Free –High Speed! Reunion

Chapter 6: Captive Butterfly

It was a beautiful morning and inside I was having breakfast with my parents humming away to myself now that Rei decided to join we can enter competitions! Also today, we start wearing our summer uniforms too.

"You're in an awfully good mood this morning, little sister dearest…So what happened?" Shota teased on my shoulder, which surprised me because I hadn't even heard him come down!

"None of your business!" I retorted

"Dad! Aki's being cold!" Shota whined

"Be nice you two!" Dad scolded us besides I've finished mine anyway I moved from the table put the dishes in the sink then grabbed my lunch and headed to the hallway.

"So you're not gonna tell me?!" Shota whined as he stood in the doorway and I pulled a tongue at him and headed out through the door…I swear my brother is a kid trapped in a grown up's body!


"Okay! We officially have four club members now, and it's warming up outside, so we will finally begin training in the pool today…" before Gou had even finished her sentence we both felt something move past us faster than the speed of a bullet

I turned to see Haruka-san leap into the pool which to be honest at this point I was not surprised at…

"Hold on" Gou shouted

"Haruka-san!" I scolded

"Could you listen to what I have to say first, Haruka-senpai?! Please, Haruka-senpai! Come on…" Gou exclaimed

"No good when he's in the water he doesn't listen to anyone…" I mumbled it's best to give up and continue the explanation with everyone else I turned around to see everyone looking at the training regime Gou and I found when she asked me to come over one day…to help clean.

By the looks of things, they were impressed and it looked like they were helping Rei get the gist of things.

"Anyway this is a pretty solid training regimen. Did you come up with this, Zaki-chan, Gou-chan?" Nagisa asked

"Can you stop calling me Gou? Forget it" Gou complained, "Zaki-senpai and I found when we were cleaning my house."

"Eh. Why would you help her clean her house, Zaki-chan?" Nagisa asked

"Don't ask…" I replied. To be honest I don't even know how I ended up helping out myself…

"It's my brother's old regimen." Gou explained

"Sit with legs apart and lean the upper body forward. Hold for 20 seconds. Bend one arm behind the head and use the other to push the elbow toward the center of the body. Hold 20 seconds." Ryugazaki-kun muttered away to himself as he kept stretching and Haruka finally got out of the pool and was reading Rin-san's training regimen.

I walked towards him and peaked over his shoulder "Are you that interested?" I asked and he looked over in my direction "In Rin-san's old training regimen?"

"Not really. You can write down a regimen and not follow it" He replied and passed me the piece of paper as he prepared to dive back into the pool

"So he is interested" I heard a giggle and turned to see Gou who probably overheard the conversation

Nagisa and Makoto were on the side of the pool "So cold…" Nagisa complained

"The water's still pretty cold" Makoto agreed meanwhile Ryugazaki-kun was still muttering instructions to himself and stretching against the wall.

"Rei-chan, you're still stretching?" Nagisa asked as he got out the pool

"I want to be as safe as possible" Ryugazaki-kun replied whilst still stretching

"You gonna be okay?" Makoto asked, "You can take it slow…"

"There's no need to worry" Ryugazaki-kun cut him off, "I've mastered the theory of swimming in the past few days. I won't embarrass myself again!"

Rei headed towards the diving podium everyone's eyes glued to him with concern or in Gou's case in awe at his biceps. As he leapt of the podium, his form was…amazing however, what happened next…not so much. It was the Samezuka pool incident all over again, soon we all gathered around where Rei had dived but it looked like he was swimming but not going anywhere.

Seconds later, he quickly rose to the surface gasping for air "I think you need to start by learning how to swim" Nagisa suggested

Nagisa and Makoto had jumped back into the pool and begun teaching Ryugazaki-kun to swim "Let's start with the turtle float." Makoto suggested

"I'll show you how it's done." Nagisa volunteered put his goggles on and assumed the position

"You hug your knees to your chest and relax." Makoto explained

"It's not beautiful" Ryugazaki-kun complained

"Just give it a try" Makoto replied and Ryugazaki-kun followed his instructions

"So he can float" Nagisa muttered

"Now slowly extend your arms and legs and try to swim." Makoto instructed however as soon as Ryugazaki-kun did that he sunk like a rock yet again

"No good…" Makoto muttered

Gou-chan and I were watching from the side "What's the problem?" I muttered then Haruka-san had finished another lap

"Haruka-senpai…why do you swim?" Gou-chan asked I was taken by surprise why would she ask a question like that?

"I don't have a reason." He replied

"My brother's dream is to become an Olympic swimmer. That's why he went all the way to Australia to study." Gou stated

"That's got nothing to do with me. Besides it's just a dream." Haruka retorted

"Perhaps. But I think he'll be a little closer to his dream if he's with you guys. Like when you swam the relay together." Gou-chan simply gave him a smile.


The next day…

"Forget it!" Gou and I said in unison after Nagisa pitched the idea of matching uniforms to us. Gou snatched the magazine away and showed them the new training regime we drew up together

"Is that a new training regimen?" Makoto asked

"Yes" Gou replied "We revamped the training regimen to account for the fact that Rei-kun can't swim"

"Ryugazaki-kun!" I called

"Wh-What is it?" he asked

"Given how much time we have until the regional tournament, theoretically you have to learn how to swim within a week." I answered

"Within a week?" He muttered and laughed "That's conceptually impossible."

"Ryugazaki-kun…" I was worried but

"This is no laughing matter!" Gou-chan scolded him

"Yes ma'am!" He replied

"If you fail we won't be able to complete this training regimen!" Shoving the training regimen in his face Gou had written on the top

"Iwatobi Swim Club Training Regimen (Stage 1)

Rei-kun only: Reduce all sets by half!"

Rei's face was in complete shock. Gou-chan was taking this regimen very seriously and had put up a countdown. I know sometimes it's necessary to apply pressure but this might be going a little overboard…

We watched from the sides as Nagisa tried to teach Rei to swim and at one point Miss Ama-chan joined us

"I'll go first. I can teach you frog style." Nagisa explained

"The breaststroke. Or breast, right?" Ryugazaki-kun asked

"You've done your homework, Rei-chan." Nagisa was impressed

"I've learned all the concepts" Ryugazaki-kun declared, "I just need to figure out how to make it work. That's all"

"Then let's start with your legs." Nagisa suggested and gave his hands to Rei and practiced kicking, "Wow Rei-chan. You're form is perfect"

"Naturally." Ryugazaki-kun said with confidence

"I'm going to let go, then." Nagisa pointed out

"Go ahead" Ryugazaki-kun confirmed and he began to swim a little then sink a little

"Wow, your stroke is also perfect-" Nagisa kept encouraging him, "Huh?"

Ryugazaki-kun rose back to the surface gasping for air "Why?" he asked


6 days left…

Gou ripped off "seven days to go" from the calendar

"I'm up next. If you're having trouble with breast, we can start with back." Makoto explained "With the backstroke, you keep your face above the surface, so it's easier for people who are scared of water."

"I'm not scared of water." Ryugazaki-kun said as he held his arms up in the air for Makoto to support him

"Move slowly" Makoto instructed, "That's it"

"He knows how to float" Nagisa muttered

"Naturally. My condition wasn't optimal yesterday." Ryugazaki-kun explained

"I'm gonna let go, then" Makoto explains

"Go ahead" Rei replies and when Makoto does…he sinks like a rock

He rises back to the surface, gasping for air again.

"What am I doing wrong?" He asked

"This is hopeless!" Nagisa complained, "Haru-chan, teach him how to swim!"

"No, that requires effort." Haruka turned his head away

"Man, don't be that way!" Nagisa complained

"This isn't looking good…" Gou-chan muttered

"How is it possible that even though he's moving he keeps sinking?"I asked

"That's it!"Gou exclaimed

"What's it?" I asked

"Miss Ama-chan, do you have any excellent advice to offer us?" Gou-chan asked

"Let's see…" Miss Ama-chan muttered Gou-chan and I waited eagerly. Soon Haruka, Makoto and Nagisa gathered around waiting as well.

Miss Ama-chan was clearly thinking hard we were all waiting in anticipation. In the end, she drew a blank.


5 days left…

With five days left and the fact it was raining. We took advantage of this, we decided to hold a club meeting at Haruka-san's house and the topic was…

"Okay let's begin the "let's figure out why Rei-chan can't swim" meeting" Nagisa announced, "Anybody have any thoughts?" Everyone looked at Ryugazaki-kun

"The water doesn't like him." Haruka suggested

"Poor Rei-chan…" Nagisa replied

"That can't be it." Makoto injected. Thank goodness, someone said something!

"Do you like mackerel?" Haruka asked

"What does mackerel have anything to do with this?" I asked

"Maybe he's athletically challenged!" Gou-chan suggested

"Rei-chan's really fast and he does well on tests" Nagisa explained

"So you must be smart." Makoto commented

This discussion was going nowhere…

"DHA…" Gou-chan muttered

"I know! His head is too heavy!" Nagisa exclaimed

"All that studying has enlarged his brain" Gou-chan agreed

Ryugazaki-kun slammed his hands on the table and stood up "That's enough!" he shouted, "The problem is the way you guys teach! If I had a proper coach, I would be fine!"

"A coach…" Makoto muttered

"There is a coach!" I pointed out

"What?" Coach Sasabe asked, "You want me to teach a kid who sinks like a rock? Because I used to be a coach?"

"I object. I can float, so I don't sink like a rock. A more accurate analogy would be to call me a submarine." Ryugazaki-kun corrected him

"Hey, Goro-chan, we want you to teach him how to swim." Nagisa said in-between eating and talking

"Don't talk and eat at the same time!" Goro shouted, "I'm a busy man. Why don't you guys teach him? Bye"

And with that Coach Goro left. We were back to square one…On the bright side at least we had pizza!

"Didn't work" Makoto muttered.


4 days left…

The rain had stopped and we could practice outside once again. "I finally know the reason why I can't swim!" Ryugazaki-kun shouted from the pool side

"Really?" Nagisa asked from the pool

"You figured it out?" Makoto asked

"Yes, the answer was right under my nose." Ryugazaki-kun answered, "The answer is… "

"The answer is?" Makoto and Nagisa said in unison

"My…Swimsuit!" Ryugazaki-kun declared pointing at the yellow speedo that I'm sure Nagisa let him borrow, "The speedo is to blame!"

Both Nagisa and Makoto got out the pool "I let you borrow that, right? That's kinda mean." Nagisa complained

"It is not mean! The problem is that this speedo is not streamlined to my body, I think!" Ryugazaki-kun explained, "I haven't crunched the numbers yet!"

I could overhear the conversation from here, he really likes being on top form doesn't he?


3 days left…

It was a Sunday so we all decided to take a shopping trip to buy Rei a new swimsuit. I had decided to wear a ¾ length green-blue tied shirt with a white dress with thin black stripes and green-blue pumps. We all met up at the train station and from there…"So why didn't Miss Ama-chan come with us to buy his swimsuit?" Makoto asked

"She worked for a swimsuit maker in Tokyo, right?" Gou-chan asked

"Well I did ask her, but…" Nagisa replied

Nagisa's flashback

"Um, I have something else to do on Sunday" Miss Ama-chan replied, "Plus, there are other brands! I have my reasons. I won't be able to provide an objective perspective."

End of flashback

"What's with the flurry of random excuses?" Ryugazaki-kun asked. On a serious note what did Miss Ama-chan have against swimsuits was the rumours about her being a swimsuit model in Tokyo true?

After we got off the train we walked all the way to Sports Zero one of the best sports shops in the industry no matter the sport, you could literally get any piece of equipment from this place.

"There are a lot to choose from." Gou-chan noted as she crouched down to the shelf's level to take a closer look

"Fluid mechanics would tell you that Reynolds numbers and boundary layer theory are key points, but I believe that the colour plays a physiological role. I'll also need prescription goggles." Ryugazaki-kun explained

Now that I think about it's been a while since I went swimming and it would be good exercise maybe I'll do a bit of shopping myself.

"Kou-chan I'm going to do some browsing of my own, okay?" I informed her she looked back up at me

"Okay!" she replied and headed over to Makoto and Haruka whilst I headed towards the women's section

When I got there, Gou-chan was right there was a lot to choose from however, each and every one of them was black but the physical design was different ranging from a one piece to a bikini but they also had a distinct colour on them.

I picked up a one piece that split on the sides and exposed the back a little. It has a distinct yellow coloured stripes on it. It would do for laps around a pool; I should look up gym memberships as well. Then again my parents would probably say the fact that I cycle to and from school should keep me healthy enough but ever since we began the swim club memories of those days have resurfaced. Anyway I payed for the swimsuit and headed towards the vending machine for a drink. When I got there I saw Gou-chan who heavily sighed and muttered "I'm exhausted. Now I know how guys feel when they have to go shopping with girls."

"What's wrong Kou-chan?" I asked

"Oh, Zaki-senpai! Hm?" She looked down at the bag, "What did you buy?"

"Oh it's nothing special!" I replied

"Now I really want to know!" Gou-chan leaned down to get her drink from the machine but then we hear someone call over to us

"Hey!" we turned to see that it was Captain Mikoshiba from Samezuka Academy, "Fancy meeting you here."

"Captain Mikoshiba…"

"Are you doing some shopping, Gou-kun?" He asked completely ignoring me. You know I'm standing here as well!

"Please don't use Gou and –kun together." Gou-chan complained to be fair I only call her Kou when I'm addressing her.

"We're here to look for new swimsuits. I'm so happy!" He was chuckling away to himself

"Does that mean my brother's here?" Gou asked

"He might be…Do you wanna go look for him?" I suggested and we quietly slipped away whilst Captain Mikoshiba kept rambling on to himself and headed back to the male swimsuit department but then, "Look" I pointed Rin-san leading Haruka-san outside and we followed them.

We hid behind a pillar near to the elevator. I know it's wrong to listen in on a private conversation but this was…

"Haru, what have you been doing these past three years?" Rin asked, "You're better than this."

"I'm not better than someone who just returned from Australia." Haruka retorted

"Are you mocking me?" Rin asked

"I'm not" Haruka replied, "You won our race."

"It'd be hard not to beat you given the shape you're in." Rin commented

"A win is a win." Haruka said, "You won."

"It's not! I want a real race!" Rin shouted, "Or else…I can't move on"

"You're a pain. I only swim free. I won't swim for you." after hearing Haruka say that next thing I know I hear the fence clang what's going on are they going to have a fist fight?

"No. You're going to swim for me." Rin commanded the tone of voice was serious enough to send a chill down my spine.

"In that case, I want you to promise me something. If you lose, don't say you're going to quit, don't embarrass yourself and don't cry if you lose" Haruka replied

I could hear Rin release a tiny laugh at Haruka-san's comment "I'm not a little kid anymore. This time I'll make it clear how different you and I are. Try building some muscle before the prefectural tournament. We'll settle things there. See you at the tournament."

After that, I couldn't hear any more clearly Rin-san left but that conversation was hinting back to that race that they had in middle school but why has Rin-san changed so much in the last four years?

"Oh there they are!" Gou-chan and I jumped at the familiar voice coming from behind us and we turned to see it was Nagisa

"Is something wrong?" Makoto asked

"It's nothing" Gou-chan replied and ran into the elevator I took a quick glace behind me and walked to the elevator as well.


2 days left…

The night before, Gou-chan sent me a text telling me not to tell anyone about what we heard it was probably for the best anyway.

However, for now we focused on getting Ryugazaki-kun to swim he jumped onto the dive board in his brand new swimsuit that was not a speedo. Gou-chan and I sat at the pool side next to Makoto and Nagisa.

"Swimming cap, check. Prescription goggles check. Not a speedo, check." Ryugazaki-kun sounded like he was saying some sort of spell but we watched him prepare to enter the pool.

"He looks like a world class swimmer from here." Makoto commented

"Maybe he'll actually manage to swim this time" Nagisa followed

"Yep! I think this might work!" Gou-chan added

"Good luck, Ryugazaki-kun!" I shouted

"His entry angle is perfect" Makoto pointed out. Is this the moment Ryugazaki-kun finally swims?

Soon we could see him moving underwater yet sink like a rock. Again Ryugazaki-kun rose to the surface and muttered "Why?"

However we heard another splash and saw a figure underwater it was Haruka-san.

"I'll teach you" Haruka said this left Rei surprised, "You want to learn how to swim, right?"

"Please help me!" Ryugazaki-kun bowed his head

"However, I can only teach you free." Haruka put bluntly

"Yes!" Ryugazaki-kun answered. We were all amazed even though Haruka was initially completely against the idea of teaching Rei how to swim he's now willing to help! This is amazing!

"Haru's going to teach someone how to swim?" Makoto whispered

"Bringing in the big guns!" Nagisa declared

From that point till the sun began to set Haruka-san talked Ryugazaki-kun through everything he knew. "That's everything I have to teach you. The rest is up to you." Haruka said, "Believe in yourself."

"Yes!" Ryugazaki-kun put his goggles back on and prepared to put his new skills to the test. He kicked from the back wall and began to move underwater and the same thing happened yet again….

"WHY?!" Ryugazaki-kun screamed

"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." Miss Ama-chan whispered

"Isn't that a quote from Edison?" Makoto asked

"So hard work will always triumph over natural talent" I pointed out

"I guess he'll have to keep practicing…" Nagisa complained we all dropped our heads at Nagisa's point

"However…You can interpret Edison's quote to mean that hard work means nothing without that flash of inspiration, don't you think?" Miss Ama-chan asked

We were all dumbfounded "A rejection of hard work?!" Gou-chan shouted

It was sunset and Gou-chan and I had to clean away the equipment tomorrow was the last day…maybe it really was impossible…


Last Day…

"Since it's come to this, let's have him use a kickboard in the tournament!" Nagisa proposed getting a kickboard out of the equipment cupboard

"Do the rules allow that?" Gou-chan asked

"That's an option" Makoto pointed out as he came from behind us, "I don't think the rules prohibit it"

"We'll have to look it up later." Nagisa pointed out then we all noticed that somebody was swimming in the pool it was probably Haruka-san by the looks of it.

"Someone's in the pool..." I muttered

"Is that Haru-chan?" Nagisa asked

"But Haru only does free." Makoto pointed out

"It's not me." A voice said from behind we all turned around to find Haruka-san as the source of the voice.

"Haru?!" Makoto yelped then we all turned back to the pool

"That means..." Gou trailed off

"Rei-chan?!" Nagisa shouted as Ryugazaki-kun emerged from the water taking deep breaths and we all ran towards him, "Were you just swimming butterfly?!"

"It was the only stroke I hadn't tried yet. Once I tried it, I was able to swim" Ryuguzaki-kun replied

"What?!" The four of us said in unison the fact that one stroke was the key to Ryugazaki-kun being able to swim, "Why?!"

Ryugazaki-kun had put his glasses on and turned his head in Haruka-san's direction, "Well..." he muttered

"Did you say something, Rei-chan?" Nagisa asked but Ryugazaki-kun simply smiled and replied

"No, I can't explain it either."

"Seriously?" Gou groaned

"Well it worked out in the end." Makoto stated

"Hey Rei-chan? Can you do another lap?" Nagisa asked

"Sure."

I couldn't help but look over at Haruka-san who was playing with a butterfly and I smiled I don't know how but you really saved the day...


Sorry I haven't updated in quite a while I have exams coming up but I will try every now and then so please be patient. I haven't updated because one of my close friends passed away a couple of months ago but considering the condition she had she lived for quite a long time so I guess this chapter is in memory of Nina...my dear friend may you rest in peace.