Open Waters | Free! Fan Fiction

11. Joint Practice

Open Waters

Chapter Eleven

Joint Practice

Hana had already seen the Samezuka indoor pool, and neither did she know much about them. And yet even she gasped, momentarily amazed as the Iwatobi Swim Club entered the indoor pool for their joint training.

Wow. It is pretty impressive. Hana surveyed the pool with a small smile. She hadn't been to many pools in her lifetime, but thought Samezuka was one of the nicer ones she'd visited.

Apparently, she wasn't the only one to have such thoughts. "Indoor pools are so nice!" Nagisa exclaimed as the group came to a halt just outside the door, taking in the pool with a heavy sense of appreciation.

Hana couldn't help but quickly glance over at Haru. She smirked, spotting the underlying excited sparkle to his eye, which he had concealed very well. Hana wasn't sure if anyone else would have spotted it; they weren't looking as intently at his face as he was.

She must have been staring for a moment too long, for Haru shifted his gaze so he was looking at her. Hana flushed as their eyes met, and quickly redirected her gaze so she looked straight ahead. She brought her hands in front of her and tapped her fingers together, trying to not look suspicious and failing miserably in doing so.

"Hey, thanks for coming."

Hana breathed out in relief at the new voice. Everyone's attention changed to Seijuro, who was approaching, and everyone included Haru. Hana didn't know why, but she felt a little odd under Haru's steady gaze.

"Thank you very much!" everyone chorused, and inclined their heads respectfully. Hana hastily followed the action, though a little too late.

Damn. I'm not doing a very good job at blending in.

When Hana straightened herself out, she found that Seijuro's attention was focused on Haru. "You're Nanase-kun, right?" Without waiting for conformation he continued, "You won a bunch of regional tournaments in grade school."

"Yeah," Haru responded, seemingly uninterested.

Hana heard Seijuro continue talking, but was distracted by Gou. Her friend had gasped lightly and turned her head, switching her attention from Seijuro to someone else in the pool. Hana only had to think about it for a minute before she recalled who could bring such a reaction out of Gou: her elder brother.

Sure enough, when Hana looked up she found a familar red-haired boy stroll in, dressed on Samezuka gear, a younger grey-haired kid talking to him. Hana grit her teeth, already turned off by the sight of him.

Whatever she was feeling, it was the complete opposite to what Gou was. "Oh! Big brother!" she chimed. She ran up to him, a small skip to her step.

Rin looked less than pleased to see his younger sister approach. "Gou, what are you trying to do?" he said, in a tone so uninterested it would've made Haru proud.

"Rin-chan!" Nagisa exclaimed next, bounding forward to stand beside the red-haired girl. "We get to swim together again! Let's have fun together!"

"Together?" Rin scoffed and walked away from them. "You guys are a waste of my time."

That's it. No one talks like that to my friends. Hana narrowed her eyes and lunged forward so though to go after him, but found herself held back by some force on her arm. She whipped around, only to find it was Haru holding her arm in that vice-like grip.

"Don't," Haru warned her. "You'll only make things worse."

Hana raised an eyebrow. "Worse? Things are already pretty bad."