Open Waters

Chapter Fifteen

Embracing Fear

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"Do you know how to tread water?"

Hana quirked an eyebrow. "Tread water? What does that mean?"

"It's a way to keep afloat in the water. Here, I'll show you."

Hana suppressed a chuckle as she watched Haru 'tread water.' It was amusing to see Haru do something that was so completely different to freestyle. She watched the way he kicked his legs and arms, the water churning around him, and he was able to keep his head above water without ever starting to sink.

It didn't look too difficult.

Haru stopped after a while, his feet once again resting on the bottom of the pool. "Do you want to give it a go, Hana? It's not too difficult, I promise you."

Hana nodded once. She hadn't needed Haru to prompt her; she was going to try it anyway. She was going to try everything to do with swimming. Except perhaps butterfly, should Haru miraculously offer to teach her that. Butterfly just looked difficult and uncomfortable.

Hana breathed in and lifted her feet from the floor, bending her legs at the knees, and started to kick them in circles. She added the movement with her arms. It felt awkward at first, but her body soon adapted to the strange motion.

She continued to expect to sink to the bottom, and her heart skipped a beat whenever she felt as though she might have started to sink. But she didn't; Hana continued to tread water, and she continued to stay afloat.

When she decided she had enough, Hana allowed her legs to drop again, and she felt them hit to smooth floor. She smiled, feeling a little proud of herself. Treading water was nowhere near a swimming stroke, Haru probably just taught her that as a means to get her used to the water and begin to overcome her fear, but it was the first thing she'd been able to use to keep her head above water that didn't involve gripping tightly onto an edge. It made her feel rather accomplished.

She had expected Haru to nod, but instead there was a small frown on his face. "You're still afraid of the water, aren't you?" he said, in response to Hana's questioning look.

"What?" Hana hadn't been expecting Haru to ask that.

"You looked panicked a few times while treading water."

Hana sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. He must have been watching me closely. Oh well. There's no point trying to deny it. "Yeah," she admitted softly. "I am."

"It's not as bad as you think it is. You just haven't embraced it."

Hana tipped her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"Put your head below the water."

"Excuse me?"

"Hana, just do it."

Hana sighed, but nonetheless put her goggles on, inhaled deeply, and placed her head below the water.

Instantly, she was surrounded on all sides by the water. Hana froze momentarily, but soon relaxed as she realised she was in control. She wasn't drowning: her head was just below the water, her hair becoming soaked and she had to keep from breathing in order not to get water into her lungs.

It was actually, nice, beneath the water. All other sights and sounds were drowned out; there was only the cool and the light blue of the water.

When her lungs began to burn with a desperate need for oxygen, Hana lifted her head and gasped in air, which her lungs thanked her for.

After she'd recovered, Hana's eyes raked out Haru, who was waiting for her. "Was it that bad?" he asked. Hana was confused, but guessed that maybe her gasping for breath had changed her expression slightly, making it unable to read properly.

She smiled at him reassuringly. "No. No it wasn't."

Haru nodded. "Now try floating underwater."

Hana's eyes bugged at him. Floating underwater? Is he serious? Putting your head under the water was one thing. Losing all footing on the bottom of the pool was another thing entirely.

Catching her worried expression, Haru moved a little closer. "Don't worry. I'll be here if you need me."

Hana looked at him for the moment and then, catching the look to his eye, she found herself placing all her trust in him. With a nod, Hana took a steadying breath and lowered herself into the water.

Her feet lifted off her floor, and her back hit the water. Her body floated upwards to float in the water, but she changed her body position so she slowly started to sink into the water.

Hana had expected this to be terrible, and cause her to panic. But she found herself beginning to calm down and loosen up in the water, a small smile even crossing her face. Floating below the water was oddly calming, shutting out the hustle and bustle of everyday life in favour for the cool and calm of the water.

When Hana resurfaced again, her eyes found Haru immediately and she smiled. "It was actually... peaceful, once I got over the initial shock."

"Is this helping you at all?" Haru asked.

"Yeah. I'd say it is."

Haru nodded and started to walk off, headed for the drink bottles they'd placed at the side. Hana watched him go, and then a thought struck her. Her glance turned devious and a smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth, which she bit down to hold back the laughter beginning to bubble up inside her chest. The idea wasn't exactly original and had been performed many times before, but it was a simple plan too amusing to pass up.

Hana grinned and waited for Haru to turn around. As he started to twist his body around to see her, Hana thrust her hands in the water, and with a sudden motion pushed it all at Haru. The spray of water caught Haru full on in the face, causing him to splutter; the first surprised sound Hana had ever heard Haru make.

For a moment, Hana only stared at Haru, looking at the water that dripped from his face, and the wwh he blinked his eyes to clear his vision from the water that managed to find its way in there.

Hana couldn't help it. She doubled over, clutching her stomach as she laughed. Her face was mere inches above the water, causing ripples to form on its surface. Hana didn't know exactly what she was laughing so hysterically at, but she was safely placing her bets on Haru's shocked expression. That was the first time Hana had seen an expression other than 'blank book' on his face.

She was so preoccupied with her laughter that Hana was completely caught off guard when a wave of water hit her in the face. Hana gasped and spluttered, water having entered her mouth and open eyes. She coughed a little and blinked rapidly to rid the water from her eyes.

Once she cough see clearly again and the water was dispelled from her lungs, Hana looked up at Haru, whose appearance was neutral once again, though there may have been an amused glint deep in his eye, if you looked hard enough.

"Haru!" Hana gasped. She frowned at him, but that soon turned into an outright grin. "Oh, it's on, Nanase!" She followed her words by sending a large wave of water in his direction, laughing as she did so.

Hana didn't know how it had escalated so quickly. She hadn't expected to get into a water fight like this with anyone ever, and with Nanase Haruka of all people. It had been years since Hana had been in a water fight like this, and she had forgotten how fun it was; she'd forgotten what it was like to squeal when you got hit right in the face with a whole lot of water, how it was like to laugh when she got a particularly good hit on the other person, how it was to have such simple fun in the water.

Hana had been enjoying herself so much and laughing so hard that she lost her sense of balance. As she stepped backward, still laughing, she found herself going too fast. A shocked gasp passed her lips as she lost her balance, and she fell backwards into the water.

For a moment, all Hana could tell was that she was submerged in water, the liquid getting into her eyes and blurring her vision. Reminders of the docks filled her brain and she started to panic, forgetting the earlier lesson on embracing the water.

Get up, get up, back to the surface! Somehow, Hana's feet managed to connect with the bottom and she managed to push herself up to the surface of the water.

And right into Haru.

Hana breathed in a lungful of hair, gasping as she hit Haru's chest. He just have run over as she fell, for he had been standing much further away when she fell backwards. The impact did little to startle him, for Haru maintained his balance fir the most part. However, Hana suddenly became very highly aware that her face was buried in Haru's bare chest.

Oh my gosh. I'm such an idiot.

Hana's cheeks grew extremely warm as she stepped back a little, rubbing her face as though that would get rid of the proof her head had just been buried in Haru's chest.

Haru appeared mostly unaffected by her collision with him. "Hana, are you alright?" he asked.

Hana beamed. "Never better." She didn't admit that her heart was pounding wildly in her chest, a mixture of the momentary fright she'd experienced under the water, and by the fact she'd collided with his chest.

But though her heart might be pounding like a freight train in her chest, Hana found that she was feeling... braver. Going underwater in a controlled environment was one thing, but losing all control was another. Losing control of her sense of direction was like drowning all over again. But despite that, she had managed to resurface, all on her own.

Hana smiled to herself, raising her chin.

She wasn't sure by how much her courage had increased, but it was one step closer to overcoming her fear of the water.

*

It was later when usual when Hana trudged into the clubroom the next day. She'd had to stay behind and ask a question about her math homework, which she had been having trouble with. Maths had never been Hana's strongest subject: she was more creative than she was logical.

When she walked in, Hana paused in the doorway, a little startled by the sight before her. Gou was kneeling on the ground, wearing a hakama, writing on several sheets of paper. It looked like she had already got through a number of them as several were scattered around her, decorated with black ink. The boys all stood behind, watching Gou as she performed her task.

"Uh, what's going on?" Hana asked. She ventured further into the room and took a quick glance down at the pages on the ground. From her quick look, it seemed that Gou was making a countdown calendar of sorts.

"Gou-chan's is creating a countdown to the prefecturals," Nagisa explained.

Hana arched an eyebrow and turned to Gou, who had just pulled away from her work and was wiping a sleeve across her forehead. "Isn't that adding adding a little too much pressure, Gou?" she wondered aloud.

"Pressure is what pushes people to the next level," Gou responded firmly, not turning around.

"Pressure can also ruin some people," Haru said plainly, his words making Hana think of a particular blue-haired boy in the room.

Nagisa bounded forward. "Are you talking about Rei-chan?"

Rei glared at Nagisa. "I'm not that weak!" he protested heatedly.

Makoto laughed, and then looked curiously at Gou. "Wait, why are you wearing a hakama?" he wondered.

Gou glared at him. Hana had a fleeting thought of, oh no, before Gou jumped up to her feet, her stare like daggers that had Makoto suddenly looked nervous.

"Stop talking and start practicing! Get going!" she yelled, shooing all the boys out of the clubroom. Hana laughed quietly to herself. Gou was surprisingly intimidating when she wanted to be, so much that Hana was afraid to laugh aloud in case Gou should turn her attention to her.

Gou sighed from her position in the doorway and turned around to Hana. "Honestly..." she muttered.

"What did they do to make you react like this?" Hana asked.

"They should be practicing, not asking why I'm wearing a hakama."

Hana bit her lip to refrain from saying that it was actually a pretty good question. She would like to know why Gou was wearing a hakama as well. But, since she didn't want to end up like the boys, she kept her lips zipped closed.

A gust of wind blew through the room, sending strands of hair to block Hana's vision. The brunette groaned and pushed them back, only to hear Gou moan in defeat once she had.

"Man!" Gou exclaimed, running forward. Hana turned around and saw that all of Gou's pages had been scattered in a mess at the back.

"Oh no." Hana ran forward to assist Gou, bending down to pick up a page.

"This is such a pain..." Gou muttered.

Hana glanced around at the numerous pages. "How many of these did you make?"

"Enough to last from this day to the prefecturals." Gou suddenly paused in her task. Catching her friend's sudden lack of motion, she turned her head and raised an eyebrow. Gou didn't look over at her, only reaching forward and picked up the corner of a page sticking out from under the carpet, where none of their pages could have been blown under.

"What's that?" Hana asked, moving over so she peered over Gou's shoulder.

"This is..." Gou murmured.

"The Iwatobi Swim Club summer training camp from hell on deserted islands," Hana read. Her eyebrows scrunched together. "Wow. Sounds... fun."

"Sounds perfect!" Gou exclaimed. "This is perfect training for the prefecturals!"

"Ah, are you sure they'll want to do this? It does say 'from hell...'"

"Hana, it'll be fine! Come on, I'm going to go tell them!" Forgetting her earlier irritation, Gou danced out of the club room. Hana chuckled as she watched her friend go, and jogged on out after her soon approaching the pool.

"You won't believe this!" Gou exclaimed, running into the pool. Hana rolled her eyes. She obviously forgot the, it's-dangerous-to-run-around-pools lecture we were given so many times as children. "I found something amazing!"

The boys approached where Gou was standing, holding out the poster she'd found for all of them to clearly read. Hana walked up and took her place behind her friend.

"Iwatobi High School Swim Club: summer training camp from hell on deserted islands," Makoto read aloud. He sounded apprehensive, and Hana knew exactly why.

"Hell?" Rei muttered skeptically.

"Deserted islands?" Haru murmured.

Nagisa's eyes sparkled like stars and he bounced forward. "Sounds fun!" he exclaimed.

Gou grinned at him. "This took place several decades ago, when Iwatobi still had a swim club."

"So, what's you point?"

"We should steal their training regimen and hold a summer training camp on a deserted island, to prepare for prefecturals!" Gou exclaimed, as though it were obvious.

"It would be good for stamina," Hana input.

Haru was immediately against it. "Too much effort," he said shortly.

Hana rolled her eyes. "Haru..." She couldn't help but laugh. But inwardly, she again wondered why Haru was helping her learn to swim. Why didn't he class that as too much effort? Teaching a girl who was still a little fearful of the water wasn't an easygoing job.

So, why did he propose the idea?

"This is no time for complaining!" Gou snapped. "Look at the training regimen they used! They swam long distances in the ocean, from one island to the next." She looked around at all the other boys, her eyes shining with excitement. "Don't you think this training is perfect for building stamina?"

"The ocean..." Makoto murmured faintly.

Hana glanced over at Makoto, and their eyes met. A significant glance passed between them, their emotions mirrored on each other's faces. Hana knew exactly why her friend had reacted like that for she had, too. They had been through the same tragedy together, and afterward had the same reason for fearing the water.

"Yeah, the ocean!" Gou said, oblivious to Makoto's apprehensive tone. "We should practice in the same training regimen that our storied swim club used!"

Nagisa gasped. "Our swim club was storied?"

Gou nodded. "Yep, look what I found." She revealed another sheet of paper from behind the advertisement for the swim camp, a page that held a list of rankings.

Rei peered closer at the page. "Sixth place in the Iwatobi Junior Tournament," he read aloud.

Hana bit her lip. She wasn't sure if they would be interested in this training camp, especially after finding out it hadn't exactly helped the previous swim club.

"Anyway!" Gou said, dismissive of what Rei had just read. "Right now, the Iwatobi swim club needs stamina! And summer is the perfect time to hold a training camp in the ocean, on deserted islands!"

Rei frowned. "Wait," he said, "I don't see how deserted islands are relevant here."

"But it's more exciting when you add deserted islands," Nagisa protested, and Hana smiled in amusement. I knew Nagisa would be on board with this idea. It definitely sounded to be right up his alley - and it is.

"I know, right?" Gou exclaimed back. "So let's hold a training camp! Your decision, captain!" She whirled around to look at Makoto as she said this.

"Huh?" Makoto murmured, looking as though he were being jerked back to reality.

Hana bit her lip and stared at Makoto, willing him go go with his heart, and not just agree because everyone else wanted to go. She knew exactly what his thoughts were at the moment, and that he'd be hesitant in agreeing.

Only agree if you want to agree, Makoto. Hana suddenly wished she had telepathic skills so she could tell Makoto without drawing everyone else's attention. Haru was the only other one here who knew why Makoto would be hesitant.

After a brief pause, Makoto shrugged lightly and said, "I guess it's a good idea to hold a training camp to prepare for prefecturals."

"Hooray! It's settled, then!" Nagisa cried, pumping a fist into the air.

Hana tried to bring herself to smile, but found she was unable. She continued to look at Makoto, her eyes wide with concern.

Makoto... I hope you didn't agree just because of pressure. I hope you are ready for this.

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ah, i really hope i wrote haru-chan right in this  chapter, i was worried he was a little ooc at the beginning, ack, if you think he's too ooc, then don't hesitate to tell me and i'll go back and edit! the same applies for any other character! 

whoo, so hana's learning to swim, with haru-chan as her coach, haha. and they're nearing the training camp, oh gosh, lots of things are going to happen there!