a/n: This is the dumbest thing I've ever written, lol

Fictober Day 29: "I'm doing this for you."

This lake had to be the grossest thing Suguro had ever seen.

For one, the water was green. Green. Not blue. It was no-doubt infested with bacteria, and who knew what kind of nasty things were swimming in there. Aquatic demons? Regular fish? He didn't want to find out.

Except...

"Don't tell me," he said, giving Moriyama a deadpan look. "You dropped the talisman in there."

"How the hell did you drop the talisman in the lake?" Shima asked, eyes bugling.

Moriyama flinched, her cheeks growing pink. "I—I didn't mean to! I, um. I... You see, I..."

"Dropped the talisman in the lake," Kamiki finished for her, looking as annoyed as Suguro felt. "You do realize that we need it to complete this assignment, right?"

"We're doomed," Shima said dramatically, falling to his knees.

"I really didn't mean to," Moriyama said meekly. "I just... I tripped and..."

"It's ok, Moriyama-san," Konekomaru said, smiling softly. His eyes betrayed him; he looked uneasy. "We'll figure something out."

"Like what?" Shima moaned.

"I'll take full responsibility for my mistake," Moriyama said, nodding to herself, but her voice wobbled, which meant... oh, no. This girl was going to cry. It became even more evident when she continued, "I mean... th-they have to understand, right? Right?"

Nobody answered.

Moriyama sniffled.

"Wait, Shiemi," Okumura said suddenly. "Don't cry. Really. It's fine."

"It's not," Moriyama said, shaking her head. "I'm really sorry."

Suguro watched as her expression continued to crumble. And then, next to her, Okumura's face began to crumble. Like seeing her cry physically pained him.

"Shiemi," he repeated, one hand coming to rest on her shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll get it back. Oh, could you hold this for me?"

Suguro's eyes popped as he was handed Okumura's cell phone. "Oh, like hell you're—"

"I'm doing this for you, Shiemi," he declared and darted into the water.

Suguro backpedaled immediately to avoid getting splashed, and he wasn't the only one. Kamiki let out a disgusted huff. Even Moriyama looked stunned, her tears drying immediately as she stared at the lake in shock.

It took a while. Okumura came up several times for air before diving back under, and the cycle repeated for a long time. Suguro wasn't sure how much time had passed, but right when he was about to call out that it was useless and they'd just have to take a failing grade, he popped back out of the water again, this time holding the very charm one clumsy Moriyama had dropped into the lake.

"Holy shit," Shima said. "He actually found it. I thought we'd be here for hours."

Okumura swam back to the shore and finally walked out of the murky water, wiping his face. His tail twitched with agitation.

"Told you," he said, letting the magical object fall into Moriyama's open hands.

"Actually," Suguro said, snatching it away from her. "I'll hold onto it for now. No offense."

Moriyama looked down in shame. "I'm sorry you had to get all wet, Rin."

Okumura shook his head. "Don't worry about it. No more tears, 'k?" Then he was wringing out his shirt and tie, and Suguro took another instinctive step back. "Now... let's hurry up and finish this. I want to get a shower in before Yukio finds out about this."

"I want to shower just looking at you," Kamiki muttered.

Suguro sighed as they put some much-needed distance between them and the filthy lake. He couldn't believe he was thinking this, but he agreed with her.