Hello everyone~ So, of course I'm a Free! fangirl, but I'm also a competitive swimmer so when I first saw the Free! commercial, I really hoped that it was real. When it was announced, I almost cried tears of joy... I've read a few swimming one shots, but none of them really grasp the "sporty" side of it but thankfully, from what I've seen so far, Free! will do just that :)

So, I decided to upload this to see how people respond to this before I actually put more effort into this.

Deep breath. Whistle. Step up. Take your mark. Focus.

BRZZZZZT!

Launch. Splash. Pain.

I pushed off the starting block and entered the water at a decent angle. After a few quick butterfly kicks in streamline, I rose to the surface and began sprinting freestyle. But, something wasn't right. As I pulled with my right arm, a sharp pain jolted through my shoulder and made me grit my teeth. Damn, of all times, it decides to act up now? Oh well, I have to deal with it. It's only a 50*. I pushed the pain out of my mind and focused on taking down the girl next to me. She was ahead of me by an arm's length and we were coming up on the turn. I took my last breath at the flags*, and sprinted into the wall. I took my last stroke and whipped my legs over my head, as soon as my toes touched the wall I was already pushing off into a tight streamline. Five solid butterfly kicks later I resurfaced. I glanced out of the corner of my eye to see that I had pulled ahead of her on the turn. My coach and teammates were screaming for me on the sidelines, and I continued to pump out my kicks to finish into the wall. The girl had fallen way behind me, and first place was guaranteed. I grinned to myself at my victory. Now I just need to finish strong, and maybe even drop some time. I reached the flags on the other side of the pool, and as I turned over onto my side to drive my hand into the wall, a sharp bolt of pain shot throughout my shoulder and I faltered a bit, but still managed to hit the touch pad with my fingertips enough so that it registered. I took off my cap and goggles and tilted my head back to dip my dark blue bun into the water. I glanced at my time and grimaced. I had gained half a second. I waited until the other competitors finished, and I shook hands with the girls in the lanes next to me. As I placed my hands on the deck and prepared to heave myself up and out of the water, my shoulder protested once more. I gasped in shock and fell back into the water. I tried again, and was unable to get out. A hand reached out to me and I looked up to see my coach looking at me with a worried expression.

"Are you okay, Hamasaki?" He asked as he helped me out of the water.

"I'm fine. My shoulder hurts a bit though." I replied as we walked back to the team area.

"Besides that, did you see your time? Yikes." He shook his head. "Try to do better next time." I nodded.

"Sorry. I faltered a bit off my start and on my finish because of the pain." I admitted. He shook his head again.

"No excuses. If it bothers you that much then go see a doctor. You need to be prepared to do anything to win if you're on the Samezuka swim team." He walked over towards another swimmer and began talking about her splits*.

"I did win though." I muttered to myself as I went to get my towel.

I sat in the passenger's seat, watching the raindrops on the window, following one in particular as it ate all the other ones around it until it eventually reached the edge and disappeared from sight. Like a race. You take advantage of everyone else's mistakes, and use that opportunity to take the lead. And win. I snickered.

"Ren, we're here." My mom turned off the car and grabbed an umbrella from the back seat. We shared the umbrella as we ran into the doctor's office to get my shoulder looked at. I had told my mom about the pain when I came home from the swim meet, and she decided to make a doctor's appointment as soon as possible. My mother had been a swimmer until an injury put a stop to her career, and I think she's afraid of that happening to me as well. We walked in the building, pausing to put our umbrella in a basket by the entrance. I sat down in the waiting room as my mom signed us in. I fiddled with my long dark blue hair while I waited.

"Hamasaki Ren-san?" A nurse called. My mother and I rose and she motioned for us to follow her. She led us through a winding hallway and into an office. She shut the door and motioned for both of us to sit down.

"We'll start with some questions. It says here that you're experiencing some shoulder pain, is that correct?" I nodded. "Which shoulder is it?"

"My right." I replied and she scribbled on her clipboard.

"When did you first notice that it was hurting?"

"This past Saturday at a swim meet." She looked up with curiosity.

"During your race?" I nodded and she wrote some more before standing up.

"The doctor will be here shortly." She smiled and left my mother and I alone in the room.

"What did Hisakawa-san say when you told him it hurt?" My mom asked.

"He just said that it wasn't an excuse, and that I need to ignore it if that means I'll win." I replied. My mom shook her head in anger.

A few minutes passed and there was a knock at the door. A man who looked to be in his thirties stepped in.

"Are you Ren-san?"

"Yes." He smiled.

"I am Dr. Yamaguchi, nice to meet you." He bowed at me, and I bowed my head in response.

"So, let's see... stand up for a moment please." I did as he asked, and he began to poke around my shoulder area.

"Let me know where it hurts." He poked me in the back of my shoulder, right along the joint and I winced.

"Right there." He moved to the front side and it hurt again.

"There too."

"So, it mostly hurts around the joint? How about here?" He began to poke at my tendons and I began to get annoyed.

"It hurts there, it hurts here, it hurts everywhere." I snapped. He chuckled and let go.

"I want you to move your arm like I do and tell me if it hurts."
I did a bunch of these "let's cause you pain" activities, and then he opened his desk and grabbed a piece of paper and handed it to my mother.

"What's this?" She asked.

"A referral to a physical therapist." My light blue eyes widened.

"What's wrong with it?" I asked him nervously.

"I have a hunch, but I'm not entirely sure. Head across the hall to them and see what they tell you." He bowed his head in farewell and exited the room. My mom looked scared. I bent over and hugged her.

"Don't worry, it'll be okay."

"Rotator Cuff?" I asked. "What's that?"

The physical therapist held up a diagram of the shoulder system, and began to explain to me everything to me. I got lost on what he was saying and only managed to pick up on a few words. Out of place. Inflammed.

"What about swimming?" My mom asked with worry.

"I think that it would be best to lay off it for now. You said that freestyle hurt, right?" I nodded numbly. "So, see what strokes don't hurt as much but keep it to a minimum. I'll give you a list of exercises to do at home 5 times a week, and I want to see you here twice a week until things start to improve. Now, come over here to the arm bike." I followed him and after the bike I did a variety of different exercises with different weights and positions. My arms were aching and my shoulder was hurting by the end. We thanked him and finally went home.

"So, he said that I can't swim for a while." I averted Coach Hisakawa's eyes.

"For how long?" He said stiffly.

"Just until it feels better." I shrugged and walked over to a corner and began doing the list of exercises that the PT gave me. This sucks.

Days went by uneventfully. Until about a week later I exited the pool building after practice, until I realized that I forgot my bag on the deck. I headed back in and found it my new favorite corner. I was about to open the door to leave, when I heard voices outside and froze.

"So, what are you going to do about Hamasaki?" It was Assistant Coach Nakahara. I held my breath and pressed my ear against the door. I really shouldn't be doing this, but then again I really should...

"What do you mean?" My eyes widened at the sound of Coach Hisakawa's voice. "Isn't it obvious? She's not going to be allowed to be on the team." My heart dropped through my stomach and I began to feel sick.

"B-but, she's injured! You can't blame her for that!"

"Pfft, don't make me laugh. She isn't injured! She's just embarassed that she gained time at the last meet so she's just making up excuses now. We don't have any need for someone like that on this team. Tell her tomorrow." The door I was leaning on began to open and I froze.

"P-please wait! Let me try to make you change your mind!" The door closed.

"You can't make me change my mind. I've already decided! Weaklings have NO place being on this team!" Hisakawa's voice rose in volume.

"But once she recovers, she'll be able to swim again! She's one of our fastest swimmers! We need her!" Nakahara pleaded.

"NO means NO! Now stop pestering me or you'll be out the door along with Hamasaki Ren!" He stormed down the hallway.

Assistant Coach Nakahara POV

I couldn't believe what just happened. I shook my head to try and clear my thoughts as I pushed the door open. The door got stuck on something and I peered around it to see a bag sitting on the floor. Weird, I wonder who left it here?

Hamasaki Ren POV

I ran home, tears streaming down my face. It began to rain but I didn't care. I tripped on a rock and fell face first into a big puddle. Figures. Sniffing, I sat up and cleared the mud from my eyes as I sat there. I looked up to the dark evening sky, the rain pounding on my face.

"What do I do now?" I whispered to the sky, as if the clouds held the answer.

So, I actually injured my shoulder last July, and began physical therapy this past spring, so I decided to put Ren in the same situation as me with the same injury. Although I can still swim, but it hurts. It's not like I'm never going to swim again, it just hurts to do so...

Anyways, leave a review and tell me what you think~!

If enough people read/favorite/review then I'll take that as a yes to continue this story :D~

Thanks for reading!

Swimming Terminology (*)

*50 refers to 50 meters, or 2 laps. (Down and back)

Flags: There are flags suspended above the pool a certain distance from the wall. When swimming backstroke swimmers count the number of strokes that it takes for them to reach the wall, that way they know when to do their flip turn.

Splits: A split is your time for each 50 during race of 100m/y or more. For example, in a 100 freestyle your splits might be a 30.94 and 31.43. You typically want your splits to be even, or faster on the second 50. If not, it means that you went too fast in the beginning and you tired yourself out.