Work Text:
Swimming has always cheered Nagisa up, slicing the water with their hands and gliding through it with fluid motions, and they just manage to forget whatever is worrying them as they swim. Even on days when they feel totally awful, they find that diving into the cold water and swimming as fast as they can really helps them forget their troubles.
Today is one of those days, and Nagisa is miserable. But it is finally the end of school and they can go to swimming practise, and the thought of swimming brings a small smile to their face.
Their school doesn’t have gender neutral locker rooms, so Nagisa goes into the boys’ one under duress, hurriedly changing into their swimsuit. They wear a one piece swimsuit despite not having breasts, not feeling comfortable with their chest out even though they are AMAB. Because they are feeling female today, and girls don’t go topless.
Nagisa eventually gets their suit on and wraps their towel around themself, trying to avoid looking at their reflection as they hurry out to the poolside. They bump into Rei by the pool and their boyfriend gives them a soft kiss.
“Are you dysphoric today?” Rei asks.
Nagisa nods. “Yeah. Can we have a race? I just wanna swim.”
Rei smiles sadly, kissing them again. “Of course. Two lengths using our favourite style?”
They force a smile. “Sounds great.”
And as they and Rei pull on their swim caps and goggles, Nagisa is so grateful to have a caring boyfriend like Rei.
They stand on the diving block, and the pair dive in at the same time. And as they glide through the cold water, Nagisa starts to feel like their normal, happy self again.
But they know it’ll end when they get out of the pool.