𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 / 𝘪𝘬𝘶𝘺𝘢.

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 / 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯.

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nao watched natsuya run off before turning his attention to the first years, acutely aware of ikuya and [name]'s interlocked fingers. 'he really is kind of awkward,' he commented, referring to natsuya. 'then, shall we start?'

'yes,' asahi answered.

'let's begin practice.' haru and asahi stood on a diving platform each, goggles and swimming cap on. 'let's try a track start,' nao suggested. 'the one where you place one of your feet in front of the other. don't bend your knees too much. pay attention to how long it takes for you to react. ready!' 

he blew the whistle, prompting haru and asahi to dive into the water. he called for makoto, ikuya and [name] to line up and watched them as they bent down and prepared themselves to dive when they heard the whistle.

•·················•·················•

as they simulated a relay, haru's free was less clean than usual. [name] watched in concern as she bit her lip, glancing at ikuya every now and again.

'are you ok, makoto?' nao asked, attracting [name]'s attention.

'i'm a bit lonely, too,' makoto responded sadly. 'but haru is still swimming with me,' he added, cheering up a bit. they were talking about the relay from elementary school with rin.

'i see. do you like swimming, makoto?' [name] frowned at the random question and her brows knitted further when she noticed her heartbeat quicken.

'eh? yes.'

'really? it's not just because haruka is here, too?' makoto's eyes widened and his body stiffened. 'sorry, i didn't mean to ask something so harsh,' nao apologised.

'ah. no...'

the [hair colour]-haired girl grunted in pain when she took a deep breath, catching the attention of ikuya, nao and makoto. her legs shook and she found it increasingly hard to stand. makoto and ikuya panicked, rushing forward to catch her in case she fell. 

'can you take me to the bench?' she asked shakily, reaching out to hold onto something when her vision blurred and cleared. they nodded, slinging her arms around their shoulders and helping her towards the bench along the pool fence. nao followed, kneeling down to [name]'s height when she sat down and looked into her [eye colour] eyes.

'can you hear me?' he asked. [name] nodded. 'can you see me clearly?'

'uh, kinda... it's blurry then clear then blurry again.'

ikuya looked to the pool, scanning the water for haru. he approached the shallow end as the dark-haired boy stood and held a hand out to pull him up. '[name] needs help,' he said frantically. haru's eyes widened and he gripped ikuya's hand and stumbled slightly as he touched the ground, jogging to his sister with ikuya in tow.

nao noticed haru's presence and moved out the way as haru took his place while ikuya sat beside her. '[name], scale of 1 to 10,' haru asked. when they were kids, he always asked her for a number of how much it hurt.

[name] groaned and squeezed her eyes shut. '7.'

his lips pressed into a thin line. 'easy, medium, hard?' now he was asking how easy it was to breathe.

'medium...'

haru reached for her water bottle, holding it so she could see. 'yes or no?' she nodded, shakily taking the bottle and drinking as much water as she could. 'better, same or worse?'

'better.' she tried to sit up straight but slouched almost immediately after. haru nodded at her and she tried again. for extra support, she gripped ikuya's shoulder and took deep but shaky breaths. the air was thick and her teammates were watching with intense concern. when her face relaxed, she smiled lightly.

'gone, dull, sting or sharp?' haru asked once she was done.

'dull, but definitely not as bad as it was,' [name] responded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. haru nodded, leaning forward to give his sister a hug. she grinned and returned it, despite the severity of the situation a few seconds ago.

nao smiled at the siblings while ikuya, makoto and asahi sighed in relief. 'take a break for the rest of this session and we'll see how you feel tomorrow, ok?' nao advised and [name] nodded once she was released from the hug.