Clouded Distance | Free! Fan Fiction

21. Precaution

Clouded Distance

Chapter Twenty-One

Precaution

Hana sighed as she exited her house. She rubbed her forehead tiredly. It's too early in the morning to deal with mum's lectures, she thought drowsily.

Even though it was the day after the prefectural tournament finished, Mae had decided not to congratulate her and her team for getting through to Regionals, but rather scold her for not attending the writing club frequently. After many words about futures and things Hana didn't even want to think about at this time of the morning, it had been a relief to finally escape the house.

Hana exhaled heavily. She'd applied for that scholarship. She'd written somethng for the newspaper. Surely that would be enough to sedate her mother.

Apparently not.

Her head still filled with the words her mother had thrown at her about the importance of her writing and how swimming was only a distraction, Hana looked up from the doorhandle and saw Haru was waiting for her. The moment they met the other's eyes Haru must have sensed that something was wrong, for he was by her side in an instantly. "Hana? Are you okay?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm fine," Hana said, a sigh mixed in with her words. "Mum just had a bit of a go at me for missing the writing club. It's too early in the morning for that sort of thing."

Haru quickly placed a kiss to her lips. Hana smiled and allowed herself to melt into it. "Don't worry about it," Haru said once they broke apart. "She's upset over nothing."

Hana shrugged. "Eh, I might just pop in today, to prevent World War Three breaking out in our house."

After mutally agreeing that probably would be the best course of action, the two of them headed down to Makoto's. Once they'd all joined up, they headed for school.

They were able to talk easier today, which made Hana feel a little more at ease. Maybe it was a one-off, she thought. Maybe things will be fine from hereon.

Classes that day were a drag, and it was a relief to finally be released. She, Makoto, and Haru had found Nagisa and Rei standing outside, their eyes fixated on something. Hana looked in their direction and found a banner, congratulating the swim club on advancing to regionals.

"They made a real banner for us this year," Nagisa said happily.

"Yeah, last year, they just reused the judo club's banner," Hana chuckled. She recalled the way the words "swim club" had been stuck over the top of "judo club." When the wind blew, they'd been able to see the words of the other club underneath.

Nagisa sighed. "But why do I still not feel right?"

"Obviously, it's because we lost to Samezuka!" Rei exclaimed. "Makoto-senpai, Nagisa-kun, don't you feel frustrated about it? I'm immensely frustrated! Even if we're moving on to regionals, we lost to Samezuka in the relay!"

Hana lowered her head. She couldn't exaclty say she felt the same way about the relay as the others - she hadn't swum in it. But she had felt the small tension in the team before the relay. I wish I could help them, but I have no idea how. "Let's go to practice," Makoto finally said. "We need to start training hard to advance through Regionals."

The other agreed and began to make their way to the pool, but Hana lingered behind. Makoto was the first to notice.

"Hana?" he asked, coming to a stop and looking back at her. The others did the same, concern in their eyes as they glanced at her.