Tide Between Two Worlds

The National Round, Pt. 2

       Second half of nationals begins with the men's 100m freestyle. The water that was once active at least twenty minutes ago has now reached serenity as the marquee announces the next contest and its participants. As far as records go, the world record belongs to Pan Zhanle of China at 46.40 seconds. The Japanese record stands at 47.85 made by Matsumoto Katsuhiro. So there's room to breathe.

Shuichi was stationed in the fifth lane, going through his usual warm up routine. Dynamic stretching of the arms and legs and a little water on them for an added effect. The moment he felt nothing coming from the sensation of water on his skin gave him more confidence. He was one with the water...at least he will be. Kaito stood in the stands with his phone ready for anything. However, disappointment continued to rear its ugly head.

       What the hell? He thought, Nothing? Nothing at all? Ohta, what the hell did you do?

       "The 100m freestyle," Kiyoni read from the center scoreboard, "This is his signature event."

       "Wait," Kuronue probed, "How do you know what his best swim is?"

       "After three rounds, eh, I think I would have learned a thing or two."

One-by-one, each lane was announced and each competitor gave a courteous bow while focused on the water ahead. Almost uniformly, all swimmers stepped onto their respective platforms and prepared to launch. The arena was quiet once again with a whistle to revive the crowd and start the race. Like Kiyoni said, this run is Shuichi's best event and it showed by the way he sliced through the water like a hot knife through butter. By the first half of the course, Shuichi was in first place, clocking in at 22.63 seconds. Second place went to lane two, Yokoma Junior High team captain Kazuo Inoue with a time of 22.75 seconds. Similar to Karasu, Kazuo also has Olympic dreams and competed in the Junior Olympic Cup just last year. He's the favorite of this race.

       "Aw, man," Mei noticed, "This race is close. I don't think Minamino is gonna pull it off."

       "Yes, he is," Kiyoni argued, "He has to. This is his best race! He has to!"

It was indeed close. So close it ended with a 5/100th of a second difference. Mei was wrong to doubt Shuichi for he was the victor, clocking in at 47.93 seconds and Kazuo finishing at 47.98 seconds.

       "Impressive," Kazuo said to Shuichi once out of the pool, "Perhaps you should go for the junior cup."

       "No," Shuichi assured, "The winner from the last heat before break, he's the team's vice captain. He's the one to look out for in that contest. Perhaps you should tell him more about it."

The girls had a bit of a hard time with their respective heats. After the completion of the 100m and 200m freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke, Meiou Academy was inching closer to third place overall leaving its support system nervous.

       "Noooooo," Kuronue wailed, "We were so close."

       "It's gonna take a miracle now," Kiyoni assumed, "What's left?"

       "The 400m freestyle for both boys and girls," Mei answered.

Kiyoni observed the scoreboard where Akine Junior High has been the star team this year with an over two minute lead on Meiou. If the team could inch their way to victory through these next two contests and do so within less than two minutes total, the championship is theirs. The school uniform already contains the color golden yellow. It would be nice if that same school could come home with a gold trophy and medals.

       Final team race of the day for the boys. The boys 400m freestyle relay. Shuichi was to go third for this event. As he bounced around, warming himself up, he caught Yuu in the stands recording Shuichi's every move. Whoops! Shuichi was so caught up in the moment of the competition, he forgot to give Yuu what he wanted. Better make that a thing before Shuichi forgets again. Once he stood in line waiting his turn to greet the crowd, Shuichi covertly covered his mouth with one hand, looked directly at Yuu, and flashed an ear-to-ear, eerie, nearly monstrous smile through a few fingers. The same smile all ningyo display whenever they want to scare someone or are out hunting. The teeth were bluish green, glazed in tinted, slimy saliva, jagged, and looked no different than dental nubs waiting for a veneer installation. Another thing Shuichi learned from Botan. Ningyo are only pretty when left alone, are around their own kind, or in the middle of seducing a potential human victim. Get on their bad side and it's ugly in more ways than one.