Chapter 12: Swimming & Secrets
"Wake up, Rin-chan! Wake UUUUUUPP!"
"Asahina-san…" the name flew out of my mouth instinctively. I realized what I had said only a moment later, and sat up in shock, successfully bashing my forehead into my friend's. We simultaneously groaned.
"Gee, thanks a lot, Rin-chan…" Asahina said rubbing her forehead with one eye closed. "There go my hopes of first place! I might have a concussion!"
"I'm sorry! But, you will get first place anyways…"
Asahina shrugged. "Now, there's no time for dilly dallying! Let' go have breakfast! I've already decided what you're going to be having."
I slowly got out of bed, being sure to avoid any other accidents.
"Hurry up, Rin-chan!"
"Jesus, give me a moment! I'm still sleepy, I need to get dressed an-"
"I've already laid out everything you need." She pointed to the bathroom. "Be quick!"
True to her word, Asahina had laid out clothes for me in a neat pile in the bathroom. Topping that pile was one the blue swimsuits given to us by the school. They were meant to be used at occasions like this - the school swimming carnival.
Once I had gotten ready, I returned to my room, where Asahina was balancing impatiently from foot to foot.
"Finally, slow-poke! Now, we've got some protein coffee and a selection of donuts : cinammon, jamball, azuki-"
"Asahina-san," I interrupted, placing a hand on her shoulder, "firstly, normal donuts are fine. Secondly, you like a salesperson and that's not a good look for you. Thirdly, how on Earth did you get into my room?!"
"You left your door unlocked. You're such a scatterbrain, Rin-chan!"
After a comprehensive lesson on donuts with some breakfast on the side, we made our way to the pool. Of course, we were almost an hour early A few others were standing around, chatting, but no one was actually going to the swimming pool. Asahina and I were the only ones doing so, and so I felt a little awkward.
Whilst Asahina spent some time earning the teachers' good graces by helping them set up, I looked around for Fujisaki. With now about half an hour left to go, the crowd of students in front of the pool had more than tripled, but the little girl was still nowhere to be seen. The canteen was starting to become more and more devoid of students, so I resorted to the dormitory corridor. There, I luckily stumbled upon the person I was looking for.
"Fujisaki-san!" She turned around and shot me a smile, but she somehow looked a little worried.
"I was looking for you! Hey, why aren't you wearing the school swimwear?" She was wearing a white rashie with a few light blue designs and board shorts.
"I...I'm sorry… Please don't ask, Rin-san…"
I accept, but grudgingly. Did she not see me as a friend? Did she not see me as someone she could trust?
But, what could I do? I couldn't very well force these opinions in her head.
"Sure. Moving on, have you had breakfast yet?"
She shook her head 'no', so I accompanied her to the cafeteria. As I lively spoke to her in an increasingly one-sided conversation,d I couldn't help but feel that we were back at the situation of the athletics carnival - she was clearly uncomfortable about something, seemingly sport-related. She was trying to hide something - and I didn't like it.
After having successfully spent some more time, it was finally 8:25 AM, and the swimming carnival would start in five minutes. Main events wouldn't start until 9 AM, though.
I dashed to my locker, shedding my clothes and dumping them in a disorderly fashion inside. By the time I made it back to the pool, the last students were filing in through the changerooms. I decided to wait for Fujisaki, who was standing aside. Soon, we were the last ones who hadn't entered the pool.
"Come on, let's go," I encouraged her, heading towards the girls' changing rooms. "Crap. I forgot my electroID inside my jacket. Oh, man…" What an impressive feat - now I would have to go talk to one of the teachers in order to access my locker. They would surely chide me on my forgetfulness. Asahina was right when she said I was a scatterbrain. "Can we use yours?"
With a face full of dread, Fujisaki stepped forwards and hesitantly placed her card against the reader.
Bzzt.
"Huh? It's not working? Here, let me try again…" I took the card from Fujisaki and tried once more.
Bzzt.
"It must be broken, then, though I'm not sure how… You better go talk to Jin Kirigiri about it. Who knows what other inconveniences this will cause you?"
"No," Fujisaki said quickly, snatching back her electroID, tears welling in her eyes. "Rin, can w-"
"Fujisaki-san, what's wrong?!"
"I d...don't want to talk about it, Rin-san, I'm sor-"
At that moment, I snapped. My spirit clouded with anger, I trapped her against the wall and looked her straight in her teary eyes.
"So you don't want to talk?" I asked, angrily and almost mockingly, continuing to stare daggers at her in fury.
Tears spilt. "W..what's wrong, R..Rin-san?"
"What's wrong?" I scoffed. "You!"
"W..what did I..I do, Rin-san…?" Fujisaki's sentence faded out as her voice wavered and tears continued to stream down her cheeks.
"Why won't you tell me anything? I know that you have a secret, and I can see that it's troubling you. I'm your friend, okay You can tell me anything, I won't tell, I won't judge… I want to help you. It pains me when things pain you. I want to help, goddamit, but how can I when you don't tell me a single goddamn thing?!"
Fujisaki was crying harder now, but still quietly. She opened her mouth, as if to say something, then closed it after a bit. I stormed off towards the locker room.
Once there, the full weight of my action came crashing down on me. I had lost it, just like I had promised myself to never do again. On top of that, I had also succeeded in making my best friend cry.
My own body started to shake with sobs.
I was terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, terr-
"Rin… san?" I looked up to see Naegi in the room with me, perplexed.
"I just came to get something… Are you alright?"
Wiping my eyes, nose, and trying to calm myself down by biting my lip and holding my breath, I nodded weakly, resisting the urge to shake my head.
"Hey, it's okay…" Unexpectedly, Naegi envelopped me in a light but reassuring hug. A hug of a friend.
After a moment, I stepped back. "Thanks, Naegi-kun."
Instead of going to the pool like I should have, I suck out a free teacher to get them to open my locker.
5 hours, 4 races and one 2nd place later…
This was the part of the swimming carnival that most were looking forwards to. Most people were quick to get into the pool, or else sit by it, since some hadn't even participated in the swimming carnival, such as Celes, who refused to get her hair wet, Fukawa, who had refused to change out of her uniform, and Kirigiri, who preferred to observe from a distance and keep her gloves on.
Soon enough, the classes as well as the pool was separated by invisible lines. Maizono and Kirigiri sat by the pool, Asahina sat in the lifeguard chair with a box of donuts, and Celes and Fukawa continued to observe from a distance. Even Fujisaki and Enoshima, who, as expected, hadn't participated in any events, enjoyed the fresh clear water of the pool. All in all, everyone was having a good time. I decided to just sit by the pool for a moment before going it. After all, this would be the perfect picture opportunity. Fetching the camera I had successfully managed to retrieve from my locker, I encountered Togami walking the opposite direction to me on my way back to the pool.
"Togami-kun? What are you doing?"
"What does it look like? I'm leaving."
"I know, but how come?"
"Why does it matter? That dirty Fukawa is stalking me. Besides," he added with a sneer, "I care not for such child's play." With that, he left, his quick stride carrying him towards the dormitories.
"Woah," I muttered under my breath, before returning to my objective.
When I got back, the lanes had gotten a little more organized. In the first, people were mainly mucking around. In the second, Ishimaru was naturally swimming laps, Owada standing outside at one end. In the third was Ogami and Yamada, talking about something. There was a huge fish inflatable in there with them, and Yamada started to climb onto it.
I planned to take the photo without notifying anyone, but Maizono noticed.
"Hey, Kirigiri-san! Smile for the camera!" She proceeded to do so, but Kirigiri was less quick.
At that moment, a few things happened. I clicked the shutter a few times, Ogami leapt out of the water to send a happy Yamada flying off the inflatable, Leon splashed Enoshima, Kirigiri turned around towards me, unsuspecting, and Fukawa started to look quite distressed upon realizing that her beloved Togami was no longer there. After a couple of shots, my objective was fulfilled, and I joined in with the others in playing around. I made sure to keep my distance from Fujisaki, however. She looked so happy, and I feared that if I approached her, the tensions would once more rise. I didn't want that.
About an hour later, the teachers came around to shoo us out of the pool. Most had already left, but a few from each class hadn't. In any case, it was safe to assume that the last stragglers were quite tired.
I caught Fujisaki as I was making my way to my dormitory, after having stopped by my locker.
"Rin… san…" she mumbled nervously, eyes darting between my face and the floor.
I pondered what to say for a moment.
"Tell me, Fujisaki-san," I replied quietly before leaving her to make her choice. In all truthfulness, I was feeling just about as nervous as her. Although we weren't all that similar, I felt as if I had formed a bond with her, so that I understood all her emotions and felt them as well. It may have been a one-sided bond, but it was there nonetheless.
After our cheerful, loud dinnertime where Owada attempted to boast his medals, only to be rebuked by Togami who had, of course, won every race he had entered. Asahina seemed to be his counterpart, winning first place in all of the races she had entered. Unlike Togami, however, she hadn't entered every race, so that others would have a chance. It was in one of the races Asahina didn't enter that I managed to win a second place, about which I was extremely happy.
Upon dispersing, I retreated to my room to draw, but ended up angrily throwing the pencil at a wall, only to lament the effect of that bad idea. It was then, as I was frantically trying to rub off the mark that I heard a timid little knock on my door.
"Fujisaki-san…" She looked terrified. "Do… do you want to come in?" I offered a little awkwardly. She nodded meekly and accepted my offer.
"Fujsaki-s-"
"Don't, please," she said, catching me completely off guard since it was the first time she had ever interrupted me, or anyone for that matter. "Please, it's already so hard for me. Promise me you won't…" Tears welled in her eyes.
"I won't laugh, I won't judge, I won't tell. I promise. Fujisaki-san, you can trust me."
She nodded weakly and took a few shuddering breaths. "Thanks, Rin-san. You know, I've always felt more comfortable talking to the boys, but you're different." She took more deep breaths, trying to calm herself down, but she was still absolutely terrified. It was only now that I realized the gravity of her secret, and felt horrendous, absolutely atrocious, for asking her to tell me.
"I'm a… It's just that I'm a… I'm a… a boy."
The last two words came out so quietly I almost didn't hear them. Well, almost.
Time completely stopped for me. No, it couldn't be. She was a girl, for sure, for sure, for…
What?
A crying Fujisaki stared at me, frightened. "Rin… san….?" she sobbed, wrapping her arms around her little body to calm her shuddering body.
"What?" It barely came out as a whisper.
After a moment of silence, save for some sobs, she moved towards the door.
"You promised, Rin-san. You promised, but you didn't keep your promise," she sniffled and quickly left the room.
I still sat on my bed in shock, surprised to realize that a tear was sliding down my face. Once I returned to my senses, I ran after her, to her room.
"Fujisaki-san!" I rang the doorbell.
No answer.
I rang it again.
Still no answer.
I rang it again and again and again.
"Fujisaki-san, please!"
After a moment, the door opened a crack, and I used the opportunity to slip inside.
Enveloping my apparently male friend in a hug, I attempted to comfort her.
"I'm sorry, Fujisaki-san, I just wasn't sure what to think. I just…" I sighed. "I wasn't expecting it."
She stepped back, wiping her eyes. "W-well?"
"Fujisaki-san, I'm still your friend! I don't care what gender you are, heck, I wouldn't even care if you were actually 30 years old! You're my friend and nothing can change that.
She started to smile, though barely. "I'm a girl at heart, it's just… my body doesn't agree."
"I understand."
In truth, I didn't really. I didn't understand why Fujisaki was masquerading as a girl. I didn't understand a lot of things, things that I was sure I did.
But, I had truly stuck to my word. I would not judge Fujisaki. Everyone has their reasons. There must have been a good one in this case.
"Thank you."
"Eh?! What are you thanking me for?"
"Thank you for being a great friend, Rin-san." She, or rather he, hugged me.
I wasn't entirely sure how to respond. "I'm actually the one who forced you to say your secret… In truth, I'm not such a great friend after all."
"Don't say that!" Fujisaki chided, looking me straight in the eye. "You're a great friend.
Fujisaki was still a she.
A/N: Hallo once more! Sorry for the late update - I had my finals and then I just lazed about. This was supposed to come sooner, and actually was meant to be chapter 13, but since I need to write another special chapter for July 7, I had to put off the other chapter. Besides, it was just filler. It'll probably end up being chapter 14.
Anyways, so, another long chapter, not quite as long as the other though. I was dying to write this chapter because of the explanation with Fujisaki, so yay!
Over the past two days we had two very exciting events. Souda-kun's and Pekoyama-san's (from SDR2) birthdays on the 29th and 30th of June respectively. Happy birthday! :D
Again, please please review! I love seeing reviews! I hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it :)
Over and out.
