I am so sorry, everyone! I know it has been a while, and I said that I would update every few days! Well, I have finally finished this chapter, and hoping to finish the next one today. Anyways, I am so sorry!

June 24

The morning of June 24th was a quiet, but soaked one. The rain had continued well into the night, leaving everyone and everything dripping from the downpour. However, the sun was shining on the hotel courtyard, giving it a bright, cheerful look. Arthur was outside, sitting by the pond, reading the book he bought yesterday. He was a very quick reader, and was already done with about a quarter of the book.

The plan today was for everyone to go swimming in the hotel pool, since the streets were wet and muggy. Arthur agreed, only because he didn't look forward to trekking in puddles all day, like yesterday.

Once everyone had woken up, Arthur put some things in a bag and followed them through the hallway and to the pool. Upon contact with the warm air beyond the glass doors, Arthur shivered. Francis turned around and chuckled at his reaction as he led everyone to the chairs around the edge of the pool. As he sat down and arranged his things, Arthur spotted Alfred cannonball into the warm, shining water. The splash erupted from the pool with such a force that it sprayed Arthur's back, so much so that his shirt was completely soaked.

"Alfred!" Arthur growled, walking to the edge of the pool. "Was that really necessary?"

Alfred rolled his eyes, treading water above the depths below. "You bet! I just love the feeling of a wall of water rising above me, and the noisy noise, and the connection of warm water with my cold body!" He laughed happily and dove under the water.

Arthur sighed and sat down, pulling out his book. Most everyone was swimming by now, save for Arthur, Kiku and Francis. Francis walked over to where Arthur was sitting and poked him. "What do you need, Frog?" He asked, still reading his book.

"You're coming in the water. Let's go," Francis commanded, trying to pull on Arthur's arm.

Arthur looked up, his green eyes connecting with blue, "No. You know that I can't swim!"

"Yes, and you know that I told you that I would teach you how to, two days ago," Francis reminded him, still pulling on the younger man's arm. Arthur pulled back, his book now back in his bag.

"Leave me alone, you idiot! I've never swam before, nor will I ever," he retorted, but Francis was still trying to pull him up. Finally, he succeeded, pulling Arthur to his feet.

"Do you have a swimsuit?" Francis asked, looking over at Arthur's bag hopefully.

Arthur shook his head, "No. I haven't planned on swimming this summer." Francis thought for a moment and grabbed Arthur's shirt.

"N-no, that won't be necessary," Arthur cried, pushing Francis' hand away.

"Why not, mon amour?" Francis asked. "Are you sure you want to swim in that shirt? It's quite cute."

Arthur looked down at the fabric he was wearing. It pictured a unicorn and it's foal, huddling in the forest together. That shirt was one of his favourites, and he certainly didn't want to bathe it in chlorine. "I guess not. But I'll take it of myself," he agreed, and pulled the shirt off. Luckily, he was wearing shorts and wouldn't have to swim in pants.

"Splendid," Francis laughed. "Come on. You need to learn how to swim if you want to hang out with us and actually have fun!" He led Arthur by the hand to the stairs descending into the shallow end of the pool.

Francis leapt in, and waited for Arthur to follow. The British man slowly walked in, one step at a a time. Francis rolled his eyes and waded deeper into the water, until it was up to his shoulders. "Now! Arthur, they key of breathing is to stay above the water. So, don't bring your head down and absolutely don't try to breathe underwater. It won't work."

"I know that, Frog!" Arthur pouted, crossing his arms.

Francis laughed, "I'm aware that you do, but it is possible to forget. Now, I will teach you how to float, as this is important." He quickly turned over and floated on his back, and stood up again. "Now, you try."

Arthur turned over slowly, and started to sink. Francis leaned forward and caught him, and held him up. "Now," he instructed, "Stretch your legs and arms... Straighten your back... Perfect!" He withdrew his hold on Arthur's back, and the Brit began to float.

Arthur smiled, "Wow... You did it. I'm actually floating." He placed his feet back on the floor of the pool, with his hands at his sides. "Thanks."

Francis smirked, "You don't think you're done, do you? You have yet learn the basics! We have strokes, treading water, flips..." He placed a wet hand on Arthur's shoulder. "First, you learn the Crawl Stroke."

Arthur groaned, and nodded slowly. "Alright, show me."

Francis floated on his belly and did the Crawl Stroke quickly. His arms went above his head, and into the water, with his hands cupped to push the water behind him. The long-haired blonde stood up again and walked over to Arthur. "Alright, let's start with the stroke." He held Arthur's arm in his hands and directed it over his head and into the water, like he did so before.

Arthur mimicked Francis' guidance, and eventually got the hang of it. He floated onto his belly and started to stroke, but he wasn't as fast as him. "I'm not as fast as you," he complained, standing up.

Francis had an unamused look on his face, "You have to kick with your feet, Ma Cherie..."

Arthur chuckled at his own fault and attempted the stroke again, this time much faster. Francis clapped behind him, but Arthur was getting tired. He didn't know how to breathe while swimming, so he tried to stand up and ask. However, his feet didn't touch the bottom, catching him by surprise. Arthur's arms flailed as he tried to stay above the water.

"Arthur! Move your arms from side to side and your feet like you're riding a bike! That'll help you tread water!" Francis cried through cupped hands. He was hurrying over, but Arthur was relatively far away.

Arthur heard his directions, and tried to tread water. It turned out to work, thankfully, and Arthur was making his way over it Francis. Francis reached him and grabbed his shoulders. "That was great! However, next time, turn your head to breathe. You a most have it. And Prussia said I wasn't awesome!"

Arthur chuckled a little bit and tried to swim again. This time, he was able to be fast and breathe, until he bumped in Alfred.

"Whoa dude!" he younger man exclaimed in shock. "Oh, it's you. I thought you couldn't swim."

Arthur lifted his head, "Oh, Francis was teaching me." Now he was treading water, as the pool was at least 7 feet deep in this part.

Alfred looked over at Francis and glared, "Francis! How am I going to be a hero now? He can swim!" He laughed afterward, hinting that it was a joke. Francis chuckled back, reaching the two.

"Even if I couldn't swim, I wouldn't let you save me," Arthur laughed, looking at the two. "And you would need someone to save you, depending on what I do to you."

"Would you let me save you, mon petit lapin?" Francis asked, smiling at Arthur.

Arthur thought for a moment before replying, "Maybe Francis... Maybe."

The Frenchman did a quick fist pump and hugged Arthur quickly, "Yes! Gilbert! Did you hear that? I'm awesome!"

Gilbert hurried over and looked right into Arthur's eyes. "Seriously? You think he is awesome? Explain yourself."

Arthur trembled for a moment under Gilbert's hard gaze and replied, "Oh, well, I never said he was awesome. I just said that I would rather have him save me than Alfred..." He looked over to see Francis' pleading eyes. "But... I suppose he could be 'awesome'. He's usually up to helping me, and is never deliberately mean. I suppose that would make him... Awesome."

Gilbert nodded, "Well, Francis, welcome to the Awesome Club. You have fulfilled your requirements of having someone else say you're awesome, doing your good deeds of the day and you listen to my orders."

Francis grinned from ear to ear and hugged Gilbert as hard as he could. This sent them tumbling into the water, sending a splash to Arthur and Alfred. As soon as they rose, all four of them laughed hysterically.

"Don't you owe Arthur a hug instead of me? He got you into my club! I would also prefer that you don't touch me." Gilbert giggled, pushing Francis into Arthur.

Francis fell over into Arthur and hugged him tightly, "Arthur, thanks so much! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You don't know how long I have waited to be in the Awesome Club!"

Arthur sighed and pushed the Frenchman away. "You touch people too much, Frog. We have to work on that." Francis sighed and looked over to Gilbert and Alfred.

Gilbert jumped up, "Hey! I have an awesome idea! Let's have a volleyball game in the water! Does anyone have a beach ball?" He looked around the pool, and yelled out, "Bruder! Do you have a beach ball?"

Ludwig turned around in surprise, "No, I don't."

"I do!" Came a voice. It was Lili. She was holding a multi-colour beach ball. "Here." She tossed it over to Gilbert.

Gilbert caught the ball with ease and announced, "Everyone, get on teams of 13! We're having a volleyball game! And I'll put up some rope for a net."

"Why do you have rope?" Asked Elizaveta asked. "And by the way, I want to be on your team."

Gilbert pointed to himself proudly, "I am so awesome that I have rope! Do you question that?"

Elizaveta shook her head, and hurried over to find more teammates.

Eventually, there were two teams, each with a different name. On the Awesome team (thanks to Gilbert) was Gilbert, Ludwig, Feliciano, Elizaveta, Vash, Lili, Mathias, Lukas, Emil, Lovino, Antonio, Francis and Arthur. The other team, the Heroes (thanks to Alfred) was Alfred, Matthew, Michelle, Heracles, Sadik, Ivan, Natalia, Katyusha, Yao, Kiku, Tino, Berwald and Roderich.

"You're going down!" Gilbert screeched to the other team, receiving a fit of laughter from Alfred.

"In your dreams!" He replied. "Let's start the game!"

Gilbert served the ball over the rope, and it went to Natalia, who sent it right back over. Vash hit it back over, only to come back again from Yao. The ball went back and forth over the rope again and again, until Heracles dropped the ball. However, Sadik dove under him and hit it back up. Tino hit the ball with his head and over the net, and it landed on the water on the Awesome Team's side.

"No!" Gilbert cried picking up the ball. "We have to redeem ourselves! Here, score for us, Elizaveta!" Elizaveta served the ball over to Ivan, who sent it back easily. Ludwig hit it just before it hit the water, over to Katyusha and back to Lukas. At one point, it went to Mathias, who hit it sideways to Lili, sending the ball over to hut the water before Matthew could reach it.

"All right!" Gilbert cheered, patting Lili's head. "Welcome to the Awesome Club, Lili!" Lili grinned, as the ball was served over.

Eventually, the game ended at 5:00pm, which felt extremely long. They had been playing ball for two hours. Arthur climbed out if the pool and dried himself off. He walked back to his room and took a quick shower. After that, he grabbed an apple from the refrigerator and ate it for dinner. It was small, but Arthur didn't have much of an appetite. After getting ready for bed, Arthur read a chapter of his book and laid down.

Today was definitely eventful. Thanks to Francis, he now knew how to swim. Arthur wasn't sure exactly how thankful he was for that, but he sure was happy.

Once again, I am truly sorry, and I hope all of you can forgive me. Just as a reminder, just review the story to submit an idea you want me to use. If any of you are wondering where some of the other characters are, then don't worry. They'll arrive in the story soon. I hope you have enjoyed this chapter!