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 Nine


For the longest time...

I always wondered...

What do I really want in life...?

"HAH?! Are you insane?"

Placing down her soda cup, a brunette woman, around her early twenties, stared at the absent-minded Asahi, while she chewed on her burger. Gently touching her shoulder, the woman began to shake her shoulder, trying to get the teenager's attention. Placing down her half-eaten food, Asahi lightly swatted the woman away with a childish pout on her face.

"Is it bad?" Asahi grumbled underneath her breath. "I mean, it's a good opportunity, Miicha!"

With her head slowly turning to stare out the window, the woman shook her head at Asahi.

"I know, I know. I'm just worried about you, Asahi. I don't want anything bad happening to you, if you end up overworking yourself," she said, furrowing her eyebrows. "I mean, you went to the doctor recently, didn't you? What did he say?"

A childish pout formed on the younger girl's face, while she kept eating her food. She kept her silence, not wanting to say anything.

"...Don't worry about it...It's nothing bad," she retorted. "Anyways! I heard there's a show! Are we going to per-"

Shoving fries into the younger girl's mouth, the woman let out a long sigh, before gently tussling her kouhai's hair. They began to joke around as Asahi tried to get info out of her while the other girl was laughing at her.

"Don't worry about it, trust me."

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Laying on her bed, Asahi stared at the bright blue wall before her, holding the sketchbook close to her chest. In a total daze, she laid there listening to a certain song, staring off into space for a brief moment. Although today was the day for the relay for the Swim Club, she wasn't going to watch it. After hearing what had happened yesterday, the blond had to think. What could she do for herself?

"Asahi-chan! Satomi-chan is here!" her grandmother called out.

"Okay!" the blond responded.

Putting down her sketchbook, Asahi stared at it for a brief moment. A picture of a porpoise and a pufferfish were together, facing each other. Picking up her pencil she quickly scribbled out the pufferfish before turning away to head downstairs to meet Satomi.


"They made it to the next round, huh?"

Asahi and Satomi stared at the large sign outside of the school. The dark-haired teen grimaced at the sight of it, seeing how much she failed at her track meet. She leaned on the blond who simply sighed, before noticing Satomi's boyfriend, Kazuto, approaching them from the front gate. He smiled at his girlfriend while casually nodding to Asahi, who gave him a curt nod.

"Why couldn't they acknowledge you getting second place, Hii-chan?" Satomi huffed. "I mean, that thing you painted was great!"

"If we won it for the first time, probably. One of the third years got third runner up last year," the blond shrugged, walking into school.

"You know, that picture you sent me...It was a bit different from the others," her friend noted, slowly increasing her walking speed to a bit of a jog, trying to catch up to her best friend.

Raising an eyebrow, Asahi stopped in her place eyeing the athlete with a strange look on her face.

"What do you mean?" she questioned.

"I'm not an art person or anything...But, that person in that picture, reminds me of someone we knew..." Satomi sighed. "Don't tell me you have a crush on someone~!"

The blond felt her face slowly heating up before quickly smacking the other girl in the face with her bag.

"NEVER!" she screeched.

Watching Asahi quickly run off, Satomi pulled out her cell phone and looked at the picture that she sent her. Kazuto peered over her shoulder and looked at it for a brief moment. A black-haired male holding a hand while running in a field of sunflowers. A completely different entry compared to what was posted in the hallway.

After changing to her indoor shoes, Asahi had plugged in her earbuds, and music began to play in her ears. Remembering her phone call with 'Noon', she softly began to hum along with the song, while heading to her classroom. While Satomi and Kazuto were changing into their indoor shoes, the two of them looked at Asahi, before the dark-haired girl furrowed her eyebrows in concern, wondering about her sudden change in attitude.


"Satomi-chan! Wait up!"

Turning around, Satomi looked over at Gou as she was walking home from her club, she slowed down to a stop, seeing the other girl quickly trying to catch up to her. It was a week before Regionals. Although things were settling down from the aftermath of the Preliminary rounds, practice was still going on for the sports teams, especially the Swim Club.

"Have you seen Asahi-chan lately?" the red-head questioned with slight concern in her eyes. "I haven't seen you two hanging out with each other, and she hasn't been up to the pool lately. Did you get into a fight with her?"

Scratching the back of her head, the track club member gave a tiny smile, wondering what she could say to her fellow second year. It was clear that she ran out of excuses to say to their other friends about what had happened between the two. Ever since she called out Asahi on that picture, she noticed her best friend had told her what was wrong...But still, even she was suspicious.

"...She wanted to be left alone. Ever since she got second place, Asahi seemed a bit preoccupied with something. She told me she was going to be named Vice President of the Art Club, and was going to be busy for a while...But I've noticed their meetings during lunch were short, and rarely met after school," Satomi finally explained.

Looking up at the building, the younger Matsuoka let out a long sigh.

Meanwhile...

Staring out into the water, Asahi held her abdomen, while standing at the end of the concrete pathway, nearby a row of boats. The sun was slowly setting over the horizon, and she was planning to practice here seeing that most of the people have gone home already. The music was playing in her ears and she was counting in her head, waiting for her cue.

...3...2...

Nothing came out of her mouth.

Her eyes looked down for a brief moment. Something was still wrong with her, but she didn't know what to do. Sitting down, Asahi stared out into the water and skipped the track, listening to the next song. As the song began to play, nostalgia hit the teen, looking down at the track name. It was listed as 'Untitled', with a random comment on the bottom saying, 'I'm sorry.'

嬉しさと悲しみの間を揺れている
I'm swaying in the midst of happiness and sadness...

狂おしいほど
...To the point where it's maddening.

君に会いたい 君に会いたい
I want to see you, I want to see you

何していますか?
What are you doing?

気分はどう?
How do you feel?

'...This song...'

Furrowing her eyebrows, she sat there trying to contain the tears that were forming in her eyes. While listening to the song to herself, Asahi was unaware of the pair who were approaching her. Both Makoto and Haruka were coming home from practice and happened to spot her from afar.

"...hi-chan...A-Asahi-chan?"

Turning around, the girl noticed Makoto, who was extending his hand out to her with a worried look on his face. Behind him, was Haruka who was casually standing there trying to not get fully 'involved' in whatever was going on. With a tears running down her face, all Asahi could do was bat her eyes, and stare at them like a deer in headlights.

"What happened?" the brunette said.

It was impossible.

She couldn't say anything to Makoto. Quickly wiping her tears away, the artist shook her head, trying to force a smile on her face.

"A-Ah...N-Nothing!" she stuttered. "I-I'll see you at school tomorrow, okay?"

After stumbling through her goodbye, the teen got up and quickly stormed away without a word, leaving behind her bag and cell phone. The tall male stared at Asahi's figure disappearing into the long stone stairwell behind the buildings. He looked over at her belongings that remained with him and let out a long sigh.

"I guess we'll go to her house and return this?" the brunette smiled over to Haruka, who had approached him to pick up her school bag.

Her phone had soon began to vibrate on the concrete ground. The name, 'Noon' had appeared on the smartphone's screen. The two of them looked at it for a brief moment, debating about whether or not to answer it. Without a second thought, Haruka had picked it up and answered it, with Makoto listening in next to him, hearing a male's voice over the other line.

"Hey, Asahi? Listen...I sort of...sent that picture you entered to that art contest to Aki.
I know you still don't forgive him for what happened to you last year...
...But if you drew that, does that mean you really still love him?
"