A/N: I wanna say thank you to my wonderful beta reader ImortalSpuffy202 once again! They are so awesome and I don't know what I'd do without them! :)
The plan for today was to tell the rest of the team about the joint practice. I'd let Kou handle it—she did most of the talking anyway.
When I got to the pool, Kou was standing at the gate, "I've got some amazing news! Are you ready?" she leaned forward, eyes filled with excitement, "Riku and I were able to schedule a joint practice with Samezuka!"
"It was all Kou's doing. I just went for moral support," I shrugged, tucking a stray lock of hair behind my ear.
"For real?" Nagisa beamed.
"How'd you convince Rin?" Makoto asked, turning to Kou.
"It's no surprise Rin didn't want to listen to his little sister, so I went directly to the captain."
"You're the best Gou!" Nagisa cried.
"It's Kou," she grumbled, crossing her arms.
"Now we've got the green light to swim in Samezuka's indoor pool. We don't have to wait until summer anymore," Makoto said.
I sighed; this wouldn't be easy. "There is a catch—since it's an official practice, we do need five members. Otherwise we can't swim."
"Which means we have to find another member before practice tomorrow. We gotta make this happen. Kou did some serious flirting for this opportunity," Nagisa clenched his fist in what I assumed was a motivational gesture. I shook my head; this wouldn't go over well.
"I wasn't flirting!" she said.
"What? You weren't?" Nagisa teased, smirking.
"She really wasn't," I said.
"Does that mean you flirted for us?" Nagisa stroked his chin in mock thought.
"No! Stop making things up!"
Makoto interjected, always one to keep the peace, "Why don't we start practice now. We can prepare for tomorrow."
I headed to the locker room without a word, avoiding any further conflict with Nagisa. He's one of my closest friends, but he always knew how to push my buttons. We made idle chatter, and I ended up mentioning the free theme park tickets my father had given me the other night.
When practice was over, I walked home with Haru and Makoto. We stopped at Makoto's house first. Haru decided to follow us up the steps as the twins came bursting through the door.
"Riku!" they cried, not bothering to greet their brother—or Haru, for that matter. They ran up to hug me, almost knocking me over.
"You guys have to be more careful," Makoto chided.
"Hey guys!" I giggled, squeezing them gently.
"Is your pool still broken? I wanna have a race!" Ran asked as I released them.
"Me too!" Ren added.
"Sorry you two," I said, "Still broken. But I hope it won't be too long—I bet my mom would love having you over once it's fixed. You can help out when we practice."
Ren grinned, "That would be awesome!"
"Will she make us snacks?" Ran asked.
"Of course!" I smiled, ruffling her hair. Then I straightened up, "I have to get going, but I'll stop by again soon!"
"Can't you stay for dinner?" Ran whined.
"Next time. Promise," I reassured them. Looking up, I turned to Haru and Makoto, waving, "I'll see you guys tomorrow."
Setting off towards home, I wondered how we could find another member before tomorrow afternoon. Well, we'd figure out something.
.oOo.
Nagisa was panting; bent over; hands gripping his knees. Haru, Makoto and I stood watching as he tried to catch his breath.
"Did you miss the train?" I asked.
Nagisa didn't answer. "Hey Mako-chan, Riku-chan, Haru-chan," he wheezed. He looked over our shoulders. I turned. There was a blue-haired boy approaching us. It was Ryuugazaki.
"Oh, hey Rei-chan!" Nagisa waved, smiling.
"Should I assume that you are his little buddy, Haru-chan?" Ryuugazaki addressed Haruka.
"No, you shouldn't. I'm no one's little buddy," Haru gave him a cold glare.
"Is everything alright?" Nagisa asked, oblivious to the tension he's created.
Rei sighed, adjusting his glasses, "I'm willing to participate in your joint practice as a trial member. If you're still interested, that is."
I blinked. I was surprised that he was willing to participate even though he was on the track team.
"Wait, really?" Nagisa looked shocked but delighted.
"But only on one condition," Ryuugazaki pushed up his glasses again. "I won't do any swimming."
My brows furrowed. That was strange. Why would he agree to be a trial member if he didn't want to swim? Makoto looked confused as well, but I figured I could ask him about it later.
It's great that we'd be able to participate in a joint practice. I refused to think of what could go wrong right now; I just tried to stay positive.
.oOo.
When Haru, Makoto and I got to class, I turned to the olive-haired boy, "Do you think it's weird that Ryuugazaki doesn't wanna swim?"
"Kind of," Makoto said. "But maybe he just wants to see what really goes on at a joint practice."
"Or it's because the water doesn't like him," Haru added.
"I doubt that's the reason," Makoto sighed.
"Well, hopefully he'll join. I'm so excited to swim again! Maybe we can sign up for a summer tournament if he does," I grinned.
.oOo.
Mom sent me a text wishing me good luck at practice today. Yukari texted me as well, but she planned on being my moral support when I could answer the phone. I glanced at the hulking brick buildings surrounding us as we entered Samezuka Academy. This was the third time I'd been here in the past month, and that was way more than necessary. But at least I could focus on practice now.
The moment I stepped into the pool, I felt all eyes on me—the boys didn't look too happy. Captain Mikoshiba probably told everyone I'd be participating along with Haru, Makoto, and Nagisa.
I stood there, wait for instructions as a grey-haired boy came over to me. "I'll show you where you can change," he said, ushering me after him.
It was quiet as we walked, so I decided to break the silence, "I'm Riku Matsumura. You?"
"Aiichiro Nitori."
He then pointed to the door we had reached, "You can go in here."
"Thanks," I slung my towel over my shoulder and went inside, bowing to the boy—Nitori—who smiled nervously, and trotted back to the deck.
When I returned to the pool, Haru and Makoto were stretching, already in their jammers.
"It's been a while, huh?" Makoto said.
"Yeah," said Haru.
"I can't wait," I said, smiling as I bent down to touch my toes. I stretched for only a few minutes before Captain Mikoshiba made his way over to us.
"Hey thanks for coming out guys!" he grinned, waving at us. We bowed, thanking him for the practice. I stopped listening as soon as he began talking to (more so at) Haru about something water-related; my eyes immediately found the other red-haired Matsuoka as he sauntered into the room, snapping his goggles on his swim cap with a loud crack. Kou looked up at the familiar sound, and she skipped over to him, Nagisa not far behind.
"Gou, what were you thinking?! Bringing these guys here?" Rin said, glaring at her.
"Hey Rin! After all this time, we finally get to swim together again!" Nagisa beamed, either not noticing or not caring about the tension in the air.
"Swim together?" he looked disgusted. "This is a complete waste of time," he growled, turning around and waltzing right back out the door.
"Asshole," I muttered.
"What's up with him?" Rei whispered to Nagisa. Nagisa gave him a sheepish smile, shrugging instead of giving him a solid answer.
After Rin left, Mikoshiba told us we were going to be swimming against the first years. We'd start with individual time trials. Rei ended up being pushed into the locker room and forced into a speedo after Nagisa lied about him forgetting his swimsuit.
Makoto was going first, followed by me, Nagisa, and Haru. The guy I was swimming against didn't look very happy about it.
"You don't belong here," he snarled.
"Scared to lose to a girl?" I raised an eyebrow at him, pulling on my swim cap as I stepped onto the starting block. The match was over in a minute. Even though I was a little rusty, I still finished first. My smile was smug as I passed him, going to sit with the others. Nagisa was up next and when he was finished, it was Ryuugazaki's turn. He had no choice but to participate at this point. I watched intently as he readied himself. He really did have great form. But that only lasted until he dove. The start was gorgeous, but he flattened out in midair, hitting the water face-first. When he didn't resurface, Haru jumped it to pull him out.
He sat slumped against the wall, embarrassed. I guess that's why he didn't insisted on staying out of the pool. It's not because he was being petty, but because, well…he couldn't swim.
Though when Haru dove into the water, Ryuugazaki's face lit up in shock and awe. Haru definitely had a certain effect on people when he was in the water. I smiled. Maybe Haru could help.
Makoto nudged me with his shoulder, "Ren and Ran couldn't stop saying how excited they were to come over again."
I looked up at him, "I'm glad! How 'bout you guys stop by after practice? If I tell my mom, I'm sure she'll send you guys home with some snacks."
"Ren and Ran would love that," he smiled. I returned the gesture, grabbing my phone to send a quick text to my mom.
"That's another reason to join!" Nagisa said, turning to Ryuugazaki, "If you do, that means you can come over to Riku-chan's place for practice. Her mom makes the best snacks!"
"That's hardly a reason to join," I rolled my eyes as I stood up.
Practice had gone by really fast, and it was already time to leave. I smirked at the defeated looks on some of the first years' faces. It was immensely satisfying to prove that I could keep up with the guys. Nagisa slung an arm over my shoulder, pulling me towards the exit. Captain Mikoshiba waved at us, and I noticed Rin's glare from the corner of my eye.
"Let's go," I spoke through gritted teeth. If we were here a second longer, I didn't know if I could keep my cool, and I really didn't want to cause a scene.
Kou and Ryuugazaki both went home, and Makoto, Nagisa, Haru, and I went to my house. Nagisa couldn't contain his excitement, and it made me laugh a little. He was always so hyper when it came to food.
When we were walking up the walkway my step-mom opened the door with a bright smile, "It's so nice to see you all together again!"
"Hi Mrs. Matsumura," they said, letting themselves in.
"Ahh, it's just like old times!" Nagisa grinned as he took off his shoes.
"The heating system should be fixed by the weekend; so you guys can practice here when the weather is bad," she said.
"When did you find out?" I asked, surprised. I hadn't heard anything about this yet.
"I got a call just before you arrived." She pulled out a few bags of snacks for us. I took them, barely able to carry them all at once.
"That's so exciting! Haru-chan, you'll be able to swim whenever you want!" Nagisa clung to Haru. Said boy turned his head away, trying to seem indifferent, but I knew he was excited as well.
"I don't think Mrs. Matsumura would appreciate that," Makoto let out a small laugh.
"You boys are more than welcome to come over whenever you like. Just have Riku let me know ahead of time," she smiled, patting Makoto on the shoulder.
Nagisa's eyes brightened at her words. I'm glad she's always so kind, and loves that I have friends who are there for me.
"My mom's expecting me and Haru for dinner, so we should get going," Makoto said, nodding to the raven-haired boy. Nagisa whined but followed them, nonetheless. I showed them out before joining my mom back in the kitchen.
"How was the joint practice?"
"It went really well! I taught the first years not to mess with a girl," I smiled, pouring myself a glass of water.
"Doesn't Samezuka Academy have an all-boys swim team?"
"Yeah."
"So why did you guys set up a joint practice with them after you got in trouble for trespassing?" she asked.
My heart began to race as I stared into the fridge, trying to come up with some sort of answer.
"It was Kou's idea to set up the joint practice," I admitted, turning around.
"Kou? As in Kou Matsuoka?" I watched the confusion pool in her eyes.
"Yes…" I peered into the cup, "She's our manager, and she thought it would be a good idea to have a joint practice since Rin's on the Samezuka swim team."
"Rin's back from Australia? You should've told me sooner! We can invite them to dinner!" she beamed, but the smile dropped when she saw the look on my face. But it didn't take her long to piece it together.
"I hate him, mom. He's not the person he used to be."
"Okay, we won't have dinner then," she pulled me into a hug, "I wish you told me sooner, but I understand why you didn't. I'm sure there's a reason why he is the way he is, but don't worry about it. Focus on hanging out with your friends and running the swim club. I love you—you know that." She gave me one final squeeze before she went back to cooking.
"Can Yukari come over to swim this weekend?" I asked.
"Of course!" she grinned—probably glad something got my mind off Rin.
Then I headed up to my room to text Yukari with plan for the weekend. We had a lot to talk about.