Disclaimer: I, KawaiiTenshiCeres does not own, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club / Eternal Summer, or Nettaigyo no Namida by Flower. I only own my OCs such as Okimoto Asahi.

熱帯魚の涙 / Nettaigyo no Namida / Tears of the Tropical Fish
Chapter Three

"Who's 'Dawn'?"

Staring at Haruka, Asahi bit her lip, as she quickly tried to grab her phone from him. He quickly raised the phone in the air, and the difference in height made it obvious that she was a tad bit too short to grab it from him. She let out a sigh, and only glared him.

"...Isn't it obvious?...It's that time of day before the sun rises..." she remarked sarcastically.

Makoto stared at her blankly, before her phone rang. It was the same person. Asahi quickly tried to grab her phone from Haruka, only to see the 'Answer' button being pushed on the touch screen. Her face quickly turned dark at the sight at the speaker button being activated, much to the other two's confusion.

"OH. IF I CALL YOU FROM THIS NUMBER, YOU DO ANSWER! I KNOW WHAT YOU DID, ASAHI, AND I WILL HURT YOU FOR IT, YOU DUMB BIT-"

Haruka had quickly hung up before anything else had been said. It was a female voice who was on the other line. She sounded angry and obviously had a huge grudge against the teen... Asahi stared at the swimmers, her face no longer having that smile. She pulled off her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose in thought. Where was she going to start with this one...? It was difficult to explain this without making this so complicated, and she couldn't weasel her way out of this one.

The blond bit her lip before looking at them with a thoughtful look on her face.

"You know my name has the kanji meaning 'Morning Sun' right?...'Dawn'...is someone who has the kanji of 'Dawn' or 'Daybreak' in their name...They're a...very good 'friend' of mine, " Asahi explain with a tiny nod. "If it isn't so obvious, 'Dawn' isn't that girl, just someone connected to her,"

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Footsteps were approaching them. Closing her eyes, Asahi smiled to them, as she held out her hand, looking at Haruka giving a look to give her phone back before that girl had called again. He glared at her, and reluctantly placing her phone back into her hand. The door slid open to see Taiyou out of breath, looking at his sister with a worried look on his face.

"Oneechan! What were you doing?" he said, with a huff. "Especially since you were alone with...those two..." he glared, childishly.

Makoto walked over and smiled at the boy and patted his head. "Your Oneechan needed some help with something, don't worry," he said.

"I'm fine Taiyou," Asahi smiled. "You still didn't do your homework right? You can ask Rei-kun to help you with it. He's super smart after all! A lot better than this dumb sister of yours!" she said with a huge grin on her face.

Taiyou's bright eyes slowly widened at his sister's remark, as he quickly rushed out of the room to get his homework. The pair stared at Asahi, who gave them a catty smile and a peace sign in return.

"...Is it okay to say things like that?" Makoto sighed. "You shouldn't put yourself down like that,"

"Taiyou has his reasons. I've done stupid things in the past, and I've been called 'stupid' for it...He wants to protect his only sister. Though, I know when to draw the line," she said bluntly, motioning them to follow her back to the others.

"...I just don't want him to see me crying over a guy again,"

Summer had begun.

"Drownin' away from the start to the end
And you're sailing away and nowhere else to strain...
Come and take my all away
So far away from the start to the end
And everything seems so veiled and blue
Run away, sail away..."

Asahi leaned on the wall and stared at her sketchbook. It was the same thing. Again and again. Ever since that day, it was difficult to come up with something new. What was wrong with her? Every time she presented something to the Art Club...They would point out something was off with it, compared to when she had first transferred here.

"Dumb president," she huffed, pressing the 'Next' arrow on her mp3 player, and getting out of her desk.

It was no use trying to get stuck, Asahi knew she was better off finding a place to get inspiration somehow...Although, her uncle wouldn't approve of her sticking around the aquarium all day, and being near the pier would cause trouble to the fishermen. She needed a new place to go look at.

"Oh! Okimoto-san!" a female voice called out to her.

The blond looked back, and she froze to see a smiling brunette holding a stack of notebooks. It was her classic literature teacher. Shoot. She didn't want to do any favors for her at the moment... Especially since she had gotten in trouble with her the other day.

"A-Amakata-sensei!" she replied, faking a smile.

"Glad that you're still here," the brunette chirped. "I need to go advise the Swim Team today, so could you please bring this to the reference room? I know Kawashima-sensei is still in there," she nodded.

"Ha..." Asahi groaned, as she took the stack from her.

Watching the sensei lightly pat the stack of notebooks, and waving goodbye at her, Asahi bowed at her before heading to the reference room. She should've simply darted away and just let that woman go by hers- Wait. Swim Team. Asahi could simply watch those guys swi-

"What am I, some lewd pervert?" she whined to herself as she continued down the hallway. 'Like hell I'm going to watch those half-naked guys and get inspiration from that!'

She was going to slap herself for doing this. She could just do this tomorrow, but...

"Ah! Okimoto-san, can you tell Amakata-sensei that she needs to get these sometime today or tomorrow? I know it's a pain to have you run back and forth, but she's so busy these days,"

It was weird going up to the pool here. She never explored this part of school, even with Satomi. Going up the steps, Asahi looked at the sun still high up in the sky. There, she saw Amakata-sensei holding a parasol, a red-headed girl holding a clipboard, and all she could hear was the sounds of the water. By the looks of things, they were swimming laps.

"U-Uhm. Amakata-sensei?" Asahi spoke up.

"Oh, it's Okimoto-san," she smiled.

"Okimoto-san...?" the red-headed girl questioned, looking at her thoughtfully. "Ah! Asahi-chan!"

Asahi blinked a few times, before she politely bowed at her fellow second year, Matsuoka Gou. She only said hi to her a few times, but mainly Satomi knew her and her friend, Chigusa. They've hung out a few times on occasion, but she never knew that she was the manager of the Swim Team until now. Well, she felt behind on the times.

"Eh, you're the manager, Gou-chan...?" the blond questioned, blinking a few times.

"Y-Yes," she nodded.

"AH! Asahi-chan!" Nagisa called out, popping his head out from the pool, his eyes were covered with the colored swimming goggles. "What are you doing here?" he questioned, getting out of the pool.

Yup. She was here at a bad time. The girl froze, trying to not look at the half-naked swimmer, as she quickly looked over at Amakata-sensei.

"S-Sensei! K-Kawashima-sensei wanted me to tell you to pick up something at the r-reference room before you l-leave today!" the teen stuttered.

"Of course. I guess, I'll do it right now," the older woman nodded, as she got up to head back into the main building. "Thank you,"

Asahi quietly smiled at the teacher, and waved to Gou. She had to get out of there. Sure, she was fine talking to the Swim Team...when they were fully dressed. Half-naked guys when they were wet...it was impossible for her. She was going to turn into a blushing mess. She never got close to anything like that...except for that guy, but that was a while back, and that didn't turn out so pretty.

She felt awkward with them now... She took a few steps back to go back into the main building, before a hand grabbed her wrist, and the blond was dragged back to the poolside. Yup. She should've just ran.

"I-It's okay! I...I don't really belong here!" she whined.

"Eh? You know it's fine to hang out here, we were just finishing u-"

"You're not finished, Nagisa-kun!" Gou scolded, pointing to the other members of the Swim Team who were still swimming laps. "B-But, it's fine to hang out here, Asahi-chan," she nodded, looking at the girl with a sheepish smile on her face.

Watching the other boys swim, Asahi got close to the pool, and stared at the pool with an absent look on her face. She felt like she was at an open-air water show, except replace the sea creatures with these guys. Could she get anything out of this? Probabl-

"Heads up!" Nagisa called out as he finished his 'breather'.

Gou quickly backed away from the pool, shielding her eyes, while Nagisa dove back in making a huge splash, leaving the dazed blond soaked from head to toe. She pushed back her wet hair, and let out a huge sigh, only to see a blushing Rei scolding Nagisa, while Haruka tried his best to not look at her...Was something the matter?

Makoto quickly emerged from the pool, and held her hand, leading her back to the changing room.

"H-Hey! I-It's not that bad!" Asahi protested.

The taller brunette had pulled an extra towel out, handing it to her, trying to not look at her. His face was bright red, and he didn't want to say anything to her. Near by them was a mirror, and the blond slowly approached it, while drying her hair. Her soaked white shirt became transparent...They saw that hint of light blue that was underneath it...

Asahi covered her face with the towel, before slowly kneeling down, feeling her face turning hot. This was terrible. On her shoulders, she felt something covering her, a large white sports jacket. She assumed it was Makoto's.

"I...I didn't look. I promise," Makoto stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "I didn't want people staring at you looking like this when you leave school," he said softly, finally looking at her.

A tiny bashful smile formed on her face, and she watched him mirror that smile in front of her. She quickly covered her face with the towel, and gently smacked his arm. Why was it different compared to the other day? She didn't feel this shy with Makoto compared to back when she saw him back at her house. Was it because he was simply kind to her?

Her amber-colored eyes looked at him straight in the eye and a shy, stubborn look formed on her face.

"You said you wouldn't look, you liar,"