The Shark and the Stingray

Chapter 23

"This is going to be so cool!" Nagisa looks at the pool, the seven of us were in the bleachers ready for the boys' races, "Well yes, and nerve wracking." Rei nods, "You okay Haru?" I look at him, "I'm fine." He turns his head to the side, "It's because of the scouts right? You want to swim free." I whisper, he slowly nods, I squeeze his hand, "You'll be fine, besides, we're here to cheer you on." I smile, "Have no fear, your cheerleaders are here!" Hana waves, Kou lights up, "Hana!" She stands up, "We got up at the buttcrack of dawn for this." "It was totally worth it though." Her friends nod, "We'll try not let you girls down." Mako smiles, "Um, why isn't Sasabe here?" Rei looks around, "Oh right, he sent his apologies, the swim club was toot busy for him to make it." Miss A explains, "Aww, lamest excuse ever!" Nagisa pouts, "Check it out, university scouts, all over the place." Some guy behind us said, I felt Haru grab onto my hand, "Come on you boys, it's about time you need to head down." I try to break Haru's train of thought, "Yuki, right. Give it all you've got!" Miss Amakata nods, "Go kick some butt!" Kou balls up her fist, "Guess this is the moment of truth so let's give it our best." Mako puts his hand in the middle and the other boys pile it on top, "Right!" They all cheer.

"Men's 100 metre backstroke, third heat begins now." The announcement said, "Give 'em hell Makoto!" We cheer, the whistle was blown, "Ready..." BEEP! "GO!" We all cheer, "Let's go! Let's go, let's go, let's go Makoto!" Kou starts, "Let's go! Let's go, let's go, let's go Makoto!" We follow up, "Push it! Push it, push it, push it, Makoto!" I shout, "Push it! Push it, push it, push it, Makoto!" They echo, "Last lap go!" "Last lap go!" Last lap go!" We shout, "Yeah!" He touches the wall.

5, 2 Ono Tatsuya
6, 4 Tachibana Makoto
7, 3 Fujioka

We looked at the board, "This is a totally different animal to what district was." Rei says, "You can say that again." Nagisa nods, we look down and saw Mako, he was dead tired.

"The Men's 100 metre freestyle, fifth heat begins now." The announcer says, "Go Rin!" I shout, he looks up and flashes his sharp teeth, "No offence but I'm glad Haru and Rin are in different heats for this one, who could take that tension." Rei says, we all agree, "Haru's in the next one." Nagisa points, "Oh hey, welcome back." Nagisa says as Mako walks back, "You did great out there." Rei says, "Thanks a lot you guys." Mako smiles, the whistle was blown, "Ready..." BEEP! We watched as Rin powered through, "That's insane, he's already taken the lead." Kou rubs her eyes, "He's coming up at the turn." Rei says, "Wow, still way out ahead." Mako watches, "Look at him, the boy's so fast he's like a torpedo." Miss A was shocked, "Outstanding!" Rei nods.

5, 1 Matsuoka Rin

"Yeah!" Kou claps, "If that were the finals, that time would've won him the whole thing." I was flabbergasted at Rin's sheer time, "So he defintely made it to finals?" Miss A asks, we all turn around, "That's one spot filled for Samezuka." Mako nods, "Alright, alright, Samezuka. Alright!" Their school cheers. 

"Next we have the Men's 100 metre freestyle, sixth heat." We watched as Haru gets on the block, "I have a feeling Haru's going to wow us." Rei says, I look around and saw all the scouts boring their eyes into him, "Ready..." BEEP! "Go!" We cheer, he dove off. He was taking the lead but it was like he snapped, he stopped swimming and stood up in the middle of the pool, all the other swimmers overtaking him, automatic disqualification. Everyone was shocked, the boys ran down to the change rooms, "Make sure Haru's okay." Miss A says, they all nod and continue running.

"Alright Rei!" We cheer as he touches the wall,

3, 4 Shimada Daisuke
4, 5 Ryugazaki Rei
5, 1 Kondo Takahiro

"Man that was his best time yet." Mako looks at the digital board, "But it's not enough to get him to the finals." Miss A stands up, "Nagisa's breaststroke time wasn't enough to get us through either." Kou says, Haru was back at the bleachers with us, "Hey, are you okay?" I ask, he looks down, "Hey, no one says you have to swim for anyone else but yourself. It's your life." Those were the last things I said to him before the four of them headed down to pool deck.