Some fears never go away
It was one of the rare "no school for a few days" times, so the Niwas decided to go swimming at the beach. Kisuke had an obvious fear of water, so Daisuke tried to help him. His solution? Drag Kisuke into the water with him! Kisuke panicked at first, but quickly started to enjoy going into the water. Though swimming was another story…
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"Come on Kisuke, it's not that hard to swim!" griped Daisuke.
"You've never had a fear of water! This is my first time even going into water! Let alone swimming in it!" snorted Kisuke annoyed.
"He has a point Daisuke…" said the grandfather.
"But how can ANYONE be afraid of water?!" said Daisuke.
"I don't know why I'm afraid of water… All I know is that I really don't like to go into it!" said Kisuke in his defense.
"I hope you get over this fear of water before school starts again!"
"Why?" asked Kisuke worriedly.
"Because when school starts up again we're gonna have a swim test during the afternoon!" said Daisuke.
"WHAT! Please tell me you're joking!" said Kisuke in horror.
"Nope. And everyone else already knows how to swim. If they find out that you're both afraid of the water and don't know how to swim, you'll never hear the end of it!" said Daisuke.
"Ack! How am I supposed to learn how to swim in three days?!"
"Don't worry, Kisuke. We'll teach you how…" said Emiko.
Takeshi appeared suddenly while they were talking; almost as if he had a sixth sense for news…
"You really can't swim Kisuke?!" said Takeshi excitedly.
"WHA! Takeshi, don't do that!" said Kisuke in surprise.
"So is it true?"
"IS IT REALLY YOUR BUSINESS?!" growled Kisuke in an evil tone.
"Geez, Kisuke, you don't have to be so grouchy! It was a simple question!" said Takeshi annoyed.
"Takeshi, what are you doing here anyway?" asked Daisuke, changing the subject.
"This is a public beach isn't it?" snorted Takeshi. (He was in a bad mood after Kisuke's reaction.)
"I have an idea. Why don't you join us, Takeshi?" said Emiko.
"Really? I'd love to!" said Takeshi, his mood suddenly improved.
After lunch, Takeshi went in search of something more interesting to report on…
"Now that that's over, why don't we get started on swimming Kisuke?" asked Emiko.
"We might as well…" mumbled Kisuke.
It took over an hour before he finally got the hang of swimming. (Or should I say 'dog paddling!) Daisuke was still worried as 'dog paddling' wouldn't cut it for the swim test. Kisuke wore himself out, and the sun went down before he started to get what might actually qualify as swimming. Emiko told them that they'd continue tomorrow in the morning.
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That night after dinner, Emiko raised her suspicions on why Kisuke didn't know how to swim.
"Kisuke, is it possible that your fear of water is holding you back?" she said finally."Most likely. Why do you ask?" he said.
"Because if we can find out why you're so afraid of water, then maybe you won't have so much trouble with swimming," Emiko answered.
"How can we do that? I don't even remember my name, let alone anything about my past!"
"Emiko, you aren't seriously considering about using that spell!" said the grandfather.
"We have any choice if Kisuke wants to learn how to swim."
"But it may wipe out all of his memories instead of helping!" retorted the grandfather.
"Not if we do it right. Instead of having him face this alone, we'll be there by him to keep him safe."
"And what will you do if we all get lost in his mind?!" said the grandfather angrily.
"Fine. One of us will remain outside while the other helps him."
"Now that I'll agree to…"
And so, Emiko and Kisuke went on a journey to find the root of Kisuke's fear. But what will they uncover instead?