"Is that all?" fifteen year old Rosalya questioned, meeting Rin's gaze on the other side of the world through her screen.
"Yeah" he replied, and he looked very tired. His eyes were swollen, and Rosa noticed he tried to repress a yawn, failing at it. She couldn't blame him, despite being barely 19:00 PM in Australia, they had been reviewing for the history test the entire week, always at the same time. Rosa had been waking up at 8:30 AM for the past four days, which was Rin's 17:00 PM, to help him study. Despite him living in Australia for three years now, he still couldn't handle english perfectly well. He wanted to have Rosa assisting him, it gave him safety, despite the girl having told him many times that he had come further in two years, than other people in five. Rin only agreed with that because she had been teaching him, he was sure he wouldn't have been able to progress so much by himself "I still don't understand what's the point in learning all this stuff, it's not like I will strike a conversation with someone and be like 'Hey, so about the Gold Rush?'" Rosa couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped her lips. Despite probably being drained Rin still kept his sense of humour.
"I don't think it's so much about using it, rather than knowing it" she replied logically "I won't ever use Trigonometry in my life, but I have to know what it is"
"Yeah, but that's useful for swimming at least" he commented "How can I apply what a bunch of people found out in the 1850s to my training?" Rosa giggled once more.
"How is training going by the way?" she questioned curiously, leaning forward. They had been so busy reviewing, that she forgot to ask the most important thing.
"Uh…" he shifted uncomfortably in his seat "Good"
"You don't sound convinced" she replied, giving him a sharp glance.
"I said good, okay?" he said a bit ruder than intended, taking the girl by surprise, but as he clearly didn't seem to want to talk about it, she didn't push the topic further.
"Okay, Mr. Moodswings" she replied, raising her hands in redemption "Let's talk about something else then" Rin felt a sting of guilt, and sighed.
"Sorry" he said softly, avoiding her gaze "I'm just tired, that's all"
"I know" she replied in understanding "Do you want to end the call? So you can rest, you'll need it for tomorrow"
"No, it's fine" he replied bluntly. He wanted to keep talking to her.
But contrary to his desire, silence reigned for a few minutes, and all that Rosa could hear was the sound of Joy laughing in the lounge with some other classmates. That was usually the time they all got together and had breakfast, the black haired had been eating in her room recently "Hey, Rosa?" he questioned after some minutes, and the girl looked at him curiously "I…" he grunted "No, forget it"
"Now don't leave me hanging like that!" Rosa exclaimed. Curiosity was already sparking in her at to what Rin could possibly say "C'mon, tell me" he stayed silent for a few minutes, before gulping nervously.
"I...Just wanted to say, thank you" he finally admitted "For...Everything. Helping me...Supporting me...You-you probably have a lot of things to take care of yourself, but you still find time for..." Rosa looked at him in adoration upon hearing that. It was the first time she heard her friend saying something like that, and to say that she was touched by his words would be an understatement "I...If it weren't for you, I don't know...What all of this would be like"
"Rin, you don't have to thank me" she replied, wanting to reach through the screen and pull him into a hug "You're my best friend, I will always be there for you, no matter what" she smiled.
"I promise"
"So you actually got into the water?!" Joy questioned, not being able to contain her excitement as she talked to Rosa over the phone.
"Don't sound so excited" the black haired replied, as she walked around the lounge at the pool, occasionally taking a glance at the guys training. Her eyes specially focused on Rei, who had been improving a lot lately. Rosa taught him butterfly, it was up to him to perfect it now. He had the basics figured out, but still needed to work on speed. She told him to train that, since he was on the track team before it was probably what he could thoroughly develop "I only taught him the moves, I didn't even swim"
"It's still something" the girl replied "Let me have my fifteen minutes of happiness in peace" Rosa chuckled.
"You mean fifteen minutes of fame?"
"Don't change the subject!" she scolded, making Rosa chuckled even louder.
"Okay, okay, sorry"
"The point is, you getting in the water is already a big step" Joy insisted, it was the first of many steps she would need to take if she wanted to get back into swimming one day "What made you change your mind?"
"A certain brown haired twin brother of yours" she replied, and she could almost see Joy's eyes opening wide.
"That's probably the first useful thing he's done in years" Joy said good-heartedly, making the other girl giggle.
"I somehow doubt that" she replied, and then her gaze spotted what seemed like a magazine hiding underneath the rug.
"Have you seen him swim? Has he changed his style?" the swimmer kept questioning, as Rosa walked towards the end of the room where the magazine was.
"Nope, still swimming backstroke" replied the girl, grabbing the magazine. Nathan was actually quite good at it as well, from what she had heard he had one of the best scores in the entire Samezuka swimming team. Considering how long he had been swimming for (Since he was four according to Joy), she couldn't expect any less from him.
Upon turning the magazine in her hands and seeing the cover, she opened her eyes wide.
"Hey, Joy? I'll call you later, okay?" she announced, walking towards the pool.
"Sure thing, girl, good luck!"
"Thanks" she hanged up "Hey, guys? I found something interesting"
"What is it?" Nagisa questioned, as the four guys and Gou approached her.
"Iwatobi High School Swim Club: Summer Training Camp From Hell On a Deserted Island" Makoto read out loud.
"That doesn't sound too good…" the young Matsuoka trailed off.
"From hell?" Rei questioned, sweating a little bit.
"Deserted island?" Haru repeated curiously.
"That sounds fun!" exclaimed Nagisa, his eyes shining. And Rosa held back a chuckle, that was each of her friends' personality, one phrase per person. They couldn't be more different. And that's what made them such a close group, their distinct but complementary characteristics.
"Don't be fooled by the title" assured the girl "I'm sure it's not as bad as it sounds"
"Where did you find it?" Gou questioned.
"It was back there" replied the girl "It seems to be from several years back. We should try something like this, it would be great training before the tournament"
"Sounds like a lot of work to me" Haru replied, sitting by the pool with his feet on the water. At what moment he had gone there, nobody knew.
"You know me, Haru, you shouldn't be so surprised" Rosa replied "The training regime is pretty good, it's basically swimming from one island to another" she added, flipping the pages until it landed on a map showing four different islands, forming a circle. Arrows were connecting the four of them "It's harsh, but I don't doubt it would pay off"
"This is exactly what we need!" the manager exclaimed excited.
"You think?" Mako asked, and he sounded gloomy all of a sudden. Rosa noticed, but didn't comment on it.
"Yeah, definitely!" Gou replied "If we follow this example, there's no way the Iwatobi Swim Club won't win"
"How did it turn out for those guys?" Nagisa questioned.
"Unfortunately, not good" Rosa replied remorsefully "Sixth place, but I know you guys will be able to get a higher spot. Call it a gut feeling"
"Regardless of outcome, we need to remain strong!" the young Matsuoka kept insisting "And what better time and place to do a whole a training camp than on summer in a deserted island?"
"Why exactly does it have to be in a deserted island?" Rei wondered.
"Who knows? But it sounds exotic!" Nagisa replied "Personally, I'm all for it!"
"It sounds like a decent idea to me" admitted Makoto.
"Woah, that's some serious equipment" Gou observed impressed later that day at Rosalya's house. They had asked Miss A if the funding could be provided to do the training camp, to which she replied that they didn't have the budget for it. So now they were trying to figure out a way to be able to do the camp without the school's assistance. Makoto said he could provide equipment, so that was a start.
"My family always goes camping in the summer, so we have really good stuff" Makoto replied, as they looked over the several utensils, bottles and other things on the floor of the girl's house.
"Thankfully nobody really uses this basement" Rosalya stated as she looked around the empty place. It wouldn't bother anyone if it was down there "It's quite dirty though" she added, her face scrunching up before coughing some dust off her lungs "Let's go upstairs"
"Do you live alone?" Rei questioned, never having gone to the girl's house before.
"With my aunt" she replied as the walked up "But she's working most of the time"
"What about your parents?" he asked once again, and Rosa smile slightly when she saw Toby playing with his ball outside through the window. He was as playful as ever despite being so old.
"In England" she replied simply.
"Rosa was in this super important swimming school there for five years!" Nagisa exclaimed, and Rei raised an eyebrow upon hearing that. She attended a swimming school? "She was the best"
"C'mon now" the girl spoke up with a grin "That's too much"
"But it's true!" he kept insisting, and all she could do was chuckle.
"Whatever you say, Nagi" she replied as they got into the living room "Would you guys like some tea?"
"You really like it, huh" Makoto observed.
"I was in England for five years, of course I do" she replied good-heartedly, earning a small giggle from her olive haired friend.
"Do you have Gyokuro?" Rei questioned, fixing his glasses.
"As a matter of fact, yes" she replied with a small smile.
"Woah, Rei has high standards!" Nagisa teased.
"What's wrong with wanting to taste excellency every once in a while?" he asked, and Rosa chuckled.
"Absolutely nothing" she replied, shaking her head "Normal tea for the rest of you?"
"That'd be nice" Makoto stated, and she nodded before going off to the kitchen.
"You have quite a few pictures" Gou observed as they waited for her to come back, scanning the photographs hanging from the walls and some framed ones in shelves nearby.
"And that's just only here" Rosa replied from the door to the kitchen with a smile "You haven't seen my room"
"Oh, I haven't seen that picture in ages" Makoto commented, and when Rosa followed his gaze, she saw the photograph they had taken when she left for England, the one with all five of them hugging while crying.
"I have a copy of it back in Brighton as well" she commented as the water boiled, and she went back into the kitchen.
"Are you sure you have everything?" Rosa's aunt questioned the next day. It was one of the very few time she was home when she woke up, so she had insisted on cooking breakfast for her. She wanted to spend as much time with her niece as possible, but work was taking a lot of her time unfortunately.
"Yeah, I'm all set" replied the girl, giving her an assuring smile. Her aunt's face then faltered.
"Will you be fine?" she questioned, and Rosa knew she was talking about the ocean, and all the bad memories she had of it. She would be by the ocean for a long time.
"I won't get into it" she replied, ignoring the images already flashing through her mind. She didn't want to worry her aunt, more than she already was "I will just watch over the guys as they swim"
Contrary to expected, she was actually excited about the trip with her friends. She made it her goal to have as much fun as possible, without letting depressing thoughts cloud her mind. It would give them a lot time to catch up, and bond with them. Especially with Rei, since she didn't know that much about him. Just that he was obsessed with the beautiful and formulas. It would be a very interesting experience.
"I should get going" she spoke up, taking a look at the clock hanging from the wall.
"Yes, of course" her aunt replied, and pulled the girl into a tight hug "Have fun, okay?"
"I will" she replied, hugging back before leaving for the port. Thankfully, all the stuff Makoto had brought was divided amongst all of them, so Rosa didn't have to take everything by herself. She didn't have enough strength or backpacks for that.
Mako and Haru arrived at the same time as her.
"Are we all present and accounted for?" Coach Sasabe questioned, looking around.
"Miss Amakata is missing" Nagisa commented, and soon enough a pink car pulled up next to the boat. From the inside, Miss A came out dressed as if she were about to get aboard a cruise ship.
"Sorry to keep you all waiting" she said with a smile "But I'm here now! You must be Coach Sasabe, I've heard so many wonderful things about you!" she added, approaching the man and handing him a package wrapped in a violet paper "Thank you very much for the help, we couldn't have done it without you!"
"That's really sweet of you" he replied, taking the present into his hands before frowning as he looked at her.
"Is something wrong?"
"Have I met you before? I can't place it, but you look really familiar" Rosa repressed a laugh upon seeing Miss A's horrified face. She found some sort of amusement in being the only one who knew about Miss A's modeling career.
"Sorry, we have never met before. I'm afraid you must be confusing me with someone else" she replied nervously, avoiding his gaze.
"Is it just me or is he totally hitting on her?" Gou questioned, and Rosa this time did chuckle.
After some seconds of loading up their stuff, they were finally on their way to the island. Rosa scanned the boat, her friends all seemed very excited; well, al except for Rei who looked green.
"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly, approaching the guy who was holding a handkerchief to his mouth.
"Just fine" he replied, not wanting to worry the girl, but she knew better.
"Not a fan of the sea?" she questioned sympathetically.
"Not particularly…" he replied.
"That's alright" she stated "I'm sure it won't take very long to get there, but just in case, you can sit next to me" she added, as she walked towards some stairs far away from the sea "The less you stare at the water, the better" she was talking out of concern and personal experience as well.
"Thank you" he replied quietly, following the girl and taking a place next to her. Silence reigned for some seconds between them, until he spoke upon again "Can I ask you a personal question?"
"Sure" she replied, shifting her gaze from Nagisa talking about deserted islands to the black haired.
"You can swim, and from what I've been told you excel at it, used to participate in tournaments all the time when you were young and even attended a prestigious swimming school abroad to perfect your abilities, you've put so much effort into your training and yet...You don't swim anymore. Why?" Rosa stayed quiet some seconds, gathering her thoughts. She knew Rei would eventually ask that question, because everyone did at some point. And she always answered it, the difficult part was figuring out what to say without bursting into tears.
"I had a brother" she began explaining, as Rei listened quietly "His name was Luke, he was five years younger than me, and I cared a lot about him" she smiled slightly upon remembering that day.
"Did you say 'had''?" Rei questioned in surprise.
"That's the sad part" the girl replied, her eyes shimmering "He passed away a year ago, and...I guess I kind of lost the passion I had for swimming" she added, not specifying why exactly. Rei stayed quiet for some seconds, before speaking up again.
"And you still chose to teach me butterfly?" he questioned in surprised, and she smiled with a sniff.
"It wasn't an easy choice, I'll give you that" she replied "But...You're my friend, Rei" she added with honesty, turning to look at him "And if you need my help, I will be there for you. For all of you" she added, turning to look at the rest who were busy enjoying themselves to notice the two of them sat aside.
"Thank you" that was the only thing Rei could bring himself to say after hearing her words, and what she did for the people she cared about. She was truly a great friend.
If you remember the flashback from the previous chapter, then you know Rosa was not playing any games when she promised she'd always be there for Rin. That will be crucial in this story