A RINTORI AU COLLECTION

Alone in the Deep

Author: Hori.Hyo-Lyn

My bare feet touched the cold stone of the pool, but that night I didn't take that into account. I slowly walked towards the podium and stepped onto it. I already put on the swimming cap in the dressing room, but the glasses were still waiting for me. When it landed on me, I looked wolf-eyed at the mirror-smooth, light blue surface and took a deep breath.

Time to dive in.

I jumped off the platform and, crossing my arms, split the water with my head, making waves on the surface, but down there, the environment still seemed calm. How easy it would be to stay there and never get up - the thought suddenly occurred to me. My limbs stopped moving, my body stopped in the depths, and I released all the air from my lungs, which formed huge bubbles. They all reached the surface, which slowly returned to its original undisturbed calm.

And I just floated in the cold environment, waiting for something to finally happen that would make this heavy weight in my chest cease to exist...

~ Weeks earlier ~

I should have been happy about the change, but somehow I couldn't.

Ever since Rin-senpai swam the relay with his former teammates from Iwatobi High School, he had visibly become happier. He smiled more, began to enjoy swimming, and even his performance improved significantly. He almost excelled in our training sessions and this inspired me as well. At night, I didn't hear his frequent tossing and turning, he fell asleep much easier, as if his mind was no longer weighed down by the many worries and thoughts that used to be.

But as his happiness grew, mine seemed to decrease with a momentum I couldn't imagine. I felt really bad because I can't be so mean to not accept senpai's new feelings! But no matter how much I thought it over and over, I had no idea why I felt this tension in my heart.

- Senpai, where are you going? I asked him with a smile.

He enthusiastically packed his things into a small bag and seemed quite excited. It was as if the constant sullenness of a few months earlier had completely disappeared from his features.

- Did you forget, Ai? - he said back surprisingly kindly. – We will have a joint training session with Iwatobi.

- I thought it would only start later - I answered in shock.

- Yes, but before that I'll run into the boys. See you later! - he said and said goodbye without even looking at me, then left our common room.

Well, he will be with them again - I thought dejectedly, but almost immediately I held my head between my palms and rubbed my face. - No! Senpai is happy and that's a good thing.

But my good old friend, the tightness in my chest, is back. Involuntarily, I pulled my knees up and hugged my legs. In this pose, I watched the door through which my roommate left and I did not change my posture for a few minutes.

- This is a good thing - I repeated my earlier thought now aloud, in a whisper.

Our room suddenly seemed very empty and cold, so I caught myself and gathered my things to go to the pool. There probably won't be many people there besides me, but a little training never hurts. I need to improve to get closer to her senpai skills.

When I entered the swimming pool, my guess was confirmed that one or two other boys were already there besides me. Two were doing laps in the water, three were stretching, and in the corner, Mikoshiba-senpai and our secretary were talking on a bench, presumably about club life.

I also started to stretch a little further away from the others, when the captain came to me.

"Nitori, you're early," said the redhead.