I was already back at Daichi-sensei's pool, focusing my attention on the middle-schoolers. They were practically begging for my attention with their eyes. I smiled to myself; this is why little kids are so adorable. I gave them all a ten minute break before switching gears.
"Group one, I want you all do work on the melody. Groups of four, in this order: breaststroke, butterfly, backstroke, and freestyle. Forms more groups if you have too many swimmers." The older guys began to shuffle about, and somehow, the Iwatobi boys ended up next to me.
"Mei-chan, are you okay today?" Nagisa looked at me with his lovely violet eyes. I was the same height as him. I beamed a bright smile at him as the middle-schoolers whined in the background.
"Onee-sama! Mei-sama! Mei-sempai!" They began to whine.
"Please don't push yourself, Mei-chan," Makoto gently said. I sighed irritably, "Just pretend I never told you guys about my condition. I'm actually perfectly fine. I can still do everything, including swimming."
"So it was you at the pool three nights ago," Haru inputted. Startled, I had forgotten about that.
"Erm, uh, yeah." Rei sighed happily.
"Now that I know Megumi-sama is doing well, I can live my life happily. Megumi-sama is the only one who I can say that I can look up to. Her form is even more beautiful that Nanase-kun's."
Nagisa's eyes lit up like a firework display. "Ne, ne, really, Mei-chan? Can I see? Haru-chan and Mako-chan's heads were so big that I couldn't see! They both hogged the windows, so Rei-chan and I didn't see your dive!" His voice carried through the pool, catching everyone's attention. Soon enough they were all shouting, "I want to see Mei-chan dive!"
Nagisa realized his mistake and quickly covered his mouth. "Mei-chan, sumimasen!" I sighed once again – it seemed like I was often doing that now…
"Will you all get back to practice if I dive? I have to train you guys to become professionals, you know."
"Hai! Hai, hai!" They all shouted gleefully. I could see the older guys beginning to drool as perverted thoughts crossed their minds.
"Don't push yourself too hard, Mei-chan!" the Iwatobi boys cheered on. Yeah, yeah.
I climbed up the 10m tall diving board, standing on the edge. My heart began to pound uncontrollably and my hand automatically reached towards my chest to clutch it. I could see Makoto and Rei whispering to Haru and Nagisa about something while pointing up at me. I'm alone. I'm practicing alone in the pool at night. The moon is out, shining brightly. It's a full moon. Yeah, and those whispers are the leaves in the wind. I took a deep breath to steady my heart and allowed gravity to pull me down as I performed a 'back three-and-a-half inward tuck,' one different from when Haru and the other three saw me.
I resurfaced up within seconds, to be greeted by loud cheers. I did it! I excitedly smiled, feeling alive to perform in front of everyone. It's been almost a year and a half since I've swam in front of others.
Practice soon ended as the boys all filed out, bidding me goodbye. I smiled, waving.
"See you Monday, Mei-chan!"
"Jā!"
"Mei-chan! That was awesome!" I felt a body glomp onto my back and I saw it was Nagisa. Honestly, he never ceases to amaze me with his childish behavior. His muscular abs were pressed against my half-exposed back, and his amazing triceps were wrapped around my waist. I felt myself blush. But before my face could turn beet red, I pried myself from his grasp and whacked him for a good measure on the back of his head.
"Don't surprise people like that! It's bad for the heart!"
"Ah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make your condition worse, Mei-chan!" Nagisa's sad eyes struck a chord in my heart, causing me to feel a twinge of guilt.
"Just uh, don't do it too often, ne?" I gently patted his head and he smiled again. So simple-minded… I felt a pair of eyes studying me. I looked up to find Haru staring at me as his eyes roamed over my body shamelessly.
"Pervert," I muttered. Their heads all snapped up as I directed my comment towards Haru.
"No," he replied. "How do you swim with them?"
"Huh?" I followed his gaze down to my breasts. Heat rushed to my cheeks. "I bind them when I swim, but not when I'm just training you guys. I don't swim in front of others." Gee, they're only a small B-cup. Haru continued to stare. The other three noticed my discomfort, resulting in them trying the change the subject.
"Do you swim every night, Mei-chan?" Makoto turned his warm green gaze upon me. I nodded my head.
"Do you mind if we came to join you, Megumi-sama?" Rei's purple eyes looked at me, begging for me to say yes.
"Yes, I do mind." That shattered their hearts. Dejected expressions were openly displayed on their faces. Why do I feel so guilty? A tugging sensation occurred in my chest again as I clutched my bathing suit. Haru's blue eyes noticed my movement, making me release my grip. I smiled nervously at him before abruptly turning away.
"I might accidently leave the door unlocked at ten. Maybe, maybe not." I lifted my arm up, not bothering to turn around.
It was already 8:30pm when I was ready to leave.
"Onii-san! I'm leaving now!" I shouted. Aki grunted back in response as I left the house. Humming a tune softly to myself, I made way towards the empty indoor pool. I tugged my boy-shorts down and my jacket off. Stretching, I wanted to make sure that I swam a bit before they arrived. I stepped up to the diving platform, readying myself for a one-man melody.
"Freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke, and then finish with the butterfly," I chanted. "I can do it!" If my year-long training paid off, then I would be able to make a full recovery for the Olympics in two years. I was almost at my best times once again.
Go! I dove into the water, feeling home at last. I propelled myself forward with my feet working like a tail. I broke the surface, not stopping. I swam 200m of each. Within ten minutes, I was finished with my routine, feeling breathless as my heart pounded away. I wouldn't be surprised if I had another attack right now. I hauled myself out of the pool to look for a lounge raft. I found one in the storage closest, dragging it back to the pool. I laid on top of it and closed my eyes for a quick nap. I still had an hour and ten minutes left.
"–an. –chan. Mei-chan." I swatted whoever was calling out to me away. I don't want to wake up yet, Aki. Hands were shaking my shoulder. Something wet dripped over my face and I cracked my eye open to a slit. A face zoned in and out as my heart continued to beat irregularly.
"I need my medicine, onii-san," I mumbled, holding a hand out. Nothing appeared in my hand so I opened both eyes slowly. Green, gold, blue, and purple eyes peered at me, directly in my face.
"Ahh!" I screamed, falling into the water. I came up sputtering. "W-wh-when did you guys get here?"
"Two minutes ago, Mei-chan!" Nagisa giggled. "You looked so cute while you were sleeping, ne, Mako-chan? Ne, ne, Mei-chan! Mako-chan and Haru-chan couldn't stop staring at you!" I raised an eyebrow at the older two boys. It was cute how they both blushed at the same time, looking away.
"Do you need your medicine, Megumi-sama?" Rei asked, concerned.
"Ah, no, I don't. Thanks for asking. And please, just call me Mei-chan. No more with the –sama stuff. I only have four more years until I'm normal." That caught both Haru and Mako's attentions.
"What?" Haru questioned. I looked at him.
"My grandfather was an Olympic five-time gold medallist when he was eighteen. He used to tell me, 'When you're ten, they call you a prodigy; when you're fifteen, they call you a genius; and when you're twenty, you're normal.' I guess when you're five, they just call you a brat or a trainee." I chuckled.
"My late grandmother used to tell me that!" Haru exclaimed (or as close as to exclaiming as he could sound).
"Mei-chan!" Nagisa sweetly sang out, "Will you swim with us? Oh oh! What's your form?"
"Baka! She's an elite swimmer who has won against everyone in all four forms!" Rei hissed.
"Oh yeah! Ne, Mei-chan, let's race!" Nagisa continued to nag. I sighed, reluctant to race.
"Hai, hai. Give me three minutes." I swam over to the side and pulled myself up. I padded towards my duffle bag and grabbed a watch, a stethoscope, a notebook, and a pencil before heading back.
"Mako-chan, can you help me take my pulse?" He nodded his head as I handed him my watch. He leaned on the tiles and looked up at me, waiting for instructions.
"I need your hand for this." I grabbed one of his big, warm hands and placed his two fingers on my neck, right where my pulse was beating. Count how many times it pulsed in a minute. I'm going to check my wrist." I put the stethoscope on and we began to measure my pulse.
"100 times a minute," Mako announced. I wrote today's entry in my notebook:
November 16, 2013
Neck: 100/minute
Wrist: 76/minute
Heart:
"Can you measure my heart rate, Mako-chan? I can't stand the way it sounds, so my onii-san usually does that." I handed him the stethoscope as he looked at me nervously.
"A-are you sure?" I waved his question off and nudged the instrument towards him. He took it and counted my heartbeats. "108," he whispered. I scribbled it in:
November 16, 2013
Neck: 100/minute
Wrist: 76/minute
Heart: 108/minute
"That isn't normal, Mei-chan." Rei butted in. I sent him withering with a glare.
"I'm fine. If they're all above 110, then it's an emergency. But since the pulse in my wrist is below 80, I'm fine."
"Let's race!" Nagisa paid no heed. He continued to chatter nonsense, causing me to crack a small smile.
"I'll race with freestyle, ne? You can swim your favorite form, how about that?" Haru also stepped up to the diving platform. Rei scrambled up also. Mako sighed, staying to the side.
"I'll judge. Ready positions." The four of us leaned forward with our goggles on. "Set. Go!" I had to admit, Haru's diving form was also beautiful.
I swam forward, keeping a steady pace. I stayed in line with Haru entire time, until we were on our last 100m of 200m. Coming close to the third lap, I broke ahead, completing my flip faster than Haru. I propelled forward, not stopping. The finish line was so close. I stretched my hand out and grabbed onto the wall, arching my back inwards, while flipping my hair like a mermaid. Mako and Haru stared at me in awe as we waited for Rei to finish his butterfly and Nagisa's breaststroke.
"Did you see Mei-chan's freestyle?" Mako exclaimed. "She beat Haru by a good 2.1 seconds!" I turned around to face Haru.
"I really hope that you didn't go easy on me, Haru-chan." Somehow I felt frustrated. He shook his head, "I really gave it my all. You're really good."
Little did I know that the four of them were plotting something.
