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yet another creation by sam and i on skype
feel free to read along
it's a Free! role-play
                      The first day of school always seemed to be chaos. Though Nori knew where her classes were, she was still in the beginning stages of finding the best and fastest ways to get to them. It was a few class periods after their club assembly that she'd made a fool of herself, and completely ran into a large(and cute) boy that she seemed to remember from the assembly was part of the swim team. Though she made a fool of herself running into him and dropping all of her stuff, he'd still been nice enough to help her pick up her things before giving her the cutest smile and running off to his class.

                      After that she'd spent the rest of the day thinking about him, wondering who he was and if she'd ever see him again. It was in her last class that she'd finally come up with a plan to see him again, and maybe even get to know him. After the last class, she caught up with Gou, suggesting she help the other girl out with recruiting for the team. She'd be like an assistant manager! When Gou went for it, she was ecstatic. She followed along after Gou to the pool, where the boys already seemed to be swimming.

                      - - - -
                      Trust Gou? No. His calculations had been right, and her idea for the club assembly was as big of a failure as he'd thought it would be. After a full day of school, not one single person had found their way to the club room after school. Despite the sadness, he didn't hang around long before making his way out to the pool with Haru. There was no point in lingering in the club room, when there was swimming and improvement to be done. After thoroughly stretching his muscles out, he followed Haru's lead and dived into the pool.

                      - - - -
                      Itsuki was an idiot. Come watch him at his first day of swim practice so that she could show him where his dorm was /again/? Hell no. She'd quit swimming years ago for a reason. She didn't even want to be in the same room with a pool. She'd just wanted to go back to her dorm, do her homework, and relax. But instead after school, she found herself standing outside the double doors that lead into the indoor pool. Sure normal people would have went inside to watch while they waited, but she refused to get any closer than she already was. She leaned against the building with her arms crossed over her chest, waiting.

                      - - - - -

                      Rin stood toward the benches, his arms crossed over his chest as his eyes shifted between the people in the pool, and those standing around. He hadn't wanted to be named the team's new captain; but he had to admit, with a little bit of work the team would shape up nicely. And he couldn't deny that he was pretty happy to have Sousuke around again.
                        “I still can’t believe that we didn’t even get a single new member.” Nagisa said with a big, heavy sigh as he hunched forward. It was still a little chilly and not quite ready for full on swim season. Even so, that didn’t seem to be stopping Haru and even Rei.

                        “I’m sure we will. We just have to give it time.” Makoto said softly, gently patting Nagisa on the back. Though he wasn’t too comfortable with stripping on stage, he imagined Gou knew what she was doing and would get them new members somehow. He had faith in her. “At least we still have each other.” He knew that their club wouldn’t be recognized as a real club after this year if they didn’t at least get another member. The thought of leaving Nagisa, Rei and Gou alone too was heart shattering. “Oh, Gou.” He said, noticing her and waving. “Who is this?” It took him an instant to realize that it was the girl he had nearly taken down earlier. To him it felt like it was entirely his fault and he just felt so horrible. No damage done though.

                        “A new member?” Nagisa piped up beside him, grinning from ear to ear.
                        Makoto thought that would be great if it was. Part of him doubted it. Would girls even want to join their club? They didn’t discriminate or anything.

                        ====

                        Hinata had seen their little display earlier and she was instantly captivated. It wasn’t their muscles or anything. It was the fact that this school had a pool; she hadn’t swam in a long time. She needed this. There was something about the three of them that seemed awfully familiar though. She couldn’t place it. Not until she was standing at the door and hiding behind the nearest object. Was that? No, it couldn’t be…yet there they were.

                        “You are being a creep.” Her brother, Yuuki, said. He stood next to her, looking disinterested as he texted on his phone. “You want to swim. I know you do. So march up there and swim. I’ll swim with you. C’mon.” He laughed midway through, having read something funny on his phone. “Cats.” He stated, showing her the picture of a goofy cat.

                        That didn’t make her feel better. Hinata felt her face growing hotter and hotter. He was right. She wanted this more than everything. Mustering the courage, she stepped out from behind her hiding spot and walked toward the group talking. Her awkward gait made her even more self-conscious. It was subtle, but she could feel it in every step. “I-I…I want to swim with you guys!” She got out, looking completely flustered and terrified all at the same time.

                        Yuuki just stood there casually. “Yo,” he waved. “I guess I’ll swim to or whatever.” He flashed a cheesy grin and put his arm around Hinata to keep her from passing out.

                        Nagisa and Makoto just stared at each other, exchanging glances. If that wasn’t the most awkward thing he had ever seen, Nagisa thought.

                        Makoto, however, felt so relieved. It was like all of his prayers had been answered in one go. He couldn’t help smiling.

                        ====

                        “You look so intimidating.” Souske said, clapping Rin on the back. “You were just named captain of the swim team. I feel like you should look a little…happier than that.” He shrugged ever so slightly, almost indifferently. It was something he partially expected. Rin was a great person and a great swimmer. Souske always knew that he had great potential. Someone else must have noticed his potential too.
                        It had only been this year that he had transferred back. It was his last year to be able to be with Rin. Their futures – he just couldn’t see the two of them even having a future. The two of them had definitely changed though. Some for the better…then there was him. Maybe something could awaken inside of him if he stayed here at this school…here with Rin.

                        He didn’t know if he was even capable of swimming anymore or if he even ought to. In the end, he gave in. He would do it; he would push through whatever pain he would be in. The pain wasn’t bad. It was a subtle sting – sometimes even a dull ache. Something that could be easily ignored. He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Guess we’ll be swimming together again, huh?” He said subtly, trying to hide his amused smile. Knowing Rin, his reaction would be good. The two of them hadn’t been on the same team in a long while.
                      The first day of school always seemed to be chaos. Though Nori knew where her classes were, she was still in the beginning stages of finding the best and fastest ways to get to them. It was a few class periods after their club assembly that she'd made a fool of herself, and completely ran into a large(and cute) boy that she seemed to remember from the assembly was part of the swim team. Though she made a fool of herself running into him and dropping all of her stuff, he'd still been nice enough to help her pick up her things before giving her the cutest smile and running off to his class.

                      After that she'd spent the rest of the day thinking about him, wondering who he was and if she'd ever see him again. It was in her last class that she'd finally come up with a plan to see him again, and maybe even get to know him. After the last class, she caught up with Gou, suggesting she help the other girl out with recruiting for the team. She'd be like an assistant manager! When Gou went for it, she was ecstatic. She followed along.

                      Nori smiled apprehensively as the boys that weren't in the pool made their way over to join them. She knew Nagisa, sort of. They had a few classes together. She rubbed the back of her neck when he asked if she was a new member. “Heh... I don't really know how to swim.” she confessed. “I'm here to help Gou.” she told them hoping they wouldn't be too upset that she wasn't there to swim. She'd join the team, if she knew how. But even if she learned there was no way she could even be compared to any of them when in the pool. “I'm Nori. Nori Shizuka.” she introduced herself with a small smile.

                      She'd just finished speaking when the boy's eyes shifted from her and Gou to something behind her. She too turned to see what they were looking at. Her eyes fell upon a boy and girl that were approaching. The girl looked timid, and finally she spoke. She was going to swim with them? And so was he? She'd only been there a few minutes and already they'd gotten two new members! This was great.
                      - - - - - -
                      As Rei came to the end of his lap, he stopped for a moment to catch his breath. That was when he noticed a group of people standing with Makoto, Nagisa, and Gou. Were they new members? This was beautiful! Instead of beginning to swim again, he heaved himself out of the pool to go investigate.
                      - - - - - -
                      Rin glanced at Sousuke as he spoke to him. He should be happy? In a way he was, but he wasn't fully ready to admit it yet. He hadn't been gunning for captain so he was still having mixed emotions about it. He just shrugged some. He'd be happier when he had less work to do with the team, when they were fully ready for competition. He couldn't help but smile when Sousuke mentioned swimming together again. “I guess so!” he said happier than he outwardly appeared a few moments before.
                      “Really?” Nagisa asked, pushing himself far too into her face for his own good. He had known her from a lot of his classes, he just realized. “Oh, oh! I bet you we could teach you how to swim if you wanted!” He said excitedly. If they could teach Rei, they could teach anyone.

                      Makoto had to put a hand on Nagisa’s shoulder, almost holding him back from scaring the new girl. “If you ever did want to learn, we’d be happy to teach you.” He admitted with a soft smile and hoped that wasn’t too awkward. “I guess that would be good to have a helper, Gou.” She did do a lot and sometimes he wondered how she even kept everything straight. “I’m Makoto Tachibana. I’m the team’s captain and president.” He introduced himself and looked back over his shoulder, noticing Haru momentarily poking his head out from the pool to see what the commotion was about. He grinned. “Haru Nanase. He’s the vice-captain and vice-president. He’s also shy.” He chuckled a bit.

                      “I’m Nagisa Hazuki! I’m the treasurer.” Nagisa said, putting his hands on his hips and glancing back to see Rei joining them.

                      “I’m Yuuki Tsukino.” The taller boy said, using his opposite hand to stretch it out to awkwardly shake whoever’s hand. He didn’t care. He wasn’t really into swimming like Hinata was; he was just there to get her to join and keep her motivated, he guessed. “She’s Hinata Tsukino. She’s super shy too.” He gestured to her looking extremely flustered and at a loss of words. It was amazing how she could even function sometimes. “She’s a good swimmer though. Great even.” He said.

                      “Do we know you from somewhere?” Nagisa asked, tilting his head.

                      Hinata shook her head intensely and swallowed hard. “N-no,” she lied and managed a smile. She didn’t want to admit to them that their swimming motivated her when she was younger.

                      “We just started here, so I doubt it.” Yuuki shrugged.

                      “We’re happy to have you join us then. I’m sure once you get to know everyone it won’t be as intimidating.” Makoto said, noting Hinata’s shy behavior. “I guess that’s kind of like three new members, isn’t it?” Even if Nori couldn’t swim, she’d still be helping them out and that definitely counted.

                      ===

                      The reaction wasn’t quite what he was going for. Rin wasn’t as happy as he used to be as a kid. He was always grinning or smiling at something or another. It was almost disappointing. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to kick your butt again too.” Same team or not, Souske liked a little friendly competition when he could expend the energy or if he wanted to expend the energy. They were sort of like rivals or had grown up in that manner. He grinned at him.
                      Nagisa definitely was enthusiastic, wasn't he? “Uh...” she said, “Maybe later.” She said. She was up for learning how to swim, but now was not when she wanted to learn. Besides, she didn't even own a swim suit anymore, as she hadn't gone anywhere that she needed one. It wasn't like she couldn't swim. She wouldn't drown if she fell in the water, but she definitely didn't know how to do anything more than dog paddling to keep herself alive. She glanced between each of them though as they introduced themselves, and Makoto introduced the boy that was still in the pool, who hadn't bothered to join them like the other boy had.

                      “Rei Ryugazaki.” Rei said introducing himself with a smile and small wave after Nagisa introduced himself. When Yuuki extending his hand to shake someone's hand, no one moved at first. To keep things from getting awkward Rei responded when his friend didn't, and shook the boy's hand. “Nice to meet you.” He said pushing at his glasses. The water still on his face from being in the pool was making them slide down his nose more than usual, but he hadn't wanted to just wear his goggles to be able to see them now that he wasn't in the pool.
                      - - - - - -
                      “Ha!” Rin smirked. Kick his butt? “Not happening!” He said accepting the challenge. They both grown and improved majorly since the last time they'd gotten to swim together. He couldn't deny that he was excited to swim with his childhood friend again.
                      He was almost disappointed by her reaction. “Aw, okay.” Nagisa hung his head, almost in defeat as Makoto patted his shoulder. He got the gist that he ought to not be scaring their newest members; he just couldn’t help himself.

                      “He’s easily excitable.” Makoto stated, placing his hands on his hips. He felt the need to apologize for Nagisa, despite him not truly doing anything to deserve an apology…yet. It needed to be given time, he supposed. He glanced over his shoulder again, smiling gently when Haru went back to swimming. It seemed that the three new people could only capture his attention for so long. “We’re not necessarily having a practice right now, but you two can join us if you want. It’s feels like forever since we all swam.” Between the swimming seasons, he felt like they had gotten out of shape. The air was still a little cool, though nothing compared to the bitter winter they had had. Stretching out his arms, he smiled again at Nori. Makoto wasn’t sure what to say to her or offer to her; he imagined Gou would take over from there.

                      “Just don’t get too comfortable with this. I’m going to make you all a training regimen.” Gou said and smiled at Nori. “With your help, it’ll be easier.” Sometimes it got overwhelming trying to keep track of four people, all the while making sure their swimming regimen got the attention it deserved. Not to mention, making sure they ate right. This year, her work would be cut out for her. Adding in a female, it would have to be adjusted slightly. “You should see them swim though.” She sighed happily, hands on her cheeks. “Those muscles…ugh.”

                      Yuuki was glad someone decided to shake his hand. That would have been awkward. Especially if he would have shaken his own hand. “I guess we’ll go change.” He wasn’t too keen on swimming or anything; his backstroke was the most unimpressive backstroke there was. Upon changing, he and his sister both came out. His light tan had faded over the winter and his lanky limbs were more noticeable. He wasn’t quite as built as the others either. His goggles were around his neck, like a dork, and his swim cap was haphazardly placed on.

                      Hinata stood by the pool in her bathing suit, goggles pushed up on her head (she put her hair in the most godawful bun ever) as she watched Haru swim. She was captivated by how fluidly he moved in the pool. Gently she pushed her hand into the water and smiled fondly. Finally, she could no longer resist and set herself up for a dive after pulling her goggles down. Drawing in air, she took a dive. The water was cold at first, but she paid no mind to it. To feel the water again; to be in the water again – that was what she had always wanted. Her butterfly stroke was powerful and fast. It wasn’t her intention to go beast mode. She just needed this.

                      “Woah,” Nagisa chirped, watching Hinata go. “She swims your stroke, Rei-chan~” He nudged him in the ribs and grinned.

                      “What stroke do you swim?” Makoto had asked Yuuki.

                      “Backstroke,” Yuuki shrugged indifferently.

                      ===

                      “You sure about that?” Souske challenged back, narrowing his eyes playfully with the biggest grin on his face. Everything always had to be a competition to them and this would be no different. “Don’t think that just because we haven’t seen each other in a while, that I’m going to go easy on you.” He chuckled.
                      Nori smiled shrugging some when Makoto slightly apologized for Nagisa. She understood, she had classes with him. Her eyes shifted to Gou when she spoke of the regimens, and then stated everything would be easier with her help. She hoped so at least. Of course, Gou would have to teach her everything, so after that it would be easier. She couldn't help but giggle some at her friend, speaking on their muscles. All the guys did seem to be pretty attractive, but unlike Gou she was going to do her best not to ogle. That was when the two other new members went off to change to join them in swimming.

                      Rei still felt the awkward even though he shook the boy's hand. Maybe it was because his hand was still kinda of damp from being in the pool, and he was shaking a strangers hand. Maybe it was because no one else had even made a move or even seemed to notice the boy's hand. Either way soon the two were off to change into their suits and join them. He couldn't deny that he was excited to see if they swam beautifully or not.

                      Soon enough they were returning, and the boy, Yuuki seemed to hold back but the girl moved toward the block without hesitation. There was only a moment before she dove in, and began swimming. He watched her form in silence as she began to swim /his/ stroke. It was beautiful! He didn't even notice Nagisa next to him nudging him as he watched.
                      - - - -
                      “Positive.” he grinned, pulling his cap from his jacket pocket before removing the jacket and tossing it onto the bench. “I'll even let you pick the stroke.” he said as he shoved his head into his swim cap,and pulled his goggles from around his neck.
                      “Once you get used to the regimen planning, the rest is cake. Although none of them are allowed to have that while training.” Gou sent a look toward Nagisa who just gave her a s**t-eating grin, almost as if he knew what she was talking about. “The best part is getting to pay super close attention to the details.” She giggled slightly. That was why she loved being their manager. She got to watch them swim and there was no shame in actually watching them fully. “I won’t look down on you if you actually joined to look at their muscles too.” The girl said casually.

                      “Looks like Rei-chan is in love over here.” Nagisa joked, watching the way he watched her swim. He never once thought that they would have a girl in their club and even then, one that was great at swimming. It made him happy to think about. His head was beginning to churn mischievous ideas.

                      Makoto just shook his head, sometimes wondering what was going through Nagisa’s mind. He did think it was sweet that Rei was captivated by her swimming though. He watched her pop her head up by the wall, looking completely flustered that everyone had watched her swim. “You swim well.” It was the only compliment he could think of and he didn’t want to put her on the spot any more than he was sure she felt. He half-glanced at Yuuki as if expecting him to step in next. Not that they were going to stand around and scrutinize his swimming. Makoto was just sure that all of them felt the same way: they just wanted to see what the new members were capable of.

                      “A-ah, thank you.” Hinata said with a big smile, cheeks bright red. She felt like it could have been better. Her turn times needed work and her stroke had been weakened by her leg to a degree.

                      “I can guarantee you that you won’t be amazed by my swimming.” Yuuki said with a goofy half-grin and hopped into the pool, stretching himself backward for his stroke. As he dove, he casually pushed himself through the water. His long limbs made his slicing through the water easy; they just weren’t as powerful. The only thing that was somewhat amazing was his turn. Due to his legs, he could push further and gain more ground. Other than that, he was ordinary.

                      ===

                      “Fine,” Souske said casually, slowly removing his jacket. “How about…” They both swam freestyle well. Backstroke was out for several reasons. Butterfly was definitely out. A sudden, sly grin crossed his lips. “Okay, how about breast stroke?” His grin turned a little mischievous. Neither of them really swam breast stroke often and even if they did, he wanted a stroke that would put them on an even playing ground. He never had any intention of going full out though. Once stripped fully, he pulled on his cap and goggles, resting them on his head. “Let’s do this.”
                      Nori nodded some. She trusted Gou wouldn't lie to her about it being easy, though she was confident that even if it wasn't easy she'd get the hang of it quickly. She felt a small amount of heat rise to her cheeks when Gou mentioned not looking down on her if she'd joined to look at their muscles. That was good, though she would never admit that she'd joined mostly because she'd thought Makoto was cute when she'd ran into him earlier that day. Though she was sure he'd probably never be interested in her, it couldn't hurt to at least be his friend, right?

                      “I am not!” Rei protested his face growing hot when Nagisa mentioned him being in love. “Love is illogical!” he said, embarrassed to know end that his friend would even say that outloud in front of everyone. Her form was beautiful, and she was pretty, but love just wasn't something he could see himself feeling ever. “Don't say things like that Nagisa!” he said pushing his glasses up, trying to hide his embarrassment with his hand.
                      - - - - - -
                      Rin pulled his goggles onto his head, letting them rest there as he waited for his friend to decide what they would swim. He stretched his arms and shoulders out, pulling them one by one across his chest. Finally Sousuke decided. Breaststroke? Really? It wasn't that he couldn't do it, it just wasn't his first choice. He looked at Sousuke for a moment with one brow quirked before finally shrugging. “Whatever you want to lose at.” he teased before moving toward the blocks once Sousuke was ready. He stepped up on the block and pulled his goggles down over his eyes before popping the band on the back of his head. “When the second hand gets to 60.” he said to his friend.

                      Itsuki pulled himself from the pool and instantly went to the guy who'd been timing him. His sighed. He hadn't swam since he was a kid, but unlike his sister, he finally felt ready to get back in the pool. It was time to move on. He couldn't keep avoiding doing something he loved just because of what had happened those many years ago. Mom wouldn't have wanted this, if only Hikari could figure that out. He sighed moving away from the guy with the stop watch. His eyes shifted down the line noticing Captain Rin stepping up on the block getting ready to race. As Rin and the guy he was racing dived from the block Itsuki watched in awe. He wished he could be that good. Absently he wondered if either of them would help him out personally.
                      Nori wasn’t much of a talker, was she? Gou didn’t mind; she figured she was just shy and would eventually come out of her shell. She tapped her finger against her lip thoughtfully. “I guess tonight, if you wanted, we could start planning their summer regimen? I want them to go all the way this year!” She giggled.

                      “Ohhh, Rei-chan. You don’t need to get that embarrassed. I don’t even think she heard what I said.” Nagisa grinned his usual mischievous grin. He was definitely going to play matchmaker now. It was one of his favorite past times. Actually, that wasn’t accurate. It would become one of his favorite past times.

                      Unlike everyone else, Makoto gave Yuuki a compliment about his backstroke. It was good; he wasn’t lying either. He had a lot of potential, despite holding himself back. He wondered if the others realized how much he was holding back or not. It didn’t matter. Eventually he would become comfortable enough to swim with them all. “I think we should all get some swimming in too. It’s been a while, huh?” He stretched his arms out to stretch his back muscles and glanced over his shoulder, almost thinking he could see Nori staring at him. His cheeks heated up slightly. No, his eyes were just playing tricks on him. That was it.

                      “What about a race?!” Nagisa stated, jumping up once. “We don’t have enough for a relay or anything, but a race would be fun!”

                      Yuuki looked away while he stood in the water. He didn’t do races, nor did he even want to begin racing.

                      “That would be fun!” Hinata proclaimed suddenly. When it came to water and swimming, she was confident. Not so much outside the pool though.

                      ===

                      Apparently he had chosen a good stroke then to elicit such a reaction from Rin. Souske stretched out the best he could, being very careful with his right arm; he didn’t want to bend it too much one way or the other. “We’ll see who will lose.” He pulled his goggles down, adjusting the strap slightly. That was when he got up on the block, looking at determined as ever. Souske briefly nodded, waiting for the secondhand to get to sixty. Once it had, he dove into the water. His dives were always powerful. It was his swimming that had a certain lackluster stroke now. He tried not to make it too obvious as he sliced through the water.

                      “He’s really good, isn’t he?” Nitori said, pulling himself out of the other end of the pool and coming beside Itsuki, referring to Rin. He smiled fondly, remembering the race he had seen at regionals for their relay. It may not have been with the right team, but the race itself was awe inspiring. Souske was great too, though that was to be expected of someone with a title. He held his towel around his neck, smiling. “I want to be just like Mats—err, Captain Matsuoka.” It would be hard to get used to calling him captain.
                      Nori nodded some when Gou suggested that that night they start planning the summer regimen. “Okay. Sounds like a plan.” she agreed with a smile, glancing from Gou to Makoto for only a second before her attention returned to the other girl. “Whose house do you want to do it at?” she asked curiously. Forcing herself to keep her eyes on Gou. She didn't want them to think she was some creep or something.

                      “I'm not embarrassed!” Rei protested, though he clearly was. Even if the girl hadn't heard what Nagisa said, the boy shouldn't have even voiced it. He'd never be in love. That thought was just absurd and illogical! It didn't matter if the girl was cute and had beautiful form when swimming. It just wasn't gonna happen. Or at least he didn't plan on it happening ever.

                      “A race would be fun!” he agreed when Nagisa suggested a race. He hadn't been in a race since last year, and it'd be nice to /really/ swim with his friends again.
                      - - - - - -
                      Rin propelled himself through the water as fast as he could go with this stroke. He'd be lying if he said that he practices this stroke often. It was probably his least powerful stroke, but that didn't mean he was going to let himself lose to Sousuke. It'd been too long since he'd swam with his friend. It felt great. In no time he was coming to the wall. His hands hit and he instantly turned his feet finding the wall and pushing off with great force.

                      Itsuki nodded when the boy spoke to him. “They're both great.” he said a bit in awe. He wanted to swim like them, and he made a mental conviction to work his a** off to get better and make up for the years he lost after the accident.
                      “We can do it at mine.” Gou stated. “It’s a little lonely and empty now without my brother around.” She sighed slightly. Although, sometimes when permitted, she did like to do things like that at Haru’s house. He had such a big place and there was no way that he could use all of that space. She wasn’t as subtle about her staring as Nori seemed to be. She had enjoyed admiring their muscles. "Or Haru's house." she said suddenly with a sly smile. "That way we can all get together again."

                      “We could still do a relay.” Hinata laughed. “Two of us against the four of you.” She knew that was the silliest idea she had ever come up with. Her brother and her would be tired. Plus, neither of them swam free. She supposed she could try to swim it. She wasn’t even completely kidding either; she would have loved to try.

                      Yuuki had a deer in the headlights look as he pulled himself from the pool. “W-wait, what?” He asked, shaking excess water from his body.

                      “You’d do backstroke – oh wait, I’d have to do breast. That’d mess everything up, wouldn’t it? We’d be swimming each other’s strokes.” Hinata laughed. “Disregard my idea.” She waved it off, giggling. She didn’t seem as shy talking as she first had.

                      “It wouldn’t feel right racing against just you two.” Makoto was glad she had talked the both of them out of that idea. He did like her confidence though; it was definitely a change from how she was before. He tapped his chin, wondering how they would do such a race. The conflicting styles would be different for everyone. Swimming a butterfly against a backstroke and so on and so forth would be odd.

                      “We don’t need to make this so hard.” Nagisa stated, putting his hands on his hips. “Rei-chan and Hinata-kun should race.” He nodded briefly. “Yuuki-chan and Mako-chan should also race.” He admittedly wanted to race both Yuuki and Hinata. He didn’t know why; he just wanted to swim with them. “I don’t know if Haru-chan wants to race or not though.”

                      “He usually does his own thing.” Makoto said, smiling softly as he watched Haru glide across the water. “If he wants to, he will join us.” He chuckled at what Nagisa decided. “You also wanted to race. Who will you race then if we race them?”

                      “Hmm. Good question, Mako-chan.” Nagisa suddenly smiled. “The winner of Rei-chan’s and Hinata-kun’s race!” He decided. It was still a shame the other girl didn’t swim; otherwise, they could have had a three person relay. Though it did feel wrong to just do a relay with three people and three people only.

                      ===

                      Every so often, he would look over to see where Rin was at. He was much faster than he used to be and that was saying a lot. Souske grinned as his feet touched the wall, pushing hard. Soon his face was set back into determination as he bridged the gap between them. As his hand hit the wall, he knew he had lost. It was close. Surprisingly. He slid off his cap and goggles, chest moving up and down. “Well,” he said through his breaths and rested his other arm on the top of the cement, “It was close.” He smiled briefly. His shoulder was lightly throbbing. A dull, light throb really and it was easily ignored. He used his opposite hand to go for a fist bump.

                      “Yeah,” Nitori said with a heavy sigh. Someday he’d be able to become that good. He’d just have to work hard at it. “So, did you just join?” He guessed he had since he had never seen the other boy before.
                      Nori nodded some. It didn't matter to her where they did it. But she couldn't deny her interest peaked with Gou mentioned doing it at Haru's house so that they could all get together. Since she had just joined them, she wouldn't mind getting to know everyone better without the pool and practice as a distraction. So far the only person she actually knew was Gou, she kind of knew Nagisa, but not well. “It's up to you.” she smiled pausing. “And I guess Haru too, since it's his house.” she laughed some.

                      Rei pushed his glasses up, his interest heightening some when Hintana mentioned they could still do a relay with the four of them against her and her brother. That wasn't logical. The two of them would be extremely tired after if they did that. But slowly she seemed to talk herself out of it, thinking more logically. Besides, it wouldn't be fair four against two. His eyes shifted to Nagisa when he spoke up again. Who knew the boy could actually come up with the answer before any of the rest of them did? Wait. He was going to be racing Hinata? He wasn't sure how he felt about racing a girl, but she /did/ swim his stroke. He nodded some. “Alright!” he said finally agreeing with Nagisa's idea.
                      - - - - -
                      Rin pushed himself a bit harder when he glanced over seeing Sousuke was closing the distance between them. Finally he extended his arms as far as they would go as he got close to the wall, and his hands touched. He surfaced and pulled his goggles and cap from his head looking over at Sousuke's lane as the boy surfaced only seconds after he did. He smiled at his friend, nodding some when he said it was close. Close, but he'd still won. He smirked before pulling himself from the pool.

                      Itsuki was completely captivated watching the two of them swim. As both of the older boys came to the end of the race Nitori spoke pulling him from his trance. He smiled some at the older boy, nodding. “I'm a first year, yeah.” he confessed. “Itsuki Koizumi” he introduced himself.
                      “I think it might be for the best. Plus, I’m sure Haru wouldn’t mind. His house is more than big enough.” Gou smiled sheepishly and clasped her hands in her lap. “We’ll definitely have our hands full this year.” She said, turning her attention back to everyone as they got prepared to goof off. It did bring her great joy to know that her tactic had paid off. That had to explain why the other girl joined; it had to. She had to be crazy not to join for that reason – aside from the obvious.

                      “Okay,” Hinata said with a little smile and stretched her hands above her head to stretch out her muscles. “That would be fun.” Her cheeks were tinted pink as she pulled her goggles on to her head again. Racing another guy meant nothing to her. Physically, men were stronger. Yes. It made her want to push herself all the more. Her leg ached a bit and she realized that she really ought to have eased herself into swimming again opposed to going all out the first time she found a pool. “Someone call it,” she said, moving to the block and pulling her goggles down. Shifting her glance to the side, she gave Rei a little smirk.

                      Yuuki decided to call it, since he wasn’t too genuinely interested in the fact that he had been set up to race next. He did hope his sister would kick a** and take names though. He felt pride in knowing that his sister was a beast in the water. “Go,” he called it.

                      “Don’t lose, Rei-chan!” Nagisa cheered, knowing that would definitely build his confidence up.

                      “Nagisa…” Makoto frowned at Nagisa’s ‘cheer’ and shook his head. “It will be a good race though.” He had confidence that Rei would do well. He had come such a long way from when he had first begun and had become such a valued member of the club. His eyes shifted over to Yuuki, who watched Hinata with such a look of confidence and pride. He couldn’t help but smile. Haru had even stopped swimming to watch.

                      ==

                      It seemed their impromptu race had drawn a lot of attention. Souske pulled himself from the pool and shook loose water from his hair, pushing it back slightly. “I didn’t know you had it in you to even succeed in breast stroke. You really can swim them all, can’t you, /Captain/?” He teased and lightly nudged him in the ribs. His eyes shifted briefly to Nitori and Itsuki, only to glance away.

                      That explained it. Nitori smiled. “I’m a second year now. I know all about first joining and everything being all new.” He figured that Itsuki was nervous because of it from the way he stood there. At least he had more gall than he did to swim right off the bat. “I’m Nitori Aiichiro.”

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