Open Waters | Free! Fan Fiction

22. Shock Loss

Open Waters

Chapter Twenty-One

Shock Loss

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"Hana? You ready?"

Hana dashed around her room, frantically grabbing what she'd need for the day. There wasn't much, just a packed lunch and sunscreen (it was a hit day, and always better to be on the safe side), but she'd woken up after her alarm, leaving her with only twenty minutes to finish getting ready.

"Almost, Mum!" Hana stuffed a chocolate chip muffin into her small bag. She glanced over the lunch she'd packed for herself and, satisfied that would last her the day, she zipped her bag closed and made a dash for the door, where her mum was waiting. Her dad had already left for work.

Mae smiled and quickly hugged her daughter. "I hope Iwatobi does well in the prefecturals today."

Hana glanced down at her Iwatobi jacket, the crisp white gleaming in the sun. A bout of nerves attacked her. The prefecturals were today. The boys had all been training hard, and Hana hoped that training would be able to pull off.

But still, as she kept reminding herself, all the others schools would be training hard as well. It would be a difficult contest out there.

"I hope so, too." Hana stepped back and hitched her bag further up her shoulder, turning and waving at her mother as she walked away. "See you later tonight!"

Hana quickly dashed down to the street, knowing that she was a little behind schedule. She, Haru and Makoto were all catching a bus to the prefecturals, since the venue was too far away to walk. They'd do arranged to meet outside Haru's place.

It didn't take long to reach the stairs leading to Haru's. When she got there, she realised that he had already climbed down a few. She smiled.

"Haru!" she called, jumping up the final steps. She was thankful he'd climbed down a few of them so she didn't have to climb all the way to top.

Haru glanced down as Hana ascended the final few steps, stopping just below him. "Morning, Hana."

"You nervous?"

"Not really."

Hana chuckled. She guessed Haru had been in swim tournaments before, so this wasn't really anything new for him.

She heard footsteps behind her, and turned to find Makoto climbing up the final steps with a sheepish smile. "Sorry about that, Haru, Hana."

"It's alright, we weren't waiting long," Hana said with a shrug.

Makoto smiled. "Today's the big day," he murmured.

Hana glanced between the two boys, wondering what exactly they were thinking right now. Though their faces didn't show it, were they nervous after all? Had they slept well the night before?

"Right, we'd better head off, or we'll miss the bus," Makoto said.

"Yeah." Hana and Makoto begantl walk off, and the brunette turned and smiled at Haru. "Let's go, Haru!"

The bus station wasn't too far away, just a two-minute walk. Fortunately, they were only kept waiting for a few minutes. Normally, at this time in the morning the bus would be fairly empty, but today it was moderately full. Hana couldn't help but wonder if it was because of the prefecturals.

The three softly conversed during the bus ride, which took ten minutes. When it came to a stop, it was only a short walk to the venue where the tournament was being held.