"Megumi-chan?!" Makoto and Nagisa shouted in surprise. They pressed their faces against the windows, smudging marks on them. I would have to clean those marks tomorrow morning... Again.
"Megumi-chan swims?" Rei's face joined Makoto's and Nagisa's.
"Is it Megumi?" Haruka's fourth face completed the empty space left. I quickly duck back under the water and frog-kicked to the right side of the pool where their visions were cut off.
"To the right! Go to the right!" They all shouted. I quickly pulled myself up, not bothering to dry myself off. I slipped on my jacket, stuffed my shorts, goggles, and swim cap into my duffel and hauled ass outta there.
Good thing the door was left locked. I escaped into the boys' dressing room since it had an emergency exit, and it threw the guys chasing me off.
"Ehh? She went into the boys' dressing room?"
"It's not a girl then!"
"Don't you see her breasts? Obviously a girl!"
"Just follow her!"
I followed the rows of locker out. There's the exit! I shoved the door open and stumbled out less gracefully than I had planned. As the door swung shut behind me, I heard traces of their voices echoing in the empty locker room, "Where did she go?"
"Mei! Get a move on!" Aki hollered for the third time this morning. I grudgingly got up and changed into a light blue one-piece with neon-green zigzag patterns on the sides. I pulled on a light purple long-sleeved jacket and white shorts.
"I'm coming, Aki!" I trudged down the stairs and grabbed two pieces of toast and a water bottle before heading out to the pool. It wasn't that far of a walk - probably around ten minutes. By the time I got there, I noticed that only the high school guys were there waiting for me. The Iwatobi boys weren't there. I sighed in relief and chased my worries away.
"Fifty squats in the water and then handstand all the way to the other side and back! It's timed. Winners get a prize!" That perked everyone up in a heartbeat. They got into rows of ten, and began doing squats in unison. Eight minutes later, the first ten people broke away and competed in their handstand walks. I noticed that Seijuro quickly broke away from the others to join the first ten. He quickly stood on his hands and speed walked (or speed handed?). Soon enough, Seijuro slowly overtook them one by one. More and more swimmers were quickly joining in in the handstand race. A couple of other swimmers closed in on Seijuro, but he powered ahead. His head broke through the surface as he gasped for air. I was standing near the edge of the pool as he placed his arms on the tiles and propped his head up. He grinned mischievously.
"So, what is my prize, Mei-chan?" One by one, the others finished their round and lined up at the edge too, in position like Seijuro.
"Ne, ne. Megumi-chan, what about us?" Their voices chorused into a jumble.
"Seijuro-kun, what do you want as a prize?" I smiled. I had a feeling that I knew what he was going to ask for.
"I want a kiss!" He declared boldly. Everyone's jaws dropped down in shock. Some of them were even blushing. I got down to my knees and gently held his face in between my hands. Seijuro automatically closed his eyes. Inwardly, I laughed. Little did he know that I was only going to give him a light peck on his cheek. I released him and he opened his eyes in surprise. I heard everyone else sigh in relief. I grinned mischievously and stood up.
"Okay, break time!"
Seijuro pulled himself up in front of me, pouting. "Ne, Mei-chan, you're so mean. I wanted a real kiss."
"How was that not a real kiss, Sei-kun?" I innocently asked. He continued to pout until I reluctantly said, "If you become an Olympic swimmer, I'll give you a real kiss, ne?" He beamed and then ran off to his group. Practice resumed for another three hours before I called it to an end.
I quickly went home, happy that the Iwatobi team didn't show up today. I decided not to go swimming tonight or tomorrow night. Instead, I would work on my jogging.
"Onii-san! I'm going out!" I poked my head into the kitchen to find nobody there. "Onii-san! I'm going!" I walked through the living room wearing my running shorts and a windbreaker over my tank top.
"Swimming?" Aki looked up and saw my outfit. His eyes narrowed as he watched me. "Running? You're not supposed to run. I can't believe the doctor said that you could swim, but he said not to run." I waved his comment off.
"Hai, hai. I'll be fine, onii-san. I'm just going to go for a jog, not a run." I tugged my running shoes on at the front door and headed out.
Jogging to my own pace was the only thing that I could handle after the accident. I had arrived at the small park five blocks away from my house. Spotting a swing, I staggered towards it and sat down. I was panting hard. So…tired… I caught my breath after a few minutes.
"If I hadn't gone to the gym, none of this would've happened…" I trailed off, tears beginning to form in the corners of my eyes. I swiped them away.
[FLASHBACK]
A year ago, my team in northern Japan was practicing for a national meet in the gym. We were running the treadmill, riding the bicycle, doing yoga, or lifting weights. The boys from the neighboring school decided to join us in exercising. One of my friends and I were standing near the boy lifting weights as we were chatting. She playfully pushed me, causing me to stumble backwards. At the same time, the guy stood, lifting the weights up and turned around with it. The impact of the heavy weights crushed against my chest. I remember everyone freezing and turning around to see me crumple to the ground. I woke up in the hospital, a week later to a new heart transplant and broken ribs. It took two weeks for me to completely recover since the surgeon mended my ribs. It healed nice and fast. A month later, I was discharged. With only a month left for the national meet, I picked back up with my training. Only issue was, my time slowed down by two minutes. My fastest time for breaststroke was a minute and forty-three seconds in a 200m race. My time for a 100m was almost half that time. I kept telling myself that I was fine and would get back into shape. I almost believed in it.
The day of the national meet, I was going in individual competitions of 50m and 100m breaststroke since my coach didn't want me to kill myself. I already finished first in the 50m race, and it was now time for my last competition. We had already won first in our relay as a team of four. My heart was already pounding from the energy that I used up. I tried to calm down and slow my irregularly fast heartbeat. I had climbed up on the small diving platform, getting ready. My teammates and coach noticed that I had clutched the bathing suit where my heart was. They called out to the judges and asked them to let me forfeit. I forced a smile upon my face and waved to them, signalling that I was fine when I really was not.
"Get, ready. Get, set. BANG." The gun sounded and I dove into the water with a majestic arc. I stayed steady with my pace and I managed to flip off the wall in third. I picked my pace up, passing second. My heart continued to pound until I felt I was literally dying. I immediately stopped swimming, planted my feet on the ground, and clutched my bathing suit over my heart. I was gasping for air as I coughed blood out. The race continued until all the other members finished. By that time, I was already struggling to walk to the end with my hand over my heart and the other over my mouth. My coach and teammates had jumped in and carried me out, hollering for the medics. The judges stood and watched along with everyone.
"Hang in there, Miss Haruno. You'll be just fine. Stay with me, you'll make it." A medic was holding onto my hand as I drifted in and out of conscious.
"Sumimasen, min'na," I whispered. Voices echoed through my head, "It is okay. It's not your fault."
Once again, I found myself in the hospital after three days of being in a coma. I woke up to find everyone on my swim team beside me with worried expressions.
"Are you okay?" They all shouted. I smiled wearily and nodded my head. They all told me happily that we came in first overall. We had gotten first on nearly everything, except for my 100m breaststroke and three other races. At least we came first in Japan, I thought. My doctor then came in, chasing everyone out.
"You can go back swimming after six months. You just can't compete or participate in any activities that rapidly increase your heartbeat. That's too dangerous." I agreed to his conditions and retired from my swimming team.
I got up from the swing and stretched.
"Time to head home, ne?" I began my jog back home.
