Part II
Chapter 42
Minamo pointed to a name on the small dry-erase board that she held. "So, you want to put her in the 50 meter, then?"
Kagura thought to herself for a moment as she looked over the other contenders that were listed, the shade provided from the roof of the pool's coaching bench allowing her to view them without the bright sunlight interfering. "Yeah. From what I've seen, she doesn't got the stamina for a longer race...but she's pretty good at the shorter ones. Probably the best we got, actually."
Her coach nodded towards her, and then smiled widely as she put a mark by the girl in-question's name. "I'll go with your call, then, Kagura."
She returned the happy expression, feeling her chest swell with a touch of pride as her coach verified yet another one of her decisions for the team's competitive roster.
The two of them then returned their eyes to the school pool, watching the rest of the swim club conduct the exercises that Kagura had wanted them to perform on this hot Friday morning. There were now two weeks left before their big summer high school meet would begin, and so she and her old coach had been quite busy advising and preparing the students for the events that they would be participating in. And, while Kurosawa-sensei had been right there beside her, after her initial absence this past Monday, she had relegated most of the direction and duties to her former pupil, allowing her to effectively run most of the show by herself, as she saw fit.
Kagura took a drink from a bottle of water that was beside her and then resumed a joyful and animated discussion about the upcoming competition with her sensei. They had been conversing with each other almost non-stop throughout all the sessions so far, Kagura more than delighted to not only be working side-by-side with her beloved mentor, but to also have her complete trust in leading the swim team.
...maybe she's letting me run things so that, if we lose, it'll be my fault...ha...!
"There!" Minamo grinned, handing the board over to her. "All done now! Do you want to do the honors and announce the list after practice?"
She looked over at the woman with sheer eagerness. "S-sure! I'd be glad to, coach! Man, I-" Something on the far end of the pool caught her eye. "...aw, geez, coach, they're at it again."
Minamo looked over to what had gotten her assistant's attention, smiling sarcastically once she had spotted it. "Ah...it's all yours."
Kagura stood up, handling the megaphone that sat next to her legs on the cement, and began to shout in it. "You four, just sittin' there screwin' around!"
A handful of club members who were idly chatting by the side of the pool suddenly leaped up in surprise, staring right at her in shock.
"Get the hell in the water right now and don't stop doin' laps until I tell you to stop!"
Without a moment's hesitation, the lot of them dived in, furiously swimming into vacant lanes of the pool as they started to make their penance.
"Man..." Kagura shook her head in disgust as she sat back down, throwing her arms over her knees. "Now I know how you felt whenever we used to goof off, coach...like, seriously..."
Her sensei chuckled, leaning back casually as she watched her students fret about in the pool. "That's just how it is, Kagura. Some kids just don't take things as seriously as others. But those four didn't make the roster anyway, right? Go figure, huh?" She grinned again, her boisterous laughter causing a few club members to turn their heads over to the commotion.
Kagura put on a flaky smile, its usual flair mitigated by the awkward sensation that she was now once again experiencing in the presence of her sensei. As she had first noticed at the beginning of the week, there was this somewhat uneasy feeling that ran through her whenever her coach would begin to find humor in something, which seemed to be in almost any sort of topic now.
All the other kids are right. She's definitely not as...I dunno', stiff as she used to be...
She had tried her best to ignore the woman's newly acquired eccentricities, not wanting to sully her image in any sort of way, but that eerie tinge to her chuckles and snickers had been growing in strength as of late, making it harder and harder to do so. "Ha...yeah..."
"But, look at you! It looks like you've been yelling at kids for years! You're really good at it!"
She glanced over at the students that she had just reprimanded, becoming a little abashed. "Just copying your act, coach..."
Minamo snickered wildly, and then quieted down.
Kagura peered at her from out of the corner of her eyes, a bit shocked by how child-like that laugh had just been, and then dropped her voice low, making sure that any surrounding club members couldn't hear her. "Umm...hey, coach..."
Her sensei smiled brightly at her. "Yes?"
...are you on drugs? "Err...umm...things are still...going pretty well for you, huh?"
"What do you mean?"
"Ah...just seems like you're having a lot more fun than usual now."
"I'm always having fun out here, Kagura!"
She forced on another light smile. "Y-yeah, I know, but, uh...I remember you were tellin' me the other day...about how things were going really well for you lately, right?"
"...wait...did I tell you...?"
Kagura had to fight to keep her face from not showing real surprise then. It was subtle, but her coach's expression had just become solemn, this grave shadow suddenly crossing over it. "T-tell me what, coach...?"
The woman held that stone stare at her for just a moment, before it crumbled away into an exuberant grin once again. "Ah...oh! No, nothing. Umm...I'm sorry, I guess I forgot...what did I tell you, exactly?"
She recovered herself quickly from the abrupt change of demeanor that had just taken place before her, Kurosawa-sensei's personality beginning to rotate around like a carousel. "...oh...um, remember, on Monday? I said you looked like you were in a good mood, and then you told me that things were all going your way now, or something."
"...ah, right! Right! Yes, you're right, Kagura, things are still going really well! I'm..." Minamo paused, looking out at the pool as if she were searching for something, and then let her stare fall.
Kagura gazed at her coach with suspicion as silence interrupted their dialogue. What she had thought was a normal, casual chat to engage in was quickly becoming somewhat of a surreal experience for her now. A few times earlier this week, her coach had performed this same roulette of emotional states, something that was quite uncanny for someone of her stoic nature to do so. But on this occasion, however, the peculiarity of it was reaching a whole new level, the changes much more abrupt and sharper than before. "Oh...well, that's...uh, good to hear. I was...just asking because you seem to be pretty happy st-"
"I think we know each other fairly well, right, Kagura...?"
It took her a second to respond, unsure of where that question had come from, noting that the woman was now also attempting to keep her voice low. "Um, yeah...I guess so, coach. Why?"
"...well..." Minamo spoke slowly, breaking into a smile, then out of one, then back into another one. "I...can you keep a secret?"
"...uh, sure, coach. What is it?"
Minamo leaned her head in close, whispering now. "If I seem...like I'm in a good mood, it's really because...because I might...I might have met someone..."
"'Met someone'...? Oh! You mean...ahh..." Kagura grinned, a few chuckles coming out from her as everything began to finally make sense. Man, that first year was dead on. "You mean you're going out with someone, coach?"
"Ah..." Her coach's words became even quieter. "N-not...going out, yet. Just...you know...having some fun together, for now..."
"Oh, ok. Ha! So, coach, you're in love, aren't ya'? That's what's been going on!"
Minamo nodded her head slowly. "I guess so. I didn't really realize...how much it showed. But...yes, that's why. I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier...I just...didn't want it...to get around, if someone heard about it, I mean...because...it's embarrassing...a little..."
"...um, hey, no problem! Well...I guess you guys must be gettin' along good, right? I mean, you seem stoked about everything nowadays..."
"...yeah, you could say that. I..." Minamo rubbed her hands together with some obvious nervousness, and then took a deep breath. "...I...have a big weekend planned ahead. I...might...tell...th-this person, how I feel, I guess..."
"Gonna' confess, you mean?"
Her sensei nodded.
"Awright', coach!" Kagura gave the woman a slap on the back, shying away from her actions as she drew some attention towards themselves. "Oops...uh, so, anyway! There's no way anyone could ever turn down someone as cool as you, coach! You're totally gonna' land him!"
Minamo pressed her lips together, appearing as if she wanted to say something.
"...coach?"
Her response was subdued in tone. "...ah...yeah. I think...it will go well, thank you."
...ok, that wasn't the reaction I was expecting. "...s-sure. But, yeah, best of luck to ya' coach! You totally gotta' let me know how it all turns out on Monday."
Another long pause, Minamo seemingly reflecting over something as she watched the students in the pool. "I'll...think...about it..."
"...sorry, didn't hear you. What?"
"...ah...nothing."
Kagura leaned back on the bench, becoming quite lost as to how to properly participate in this awkward conversation, Kurosawa-sensei not uttering a word now.
Maybe...she's just nervous about it all? Guess that would explain it. Yeah...probably nerves. She's kinda' been on edge at the same time as being super happy, so...
Those threads of anxiousness that had been weaved between her coach's mirthfulness all week were now becoming understandable to Kagura. If the woman had been excited about a blossoming relationship that she was in, but of which was now coming to a point at where it could possibly go in an ill direction, then it was no wonder that her behavior was quite erratic lately. Kurosawa-sensei hadn't had the best of luck in finding a steady partner, at least by what Kagura had heard, and so, more than likely, she was banking pretty heavily on this one succeeding.
Poor coach...
"I'm glad...that I could tell someone about this, Kagura."
Her thoughts were halted by the woman's voice. 'Tell someone'? Is it really that big of a deal to talk to someone about this sorta' stuff? "Oh...well, yeah, coach. I'm always hear to listen to ya'. And don't worry! I won't tell the kids or anyone about it."
"Th-thanks..." Minamo put a hand on a forearm, grasping it as it rested on her lap. "I just...don't like rumors...about myself."
"No one does, right?"
"Right...but...I also, wanted to tell someone. I feel...better, I guess." Minamo turned her head towards her, looking satisfied with something.
"Oh...err, you were feeling bad?" Kagura chuckled. "I couldn't tel-..."
"I've never really told anyone before."
"...about...what? This guy you met?"
Minamo shook her head, saying nothing, and then looked back ahead of her.
Kagura just watched her, waiting for her to say something, frowning when nothing came.
What the hell?
In her head, she went through all the different versions of her coach that she had just witnessed. A giddy teenager one, a melancholy one, a serious one, and now, this sort of wispy character that she couldn't really get a feel for, as if Kurosawa-sensei's attention span was constantly widening and narrowing.
...do you just get like this when you really like someone? Damn, it's creepy, man. "Umm, so, coach...you haven't told your friends or anyone about this yet?"
Minamo spoke cautiously. "About what...?"
"...the guy you've been seeing..."
The woman snapped out of some daze she was in. "Oh...! No...no. No one."
"...ok. Well, what about Yukari? Figured she'd know somehow even if you tried to hide it...I swear, like, she knew everyone's social life in our class, like she was some kinda' stalker! That lady is nuts."
Another long, uncomfortable pause came in the dialogue. "She'll know soon."
Kagura furrowed her brow, that nostalgic, somewhat depressed persona back with her coach. "...ah, well...maybe it's better if she doesn't know, right? She seems like the jealous type, like, she'd totally try to get in the way and stuff, yeah?" She laughed, trying to get her sensei to join in, but stopped when the efforts weren't producing any fruit.
...ok, I give up. I don't get this.
She sighed, not at all knowing how to converse in this sort of situation, and began to resign herself to simply making herself more comfortable on the bench.
"Jealous type!"
Kagura's body jolted from the sudden, endless laughter that was now emanating from next to her. "...crap, coach...!"
Minamo giggled with delight, her murky mood expelled from her as that uncanny, youthful charisma returned. "Oh my...I'm sorry! That was so funny...I'm sorry, I'm...I've just got a lot on my mind. I didn't mean to ignore you!"
She settled herself back down, just gawking at her coach stupidly. "...it's...ok...?"
"Yukari really is a jealous person. You're right! But don't you think that's sort of what makes her interesting, Kagura?"
"...huh?"
"Because she's so crazy, I mean!" The glee was flowing out from her now. "Everything about her is just so hilarious! Have...have you ever seen her get jealous about other people before? I'm sure you have! She makes the most adorable face when she is. It's sort of an angry one, but also kind of clownish', you know?"
"...uhh..."
Minamo stood up then, stretching herself in the sun. "She's always been like that. She'll never change, but I don't want her to. She's fine just like that!" She looked over towards the pool. "Ok, now...Kagura, I'm going to take a dip with everyone for a bit. It's getting so hot now!"
As the woman ran off, all Kagura could do was just sit there stunned, watching her coach jump into the water. A flock of students then surrounded her as they all began to laugh and converse together, their favorite instructor now joining them in their exercises.
...ok...
She began to scratch her head, wondering what in the world had just happened, of how completely fluid her old sensei's emotional state was now, of how absolutely ditzy she had just become.
...yeah, hell with it, man. I am never fallin' in love. Noooooo thanks!