The Shark and the Stingray

Chapter 26

We got off the plane and caught the train to Samezuka, I had left my jacket at Rin's dorm so we were heading there to grab it, "Good morning." All the boys bow at Rin, "Holy crap, are you treated like a king here? I get you're a swimming school and all but still." I pale, "They're just being extra." Rin chops my head lightly, "Hope you had a good trip there and back captain. You too Yuki." Nitori bows, "It was awesome, any earth shattering changes happen while I left?" Rin asks, "No sir- I mean Rin ther-!" Momo jumped onto Nitori's back, "What did you get me! Can I have my souvenir now!" He sparkled, I giggled, "Settle, why not? Sure, knock yourself out." Rin goes through his back and put the boomerang on his head, "Kick ass it's a boomerang!" Momo held it up high, "G'day mate! Crikey! Look at this beauty!" He impersonates an Australian accent, I giggled while Rin and Nitori kept talking I hopped over to him, "Do you know how to throw a boomerang?!" Momo hands it to me, I look at it, "I don't really remember but Rin and I did it at year five camp, not sure if I've still got the knack for it." I stick my tongue out and throw the boomerang, everyone held their breaths and watched, it curved and came back into my hand, "Well what do you know, Rin! I can still do it!" I throw it again and it curved back into my hand, "No way, let me try." Rin walks over to me, he lifts it up and throws it through the air, it spun around and came back to him, "You too?!" Momo was shocked, "Guess muscle memory?" Rin shrugs and hands it back to Momo, "It can't be that hard if you both could do it." He closed one eye and made a dramatic build up, we all watched him, he threw it only for it to land on the ground after travelling a few meters, everyone burst out laughing, "And you were running your mouth saying how it wouldn't be hard." His teammate laugh at him, "Hey! You guys try it!" Momo runs over and picks it back up. 

It was the day of nationals, everyone was giddy and waiting for our boys to come out onto pool deck, "The first heat of the mens four hundred medley relay begins now," Everyone cheered for their school as boys came out from the tunnel and went to their lanes, "Swimmers, on your marks." The whistle was blown, "Makoto!" Sasabe shouts, "Go Makoto!" Kou and I shout, "Ready..." BEEP! The swimmers dove off, Makoto seemed to have been powered up by something, he swam even faster than usual, all the boys did, his hand slapped the wall, "NAGISA!" He shouts but Nagisa was already diving off, he was taking the lead, Nagisa touched the wall and Rei dove off, "IT'S ON YOU!" He shouts, Rei surfaced and started swimming, it was beautiful, all the boys were in sync, they were having fun. Haru was last, he dove in, the boys were screaming at him, he seemed to swim even faster, he touched the wall.

1, 4 Iwatobi

All the boys hugged and tears welled up in their eyes, all the students who came to support the boys cried out and cheered when they came first, "Oh my goodness." Miss A cupped her mouth, Kou and I took a breath in, we squealed and jumped up and down, "OH MY GOD! WE DID IT! WE DID IT!" We hugged each other and kept jumping. 

"The last heat of the womens two hundred meter medley relay begins now. Swimmers, on your marks." I stared at the water, plugged my nose and hopped in I looked to my left and right and saw a bunch of other girls having nothing on their mind other than winning, I closed my eyes and took a breath in, "Ready..." BEEP! I powered off the stand, everyone started cheering but it was muffled from my cap and the water, I started with backstroke, then butterfly, following it with breaststroke, I was on my final lap, I gasped for air and when I moved my head for my third stroke I saw out of the corner of my eye a girl in lane three, that egged me on to swim faster, I was running out of steam and my body was screaming in pain, I saw the girl catching up to me, I opened my eyes and it was like the competition disappeared away, I was swimming in a calm lake, I look to my side and I saw a large manta ray flap its wings through the water, I smiled and followed it, BEEP! I gasped for air and look up at the time.