Into The Water

Chapter Three: At The Poolside

Thirst. That's what it is. An avid, parched search for deeper understanding—one that leads Mizuki's past days of study and speculation, wandering the school library, reading carefully chosen books. The dolphin creeps into her restless dreams, shrouded in mystery.

She discovered dolphins had been cherished by the ancient Greeks; killing a dolphin was considered a desecration of the sacred before the gods, an offense punishable by death. She doesn't stop inhaling information—some of it useful—and some of it not so much.

"Belonging to the great and ancient family of mammals called Cetaceans, dolphins are actually tiny, toothed whales; roughly thirty varying species... Tursiops truncates, the bottlenose dolphin, enjoys swimming in the world's oceans, inhabiting almost every kind of marine habitat in tropical and temperate seas... The reproductive organs are tucked away within the body, the mammary glands located on either side of the genital slit, below the navel... The brain of the bottlenose dolphin is larger than that of man..."

None of it explained why she's having these bizarre dreams. This search, driven by a desire to get rid of her dreams through collected literature, frustrates her in great measure.

Clutching onto the books she borrowed with great distain, she exits the school library. A guy, a third year judging from the color of his tie, runs around the corner and nearly knocks into Mizuki. She sidesteps him, staring after the guy as he shouts an apology her way.

"Mizu-chan!"

Mizuki whips around like she's been shocked with electricity.

The books she's holding jump out of her grasp and a big one―a thousand textbook pages on the sea's most intelligent creatures―lands hard on Nagisa's foot, sending him into a one-legged, hopping dance. Mizuki fumbles to get her stuff. He tries to help, and they knock shoulders and bump heads, and it's a total, horrible disaster.

This encounter firms up her double reputation as a klutz and the girl who is awkward in the company of others. She won't blame Nagisa if he calls her weird. She's actually surprised and relieved that he helps her out.

"What are those?" He comments on the books.

Mizuki clutches onto the items in a hurry. Presently getting up, he catches her eye and smiles sheepishly, like a child caught in innocent mischief.

"So you're that kind of girl, huh?"

Mizuki looks shocked and embarrassed. A blush creeps upon her cheeks. "I'm not like that at all!" she blurts, clutching onto the books with perhaps more tenderness and care than she might have in the past.

"Not like what? You don't read spicy romance novels?"

"No, I don't. Well, actually I do. A little. I mean, nothing too graphic."

The realization sinks in that she had, in actuality, read literature concerning the aquatic animal's reproduction facts. "Why are you here?" she speaks rudely, her face flushed to the color of tomatoes.

As much as he enjoys riling her up and then watching her reactions with amusement, he cuts to the chase. "We're gonna train in the pool. Haru-chan told me to come get you."

"I can't," she says, and manages to look unfazed. "I have things to do."

"More dolphin research?" Nagisa asks.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Didn't think I'd notice, huh?"

"No," she sighs reluctantly. "Not really."

"You have to check out the pool." Nagisa looks amused, and at the same time somehow challenging, like a kid making a cute face for grandpa and grandma, his pink eyes opening wide, his mouth curling into an impish little grin. "Haru-chan pretty much swims like a dolphin. He might as well have fins, honestly. And you don't have to go near the water; just watch us swim."