Chapter Two - Push off
After lunch, things had become very exciting. They hastily walked for their classes together, chatting about Emiko's fantastic salesmanship.
"I seriously think you're missing your calling." Her brunette friend, Shimizu Mori laughed, nudging her gently with her elbow.
"It's definitely going on my resume." She replied, waving as her third friend, Izumi Kumiko, split from the group and headed into her classroom.
The two carried on down the corridor at a light jog, hoping nobody would catch them and that they wouldn't be late. To their relief, they slipped into the end of the queue as their class filed into their biology lesson.
Their teacher had set the gruesome task of dissecting the heart of some poor creature and sketching what they found in the sections. Having to swallow down the horrific lumps in their throats, they gritted their teeth and got on with the assignment, neither really wanting to open their mouths to speak when they could taste the scent on their tongues.
The bell saved them from further documentation of something that was not meant to be found outside the ribcage, and they shot out of the class faster than humanly possible. Just one more lesson, they thought. One more hour and they could swim.
One more hour...
Being on the top floor of the building, his eyes could settle on their pool and let him daydream for the entire lesson, as was usual for the final period. Makoto usually left him to it, knowing he would get more sense from the brick wall than when Haruka slipped into a dehydrated daze.
I never liked history anyway. He thought. What a waste of an hour...
Somewhere in the distance, the droning teacher lectured endlessly about ancient Rome; a place Haruka never intended to visit, let alone learn about. Makoto, however, was fascinated, and began chattering about it as they left the lesson.
"It's impressive, how advanced they were compared to the rest of the world at the time, right?" He looked at Haruka, but did not expect an answer. Instead he turned to look where he was going and carried on. "I mean, how cool would it be to go to Italy?"
Haruka nodded, though he did not agree. So many rivers and canals, and you're not allowed to swim in them.
"We should hurry to the pool, don't want to be late." Makoto suggested, smirking when his predictable best friend increased his pace automatically at the thought of swimming. It was almost too easy to manipulate him.
Nagisa and Rei were already there, the former humouring the latter by stretching with him. It was very unlike Nagisa to hold back from just jumping in the pool and complaining of pulled muscles later, and they wondered what Rei could possibly have said to persuade him to be sensible this once.
"Go and get changed, Mako-Chan!" Nagisa yelled as he yanked his ankle up to his bottom and wobbled on his supporting leg. Rei rolled his eyes and placed a hand against his shoulder, holding him up so he didn't end up falling over.
Haruka passed him as he returned to the changing rooms, having already been dressed for swimming beneath his uniform.
"Have you been in wet trunks all afternoon?" Makoto asked in disbelief, his blue haired friend's dedication never ceasing to amaze him.
"They dried within half hour." Haruka replied hotly, stomping off to the edge of the pool and diving in without pause.
Shaking his head, Makoto turned and jumped at the arrival of their new trial members. He recognised Shimizu Mori from a few of his lessons, and the younger girl looked familiar, but he was unsure of her name. Shimizu was a stereotypical tom boy looking sort of girl, with her sandy brown hair yanked into a messy ponytail and bangs brushed to one side, she was rarely seen wearing her blazer, and often told off for wearing her tie incorrectly. She'd abandoned it completely during the journey from class to the changing rooms. Izumi, however, was very much the opposite. Her uniform still immaculate, an impossibly symmetrical bow tucked under her collar and white frilly ankle socks sticking out over her Mary-Jane pumps. Her face was round and childlike, framed by straight, pale pink hair in a chin-length cut and bangs that tickled her eyelids. Her pale skin did nothing to add colour to her almost colourless complexion, but she was no doubt pretty in a youthful, cute way.
Emiko grinned. "Makoto-taichou! This is Shimizu and Izumi. We're all so excited for today's session!"
The other two nodded in agreement behind her, Shimizu flashing a winning grin, while Izumi settled for a shier smile.
"Welcome!" He nodded to the three of them, then gestured to the changing room. "I'm afraid we don't have separate changing rooms, but I'm sure we could sort out a blind of some sort in future..."
"That's fine. You get changed first, we can wait." Emiko insisted, feeling like she had to speak for the three of them while the formalities were still underway. Makoto agreed, hurrying in and changing quickly as Gou approached the three girls.
"Izumi-chan! I didn't know you were joining!" The red head said with delight, clasping Izumi's hand and pulling it up between them. "I can't tell you how nice it is to be having some girls on the team! Far too much testosterone around here."
"I don't know... It has it's plus sides..." Shimizu muttered, carefully watching as Makoto wandered out toward the pool clad in tight ankle length trunks and his open swim club jacket. They couldn't help but giggle.
Having finally gotten changed and pulled their hair up out of the way, they stepped out together, towels at hand and met with the current Iwatobi swim club. Gou had obviously been planning all afternoon, and started her speech the moment they were through with introductions.
"Okay, so I figured since it's our first day back from the relay race and we have trial members, we should go back to basics. I made a note of your techniques and bad habits of late, and so our old exercises should stamp them out. This also gives our trial members a chance to see what we do. Okay?"
They all made sounds of assent, and their manager grinned. Pulling out her schedule, she ordered them into four lanes, one of which was alone. Haruka had made a point of choosing the end lane, and shrugged when Gou suggested he did two laps instead of one.
The first four stepped up onto the starting blocks, the regular members clutching the edge, though Izumi and Emiko stood tall upon them.
Gou, who was completely thrown by the strange preparation, glanced sideways at Rei and Nagisa, who were waiting for their turn at the side. They too looked surprised, but Shimizu did not look phased at all. With a gentle shrug, the manager called for them to be ready, (to which the two males tensed) and blew the whistle. The girls bent their knees and pushed their heads forward, then sprung like an adder striking from it's coiled position, barely making a splash at all as they broke the surface.
It was usually Haruka they watched, but they all found themselves watching this foreign type of swimming, clearly not made for speed, but for grace. Not once did they break the surface until they reached the starting wall, and even then it seemed like it was only because they'd finished their length.
"Do they have gills?" Nagisa gasped, his eyes wide with disbelief.
"I feel like I'm drowning just watching them..." Rei muttered.
Shimizu giggled behind them. "It's what we do, you train to be strong and powerful in your strokes, we train our breathing so we can be submerged for longer."
Haruka hopped out with ease and stepped back onto the starting block, nodding to Nagisa as he took the lane next to him. "It's like they're fish, Haru-Chan!"
"Fish don't hold their breath." He replied quietly, but Nagisa laughed.
"Like a dolphin, then!"
Haruka couldn't reply, with Gou already calling to get ready, he clutched the edge of the starting block and tensed.
Within the hour, Gou had finished her strict training regime and had given up trying to conclude the session as Nagisa had become far too excitable about the new type of swimming.
"Can you show us?" He cried, dancing around Izumi and stepping on Shimizu's foot. He barely paused his pleading to apologise. "Please? Please!"
They all looked at Emiko, who shrugged and hurried for the pool, jumping high in the air and barrel rolling fowards to dive in feet first. Shimizu laughed and sprung with one foot onto a starting block and swan diving after her.
Izumi glanced back at Gou, a light frown on her face. "You don't mind, do you?"
The red head shrugged. "Go ahead, I'd finished here anyway."
She nodded back at her and performed a simple, but elegant dive and swam to meet her team mates. With very little communication between them, they rolled onto their backs and lifted their right legs into the air. Having no music to use, they watched each other, keeping an easy rhythm going between themselves. They submerged, Shimizu and Emiko crouching low in the water, but careful not to touch the bottom as Izumi placed her feet onto their shoulders. With a slight nod from Emiko, they beat their legs down and threw Izumi into the air above, moving aside with a quick roll to get out of the way of Izumi's landing space. Their legs once again rose out of the water, bending in impressive formations at exactly the same time, then all of a sudden they rippled on after the other, like dominoes. Forming a triangle, they took each others left leg and bent the right knee into the air, their spare arms rotating them gently until, without any indication, they broke apart. Still in a triangle, they threw one arm up in the air, then brought it across their heart and bowed the heads in a finale.
When they looked up, they could see the swim club had been stunned into silence. Nagisa's mouth hung open stupidly, whilst Rei's eyes seemed to glisten with tears. Haruka looked on the verge of saying something with a frown on his face and Makoto wore a huge grin on his face, being the first to clap. The others joined in quickly. The excitement proved to be too much for Nagisa, and he ran for the pool.
Everything moved too quickly for anybody to process properly. Rei yelled something about running by the pool, Shimizu had tried to lunge forward, a yelp of warning just passing her lips, but the blond boy tucked his legs up as he jumped, bombing into the pool. It was only as he hit the water did he realise his mistake; Emiko had been swimming for the edge and hadn't seen him coming until he was landing on top of her.
He moved aside immediately, blabbering apologies as he hoisted her up. Her hand had already flown to her mouth as she surfaced, and she made a half giggle-gasp as she tried to decide whether to cry or not. Tentatively, she looked down at her hand.
The noise was instantaneous. Shizmizu squealed, Nagisa recoiled in horror and his voice volume escalated in panic.
"It's okay!" Emiko said, turning to look at Nagisa as he burst into tears. "It's just a nosebleed!" She insisted.
A pair of hands scooped under armpits, pulling her out of the pool and steering her for the changing rooms. It wasn't until she was sat on the bench did she see it was Haruka who had pulled her from the madness.
Gou came walking briskly in with a determined look on her face and a green toolbox in hand. To Emiko's shame, it had a large white cross on the top.
"I'm so sorry Emiko, I didn't see you-"
"Is there anything I can get you?"
"Should I get a teacher?"
"Maybe we should call her parents?"
"Everybody get out!" Haruka suddenly blurted, and even though he was fairly quiet about it, he had in certain tone to his voice that nobody dared to ignore. When they all went quiet he lowered his voice to his usual, calm one. "Makoto, can you get a towel please? Gou, we're going to need some ice pops. There's some money in my trousers."
"Ice pops?" She began to question, but Makoto urged her to just do as he asked with a gentle shove against her back.
Everybody else reluctantly left the room, hovering at the door in case they were needed. When Makoto gently wrapped her in a towel, he left as well.
All the while, Haruka had been pinching Emiko's nose and mopping the excess blood from under it. She stared at the empty space above his head, feeling extremely awkward.
"Do you know what happened?" He asked quietly as he pulled out an anti-septic wipe one-handedly from the packet and dabbed it at her lip. She hissed before she began to speak.
"Nagisa landed on my back," she told him, patting her lower right side. "So I slammed into the pool wall, nose first. I get nosebleeds anyway." She told him.
"I don't think it's just your nose." Haruka muttered, he didn't tell her more as he let go of her nose and wiped his hands. "I'm going to need you to breathe through your mouth while the blood clots." He told her. She nodded once, the muttered an apology when he told her not too move her head too much.
As he dabbed away at her, she stayed quiet and cringed away in her mind. What a fine first lesson.
"Your lip is cut, but I've cleaned it. It's not a very deep one." He decided.
"Thank you." She muttered feebly, feeling pitiful and ridiculous.
He nodded once, the began to run his hand along her forehead. "Are you feeling sick at all?"
"A little." She replied honestly. "But I think he winded me, really."
Haruka pursed his lips, the stood up to wash his hands. "You might need to go to the emergency room."
She looked at him exasperatedly. "You said it was just a small cut and a nosebleed!"
"It could be concussion too." He replied. "It's better to have yourself checked over."
"At the hospital." She groaned.
He stayed quiet, not sure what to say. He had made his verdict. Gou saved him the argument, returning with a box of Popsicles.
"They only had a multi-pack." She shrugged, not surprised by the turnout, with it being late summer. She held the box out to him, and he pulled one packet out.
"Give the rest to them." He gestured to the crowd edging their way around the door slowly, and Gou shooed them all out again.
"Here."
Emiko jumped, looking up at the blue haired boy who was holding half a popsicle out to her. She took it, mumbling a thanks, then frowned down at it. Instead of explaining it to her, he moved her hand to place the ice over her cut lip, and the effect was instantaneous.
"Try and breathe through your mouth." He said, then stuck his half of the popsicle in his mouth.
"Easier said than done with an ice pop in my mouth." She muttered under her breath, then stood with a sigh.
A hand came down on her shoulder. "Sit." Haruka ordered.
"I have to put clothes on." She told him. "I can't go to the hospital in my swimming costume."
He glanced down at her white and silver one-piece, realising she had a point. She snorted, to which came a fantastic second nose bleed, and headed for the changing rooms with a tissue pressed against her nose.
ER. She cringed as she headed to do the inevitable; call her parents. Though perhaps the emergency room wasn't such a bad idea, verticality was not a good feeling for her, and she decided to skip the phone call and head straight for the toilets.
A hand came down on her back and rubber gently another pulling a stray strand of hair from her glistening forehead As she dry heaved.
"Sorry." She muttered weakly once she was sure her nausea had subsided. Izumi shook her head, eying the cut on Emiko's lip.
"Haruka-Kun thinks you should go to hospital."
Emiko nodded slightly, regretting the quick movement immediately. "I think he's right."
Izumi stayed quiet for a moment while Emiko made her way for her clothes. "Would you like me to come?"
"Nah... I'm going to call Mom."
"I'll do it." Shizumi muttered as she poked her head around the cubicle. "Help her get dressed." She added to Izumi, who agreed.
Nagisa, who had taken quite a bit of scolding and had since been in bits with guilt, had finally managed to calm down as the girls gave them the okay to enter.
"Since when were you good with first aid, anyway, Haruka?" Makoto asked, only really questioning it now because he'd never seen his closest friend take over a situation like this before. Thankfully, not many opportunities had arisen anyway.
Haruka stayed quiet. His eyes flashed up at Makoto, then away to Rei. It was the latter who understood first.
"Since the training camp, right?"
Again, he decided to say nothing. The others took it as an affirmative, and exchanged glances. Makoto simply smiled and patted him on the back, putting his emotions across that way rather than voicing how truly touched he was by the news.
Once dressed, they walked out to hear distant yelling. It seemed Emiko's parents weren't too happy about the news of her accident.
"I know, I was stupid." She pleaded, having now taken over the phone call before Shizumi could inform them that it was, in fact, Nagisa's fault. "I slipped and fell face first into the pool. I should have been looking where I was going."
"Emiko-san-"
She pushed a hand into Nagisa's face before he could object, continuing the conversation with her mother and then hanging up.
"They're on their way."
"I'm really sorry, Emiko-san!" Nagisa rambled as he took her hand and squeezed it. "You're not too hurt, are you?"
She smiled at him and shook her head. "Stop worrying, I'll be fine."
Shizumi grinned and threw a hand over her friend's shoulder. "She's a complete clutz anyway, if you didn't do it she would have managed to do it to herself eventually."
This seemed to brightened the blond haired boy's mood considerably, though he still looked ashamed.
"She's here." Izumi said quietly, heading out the door and holding it for them. Shizumi grinned and waved at Emiko's mother, who politely returned the gesture but looked far too rigid to be sincere when her bleeding daughter hopped into the car.
They all watched as she pulled on her seatbelt, turned too look at them and wave as her mother pulled away.
"Well..." Rei muttered. "We can't really say no now, can we?"