Open Waters

Chapter Eight

Established

They'd been working for weeks for this moment.

Hana glanced over at the pool, smiling. Many weeks after she and Gou joined the swim club, they had finally finished fixing the pool. It was so satisfying, to look over at the newly-filled pool and think of how they'd transformed it from something that looked completely abandoned to a pool that looked just ready to swim in.

After all their efforts and time put aside to complete this task, it was good to know that had all paid off.

Now, all members of the swim club were gathered by the pool, cool drinks in theirs hands as they surveyed and admired their handy work.

"Okay. Here's to the establishment of the new swim club!" Miss Amakata said, beaming.

All seven gathered members grinned. "Cheers!" They all took long draughts from their drink.

"It's not warm enough to start swimming, but we filled the pool as a test run," Miss Amakata explained. "All that's left is to toss these in together." She held up a circle of salt, meant to be used for sanitising the pool.

Each of the seven members received one and stood by the pool. Hana stood closest to Haru, not failing to notice the way he looked longingly at the water.

As always, he just wants to dive in.

After a count, all seven members tossed their respective salts in. Hana smiled as they landed with a small 'plop' in the water.

The pool was now finally ready. All their hard work had indeed not been for nothing.

"The swim club is finally ready to go!" Nagisa said, face alight with excitement.

"Well, we can't get in the pool yet -" Makoto sighed, but his attention was diverted as movement caught his eye. Hana whipped around and grinned to see Haru strip down to his swimsuit.

I knew he wouldn't be able to resist the water. He never can.

"Wait, Haru! You were wearing your swimsuit again?" Makoto exclaimed.

Gou apparently did not have such qualms. "I can't get enough of those triceps!" she squeaked, her eyes wide. Hana couldn't help but chuckle at her friend's reaction.

"What? Triceps?" Makoto squawked.

Any further argument was interrupted by the sound of something making an impact with the water. Small droplets of water fell on Hana, the small beads cool and refreshing. She turned and smiled to Haru in the water, looking completely at peace.

It was funny; she'd heard for so long how Haru loved the water, but she had never truly seen him in it until now. And she could now understand why everyone continuously made a comment about how much Haru loved the water; he looked utterly at peace, calm and relaxed. She had never seen Haru with that expression on his face before.

Hana could have stared all day, mesmerised by how someone could love the water so much, but Makoto shattered the moment for everyone. "Haru, it's still too cold right now!" he cried, his voice sharp and concerned.

"I don't see a problem," Nagisa commented with a casual shrug. "He looks comfortable enough."

Comfortable was an understatement. It's almost like the water is his home. Hana tilted her head to the side. How could Haru love the water so much, yet she couldn't stand to go near it? It was a fear that had haunted her for many years, so why couldn't she get over it?

"True!" Gou beamed, racing up to stand beside them. Her eyes were fixated on Haru, whether to check out his incredible triceps as she'd called them, or just look at him, Hana didn't know.

Suddenly, Gou's transfixed eyes widened in a panic. "Wait! His lips are turning blue!"

"No, they're not -" Hana started to say, and then gasped, spotting the transformation herself. "They are!"

"Get out of the water now before you catch a cold!" Makoto yelled at their friend. As though he wanted to ignore them, Haru, instead of getting out of the water, dived deeper down and swam off.

"Go Haru-chan!" Nagisa cheered, pumping his fist in the air.

"No! He can't!" Makoto and Hana exclaimed, running after their friend, though that didn't allow then to do anything but chase Haru as he effortlessly swam through the water, alluding their every attempt to try and persuade him out of the water.

"I'll go find a net!" Gou cried.

Hana whirled around, as did Maoto. "A net?" they repeated, incredulous.

Though it sounded preposterous, Hana thought that maybe it might end with them resorting to that option, especially since Haru didn't show any sign of wanting to get out of the pool anytime soon.

*           *            *

It took the group a long time to get Haru out of the water, and even then he only came out because he'd had enough. When he got out, he was shivering slightly, and his lips were indeed blue.

Upon seeing how cold he was, Hana dashed over and grabbed a towel from the clubroom and returned, forcing it around his shoulders. "My God, Haru, just give us a heart attack why don't you?" she sighed.

"And what about you?" he said. "You had us all worried when you performed that stunt years ago."

Hana froze at the reminder. She glanced between Haru and Makoto, her cheeks flushed a deep red. "I-I, well, touché," she mumbled, aware of the bewildered stares they were receiving from Nagisa, Gou and Miss Amakata, neither of whom had been present at the time of the accident.

The slightly awkward moment was soon forgotten, and they continued with their own thing. Eventually, once they were sure Haru was properly dry, they all departed the school and headed for home. Nagisa and Gou left on different trains

She, Haru and Makoto ended up lousing about Haru's place again. Hana knew she was neglecting a lot of her homework, but she wasn't worried about it at the moment. Her main concern was Haru, and how he would be faring after jumping in the freezing pool. She knew that he'd very likely come down with something, and that thought had her concerned.

As usual, Haru cooked his speciality: mackerel. Afterwards, the three of them lounged about and put a movie on, while breaking off and sharing pieces of the chocolate bar Hana had discovered while searching the different foods Haru had in the house other than mackerel.

Though she had fun and enjoyed spending time with her friend, a question lingered in the back of Hana's mind for the duration of their time, but she didn't speak it. She didn't want anyone else around when she asked it, not even Makoto, her oldest friend. She still wasn't even sure why she was asking it, but felt as though she had to.

When Makoto left, Hana stayed behind. She stayed in the kitchen, concocting a little family recipe that her mother made whenever one of her children became sick.

It was fortunate Haru had the ingredients in his house, and with a reasonable amount as well. The tea only took a short while to make and when she was finished, she carried it back hot and steaming to Haru.

"You are an idiot, you know that," Hana mumbled, placing the tea in front of him. "You can't hold back when you see water, can you?"

Haru paused before he accepted the tea, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Thank you."

"You didn't answer me properly!" Hana stared at him for a moment and then sighed. "Oh, forget it. Just drink up. It's an old Etsumi concoction, Mum always makes it when one of us is sick."

"I'm not sick."

"You went in the frigid water when it's still only April!" Hana exclaimed. She rolled her eyes and ran a hand through her hair. "Did you pay attention in science? With that combination, it is very, very likely you'll come down with something. So, just drink up. It's not going to do you any harm."

Haru stared at her, and looked just about ready to argue, but eventually sighed and brought the steaming cup to his lips. Hana settled herself back and smiled, satisfied.

"There. It's not so bad, is it?" she asked brightly.

Even though he didn't respond, the way he continued to drink the tea without complaint was answer enough for Hana. She smiled to herself.

"Um, Haru," she said presently. She flushed a little as Haru looked over at her and wrung her hands. "If you don't mind my asking -"

"I don't."

I haven't even spoken my question yet. Hana shrugged it off and cleared her throat, instead searching for how she was going to start speaking. "Oh," she began. "Well, I was going to ask... what is it that you love about the water so much?"

She rushed the last few words out and then pressed her lips together, like she'd zipped them closed. Haru surprisingly looked a little startled, even confused. Hana wasn't surprised. It was a sudden question, and not one Haru would expect from her.

"What's brought this question on?" he asked.

Hana shrugged and turned her gaze away from Haru, memories from the pool flashing before her eyes. "Oh," she murmured. "You see, when you swam in the pool... you looked so calm, like the water was your home. Everything was calm and peaceful, and you looked so content... and yet compare that to my last experience with water... it's so different." Hana glanced sideways across at him. "And I can't help but wonder if maybe... maybe I'm only seeing one side to the water, and turning a blind eye to the other."

Haru didn't respond instantly. He placed his now-empty cup down and looked at her. "It's not the majority of people that go through what you did, Hana," he pointed out meaningfully. "You hadn't been exposed to the water much before that time, had you?"

Hana shook her head. "No."

"That was provably your first and last memorable water experience. Hana... just do what you feel comfortable with."

Hana blinked, a little surprised with his response. She then laughed. "I thought you were going to try and sell the water to me," she chuckled.

"The water isn't for everyone."

Okay. Hana nodded as though she completely understood the question, when in reality she just understood half of what he was surely implying.

"Oh!" she exclaimed suddenly, with a small smirk. "You still haven't told me why you love swimming so much, Haru." She leaned over the table meaningfully. "Come on. Surely you explain why you love the water."

Haru looked at her for a moment, and then she started to talk. Hana listened to every word, genuinely interested and drawn in by his words.

He speaks with such passion. She smirked softly as he listened to him. She could hear his passion for the water in every word that he spoke.

If the accident hadn't happened... could I have possibly loved the water, too?

Is it too late for me for such a thing to happen?

*           *          *

When Hana finally returned home, her parents weren't even fazed by the late time. They were used to her late nights by now, and weren't bothered by it. They were just glad that she'd found a good group of friends, especially since Makoto was in that group. They thought it was good that she'd reunited with him.

When Hana finally retired to her room, she got ready in as fast a time as possible before crawling under the bed sheets, stifling a yawn aa she closed her eyes.

When she reopened them, there was only darkness.

At first, a trickle of nerves infiltrated Hana's body, and she did her best to ignore it as turned around in a small circle. She peered into the darks depths of the room, trying her absolute hardest to pinpoint something inside the endless shadow. But so far, her endeavour was proving to be fruitless; there was nothing else to be seen in the room.

"Hello?" she called. Her heart fluttered in her chest, and it only quickened once she heard no response other than an echo of her voice bouncing off the walls.

Hana frowned, really starting to feel worried. She walked a couple of steps forward, only to find herself impact against something solid and flat, like a wall. She tottled back, landing on her bum. She groaned and stood up, narrowing her eyes at the seemingly empty air before her. She walked forward and reached her hand out, her flat palm once again meeting something solid. Hana tried to break through it, but found herself unable to do so.

"What in the world?" she mumbled. She tried for a little longer to get past the sudden barrier but gave up, instead turning in the opposite direction and heading that way.

And that was only to find herself blocked from going that way, too.

Her heart fluttered in her chest. Hana stalked in all directions, trying to find an escape.

She found none.

She was boxed in. There was even a barrier just above her head.

"H-hey! What's going on?" Hana clenched her hand into a solid fist and slammed it against the cage she couldn't see, but nothing gave. She grit her teeth and punched harder, and slammed her side into the barrier.

Hana stepped back after a while, breathing heavily. Nothing was giving way. She was trapped, and she didn't know how she could possibily break out.

It was then that Hana became aware of something else. A noise sounded, echoing in the empty, silent room. Hana frowned at first, wondering what it was, but once she felt the cold at her feet, the drenching of her socks and the wetness at her ankles, Hana knew what it was in an instant.

Water. Rising from the ground.

And she had nowhere to run.

And it continued rising. Soon, it had covered her knees, her waist, her torso, her neck. Her panic rising as rapidly as the water, Hana renewed her attack on the barrier, pummelling it with a merciless attack of punches, kicks, and slams with her side.

"Help!" she screamed, the shrill sound accompanied by the bang of her fist. "Somebody! Anybody! Help!"

But there was no one. The only other thing with her was the darkness, and the darkness couldn't solidify in order to assist her.

The water was no just below her mouth. Salty tears mixed in with the rapidly rising water and it covered her lips as Hana banged another fist against the barrier, but it was no use. It wasn't breaking anytime soon.

Hana closed her eyes as the water moved up to submerge her nose, soon followed by the top of her head.

And then, she was no longer able to breathe.

Her lungs soon felt the lack of oxygen. They burned, screaming for air, begging her body to inhale and find some oxygen. Hana succumbed to the urge and choked as the water filled her mouth and surged up her nose. Her body sagged, becoming weaker by the second. Black spots appeared in her vision. The feeling was all to familiar, and that caused Hana to panic even more.

No. It didn't end like this last time. It won't happen again, it won't!

She tried holding on for a minute longer but when her lungs burned with a furious, desperate urge, Hana lost her will to fight. There was no point in doing so anymore.

"Haru..." she choked out, her voice muffled by the water. She rose her hand slightly, and then everything went black.

*          *          *

Hana lurched forward, gasping in a lungful of air. Her covers clutched to her chest and through them, could feel her heart throw itself against her ribcage, the residue panic beginning to subside from her body. The sound of her rapid breathing filled the air, echoing in the April air.

Wait, she realised. Breathing.

Hana blinked and looked from side to side. She was no longer in eternal darkness. She was in her room, in her bed, far from the water.

She was safe.

Hana exhaled heavily, tension leaving her shoulders. "Just a dream," she told herself, rolling back onto her side and pulling the covers up to her neck. "Just a dream. Not real. A dream."

She closed her eyes, and soon fell back into the dark realms of sleep.