She should have thought about this more.

As Anna stared at the plastic-wrapped horror by her feet in the change-room cubicle, she wondered why she hadn't realised this sooner. The reality was that, as a member of the swimming club, she would have to swim... which would involve the object of her nightmares, clinging to her, showing off all her gross parts.

A swimsuit.

Maybe she would have considered this when she'd signed up the week before if she wasn't so distracted by the other members. She was sure Gou had mentioned buying her a swimsuit at some stage. 'Something to match the others, that accentuates your superior glutes and strong upper thighs' may have been mentioned, but Mako was stretching at the time and you could guess what grabbed Anna's attention.

Anna unwrapped the plastic, wincing the entire time. This was one of her worst nightmares and she had walked right in to it. The swimsuit was a one piece, and while it wasn't a gross baywatch high-cut, it wasn't exactly a boy-leg Olympic style one, either. It was a regular bikini cut on the bottom, but that wasn't the part that had worried her. She climbed into it, gritting her teeth as she felt it cling to her skin, and as soon as it was on and she'd caught a glance at her reflection, she quickly pulled on her new swim club jacket, zipping it as high as she could.

Taking a deep breath, she ventured outside to the pool, one arm tight over her chest, grabbing her upper arm, nervously glancing around. She was tall, foreign and vastly outnumbered by boys whilst in a swimsuit. Her palms started to sweat when she realised she'd caught Mako's eye.

"Hey! You're one of the team now!" He laughed, causing the other's to come to attention. Nagisa instantly beamed, standing from his seat and clapping his hands together in celebration, while Rei sat rigidly, his face a little red. Was she making him uncomfortable? Oh god. There was something wrong. He thought she was gross. She tugged on the bottom of the jacket, hoping it would cover up a little more.

Gou gave a nod, a serious expression on her face – almost a little like a smirk, actually. Gou was planning something. "Okay!" She announced, pointing to the pool. "Freestyle! Two laps! I need to assess your technique."

Anna looked to Gou, then to the pool, giving a very meek nod before nervously stepping closer and closer to the edge. She paused when she came to the start block, turning back to look at the others. They were all watching. All of them. "Can I... Um..." Anna looked up to the sky, squinting and giving a laugh of anxiety. "You know what? The sun is really bright today! I don't know if that suncreen will be enough. I might just grab a t-shirt and-"

"No!" Gou interrupted. "Your swimsuit is streamlined, a loose t-shirt will slow you down!" The coach crossed her arms. "And anyway, that sunscreen I gave you was SPF +50. Your skin is going to be fine."

"But..." Nagisa added. "She is pale..."

"It won't even be ten minutes." Gou clapped her hands. "Come on! Let's go!"

Anna fidgeted with the zipper of the jacket. "Um... I just... really... don't... I uh..."

"Is something wrong?" Mako asked. "Did Gou buy the wrong swimsuit, maybe?"

"Oh, maybe that's why she doesn't want to take her jacket off," Nagisa mused. "Kou, why didn't you get one with legs like ours?"

"Because I don't want to restrict such powerful leg muscles," she replied, rolling her eyes, as though this was obvious to anyone but her. She frowned, putting her whistle to her lips and giving three short toots. "Come on!"

"I just..." Anna was bright red, now, shrugging away from potential eye contact. "I'm... everyone's looking at me and I..."

"What if we covered our eyes?" Nagisa suggested, Gou rolling her eyes.

"That's out of the question-"

"If it helps her to get in to the water," Mako interrupted, giving a smile as he raised his hands to cover his eyes, "I'm not looking! Promise."

Nagisa followed. "Me neither!"

Rei, on the other hand, instead settled to remove his glasses, folding them and placing them beside him on the bench. He closed his eyes and crossed his eyes, smiling to himself. "I can't see you from this distance without my glasses."

Uneasy, Anna looked to Gou now, who was the only one left – spare for Haru, who was doing continuous laps. She supposed he wouldn't be paying enough attention to notice her in a swimsuit, if he realised she was there at all. Gou gave a sigh, rolling her eyes and covering them with her hand in defeat. "Fine. But just this once!"

Glancing from person to person once more, Anna began to tug on her zipper, satisfied that no one was watching her now. She eyed the starting block. This would be like home. She used to swim so much there. Everyone swam at school during the summer, working towards the swimming carnival, nothing to worry about, not having to think about where she'd be moving next, or how different she looked, no words to remember or forget. Just her and the water and...

Splash.

Cold. Familiar. Welcoming. Silent. Submerged in the water she was isolated, clear of everything else, beyond reach. It had been a while, but it was good to remember how calming it was beneath the water. In all honesty, she could have stayed beneath the surface for much longer if she hadn't already started to rise, her arm reaching forward to begin it's stroke like an automatic reflex. She knew this. In a country that still didn't feel like home despite her best attempts, this felt as familiar as her favourite songs.

"Incredible..." Gou gasped, her eyes clear of her hands now that Anna was in the water – something they had all done as soon as they heard that splash. "The power..."

"Look at her go!" Nagisa exclaimed, his eyes wide. "Rei-chan! Look!" It wasn't clear if Nagisa was actually expecting a verbal response, but he didn't get one.

Anna touched the wall, water going up her nose as she attempted to flip beneath the water. She came to the surface, grabbing the edge, sputtering a little as she turned herself around. Okay. That was rusty. Gou made a mental note of this as she watched Anna launch herself back out into the water, swimming for the other side as Nagisa and Mako shouted encouragement at their new friend.

Giving a final gasp, Anna slapped her palm against the wall of the pool, her face covered in the hair that had freed itself from her ponytail. She was out of breath. God, it had been a while. She quickly ducked her face back under the water, using her free hand to push what she could out of her face, and when she returned to the surface she was greeted by two smiling faces.

"That was amazing!" Mako laughed, offering his hand to her to help her from the pool.

"You were so good!" Nagisa offered his hand next.

Anna smiled up at them. "Really?" She asked. "You aren't just saying that?"

"Your technique can be improved," Rei finally spoke, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose as he approached the group. "But the force and power of your kicks... it's truly beautiful." Anna found her cheeks turning a little hot at this, but she tried to pretend it was the sun by giving a squint.

"You're like our secret weapon!" Nagisa laughed as the two helped her climb out of the pool. God, they were even strong. Anna was way in over her head. "You really didn't have to be so self concious, Anna-chan, you had nothing to worry abou-"

All of a sudden, the group fell silent – at the exact time Anna stood upright. For a split second, she wasn't sure what had silenced them so quickly. And then she looked down, and her face began to burn. She was standing in front of them in nothing but her swimsuit, still dripping wet in the sun, shining away before them. She knew what they were staring at whilst pretending they weren't staring at it. She knew because all of a sudden Mako looked very uncomfortable, and Nagisa looked as though he were about to burst into giggles, and Rei... well, Rei's mouth was just kind of... hanging open.

"Oh wow!" Gou giggled. "So busty! The true ideal figure of a woman!" She handed Anna a towel, finding the entire thing humorous, apparently, and Anna was positive she was saying it to poke fun at her. Or maybe the guys. Or both. Probably both.

Anna snatched the towel from her, quickly holding it in front of herself as a shield. "T-that's not true!" She quickly wrapped the towel around herself before crossing her arms again. "I'm not... I mean... ideal is such a strong word... I... um... canwepleasenottalkaboutthis?"

"Anna's right. We... um..." Mako gave a cough, the redness slowly vanishing from his face as Nagisa stifled another giggle. "We should talk about your technique. Rei, what did you think?"

Rei squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head quickly as though trying to break out of a state. "Uh, I... um..." he took a moment, clearing his throat a few times, much to Anna's embarrassment, before once again pushing his glasses back up his nose. "I don't know enough about that stroke to... um..." Rei stopped himself. Whatever he felt in his throat was apparently stuck.

"Your arms are weak," a voice spoke from the pool. At the edge, Haru had stopped his laps, gaze on Anna. Oh god. He had been paying attention. "You're relying on your kicks."

"I did notice that," Mako agreed. "If you rely on your legs, you'll burn out quickly."

Suddenly, someone had grabbed her arm. Nagisa. Of course. He gripped up and down her biceps. "You're as skinny as I am!" He joked.

"Nagisa!" Rei cried, his face red once more.

As Gou lifted the bottom of Anna's towel and began to comment once more on the strength of her glutes, one thing became incredibly apparent: there were going to be a lot more red faces before the day was over.