Open Waters | Free! Fan Fiction

8. Established

Open Waters

Chapter Eight

Established

They'd been working for weeks for this moment.

Hana glanced over at the pool, smiling. Many weeks after she and Gou joined the swim club, they had finally finished fixing the pool. It was so satisfying, to look over at the newly-filled pool and think of how they'd transformed it from something that looked completely abandoned to a pool that looked just ready to swim in.

After all their efforts and time put aside to complete this task, it was good to know that had all paid off.

Now, all members of the swim club were gathered by the pool, cool drinks in theirs hands as they surveyed and admired their handy work.

"Okay. Here's to the establishment of the new swim club!" Miss Amakata said, beaming.

All seven gathered members grinned. "Cheers!" They all took long draughts from their drink.

"It's not warm enough to start swimming, but we filled the pool as a test run," Miss Amakata explained. "All that's left is to toss these in together." She held up a circle of salt, meant to be used for sanitising the pool.

Each of the seven members received one and stood by the pool. Hana stood closest to Haru, not failing to notice the way he looked longingly at the water.

As always, he just wants to dive in.

After a count, all seven members tossed their respective salts in. Hana smiled as they landed with a small 'plop' in the water.

The pool was now finally ready. All their hard work had indeed not been for nothing.

"The swim club is finally ready to go!" Nagisa said, face alight with excitement.

"Well, we can't get in the pool yet -" Makoto sighed, but his attention was diverted as movement caught his eye. Hana whipped around and grinned to see Haru strip down to his swimsuit.

I knew he wouldn't be able to resist the water. He never can.

"Wait, Haru! You were wearing your swimsuit again?" Makoto exclaimed.

Gou apparently did not have such qualms. "I can't get enough of those triceps!" she squeaked, her eyes wide. Hana couldn't help but chuckle at her friend's reaction.

"What? Triceps?" Makoto squawked.

Any further argument was interrupted by the sound of something making an impact with the water. Small droplets of water fell on Hana, the small beads cool and refreshing. She turned and smiled to Haru in the water, looking completely at peace.

It was funny; she'd heard for so long how Haru loved the water, but she had never truly seen him in it until now. And she could now understand why everyone continuously made a comment about how much Haru loved the water; he looked utterly at peace, calm and relaxed. She had never seen Haru with that expression on his face before.

Hana could have stared all day, mesmerised by how someone could love the water so much, but Makoto shattered the moment for everyone. "Haru, it's still too cold right now!" he cried, his voice sharp and concerned.

"I don't see a problem," Nagisa commented with a casual shrug. "He looks comfortable enough."

Comfortable was an understatement. It's almost like the water is his home. Hana tilted her head to the side. How could Haru love the water so much, yet she couldn't stand to go near it? It was a fear that had haunted her for many years, so why couldn't she get over it?