Disclaimer: I don't own Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club.

Hey hey girl~
Hanging your head like that won't do any good.

Taking her time while eating breakfast, Takeshi Akamatsu quietly observed her parents eat as well. She was still getting used to living in a new house, as she and her family had just moved last week. They moved to Iwatobi, a town not too far from where they used to live when she was in grade school. You'd think she was used to moving, having to move from her hometown of Fukushima when she was five, but it still took time to get used to things. And, it was her first day of school. Due to moving and leaving her old school, she would be attending Iwatobi High School from this day on. The moving she could take, but going to a new school would take getting used to. The girl would have to make new friends and everything.

Feeling ill at the thought, Takeshi just sighed and stood up to clean her now empty bowl.

"Heading off to school?" Her mother glanced up at her from her own bowl, a small supportive smile on her face.

No, I'm heading to war. The bronze haired girl thought bitterly, but just nodded her head. "Yeah..." Putting her bowl in the sink, she turned to pick up her backpack from the side of the table. There were the average four seats at the table, and Takeshi tried not to think too much about the forth one.

It had been five years since her brother died and it didn't hurt her as much anymore, but it made her feel lonely sometimes. That she was now an only child. And, it didn't help that she didn't have any close friends anymore. It was hard to make friends, let alone close ones. Her brother had been her close friend, no matter how much he annoyed her at times. And, Tomoko and the other girls had also been her close friends. When she stopped talking to them, it was hard to find friends who were like any of them. No matter how many new people she met.

"Headin' out." Takeshi left the kitchen for the front door, hearing her parents bid her goodbye, and exited the house.

It was a pretty good day for walking, the sun was shining brightly and it wasn't cold to the point where she had to wear a jacket. At least this day would start on a bad note, even though school days were always bad.

After a few minutes of walking, Takeshi could see the school in the distance and began to mentally prepare herself for her first day of school at Iwatobi. Was this school crummy? Did they have caring teachers? Were the kids all annoying? She guess that she would have to find out–

"Hey!" Takeshi rushed to jump out of the way when a girl on a bike sped past her on the sidewalk. "Watch were you're going, idiot!"

"Sorry!" The person on the bike gave a quick wave without turning, on their way to the high school.

Great. Her first day at school and some jerk nearly runs her over, this was going well.

Nearly slamming her forehead on her desk, Takeshi glanced up at the clock in the classroom. It was only five minutes until lunchtime, but when she had looked up there not long before it seemed the same!

"Ugh..." The bronze haired girl groaned, stretching out her legs. Might as well get comfortable, another five minutes were probably going to pass and the time still wouldn't change.

The sound of paper rustling got her attention and glanced at her side. A piece of paper was put on her desk, from who she didn't know. That is, until the sound of the blond boy giggling next to her kind of gave it away.

Saying nothing, Takeshi just sat up and picked up the paper. What would this boy have to say to her, a new girl?

'Want to join the swim club? Check yes for yes or no for I'll think about it.' The note read.

What was this boy playing at? She wrote something under the check boxes that he had drawn on there and handed the note back to him.

'No, for I don't want to join at all.'

The blond boy's face fell and he glanced over at her with a pout, which she rolled her eyes to.

Giving him a shoulder shrug, she was about to look at the clock again when she found herself face to face with an angry teacher.

"Ms. Akamatsu, do you and Mr. Hazuki have something to share with the class?"

Silently cursing, Takeshi shook her head rigorously. "N-No..."

The teacher was about to take the note from the boy's hands, but a miracle happened and the bell finally rang. Not wasting any time, Takeshi picked up her backpack and fled the classroom before the teacher or that boy could do anything else. What a first day...

Now came one of the most awkward moments of a school day, finding somewhere to sit for lunch when you have no friends.

While some students went off to eat in empty classrooms, Takeshi decided she might as well go an eat lunch outside. She'd seem a lot less lonely if she ate out there instead of sitting at her desk alone. Picking a spot beside a large tree, she sat down on the grass and took out the bento that her mother made for her. She ate idly, looking around at the other students. Most of them were in their own groups and some were in pairs, reminding her of days that she most likely won't relive again. The thought nearly made her sigh in sadness, but the sigh that she really gave sounded more frustrated. Shaking the thought away, the girl rummaged through her bag to take out her MP3 player. Might as well listen to some music while doing nothing, right? Popping the earbuds in her ears, she leaned against the tree and took a sip from her thermos.

Listening carelessly
to the music playing in the cafeteria
And without realizing, I went with the beat
Beginning to dance from the tips of my toes
This feeling I have can't be stopped

She bobbed her head slightly to the sound of the music, letting it take her away from the depressing thoughts.

"No way! Really? Who's your bias then?"

Takeshi plucked out an earbud when she heard someone speak from behind her. Was someone talking to her? Leaning over to look around the tree at the other side, she saw two girl speaking to each other. One had her back to Takeshi, so she couldn't see who it was, but she could see the one who just spoke. Some pigtailed girl.

"My favorite was Tomomi, but she graduated...Now, I think I'm starting to like Mayu."

Wait a minute. That voice sounded a little familiar.

"Ha! I expected you to say that!" The pigtailed girl laughed.

"Oh, really?" Takeshi assumed that the unknown girl was smiling, because she had humor in her voice. "What about you, Yunna? Who's your favorite?"

Listening to them talk, the bronze haired freshman couldn't help but think that she had heard this girl's voice before. But, where? It was on the tip of her tongue.

"Hey!" A different voice called out. This time unmistakably speaking to her.

Takeshi nearly jumped up and looked around, spotting the same blond haired kid from earlier. She fumed. "What? What do you want?!"

He seemed none too intimidated by her tone of voice, simply smiling at her. "Sorry to sneak up on you, I just wanted to get your attention." He started, then took on a puppy dog expression. "Are you sure you don't want to join the swim club?"

Glancing at the other side of the tree once again, Takeshi wondered if that got the attention of the two girls as well. It did. Both of the girls were staring at her and the blond boy with widened eyes.

Wait a minute.

Taking a longer look at the other girl, she noticed a familiar face. The curly hair, the tawny skin, the ditzy look in her eye...It couldn't be her though, could it?

The girl stood up and motioned for the pigtailed girl named Yunna to follow. "Let's go back inside, we can eat in the classroom."

Yunna grinned and rushed after her. "'Kay, Nyan-cat!"

Nyan-cat...Nyan?

Takeshi took a moment to process what just happened, her eyebrows furrowed.

"You okay?" The blond boy blinked.

Turning her head slowly back to him, she gritted her teeth. "No...And, no, I don't want to join the swim team!" With that, she packed up her things and stormed back to the school. She had went straight back to her locker, deciding to take out the books for her next class while she thought about what just happened.

Was that really Tomoko back there? What was she doing at Iwatobi? Even so, she didn't seem to recognize Takeshi at all. The recollection made her frown. If Tomoko didn't recognize her, then all of her childhood memories would be bittersweet. Like they already weren't...Takeshi quietly scoffed and closed her locker, heading to her next class.

A few days after the pawn shop visit, Azumi's brother – Motoyasu – decided to be nice to the girls and take them on a trip to Iwatobi for a festival. He was going there anyway to spend some time with his girlfriend, but they were all happy that at least someone in Azumi's family tolerated them instead of shunning them.

"Hey, look at this!" Suzu waved her hand at the other girls, then pointed to a flyer. It was a flyer for a pie eating event in the festival, and the winner would earn $15. Even better, it was a contest for kids and teens!

Tomoko gasped with happiness. "That's enough to buy a watch!"

Suzu nodded, Tomoko and Takeshi had told them about the watches and the girls were all excited to raise money for them. Azumi could've just asked her family for the money, but – of course – they would'n't give any of the girls a dime. Nor did they want them treading on their property to do anything for the money. And, the other girls' parents thought that this was the perfect opportunity to learn the value of money and raise it themselves.

"We should all enter, so we have more chances to win." She continued, making Azumi fiddle with her hands in nervousness.

"I don't know...My stomach is pretty sensitive. What if I get a stomach ache?" The shy girl reasoned.

Kaicho just grinned and fist-pumped. Of course she'd like the idea of eating something tasty. "I'm game!" Without waiting for the other girls to say anything, Kaicho rushed to the ticket vendor, asking for participant tickets for the contest.

Azumi just groaned and took the ticket that the hungry girl gave her when she came back, saying nothing else.

~An hour later~

"On your mark..." The announcer loomed over them with his microphone as the contest was about to start. "Get set. 1...2...3...Go!"

Takeshi and Kaicho were the first ones to dig into their pie. Takeshi, with a passion for contests, and Kaicho because she just liked food. Suzu was close behind, wanting to win this contest and get the prize money. Azumi and Tomoko...not so much. Azumi slowly picked up the fork and tried to decide whether to eat fast or not. Tomoko sliced her pie in fours and took her time eating it, pretty sure that the others would already win before her. So, why rush? Free pie.

"C'mon, Kaizu. Eat the pie!" Azumi's brother called out to her, trying to cheer her on.

"Uh..." The quiet girl glanced at him. "But, I don't want my stomach to hurt later."

Motoyasu just sighed.

Kaicho ended up winning the contest, to the despair of Takeshi and glee of Suzu. Yeah, they were all in it for the same thing, but the competitive girl still would've liked to win.

Gathering around after the contest, Kaicho gave Tomoko the money to keep with her. But, they all took a moment to drool over the $15, as it was their first time winning any sort of cash.

"I can't believe we did it..." Kaicho smiled, still giddy from the high of winning. She had never won a lot, so anytime she did win was fun.

Azumi nodded. "Yeah...Now all we have is $60 to go!"

Putting the money in her pocket, Tomoko agreed with a smile of her own. "It still seems so–" She was promptly cut off when someone had bumped into her, knocking her on the ground. "Omf!"

The girls rushed to help her up, Takeshi waving her fist at whoever knocked over her friend. "Hey, watch it!"

A group of boys around their age looked back at them, a blue haired boy giving a look of slight surprise. They guessed he was the one who bumped into Tomoko.

A sleepy-eyed brunette boy gave them an apologetic look, seemingly trying to make up for his silent friend. "We're really sorry, please excuse us."

After making sure Tomoko was okay, the boys left to their own devices. Some blond boy talking about going for a swim later on.

"As I was ABOUT to say..." Tomoko brushed herself off, her eyebrow twitching. "At least we got a head start, but $60 still seems so far away..." She pouted.

Suzu put her arm around Tomoko's shoulder. "Don't worry! We'll meet the deadline eventually. What is it five days left?" She watched as the older girl nodded. "We can do it, five days is plenty!"

The others nodded, but they knew they would have to do some serious cracking down in order to make $60 in five days.

Even the familiar streets remind me of that day
Just like a tragic heroine
Whose cloudy skies never clear...

Note: I was going to write a little more, but decided to save it for the next chapter. The next chapter will be an Azumi centric chapter ^^ And yes, we have a brief appearance from our boys. A very brief one. Since we're on the topic of them, here are the pairings.

Tomoko/Rin

Takeshi/Makoto

Azumi/Haru

Kaicho/Rei

Suzu/Nagisa

And also, the song lyrics I added in were part of AKB48's 'Koisuru Fortune Cookie'. I see it as a sort of opening or ending song to this story xD But, then again, that's what Silver no Udedokei is. Anyway~ I hope you enjoyed this chapter! ^^