"IDIOTS!" The brown haired teacher exploded angrily, glaring at all of us as we were once again standing in front of him, receiving another lecture about our delinquent tendencies. I inwardly snorted. Not even a week of attending this school and I had already been in trouble twice. I wonder what Mum and Dad will say…
"Do you actually feel bad about what you've done?!" He demanded, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. No sensei, not really.
"Sorry." The guys and I sheepishly chorused in tandem, bowing to add to our kinda-true-but-not-really sincerity.
"First you trespass in an abandoned building, and now you trespass in another school's pool?!" He exclaimed before face-palming wearily. "Honestly, we're fortunate that they've agreed not to make a big deal out of this."
Well thank you karma! I knew all my relatively good deeds would come in handy one day!
"Now, now, I think that's enough." Ama-sensei chimed in, once again coming to our rescue. We looked at her gratefully –and by 'we', I mean us troublemakers.
"There's a famous saying that applies to this situation." She declared wisely, raising her index finger. I noticed that she had a fixture with memorizing quotes…Well, I suppose she kind of had to, given that she was a literature teacher.
Dramatically, our quote obsessed teacher placed an emphasizing hand on her chest and began, "In Ancient China, during the Shang Dynasty, Duke Tai of Qi would fish without any bait-"
"I hate fish." Our other teacher deadpanned, making me muffle an amused snort.
"Excuse me." Ama-sensei stated with a bow, clearly embarrassed.
I felt for her, I really did.
"Miss Ama-Chan wasn't much help." Nagisa pouted a little later after we had been dismissed (with a warning to never do anything so reckless again, though I doubted we would listen.), as we walked down the completely empty corridors so we could finally go home.
"Though I wonder how that fish saying goes…" Makoto mused thoughtfully, making me roll my eyes in exasperation. "Do you know Haru…?" But then as we turned to look, we finally noticed that said boy had completely disappeared.
"Huh?" Makoto uttered in disbelief. My eyes drifted in front of us, seeing Haruka long gone and already halfway off the school grounds. I blinked in surprise.
"He's over there." I pointed out, making them both cry out in surprise.
"When did that happen?" Makoto asked incredulously. Both Nagisa and I shrugged helplessly.
"Ah," Nagisa exclaimed suddenly. "Gou-chan!" He greeted as the familiar magenta haired girl approached us from another hallway. She frowned in visible annoyance at the way Nagisa pronounced her name. Personally, I still didn't see the problem with it. So what if it was masculine? "FEMALE POWER!" and all that jazz but whatever, I figured the girl had problems.
"I told you to call me Kou!" She stated firmly, but of course, Nagisa was not one to be swayed.
I watched in amusement at the blond's obvious disregard of her request. "Does it really matter?" He asked and the red haired girl stomped her foot angrily.
"It does matter! I'm Kou!" She declared hotly but Nagisa didn't care.
"Gou." He declared nonchalantly, making me chuckle.
"Kou!" The girl in question replied.
"Gou."
"Kou!"
"Gou."
"Kou!"
"Gou." I was gonna 'Gou' if this thing continued. Honestly, they were both being immature. Looking to my left, I caught Makoto's gaze and we shared an exasperated glance at the two in front of us.
"Kou!" She shouted, getting fed up.
"Kou." Nagisa stated instead an I smirked when I realized what he had just done.
"Gou!" She basically screamed, before realizing her mistake and dejectedly grabbing her head in defeat.
"Damn you!" The red haired girl let out, as the rest of us laughed and Nagisa flashed the Victory sign.
"So were you guys able to see my brother?" She asked after we had calm down. Oh, right. The whole Rin issue. I had kinda forgotten about that.
Shame on you Luna! How could you forget about your future husband?
"Yeah, about that!" Nagisa suddenly burst out, stepping forward and waving his arms. Makoto and I looked at him worriedly. "Rin-chan's so mean!" He complained and I scoffed and rolled my eyes. Why couldn't he just accept that the guy had simply grown up? It honestly wasn't that surprising either –his personality. The guy spent like, four years at a very competitive swimming school; obviously he had to become more mature in order to take his swimming career seriously.
"We haven't seen each other in four years!" The pink eyed boy continued passionately, "And the first thing he does is challenge Haru-chan to a race." Then he sighed and deflated, obviously crestfallen. "He completely ignored me and Makoto, and he didn't even say 'Hi' to Lu-chan either. We didn't get to talk about anything." He said to Gou, forming a giant 'X' with his arms. The girl was silent, was watching his heated tirade guiltily.
"Have you heard anything from Rin, Kou-chan?" Makoto asked calmly, though he was obviously hopeful.
The girl in question shook her head sorrowfully. "I've sent him e-mails and called his cell without any luck." Gou explained, before she looked out the window. "I even called his dorm number and nobody picked up." She was clearly distraught about it too, shame. She must have been really hurt about her brother ignoring her. For that, Rin was a douche.
"How come Rin-chan's changed so much?" Nagisa asked sadly, "Did something happen in Australia?" He asked, and as much as I wanted to roughly grab him by the shoulders and yell that yes, something had indeed happened in Australia, I didn't. Gou sighed and looked down.
"I don't know." She replied softly. "I was hoping he would open up after seeing you guys." She said. Makoto let out a gasp, as if he had just realized something.
"Are you the one responsible for Rin showing up at the Swim Club?" He asked. My eyebrows rose in surprise. Okay, whoa, I hadn't even thought about it, but now that I did, I realize that it certainly couldn't be a coincidence he showed on the same night as we did. The chances were extremely small. We stared expectantly at Gou, who stepped back and raised her hands in front of her defensively.
"I wouldn't say that I was responsible…I was just trying to help." She told us. "I happened to overhear your conversation so I sent Rin a message, but he never replied." She finished, making me frown.
"So that's why you went to Haru's place yesterday." I stated, speaking for the first time. She nodded at me, confirming what I had just said.
"Yes, I was hoping he might have some answers." She said, though her scarlet eyes clearly expressed her disappointment. I really did feel bad for her. Her older brother had finally moved back home, and she was clearly excited, only to realize that he had come back behaving like a complete ass and she didn't know why, so she was obviously trying to help out in any way that she could. Only for all her ventures to prove futile.
"Hey! I have a great idea!" Nagisa suddenly burst out excitedly, jumping in front of Makoto and I, making me take a startled step back, not expecting the abrupt movement. Nagisa didn't react, or he just didn't notice. Ugh, once more, I am firm on my declaration that he needs a lesson on the concept of personal space.
"Let's start a Swim Club!" He exclaimed, fists clenched and fuchsia eyes shining with eagerness. I blinked in surprise at his clearly serious statement. Gou came closer, also interested in what the hyperactive blond had to say.
"Then we can see Rin-chan at tournaments." He rationalized, looking at Makoto and I. I was kinda taken aback though. Nagisa wanted to start a swimming club just so they could interact with Rin, a guy who obviously wanted nothing to do with them? Nagisa was quite dedicated in being this guy's friend, no matter what. But anyway, it didn't really didn't matter to me the reason he wanted to begin a swimming club. To me, the fact was, he wanted to start a swimming club. Period. I grinned.
"Um, I don't think Haru will be on board with that." Makoto said skeptically. My grin widened and I eagerly threw my arm around Nagisa's shoulders, whose own smile also grew. We gave the olive eyed boy matching looks, filled with mischief.
"Then we'll just have to convince him, right?"
"Whatever. Knock yourselves out." Haru stated dismissively. Thirty minutes later found Makoto, Nagisa and I standing in Haru's bathroom, standing above him as he marinated in the bathtub, clad in his swim suit. Technically, since I was a girl, I really wasn't supposed to be there, I mean, what if Haru wasn't wearing his suit? Lol that was exactly the reason I had shamelessly entered. I mean really, who was I to pass up the chance to see a completely naked Haruka Nanase? Nope, not ever. But even as he was sadly, only half-naked, I was still glad I came because oooh lordayyy¸ them abs!
"Huh?" Nagisa asked in disbelief, leaning in and resting his hands on the side of the bath tub. "Really?" He asked hopefully, before taking Haru's silence as affirmation. He threw his hands in the air (almost hitting poor Makoto in the face in the process) and letting out a joyful "Yay!"
"We're so good to go then!" Nagisa declared happily, but I wasn't so convinced of Haru's decision. The way he looked away from Nagisa only confirmed my suspicions. Makoto didn't look too convinced either. "I'm so excited!" Nagisa continued, oblivious to the other boy's true feelings. I rolled my eyes at his obtuseness but didn't say anything.
I wasn't about to call Haruka out anyway.
"You're sure about this?" Makoto asked worriedly a bit later after we had moved to the living. "We won't be doing this by ourselves. You're expected to join the club." Makoto explained and my eyes slid to Haru, who was casually drying his hair with a towel. Shirtless.
Oh…
"I know." Said boy replied, moving on to his arms. And what lovely arms they were…
I heard a muffle squeal from my left, where Gou was sitting, and saw her turned in the other direction, hands covering her face from the view. I could see the blush on her eyes and I slowly smirked, realizing what was wrong. She slowly turned around and peeked through her fingers, instantly starstruck.
"Kou-chan, look at those developed triceps..." I said to her, making her squeak in embarrassment at being caught but I shook my head, still grinning, silently telling her that since we were both girls, we could 'admire the view' together. She relaxed, and we both returned to molesting Haruka with our eyes.
"I know…"She swooned dreamily and we leaned against each other, staring at Haru for another five minutes, sighing periodically, anytime any of his muscles clenched or flexed. But in between my sighing and swooning, I noticed that Haru was actually out of shape. His body was showing signs of the fact that he had, indeed, stopped swimming competitively. No professional would let their body degenerate to such a level. If our aim was to aim for tournaments, and I mean the serious ones, then he would have to work seriously hard. I had a suspicion that maybe Makoto and Nagisa had to as well.
"Oh yeah," Nagisa said, interrupting my thoughts and snapping Gou out of her daze. "Haru-chan wasn't with us the other day." He realized. "This is Rin-chan's sister." He introduced. Haru lowered his towel and regarded Gou blankly. The red haired girl immediately dropped her hands from her cheeks and placed them formally on her knees, giving him a boy.
"H-hello." She stammered, making me raise a boy. "It's been a long time." She told him.
Haru blinked. "Matsuoka…"He trailed of, trying to remember her first name, and I saw that Gou was hoping that he wouldn't call her…well, ya know, Gou. "Kou." Haru said finally, his navy eyes showing realization. Gou breathed a sigh of relief next to me and smiled.
"Yes!" She agreed, scarlet eyes shining with happiness. "I'm sorry about what my brother did yesterday." She apologized, but I could see that the ebony eyed boy didn't really care as he pulled on a blue sweatshirt and turned around.
"Don't sweat it." He dismissed, tying the apron around his form as he made his way to the kitchen. I was disappointed. My eyes followed him all the way.
"Oh, if you're making tea, I have some squid to go with it." Makoto called out to the other boy, making me cringe in disgust and give him an incredulous look.
"Wouldn't cake go better?" I asked with a raised brow but Nagisa shook his head passionately.
"No! Chocolate would!" He exclaimed and I shrugged, it could work too.
"We'll compromise and have Mackerel instead." Haru chimed in and I snorted and shook my head, amused at what he had just said.
"That's not a compromise Haru." I told him. He ignored me. Nagisa jumped up and rushed to the kitchen, leaving only Makoto, Gou and I still sitting at the table.
"Oh! I'll give you a hand." The blond offered eagerly, "Is this alright…?" We heard but we weren't really paying attention. Gou was eying the blue trophy we had retrieved the other night, with something like vague recognition in her eyes.
"Isn't this...?" She asked and Makoto looked to see what she was referring to before nodding.
"Ah that," he mused, "That's the trophy the four of us won as kids. Rin told us that he no longer needed it." Makoto explained, sounding a little hurt. I sighed.
Gou picked up the picture of the four boys lying next to it, bringing it closer and frowning. "Everyone is smiling." She said softly.
"Actually, Haru's is the sole expression in this photo." He corrected with a smile. I watched them silently, tracing patterns on the table with my index finger. Nagisa appeared between the two of them, holding a tray filled with Sakura blossomed pink tea cups, smiling.
"Haru-chan is always smiling on the inside." Nagisa stated, making me snort at the implication and Gou giggle.
"You make him sound like a bad person!" Gou pointed out making us all laugh. I turned to look in the direction of the kitchen to gauge Haru's reaction to what had just been said, but I couldn't see his face as he was turned away from me. But from what I could tell, he didn't even seem to be paying us any attention.
"-Oh, so this is the first time Rin's come back to Japan since he left?" I heard Makoto ask, making me turn my attention back to the other three. Gou seemed confused. I raised my eyebrow.
"Eh?" She said in surprise. "He came back every year for New Year's." Gou told us making me wince. Burn.
"Really?!" Nagisa exclaimed in surprise, leaning forward on the table. "And he never told us?!" He asked, sounding hurt. I felt really bad for them. According to what I had so far understood, Rin, their ex-bestfriend had been in Australia for about four years, didn't write to them, send any emails, write letters or anything. They had gone on assuming that if Rin actually did come back to Japan obviously he would tell them so that they could all get together and shit. Now, according to Gou, nope, he had actually been coming frequently all this time without their knowledge. Like, ouch. Rin, as hot as he was, was turning into more and more of a douchebag. A hot, sexy ass douchebag, but a douchebag nonetheless.
Poor guys.
"That's mean." Nagisa pouted. I shrugged. I heard Haru's soft angry intake of air and noticed him flinch, making both Makoto and I glance at him in concern.
"Haru?" Makoto mumbled worriedly.
But there was one thing that these people didn't understand, which I had repeated over and over again! They honestly couldn't have expected Rin not to change! I just didn't understand! Surely, if they too also used to compete in tournaments (no matter how long ago it may be), that you needed to take training seriously. Especially if you had been invited to one of the top swimming schools in the world on a scholarship. You had to take that seriously. One wrong move and boom, you're kicked off the team. Rin probably realized that quickly, and had changed his personality accordingly, meaning that he couldn't goof around anymore.
…But also, Rin was acting like a jerk. There was no need for him to be so cold towards the guys. They hadn't done anything wrong. And he also insulted them too. I understood why Nagisa might have been hurt, but the poor guy also just needed to get over it and move on with his life. All of them did. If Rin didn't want to associate with them any more then okay, cool. You can't force someone to be your friend.
But despite how hurt Nagisa and Makoto were, I could tell by looking at Haru's stoic form, he was hurt a lot worse.
"Okay!" Nagisa exclaimed happily the next day during lunch period. We were sitting on the roof like always, chilling under the utter cheerfulness of the day. The sun was shining, the sky a beautiful blue, the clouds all white and puffy, forming fun shapes, birds were chirping, bees were buzzing, flowers looking all nice and shit…
It was a horrible day.
"Since everyone's on board, I picked up a new club application form!" He told us, holding up the page for Haru, Makoto and I to see. With an eager smile which made his already beautiful pink eyes even more breathtaking (it really wasn't wise for me to hang out with such good looking guys), he peered at us from the side. I laughed a bit while Makoto looked incredulous.
"You sure move fast…"The brown haired boy drawled making Nagisa nod seriously.
"It's important to get the ball rolling." Nagisa stated determinedly making me snort and raise an eyebrow at his determination. Haku stayed silent, and I playfully nudged him in the arm and gave him a grin. Of course he didn't say anything, just looked down.
I figured he was shy.
"Let's see…"Nagisa mused studying the paper, "the purpose of this club is to train our minds and bodies through swimming and improve the school experience." He stated making me look at him in a new light.
"And you know what you're doing." Makoto pointed out, sounding vaguely amused. I snorted and regarded Nagisa with a raised brow.
"I know right? Who knew Nagisa could be so professional?" I said playfully, but I was serious. Oh Nagisa, the dude was just full of surprises.
Nagisa completely ignored our comments, making the olive eyed boy and I share an amused glance. "There will be four members initially." Nagisa continued, "Mako-chan, you can be the captain." The blond proposed, but Makoto looked hesitant.
"Uh, shouldn't it be Haru? He's the fastest swimmer." He asked hopefully. I glanced at Haru who was busy eating beside us silently, prompting me to take a bite out of my own previously forgotten Tuna and Mayo sandwich. I didn't say anything about Mako's remark about Haru being the fastest. I doubted it. Actually, at the moment, I was probably faster than Haru, only by a small margin but faster nonetheless. Though I'm sure that after some time, Haru would be up to speed again (Haha, pun fully intended) and he would beat me in that part.
Nagisa shook his head and raised a finger pointedly. "This isn't about speed. Different people are better at different things." Nagisa explained. We turned to look at Haru (who might I say was still silent) and tried to imagine him as a coach.
I couldn't imagine this quiet, aloof boy dressed in bright ridiculous colors, shouting orders to the members with a determined fire that made everyone cower and immediately shout "Got it, Captain Haruka!" with awe.
I muffled my laughter at the mental image, shaking my head. Nope, I didn't think so.
"I don't think so…"and apparently Makoto didn't think so either, lawl.
"So, that means Mako-chan is the captain." Nagisa declared finally. I patted Makoto's shoulder sympathetically, but I couldn't hide my own amused grin at his crestfallen expression. "And Haru-chan is the Vice-Captain." The blond teen said. This time, Haru did react. I was surprised to see that he had actually been paying attention to our conversation, but then again, I should have known that even if he was quiet, didn't mean he wasn't listening.
I feared the day Haruka would decide to take over the world. No one would see it coming. I swear we wouldn't.
"Hey, don't just volunteer me." Our resident dolphin said crossly, looking at us for the first time in forever. Nagisa raised his hands to placate him.
"Now, now, now," Nagisa tried, "Vice-Captain is just an empty title with no responsibilities, so don't worry." The blond said nonchalantly, making me and Makoto glance at him in surprise.
"Ouch, you just insulted me and every other Vice-captain on this planet. Thanks." I drawled sarcastically. The guys looked at me in confusion so I elaborated, knowing what they meant.
"I was the Vice-Captain of the swimming team at my previous school." I told them making Nagisa gasp, Haruka stare, and Makoto look surprised.
"Really Lu-chan? Wow! I didn't mean to insult you, then how about you be Vice-Captain, since Haru-chan doesn't want to?" Nagisa asked but I shook my head, rejecting the idea.
"No thank you. I don't want it." I gave Haru a mischievous grin. "I'm sure Haru will be a perfect Vice-Captain. He'll inspire us with his waves of supportive silence! Right Haru?" I asked. Haru frowned and the rest of us laughed.
"Alright. I'll be the treasurer," Nagisa proposed. I raised a brow. Nagisa, handling the club's expenses? Nope, he didn't seem like the type, but I didn't want the job either so I didn't say anything. "This means that we just need a faculty advisor." He finished, done with the list of positions we needed to fill.
"Any ideas?" I asked curiously. Nagisa smiled and nodded.
"I was thinking about asking Ama-chan." He told us and I nodded. Yeah, it seemed like a pretty good idea.
"Miss Ama-chan?" Makoto repeated with wide eyes. Hell, even Haru looked surprised.
"Mhmm. I heard a crazy story from one of our classmates." Nagisa told us.
The rest of us just looked at each other.
"Er…" Ama-sensei uttered nervously when we were in the office later on to ask her. "I can't do it. Sports aren't my thing. I mean, I teach Classical Literature." She pointed out, trying to explain. I looked at Nagisa.
"But I heard that until last year, you had a job in Tokyo that involved swimsuits." He told her, making me raise an interested brow and turn back to our teacher. Well who knew, huh? Swimsuits? I looked at Ama-chan carefully. She didn't have the build of a swimmer, and she sure as hell wasn't a swimsuit engineer, but she was really pretty, young and had a killer body…
Oh! She was a swimsuit model!
My, my, my…Ama-sensei! I would never have believed it, especially with her demure and sweet nature. Ha! News sure flies fast.
I could tell that I had hit the nail right in the head when her previously smiling face turned into a mixture of panic, horror, nervousness and horror. Woah, so many emotions at one time.
"Hey!" The brown haired woman exclaimed, shooting up lightning fast from her seat and getting closer to us. "Not so loud." She whispered, her chocolate eyes glancing nervously around the room of teachers who were literally paying no attention to us whatsoever.
Dude, one of them was even asleep.
"Who told you that?" Ama-chan asked warily.
"It was Nashimoto-kun from our class." Seriously Nagisa? Did you have to Rat the dude out. Now Ama-sensei is probably going to give the poor guy extra homework or something. I sighed and shook my head and Nagisa's cute, but still embarrassing ignorance.
"Did you work for a swimsuit designer?" Makoto asked sounding innocently curious, making me snort and Ama-sensei look at me nervously. Deliberately, I looked to the ground nonchalantly, holding back my grin and pretending to be innocent.
"What?" Ama-sensei asked panicky, before she let out a few nervous chuckles to seem unaffected. I raised a brow at the ground. "Y-yes, you could say that…" She tried, forcing a grin. It was the wrong thing to say because now Makoto and Nagisa looked even more determined.
"In that case, we would be thrilled to have you advise us about the technology that goes into competitive swimwear!" Makoto exclaimed eagerly, making me let out a loud chortle which I tried to mask into a cough when Ama-sensei looked at me again. I held my throat and shrugged.
"Sorry, dry throat. Ahem." I lied.
"Advise us!" Nagisa begged fervently, making our teacher gasp and step back nervously.
"Yes please Ama-sensei!" I joined in, trying to be as eager as my other two friends. Ama-sensei looked at me warily.
"PLEASE!" The three of us chorused before bowing deeply. I hid my smirk behind the long strands of hair which had fallen out of my ponytail. Poor Ama-sensei didn't stand a chance.
GUILT TRIPPING TO THE END! MWAHAHAHA!
…Ahem.
"Ah, if you really need me…" She eventually relented. Ha, I knew it.
"Thank you so much!" Makoto exclaimed gratefully, and I nodded.
"Yay!" Nagisa exclaimed happily, fist pumping. I chuckled but gave Ama-sensei a grateful smile.
We really did appreciate it, even if we had manipulated her to agree.
Ah well, All's fair in love and swimming.
"We're forming a swimming club." I told my father later on at home whilst we were sitting on the couch playing Mario on Wii. He shot me an amused looked, his own yellow eyes twinkling. until my dad finished school and was able to find a good successful job. My dad was very young was very young, well at least for a parent. He and my mother were only thirty-five, meaning that they had me when they were seventeen. It was a common mistake, highschool couple, accidentally got my mum pregnant etc. But they loved each other and had decided to get married. My mother had stayed at home raising me until I was two while my day was off at Uni and then she too later joined him when I was old enough to not constantly need her. I stayed with my grandmother for some time after that and by third grade when Dad and Mum had both finished school, moved back in with them. That was the start of my parents' very successful career.
Anyway, my dad looked like me too. A lot. He was a movie star type of handsome (just because he was my dad didn't mean I didn't notice), had the same white hair and yellow eyes as I did and had my personality too. My mother, on the other hand, was a stunning blond with grey eyes and had a calm, chill personality. Yeah, even if their job made us move a lot, I still loved them both.
But, back to the present now.
"I was wondering why you hadn't told me that you joined by now." He mused with a grin as he made Luigi jump over a turtle. I shrugged noncommitantly.
"Yeah well, the school didn't have one, so we decided to make one ourselves." I explained, picking up Luigi and throwing him at a Mushroom. Dad snorted.
"Yeah, I shouldn't be surprised that you would do that…By 'we', you mean you and your guy friends your mum told me about. The ones which you snuck into an abandoned building and another school with?" He asked casually, eyebrow raised. I chuckled nervously.
"Haha…yeah. Them." I replied. He didn't respond immediately, just hmmed softly, signaling he had heard.
"Well, as a responsible parent, I can't just let that go…but as a guy, I can appreciate a good breaking of the rules sometime so I'll keep your punishment light." He stated, making me sigh in relief. "If you guys really are dedicated to making your swimming club, it means you'll have to keep fit, no?" He asked, glancing at me from the corner of his eye. I nodded and regarded him in confusion.
"Cool, so from now on, you'll have to come running with me every day after I come home from work. Any problems?" He asked and I shook my head.
"I was planning to start working out again soon anyway. I'm fine with it." I answered with a shrug and a smirk. He nodded.
"Good, now go get dressed. We'll leave now-"
"RICHARD!" My mum's voice interrupted, sounding pissed off. I looked at dad for an explanation, but he just chuckled sheepishly and ran a hand though his hair.
"Or we could go in a few minutes?" He proposed. I just rolled my eyes and went to my room to get ready.
"Now," Ama-sensei declared seriously the next day, stamping the paper on the table and regarding the four of us with an unreadable expression. It made me nervous. I really did want to start that swim club; I was excited to be able to compete in tournaments again. I would be so disappointed if our proposal had been rejected.
"In regard to the swim club charter that you submitted…" She continued, pushing away from her desk with the wheels on her chair and giving us her full attention, "After strict review by the faculty," and then suddenly her grave expression turned into a smile and she shoved the form at us.
"It was approved!" She exclaimed happily making us all let out relieved breaths and grin widely. Even Haru seemed relieved.
Phew! Yay!
"Really?" Makoto asked in happy disbelief and she nodded.
"Awesome!" Nagisa exclaimed. "I knew we could count on a former swimwear company employee!" The blond declared happily, and Ama-sensei looked away with a nervous but also smug grin.
"Th-That's right." She stammered. "This is what I can do when I put my mind to it." She stated and I raised an eyebrow at her. She didn't see it.
"However, a school organization is required to have at least four members, so you'll have to find one more member." She told us. We stared at her in confusion. Was this woman blind, or could she just not count. We frowned at her.
"But Miss Ama-chan…we already have four members!" Nagisa exclaimed heatedly, pointing to himself, then the rest of us. Ama-chan blinked her wide brown eyes slowly, before it seemed like realization dawned and they landed on me.
Me…Why was she looking at me?
"Oh, it seems we have a misunderstanding." She told us, but was looking at me specifically. "This school does not allow mixed swimming teams." I felt my breathing catch when I realized the implications of what she had just said. "When the form was submitted, it was under the impression that you were forming an All Boys swimming club. I'm sorry Lu-chan, but you won't be able to be a part of it unless you become the manager." Ama-sensei apologized, sounding sincere. I didn't say anything.
"Huh? But Lu-chan is our friend! She has to join!" Nagisa protested fervently. Makoto nodded with a frown.
"Is there no way to work around it?" He asked, olive eyes looking hopeful. Ama-chan shook her head sadly.
"I'm sorry, it's just not possible." She told us with grim finality.
The blond boy next to me opened his mouth for another try and I sighed. "But-!"
"Nagisa." I said to him, making them all look at me. I forced on a smile and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's fine. Really." I reassured, even when I knew it was definitely not fine and I felt really disappointed. I suppose I should have expected it, a lot of schools didn't have mixed teams. I just always had the luck to be able to join a mixed team. Of course, the girls and the boys sometimes had to participate in gender-specific tournaments, but there were mixed ones too.
Ah well, it didn't matter.
"Lu-chan…"Nagisa murmured, looking exactly how I was feeling. Hell, even Haru looked a little concerned. I smiled again before turning back to our guilty looking teacher.
"That's alright, but I'll have just have to accept the position of Manager then, right?" I asked with a fake smile. Ama-sensei nodded slowly.
"Yes, that is allowed. Being manager means that you'll have to make sure that they are always in top-shape –meaning you can swim with them during practice-, take care of their equipment, club trips, entering of tournaments etc. There's a lot more and it's a lot of responsibility, can you handle it?" She asked seriously, and I nodded. She smiled at me before nodding.
"Good, then you're the Manager now." She declared.
"Yay!" Nagisa exclaimed, throwing an arm around my shoulder happily. Makoto smiled. Haru didn't react. "See! Now Lu-chan is also a part of the team!" the blond boy cheered with a grin. I smiled.
"…There's also one more condition…"Ama-sensei murmured nervously, hiding behind the paper. We looked at her.
"What is it?" I asked hesitantly, dreading what was to come. Her expression said it was good.
"We'll do anything." Makoto declared. I did a doubletake and looked at him like he was crazy.
Dude, hold up one sec! Anything?! I didn't agree to that! What if we had to shovel cow manure?! What then Makoto?! Huh?!
Psh, man, you trippin.
.
.
.
I gawked in shock at the horrid sight in front of me, not believing my eyes. See Makoto? This is what happens when you promise the impossible! Let me just tell you, the pool, was an absolute wreck. Like, obviously this school had never used it in their life because dayum son, this pool was a mess!
The large pool was dirty, cracked, filled with moss and weeds, had vines growing all around, fungi, the tiles were cracked, even missing in some places, you could barely tell that it was blue because of how much the paint had faded. Hell, even outside the pool was a mess! The fences were rusted and clogged; the ground was all filled with weeds and the tiles broken.
Like, what the hell happened here?!
"Wow…"Said Nagisa in awe, I glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. "So much nature…" He finished making me roll my eyes in exasperation. Seriously? That's what he noticed? 'Nature'? He didn't register the fact that we would have to fix the place up? Honestly.
"Are you saying that…?" Makoto asked, sounding horrified. Well, at least someone grasped the situation.
"Yes, you must restore this pool to a usable state." Ama-sensei declared, sounding cheerful. My eye twitched. The woman was a sadist. She turned to me with that….that…t-that damn smile.
"Luna-chan, as club manager, this is your responsibility." She told me pleasantly. I blanched. From the corner of my eye, I saw Makoto and Haruka step back, trying to run. I slowly turned and smiled evilly at them, as Ama-sensei and Nagisa caught their hands with their own evil smiles.
"You're not allowed to run away." Nagisa said pleasantly. I nodded.
"You said you were willing to do anything." Ama-sensei added.
"Yes Makoto. And this cleanup job…I'm pretty sure it classifies as a 'thing'." I finished with a smirk when I saw the two boys expressions.
Yeah Makoto…you made your bed, now you have to lie in it.
We started work the next day. It was tough work, sitting under the sun in the hot weather, pulling out stubborn weeds which just didn't want to get out. I repeatedly cursed Makoto every time I punched myself in the face after I tried to pull out a clump of weeds with force and they just wouldn't give. Thankfully, we finished the weed pulling (even the ones outside the pool) after two days of hard work.
Ama-chan drove us to the Hardware Department store which was called Iwatobi Dolphins and I just couldn't stop laughing when I saw the name, especially when Haruka gave me a weird look along with everyone else. I didn't tell them why I was laughing, it was an inside joke, but I suspect Makoto understood when I also caught him chuckling at the sign, and then glancing at the black haired boy. We spent quite a bit of time in that store buying materials and at one point, we lost Haru.
…Only to find him undressing right there and about to get into the fish tank. It was funny when we had to stop him otherwise we would get thrown out but oh…
Our resident dolphin, I tell you.
Then, we went to the art club to try and get some pamphlets designed to attract people into joining our club. It was a comical affair. Nagisa made a pretty funny yet creepy as poster with a disfigured duck (at least it looked like a duck) on it saying "Let's swim together! Iwatobi Swim Club!" It was better than mine though. I couldn't draw for shit and I just ended up drawing a pool with what I intended to be swimming members but turned out to look like drowning stick men which said "Wanna have fun? Join Iwatobi Swim Club!" It was funny because the stick men on the painting were drowning so it seemed that our goal was to lure people in to murder them or something.
Haru's pamphlet was some type of amazing Michealangelo-esque painting of Angels standing on a cliff above the ocean during sunset which said "Join us and Swim. Iwatobi High Swim Club" and made us all slack jawed and resulted in the Art Club trying to literally drag him away, forcing us to save him from their clutches (literally.)
I, along with helping out with the cleanup of the pool, was also busy with my 'manager duties'. Nagisa worked together a lot since he was treasurer and I needed to start ordering the proper swimming equipment, along with monitoring all the expenses of the repair tools we had bought and starting up a new training program as soon as the pool was finished. I learnt that surprisingly, Nagisa was really smart, and was a wiz at Money Management too.
All in all, we were working hard. Hell, even Haru was dedicated. One time Makoto and I went looking for him for lunch on the roof and imagine our surprise when we see him working alone at the pool, looking quite determined might I add.
About one month later, our hard work was rewarded with the result of a clean and brand new looking pool, white tiles outside and we were in the process of finishing up the painting in the pool and starting the fence.
"Ah! It's cleaned up rather nicely." Ama-sensei remarked in amazement. I resisted the urge to glare at where she was sitting on a lounge chair under an umbrella which was blocking her from the heat. I looked down at myself, noticing how I had gone darker. I glared at the paintbrush instead.
"Can't you get out of that chair and give us a hand?" Nagisa asked, sounding irritated. I didn't blame him. Nope, not one bit.
"Do you realize what you're saying?" Ama-sensei asked, sounding aghast. I raised an eyebrow at her. Was she insulted? "The UV rays of this year are brutal! You're still young, so it's not an issue." She dismissed.
This time, I didn't hold back my glare. This woman! Hello! I was a girl too! I cared about my complexion too! I didn't want to walk around with two toned skin either! I was so angry at her that I accidentally cracked a bit of the wood on the paint brush. I took a deep breath and looked away, resuming my painting.
"This is actually pretty fun." Makoto said from across the pool where he and Haru were also painting. "Feels like we're back in grade school."
I pretended I didn't hear what he said.
"Grade schoolers wouldn't be asked to fix a pool." Haru stated, sounding vaguely annoyed. Makoto and I looked at him in surprise, before Mako smiled and looked away, and I just rolled my eyes. It seemed that the heat had gotten to him too.
"Wow, it's all cleaned up!" A new, yet familiar voice said. I paused in the middle of dipping my paintbrush in the bucket and looked to the entrance, greeted with the unexpected sight of Gou Matsuoka holding a plastic bag and looking amazed. I raised my hand in a greeting which she smiled to and waved back.
"Ah!" Nagisa exclaimed happily, running forward energetically. The guy never seemed to get tired. "Are you here to help, Gou-chan?" He asked hopefully. I snorted. As if Gou of all people would do manual labor…psh. I liked Gou, I really did but she was just not the type for hard work.
"I told you to call me Kou! Otherwise you won't get any of this." The red head declared angrily, holding up the plastic. I rolled my eyes and resumed working.
Here we go again.
"Hey there!" Nagisa exclaimed with a smile, "Interested in joining the Swimming Club?" He asked eagerly. The blue haired male we had just ambushed didn't even look at Nagisa and I, just pushed up his glasses haughtily.
"I've already decided to join the track team." He declared in a dismissive voice, making me look at him in disbelief. Really? He was one of those guys?
Psh, we didn't need him anyway.
"Hey guys!" Nagisa started during our next attempt, whilst wearing a swimming cap, goggles and holding a paddle board. I too, sadly, was forced to wear the cap and goggles. All in the name of team effort, right?
Anyway, our goal was to get a new member, and so far, it wasn't working. No one was interested. I was shocked really. How could no one even give it a try? It was hella frustrating.
"-Why would you swim in a pool, when the ocean is right there?" One of the guys we had confronted asked.
Okay…he had a good point.
Those were just too of Nagisa's and I's failed attempts at getting members, and at this point, where I was currently sitting on Nagisa's legs as he lay on the red bench in the locker room, I had just given up.
Makoto and Haruka were there too, the former sitting on a foldable chair in front of Nagisa and I and the latter, sitting on a foldable chair across the room, diligently making carvings of the Schools weirdass mascot. The penguin-bird-thing. I had to admit, Haruka was doing an amazing job at capturing the utter stupidity of the thing.
"It's no use." Nagisa whined tiredly from under me.
"No one wants to join. Nagisa and I tried everything." I said with a heavy sigh.
"It's starting to look like we fixed up the pool for nothing." Makoto stated dejectedly, hanging his head in defeat. I nodded in agreement.
"Don't say that." The blond under me told us, sitting up only an inch off the bench to look at us. Then he sat up fully, and I almost fell off his legs until he caught me quickly. I sighed in relief.
We turned to look at Haru who was still frantically carving the wooden mascots as if he was being whipped or something. I'm telling you, when Haru got determined, he got determined.
"It's time to use our last resort." Nagisa declared, making me look at him incredulously.
"Which is…?" I asked. Even Makoto look lost.
"We have Ama-chan give the shirt off her back for us!" Nagisa declared. I didn't understand what he meant but apparently Mako did.
"How do we do that?" He asked interested.
"Advertise the fact that Ama-chan is our advisor, and tell everyone they'll get to see her in a swimsuit if they join." Nagisa proposed seriously.
"I see. That's giving up her shirt, alright." Makoto deadpanned, making me chuckle in amusement.
"Excuse me..." A familiar voice drawled evilly. We blanched and turned to the door to see a severely pissed of Ama-sensei looking absolutely terrifying. She stomped forward with her hands on her hips and bent down to look us in the eye.
I swear I saw my life flash before my eyes.
"If you do that, I'll quit immediately." She declared angrily. "I swore to myself that I would never put on a swimsuit again!" Ama-sensei told us fervently. Then she smiled, making us pale even more.
"Are we clear?" She asked in a calm manner, acting normal again. We were frozen.
"Crystal." We chorused in the name of self-preservation. Honestly, that woman is scary.
"Luna." Haruka said, sounding a little bit surprised at my sudden appearance at his door at eight o'clock in the evening. He obviously wasn't expecting anyone, dressed in a pair of blue cotton shorts and a black tee. I smiled sheepishly, before holding up the heavy bag in my hand pointedly. He looked at it for a moment, then back at me.
"I brought dinner. My parents aren't home and I didn't really want to eat alone so I figured, hey, you live right above me and you live alone so we can eat dinner together or something. It's actually Western Food but it had Rice and Mackerel so I figured you would like it but if you don't we can get something else?" He continued to watch me in silence and I was getting unnerved. "…Er, but if you've already eaten dinner that's cool too. You could still have the food." I finished lamely, holding it up once again. Haru watched me for a moment longer, deep midnight blue eyes studying me intently. I wondered what he was thinking. Hell, I always wondered what he was thinking but I'm pretty sure that he was just like "Oh gosh, there's a crazy chick standing at my door dress in shorts and a baggy tee wearing slippers. Maybe I should call the police."
…Or something along those lines anyway.
After what seemed like forever, he nodded and stepped aside to let me in. I shot him a grateful smile as he shut the door. He took the bag from my hands without a word and walked away in the direction of the kitchen. After taking off my slippers, I followed after him.
We entered the kitchen and it seemed to me that he had actually just begun to prepare dinner. I wondered why he had started so late.
…He was probably marinating in the bath tub again.
"Looks like I caught you just in time then." I told him with a smile. He nodded again as he pulled out dishes from the cupboard that we could use. I decided to help him out by cleaning up what he had started in the kitchen. I wordlessly put the fish back in the freezer, the veggies in the fridge, the cooking utensils and because I had no idea where to put the rice, I just put in on the counter.
"Where are your parents?" I heard Haruka ask softly, much to my surprise. I looked at him, shocked that he had initiated conversation before I frowned. I heard the literal strain in his voice. He didn't really feel like talking at that moment.
"You don't have to talk if you don't want to Haru. I don't want to make you uncomfortable. I can do the talking just fine by myself." I told him honestly as we set the dished on the table and unpacked the food, before sitting down on the cushions. I saw him pause for a moment when he realized that I hadn't brought traditional Bento boxes; instead I had packed the food in various types of Tupperware containers.
Shame, Haru was just too adorable.
"We don't use Bento, remember?" I said with a smirk, "but the way they made sections in the container to separate the food is similar, so they work just as well." I explained. The black haired boy nodded in understanding before opening the five containers I had brought. One had the rice, another one the Mackerel sauce, another had the vegetables, and another the chili. The last one had the brownies I had brought for dessert.
"I wasn't sure if you like spicy food so I brought some chili as well." I told him, pointing at the small container of redish-orangish sauce with visible pieces or red chili inside.
"The…" I paused, looking for the word "Brownie" in Japanese, but came up short so I just shrugged and used the English one. "…The brownies –the little chocolate cakes with icing- are for desert. I don't know the Japanese word for them, but my rough translation would be "Little Browns"." I said, pointing to them.
He looked at them for a moment before looking back to me. I smiled.
"They are very nice. I promise." I told him.
"And please," I told him. "If you don't like the food, tell me. I won't get angry." I told him, to which he nodded and started dishing up.
I spooning some rice onto a Western type plate I had found hidden at the back in Haru's cupboard. I even brought my own cutlery; as in fork, knife and spoon. I was actually hungry, and I didn't feel like using chopsticks and being forced to take small bites.
I added some sauce on top on the rice, along with a piece of fish, pumpkin and other veggies. My plate was filled and I let out a little happy giggle before picking up my fork and digging in. Well, I was about to dig in, but then I felt Haru's silent gaze on me and I looked up to ask what was wrong. Only to see him staring at my plate in what seemed to be interest. I raised an eyebrow at him.
"The way you eat is strange." He stated and I blinked in confusion, not understanding what he meant by that.
"Pardon?" I asked for clarification, totally confused by this boy.
Psh, the way he ate was strange. Honestly, there was nothing wrong with the way I ate.
"Do all Westerners dish food like you do?" Haru asked and I blinked again, looking down at my plate. Like me? How did I dish up? I looked up at his own dish...es. Dishes.
Oh.
"OH." I laughed, finally understanding what he meant.
"You guys dish and eat everything separately, right? Yeah, most westerners eat like I do. Though some don't put the sauce on the rice. I prefer it that way." I explained, starting to eat now that I knew what was up with him. The food was delicious, and I smiled in happiness. Haru too, began to eat, using his chopsticks expertly in one hand and holding the rice bowl in the other.
"Is it nicer that way?" He asked, sounding curious and I paused, before shrugging and putting down my fork on my plate and sliding it to him with a smile.
"Try it for yourself. Though I don't recommend you use chopsticks, the rice doesn't stick with the sauce." I explained. After regarding me for a moment, he looked down at my plate of food. Then his eyes slid to the fork. Then back at me.
"Go on then." I said, waving him on with a smile. I frowned when he didn't do so, but instead looked back at the fork. Which I had just used.
Oh…another thing here in Japan. 'Indirect kisses' were a big deal here.
"Ah, sorry, here's a spoon, you can use…."my voice trailed off in shock when he actually picked up my fork.
"It's fine." Haru murmured casually and I watched, gaze never wavering as he fumbled with the fork a bit, not used to using it for rice before adjusting quickly and bringing it to him mouth coolly.
And then I realized the full implications of what he had just done.
And then I proceeded to inwardly melt into a puddle of goo on the inside.
ERMAGAH! I could not believe he had just done that. Like, seriously. In the western world, sharing cutlery wasn't a big deal. Not that much anyway. A friend could use your spoon and unless you were some type of hygiene freak, no one would make a big deal about it. Hell, we even shared sandwiches. But in Japan, showing affection was rare and far between. From what I had read, parents apparently didn't kiss their children. It was reserved for romantic purposes. Anything involving the mouth was just like "Nope.". Only recently had they begun to warily adopt the 'Western Ways' but it was still extremely rare and significant to them.
So you can imagine my surprise when Haru decides to use the same fork as I did.
I forced my grin not to widen and remained outwardly calm, paying attention to Haru once more, who was now going in for a second forkful. I grinned, but not for that reason, but because I was amused.
"So, do you like it?" I asked interestedly.
"It's different." He replied looking at me curiously. I laughed heartily.
"But nice different?" I asked pointedly and he nodded, and I caught a tiny, miniscule smile on his face. Barely visible, but there.
I picked up the spoon and joined Haru in eating, much to his visible surprise. He was probably shocked that I was eating on the same plate as he was, but I just shrugged and carried on. After a moment, he did too.
"Do you like the vegetables?" I asked curiously, he hadn't tried the mashed pumpkin with cinnamon and sugar, nor the peas, or carrots. Haruka warily took a little of the pumpkin before chewing and swallowing and giving me a nod.
"Well," I said with a smile. "If you like this, I can bring other types of Western dishes every time we cook them so you can taste the different kinds." I proposed. Haru nodded slowly, as if he was hesitant to accept, but then he nodded once more, now sure.
"That would be nice. Thank you." He told me, and though his face didn't show much emotion, his navy eyes did. So I just smiled and poked him in the arm.
"Not a problem."
Surprisingly, from then on, conversation flowed easier. And by 'conversation', I mean that Haru would ask a question he was interested to know the answer to (like where I had been and to describe the place) and I would answer. Haru was quiet, but I could tell he was listening, even if it didn't seem like it. Desert was funny. Haruka apparently discovered his new found love for brownies so I only had two of the six I brought and gave the rest to him. I could tell he was very happy when I did that.
Haruka reminded me of a kid in a sense. It wasn't noticeable with the way he literally ignored everyone and didn't really show any emotion but when you finally got to know him, it became very clear. He was very kind, but quick to annoy. Aloof but quite immature. He also seemed to delight in the little things, like giving him the rest of the desert or just being able to be near (and thereby inside the water). It was cute, shame. And also amusing.
But he was also quite complicated too. You had to actually take the time to study him to understand anything. Like how even if he didn't visibly express his emotions, he showed them through his actions or how even if he seemed like he didn't really care about anything, he was always listening. Well, most times anyway. Other times he was just plain and simple ignoring you.
I suppose that's why Makoto liked him so much, because he had spent so much time with the Dolphin Boy, that he understood him, every little thing. And Haruka, in turn, was just so comfortable with Makoto that he wasn't afraid to show his true self.
They were a fascinating thing, those two best friends.
The next day signaled the day we had officially finished working on the pool, and frankly, I never wanted to see a paintbrush again.
The pool was a very beautiful sight though; our hard work had paid off. It was a lovely blue and filled to the brim with clear water, the bright sun making it sparkle so much that it was blinding and the reflection of the Cherry Blossom trees made it even more stunning.
I gave myself a mental pat on the back.
"Okay," Ama-sensei started cheerfully when we were gathered around in a circle holding plastic cups of juice, "Here's to the establishment of the new Swim club!" She declared and all at once, we brought our cups to the middle and let out a happy "Cheers."
"It's not warm enough to start swimming, "she told us, but we filled the pool as a test run." We all turned to look at the pool, and I saw how Haru was literally just mesmerized by it.
He wanted the P.
"All that's left is to toss these in together," She gestured to the chlorine disk in her hand which we had all received and after all getting into position, we tossed them all in at the same time.
"There!" Gou declared happily.
"The swim club is finally ready to go." Nagisa stated happily, turning to Makoto and I.
"Well, we can't get in the pool yet-"And then we noticed Haru's jacket flying and we turned to see said boy doing stretches.
Yep, told ya so. He wanted the P.
"Wait, Haru!" Makoto tried but the other boy didn't listen. "You were wearing your swimsuit all this time?!" Makoto demanded. Gou and I didn't say anything though. I mean really, when a hot guy is getting undressed, you're going to enjoy the view, right?
With barely a splash, Haru was floating contently in the water, eyes closed, ignoring the world around him. Including Makoto's frantic pleas for him to get out or risk a cold.
"I don't mind, he looks happy." Nagisa said softly and I nodded.
"That's true." Agreed Gou. I smiled.
"Oh, Lu-chan," She said, turning to me. I looked at her expectantly with a raised eyebrow.
"Mhmm?"
"Well, er, Makoto told me that you were the manager." She told me hesitantly. I nodded smiling to try and calm down her nervous twitching. She was twiddling her thumbs and avoiding my gaze.
"Yah, I am. Though I kinda wish I wasn't after dealing with all the work these guys cause, haha." I said jokingly, nudging Makoto playfully in the side when I noticed he was paying attention. He laughed sheepishly.
"I could help you out!" Gou suddenly exclaimed loudly, jumping closely to me and giving me a hopeful look. Slowly I took a step back, and she calmed down, embarrassed.
"Pardon?" I asked for clarification, not entirely sure what she meant.
"Well, I could help you out, do things to make the work easier…"She told me shyly, clearly afraid of rejection. Psh, reject that type of offer? Never.
"Oh sure! You could be my assistant. I'd really appreciate the help; it'll make everything so easier!" I said sincerely. "Yeah, you can help." I told her with a nod. She smiled brightly at me before bowing, making me look at her in surprise.
"Thank you very much Luna-senpai. Please take care of me." She declared, making me chuckle awkwardly and glance at Makoto, who just seemed amused. He caught my gaze and winked.
"Er, yeah. Sure." I agreed lamely.
Once I get used to the awkwardness, I could get used to being called 'Senpai'…Yeah. That would be great.
Psh, people were finally starting to realize my utter coolness.
Hey there guys, it's been a while. Like, since September...Woah. HAPPY NEW YEAR! May you all have a great year, whoop!
I feel so Guilty for not updating Chikara since like, June but uggggggh, the writers block is strong. Anyway, this one has been updates, and I did warn you all that it wasnt a priority didnt I? But two days ago I was on Tumblr and there was Rin/Haru drawing and then I remembered that "hey! I once wrote a Free! fic" so there. It's not the best, and I fear it's not that good. I was weird writing from Luna's POV again, after I've just been writing from Arsinoe's (From my fic CP) for such a long time.
I hope you like it, especially that seen between Luna and Haru, I know I did.
Thank you to my three wonderful reviewers, those made me so happy! Tell me if I replied to them, this is like, the first time i've had my oc since Sept so yeah...
Love ya'll
Review! Please!
Blueberry and Blacktooth :)