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Chapter 7 - The Prefecturals Begin

Zuko was sitting next to Makoto while they ate their lunch on the roof when Gou came barging through the roof door.

"I printed the pictures from Training Camp." she called and immediately every moved closer into a semi circle with Gou at the open end.

"You took a whole bunch!" Nagisa commented and Zuko picked one up of Rei sleeping with a rose drawn on his mouth and something written on his forehead.

"Everybody is having fun!" Makoto laughed as Gou pointed out one where the boys had taken on a sort of hero-esque stance.

"Look! Haru has a funny face in this one!" Nagisa called.

"And he's actually looking at the camera for once." Makoto added. Rei was making noises in the back of his throat as he studied one picture.

"What's with this picture?! It's not beautiful at all!" He cried out as Gou an excuse. "Umm. Preserving the moment?"

Zuko laughed as they found out Miss Ama had photo bombed on a picture of Makoto and Nagisa while wearing a face pack. She leaned against Makoto's side as she tried to see the picture better. Though, Haru's distraction caught her attention and she noticed him picking up a picture that wasn't of any of them. Rin was standing by the pool, adjusting his swim cap and goggles.

"Ah! Is this Samezuka's swim team? When did you take this Gou?" Nagisa asked with genuine curiosity in his voice.

"I did some scouting on the second day." The girl stated proudly as she sat up straighter. Makoto warmly complemented her about being a capable manager, making the girl's head swell until Nagisa made his own comment.

"Did you use sex appeal agai-" he was cut off by Gou's immediate denial. Zuko snickered.

"You might not have directly used it, but I think a certain captain has a thing for you." Gou's face turned bright red as she spluttered out a simple 'I doubt it.' as a reply while everyone looked at a picture of Seijuurou giving a thumbs up at the camera.

"I got plenty of data in addition to the pictures. These are the swimmers who will be in the 100m and 200m breast with Nagisa." She pointed out, pulling a pair of pictures together in front of said blonde. "These are the swimmers in backstroke with Makoto." She added pushing another two pictures towards the brunette. "This is who will do butterfly with Rei." She handed a single picture to Rei, who took it with a silent nod. "I'll have their individual swimming styles and other information recorded in this secret data book by tournament time." The girl continued and then noticed she had forgotten Haruka's opponent. "Oh, and my brother is swimming in-"

"The 100m free." Haruka finished for her. Gou looked a bit surprised but nodded.

"Yes. He didn't enter any other events, so he could just focus on his race with you." Zuko noticed Nagisa come around to sit on her other side, leaning across her to whisper to Makoto.

"Haru doesn't care about his times or winning races, but he is motivated when he's racing Rin." And the three turned to look at Haru who was still focused on Rin's photo. When a breeze blew the picture from Haru's grasp, Gou hopped up as Rei and Makoto pinned down the other pictures. Zuko leaned back after a moment.

"Well, I obviously have no opponent from Samezuka." At the confused looks she added, "All boy's school. I'm entering the female diving event."

"We should pray for good luck!" Nagisa spoke up and it was decided that they would stop at the local shrine to pray for good luck. It was after when Haru wandered off to get a paper slip stating what kind of luck he had that she joined the other three in sitting on the steps to wait for him.

"Rin isn't swimming the butterfly or the relay? Is it because Haru isn't in any of those?" Nagisa wondered, not really expecting an answer when Rei posed his own question.

"Why does it matter if Haruka is in an event?"

"That's just how they are." Nagisa replied as if he were stating the sky was blue.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Makoto leaned over to pat Rei on the shoulder.

"Now, now. We decided to stick with individual events too, so could focus on our own strengths." Makoto pointed out and Rei seemed a bit disappointed.

"I wanted to swim in a relay." And Zuko leaned close, mimicking the actions of Nagisa and Makoto who appeared to be ecstatic that the boy felt that way.

"You want to be in a relay, Rei?!" Nagisa almost shouted ad Zuko backed away from the boy until he was done yelling in her ear.

"Yes, I rented a video of the Olympics. It was beautiful to watch four athletes swimming different styles in succession to complete a race together. I was especially impressed by how beautiful the butterfly form was when touching the wall. Personally, I think it's very important that your finish be beautiful, and this shows that athletes around the world feel the same way-" Rei had stretched his arms out in front of him and was getting into his speech when Gou's cry interrupted him.

"What is this, Haruka? Half luck?" Everyone ran from the steps to their teammates' side only to find them both looking at a slip of paper with odd looks.

"Huh? What's going on?" Nagisa asked as he leaned close to the paper. Zuko joined him, a confused frown slipping onto her face at the odd fortune telling.

"Half luck? I've never seen that before?" Makoto wondered.

"Does that mean half your luck is good?" Rei asked.

"Then what's the other half?" Gou added to their confusion.

"Nice!" Nagisa piped up and Zuko shot him a weird look.

"Nice? I don't even know what to think of this half-assed reading." She grumbled, drawing shocked looks due to her language.

"That doesn't seem to make sense." Rei pointed out.

"What? I think it does!"

"I have to disagree." The bluenette argued back.

Zuko sighed. It was gonna be a long night.


The next morning, Zuko pulled her phone to her from her bedside table and stared at it. She had gotten dressed and now wore the Iwatobi swim club jacket and her own personal sweatpants over her bathing suit. She had gotten a black one simple white markings that matched the designs of her fellow club members. She had figured it would bring about a sense of unity to their team. It kind of did. Now, as she was getting ready to head out the door, she found herself thinking about something. Or more specifically, someone. The red head she wouldn't see until the tournament began. The only one she wondered about not seeing again if he won, or, if he lost. Making up her mind, she snapped open her phone and tapped the keys quickly before snapping in closed and throwing it into her bag. Good thing Gou had sneaked her brother's phone number onto Zuko's contact list.


Rin stood looking down at the name engraved into his father's headstone until a soft buzz had him digging his phone from his pocket. He almost ignored it, thinking Seijuurou or Nitori were sending him a message when he noticed that the number was unknown. Opening the text he felt a small grin work it's way onto his features.

Good luck Rin. Promise me that we will get a chance to swim together without the rivalry after this tournament.

Zuko. He hesitated before sending her a text back.


"Haru! Mako! Over here!" Nagisa called from where he and Rei stood at the station. Zuko was approaching from a different angle so she wasn't offended that that they didn't see her yet.

"Hey guys!" She laughed, grabbing Nagisa from behind and hugging the boy. She frowned. "You're still taller then me. Why am I so short?" she grumbled until Makoto pet her head.

"Don't worry. Being short make you cute." His gentle smile had her flushing bright red.

"Hey. Hey. Check this out. Rei was so nervous that he didn't get any sleep!" Nagisa pointed out the dark circles under the blunette's eyes and Zuko laughed.

"I wish I had nerves of steel like you." The boy grumbled at the blonde.

"You'll get there soon enough. Just relax." His pink eyes shining in excitement as Makoto agreed.

"Okay! It's time for the tournament! Lets do our best to make a good showing get ourselves a bigger budget!" Nagisa cried as if he were the head of a rally. Everyone happily called an agreement with him. They had to wait for a girl to find their school name on the list before they head back to register.

"That reminds me. When we gave our names at the tournament in grade school, they started checking the girls' list." Zuko giggled at the thought as Nagisa recounted the memory.

"That's right!" Makoto seemed to only now remember it.

"Rei also has a girly name, so it's too bad."

"What's too bad? I don't understand what you're saying." Rei commented and Zuko stopped at the doors to the boy's locker room.

"I'm gonna have to go to the girl's dressing rooms. I'll come join you when I get the chance." She pointed out to Makoto and he nodded waving as she jogged away. The door was only a few feet away, with the rooms sharing a joint hallway into the pool area. Quickly she put her shoes and sweatpants into a locker, putting her phone in her jacket pocket before making her way out to the hallway where the boys waited, having only had to put away their shoes. She was observing the stadium with interest.

"Here's the program for the first day. They are starting with free in the morning. Haruka is in the fourth heat." Gou had them surrounding her while sitting up in the stands. Zuko took a seat, Haru taking the one next to her and leaning his forearms on his knees.

"Hey! Haru and Rin are in neighboring lanes." Nagisa pointed out.

"The heats were drawn based on qualifying times, right?" Makoto asked with Gou giving him an affirmative.

"That means they're even." Nagisa once more added.

"The eight fastest times from each event advance to the final and qualify for regionals." Everyone seemed to tense up until someone spoke up from beside them. Miss Ama had appeared and Zuko was left wondering when she had gotten there. She hadn't come with the team, that''s for sure. In fact, she wondered if Gou had come with the teacher. By the time Zuko pulled away from her thoughts, the club adviser had finished speaking and she realized she had missed the whole speech.

"Well guys, Do the best you can in each event. Let's make sure we can leave with no regrets!" She smiled as Makoto rallied their little team. She leaned back in her seat as the boys leaned against the railing, listening to Gou's data on their opponents. Zuko wasn't to interested since the only boys she would cheer for were right here. Only one had yet to show but she had sent him her good luck before setting out. None of these boys had anything to do with her diving event either.

She almost laughed when Gou's data went from swimming to muscles. Intending to stop Gou's lost train of thought, Zuko stood only for a yell to catch her attention. Seijuurou was waving at their group. Or more specifically, at Gou.

"It's Rin's captain."

"I told him to stop calling me that." Gou pouted as Haru joined their group at the railing. It was obvious he was looking for Rin. And Makoto noticed too, saying he didn't see the redhead.

"Maybe he already headed to the assembly area." Green eyes watched as the dark-haired boy began walking away, pausing only to grab is goggles and head piece before heading out of sight. A part of her wanted to follow. She wanted to see Rin. She wanted to Stay close to the boy. Because this race left her feeling like something big would happen to either one or the other depend on who won. As she waited for the boy's turn, she leaned her hip against the railing, wrapping her arms around her waist.

"Is something wrong Zuzu-chan?" Makoto had noticed the change in her mood. She shook her head.

"Nothing really. I might go find Haru and Rin when their race ends. I feel like something will happen if I don't." The brunette didn't answer her as she turned her gaze back to the pool.

"Haru and Rin are up next!" Nagisa called, leaned over the rail to point at the swimmers. She had noticed the moment they had left the hallway. She ignored the others as she focused on the pair.

"Set!" The announcer called and the swimmers bent into their starting positions.

Good luck guys-

The loud beep followed by a cheer of "Go!" sent the boys off the starting boards to arc gracefully into the water. She watched as Haruka fell behind in the first lap. Makoto made a note of it while sounding quite surprised. But at the turn he caught up once more, giving Rin a run for his money. But she knew. They didn't care about the other swimmers. Nor did they about themselves. Just each other. It was a struggle she had noticed on more then one occasion whenever the two had been placed in the same room together. They had even displayed it during her birthday trip. Rin had enjoyed himself while being around their group, even if he seemed moody and displeased when they were together. She had caught a content look on his face once or twice when he thought no one was looking. And Haru had obviously enjoyed the fact that his old friend was spending time with them, even if he was hard to read at the best of times. And this race meant something, though Zuko was left unsure of what that something was.

Rin won. Zuko had started running before the boys had even touched the wall, ignoring the calls of her friends as she rushed to the two in the pool. A glance at the score board during her run as she jogged down the steps told her everything she needed to know. Haruka didn't advance. She made it just in time to heard Rin's parting remark.

"This means I'll never swim with you again. Never." She froze as a look of despair filled Haru's eyes before they went blank again. Irritated she shoved Rin, who was the cause of her friend's distress back into the pool. he glared up at his attacker to find angry blue eyes glaring back.

"You went to far." She hissed as she crouched down before Haru and helped him out of the pool.

Now I don't know what to think anymore.