Open Waters | Free! Fan Fiction

20. Birthday Celebrations

Open Waters

Chapter Twenty

Birthday Celebrations

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"Oh, Hana-chan, what's this?"

Hana smiled as Nagisa inspected the envelope she had handed him and everyone else gathered. "Open it and find out."

Hana laughed at the differing ways everyone opened their envelopes. Nagisa practically ripped his open. Gou open hers eagerly, but was still restrained. Makoto and Rei opens theirs as any normal person would. And Haru... it looked at though that opening an envelope required a great amount of concentration for him. Or maybe he was just trying hard not to rip the paper.

Unsurprisingly, Nagisa was the first the open his, revealing the deeper blue sheet of paper inside, folded over three times. The colour reflected the colour of the water of the pool nearby them. It was Wednesday, and their training camp had finished. Now back at school, the swim team had returned to swimming hard in the pool. Their times were continuing to increase, so it looked like the decision to go on the camp had paid off after all.

The team had just completed another day of training. Hana had waited until they were reasonably dry before handing out the envelopes. Now she stood by and drummed her fingers on her legs, waiting for their response.

Nagisa sped-read the sheet of paper in front of them. He eyes were sparkling in excitement. "A party invitation?!" he exclaimed.

Hana chuckled an nodded. "Yup."

Makoto, who had just opened the invite, looked up after giving it a quick scan. "Just a party at your house?"

She shrugged. "Nothing too big, but it should be fun."

"Sounds great! I'm coming!" Nagisa exclaimed. It was as though he had never been invited to a birthday party before. Hana giggled. His excitement was contagious, she could feel her lips spreading out into a grin.

Makoto smiled at his best friend. "I know I'm free."

"I'll be there, Hana-san," Rei said, nodding.

Gou grinned. "You know I'm coming."

Haru was the only one yet to speak. Hana tilted her face in his direction. "Haru?" she murmured.

Haru looked up from his invite, his eyes meeting hers. He nodded once. "I'll be there."

A thrill went down Hana's spine. Everyone would be attending, which she was pleased about. She could have twirled on the spot, but the ground was wet and slippery, and she was barefoot. She didn't want to risk slipping. "Great! I'll try and make this fun -"

"It's your birthday, Hana," Makoto interrupted. He smiled warmly at her. "Do what you want."

"Okay then. So, this Saturday at my place, okay?"

"Great!" Nagisa exclaimed. He paused, and looked at Hana quizzically. "Uh... I don't know what to buy you, Hana-chan."

"Oh!" Hana exclaimed, flustered. "Really, Nagisa, you don't have to buy me anything. And if you want to, something as simple as a necklace will do. I honestly don't know what I want myself."

Nagisa sighed. "That's not making it any easier."

Gou chuckled. "I'll help you pick something out, and anyone else who is having trouble."

"Gou... you don't have to..."

Gou turned to her friend and rolled her eyes. "What? You're my friend, Hana, and a wonderful person. Of course I'm going to get you a present."