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

Chapter 10 - Water Before the Storm

            Our routine began once again with Mako picking me up in the morning before walking to Haru’s. It was as if nothing had happened. I would skip school with them whenever Ama-sensei allowed them to practice. I would run back to Daichi-sensei’s indoor pool every day after school to train the students. Saturday mornings, I would be there coaching the high-schoolers. Sunday mornings, I would be scrubbing the place clean with help from Haru, Mako, Nagi, and Rei.

-------------------------------------

            “Who knows where the convenience store is?” I suddenly asked Sunday morning, after we had finished cleaning the pool.

            “You still don’t know where it is, Mei-chan?” Nagi’s surprised voice echoed. I chuckled, still floating on my back.

            “I don’t do the shopping at my house. Aki-nii does the work.”

            “Wahh, so lucky! Ne, Haru-chan has to do all the work too! He lives alone!” I glanced over at Haru who seemed pretty content on ignoring our conversations.

            “Um, Mei-chan?” Mako shyly asked, “If you want, I could walk you over there later.”

-------------------------------------

            “So… explain to me again why the three of you are here too?” I asked, craning my head around to see Nagi, Rei, and Haru trailing not so secretly behind me and Mako.

            “I need to buy more mackerel,” Haru muttered.

            “I need milk! Milk tastes the best after a hot bath!” Nagi exclaimed.

            “…” We were all waiting for Rei’s excuse. “I just don’t want to go home yet.” I rolled my eyes. Mako pointed towards a store coming up in our view. “That’s the convenience store. It’s not too far from the pool.” We walked into the store. I grabbed a basket and headed towards the meat section with Haru next to me. He made a beeline for the mackerels, grabbing two packets in his hand, inspecting them. I walked along the aisle, looking for chicken. Finally spotting the one that I wanted on the top shelf, I stood on my tip-toes, reaching for it. Only the bar of the shelves holding their cold, fresh meat stood in between me and my goal. I guess me stretching for the chicken was a funny sight, because I heard someone chuckle as they grabbed the chicken for me.

            “You should’ve asked someone for help, you know.” A familiar voice commented, placing the chicken in my basket. I looked up and found who the voice belonged to.

            “Rin-chan!”

            He smiled cheerfully, patting my head. “How are you feeling now?”

            “Good! How is your shoulder?” I asked.

            “It’s fine. The bruise is gone now.” He looked around, “Ne, are you alone?” I shook my head.

            “Mhmm Hmm. Haru-chan and the others are here. Mako-chan showed me the way…here.” I was surprised to see his normally gentle eyes turn to something cold and hard. Rin grabbed onto my shoulders, shaking me a bit.

            “Take me to them.” He demanded. My eyes widened. Rin realized what he was doing, quickly releasing me. He ran a hand through his hair, looking at me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you like that, Megumi-chan.” I smiled at him.

            “I wasn’t scared, just surprised. I’ll take you to them, Rin-chan.” I held out my hand for him and he took it. I lead him to the mackerel section, where Haru was bound to still be.