Caught in the Act (A 'Free! Iwatboi Swim Club' Fanfic)

Chapter 1 - Caught in the Act

            I never thought that someone would catch me in the act of swimming. It never even crossed my mind that I would be spotted until I looked up to see four shadows peering at me through the window.

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“Mei-chan, hurry up or else we’ll be late!”

I quickly ran down the stairs and into the kitchen where my older brother waited for me. He held a frying pan in one hand and a spatula in another – he was making me breakfast as usual.

“Geez, Mei, we’ll be late for work,” Aki sighed. I grinned, waving his comment off.

“Onii-san, don’t worry about it. You can leave first, and I will head off to the pool. I can go alone.” Aki glanced at me before agreeing. He quickly served me breakfast and stuffed his shoes onto his feet before hurrying off to work. Onii-san was an athletics trainer; he trained mostly basketball players, which helped many of them make it into the pro league. Occasionally, he would help train me in swimming.

I took my time getting ready to help out at the large indoor pool that onii-san had access to. I helped train the middle school and high school kids.

I slipped on my one-piece bathing suit and studied myself in the mirror. I have to get a new suit soon, I sighed. My bust was growing a bit – it wasn’t huge, nor was it small. It was average sized. I was also growing to be a bit taller, now standing at 5’4”. I grabbed my shirt and shorts, and headed out.

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“Megumi Haruno! You’re finally here!” A voice bellowed at me the second I walked through the door to the indoor pool. Coach Daichi was the owner of the indoor pool and he allowed me to help train the students, which usually meant me doing the work and him hiding in his office reading magazines or taking naps. “Start group one with the relays, and group two with forms.”

“Hai, hai!” I replied. He sighed at me, “Only say ‘hai’ once! Not ‘hai, hai.’” I laughed. It was my signature to always say it twice. Daichi-sensei walked away leaving me with his students.

“Ohayō!” I exclaimed, excited to get started. Everyone turned around and their expression brightened up.

“Megumi-chan! Megumi-sempai!” A chorus of boys cried out. Yep, boys: middle school boys and high school boys, all half-naked. Their school’s swim club allowed them to skip a day of school to train here. I, on the other hand, was home-schooled.

            “Hai, hai! Let’s practice, everyone! Group one, you’ll be doing relays, so figure out what you want to swim in. Group two, you’ll begin with forms; meaning, within your schools, find out your strengths and weaknesses. High school on the left, middle school on the right.” I listed off. A high-schooler came over to me and I turned around to see who it was.

“Oh, Mako-chan, ohayō!” I beamed a smile at him only to be replied by his normally calm expressions to be a bit flustered and red. He looked so cute that I had to giggle.

“M-megumi-chan. W-when will you come to school?” That question caught me off guard. School? I never really thought much about it after that.

I avoided the question, pushing Makoto towards the left side of the pool. “Mako-chan, go practice!” He managed to crane his neck around to look at me with lonely eyes as I fell for his trick again. We stopped at the edge of the pool with my hands still on his broad, muscular back.

“Not fair, Makoto! I want Megumi-chan to touch me too!” The high-school boys were whistling and cheering. I felt my face flushing so I planted a foot on his back and shoved with all my might.

“Start practicing!” I shouted. I felt a pair of eyes staring at me so I turned around to meet my observer. It was Haruka Nanase. Whenever I saw him, I felt annoyed – he was always giving off this lazy vibe, and kept saying something like, “I only swim freestyles.” Honestly, how annoying.

The high-schoolers got into their appropriate school groups, with Iwatobi High being the smallest group consisting of four swimmers. Samezuka Academy, an all-boys high school, had the most, consisting of thirty swimmers. Their captain seemed to have taken a liking to me.

“Mei-chan! Come over here!” Seijuro Mikoshiba waved his hand excitedly. I whirled around to be splashed by water.

"Seiiiiiijurrrrrooo!” I hollered, angry. I found a beach ball lying close by and I grabbed it. I tossed it gently in the air only to spike the beach ball in his face.

“Ahahaha!” Everyone laughed.

“Start practicing unless you want me to hit each and every single one of you!” Still laughing, both groups got into formation and swam laps. I swear, these boys will be the end of me one day...

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“Onii-san, I’m going out!” I gently closed the door behind me, not waiting for Aki’s reply. He already knew where I was going so he wasn’t worried. I had my bathing on underneath my shorts and a short-arm jacket and was carrying a small duffel bag with my swim cap, goggles, and a towel. My only destination for these late nights was the indoor pool. I opened the glass door and let it click shut behind me. It was eerily quiet and dark, only with the light shine of the moon through the windows. I loved the way the light reflected off the calm water in the pool, as the light illuminated the soft ripples. I quickly tugged my shorts and jacket off, leaving me in my jet black bathing suit with purple stripes running down the sides. My shoulder-length hair seemed to blend into my bathing suit, creating an effect to where no one knew where my hair began or where it ended.

I stepped up onto the diving platform and stretched myself out. Then I got into starting position, crouching down.

“Ready, set, go,” I whispered before diving into the pool. It was a perfect arc. The moment I hit the water, I propelled myself forward before doing the breaststroke. After completing a couple of laps, I floated in the cool water on my back. So refreshing, I thought happily. Hehe, I sound like an old man. Then, I remembered the five meter diving board on the far left side of the pool where it was deep. I climbed out of the water and headed towards it. As I reached the top of the platform, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I dove into the air, bringing my legs up in front of my face with my arms behind them. I twisted my body in the air, performing the rotating tricks. Just seconds away from the water, I released my grip on my legs and dove straight into the water. I stayed under for a minute longer before resurfacing.

“Wah! That was great!” I exclaimed excitedly. I hauled myself up out of the water again for another jump from the diving board. I grinned stupidly, ready for another performance even though I knew no one was watching.

“Megumi Haruno, age sixteen! Representing Japan with her awesome performance!” Standing on the edge of the board, I stood backwards with my back towards the water. Then I leapt in the air. Time slowed down for me as I did my back two-and-a-half somersault with a one-and-a-half twist before propelling backwards in the water from my diving. I burst up from the water, stunned at how graceful I had pulled that off. I smiled, pumping my fists into the air.

“Yeahhh! Haha! Whoo-hoo!” I floated on my back again, doing a backstroke. If only that accident had never happened. I wouldn’t be swimming alone in the dark. I stopped, standing up. Out of the corners of my eyes, I notice a shuffling in the bushes right outside the windows. A loud thud hit the window, causing me to jump back a little.

“Who’s there?” I demanded, letting my voice ring out in the empty building. I knew whoever was outside could hear me. Soft mutters and scuffles continued until four heads popped up from the bushes. Realization dawned on me as the soft glow of the moonlight illuminated their features: Haruka Nanase, Makoto Tachibana, Nagisa Hazuki, and Rei Ryugazaki.

I shrieked, “Ehhhh?”

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A/N: I'm hoping to get at least 5 votes before I post the second chapter :) If this fanfic has caught your attention, please give it a vote! :)