I blushed as I showed up in the pool area in my swimsuit. It was just a simple one-piece suit, and although I had nothing against showing my body, I only became conscious of the fact that I was the only girl in this club that had to dress like this. I expected Matsuoka to wear one, but she made the excuse of being only a manager and not being good at sports.

"Let's just record your times for today. Is that fine, Nakahara-san?" Matsuoka asked. When I nodded, she scribbled notes on her clipboard. "You know how to swim all strokes, right?" I nodded. "Well, let's just see which stroke is your fastest and we'll see what we can do from there."

Nagisa and Ryugazaki were doing warm-ups. It became a club rule to do warm-ups before intense practices, but I was exempted since I was only doing time trials.

Even though I was only doing time trials, Tachibana and Nanase came to watch practice today. Tachibana, as I was told, used to be the team captain, and since he already graduated from this club, Ryugazaki became team captain because they knew Nagisa had no interest in that much responsibility.

I stepped up on the platform. I already knew how this worked, so having proper, but not perfect, form on diving wasn't an issue. The water looked so calm today. Everything was so peaceful and quiet.

All was going smoothly.

Until the whistle was blown.

I felt something freeze up in me as I dove and began the front crawl first. I was able to swim a few meters, but I realised I kept rising up for breath and my arms were tensing up. When I heard the voices again, I knew what was happening. I gritted my teeth and swam further.

Soon my goggles started to fill up with water. In fact, they were my tears. The voices grew louder, and the more I couldn't move anymore. I rose up the surface and struggled to breath.

Since my legs had also frozen up, I couldn't stay afloat. In my struggle for oxygen, I swallowed so much pool water. The chlorine was making me sick. Then I began to sink as my vision went black.

Other than feeling the tightening feeling in my chest, it felt heavy. I felt like something was pushing it and preventing me to breathe. It was also cold, except for my lips.

Suddenly I felt water rise up my throat. From bodily instincts, I coughed it all out, releasing the load in chest. My eyes slowly opened, and I saw Nanase's face over mine. Droplets of water from the tips of his hair fell on my forehead, waking me up.

"Are you alright?"

"What happened?" I croaked.

Tachibana came over and helped me sit up. "You were doing well, then you just stopped," he explained. He had some sort of fear flashing in his eyes. "You... you were drowning. Haru saved you."

My eyes trailed over to Nanase. His clear blue eyes were watching my intently as if he was trying to examine me. Suddenly, the numbness was all washed away, and I was bombarded with numerous emotions.

Dissapointment, anger, embarrassment were all I felt at myself. But when I looked at Nanase, an overwhelming sense of thankfulness flooded through me. He made me feel better.

"Thank you," I whispered.

Nanase nodded.

As I bowed as low as I could, I apologized several times for disrupting their practice. Matsuoka made a fuss and said it was alright. Tachibana patted my back lightly to comfort me while Nanase, Nagisa, and Ryugazaki stood in the corner.

"Do you want sweets, Kai-chan?" Nagisa asked after a while. "Sweets will help you feel better." He ran and dragged Ryugazaki along, saying, "Rei-chan, let's buy some for everybody."

"Nagisa! Rei! Practice isn't over yet!" Makoto called after them. He sighed when he figured out the blonde wouldn't listen to him.

"What happened out there?" Matsuoka asked as lightly as she could.

"She resisted and fought the water," Nanase said.

"What does that even mean?" I frowned at him.

Makoto laughed half-heartedly, "Haru has a connection with the water. Don't worry about not understanding him. And you don't have to pressure yourself in telling us."

"Telling us what?" Nagisa asked as he approached us. He was eating some sort of bread while holding a plastic bag filled with the same variety. Rei followed him carrying a bag of drinks.

Matsuoka began to lecture them about health issues and muscle growth. As far as I know, she has an addiction for muscles.

I took a deep breath and made my decision. I cleared my throat to catch their attention. Matsuoka and Nagisa stopped their bickering and looked at me in question.

"If we're going to be a team, I might as well tell you the truth..."

"... and I need to keep my scholarship for the sake of my mother."

The fact that the team was noisy as a rock deflated my spirit. That was it. I was going to be kicked out of the team.

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