(3rd Person POV)
"Kon'nichiwa, this is Haruno Aki, the guardian of Haruno Megumi. She's missed school last week. Hai. She'll also miss this week. Huh? Oh, hai. She just underwent a heart surgery. Hai, I'll give her your regards. Hai, you can tell the class. Oh? Mei-chan will be able to go back next week. I will let her know. Arigatō."
Aki glanced at Mei, who was still in a coma from the heart surgery. Hiroshi told him that it was a success, despite her pulse dropping once. She should wake up any day now. It was already three days after the surgery on Thursday.
Wake up soon, Mei. Aki rested his head on Mei's bed, closing his eyes.
Laughter floated into the evening sky. It was my first time going out with friends to an amusement park at the age of ten. Well, I went with the girls from my swim team, but they were my only friends.
"Wahh! It was so much fun!" I exclaimed.
"I know, right?! The rollercoasters were definitely my favorite!" One by one, our voices joined in on commenting about our favorite rides. Our family members waited outside of the park's gate, waiting to pick us up.
"Oh look! My mommy's here! Jā ne!" My friends slowly began to disappear and I followed suit once I spotted Aki-nii.
"Onii-san!" I shouted, waving my hand. He walked over to me and took my hand. "Min-na, jā ne!" Aki opened the car door for me and I climbed in, tired. We rode home in silence. By the time we got home, Aki carried me to bed before he took a bath. I had felt dizzy and a bit sick from all the roller coasters so I had Aki sleep with me. Before long, I was dreaming of an underwater world, where I never wanted to leave.
I thought about how the calm feeling of the water in my fantasy world felt compared to my situation now. I could feel the water beginning to stir, as if wind was rippling across the surface, swirling the water underneath.
I opened my eyes for what seemed like forever. I noticed a figure sleeping with his head on my bed, and I recognized him to be Aki-nii. All these wires were hooked on to me: on my fingers, chest, temple, and an IV in my arm. Already used to them from my multiple experiences from the hospital, I skilfully unhooked everything. Taking the needle out of my arm was my most hated experience – I had to be really careful or else I would accidently cut my own vein. With everything off of me, I quietly slipped out of bed in my hospital gown. I was out in the cold hallway with some nurses bustling about.
If I remember correctly, the garden should be on the fifth floor. I snuck into the elevator and rode it down two floors. The doors slide open, revealing a botanical garden, completed with a large water fountain that spewed out crystal clear water; tall rose bushes outlining a maze; and a variety of exotic plants and flowers. They never ceased to amaze me every time.
"There's a swimmer just like you, Maktsuoka-kun. She's a really brave girl, only sixteen – a year younger than you." A familiar voice said. I quickly hid behind a small forest of trees, peering behind the trunks. I saw Hiro-kun standing with a young man with reddish-brown hair who was seventeen. He didn't bother turning to face Hiro.
"Oh? Who is she?" He asked with mild interest.
"Mei-chan. Ah, that's right, you might not know her." I bristled, slightly offended that a swimmer might not know my name. "She's Haruno Megumi. She just underwent heart surgery for the third time, and she's still chasing after the same dream that she has had since she was two." Hiro chuckled, taking his rectangular glasses off. "Mei-chan really doesn't know how to give up; her condition is very fragile – her heart beats too fast. Though she has irregular pulses in her wrist, heart, and neck, if all go over 110 beats per minute, it's fatal."
"Wait, the Megumi Haruno? The prodigy swimmer from age two? The one who disappeared after her accident that time in the nationals meet three years ago?" Maktsuoka-kun pressed for further information. "The reporters said that she had quit swimming because she lost for the first time in her life!"
Honestly?! Was that what the reporters from NJN (National Japanese News) said?! I stepped forward, rustling the tree leaves, which caused the two of them to turn around. Shocked was expressed on both of their faces, but for Hiro, it quickly turned pale.
"M-m-m-Mei-chan! It's not l-l-like I was t-talking about you!" Hiro stuttered. I arched an eyebrow at him.
"Oh?" Laughing, I spun around, letting the gown flutter. "Mā ne, it's not like you lied about me or anything, Hiro-kun." I stopped twirling, facing the other person. "Kon'nichiwa, Maktsuoka-kun! For the record, I lost the 200m breaststroke because my heart failed on me. I had just gotten the transplant a month before the nationals meet." I winked at him. "And I didn't disappear off the face of the earth. Hiro-kun told me that I couldn't swim competitively again since I couldn't obtain a stronger heart."
"Ob…tain?" He asked.
"Hai, hai! I'm on my third heart!" The cheery smile on my face faded away to one filled with regret and sorrow.
"I'm Maktsuoka Rin,' he offered. Hiro caught my eye, smiling as he pointed back towards the elevator before disappearing.
"Hiro-kun! Tell onii-san that I'm just out, please! He'll have a fit if he sees me gone again!" Hiro waved goodbye and walked out of the garden.
"So Rin-chan," I began, "what is your dream?" He rolled his eyes at 'Rinchan,' smiling.
"My friends used to call me 'Rin-chan,'" he replied softly. "My dream? Beat an old friend and go to the Olympics. What about you?"
My eyes lit up. "You too? Wahh! We're both chasing after the same dream!" I spun around again, laughing. "Fate is sure funny." Rin-chan stared at me, wanting to ask a question but debating whether he should or not.
"Go ahead and ask your question, Rin-chan. But I get to ask you a question too"
"Why are you here?"
"I just got my third heart transplant four days ago. I was in a coma for three days. I just woke up," I stated simply. "My turn: why are you here?"
"I was moving my stuff into my new dorm and I hurt my shoulder. It's just a bruise." I knew we were going to ask each other lots of question so I motioned for him to sit down at the fountain.
"What happened to you after the nationals meet?" Rin got right to the point. I sighed miserably.
"I had to go through another heart surgery immediately. Hiro-kun said that I couldn't swim competitively anymore, since it might fail me a third time. But I went through therapy again for a month. So you're a swimmer, huh?"
"…Yeah…"
"Wait, no! That wasn't the question! I was just making sure! Who were the friends you mentioned earlier?" I quickly corrected my error. I caught him snickering at me, which made me puff my cheeks out.
"Huh, you probably wouldn't know them since you're famous and everything… It's Nanase Haruka, Tachibana Makoto, and Hazuki Nagisa."
I froze. I slowly turned my head towards him.
"Haru-chan and the others?" Anger rushed through me at the thought of him after he said those words to me.
"You know them?!" Rin exclaimed. I huffed.
"Of course. I trained them for almost a year at the indoor pool with Daichi-sensei! They got me to transfer to their school and join their swim club!" He looked stunned.
"You…trained them? That would explain why he's gotten so much better last time I saw him, about seven months ago."
"My turn again," I laughed.
"Ehh?! I didn't ask you a question!" Rin protested.
"Yes you did! You asked if I knew them." I smiled, winking at him. "Just kidding, you can go." Silence. "Rin-chan?"
"Will you compete again? I really enjoyed watching you swim. It's like Haru's, but better and more elegant. I don't know how to explain it, but it captivated me." He stared at me. That was when I noticed his gentle red eyes. How can his red eyes look so gentle?
"I'm going to try. I just got a stronger heart, so I'll test it out next week, once I get out. I'll break out of here once I get a week of therapy. I'm tired of missing out an entire month, so I'll escape while I can ne?" We sat in silence, watching the sun beginning to set. The sky changed from light blue to an orange color, bathing the botanical garden in a light orange hue. I rubbed my eyes, trying to stay awake as my eyelids became heavy.
"Ne, Rin-chan?"
"Hmm?"
"Can you help me back to my room please?" He stood up, dusting his pants off. He held out a hand for me, and I grabbed it. It was surprisingly warm even though the weather outside was chilly for early October. As we headed towards the elevator, I stumbled, almost falling on my face.
"You remind me of my younger sister, you know." He knelt down, motioning for me to get onto his back, since he was six inches taller than me. He lifted me up after I wrapped my arms around his neck. Feeling exhausted, I rested my head on his shoulder, closing my eyes.
Onii-san, Hiro-kun, I'll show you guys that because of your support, I can make my dream come true. Just give me two years to work ten times as hard as I did, and I'll show you. I promise. That was the last thought I had before falling asleep as Rin carried me.
