Nitori walked down the sidewalk, clutching her bag tightly in one hand and the other was holding her shirt. She hadn't intended to be out this long, but she stayed out until it was dark. She hated the dark. Nitori couldn't find an open store or bathroom to change in, so she would have to wait until she got back to the dorm's public bathroom to change.

She felt like someone was following her, but she ignored it. She continued to walk until she got to an ally way and was stopped by two men. They only looked a few years older than her; probably third years or first years in university. 'Are you lost, little girl?' One of them stepped closer to Nitori, who in return backed up.

'Oh no, I'm not lost. I'm going back to my school's dorm.' Her heart was beating fast. The wind was loud and heavy, blowing her short hair in her face. It was lifting her skirt up slightly, so Nitori pulled and held it down. 'Please let me through.'

She tried to push herself past them, but they grabbed her arm. 'You live in a dormitory, so you must be rich.' One of the boys grabbed her bag. He opened it and started to dig through it. 'Nothing.' He hissed. 'Where's your money?'

Nitori shook her head and squirmed in their grip. 'My family isn't wealthy, so I don't have enough to by stuff whenever I please. Please let me go.' She pulled on her arm, but the grip tightened.

The one holding her grabbed her hair. 'I don't think so.' He grabbed her skirt and started to fumble with it. 'You're so cute, little one.' He whispered in her ear.

Nitori closed her eyes and begged that they would let her go. 'Stop…please…' She gasped as her skirt was lifted. Her nightmare was coming true.

'Ahh…what?' The second boy eyed her, shocked. 'My, my. We have a little fag here.' Nitori squirmed. He grabbed her face. 'Why the hell are you wearing a skirt?' He slapped her.

The next thing she knew, she was pushed into the ally way. The kicks and punches came as fast as their words. They rung in her ears; 'Fag! You're such a freak!'. They laughed at her, pulling on her hair and her skirt.

'Stop!' Nitori coughed up blood. She was sobbing and begging them to stop, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. The first boy stomped down on her crotch, making her scream.

'If you want to be a girl so badly, we'll make you one.' He sneered, pulling a pocket knife out.

'S-stop…' Nitori watched him with her eyes wide.

It wasn't until they had cut her several times did someone hear her strangled screams for help.

She knocked on the dorm door, trying to compose herself. Nitori was in so much pain, bruised and bloody. They hadn't managed to cut her sex, but they cut her hair and cut her body multiple times. Had it not been for the nice shop owner who was locking up, they probably would have killed her.

'Nitori?' Rin opened the door, gasping at the sight. Nitori looked at him and fell, Rin having to catch her. She started to cry in his arms. 'Why are you wearing a skirt? What happened to you?'

Nitori blubbered out, 'S-some boys attacked me on my way home. F-forced me to…' She started to cry. She lied to Rin's face – something she never dared of doing before.

Rin growled, 'I'm going to kill them. What did they look like?' He stopped himself, knowing Nitori was in no mood to answer questions. 'I'm going to call the police.'

'Don't. They don't care about people like me.'

She grabbed a towel from a rack and limped into the bathroom. 'Don't worry about it; I'm used to it.'

Rin didn't know what she meant by 'people like me' at the time.

'Why am I thinking about this now?' Nitori looked out the window of the bus. They had arrived at their destination, but Mikoshiba was still telling them what to do.

"No running! And don't act like idiots, especially you Komade!" He pointed at a red head sitting in the back. "And no getting in fights, Rin." He glared at Rin.

He threw his hands up defensively. "I've gotten better!" Rin grinned, glancing at Nitori, who giggled.

"Alright then, let's go." Mikoshiba grabbed his whistle and clipboard.

Rin stood up and stretched. "Man it feels good to walk again." He pulled his arm behind his back. He grabbed his and Nitori's bag and started to walk off the bus. "Hurry up, Ai, or I'll leave you."

Nitori jumped up and followed Rin, trying to pull the sleeves up of her jacket. "I hope we do well today." She said, following her boyfriend.

Rin rolled his eyes. "I know we will. If we don't, I've heard the captain yell before at full force. It's not pretty." They hopped off the bus.

"What was that?" Mikoshiba stood in front of them, eyebrow raised.

Rin didn't realize Mikoshiba had heard him. "Nothing!" He said quickly.

"That's what I thought." The captain went behind the two of them and grabbed their necks.

Nitori turned her head to look at the captain. "Captain, what's the lineup for today? When does melody swim?"

"Medley swims next to last. So Matsuoka and I go before you." He explained. "I swim first, then Matsuoka, and then you. Both of you better do well."

The two smiled and nodded, walking in the large building and into the stadium's locker room.

On the way to the locker room, Nitori could hear people whispering about her. "My my, he's so cute." She ignored them. "Is that a boy or a girl?" She tried her best to keep her focus on the tournament.

"Hey, Ai. You okay? You're acting funny." Rin pushed her lightly on the back.

Nitori shook her head. "People are talking about me. They're wondering if I'm a boy or a girl." Her eyes dropped. She sighed and clutched her bag tightly.

"Forget others. You're doing this for yourself." Rin poked her back.

"Yeah…" The words echoed in her head.

The Captain was up first. Nitori couldn't help but study his well-built body as he got into formation. He grabbed the edge of the white platform and at the sound of the whistle, he pushed himself of the platform and into the water. She stared at her captain in awe, wondering if she'd ever be able to swim like that.

Rin nudged her side. "Hey, don't be staring at any other guys." He gave her a stern look, but she knew he was joking. "Amazing, isn't he?"

Nitori nodded. "Yeah. I want to be just like him." Her eyes gleamed with joy when Mikoshiba slapped his hand on the pool side in victory in getting first place. "Huh? Oh you're next, Rin."

Rin groaned and stood up from their benches. "Wish me luck, Ai." The red head ruffled her grey hair.

"Good luck, Senpai." She smiled at him.

On the way to his platform, Mikoshiba high-fived him. The large teen sat next to Nitori, shaking her out of joy. "Did you see that, Nitori?" He grinned. He shook her shoulders and made her head go back and forth.

"I-I did! You're making me dizzy!" Nitori slapped his hand away. "Rin's about to swim! I think Ms. Kou is in the crowd, so I think the pressure is heavy on him today." She stared at the red head that was in position. She cocked her head and stared harder. Mikoshiba took a sip from his water bottle. "Rin has a nice butt."

Mikoshiba choked on the water and coughed loudly. "Nitori Aiichirou don't say stuff like that out loud!" He punched his chest.

Nitori couldn't help but laugh. "I'm just stating the obvious. Please, call me Ai." Nitori told him.

He nodded and gestured to Rin. "It's about to start."

A few seconds later, the whistle blew and Rin pushed off from the platform. The few seconds he was in the water, Nitori observed his body. She wished she was built like him and could swim as well as him. He had always told her that practice would help, but she was too lazy to practice outside the mandatory practices.

Rin slapped the side and looked at the time. He had come in first and had improved his time too. He pulled himself out and cheered as he walked back to the benches. "Ai! I did it! I told you I would be good!" He slapped Nitori's back.

Nitori bumped him with her elbow to get his attention. "I'm after this round, aren't I?" Rin nodded. She sighed. "I hope I do well."

"You better, or else."

"Or what?" Nitori looked at Rin from the corner of her eye.

He had a playful glint in his eye. "I'll tickle you." Nitori covered her torso with her arms; she hated being tickled. "So you're gonna do well?"

"I guess." Nitori could see the boy before her returning. "I'm nervous."

Mikoshiba rested his arm on Nitori's head. "It's okay, there's nobody here to judge you. You know, other than Matsuoka, Gou, and I." He rolled his eyes and looked around to see Kou.

Nitori shifted her head so the captain's arm fell off. "Speaking of Ms. Kou, could you both do something for me?" She looked at her upperclassmen.

"Sure, Ai, anything." Rin smiled.

Nitori lowered her head. "Could you call her Kou, please? She wants you both to call her Kou, so don't be mean. If you can call me by my preferred name, why can't you call her by her preferred name?"

The two of them felt like they had been slapped in the face.

Rin's eyes widened, not realizing what he had been doing. "Oh my. I'm sorry, Ai. I'll call her Kou. Sorry about that."

"Tell that to her." Nitori said, not meaning to sound rude.

Mikoshiba slapped Nitori's back and shoved her up off the bench. "It's your turn, Ai. I'll apologize to Kou later."

Walking to the platform, Nitori tugged on her tank top nervously. Negative thoughts raced through her mind. What if her tank top slipped off? What if she lost? What if she passed out? She grabbed the edge of the platform, rubbing her small thumbs onto the surface.

When the whistle blew, she instinctively took off. She loved being in the water; the cool liquid flowing over her warm skin gave her comfort. It was one of the few things that she wouldn't have to morph her body to fit in; it accepted her no matter what she was.

As her feet kicked the wall at the end of the pool, she extended her arms. For a second it felt like she was a swimmer with a female body. It felt nice. She made the turn and completed the other three strokes. She slapped the platform and came out of the water. She was breathing heavy and she pulled the wet black fabric from her body. She saw the captain and Rin gaping at her, but she didn't want to turn and look at the board. But when Rin ran at her and grabbed her shoulders and started to shake her, she understood.

She had won.

Rin led her over to the benches where Mikoshiba congratulated her. The larger person slapped her shoulders and ruffled her hair as the rest of the boys yelled in victory. They'd be able to move on to the next round.

"Ai! You did it!" Rin hugged her tightly. He whispered quietly into her ear so the others wouldn't hear him, "That's my girl."

Nitori couldn't wipe the grin off her face.