The Ghost of Iwatobi High (Free! iwatobi swim club variousxOC)

Making New Friends

Because I woke up late and had to take the later train, I didn't have a whole lot of time before homeroom started. That was unfortunate. But that wasn't going to stop me from doing what I set out to do.

I hurried down the corridor to class 2-E. In my hands, I had a bag filled with Kou's freshly laundered gym clothes that I needed to return to her. It didn't feel right to keep them any longer than I have. And I was worried that if I didn't get them back to her before homeroom, then she would have nothing to wear for her gym class. The people I passed in the hall moved out of my way, avoiding my eyes as was usual. I didn't even think much about it when they began whispering to each other as soon as I passed.

"Did I just see the grudge run past?"

"You didn't look her in the eyes, right?"

I skidded to a halt at the door; my indoor shoes sliding along the smooth floor and causing me to stumbled into the doorframe. My hand shot out to steady myself, in the process bumping my knuckles roughly against the wall. "Ow..." I winced.

Kou was easy to pick out of a crowd. Her maroon hair was so uncommon in Japan that it was similar to having a flashing, neon, arrow overhead at all times. She was standing in the middle of the classroom talking to what I assumed was her classmate or even a good friend with how close they were standing.

"K-Kou-chan," I huffed, slightly out of breath from more or less sprinting down the halls. I don't know how I'm going to run with Nagisa and Ryugazaki if I can't even run down the hall without getting winded.

Kou turned around when her name was called. Her ruby eyes lit up when they landed on me and instantly a smile stretched across her face. "Sadako-chan, Ohayou!" She chirped, "What are you doing here?"

I stumbled over and held the bag up in my hands. "Ohayou...Umm, I wanted to return these to you. It's the clothes you lent me," I explained when she looked confused, "I washed them. So thank you for your help." My head dipped unconsciously in a bow before I handed over the bag.

"Oh, well thanks for washing them. But you don't need to be so formal, Sadako-chan. I didn't do anything that anyone else wouldn't have," she replied setting the bag on the desk. Then turning to the girl standing beside her, the same girl that she had been talking to before I interrupted. "Chigusa-chan, this is the new member I was telling you about; Akamatsu, Sadako."

Chigusa looked at me with interest, bending down so she could see my eyes. The girl was a lot taller than me, and only a little bit taller than Kou. She reminded me a bit of my mother, what with the brownish-orange hair, but her eyes were a pretty aquamarine color. "So you're the ghost, huh? You don't seem very imposing," she commented, "I was expecting something...taller."

"Uh...yes. I'm a..." How was I supposed to respond to that?

"Not everyone can be as tall as you, Chisuga-chan," Kou quipped.

"That's true." She shrugged then stuck out her hand. "Name's Hanamura, Chisuga. But you can call me Chisuga if you like. I hang out with Gou a lot so I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of each other."

I grasped her hand lightly shaking it. "Nice to meet you."

"I told you my name is Kou!" Kou started. "Gou is a guy's name. Don't call me Gou."

Chisuga raised a brow. "But your name is Gou."

"It's pronounced Kou."

"Gou."

"Kou."

"Gou."

"K..."

It looked like neither girl was going to relent anytime soon. Kou kept insisting that her name was Kou; while Chisuga kept using Gou. I wasn't a hundred percent sure, but I seemed like the taller girl was doing it on purpose just to get a rise out of her friend. However, I still needed to get to class so I didn't have time to wait around for them to finish. "–Sorry, but I need to go... homeroom is about to start," I said effectively derailing both girls.