I would guess it's been about 3 months since the swimming club last met at the pool. And a lot can change in 3 months, evidently. For one thing, I am now a second year. Another, moss had begun growing around the corners of the pool, but in a fit of foresight, Nagisa-kun rounded us up and had us clean it. For a third, a new transfer student joined the club. Well, I say new. He is new to the school, but not to the pool, nor the sport, nor the club. I can definitely say I did not predict even a remote possibility that Rin-san would transfer. I suppose that makes him Rin-senpai. I will have to adapt accordingly.
"Welcome to the Iwatobi Swim Club, Rin-senpai." No-one else seems to doing an official welcome, so I'm better than no-one. Possibly.
"You're welcoming me, Rei? In the least offensive sense possible, that's absolutely ridiculous. You're basically the replacement me for this club, you realise?" I gasp. He's so forward, or rather, offensive. Not like his sister at all.
"Well, excuse me for being good-mannered."
"I'm joking, mate. Chill." Rin-san (wait, it's Rin-senpai now) smiles and exposes his teeth. How on earth did he get them like that? Implants? Regular filing? That would hurt. And it would expose the inside of the teeth, and they would rot in fairly short order. They must be implants, or surgically modified somehow. Whatsoever for, I might never know. "Thanks."
That one word. Thanks. It's gruff, short and brash. But it's also sincere and meaningful. More meaningful than one would expect. I may done a big favour for Rin-san (-senpai) is giving up my relay place, but really, a thanks like that one seems to imply more, in theory. Particularly since, and I'm sure he realised this, I didn't give up the spot for him. I gave it up to him. There's a big difference. Haruka-senpai looked like he was also going to quit swimming. Makoto-senpai wasn't exactly happy. And Nagisa was all but crying. And when that guy's unhappy, you know things have gone seriously wrong. So either I didn't swim, or nobody did. It doesn't exactly take a theoretical genius to make that decision. And, without being conceited, I think I can be objectively called a theoretical genius. So, in theory, that thanks means more than thanks for letting me swim. Is there something I'm not noticing?
I discovered that's there's a female change room near the pool, just today. It's bizarre, actually. An entire year and I didn't even notice. But, I suppose that's the first time it's been touched in centuries. But, today, I have a little surprise planned for the boys. They must think I'm hydrophobic or something. I practically lived next to a pool for three months and never got in once. Well, that's about to change. I'm joining them for the day. Just for the day. It's not like I'm doing it to get close to them, or to show off my figure or anything. I'm not exactly built for a bikini, nor am I really built for my tight-fitting black one-piece. I'm not fat, not by a long shot. But I could be less fat. Couldn't we all? Well, not that lot. I don't think they know the meaning of fat.
A surprise for a surprise is the best description of the events that took place poolside. I came out in my black one-piece, and saw my brother there. Nagisa screamed in shock when he saw me and I screamed in shock at seeing Onii-chan. Well, I didn't really scream. I kind of gasped and made one of those really awkward faces that's best described as 'lolwut'. You know the ones. Then I went and hugged him, reflexively as much as anything else. "Hi there." My voice didn't really make it out clearly, because my face was buried in his chest. "Nice to see you." I straighten up after my little display of sibling affection. "So how long exactly have you been planning to transfer here?"
Onii-chan reaches his hand behind his head and gives a half-bred awkward laugh. "It's been on the cards for about three months. But it only got approved recently, and I only transferred today."
"And how the hell did you keep this a secret from me?"
"Well, I wanted to surprise you all. And, even if I told just you, I don't know how good you are at keeping secrets. So, I kept it totally on the down-low. Mum knows, because I kind of have to move back in with you guys. My luggage got sent home with a porter. I didn't even know Samezuka had those things. But, hell, it was convenient."
"Well, whatever. I think you're stupid. Why would you transfer here during third year? It's not like didn't know Haruka-senpai and the rest were here beforehand. Surely you could have just stuck with it for the year and met up again outside of school." I turn my back to him with an air of superiority.
"Well, some welcome from my little sister."
"Just because I think you're stupid, doesn't mean I'm not happy you're here." I twist at the hips so Onii-chan can see me smiling.
And now that I'm done 'greeting' Onii-chan, I notice Nagisa-kun is still pointing at me and shaking, like I'm some wacko demon spawn. "G-Gou-chan… you're wearing a swimsuit!"
"Very perceptive, Nagisa-kun. So are you." I couldn't resist at little dig at the guy. His vulnerability is part of his charm.
"Yeah, but I always do! Since when do you even swim?"
"Well, I've not exactly swum competitively before. But, seriously, the amount of swimming I've seen, I've got to know something. And it's not like I've never touched water. But I thought maybe just today, it'd be nice to welcome in the new season just having a little fun together."
Something's weird about Rei-kun today. Well, weirder than normal, anyway. As soon as I came out in the swimsuit, he started staring at me. And he's trying his best not to keep going, but it's not really working. I'm sure he's doing one of his little 'not beautiful at all rants' in his head. Really? Are we going there? I mightn't have the most stunning figure, but I'm sure he's seen worse. Oh, well. Whatever. Nagisa-kun seems to enjoy the view. I'm cool with that.
"Well? What we all waiting for? A formal invitation?" I said it. But it was a bit of a moot point. Haruka-senpai had been in the pool for like, ten minutes by now. "Whatever. Let's just get in." And I turn around, run a few steps and playfully dive into the pool, taking care to arch my back so that Nagisa-kun gets full view of all my assets. That's so unlike me. I hear Rei-kun muttering something. "Her entry angle was off by a full ten degrees…" He keeps going, but I shove my head back under the water so I don't hear the rest.
I can't believe Gou-chan got in the pool with us! Really, she's done up posters and been the ruler with an iron fist we needed from time to time, but I definitely didn't expect her to have this side to her. It's really sweet, actually. Who wants to go all-out training from day one? Just having some fun together is a good opening to the season. I feel like we'll be invincible this year. Rin-Rin's back, Gou-chan's opened up, or whatever you call it, and we're all that much closer.
But I'm still not as close as I would like with Rei-chan. As in, like, both meanings. I feel like there's some sort of wall between us. And he's out of it something terrible right now. I take a few strokes over to him and splash him. "Rei-chan? You in there?" I laugh loudly and take a few strokes backward, in case he decides to return the favour. But he doesn't seem to care much. He's staring off at something. I'm quite sure what, so I swim back over to him and stand next to him, and try to follow his line of sight. Haru-chan's doing laps like a madman. But Rei-chan's eyes aren't moving, so he's not looking there. Mako-chan and Rin-chan are just messing about with Gou-chan, splashing her then running (or, well, swimming I guess) away from her because they're, like, a thousand times faster. She gets frustrated and just does one of those big hit-the-water things, and makes a big splash. Not big enough to hit either of them, but big enough to let off some steam. She pulls herself up to the edge of the pool and just sits there pouting.
Actually, I have to admit, she's a fairly pretty girl. I've never really noticed. But's she's bustier than I thought, and her face is actually pretty nice. Wait, no way. I take another look at Rei-chan's line of sight, and trace it along. "No way… Rei-chan, are you ogling Gou-chan?" I say it softly enough that only he can hear me. He pulls up bullet straight out of nowhere and suddenly starts blushing.
"Not at all, Nagisa-kun! Why would you think that? She's not beautiful at all. Why would I look at her?" He seems distraught, so he pulls his goggles over his eyes and takes off on some laps of butterfly. I shake my head a little.
"You're not fooling anyone, Rei-chan." I say it to myself. I don't need anybody else to hear that. They wouldn't hear what I actually said anyway. I look over at Gou-chan. I guess we're rivals now. Well, perhaps not. It looks like she heard Rei-chan perfectly.
"I'm not beautiful at all, huh?" She turns her eyes down and her fringe hides them. Her face threatens tears, but no-one seems to notice. Haru-chan had just done a turn, so he was underwater. He mustn't have heard anything. And Rin-chan and Mako-chan are busy in some kind of mock tsunami war.
Shouldn't someone be comforting her here? Should I? We're rivals, though. Is this the kind of thing they do? Well, who cares? We're friends, too, and a she needs a smiling face right now. And my face is pretty much never not smiling. So I make my way over and pull myself out the pool and sit next to her.
"You know, Gou-chan. I think you're plenty beautiful."
She starts a little and looks up. There are a few stray tears at the edges of her eyes, but she seems happy enough. "Get out, Nagisa-kun. Like you mean that."
"I do! I really do!" I give my best 'serious about this' look. I don't know if it goes over well.
"Really?" Maybe. Maybe not.
"Yes!" A vehement nod, and a brief hug. "I don't think Rei-chan meant it either. Did you see the way he looked at you?" I do my best to stop my voice from catching on the last phrase, but it doesn't work so well.
"Thanks. It means a lot." Somehow, I get the feeling it means more than I think.
"Anytime, Gou-chan! Later!" I dive recklessly into the water, and fight my way over to where Mako-chan and Rin-chan are. "What do you think you're doing without me!?"