Open Waters | Free! Fan Fiction

15. Embracing Fear

Open Waters

Chapter Fifteen

Embracing Fear

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"Do you know how to tread water?"

Hana quirked an eyebrow. "Tread water? What does that mean?"

"It's a way to keep afloat in the water. Here, I'll show you."

Hana suppressed a chuckle as she watched Haru 'tread water.' It was amusing to see Haru do something that was so completely different to freestyle. She watched the way he kicked his legs and arms, the water churning around him, and he was able to keep his head above water without ever starting to sink.

It didn't look too difficult.

Haru stopped after a while, his feet once again resting on the bottom of the pool. "Do you want to give it a go, Hana? It's not too difficult, I promise you."

Hana nodded once. She hadn't needed Haru to prompt her; she was going to try it anyway. She was going to try everything to do with swimming. Except perhaps butterfly, should Haru miraculously offer to teach her that. Butterfly just looked difficult and uncomfortable.

Hana breathed in and lifted her feet from the floor, bending her legs at the knees, and started to kick them in circles. She added the movement with her arms. It felt awkward at first, but her body soon adapted to the strange motion.

She continued to expect to sink to the bottom, and her heart skipped a beat whenever she felt as though she might have started to sink. But she didn't; Hana continued to tread water, and she continued to stay afloat.

When she decided she had enough, Hana allowed her legs to drop again, and she felt them hit to smooth floor. She smiled, feeling a little proud of herself. Treading water was nowhere near a swimming stroke, Haru probably just taught her that as a means to get her used to the water and begin to overcome her fear, but it was the first thing she'd been able to use to keep her head above water that didn't involve gripping tightly onto an edge. It made her feel rather accomplished.

She had expected Haru to nod, but instead there was a small frown on his face. "You're still afraid of the water, aren't you?" he said, in response to Hana's questioning look.

"What?" Hana hadn't been expecting Haru to ask that.

"You looked panicked a few times while treading water."

Hana sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. He must have been watching me closely. Oh well. There's no point trying to deny it. "Yeah," she admitted softly. "I am."

"It's not as bad as you think it is. You just haven't embraced it."

Hana tipped her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"Put your head below the water."

"Excuse me?"

"Hana, just do it."

Hana sighed, but nonetheless put her goggles on, inhaled deeply, and placed her head below the water.

Instantly, she was surrounded on all sides by the water. Hana froze momentarily, but soon relaxed as she realised she was in control. She wasn't drowning: her head was just below the water, her hair becoming soaked and she had to keep from breathing in order not to get water into her lungs.

It was actually, nice, beneath the water. All other sights and sounds were drowned out; there was only the cool and the light blue of the water.

When her lungs began to burn with a desperate need for oxygen, Hana lifted her head and gasped in air, which her lungs thanked her for.