A/N:Plz don't expect this many updates all the time, I just currently have no friends and like 1 hobby...help me plz
But its cool, I'll just write about Ikuya suffering to ignore my own problems
Also please don't swim with a broken rib, I've never broken a rib and don't swim a lot but I imagine it's not a good idea
Ikuya had returned at the end of lunch, ignoring the confused and concerned gazes of his friends as he sat in his seat, resting his head on the table before his ribs began to ache in protest once more due to the pain medication he had taken wearing off.
Their last lesson of the day dragged on for Ikuya, the dull pain from the many bruises on his body made it harder to focus, however, the bell eventually rang and he packed up his things. He noticed Haru, Makoto, and Asahi waiting for him and couldn't help feeling guilty as he remembered what had happened at lunch.
The four of them reached the pool and entered the changing rooms, getting ready as quickly as possible. Ikuya got ready however, he kept his jacket on after noticing how dark the bruise on his ribs was. He didn't tell the other's about his injuries and he'd rather keep it that way until after the relay.
"Ikuya, come on!" Asahi said, snapping Ikuya out of his thoughts as he realised Haru and Makoto had already left the changing rooms. He followed Asahi out and lined up with the rest of the swim club.
"Now we will start the practice tournament between Iwatobi and Sano middle school," A member of staff said as both teams stood by the poolside. They began the tournament with the hundred metre backstroke with everyone else cheering people on from the side of the pool. Natsuya was filled with nerves as he looked around frantically for Ikuya, not seeing the younger anywhere.
Upon finding him, Natsuya almost sighed with relief before remembering the task at hand and tensing up again slightly.
"Ikuya," He called out, gaining his brother's attention who simply looked at him, a confused expression plastered on his face. Natsuya gestured for Ikuya to follow him and headed out of earshot of other people. He gestured for Ikuya to sit down on a bench outside the changing rooms and took a seat himself a small distance away from his brother.
"I already know you're not going to be impressed by this but I have to stop you from swimming today..." Natsuya sighed, sensing the anger and...anxiety? that was radiating off his brother.
"No..." Ikuya mumbled, looking directly at the floor "No...I have to, please..."
"Ikuya...you've broken a rib, you swimming is just going to make it worse. That could mean you can't go to regionals," Natsuya tried to convince the younger, already knowing he was fighting a losing battle
"I can't...I can't let the others down by not doing the relay...This is what you wanted...You wanted us to do the relay...I have to..." Ikuya's eyes were already blurring with tears and he hated himself for it, not wanting to have a panic attack in front of his brother.
"They'll understand, you're not going to let them down," Natsuya sounded concerned now
"Please...Let me do the relay...I promise I won't do any swimming after that until my ribs are fine...Please..." Ikuya was begging now and Natsuya tried to ignore how strained his brother's voice was, as if he was struggling to breathe.
At that moment, Natsuya wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms tightly around Ikuya and protect him from anything and everything, however, he couldn't. He had fucked up and this was what he deserved for it.
"...Ikuya..." Natsuya tried to ignore the small sniffles coming from next to him "I'll make you a deal if you promise me that you'll be extremely careful and that you'll stop if you're in more pain than usual then you can take part in the relay. But just the relay, forget about your individual event, okay?"
Ikuya seemed to hold his breath as he sat, hiding his face from Natsuya still. He gave a small nod which Natsuya didn't see and so he said a small "Okay..."
"Ikuya, I also wanted to apologise..." Natsuya was cut off by Ikuya standing up abruptly before saying a sharp
"Don't. I'm fine, there's nothing to apologise for..."
"Ikuya..." Natsuya tried to gain his brother's attention, gently grabbing his arm and turning him towards him seeing as Ikuya didn't even register him. Ikuya jerked his arm away violently before seeing the look of hurt that flashed across Natsuya's face.
"I'm sorry..." Ikuya mumbled before leaving. Natsuya stood dumbstruck, a million thoughts running through his head.
"Natsuya..." Nao's soft voice cut his thoughts short as he snapped his head up to meet his friend's gaze "You told him?" Natsuya nodded and Nao smiled sympathetically before saying;
"It will get better...But he needs to want things to get better first...As soon as he realises that nothing is getting better the way he is, he'll need help, from his friends, from me, from you especially,"
"He's taking part in the relay still, just not his individual events..." Natsuya confessed, gaining a confused look "He didn't want to let the others down...and said about how I wanted them to do the relay...He was nearly crying Nao, and I couldn't help him at all...I just want everything to be okay again, I want my little brother back..." At this point Natsuya had begun crying, Nao wrapping him in a hug, gently stroking his hand through the other's brown hair.
"Shhhh, I promised you, didn't I? That he'd be okay, that everything would work out. I can go and talk to him if you want?" Nao's voice comforted Natsuya and reassured him that Ikuya would be alright
"No...it's fine. I'm fine. We should get back to everyone else shouldn't we?" Natsuya roughly wiped his eyes as he and Nao made their way back to the poolside.
When they returned, the 100-metre butterfly race was happening and Natsuya relaxed slightly upon seeing Ikuya sat with the rest of the team, his eyes downcast as Makoto spoke to both him and Haru.
The 100-metre freestyle was about to begin and so Haru left, leaving Makoto and Ikuya.
"Are you alright Ikuya?" Makoto asked gently. The other just nodded in response and the conversation went quiet for a few minutes until Ikuya sighed quietly.
"I'm sorry, I should just be honest with you all about things, shouldn't I?" The smaller of the two said quietly.
"It might help you if you do but you don't have to...We shouldn't have forced you to tell us what happened before so I'm sorry." Makoto replied gently
Ikuya smiled slightly at this before turning to look at Makoto.
"You had every right to, You were all worried about me and me avoiding you all day didn't help at all," He paused for a minute before continuing "This...is the last time I'm going to be able to swim for a while..." He confessed, earning a surprised gasp from Makoto
"Why? What happened? are you okay?" Makoto sounded like a worried parent which made Ikuya smile a bit.
"I didn't mention it before but one of my injuries was a bit worse than I made out, I'm doing the relay today but then I'm not allowed to swim until I'm not injured," Ikuya explained fairly briefly, knowing that if he went into too much detail Makoto would try and talk him out of doing the relay.
"Are you sure you're okay to swim though? No one would be annoyed if you can't swim because of this, it wasn't your fault," Makoto tried to tell him.
"I'll be fine I promise,"
And with that, it was announced that they would be starting the relay in a couple of minutes. Makoto and Ikuya made their way over to where Haru and Asahi were stood. Ikuya gained a few weird looks from his teammates as he still had his jacket on however, he ignored them as Makoto got ready to swim, setting off immediately when the whistle blew.
Once Makoto reached the opposite end of the pol and turned around, Ikuya felt the anxiety bubbling up inside him. They were going to see and they were going to ask more questions...
There was no time for him to think about that though as Makoto was on his way back. He took a deep breath and shrugged his jacket off his shoulders, dropping it on the floor next to the pool before stepping up onto the diving block, getting ready to dive in.
He heard murmuring coming from the side of the pool where the rest of the Iwatobi team was and he heard Asahi and Haru quietly exchange words with each other but he didn't think about it, waiting for Makoto's hand to hit the wall before he dived in, feeling his ribs ache in protest already. He began swimming however, he couldn't go as fast as usual without the sharp pain in his ribs flaring up. He pushed on, reaching the end of the pool as Asahi dived in after him. He stopped to catch his breath before attempting to push himself out of the pool, however, the pain in his chest stopped him which didn't go unnoticed by Makoto who walked over, offering his hand to him to pull him out of the water.
"Thanks," ikuya said quietly whilst avoiding eye contact. He was caught off guard as he was gently pulled into Makoto's arms, the brunette mumbling something about him being stupid for swimming whilst injured.
It wasn't long before Ikuya felt another pair of arms join Makoto's before he saw Asahi staring at him wide-eyed
"What the hell happened to you?" Asahi's voice was loud and made Ikuya flinch slightly as he tried to think of how to answer without being lectured about how it was dangerous.
"I'll explain in a minute when Haru's here," Ikuya said quietly before shifting in discomfort."Can you please let go of me? I should probably take some more painkillers..."
The two let go of Ikuya as he grabbed his jacket again, pulling it on as he headed into the changing room to dig some tablets and a bottle of water out of his bag.
He headed out again and was immediately met with three curious and concerned gazes.
"Okay, practice is over, everyone go and get changed," Natsuya's voice called out.
Once everyone had gotten changed, the entire team met outside the school, Natsuya congratulating them for the day's races. He dismissed them before turning his attention to the four first years who still stood in front of him.
"How was the relay?" He asked. When he received no answer, he continued "I'm not going to judge today too harshly because you had an injured team member but your exchanges were still slow, you need to work on them more,"
Ikuya took in a deep breath, trying to calm his heart that was racing so loud he could practically hear it.
Even though I took part, I still let them down...great...
"You'll never beat Sano elementary with your exchanges that slow," Nao added
"But you all have skill, you just need to improve little things," Natsuya finished before waving and leaving with Nao. Once the four of them were alone, Asahi immediately looked to Ikuya and demanded
"Explain," Ikuya sighed for what seemed like the millionth time that day as he began talking
"When I ran away, the guy that attacked me managed to fracture a couple of my ribs. I shouldn't have been swimming today but I didn't want to let you all down, you all really wanted to do the relay,"
"Ikuya..." Asahi trailed off before remembering what he was going to say "Your health is more important than a relay, idiot,"
"Asahi's right, if we knew we wouldn't have let you swim," Makoto added "Come on, you need to go home and rest or they'll never heal,"
The four of them started walking in slightly tense silence, no one knowing what to say after the revelation from Ikuya. they reached the place where they all went their separate ways and all said goodbye before heading to their respective houses.
Ikuya returned home to an empty house which calmed him slightly.
At least I won't have to explain why I ran away yet...
He went straight to his room, closing the door behind him and lying down gently on his back.
He had no idea how much time passed but he heard the front door open, signaling the return of his brother, however, he made no move to go and say hi or welcome him home.
I would hate to be an inconvenience to him after all...
He thought back to the look of hurt that flashed on Natsuya's face earlier when Ikuya had flinched away from him and he couldn't help but be confused. Why did Natsuya suddenly seem to care about him? It made no sense in Ikuya's head, whether that was a result of the mild concussion which still lingered, he had no idea.
Before he knew it, it was late and his brother was knocking gently on the door, telling him that his dinner was ready. He honestly didn't think he could stomach food so he shouted
"I don't want any,"
Natsuya sighed gently, what was he going to do? Ikuya seemed to be incapable of forgiving him at this moment in time and it hurt Natsuya to think that Ikuya may never fully forgive him.
Ikuya looked down at the dark bruises littered all over his body, shivering at the memory from the other night.
I should have been able to protect myself...I'm pathetic...
These thoughts continued running through Ikuya's head as he fell into a restless sleep, regardless of the fact that it was still too early to go to bed. He tossed and turned in his sleep as is brain created horrific thoughts that made shivers run down his spine. He woke up with a gasp and a loud cry as he felt the stabbing pain in his ribs from moving around a lot in his sleep. He felt bile rising in his throat and rushed to the bathroom, emptying the little contents of his stomach as he whined in pain.
He wasn't sure how long he sat on the floor in the bathroom but light had begun to flood in through the open window, making him get up and head back to his room where he dug out more painkillers, taking them before he lay back down, staring at the ceiling as his thoughts ran wild.
If I can't swim, what's even the point in me going to the swim club? I might as well just quit...It would probably be doing everyone a favour...