The Shark and the Stingray

Chapter 6

2 days. "Swimming Cap, Check! Prescription Goggles, Check! Not wearing a Speedo, Check!" Rei was on a block, "You know from over here he looks like a world class swimmer," I rested my face on my knees, "Guess we'll see if the clothes make the man," Nagisa nods, "Mm-hm, this might just work!" Kou nods, we were back at school, we were all eagerly waiting for Rei's results, he dived in perfectly and began to swim breaststroke, we all had such high hopes, "But why?!" Rei was shocked, Nagisa, Mako, Kou and I deadpanned, "I can show you how it's done, do you want to learn how to swim or not?" Haru swims over to him, Rei was shocked, "I humbly ask for your guidance," Rei bows, "One catch, I can only teach you free understand?" Haru says, "Yes," Rei nods, we were all excited, "Haru teaching someone to swim?" Mako and I were shocked, "With Haru teaching, Rei can't fail!" Nagisa smiles, for the rest of the day, the two were in the pool, Haru teaching Rei how to swim, Mako and Nagisa pulled their jumpers on as it got to sunset, Miss A finally pulled her umbrella down as the sun was too, "Now you've got everything you need to get this done, now it's up to you how you choose to use it, just believe in yourself." Haru looks at Rei, "Right," Rei pulls on his goggles, we all held our breaths, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!" Rei surfaces and shouts, he couldn't get further than a few meters, all underwater, "Genius is made up of 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration," Miss A says, "That's Edison isn't it?" Mako looks at her, "Basically hard work always trumps talent?" Kou asks, "Looks like we're in for 48 hours of hard work and training," Nagisa sighs, we all drooped, "Not exactly, I interpret Edison's saying as all the hard work in the world means nothing without inspiration. So uninspired labour is pointless!" She smiles, "That's not very inspirational!" I shouted, Kou, Mako, Nagisa and I were shocked at her reply. Today is the Last Day. "Our only option left is for Rei to compete using his kick board," Nagisa walks out of the storeroom, "Good luck passing that through the officials," Kou shakes her head sadly, "Actually they might, I don't think there's any rules about not letting kick boards in races," Mako walks over to us, "Well guess we'll have to look it up soon," I sighed, we heard a splash from the pool, "Hey someone's swimming butterfly," I look at the pool, "Maybe it's Haru," Nagisa blinks, "Couldn't be, he only swims freestyle," Mako crosses his arms, "You got that right," Haru comes up behind us, "Don't do that!" I freak out, "Then who's out there?" Kou looks back, we saw red glasses by the block, "Rei?! When did you learn butterfly?" Nagisa asks, Kou, Mako, Nagisa and I ran up to him, "You know it just sorta came to me, once I tried it I could swim," He says, we were all shocked, "Do you know why?" Kou asks, "I do, it's because I'm not free." He mumbles and looks at Haru who was by a pair of butterflies, "I'm sorry what was that? You were mumbling?" Nagisa asks, "Nope, at this point your guess is as good as mine," Rei laughs, "Seriously?!" I giggled, "I'm just glad we don't need the kick board," Mako crosses his arms, "I wanna see another lap! Make it beautiful!" Nagisa claps, "Naturally," Rei goes for another lap, we all cheered.

We were all in the change room, we all watched Kou as she was sitting on the floor in traditional kimono, she opened her eyes and started writing in black ink, the strokes forming into kanji, '48 Days Until the Prefectural Tournament!', "How many of those signs are you gonna make?" Nagisa asks, "It's getting out of hand," Rei nods, "Pressure pushes people and moulds even the weakest people into champions!" I say for her, Kou nods violently, "But too much pressure could stress you out," Haru says, "That's how you end up like Rei," Nagisa peeks his head out, "Hey! I would say that I have the constitution of a Samurai," Rei turns his nose up, "Speaking of Samurai what's up with Gou's outfit?" Mako chuckles, "Stop talking and start practising! Let's go, let's go, let's go! It's KOU! Idiots," She screams and they all run out of the room, "That's a way to get them out," I grinned, a gust of wind blew her paper talismans across the room, "Damn it! Well it figures, what a pain," She grunts, I help her grab the papers, "Huh, what's this?" I pull a notebook from under the carpet. "Check it out! You won't believe what I just found!" I ran out of the change room, Kou following close behind, "Iwatobi High School Swim Club, Summer Training Camp From Hell on  a Deserted Island," Haru reads off the poster I held up, "From Hell?" Rei asks, "Deserted Island," Haru says, "That sounds fun!" Nagisa has stars in his eyes, "Isn't it incredible? It's a poster from several decades ago, back when Iwatobi High had a Swim Club!" Kou nods, "Interesting but what's the big deal?" Rei asks, "The big deal is we should steal their idea and hold a Summer Training Camp of our own! On a deserted island! Keep your eyes on Nationals boys!" I grinned, "Sounds like a lot of work to me," Haru had his legs in the pool already, "Don't complain till you've heard me out! Just look at the training regiment they used, they swam long distances from one deserted island to the next using their stamina in a natural environment, if we were to blow our opponents out of the water at district, this is exactly what we need!" I showed them another page, "You think?" Mako asks, "Yeah, definitely!" Kou jumps over to me, both of us smiling and had an aura around us, "If we focus and follow our fore-bearers there's no way Iwatobi Swim Club won't win!" I gripped my fist, "How did things end up for those guys?" Nagisa asks, "It looks like they got sixth place," I pointed at another page, "Doesn't seem like a great return on investment," Rei looks at it, "So lame," Nagisa and Rei say at the same time, "Regardless of outcome the thing's the same, we need to hone in on our stamina, and what better time and place than in the Summer on a deserted island!" Kou jumps up, "Not to be a nay sayer but why does it have to be a deserted island?" Rei asks, "Who knows but it sounds exotic, personally I'm all for it." Nagisa looks at him, "Totally, it's such an awesome idea! Mako, what do you think?" I turned to him, "Uh, well it sounds like a decent plan to me, if it helps us get ready for district it's worth putting our time into," He nods, "Alright it's a done deal then!" Nagisa jumps up. 

"I've got to say, leaving uniform design to Yuki was a good idea," Mako looks at the box of tracksuits, I grinned, "Design and Tech, one of my favourite subjects back home in Australia," I winked, we all pulled our white and blue and white tracksuits on, it was IWATOBI stamped across the back in bold blue letters, we made our way to Miss Amakata in the Faculty Office to ask for the deserted island plan, "I'm sorry but the club doesn't have the money for that," She says, "But it's fine because we have a generous faculty advisor who's willing to pay for the whole trip out of her pocket!" Nagisa threw his hands in the air, "I don't do charity. Besides last minute money bags only drop out of the sky in cheesy television shows and poorly drawn manga. George Bernard Shaw the famous Irish scholar and playwright said it best I believe, 'The book that has the most influence in my life is my chequebook,' I agree. Money is the root of all evil." She says, Kou and I nodding off to sleep. "You guys, I'm not ready to give up on this idea yet, so the school won't pay for our trip that doesn't mean we can't get the funds together ourselves," Nagisa says, we were walking back home from Familymart, Mako unwrapped the twin popsicle and split it in two giving me the second one, "I'm sorry but after shelling out my tracksuit, my equipment and my fabulous non-speedo outfit I don't see myself taking on additional expenses," Rei lists off, "I'm pretty broke here too," Haru says, "Yeah same here," Nagisa sighs, "Don't tell me you guys went bankrupt over some swimsuits, the only guys who needed one was Rei, the rest of you were fine," Kou says, "Wait I just saw your suit today, they look that same," I licked my popsicle and looked at Haru, "They look the same but they fit a lot better," Haru says, "Here's an idea what if we got part time jobs?" Nagisa offers, "Nah, it's too late for that," Rei shakes his head, "Sorry guys, looks like our idea was a huge bust," I sighed, "Hey don't lose hope you guys, we can still have a Summer training camp, we'll just be on a tight budget," Mako says, Nagisa, Kou and I all lit up, "Looks like Mako means business!" Nagisa smiles, "That's why he's our team captain!" I grinned. We waited outside Mako's house as het got something from inside, "So we seriously suggest we rough it outside? What does he expect us to do about the boat fare to the island?" Kou asks, "Maybe we hitch hike there?" Nagisa pitches, "I hate to break it to you but cars and trucks don't run on water," I look at him, "What's that?" Rei turns around, "Makoto's pet fish passed away and that's where he buried them." Haru says, "That's right, Mako had a pair of goldfish in grade school. Let's take a moment of silence for the best fish ever," Nagisa went over to the 'grave' and put his hands together, Rei did the same. "Wow that is some serious equipment," Kou looks at all the camping gear Mako brought out, "Our family always goes camping during the Summer so we have lots of really good stuff," He rubs his nose, "And who gave you permission to leave it at my place?" Haru looks at Nagisa, "Well your place is so big and you live alone. I'm really excited about our Summer camp! It's gonna be so awesome swimming around so many deserted islands!" Nagisa stands up, "Stop it with the deserted islands," Rei takes the book away from Nagisa, "I'm gonna have some tropical barbecue!" Nagisa punches the air, "Alright a barbecue!" Kou stands up with him, "This is becoming an obsession," Rei points out. "Now we need money for transportation," I rub my temples, the mood died down, "Maybe Miss A has a boat we can borrow?" Nagisa asks, "You heard her, she doesn't do charity work," Rei looks at him, "Wait, I know someone with a boat!" Mako lights up.

"Yeah I have a squid boat my grandpa gave to me after he passed away, got myself a boating license, but, it'll take me more than pizza to bribe me to use it," Mr Sasabe was at Haru's house again after we called him over "Please help us out coach!" Mako bows his hand and claps his hands together, "We can sweeten the deal with this!" Nagisa bows his head and holds out a Little Iwatobi mascot, "Seriously?! Ok, what the hell..." He breathes out, we were shocked, "I can't take part in your little camp but I'm happy to take you there and back again," He crosses his arms and smiles, "For real!" Nagisa slams his hands on the table, "For real," Mr Sasabe nods, Kou and I high ten, "We can't thank you enough for this!" Mako smiles, "A token for our thanks!" I grinned and held a Little Iwatobi figure, "GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!" He freaks out.