Clouded Distance

Chapter Thirteen

An Opportunity

The atmosphere in Haru's house was tense. It had been tense all the way to his house, in fact. Everyone had deliberately been avoiding looking at Rei, who was left looking lost and confused. Hana felt nerves twist in her stomach. How was the best  way to confront Rei about this? It had all been so rushed.

Now they were seated around the table, but no one had uttered a word. Rei cleared his throat. "So... what's the meeting about?"

"What?" Makoto jumped, his gaze flicking from side to side before resting on Haru. "Eh, um - what was it again?"

"Don't pass it off on me," Haru muttered.

Hana's thoughts ran wildly as she tried to think of something that was similar to talking about Rei and the swim club, while not addressing it directly. "Well Rei, the thing is, we - we're..."

"Going to taste-test a new mackerel recipe!" Gou blurted.

Nagisa frowned. "That's not an emergency at all."

The nerves of the others were all plain to see as everyone argued quietly while Rei sat down, watching them, appearing to be confused.

After a while of pointless bickering, Rei stood up. "Well, if there is no meeting, I do have an errand to run, so..."

No! Hana exclaimed to herself. Her heart rate quickened slightly as they watched Rei begin to walk off. No, you can't leave, we've just been too nervous about bringing the topic up! Hana jumped to her feet just like the others. "H-hey, wait!" she cried, wishing she wasn't on the opposite end of the table so she could reach out and grab Rei before he walked any further away.

However, someone was close enough. Nagisa lurched forward and managed to grab Rei's legs.

Rei jumped a little and turned around. His eyes widened as she spotted the blonde. "Nagisa-kun?"

Nagisa raised his head. "Don't quit the swim club!" he blurted.

"What?"

"Don't hide it from us." Nagisa stood up, his head bent down. "You plan to go back to the track team, don't you? I don't want that!"

"He's right, Rei," Makoto said. "We're a team. I won't let you leave like this."

"As the team manager, I can't agree with it either," Gou said firmly, crossing her arms.

Hana walked forward. "Rei, it was your persistence to keep trying to swim that encouraged me to get back in the water," she said softly. "I can't bear the thought of you leaving."

Haru nodded. "Rei, it was because of you that Rin and I were saved. Wasn't it you who said the four of us were going to swim tighter at nationals?"

"He's right!" Nagisa sobbed, clutching Rei's shirt. "We all promised, didn't we? That the four of us would swim the relay together. You said you'd show us your beautiful butterfly strokes nationals!"

Rei blinked. "Wait a second. What are you all talking about? I have no intention about quitting the swim club."

"But you were talking with the captain of the track team," Gou said, tilting her head to the side a little.

"You saw that?" Rei laughed lightly. "Yes, he did ask me to come back, but that was all that happened. There's no way I would ever quit the swim club!"

Hana stared at her blue-haired friend for a moment, his words sinking in. She then cried out in relief, a large smile on her face as she sank down to her knees, along with everyone else gathered there.

He's not leaving. He has no intention of leaving. Thank goodness.

"Now we've cleared up that misunderstanding, I have an errand to run, so I'll be going..."

Hana's head snapped right back up along with everyone else at these sudden words, as they watched Rei abruptly leave. She looked across at everyone else, the same look of confusion plastered on everyone's face.

"At this point, there's no choice but to follow him," Nagisa said quietly, once the door was shut.

Hana bit her lip, a little apprehensive about the idea. What Rei was doing was his own business. They shouldn't be poking their nose into this, especially when it was obvious he wanted to keep it private.

But her curiosity was also strong...

In the end, Hana succumbed to her curious streak and followed the others out of the door as they started trailing Rei.

They ensured that they kept a safe distance away the entire time, moving as quickly as possible so they didn't alert him to their presence. Fortunately, Rei's nose was buried in a book the entire time they walked along, so all his attention was engrossed in the words and he didn't notice them trailing along.

Hana was sure she'd have laughed at some point - she was notorious for being a terrible laugher. It was one of the reasons she hardly ever played hide and seek as a child; she had often laughed and given herself away. But for some reason, she found that she was able to withhold any sort of laughter as they followed Rei to the train station.

They mingled with the crowd, obscuring themselves with other people. They had to wait for a few minutes before the train arrived. They made sure they entered a different compartment than the one Rei was in and watched him, waiting for his stop.

When he did get off, Hana frowned to herself. This platform... we've gotten off here before...

They continued to follow Rei, and about seven minutes later, he seemed to have reached his destination. They froze in the entrance to the place he'd entered, mouths slightly agape.

"This is..."

"Samezuka Academy?" Makoto exclaimed.

I should've known from the moment we got off at that train station. And, the only reason Rei would come here is because...

Without needing to discuss anything, they all made their way to Samezuka's pool. They peered through the windows just in time to see Rei swimming backstroke, Rin nearby and offering instruction.

Hana felt tears well up in her eyes. She didn't bother to wipe them away. Rei... you're such an inspiration... you're working so hard when the rest of us head back home. How are you keeping up with this?

She really felt proud of Rei in that moment. And Rin, too. He really has changed. No wonder they were all such good friends now.

"Rei-chan was planning to surprise us all with this..." Nagisa murmured.

"Yeah..."

Rin and Rei talked for a few more minutes before Rei started another stroke. Nagisa gasped. "Oh! Look! See? Rei-chan's swimming breastroke!"

"He did!"

"And he did the turn! A real breaststroke turn!"

They watched Rei for a little while longer before they had to leave. They could only have lingered for a certain amount of time before they were spotted. And they didn't want to have to hurt Rei when he realised that they already knew about his training when he meant to surprise them.

As quietly as they could, they left Samezuka's grounds and headed to the train station. Fortunately, one arrived soon after they did, so they weren't kept waiting for long.

Hana yawned as they all sat themselves down. She sat next to Haru, resting her head on his shoulder. He in turn wrapped an arm around her waist. She was definitely heading straight to bed when she got back home.

The entire journey home, Hana thought about Rei, and his true dedication toward swimming.

It only inspired her to work harder.

*          *          *

Rei showed them his swimming the next day. Hana couldn't help but smile as he showed them all of the strokes he could now swim. His hard work had definitely paid off, and he was only going to get better over time.

They had looked surprised as he showed them so he wouldn't know they'd followed him. Well, tried to. Hana had just about burst out laughing at the boy's attempts at looking surprised, but had failed miserably. At least Rei hadn't suspected anything.

A week had passed since then, and with each passing day Hana had grown more and more nervous. Her homework schedule had improved and she wasn't staying up too late anymore. It was a huge relief off her shoulders, not having to commit as much time to the writing club.

But the newspaper was being released soon, and she was nervous about what people might think of her story.

Then the day came around, and those in the newspaper club were offering copies of the newspaper to students who filed through the school. Hana's breath hitched in her throat as she watched everyone take it. She wondered if they'd read her story. She wondered if they'd like it.

Then, that same day, their last period before lunch was literature. Just as everyone was leaving, their teacher called out to her.

"Ah, Etsumi Hana? May I have a word?"

Makoto and Haru looked back at her with eyes raised. She waved a hand at them. "Don't worry, you go on ahead. I'll catch up."

They nodded and walked out. Hana turned back to their teacher, a small knot of worry in her stomach. She couldn't recall having done anything wrong... what did he want to talk to her about?

"Sensei? What is it?" she asked quietly.

Their teacher turned around, adjusting his glasses as he did so. "I read your short story for the newspaper."

"Oh." Whatever he wanted to talk about, I certainly wasn't expecting that.

"And, it's very good. I've hardly seen a talent like yours in a while."

Hana blinked. And I definitely wasn't expecting him to say that! "R-Really?" she stammered. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "I - well, er - thank you."

He smiled, seeming amused why her embarrassment. "You really should consider writing as a part of your future, Etsumi-san. In fact, that's what I called you here to talk about today."

Oh. Hana bit her lip. She guessed she should've been expecting a talk like this at some point. Third year was her last year before she left school. Teachers would surely pass their recommendations on.

He pushed his glasses up his nose. "There's a university in Tokyo, which is offering a scholarship for their writing course," he said. "And, I fully believe you should try out for it with that story you wrote. You have a high chance of getting in and it'll be very beneficial for you."

A scholarship?

Hana's eyes widened. Her mother would encourage her to pursue it, for sure. It was a great opportunity, definitely.

Her teacher wandered over to the desk, picked up a sheet of paper, and handed it to her. "Here's the form, if you're interested. Talk it over with your parents. I don't know what you may want to do in the future, but this seems to be a good option for you."

"I see." Hana nodded and folded the form, placing it in her pocket. She smiled. "I'll definitely give it some thought. Thank you, Sensei."

"No problem. But do make sure you don't throw it out - I'd hate for you to pass up such an opportunity."

Hana nodded and exited the classroom. She blinked as she realised Makoto and Haru were in the corridor, waiting for her. 

"What was that about?" Makoto asked.

Hana shrugged. "He just wanted to congratulate me on my short story." She didn't want to bring up the scholarship, not now. She'd wait until things were a little more certain.

"That's understandable," Haru said quiety. "Your story is brilliant."

Hana flushed deeply. So Haru's read it? She guessed everyone in the swim club - no, the school - had, but thinking that Haru had read it made her feel a little more self-conscious. She was just glad he'd liked it. "Really?"

"More than a few people are talking about it."

"Good things, I hope."

"Theres nothing bad to say about it."

Hana smiled. She laced her fingers in Haru's, not caring they were still in school, as they walked up to their usual place on the roof.

There was nothing wrong with avoiding the topic of applying for the scholarship.

Right?