Chapter Text
Yawns.
That was all Sousuke could do on that Monday morning, nevermind the fact that it was also the first day of school of his senior year. Sousuke could only think about the nerve of the Samezuka principal enforcing the opening of school this early, and not to mention, having an assembly on top of that? This is the last place he wanted to be.
“Yo, fix your face. It’s not that bad.” His redheaded friend speaks from beside him, gently kicking his leg. At promptly 6:00 AM, the overhead speakers in all the doors wrung out, quite obnoxiously he might add, an announcement asking all the students to report to the auditorium by 7:30 am. If school was supposed to start at 8:00, how do they even have the nerve to wake him up so early.
Sousuke frowns, “Oi, stop that Rin. I didn’t get enough sleep last night because I was busy unpacking. Besides, I would have gotten it done earlier if this damn school got their act together and let us keep the same rooms we had last year. I don’t get it.” He shifts in his seat before yawning once more.
“A morning person as usual I see.” Rin jokes, causing Sousuke’s frown to deepen even more. “If you keep frowning, your face is going to permanently stay like that. Besides, we get up around this time to go for morning jogs anyways so what’s the big deal?”
Sousuke shoots him an angry glare, “Shut up already, will you?”
“Fine, Mr.Sunshine. Besides, the principal looks like he’s going to start soon anyways.” Rin laughs off Sousuke’s attempt at a glare, knowing his best friend doesn’t have any malicious intent behind it. They’ve known each for their whole lives, so Rin and Sousuke pretty much know each other’s quirks and personalities. Sure, sometimes they clash and disagree, but they both know at the end of the day, they’ll have each other’s back if it came down to it.
“Good morning, young men. All rise.” The principal bellows through the mic, causing all the students to simultaneously stand up.
“Good Morning, sir.” They chant in unison, bowing forward slightly.
The principal gives a light smile at the respectful greeting, “I thank you all for coming to this assembly so early before classes start on the first day. I hope you are all excited for this new upcoming school year as I am. I hope you find successes in both your personal and academic lives for the betterment of yourselves as young, contributing men to our robust society.”
Sousuke rolls his eyes and sighs, “The same sold bullshit he said last year. He has 364 days to come up with a new speech, but yet recycles the same one each time.” He says it under his breath to no one in particular, but Rin caught his words, causing him to laugh softly. Sousuke tunes out most of the principal’s words until something catches his ear.
“As you know, the world is progressively changing on a daily basis. New ideas are invented, technologies are advancing, and thus as a people, we are advancing.” He begins, before pausing for a moment. “Here at Samezuka, we also want to keep up with these changes and I hereby want to implement the following changes.”
When the principal pauses to clear his throat, all of the students looked at each, eyes wide and mouths whispering about what potential changes could come. New cafeteria food? New TV’s in the dorms? A new air hockey table? It could be literally anything.
“Starting today, Samezuka Academy will be allowing female students to attend.” The principal blurts, causing a wave of gasping, plus some screams of excitement and pure joy erupting from the older students. The principal clears his throat, “Please, calm down so I can continue gentlemen.”
“Earlier last year, I sent out flyers in this local area to recruit some potential female students that are interested in utilizing the broad amount of technologies and sports facilities we offer here at Samezuka. Starting today, in addition to the boys sports teams, we will also begin to have girls sports teams so our school can compete with other schools in the area and potentially recruit more students of all genders to our wonderful academy. Therefore, we have recruited fine young women to create the following teams: basketball, soccer, tennis, volleyball, judo, and….” The principal pauses to adjust his glasses, “The swimming club.”
Sousuke and Rin’s mouths both fall agape and they look at each other, wide-eyed and full of astonishment. “What the hell…” They both say in unison.
Rin especially can’t believe it. After all, he was the captain of the swim club and yet nobody has told him anything. Nobody has even remotely hinted at the addition of a girl’s swimming team, so he knows he will hear a bunch of mouth later from other members of the club. In the back of his mind, he hopes that the women won’t be too distracting to the female attention-starved guys in the swim club. When he thinks of the guys most endangered by the introduction of the female body in the club, two guys come to mind, that damn thirsty Uozumi and that lady-killer Minami.
Rin sucked his teeth, “Damn, this is gonna be a rough year keeping the guys on track.” He says under his breath, causing Sousuke to laugh.
“You really think so?” Sousuke asks.
Rin frowns, “Of course! These guys have barely had any female interaction for years and now it’s going to be on a daily basis. This is going to mass chaos, madness I tell you!”
Sousuke continues laughing, turning his attention back to the principal. “Until this first year experiment is over, the women will be living in pairs together in Dorm 1D and 2D on the fourth floor. If all goes well, I will ensure next year’s fiscal budget will allow for the construction of a separate female-only dorm facility.”
“Hey, that’s our building. Oh god, the guys are going to be wild with having a floor full of women right above us.” Rin says, grasping his forehead in his hands.
“Oi stop complaining, it could be fun.” Sousuke says, raising an eyebrow at his devastated friend.
Rin raises an eyebrow right back at him, “It sounds like you have ulterior motives.” Sousuke could only chuckle at his friend’s accusations.
“I’d like to conclude the assembly right here so you all can go to your first classes on time. The female students have just finished getting a tour around the school, so when you go to your first classes, they should already be in the room.” The principal began, pausing when the crowd of boys erupting in cheers and fist bumps.
“-- Also, young gentlemen.” The principal’s voice turns serious, causing everyone to become deafeningly quiet, “I’d like for you all to be on your best behavior. I know this change must be exciting for you, but please be respectful. No harassment. No gestures. No behavior that can interpreted as something malignant.” He warns sternly.
“Yes sir.” The students bellow in unison, bowing once more before gathering their bookbags and continuing their excited chatter about if there was going to be any cute girls in their classes or joining their sports teams.
“It seems like there are no objections.” Sousuke jokes, causing Rin to chuckle and exhales slowly, “It’s going to a wild year, Sou.”
“Sounds like a bad omen.” Sousuke says, “Sucks our schedules don’t line up, but I’ll see you at lunch?”
Rin gives Sousuke a sympathetic look, “You act like we don’t have swim practice or live in the same dorm room. We’ll be seeing each other everyday whether or not we want to.”
Sousuke can’t help but laugh, “Yeah, guess you’re right. See ya at lunch.” He gives him the usual fist bump before going their separate ways down the hallways.
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Sousuke’s four classes blend together back-to-back with seemingly no break in between. He mindlessly wanders the hallways after each bell rings, looking forward to the end of the day bell. Luckily for him, it was lunchtime and he was going to meet Rin at their designated spot on the roof. But first, he must buy lunch before his stomach implodes on itself with all of the noise it was making.
He nonchalantly enters the bustling cafeteria, eyes glancing around noticing groups of boys surrounding the new groups of girls like vultures on a newly dead carcass. Sousuke chuckles, noticing how the girls have already formed groups, as if they were formed out of protection purposes. He also notices their new uniform design, which is essentially the same as his, but of course, more feminized. The girls dawn a white blazer with black lining, complete with a black blouse underneath with a red ribbon and a matching black skirt. Sousuke thinks it’s a cute design, but perhaps, for the worse of all the boys’ hormones that were absolutely raging at the moment.
Sousuke wanders mindlessly to the food line, grabbing a tray of pork cutlet and throwing a bottle of water on it. “Ah, so hungry…” He says to nobody in particular, but his attention is quickly drawn to a person beside him that snickered softly.
“You’ve come to the right place then.” A soft voice says from beside him. Sousuke looks down next to him and sees a smaller girl with long, raven-black hair with nothing but rice, mackerel, and a bowl of miso soup on her tray. She looks as if she was concentrating heavily on which drink to choose.
Sousuke hums a bit, “Hmm…?” He inflects.
“If you’re hungry, then you’re in the right place.” The girl repeats, emotions absent from her face. The girl finally met his gaze, her eyes piercing blue eyes meeting his slightly sleepy teal gaze. Sousuke thinks her eyes are absolutely beautiful. In a way, it reminds him of the ocean and he feels an urge to swim suddenly. She only looks at him for a brief moment though, before quickly reverting her eyes back to the food.
Sousuke chuckles lightly, “I suppose you’re right. You must be hungry as well...y’know, fighting off all these hungry boys away from you.”
The girl’s face doesn’t change much, “Nobody has really bothered me.”
“Is that so?” Sousuke tries to continue the conversation, but the girl doesn’t respond much. “If you’re thinking about which food to get, you should try the pork cutlet sometime. It’s a personal favorite of mine.”
“Hmm...I only eat mackerel.” The girl responds and he could only chuckle at her upfront honesty, even if he did find it strange.
Sousuke shrugs it off as just basic stranger conversation, the same way you would talk to someone at the grocery store. When he reaches the end of the line, he quickly pays for his meal and turns to face the stranger once more. “See you around...and welcome to Samezuka.”
“Thanks.” She says plainly, giving Sousuke a small smile before he turns and heads to meet Rin.
Sousuke rides the elevator to the top floor, then when he hears the chime, he exits and climbs the final staircase to the roof. He twists the doorknob and steps out, a strong breeze meeting his face soon after. He glances around, looking at other groups of students that have also taken their spot, before he glances a familiar head of red hair. He wonders, for a moment, how word had gotten out about the roof being unlocked. At the same time, only he and Rin know that although the roof is locked by staff at 5 PM, they keep the key under the floor mat right before the entryway.
He walks towards Rin, yelling a simple greeting, “Yo, Rin.”
Rin turns around with a scowl, “Wow okay, way to be late. Not like I was waiting up here for you looking lonely as hell.”
Sousuke lets out a laugh, “I’m sure you were fine.”
“Yeah whatever. What were you doing? Hitting on some of the new girls?” Rin says jokingly, but his smile quickly fades when Sousuke doesn’t respond to his jab. “Oh, Sou...please tell me you’re not serious.”
He frowns, “Not like it’s any of your business, but I did meet a girl. But it was just light cafeteria conversation. I don’t think I’ll ever see or talk to her again.” Sousuke says, taking a bite of his food.
“I think you’ll see her again! Not like there’s that many girls here to where she would just blend in, Sou.” Rin remarks, taking a bite of his own food. “Was she pretty?”
Sousuke glances at him, “It doesn’t even matter at this point, it’s nothing serious so just drop it already, geez.”
Rin runs a hand through his hair, “Fine, fine Mr.Sensitive, I won’t talk about it anymore.” He sighs.
“So what about you? You meet anybody new?”
Rin ponders for a moment, “Hm… there was a couple of girls in some of my classes. I can’t really pick one out specifically though, I was mostly concerned about the ones that will be out our practice today.”
“Oh yeah, the principal did mention that...I think it should be interesting.” Sousuke remarks.
“Yeah well cute girls or not, if their times don’t match up with our members, then it’s a no-go.” Rin states with a deadly seriousness.
Sousuke shoots him a quick glance before taking the last of his food, “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
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When Rin and Sousuke meet up after class to walk to the pool together, their eyes widen at the site of their team members already practicing.
Rin gasps, “Woah, you guys are starting off the year right! Showing up before the captain even starts! I love it!” He smiles, showing his sharp-toothed grin.
Almost instantly, a familiar over-enthusiastic voice greets the two guys, “Rin-senpai, Sousuke-senpai! I’m so excited for this year!”
“Hey, Momo!” They both greet in unison, giving him warm smiles.
“Hey Rin-senpai! How’s Gou-san? Has she been talking about me? Has she been thinking about me? Did she mention me over the summer? I’ve been raising some stag beetles for her! Pyunsuke has gotten so big too I think she’ll be impressed! You should --” Momo was quickly interrupted when Rin promptly placed a hand over his mouth.
Sousuke laughs, “Talkative as ever, Momo.”
“Momo, who is in the pool? It seems as if all the guys are standing around the outside.” Rin asks.
Momo’s face lit up very quickly, “Ah! So all of the guys let the girls warm up first so we were just watching at how fast they swam. I think there’s some real talent in this new bunch!”
“The guys are watching the girls warm up? How gentlemanly.” Rin laughs, sarcasm blatantly evident. Rin reaches his hand for the whistle around his neck and promptly blows on it, “Everyone, gather around! Let’s do some introductions!”
The guys reluctantly drag their eyes away from the swimming women and gathered around Rin. He waited a few minutes for the girls to finish and grab their towels, slowly joining the crowd surrounding him.
Rin clears his throat, “Good afternoon you guys --” He stopped himself, glancing to the women briefly, “-- and girls.” He continues soon after, “For those new to the team, I am the swim team captain, Rin Matsuoka. This is my final year at Samezuka, but I’m still glad to see some new faces around here. If you’re new, please step forward and introduce yourself.”
A couple of first-year guys stepped forward, but most of the guys’ attention was fixate on the girls. Sousuke’s eyes glance at the lineup, but his breath catches in his throat when he locks eyes with the same girl from the cafeteria he had met earlier in the day. He couldn’t help but smirk at her reaction too, her eyes widening and a very, very faint blush forming on her cheeks from being caught with mutual eye contact. It was very, very minimal, but without a doubt, it was there.
He also couldn’t help but notice how different the girl looked with the pool water reflecting in her equally oceanic eyes. This time, her long hair was disguised under a tight swimming cap, but he could still seek small peeks of raven hair coming from the sides. On a side note, he also couldn’t help but notice how skin tight the one-piece swimsuit was against her figure and he definitely wasn’t complaining.
A tall brunette with shoulder-length hair and very bright green eyes steps forward next, a bright blush painting her features. “I-I uh...I’m Makoto Tachibana. My preferred swimming style is backstroke.” She mutters quickly. The guys giggle a bit at how endearing her shyness was.
Next, a very peppy and bright-eyed girl stepped forward and removed her swim cap, revealing her short blonde hair. “Nagisa Hazuki, nice to meet all of you! I love doing the breaststroke!” Her voice is brimming with excitement that can almost, almost match Momo’s level of enthusiasm.
A blue-haired girl with a bright yellow butterfly swimsuit steps forward next, “Rei Ryugazaki. Nice to meet all of you! I learned how to swim somewhat recently, but I do like the butterfly.” Rin makes a grunt of approval. Anyone that wears a swimsuit that bright and with that pattern must have a real level of confidence, so he thinks that could be a great addition to the team.
Rin looks around at all the guys taking mental notes of the girls’ names and features, laughing at how he could practically see the gears whirling in their heads of potential pickup lines they were going to use after practice was over. “Okay, the last member, please introduce yourself.”
Hearing this, Sousuke’s ears immediately perk up and he feels his palms sweat slightly with anticipation at the mackerel girl’s introduction. Hm...mackerel girl? He’d have to work on that nickname later.
The dark-haired girl’s face was as stoic as ever, but she clears her throat anyway. “Haruka Nanase, but I go by Haru. I only swim freestyle.” Her introduction was blatant and to the point, exactly like how their interaction was in the cafeteria and for some reason, it made Sousuke laugh under his breath.
Rin claps his hands together, “Alright, cool! I wanna see what all the new recruits can do. If the results are good, then great. If they’re not so good, then we can work on some training regimens that are tailored to you and your personal swimming style to improve it by the time regionals come around. So if you would all head to the pool…” He trails off, walking towards the pool edge himself.
“Yo, mackerel girl.” Sousuke says, jogging up to Haruka’s side, who by the way, promptly shot him a glare.
Her mouth turns into a slight frown, “Mackerel girl? I just finished telling everyone my name and you call me mackerel girl?”
“Well yeah.” Sousuke shrugs, “If everyone calls you Haru, I wanted to be unique.”
Haru’s frown deepens, “I don’t like it.”
“You’re a girl and you only eat mackerel. Hence, mackerel girl.” Sousuke replies nonchalantly, not seeing the problem at hand.
She sighs, “Boys have such a simple mind.”
“Or maybe girls just overthink things too much?”
“Doubt it.” She replies simply, turning her back to him to stand on the starting block.
Standing on the side of the pool with the rest of his team members, he feels a hand on his shoulder. He turns around to see a smirking Uozumi and Minami on both sides of him, giving him a mischievous look. “What?” He asks plainly.
“Damn Yamazaki, you’re pretty quick on the uptake.” Uozumi smirks.
“Don’t know whatcha mean.” Sousuke shrugs.
“We saw you flirting with Nanase...and on the first day too! You dog!” Minami elbows him playfully.
Sousuke scoffs, “Flirting? Hardly. Just talking….”
The two boys brush off Sousuke’s excuses, “Yeah, okay...but would you be bothered if we wanted to ask her on a date?”
Sousuke raises an eyebrow, “Go ahead, I don’t own her. I barely know her.”
The two guys high-five each other, “Yes! We got the A-okay from the man himself!” They say, hugging each other.
“You guys are weird.” Sousuke says before walking off, joining Rin at looking at the new recruits.
“Sousuke.” Rin grins widely, “Some of these new guys need some work, but these girls are amazing! Their form and the power in their strokes is truly unbelievable!”
Sousuke stares at the pool lanes, eyes narrowing down to one person only; the one leading the pack with such speed and power, but at the same time with such finesse and grace. The sight made the breath catch in Sousuke’s throat for the second time that day. Just what was this girl doing to him?
Rin’s eyes gleam, “That Nanase girl...she has some real talent.”
“Yeah she really is something.”