Free –High Speed! Reunion
Chapter 10: Revenge in the Medley!
Haruka-san lost…at that moment it felt like time was moving slowly and my heart was sinking…I honestly don't know what I was expecting from that race but it definitely wasn't that…
All I could do was sit, I couldn't move, I couldn't even say anything and even if I could I wouldn't know what to say…
The next race was beginning, "Set. Go!" and the swimmers set off. We all just sat there in silence, processing what just happened.
"Oh, there you are!" We turned to our left to see Coach Sasabe walking towards us, "Sorry about being late."
"Where were you?!" Nagisa yelled, "You're late, Goro-chan!"
Ama-chan sensei stood up to intervene, "Thank you for your help the other day. And I appreciate you taking time from work to come support us."
"Oh it's no big deal." He replied he then looked closely at Miss Ama-chan, "I really think we've met before."
"No, I don't think…" she answered nervously
"Jeez, did you come here to hit on girls?" Nagisa asked clearly annoyed
"I wasn't hitting on her!" he retorted
"Nagisa-kun, that's enough! Don't take it out on Coach Sasabe!" I scolded
"Haruka-senpai already swam his freestyle heat." Ryugazaki stated
"Darn, I missed the prelims!" he cried, "But I can still watch the final."
"He won't be in the final." Makoto mumbled
"Huh?"
"Haru…didn't pass the prelims." Makoto revealed
"He lost?!" Coach Sosabe exclaimed
Captain Mikoshiba was in one of the races to follow, the Samezuka swim team were all cheering for him, "Mikoshiba-kun in lane 4 has set a new tournament record." The announcer declared
"Wow, that's impressive." Sasabe commented
"Isn't Mikoshiba…?" Makoto muttered
"Oh! Samezuka's captain!" Nagisa answered, "I thought he was just an enthusiastic person, but he's actually a good swimmer. Right, Gou-chan?"
"Yeah…" she responded
"What's wrong, Ryugazaki-kun?" I asked noticing he had been looking back and forth between his watch and the entrance to stands
"Haruka-senpai isn't back yet." He replied
"Oh, you're right." Makoto whispered
"He's probably taking a shower." Nagisa speculated
"He's taking a long time though." Ryugazaki whispered, "I'll go check on him." Ryugazaki stood up from his chair and begun to walk towards the entrance
"Rei! Wait up!" Makoto shouted
"Hold on, Mako-chan! Rei-chan!" Nagisa shouted following Makoto and Ryugazaki, Gou and I looked on
"Wait up, Rei!" Makoto yelled
Gou looked downwards, "Don't dwell on it." Miss Ama-chan reassured, "That's how sports are."
"That's not it." Gou responded
"Huh?" she mumbled
"I wanted to watch my brother and Haruka-senpai swim together. But that wasn't what I was expecting." Gou explained
"Yeah, I'm the same I wanted to see the two of them swim together but I wasn't entirely sure what outcome I was expecting…" I looked downwards, it's kind of hard to watch these other races but soon it will be Makoto, Nagisa and Ryugazaki's turn and I need to cheer them on but I feel as though our morale is down…
I need to get away from here even if it's for a little bit, "Yazaki-san?" Miss Ama-chan called
"Sorry, I think I'm going to get something to drink." I answered, "I'll try to be back in time for the other races." And I just ran up the stairs for some reason I could feel tears threatening to fall down and I didn't want anyone to see this…I have to stay positive for everyone!
I grabbed a can of soda from the vending machine, I didn't care about what I got I just needed to get my mind of things and I bent down to grab the can; I stood back up to see…Rin-san
We stood there in silence, it felt like time was frozen and I decided to break the silence, "Oh, Rin-san."
"Yo, Yazaki." He greeted and went to the vending machine beside me to grab something to drink, the atmosphere felt heavy
"Well done on making it to finals…" I mumbled
"Why are you congratulating me?" He asked, his attitude and his eyes were cold as they looked down at me and it sent a shiver down my spine. I was sick of this, this attitude; the fear I felt at that moment changed to anger and gripped my can tightly.
"What's with that attitude?" I mumbled
"Huh?" he responded
"I'm sick of this, Rin-san! What the hell happened in Australia to make you into this cruel and cold person?!" I yelled and I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes, "You used to love swimming more than anything! You didn't care about winning or losing! So what's changed?!"
"SHUT UP!" he roared pushing me against the wall his eyes were filled with anger and it looked like he was trembling…"You sound like the rest of them!"
The rest of them? Does he mean Makoto, Nagisa and Ryugazaki?
But I kept going, "What happened to the Rin-san I knew from elementary school?" I whispered
"Tch." He scoffed; he grabbed the can of soda from the vending machine and walked away. My legs felt numb and I fell to the floor and the tears fell from my eyes…What happened to you, Rin-san?
I was walking back to the stands, "Oh, Zaki-senpai!" I looked up to see Gou running towards me, "There you are! You were gone for a while I was worried!" Gou then leaned in to look at me more closely, "Zaki-senpai, have you been crying? You're eyes are really red."
"No, I'm fine! Honestly!" I answered, "Is the next race starting?"
"Oh! Makoto-senpai's going to be racing soon, so let's head back to the stands to cheer him on!" she grabbed my hand and led me back to the stands, I'm better off not telling her what happened between Rin-san and I.
"Oh, they're they are, Gou-chan! Zaki-chan!" Nagisa called, "Hurry up! Mako-chan's race is gonna start in a minute!"
"Coming!" Gou called back and we rushed towards our seats
"Haruka-san, still isn't back?" I asked
"Oh, we couldn't find him." Rei answered, "Speaking of which, where did you go, Aki-senpai?" he asked
"Oh, I went to get a drink." I answered as I sat back down
"Man, what's he doing?" Coach Sasabe answered, "Makoto's about to swim."
"I'm gonna go get him!" Nagisa declared, "I want Haru-chan to watch us swim!"
"Nagisa-kun?!" Ryugazaki shouted after him
"Oh! They're heading towards the pool!" I pointed out, "The race will start at any minute! Will Nagisa-kun get back in time?"
"He has too!" Ryugazaki answered, "He just has too! I want Haruka-senpai to watch us swim!"
"Ryugazaki-kun." I mumbled, all the swimmers were in position…
"Set." The announcer called, "Go!" and all the swimmers took off and we begun to cheer for Makoto-san as loud as we could repeating Coach Sasabe's chant…
"Go, go, go, go, go, Makoto!" Coach Sasabe shouted
"Go, go, go, go, go, Makoto!" we repeated
"Swim, swim, swim, swim, swim, Makoto!" Coach yelled
"Swim, swim, swim, swim, swim, Makoto!" we repeated
"Not loud enough!" Sasabe yelled, "You've gotta shout from your belly! Especially you, Rei! Don't be shy!"
"Yes!" he answered
"Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, Makoto!" Coach Sasabe yelled
"Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, Makoto!" we repeated
"Go, go, go!" We all kept yelling, this is what we needed, we needed this to raise our morale.
"Go, go, Makoto!"
"And turn." The announcer instructed
"That's it!"
"Last spurt, last spurt, last spurt, last spurt, last spurt!" Coach Sasabe yelled
"Last spurt, last spurt, last spurt, last spurt, last spurt!" we repeated
We looked hopefully as the results on the board came up…and the number 2 came next to Makoto's name…
"Man, Mako-chan was so close!" Nagisa exclaimed, "He almost had a fast enough time to qualify!"
"He was so close to making the final!" Gou stated
"Okay! I'm up next!" Nagisa cheered
"Yeah, go get 'em!" Coach Sasabe encouraged him
"Good luck, Nagisa-kun. We believe in you!" I joined in
"Thanks you guys!" Nagisa answered as he ran up the stairs to get ready for his race
Nagisa's race was beginning, all the swimmers were in position, "Set. Go!"
"Go, go, go, go, go, Nagisa!" Coach Sasabe led our cheering once again
"Go, go, go, go, go, Nagisa!" we followed
"Swim, swim, swim, swim, swim, Nagisa!" Coach Sasabe cheered
"Swim, swim, swim, swim, swim, Nagisa!" we repeated
The race ended quickly, Nagisa was so close to qualifying and he returned to the stands frustrated, "I couldn't do it!"
"It was close." Coach reassured him
"You made a really great push at the end." I joined in
"I believe it's finally my turn." Ryugazaki announced standing up from his seat
"Will you be okay, Rei-chan?" Nagisa asked
"I've got this." He answered, "Despite how I may look, I'm better in actual competition."
This was the last race for us, we were all counting on Ryugazaki-kun but this was his first competition, so I hope his nerves don't get the better of him. We all waited in anticipation for the race to start, "Set." The announcer called, "Go!"
"Wow, his form is perfect." Coach commented
"Huh? Look at Rei-kun's goggles." Gou pointed out
"Ah! They slid off!" Nagisa cried
"It must have happened when he dove in." Makoto speculated
"Go, go, go, go, go, Rei!" Coach Sasabe started the cheer
"Go, go, go, go, go, Rei!" we joined in
"Swim, swim, swim, swim, swim, Rei!" Coach Sasabe yelled
"Swim, swim, swim, swim, swim, Rei!" we repeated
"Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, Rei!"
"Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, Rei!" we repeated
"Go, go!" Coach cheered
"Go, go!" we cheered
Unfortunately, Ryugazaki didn't qualify for the finals either…We spent the rest of the day watching the remainder of the races.
"I aplogise, I wasn't good enough." Ryugazaki apologised
"You shouldn't say that." Miss Ama-chan reassured him, "You were able to swim a personal best. That's a great thing."
"You might have qualified if your goggles hadn't slipped off." Nagisa joined in
"Er, that seems a little far-fetched." Ryugazaki replied
"In any case, everyone performed well. Excellent work." Miss Ama-chan added
"There's a sense of accomplishment, right?" Nagisa asked
"Yeah" Makoto replied, "Let's start preparing for the next tournament." He added
"Oh? Where's Nanase-kun?" Miss Ama-chan inquired
"It looks like he left without us." Nagisa responded
"What? Really?" Gou cried
"Yeah, he wasn't feeling well." Makoto replied
"Oh…I guess that can't be helped, then." Miss Ama-chan muttered, "Matsuoka-san, Yazaki-san can the two of you take it from here?"
"Yes" we answered
"Then, I'll be leaving now." We watched as Miss Ama-chan drove off in her car.
"It's been a while since I got my blood pumping. Nice job! See ya!" Coach Sasabe drove off on his pizza delivery scooter.
"He came here on that?" Makoto mumbled
"Is his work gonna be okay with this?" Nagisa asked, "It's over."
"Yeah." Makoto responded
"It would have been nice to go to regionals." Ryugazaki added
"After we practised so hard, I was thinking at least one of us might make it through." Makoto stated, "But it's not that easy in reality."
"There's more to swimming than I realised." Ryugazaki added, "Understanding it in theory isn't enough to win. I'm getting fire up."
"Well, it's a little late for that." Nagisa responded
"Kou-chan." I nudged her with my elbow, "Now's the time to tell them."
"No, it's not too late." Gou stated and the guys turned to look in our direction, "There's still a second day of the tournament tomorrow!"
"But the events we entered were all today." Nagisa pointed
"Not all of the events we entered were today." I added
"Huh? But the second day is the individual medley and the relay…" Makoto then clicked on to what we were talking about, "Don't tell me that they two of you…"
"We're sorry!" we bowed our heads in apology
"We signed you up for the medley relay in secret!" Gou announced
"What?!" they said in unison
"We did it with your best interests at heart!" I added, "Miss Ama-chan already knew…"
"So if we win the relay…" Nagisa muttered
"We can enter regionals!" Gou answered
"That's crazy. This is too sudden." Makoto exclaimed, "We didn't practise at all for the relay."
"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Nagisa added
"Because it sounded like Haruka-senpai didn't want to be in the relay." Gou answered
"We were gonna try and convince him but the right moment never seemed to come." I added on
"Let's do it." Ryugazaki stated
"Huh?" Makoto and Nagisa said in unison
"Rei-chan?" Nagisa called
"This is our final chance!" Ryugazaki replied, "We haven't practised for the relay, but it's still worth a shot!" Makoto and Nagisa looked at each other then back at Ryugazaki and nodded
"Alright now to convince, Haruka-san!" I concluded and everyone nodded
By the time we had arrived at Haruka-san's house it was nightfall, Makoto tried to open the door, "No luck. He isn't home yet." Ryugazaki stated, "I don't think."
"We can enter upstairs!" Makoto cried running towards the back of the house and we all followed
"Got it!" Nagisa answered
"Uh, wait! Is this really okay?!" Ryugazaki asked, Makoto opened the door and we all rushed inside searching every nook and cranny
"He's not on the second floor!" Nagisa shouted
"He's not in the bath!" Gou yelled
"You shouldn't run around someone's house when they're not…" Ryugazaki reasoned however he then walked over to the trophy shelf and picked up the photograph from the relay
"Haru…" Makoto whispered
"Are you okay?" I asked and Makoto turned around
"Yeah…I'm just worried about Haru." He answered
"We all are." I added, "Hopefully, we can convince him to take part in the relay."
"Then we'll wait for him to return." Ryugazaki suggested and we turned to look at him.
"Will Haru-chan agree to swim the relay?" Nagisa asked
"We convinced him the first time round, right?" I answered, "There's no reason we can't do it a second"
I looked at my phone for the time 09:03 it read, "He's still not home." Gou mumbled
"Where'd he go?" Nagisa asked
"What if…" Ryugazaki muttered
"Rei-chan! Don't say scary stuff with that look on your face!" Nagisa scolded
"I didn't say anything yet. But…" Ryugazaki retorted
"Don't worry. Haru's not that weak." Makoto reassured
"Oh, his cell phone!" Nagisa realised, "Let's call him."
"Haruka-senpai has a cell phone?!" Gou cried
"Why didn't you say something sooner?!" Ryugazaki added, I looked up at Makoto and a small smile came on his face, I couldn't help but smile a little as well.
"Well, I never see Haru-chan actually using his cell phone…" Nagisa answered
"Anyway, let's call him!" Ryugazaki exclaimed
Nagisa started dialling his number and waited for him to pick up…"He's not answering." Nagisa stated
"Leave a message." Ryugazaki suggested
"Haru-chan? Where are you right now?" Nagisa started
"Please hurry home." Ryugazaki added, "We're all worried."
"I'm sorry, Haruka-senpai!" Gou added on, "Zaki-senpai and I signed everybody up for the medley relay!"
"Yeah, so let's swim together tomorrow, Haru-chan." Nagisa stated
"I'll be fine! I'll have the theory memorized by tomorrow!" Ryuzaki reassured
"Rei-chan, that's a sure sign that you'll fail!" Nagisa cried
"I just have to memorize the theory for how not to fail, also!" Ryugazaki retorted
"Will Haruka-senpai come home after listening to that sloppy message?" Gou asked
"It'll be okay!" Nagisa encouraged, "Our chaotic message has what it takes to touch Haru-chan deep down! Wait…Haru-chan left his cell phone here!"
"What?!" Ryugazaki and Gou cried
"Haru doesn't usually carry his phone around with him." Makoto explained, "It's getting late. We should head home."
"But…" Gou objected
"I don't think Haru will swim tomorrow…" Makoto muttered, "We'll have to forfeit."
I looked at the three of them and back at Makoto, "Can you accept that Makoto-san?" I asked
"Huh?" he looked down at me
"Because I can't! We can't give up! We need to get our feelings through to him!" I shouted
Everyone started to get ready and left the house until it was just me and Makoto standing at the front door, "Um, I'm sorry about shouting at you earlier, Makoto-san." I apologised
"No, it's fine, Zaki-chan." He responded, "You were right. We can't give up, that's why…" he took my hand and placed something in it. I looked at my hand and saw Haruka's cell phone
"Why are you giving this to me?" I asked
"Back in elementary school, you helped to convince Haru to swim the relay." He answered, "And I'm sure you can do it again, Zaki-chan. You can deliver everyone's feelings to Haru."
"Are you sure?" I asked
"I'll leave Haru to you" he patted my head and left through the front door and I was left slightly dumbfounded…
Can I really convince him?
I didn't know how long I was waiting for Haruka, my eyelids felt heavy but I needed to stay awake; I kept myself preoccupied by playing with Haruka's phone with my hands. Then I saw the door open and Haruka walked through, "Haruka-san…welcome home." I greeted
"What are you doing here?" he asked
I stood up, "Can we talk a little?" I asked and we walked towards the living room and sat outside, "Gou-chan and I signed you guys up for the relay…" he looked surprised and looked downwards
"Why would you do something like that?" he asked
"Because, if you win this relay…we have a chance to go to regionals!" I answered, "And I want to see it again…"
"See what?" he replied
"I want to see a relay like the one I saw in elementary school!" I responded, "Back in elementary school, I wanted you to rely on others more! That's what a relay does! It connects your feelings with your teammates' feelings!" I cried clutching his cell phone to my chest and then I gave it to him, "Listen to everyone's feelings!"
He looked at me surprised, he took his cell phone from my hand and listened to the message as he was doing so I noticed the emotion in his eyes and he stopped listening to the message.
"Haruka-san?" I muttered
"Aki" my eyes widened in surprise that was the first time he called me by my name, "We have a relay to swim, right?"
"Really?!" I asked
"Yes" he responded, "And Aki, there's no need to be so formal around me…"
"What do you mean?" I muttered
"You can drop the –san" He answered
"Then…Haru-kun" I could feel my cheeks grow slightly red and he looked at me in surprise
"You haven't changed…" he muttered
"What did you say?" I asked, "I didn't hear you."
"It's nothing." He responded, "It's late I'll walk you home." He turned back towards the house.
I did it, Makoto-san.
The next morning…
I called Makoto as soon as I woke up, "Hello?" he answered sounding slightly sleepy
"Makoto-san, I did it! Haru-kun said he would swim the relay!" I answered
"Really?!" he responded, "Wait, Haru-kun?"
"Oh! He told me to be less formal does it sound weird?" I asked
"No! Anyway, good work Zaki-chan." He responded, "I knew you could do it. I'll see you later!"
"Yeah! See you later! Oh wait!" I called
"What?" he asked
"Thanks for believing in me, Makoto-san. I'll see you later!" I ended the call there and called the rest of the team.
We all outside waiting for Nagisa and Ryugazaki, "Are you sure about this?" Miss Ama-chan asked, "You haven't practiced for the relay at all, right?""I don't know how we'll do, but we'll give it our best shot." Makoto answered, "And this isn't our first time."
"But it is for Ryugazaki-kun." Miss Ama-chan pointed out
"Nagisa-kun and Rei-kun aren't here yet." Gou added
"Sorry we're late!" Nagisa called
"I'm sorry!" Ryugazaki-kun added
"Man, what were you guys doing?" Gou asked, "You're late!"
"Actually…" Nagisa begun
"We were practicing the exchange in the pool at school." Ryugazaki explained
"That eliminates the possibility of Rei-chan completely failing!" Nagisa concluded
"When did you…" I muttered
"Haru-chan…I'm thrilled that we get to swim in the relay together again." Nagisa stated
"Let's do this together, Haruka-senpai." Ryugazaki reassured
"Okay, time to show everyone that our training paid off!" Nagisa cheered
"Yes, that's why we're here!" Ryugazaki replied
"So much enthusiasm" Miss Ama-chan commented
"Okay guys! Let's give this our best shot!" I cheered
"Yeah!" we all cheered in unison and raised our fists towards the air.
Miss Ama-chan, Gou and I took our seats in the stands; waiting for the medley to start oddly enough the wind was starting to pick up as if it was also waiting for this race. The whistles begun to blow signalling for the backstroke swimmers to enter the pool, "Set." The announcer called, "Go!" all the swimmers dived, Makoto was fast and it looked like he was in the lead, Nagisa was getting ready to go next and was the first one to dive!
So far we're in the lead but looking at this relay so far, although the other swimmers were starting to catch up; Nagisa hadn't turned yet, he always picks up speed after the turn…
He reached the end of the lane first! Now it's Ryugazaki-kun's time to shine…you can do it! He's doing well…Haru-kun was next and Ryugazaki was reaching the end. At that moment it felt as though time was moving slowly waiting for Haru-kun to dive in…this was the last spurt.
I'm kind of getting back into the flow of things, I enjoyed writing this chapter in particular so I hope you all enjoy it too. On average it takes me two days to write out a chapter but I'll work as hard as I can!