Guess who's back, back again.
Hi, again! Hope you still remember me! I was out of the country for three months, working in the USA since December, the best three months of my life, but since I was kind of busy and out of it, I didn't upload or even write anything in those three months. I returned some weeks ago, and just today I finally sat down to finish writing this chapter, that's been sitting in my computer for a long time. It's not the best because I was out of practice, but I promise I'll recover the rhythm little by little. Hope you are still with me here!
"You did what?" Makoto questioned the next day, standing by the Iwatobi Swim Club indoor pool with Haru, Nagisa and Rei. Nagisa had just finished telling them about the talk they had with Nathan during the tournament. Rosalya and Gou weren't there yet "Isn't that kind of rude?"
"I really wanted to know" Nagisa replied, not denying or affirming his accusation.
"It was all for nothing, though" Rei commented, folding his arms "We didn't get much of an answer"
"I wouldn't push so much for one either" the olive haired admitted "Rosa'll tell us when she wants to tell us"
"But what if she doesn't?" Nagisa asked "What if she suddenly stops showing up to practice, or hanging out with us because she's with her boyfriend?"
"She could get distracted, that's true" Rei agreed.
"See? I'm not the only who thinks it!" the younger boy said fervently, and then an even more terrible thought occurred to him "What if she leaves the team?"
"She wouldn't do that" Mako stated, but then doubt settled in his mind "Would she?"
"Nobody is leaving the team" Haru, who until then had been standing by the sidelines listening quietly, spoke up "You are making too much of a big deal out of this, it's not that serious"
"I guess you're right" Makoto replied, Haru's words calming him down slightly "We should just focus on warming up for now, and wait for Rosa and Gou to show up to being practice"
"They should be here by now" Rei asked, the set time for practice was about to hit, and none of the girls ever arrived late. Especially Rosalya
"You think Rosa's with her boyfriend?" Nagisa asked, much to everyone's annoyance.
"Let it go already" Makoto said tiredly "They're probably on their way"
"Hey guys!" just on cue, Gou's voice came from the entrance, and all four of them turned around to find her and Rosa approaching them.
"Sorry for the delay" the black haired said with an apologetic smile "I was talking with Miss A about graduation" she explained. Orientations were beginning for every third year, so the school and the counselors could help them decided what they wanted to do with their futures.
"We bought some snacks on the way here" Gou added, showing them a plastic bag with all types of food and drinks. Everything healthy, of course "Did we miss anything?"
"Nothing to worry about" Makoto said in assurance, he obviously was not going to tell Rosa that Nagisa and Rei had been trying to dig up information on her personal life.
"The best part about being inside is that you don't have to worry about getting sunburned!" Rosa heard Miss A comment as she finished one of her several laps.
"You wouldn't be working on your tan right now anyway" Gou stated, holding a clipboard and a timer. Rosa had to agree with that, there was still a long way to go before summer.
"We're only going to be here until the weather turns though" Rosa replied, sliding her goggles up "But the fact that we're practicing so early will definitely help us make it to regionals"
"And after we win nationals, we will be so famous, everyone will be running all over to join!" Nagisa said, and he was right. Their attempts to recruit new people hadn't been very successful, which was expected since they hadn't actually accomplished much as a team yet, races wise. That was definitely something people were interested in "You know what?" he added, an idea occurring to him as he turned to look at Mako and Haru "I think Makoto and Haru should work here after they graduate"
"Woah, woah!" Coach Sasabe, who had been witnessing the practice until then, spoke up sternly "I didn't rebuild this place to get freeloaders a meal ticket" Makoto chuckled slightly.
"Haru could cook mackerel for all the members" Rosalya commented jokingly "And Makoto could be the advertisement model" said boy went as red as a cherry when he heard that "Afterall, he has great trapezes" she teased, remembering their unsuccessful show to recruit people. Rosalya had never seen Makoto so embarrassed before until that day.
"That's not very likely" he replied with a nervous smile.
"What's this?" they heard Rei's voice, and turned around to find him staring at a poster on the wall.
"Ah, I had someone cook a dozen or so out of this for the grand opening" Coach Sasabe replied, showing them another copy of the poster "Neat, huh?" Rosalya got off the pool to get a closer look at them, as did everyone else "Make yourselves useful, and distribute them"
"Splashu fes?" Makoto read in confusion.
"What is that supposed to say?" Rei asked.
"Is it like a cultural festival or something?" Gou asked, and Coach snickered slightly.
"There will be lots of fun things going on here, you'll see"
"Like what?" Rosa questioned curiously.
"Well, to kick things off, a kick board race for kids who can't swim, followed by a contest of who can hold their breaths underwater the longest. Then, samurai squid style swimming!"
"Squid style what?"
"I've heard of that!" Nagisa exclaimed, earning him more than a few confused glances "It's a special technique soldiers used during the Sengoku period to cross rivers in full armor"
"That's actually a great idea" Rosalya commented "You came up with all of these, Coach?"
"You bet I did"
"But where are we gonna get the costumes?" Rei asked, still not convinced about the whole thing.
"There's a big hole in the schedule for the main event" Sasabe replied, ignoring his question "But I'm open to any ideas you might have"
"It's gotta be epic!" the orange haired exclaimed "I'm sure we can come up with something!" he added, looking at his team.
"Miss Amakata, I feel bad for asking, but would you mind helping us out a little, if you could spare the time…" he said blushing slightly, but the woman's glare gave him all the answer he needed. If Rosa imagined it hard enough, she could picture her drilling holes in Coach Sasabe's head. She was really scary when she got angry. That's why Rosa never mentioned to her that she knew about her past as a swimsuit model, which she still found hilarious.
"I'm a tad busy at the moment" she replied, smiling innocently, a complete contrast to her deadly glare.
Once practice was over, the six of them went around the town hanging up the posters Sasabe gave them. Rosa had seen many people who seemed interested in it, which was great. She wanted the grand opening to be as successful as possible.
And when they were done, they sat by the pavement for a little bit.
"We still need to come up with ideas for the main event" Nagisa spoke up "Any ideas?"
"A competition to see who does the best butterfly!" Rei suggested "We can call it, Butterfly of Beauty!"
"That wouldn't even be a competition, Rosa would pulverize everyone" Nagisa commented, and everyone agreed with that.
"A muscle competition would be very cool" Gou said dreamily, already imagining all the muscles she could see.
"Why doesn't it surprise me?" Rosa said with a chuckle.
"You're pretty quiet" Makoto observed, turning to look at Haru "Any ideas floating around in there?" he added, and all eyes turned to look at him curiously.
"We could do a relay" he said after a few seconds of silence, and it sounded like a great idea.
"That's a fantastic idea!" Rei voiced everyone's thoughts.
"People would lose their minds!" Nagisa exclaimed, already getting pumped up.
"And you could still get some practice in" Rosalya added, they could never get enough of that. Especially if they wanted to get far.
"It will give everyone a taste of how we'll kill it at regionals!" Gou said determined.
"True!" Makoto agreed "We need to find a team to race against though!"
"I'm sure we'll find something" Rosalya replied, before taking a look at her watch "Oh, I gotta go, guys" she announced, standing up as everyone turned to look at her curiously "I have to meet someone"
"Now?" Rei asked with a frown "It's almost 7"
"Yeah, I know!" she nodded, dusting off her clothes and picking her bag up from the pavement "I need to shower, and then I'm having dinner" she explained "I'll see you tomorrow!" she said with a small wave "Do tell me once you find a team!" she added as she walked off, before disappearing around the corner.
"Why did I let you drag me into this?" Rei questioned, mostly to himself, as he reluctantly followed Nagisa down the street towards Rosalya's house.
"Don't you want to know who Rosalya is dating?" the orange haired questioned. And while Rei did want to know, this didn't seem like the best way to go about it.
"But following her seems a bit…" he began doubtfully.
"It'll be fine!" he assured, with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"We don't even know if the person she is meeting is even her boyfriend" the black haired commented.
"Look, there she is!" Nagisa ignored his words, as he pointed out to the wooden door, from where the girl was coming out dressed in a blue blouse and a pair of heels.
"She certainly dressed up well" Rei observed, placing a thoughtful finger underneath his chin.
"She is going that way, c'mon!" the other boy ushered as he followed Rosa's footsteps, sticking to the walls. Rei reluctantly followed him, though he had to admit he was curious as well. Rosalya usually told the four of them everything about her life, even when she was on her period. The first time they heard her openly talking about it, they were quite uncomfortable and taken back, but the girl didn't give much importance to it, claiming that the day the four of them got girlfriends they would have to take it into account.
So, it wasn't that she was shy, definitely not. There had to be another reason, and even though he was still convinced following her was a terrible idea, he wanted to find out what that reason was.
They kept silently walking for a while, turning and twisting in several corners, while trying not to be spotted. Until the girl finally came to a stop, in front of a cozy restaurant. There weren't many people around, probably because it was quite early to have dinner. But instead of going in, she just stood outside, occasionally looking to the sides. Waiting for someone definitely.
After around ten minutes, finally someone did show up, and the boys couldn't believe their eyes.
Nathan Lance was sitting by his desk at the Samezuka Academy bedroom, reading a chapter for the history lesson he would have on Monday, when his phone began ringing. It was 9 AM, really early for someone to be calling him on a Saturday. It could be Joy, but he doubted it, she had just finished a competition, she was probably out having dinner with her teammates.
The phone didn't stop ringing, so he pulled himself up from the chair and approached the bed where his phone laid, far away from him so he wouldn't get distracted.
If he thought someone calling him at 9 AM was weird, the person calling him made it even weirder.
"What did I do?" he asked, placing the phone against his ear.
"Huh?" he heard the familiar grumpy voice on the other side of the line, along with the noise of some cars passing by.
"Rin, you never talk to me, and when you do, you're usually growling" Nathan pointed out, leaning against his desk "So what did I do now?"
"You know about the party thing at the swim club?"
"Yeah, Rosa told me" Coach Sasabe was making a huge party to celebrate the reopening of the swimming club, called, apparently, 'Splashu fes', with the intention of replicating an english word. He appreciated the effort, even though Sasabe had never spoken a word of english in his life before.
"Sosuke, Nitori, Nakawaga and I were supposed to swim a relay against Haru and the others, but Nakawaga got detention at the last minute, so now we're short on a backstroke swimmer" Rin replied, and Nathan stayed quiet, waiting patiently for him to continue, he didn't know where this was going.
Rin cleared his voice, kind of uncomfortable and maybe a little bit annoyed.
"And since that's your specialty…" he left the phrase hanging in the air, clearly struggling to ask a direct question. So Nate did it for him.
"You want me to swim with you?"
"Don't make me repeat it" he complained, and Nathan tried to repress his laughter at the irony of that entire situation.
"You hated me yesterday and now you want to swim with me?" he said, not being able to hold back the mocking tone in his voice.
"Trust me, if there was someone else I would have picked them, but there's not" the maroon haired stated sternly "You're our last option"
Clearly, Nate thought.
"Okay, fine" this was certainly going to be interesting "What's the address?"
