Chapter 2! Drop a review, criticism or advices, anything, what you thought of the story so far, etc etc! Thanks for reading!
Water splashed everywhere as the body inside it trashed everywhere. Haru and Makoto was the first to act. Haru lifted Akira from the water and Makoto held her.
Gou, Nagisa and especially Rei was motionless as if they have seen something unbelievable.
Makoto looked with surprise as the girl in front of him panted hard and took big gulps of air. She was shivering like crazy. He took her in his arms and lifted her away.
"Gou, help me."
It wasn't until Makoto dried Akira's hair with a towel that the shivering eased down. Gou lent her spare uniform and Makoto covered Akira with his jacket as a last touch.
And all the time, nothing came out from the mouth. It's more of they can't find anything to say.
Makoto was about to tap Akira's shoulder before she opens her mouth.
"Can I go?", she said.
"Uh... Sure... I'm sorry, Kamikura-san."
In seconds count, Akira was out of the room.
Gou wanted to apologize to Makoto but her heart felt that right at that time, Makoto doesn't need an apology.
She followed Makoto as they both exit the club room and to the pool. Gou can hear a slight commotion.
'It's Makoto-senpai!'
Rei stood there with a thousand regret in his face.
"Rei!"
"Makoto."
Haru stopped Makoto just when he was about to start his scolding.
"The girl... Is she okay?", Haru asked.
"Yes, she already left. Now, Rei!"
Rei dropped to his knees and knelt to his head towards Makoto.
"Makoto-senpai! I am very sorry, it was a crazy decision to make! I... I thought, any swimmer would immediately react..."
Makoto was thinking the same thing earlier. The pool wasn't so deep, everyone can stand in it. Akira panicked and thrashed like no swimmer at all.
"Akira-chan already left? But her bag is here.", Nagisa said.
"What?"
Everyone decided to end practice earlier today. Gou had looked inside Akira's bag and found her address from her memo. Makoto insisted everyone to come along and apologize properly.
The atmosphere has been gloomy ever since. It was regret, surprise mixed up together.
"I think it's this one."
They reach a simple looking modern house. It was up for rent before.
Makoto rang the bell twice until they hear a voice answering followed with footsteps.
"Is that a man's voice?", Gou asked.
"Can it be Kamikura-san's father? I'm doomed!", Rei said.
The door opened and to everyone's surprise, a young figure stood there. A male, with lean built and a very city-esque clothing.
"Ah, who is this? Iwatobi uniforms right?", he asked kindly.
"Uhhh... We are looking for Kamikura Akira-san?", asked Makoto.
"Oh, Aki-chan? She hasn't come home yet. You need anything from her?"
"No, we are from the Swim Club, Kamikura-san left her bag.", answered Gou.
Gou handed the man Akira's leather school bag.
"Swim Club? Akira... wanted to swim?", he asked carefully.
"No, actually ..."
Everyone looked at each other, trying to reply the question.
A laughter was the response when everyone was anticipating a straight scolding.
"You threw her into the pool? That's a very drastic action.", the man said between laughter. "
I am very sorry.", Rei said again.
"Hey Makoto, should we look for Akira-chan? She's not home yet and she doesn't have her bag!", Nagisa said worried.
"Ah..."
The man waved his hand and smiled.
"Don't worry about Aki-chan, she might need sometime alone right now. Besides, she wouldn't want to meet you guys right now, I think. I'll look for her later."
"That's right. We're the faces Kamikura-san would want to see the least.", said Makoto.
"Then, we'll leave her in your care.", Rei said.
The man smiled warmly and nodded to the students.
"Oh, you are?". Asked Makoto.
"Kamikura Iori, I'm Akira's brother."
Iori put the leather school bag on the living room table. He cleared up some things from the sofa and sat on it.
His hand explores inside a bag and took out a wallet.
"Aki-chan ..."
Sousuke stepped outside the station. A visit to the hospital is never a pleasant one. His shoulder need to hang on a little bit.
It was then something caught his eyes. A girl in a uniform standing in front of the vending machine. She was wearing the Iwatobi uniform. She was groping inside her pockets like looking for a change. Sousuke didn't see any bag or wallet with her.
Her money's not enough or something?
"You need some change?"
Aki looked at the man behind her. A tall, strong built man with dark hair.
"To be honest, I don't have any money.", she answered.
"What?"
"I don't have my wallet with me."
The man didn't say anything but instead, he put some coins inside the vending machine. Akira looked at him with confusion.
"Go on. Pick anything.", he gestured with his hand.
Sousuke observed the girl in front of him. She looked neat, but she was wearing an oversized jacket. No bags and not carrying anything.
"You are not an escaped hospital patient right?", Sousuke asked calmly.
The girl who is drinking her cold tea slowly looked back at Sousuke with annoyed eyes.
"Of course, I'm not."
"You are sketchier than you thought."
Akira gulped down the tea and evaded the intimidating man's eyes.
"I am not.", she emphasizes again.
"You didn't have anything with you. Not even money for drinks."
"I got some change but I used it on the train. When I realized, I am way far from my stop and I'm here."
Sousuke folded his arms in front of him.
"You sure you are not some hospital's patient?", he asked again.
"I. Am. Not."
Sousuke found a hint of a pout before the girl started drinking her tea again. Akira found herself realizing that this was the longest conversation she ever had with anyone other than her brother.
"Lead the way, I'll take you home. You don't have money anymore don't you?"
Akira coughed back the tea she just drank. Her mind went blank for a few seconds.
"No, no, no need for that. I'll just borrow some fare and I'll pay you back sometime. Just need your contact ..."
"It's almost dark soon. And I'm just making sure you are not an escaped mental patient."
Akira clenches her hand on the plastic bottle she was holding. For some reason, she thought that reasoning with this man won't do her any good. He gave out a cold aura but was actually kind enough to do these deeds for a stranger he just met.
"Thank you ...?"
"Yamazaki. Yamazaki Sousuke."
"Thank you, Yamazaki-kun."
Sousuke lowered his gaze to the girl in front of him. She clearly is walking faster as if trying to shake him off. For someone that has been helped, she clearly isn't showing much gratitude. Hell, she hasn't even told him her name, for courtesy's sake.
She stopped abruptly.
"Okay, you can leave me here.", she said.
"Here?"
"You can see everywhere is houses. My house is nearby and I swear I am not an escaping patient. I'll just need your contact to pay you back..."
"Akira!"
"Akira?"
Sousuke heard a man's voice calling out. Akira? There is no one on the road beside them, and even though Akira is a boy's name, there is only one person at this moment that may be named Akira.
A few houses from them, a man jogged towards them.
"Akira!"
"Nii-san.", the girl replied.
"Great, you're already back. I was going to look for you. You don't have your wallet with you, right?"
Sousuke bowed to the man.
"Good evening."
"Ah, good evening. You took Akira back home? Thank you, thank you..."
"I'm Yamazaki Sousuke, from Samezuka Academy."
"Oh, Samezuka ...?"
Akira tugged on his brother's shirt.
"Nii-san, can you pay Yamazaki-kun's money back?", she asked.
"Oh, there's no need for that. It's not much anyway."
"You sure, Yamazaki-kun?", Iori asked again.
"Yes, I don't mind. Well then, I'm leaving then."
Akira and Iori say their final thank yous before Sousuke left. The sky was already dark and the wind started to feel chilly.
"Is that Yamazaki-kun's jacket?",Iori asked.
Her brother's question stroked Akira. She just realized she has been wearing Makoto's jacket all this time.
"No, it's ..."
"The Iwatobi one?"
Akira gave a confused look.
"The Iwatobi Swim Club members came and brought your bag. They told me about what happened."
Iori gave Akira the house key and she opened the door. Her brother laughed behind her.
"Pushing you to the water. They're very spontaneous."
Her heart skips a beat. She has been clearing off her mind and hasn't been thinking about it until now. She can feel her body started to tremble.
Iori puts his hand on top of Akira's softly trembling fingers.
"You can't keep running away, Aki-chan."
Akira took her shoes off in silence.
"The Iwatobi Swim Club really wanted you, I can see from their faces. And you got yourself a Samezuka student. You know Samezuka is a swimming powerhouse right?"
Her brother patted her head and went inside.
"Swimming is calling out to you, Aki-chan."
Updated the chapter because it turns out, the formatting gone wrong and the line breaks were missing
