Yukari was thrilled to come over and swim. I couldn't wait to get her caught up on everything that had happened. When I told her Ryuugazaki agreed to join the swim club, her face lit up in excitement—that meant we could compete.
"I can't wait to see you guys swim! It's gonna be so much fun!" she squealed, getting into the water.
"I guess," I sighed, "But I'm kind of nervous."
"About seeing Rin?" she asked.
"A bit, but more about competing again. It's been such a long time since I've raced," I said before I dove into the water.
"Don't worry! You'll be kicking ass in no time!" Yukari grinned, pumping her fist in the air. I felt a smile tugging on the corners of my lips; she was a great cheerleader already.
Our conversation was cut short, however, as my stepmom came in with some snacks—Haru, Makoto and Nagisa trailing behind her.
"What are you guys doing here?" I frowned.
Makoto cocked his head in confusion, glancing over at the blond boy next to him, "Nagisa said you invited us over."
Nagisa looked sheepish as he scratched the back of his neck, "Whoops. Well, we came all this way. No point in leaving now."
"It'll be fun!" Yukari clapped her hands together. She knew I was a little disappointed that we wouldn't be alone, but she tried to make the best of it. I haven't been able to spend as much time with her lately, so I was looking forward to it.
"Now I can actually get to know you all! Well, Riku's told me all about you guys, but I never got the chance to really meet you," she gave them a lopsided grin.
"Are you guys gonna stand here all day or actually swim?" I asked, pulling on my swim cap. Haru, who surprisingly wasn't already in the pool, ripped off his clothes and dove in. I shook my head; why he lives in his swimsuit is beyond me.
The others followed suit, diving in one after another.
In the end, it was a pretty fun afternoon. Yukari wanted to get a sneak peek of the boys' swimming styles, so she suggested a mini race. Haru, of course, didn't participate. He was off doing laps in his own lane. I had to stifle a giggle. Yukari was enamored—she couldn't take her eyes off him.
"I wish I joined a swim club when I was growing up," she pouted, "Then I could've swam in college."
"What are you going to school for?" Makoto asked.
"Fashion design. I love putting outfits together, especially for Riku," she nudged me with her shoulder.
Nagisa's eyes lit up at the mention of clothes, "You could help design our team uniforms!"
"That would be awesome! I could be your cheerleader and personal fashion designer."
Yukari looked like she was bursting with pride. I wouldn't complain about getting to spend more time with her.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We need to sign up for a competition first," Makoto interjected, always the practical one.
"Yeah. We should probably focus on teaching Ryuugazaki how to swim first. Once we get that settled, we can worry about uniforms," I agreed. Nagisa looked a little disappointed, but quickly bounced back and started to discuss color schemes that would go with Iwatobi's mascot.
.oOo.
Today was our first real practice as an official swim team! The fact that we could swim in the pool made it even better. Haru dove in before Kou could get a single word in. I stifled a laugh as I peered over Makoto and Ryuugazaki's shoulders at the training regimen Kou held in her hands.
"Front crawl is usually the default because it's the fastest," Makoto explained to a baffled Ryuugazaki.
"In comparison, the butterfly is hardly ever used. At least in freestyle," Nagisa said.
"One of the reasons I love it so much," I added, putting my hair up.
"This is a pretty solid training regimen. Did you make it yourself, Gou?" Nagisa asked.
"Would you stop calling me that already?" she let out a defeated sigh, " You know what, forget it. I found a list just like it when I was cleaning. I think it was my brother's old workout." I blanched at the mention of the older Matsuoka, diving into the water to avoid any further mention of him. Nagisa and Makoto stretched before getting into the water for warm ups. I noticed that Haru had gotten out of the water to look over the training regime, which brought my attention to Ryuugazaki—who was still stretching.
"Why are you still stretching, Rei?" Nagisa asked, wet feet padding across the pool deck.
"I just want to be as safe as possible," he said.
"You'll be fine. It's okay if you wanna take things slow," Makoto reassured him.
"Don't worry about me," he smiled, putting his hands on his hips. "It took all weekend, but I'm confident that I've mastered the theory. It's just a matter of putting it into practice," he climbed onto the starting block.
I never considered there being a theory to swimming. I always thought you just learned and worked hard to become a great swimmer.
It was at that moment Rei decided to dive into the pool. His form was beautiful, but he belly-flopped at the last second—just like before.
"Theory is great and all, but I think it might help if you learn how to swim first," Nagisa said as he resurfaced.
Makoto and Nagisa took it upon themselves to teach Ryuugazaki. I was more focused on my swimming—I knew they could handle it. If they needed my help, I would be more than happy to assist them. Maybe I could use this time to practice a different stroke.
.oOo.
During homeroom the next day, Nagisa waltzed in, dragging Ryuugazaki behind him. In his other hand he held some sort of magazine.
"Voilà!" Nagisa slapped the magazine down on Makoto's desk. When I took a closer look, I saw that it had uniforms on the cover.
"Yukari gave me the idea last night," Nagisa grinned, "To look for design ideas in this sports magazine!" I slapped a hand to my forehead. When did they exchange numbers?
"Well I like it, and it would definitely make us look more legitimate," Makoto stroked his chin in thought.
"Right? Yukari said style, design, and colors are important. This one would look great!" Nagisa pointed at a blue and white jacket. "The best part is that we can add our own designs as long as we include the school emblem."
My heart dropped. It seemed Ryuugazaki had the same sinking feeling.
"Not the Iwatobi mascot," he cringed.
"Yeah, that was the plan," Nagisa said.
"I was afraid you'd say that," Ryuugazaki sighed, putting a hand over his eyes.
Thank god I wasn't the only person on this team who hated the mascot.
"That would be awesome; like the shark and katana Samezuka has," Makoto said.
"I'd be down for that! I vote for a rockhopper penguin sporting a flame-flower and a top hat! What do you think, Haru-chan? Riku-chan?" Nagisa asked.
"That idea does not say Iwatobi Swim Club to me. We can come up with a better one," I said.
"A rockhopper penguin would be the perfect mascot for the swim team!" Nagisa argued as Haru began drawing. Before I could respond, Haru held up a drawing of little Iwatobi.
"It's beautiful," Ryuugazaki commented. Well, there went the one person who I could trust to agree with me.
"I can't wait to show Gou-chan!" Nagisa beamed just as the bell rang—it was almost time for class.
.oOo.
Kou told us we shouldn't worry about uniforms just yet; training was more important. Ryuugazaki only had one week to learn how to swim; and knowing Kou, she was completely serious about it. Nagisa and Makoto tried to teach him their respective specialties, but he sank every time.
.oOo.
Today we were holding a meeting at Haru's place. Now there were only five days left.
"The first "Find out why Rei-chan sucks at swimming" meeting is called to order. Any ideas?" Nagisa asked.
"The water doesn't like him," Haru said.
"It's very unfortunate," Nagisa nodded solemnly.
"That can't be the real reason," I rolled my eyes.
"Maybe he's just not athletic," Kou added, leaning in.
"But he runs like the wind; plus, he's a gold medal test taker," Nagisa said.
"So you've got a lot of brain power," Makoto said
"Do you like mackerel?" Haru asked.
"Low DHA?"
"Maybe his big brain is weighing him down."
"Maybe all of that studying has made him top heavy."
"It has nothing to do with that! It's obvious the problem was with my instructors. If I had a proper coach, I'd be lapping all of you by now!" Ryuugazaki cried, slamming his hands on the table.
"Coach? We have one of those," Makoto said.
I frowned. Coach? Since when did we have a coach?
"What?" I said.
"Coach Sasabe! I ran into him the other day. We can order a pizza and ask if he can coach us!" Makoto grabbed his phone to dial the pizza place.
As we waited for the pizza to arrive, Nagisa rattled off more reasons for Rei's inability to swim. My phone buzzed and I looked down. It was Yukari again.
Yukari: So, what color scheme did you guys go with?
Me: Kou said we need to worry about teaching Ryuugazaki to swim before we think about uniforms. We're actually meeting right now. Also, when did you and Nagisa exchange numbers?!
Yukari: Well, when you do, I have some ideas for a color scheme. At least you have some time before your first meet. And it was after we left your house the other day—he thought it'd be a good idea for someone else on the swim team to have my number so I can give my input if you're not around.
Me: Oh, that makes sense. Anyway, we only have five days left, but hopefully our old swim coach will be able to help
Yukari: Good luck! :)
That's when the doorbell rang. Coach Sasabe was here. My stomach started to rumble just at the thought of pizza. I grabbed a slice as soon as the box was set down. Coach Sasabe took his seat.
"Look I'm thrilled, but a sinking ship is a sinking ship. I'm not a miracle worker," he deadpanned.
"I'm far from a sinking ship; a more accurate analogy would be a submarine," Ryuugazaki pushed up his glasses.
"See, he's got five days left to learn. You're our last hope," Nagisa said between bites of pizza.
"Talk or chew, not both at once," he grimaced. "My schedule is packed as it is. So you'll have to fix this problem on your own. See ya!" Coach Sasabe waved as he walked out the door.
"Well we tried," I shrugged as Nagisa went for a third slice of pizza.
"I'm sure we'll find a solution before the end of the week," I was trying to be optimistic, but honestly, I had no idea how we could make this work.
"That's the spirit, Riku-chan!" Nagisa smiled through a mouthful of pizza.
"You're always positive," Makoto smiled.
I laughed, "Well, I try."
I was beginning to pack up my things when Rei came up to me.
"Since we're going to be teammates, you can address me as Rei," he said.
I tilted my head, smiling at him. "And you can call me Riku."
Then I turned to address the rest of the group. "I should get going; my mom's expecting me."
They waved as I headed out the door.
Now all we had to do was pray that Haru was wrong, and that the water didn't truly hate Rei.