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

Chapter 8 - A Fateful Meeting

(3rd Person POV)

“Kon'nichiwa, this is Haruno Aki, the guardian of Haruno Megumi. She’s missed school last week. Hai. She’ll also miss this week. Huh? Oh, hai. She just underwent a heart surgery. Hai, I’ll give her your regards. Hai, you can tell the class. Oh? Mei-chan will be able to go back next week. I will let her know. Arigatō.”

Aki glanced at Mei, who was still in a coma from the heart surgery. Hiroshi told him that it was a success, despite her pulse dropping once. She should wake up any day now. It was already three days after the surgery on Thursday.

            Wake up soon, Mei. Aki rested his head on Mei’s bed, closing his eyes.

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       Laughter floated into the evening sky. It was my first time going out with friends to an amusement park at the age of ten. Well, I went with the girls from my swim team, but they were my only friends.

            “Wahh! It was so much fun!” I exclaimed.

            “I know, right?! The rollercoasters were definitely my favorite!” One by one, our voices joined in on commenting about our favorite rides. Our family members waited outside of the park’s gate, waiting to pick us up.

            “Oh look! My mommy’s here! Jā ne!” My friends slowly began to disappear and I followed suit once I spotted Aki-nii.

            “Onii-san!” I shouted, waving my hand. He walked over to me and took my hand. “Min-na, jā ne!” Aki opened the car door for me and I climbed in, tired. We rode home in silence. By the time we got home, Aki carried me to bed before he took a bath. I had felt dizzy and a bit sick from all the roller coasters so I had Aki sleep with me. Before long, I was dreaming of an underwater world, where I never wanted to leave.

            I thought about how the calm feeling of the water in my fantasy world felt compared to my situation now. I could feel the water beginning to stir, as if wind was rippling across the surface, swirling the water underneath.

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            I opened my eyes for what seemed like forever. I noticed a figure sleeping with his head on my bed, and I recognized him to be Aki-nii. All these wires were hooked on to me: on my fingers, chest, temple, and an IV in my arm. Already used to them from my multiple experiences from the hospital, I skilfully unhooked everything. Taking the needle out of my arm was my most hated experience – I had to be really careful or else I would accidently cut my own vein. With everything off of me, I quietly slipped out of bed in my hospital gown. I was out in the cold hallway with some nurses bustling about.

            If I remember correctly, the garden should be on the fifth floor. I snuck into the elevator and rode it down two floors. The doors slide open, revealing a botanical garden, completed with a large water fountain that spewed out crystal clear water; tall rose bushes outlining a maze; and a variety of exotic plants and flowers. They never ceased to amaze me every time.

            “There’s a swimmer just like you, Maktsuoka-kun. She’s a really brave girl, only sixteen – a year younger than you.” A familiar voice said. I quickly hid behind a small forest of trees, peering behind the trunks. I saw Hiro-kun standing with a young man with reddish-brown hair who was seventeen. He didn’t bother turning to face Hiro.

            “Oh? Who is she?” He asked with mild interest.

            “Mei-chan. Ah, that’s right, you might not know her.” I bristled, slightly offended that a swimmer might not know my name. “She’s Haruno Megumi. She just underwent heart surgery for the third time, and she’s still chasing after the same dream that she has had since she was two.” Hiro chuckled, taking his rectangular glasses off. “Mei-chan really doesn’t know how to give up; her condition is very fragile – her heart beats too fast. Though she has irregular pulses in her wrist, heart, and neck, if all go over 110 beats per minute, it’s fatal.”