes.
"Good she's breathing," the teacher says. "Kawamura-san, we should take her to the nurse's-"
"DONT...TOUCH HER!" Reo cries.
Mai's vision clears as she sees her girlfriend on top of her, head down and her hair untied. Her small body is shaking as she is crying. "Reo..." she whispers.
"B-But Kawamura-sa-" the female teacher says when she gets cut off again.
"Shut up!" Reo shouts as tears fall from her face. "You're all a bunch of idiots! You didn't notice she was in trouble! You could've helped but you didn't! All you girls were doing is staring at that bikini! You didn't...even see her...ngh..." She then raises her head as she yells at the top of her lungs. "MAI IS MIIIIINE! KEEP YOUR DAMN HANDS OFF HER!" She then buries her head in Mai's chest while sobbing her heart out.
Mai just smiles and closes her eyes, feeling happy that Reo still truly cares and loves her.
**Coffee Shop**
"In other words, Eris," Reo says. "I'll be coming along to Shizuku's place with Mai."
"What!?" Eris says, raising an eyebrow.
"I lost the race to you, but that also means that I don't get to spend time with Mai that often. So, that means, I have to come along too."
Eris shakes her head as she puts a finger on her forehead. "Hold it, hold it. I thought we had a deal. You can't just be all over the place..."
"I don't see a problem with that," Kaede says as she adjusts her glasses. "The more, the merrier, right?"
Sara nods in agreement. "Kaede-chan is right, Reo-chan! You know what I think? You're having separation anxiety. You're upset Mai-sempai is going to leave you~!"
Reo just crosses her arms and closes her eyes, ignoring the model. "Whatever. The important thing is..." she blushes heavily and links arms with Mai. "Sh-she's my girlfriend and we have to stick together, n-no matter what..."
"Awwww, Reo~!" Mai hugs the petite girl a little too tightly. "That's sooooo sweet! I love youuuu~!"
"M-Mai! Not so loud! People will stare!" Reo shouts while totally red in the face.
After finally pushing Mai off, Shizuku pokes Mai's shoulder to get her attention. The dark haired girl turns to the third year while Shizuku shyly averts her eyes back and forth.
"U-um...we may not spend as much time together as we thought," she says softly. "But...maybe when you have the time..."
Mai puts a hand on her shoulder, giving her a gentle smile. "It's alright, Shizuku-sama. We have all vacation long, so we can spend time together whenever you're ready."
Shizuku nods as she smiles back.