Running After You

Chapter 6: The Water's Great

"Okay, I'm all ready." Said Youta, not changed into some old pair of swimming trunks that the swimming team coach said hadn't been used in years. Hence it's outdated design, but as it was only used for teaching purposes. It was no big deal to him. What concerned him more would be how Fuwaka would handle being the teacher this time.

She was an enigma and also seemed to have free reign. While he figured there was leeway due to his job as a sports manager. It was odd seeing her not practice with the others, as he had observed yesterday. They left her alone, yet were confident she wouldn't slack off.

Admittedly he also had to say she was a skilled swimmer. From what he saw, she managed quick times when she actually tried. A shame she didn't put that effort into something more helpful in his case.

"It's simple." She jumped right into the lesson, literally, as Fuwaka dove into the pool once more. It was with much more grace than the first time, where not even a drop hit the dry land above. She swam about under the surface a bit before emerging. "You gotta get in first."

"Okay..." After suffering from the trauma of helpless sinking the day before, Youta slowly dipped his toes into the water. Carefully, he sat down on the edge of the pool and gave himself plenty of time to put his body into the water. Even after everywhere up to his neck was under the water, the boy kept his hands gripped to the edge.

"That's something all right..." She could tell there was much work to be done to even get him to become a competent swimmer who didn't have to fear drowning just because the water reached his waist. "No big deal, not like we're born knowing how to swim." There was no concern in Fuwaka's voice as she moved herself to him, taking one of his hands. "You read that book, so you already got some of the ideas already, right?"

"Yeah..." He replied as they floated away from the safety of stable dry land. "I need to make calm breaths since the air in my lungs create some buoyancy. And treading water by keeping a steady motion with my arms and legs." Youta repeated the words from the book in his head, as if trying to convince himself that this was the truth as his heart beat faster.

"See, you already know what you're doing." She encouraged him, letting go of his hand now that they were in the middle of the pool to see him keep afloat.

"Wait, don't do that!" This action caused him to panic. Youta immediately forgot about what he had been saying to himself and immediately began to splash about now that his metaphorical safety net had been cut. Before he fell under the surface, she grabbed his hand and took her other arm to wrap it around his body to keep him floating.

"Whoa, you freak out real easily." Because of her actions in order to keep him from falling. Youta and Fuwaka were now in a position where one could say she was hugging him tightly. This would already be a special position for him were they just in their usual school uniforms. However they were much closer than that thanks to the limited coverage of their swimsuits, allowing him to feel up all her intimate skin, such as the way her breasts squished onto his arm.

"Uh, sure." His mind was full of lewd thoughts as he only answered without thinking of the words coming out of her mouth. "Sorry." He quickly moved away from him, pushing the girl far enough away but continue to have his one hand holding hers to keep himself from drowning. "How do you swim so well?"

"It just comes naturally to me." She answered, which was of no help to him. "But for someone like you. You just got to flow with it. The water's not trying to kill you, so you just need to let be and you focus on yourself."

"Okay, so just keep calm." This time it was him to let go of her as he focused on himself. Youta closed his eyes and thought only about his arms and legs as they moved in a constant state to keep him above the water's surface.

"See? It's not that complicated at all." She praised him. "Plus it helps that you got a little bit fat on you to give you more help." Fuwaka poked fun about his body. As someone who could've paid more attention to his health. Youta had developed a bit of a chub around the waist. She noted it, then proceeded to playfully give him a pinch for fun.

"H-hey, don't do that." He didn't want to react to her poking and prodding as the boy needed to think about his actions so he wouldn't sink.

"You gotta learn how to swim distracted too." She came up with an excuse as the girl giggled and continued to tickle him. "You don't trip and fall just because someone's talking to you, right?"

"Fine." He relented to allowing this strange girl to continue to prod against his body for no other reason outside of entertainment. Youta opened his eyes to see himself staying afloat in the water for the first time in his life. "Wow, this is amazing." While he was still far from becoming a swimmer, in fact all he could realistically do was keep himself from sinking, the boy did manage a major accomplishment.

"See? Told you swimming was awesome." She smiled at her ability to show someone the so-called light.

"Now it's your turn to hold up your end of the bargain." He reminded her about their deal on why he even accepted getting taught by her. "I took the time to get to know something you like. Now it's your turn."

"I don't even know where to begin." She had never placed herself in this situation before. Most people either told her of their own accord or it never came up during any conversations because she didn't bother to ask. "What do you even like?"

"I wouldn't say I have many hobbies." Youta realized the flaw in his plan as he himself was not what one would call an interesting person. The boy always viewed himself as just another one of the guys who existed in this school. It also didn't help that he didn't participate in any recreational clubs and the one he now was a part of would be better described as a job. "Most of the time when I'm at home, I'm probably watching online videos or reading books."

"Heh, you really do sound like a bookworm." She figured that out when she saw him try to learn how to swim by just reading a book. "But that stuff isn't real life, so it's not that useful."

"That's not true." There was on hill he was willing to die on, which would be that information gathered from books was much more important than many let on. "If I didn't read that book, then either you'd have to explain how to swim conceptually or I'd just be lost during your lesson."

"But it can't get you all of the way there." She didn't buy his explanation as the girl laid back over the top of water to lounge around. If he didn't know any better, he wouldn't think she was actually considered as practicing with her team. Though perhaps there was value to be gained from having to teach a novice the basics of her craft. "You could've read that thing from front to back, but the second you get in the water you'd just freak out again."

"Can't argue with that." He still wouldn't give in on his position though. "But it's not like it's just me being able to swim is the only good part from reading." Youta tried to swim through the water to stay within close proximity to her as she let the waves take her around the pool. "There's actually a lot of interesting things about swimming I never even would've figured out until I checked out that book. Those kinds of things are really good as an introduction."

"It definitely helped me join the team." She had a small smile as Fuwaka reminisced on her younger years as a girl who loved the ocean. How she enjoyed going to the beach during summer to just swim around in the waves. That book introduced her to the skills on swimming competitively to the point where she ended up joining the athletic team upon entering high school. "Guess reading's not so bad after all."

"See? Maybe it's not perfect, but nothing is, is it?" He had a grin on his face in smug satisfaction, which got wiped clean off quickly as she surprised him from her relaxed position to splash water into his face. Youta couldn't only sigh in respond to her immature actions. "Like you, for example."

"Ah, lighten up." She didn't stop her attack as the girl could enjoy herself in someone else's company for once. "I don't get to play with anyone in the water like you. Can't you just enjoy it too?"

"Hey, I'm not some old man." He dropped the mature act as well as Youta replied to her in kind by splashing water back at her. The pair engaged in some simple fun, forgetting the world around them for just a moment.

"Youta?" However reality came back to them in the form of a familiar face. It was Mitora, who had wondered where he had ended up after school after she had been told he would tell her about his surprise. "What are you doing here?"