Swimmer Boy (Book 1)

Chapter 18 ~ Medley Relay

"What do you mean I'm off the relay?!" The red-haired boy exclaimed in a mix of confusion and anger.

"Your times have slowed down a lot and until you can clear your mind, we're going to take our best chance at winning." His captain replied bluntly before walking away.

Obviously that conversation took a hit on Rin's performance during the tournament. He came in last in his individual race and could barely manage to get himself out of the pool at the end. Seeing this, Haru jumped from his seat and sprinted to the locker rooms. I, along with the rest of the team, quickly followed after him.

We ran down multiple hallways until we heard a loud thud. We rushed over to see Rin arguing with a silver-haired Samezuka first-year. "It's pretty obvious that I couldn't get any better!" Rin said angrily. "I quit a long time ago and I should have stayed quit!" He kicked a trashcan and finally turned around and noticed us, but walked away.

"He was removed from the relay?" Nagisa asked almost in disbelief.

"But we thought we'd be able to swim with Rin again." Makoto said sadly. My brother beside me unclenched his fists and relaxed as Rin's words played over and over again in all our minds. "I quit a long time ago and I should have stayed quit!"

Haru weakly held onto the wall and sat down on the floor. I sat down beside him and held his hand. "I won't... get to swim with Rin again?" He whispered, on the verge of tears.

"What now? The relay's about to start." Nagisa asked.

"We should just focus on our own race now." Makoto said.

"What makes you think Haru can handle that right now?" I glanced up at the team, a little irritated.

"I... have something to confess." Rei suddenly spoke up. "Last night, Rin called me to talk outside. He said the reason he quit swimming in middle school wasn't because he lost to Haru. He hit a wall in Australia and his confidence was shattered. But after watching us swim at prefectural tournament, he realized that he wanted to swim in the Samezuka relay."

"I didn't realize Rin felt that way." Nagisa said.

"But that's not the reason he wanted in the relay." Rei continued. "He didn't care about winning. He just wanted to swim with all of us again, the best teammates he could ever have. And I know that, because I feel the same way. I want to swim with the best teammates I could ever have. You feel that way too, right, Haru? There's someone you want to swim with."

"I want to swim with Rin." Haru said.

"Haru if you don't do something, Rin will stop swimming for good." I said. "You guys are the only ones who can help him."

"But what are we supposed to do?" Makoto asked.

"You seriously still don't get it?!" Rei exclaimed.

"Are you sure about this, Rei?" Haru asked. Rei pushed his glasses up snd smiled.

"Just make it beautiful."

~~~~~

We all split up and ran inside and outside the building, searching for Rin. The team had to report for the relay soon. If not, they'd be disqualified.

"Haru, the tree!" I yelled as a sudden thought popped in my head. When we first arrived here, we spotted a tree that looked exactly like the sakura tree at our middle school pool.

Haru and I sprinted to the tree, and there we found Rin. Rin finally took notice of us and looked at us in shock before seeming angry. "Why are you here?" He sneered. "Did you come to laugh at my pathetic loss? Did you hear that I was taken out of the relay, too? All I'm good for is laughing at. I'm not even good enough to swim in a relay with you guys!"

"Calm down, Rin!" Haru said.

"Shut up! What would you know?!" Rin exclaimed.

"I know how it feels to want to swim with friends, especially in a relay." Haru said. "You were the one who showed me that, Rin. You're the reason-"

"Shut up!" Rin suddenly grabbed Haru by his collar. I wanted to interfere but Haru put his hand out and moved me behind him. This was between him and Rin.

"I understand now! The reason I want to swim!" Haru said. "Who I'm swimming for!"

"I said shut up!" Rin tried to throw a punch but Haru caught it, unfortunately losing his balance and falling on the ground. He and Rin struggled until something caught Rin's eye.

Earlier, Haru had written "For the Team" in the sand. That was what Rin wrote on the bricks of our garden in middle school. "This tree is like the old sakura tree." Haru said. "Is that why you were here?"

Rin slowly loosened his grip on Haru as the tears finally fell from his eyes. "Why can't I be free?" He cried. "I want to swim with you guys, in the relay. But it's too late now."

"No, it's not too late." Haru sat up. "Let's go swim, Rin."

"Rin!" Nagisa exclaimed as the other three guys finally found us.

"Watching you like this irritates me to no end." Rei sighed. "But if you want to swim, just do it already."

"Rin." Haru spoke up, all attention on him. "Let me show you something you'll never forget."