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“Today is a momentous occasion,” An declared from the couch. “Some of you may die, but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make.”
“We will fight our hardest, captain An!” Kohane saluted, stamping one foot.
Akito rolled his eyes, but played along. “Damage control is ready.”
An grinned, eyes locking onto Touya’s. “Are you ready… For your first battle?”
“…” He stared at them, incredulous. “We’re just going swimming?”
They exploded into groans of agony.
“Exactly! This will be the hardest thing you’ve ever done!”
“You might die, Touya!” Kohane grabbed his arms dramatically. “We have to protect you…”
He closed his eyes, sighed long-sufferingly, and walked out the door.
They chased after him, laughing.
It had been getting hotter recently, a heat wave approaching. And so finally, blessedly, they had relented. He was Going To Swim. Or—learn to swim at least. But not without precaution. An had filled about 20 sheep bladders with air and told him he was one wrong move from getting them tied to his body. He shuddered at the thought.
An and Kohane clung to him, trying to leech the cold from his skin as they walked across the clearing around their house under the blistering sun to the tree line. They could have let go under the safety of the canopy but never did. An forced Akito to walk a solid two metres behind them at all times lest his body heat become contagious.
“That’s not how it works.”
“You never know.” An stuck out her tongue. “You could always mutate?”
“Mutate?” Akito shot her a disbelieving look.
“We’ll study you for science and—”
“We are not dissecting him,” Kohane vetoed before An could finish, much to Akito’s relief.
The river came into view, and he couldn’t help the way he tensed in anticipation. It had started as a joke—that he’d never swum and thought he could, that he was so desperate to swim. But since all jokes are rooted in truth, he still looked forward to learning, another step in his journey of normalcy. The ground sloped sharply at the edge of the trees, flattening out for a few metres before dropping into the riverbed. Kohane had created a small rock stairway embedded into the ground, and today, he was finally allowed to walk it.
They held hands as they stepped down the stairs, wary of slipping. An dropped her basket under a bush and threw a towel over the whole thing. The rest of the towels formed a haphazard pile next to it. Following Akito’s lead, he shed his shirt, folding it neatly and placing it next to the scrunched heap that was Akito’s tank top. They placed their shoes next to the girls’, and finally, they were ready.
“Ok.” Akito turned to him. “What’s rule number one?”
“Don’t get in alone and don’t go anywhere I can’t stand up unless there’s someone with me,” he recited, eyes not drifting from the river.
“Right. We already had the ‘what to do if I’m drowning’ talk so…” Akito sighed, walking towards the bank and sitting down, dangling his feet into the water. “Have at it, ye beast.”
“Ye what?”
“Why are you being possessed by an ancient scholar, Akito?” Kohane appeared at his elbow.
“For fun.”
Kohane nodded like this made sense but then turned the most baffled expression she could muster on Touya.
He stifled a laugh and moved forward to stand next to Akito, staring into the gently rippling water. Crouching, he reached out one hand to swipe at it, and An laughed on Akito’s other side.
“It’s just water, it’s not gonna bite,” she grinned, taking a few steps back before running straight at the water, jumping and forming a ball before hitting the river with a resounding splash, sending water over the three of them. Touya flinched back as the water hit, wholly unprepared, and watched the ripples where An had disappeared.
“An!” Kohane chided as An surfaced, hair falling like a wet curtain in her face. She flicked her hair back, not looking sorry in the slightest.
“Is the river deep enough to do that?” Touya questioned. “You’d drop quite far with that high a leap.”
Akito scoffed. “Why do you know that, but not that people sink—”
Touya scowled at Akito’s smug face. “It’s just physics…I know how objects work in water. I just…assumed humans were different. We’ve been over this, don’t laugh.”
He sighed as Akito and Kohane laughed anyway and dropped his feet into the water, looking pleadingly at Akito. Akito rolled his eyes but slid properly into the water, only reaching up to his knees. Not bothering to stop the smile he knew was overtaking his face, Touya joined him, hands on the grass to stop from going too fast or in case he somehow fell. The ground was muddy, but he could feel the way it turned to rock further in. The sensation of mud between his toes was weird, the whole feeling was weird, despite the fact it was technically no different to a bath. He took one step, looking at Akito for permission again before he waded forward, the water slowly rising to his waist. He shivered as it did. It wasn’t technically cold, only a few degrees cooler than his body but he would never get used to the feeling of water washing over him.
The ground was unsteady beneath him, made worse by the slight current buffeting him, leaving him standing precariously, yet in no danger of falling—just the feeling of standing on the edge.
“Ok, ok.” Akito moved to stand between him and the middle of the river. “Now you kinda just want to crouch so it’s up to your shoulders, so you’re submerged but not too deep that you can’t stand.”
He did, marvelling at the feeling of weightlessness even though he knew he was still standing. “Weird,” he said out loud.
By now, Kohane had joined An, spinning around each other in a circle, trying to create a mini whirlpool. Akito clicked his fingers in front of his face, forcing his attention on him. “You can fuck around after you aren’t in danger of drowning, ‘kay?”
Touya nodded.
“Don’t do anything yet. You’re gonna try and float. I’ll put my hand underneath your shoulders, and your head is not gonna go underwater, so don’t panic. But I want you to lean back and take your feet off the ground. You want to be basically lying down at the surface of the water. You can put your feet down whenever. Go slow.”
Touya nodded again, Akito had explained how to float earlier but he didn’t particularly know what to expect. He copied the actions, leaning back until Akito’s hand came up to hold him. He took a breath before lifting one leg until his toes poked out of the water. Slowly he tried to lift the other, barely moving before he had to put both down, standing straight up in panic as he got too low in the water.
“Oi, it’s fine.” Akito pushed him back down. “I’m not gonna let your head go under. No matter how much you think you’re sinking, it’s fine.”
He swallowed and tried again. “I can’t—I can’t stay up. How do you even…” Why was it so hard?
“Wait ok.” Akito thought for a moment. “Take a deep breath and hold it, then start floating, and slowly let it out and breathe normally. Lift your hips, you do need to put some effort into floating,” he laughed as Touya failed to stay up after breathing out.
It took nearly half an hour for Touya to float consistently without Akito actively holding him up. Once he did, Kohane and An whooped from the rock they had been jumping off, startling him enough that he instantly lost it and sank again. He came back up to the three of them laughing and unable to see through his hair. The pout he sent at Akito only served to make him laugh harder.
“Congrats,” Akito sighed, only half-jokingly. “That’s part one.” Akito walked backwards, slowly being submerged until only his head was visible. “Come here.”
Touya followed, finding it harder and harder to walk as more of his body disappeared under the water. Standing next to Akito, he still had most of his neck above the water.
“You can still stand here? Cool. I need you to take your feet off the ground and try treading water.”
He frowned in concentration, spreading his arms and lifting his feet one at a time. The second he stopped touching the ground he felt like he was falling. He flailed for a second before he stretched his leg back out. The other three kindly pretended they weren’t laughing.
An swam over, abandoning Kohane, much to her fake wailing. She popped up next to Touya. “Start moving your arms before you take the other foot off, literally drag yourself up against the weight. You Gotta Fight It.”
“Why are you saying it like that?”
“It’s true. The water is a dangerous opponent you must Defeat.”
“…Right.” He did as she advised, finding it worked well enough. That was his biggest problem. He kept expecting to not have to do anything or work to do what he wanted. It was weird, not having complete control of his own body—Ha. He snorted to himself, brushing off the questioning look the other two sent him. Treading water proved a little easier than floating and only took 20 minutes this time! Akito got out halfway through to get a drink, leaving him at An’s mercy, and laid on the grass instead of returning to save him. An worked him harder than Akito had, splashing him whenever he failed to stay up.
She shouted in joy when he managed it, pushing him to move a little by kicking his legs in the opposite direction instead of straight down. He did, eyes widening in glee when he successfully ‘swam.’ An chased him towards the shore, swimming rings around him—literally. He stood up when he could, the water coming to just above his waist. An swum next to him, stopping a few metres away and standing up—probably on a rock, considering she was level with him but also only waist deep.
He took a step back, the ground suddenly not there, and he panicked, completely unprepared to have a mouthful of water. His skin tingled, and the temperature dropped several degrees. It was all the warning they had before the river froze. Kohane was far enough away to escape it, and Akito was still on the bank. But An…
An stood, frozen—literally—in place, jaw to the ground. “Touya?! Oi!” she screeched, hugging her arms to herself and struggling to move.
Touya held himself up against the frozen surface of the water with his hands. It was the only thing iced—the water moved undisturbed underneath it, but both he and An were trapped at the waist. There was silence before Akito was howling, doubling over with laughter, Kohane giggling from down the river.
Touya blinked stupidly at An, and she glared at him, shivering. “Akito!” she shouted. “Get me out!”
“Are you alright, Touya?” Kohane had to raise her voice over Akito and An.
“…Yes.” He was mostly just embarrassed. “Sorry.”
“Can we—” Akito wheezed, now rolling on the ground. “Can we leave her there, she looks so good like this.”
“I’m dying! It’s so cold!” An reached as far as she could to the bank and picked up a rock to throw at Akito. “I’ll kill you when I get out of here I swear to the Gods!”
Akito only laughed harder.
“I’m sorry, An.” Touya winced as the ice around her cracked but did not relent.
She stopped wriggling to address him. “It’s ok! Objectively the funniest thing that’s happened all week. However!” She glared at Akito. “Melt the ice, asshole. Or I’m poisoning your dinner!”
Akito laughed for a few more seconds before his chuckles died down and he made his way to the river. With a press of his hands to the surface of the ice, heat radiated out and slowly begun melting it.
“Wait, wait, Kohane.” Touya’s eyes widened as the only thing keeping him up began steaming. “Can you lift the ground under me, or this will just happen again,” he requested sheepishly.
She hummed, frowning at where his feet were until he felt the ground below him, and he nodded to let her know to stop. An, now free, growled playfully before ducking under the water and kicking off in Akito’s direction. He was too slow on her plan and screeched as An threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and dragging him into the river.
“Ahhh, sweet warmth.” She grinned evilly, Akito shouting threats at her until she dunked him. He surfaced quickly, spitting a stick out of his mouth, and waded to the shore. An whooped and wrapped her legs around his waist as he stood up, clinging to him like a koala while Akito struggled to drag them both—sopping wet—out of the river. They collapsed to the ground, groaning.
Kohane and Touya watched this play out, amused. Once they had settled, lying on the grass to dry, Kohane swam over to help Touya out, grabbing his wrists to hold him up and instructing him to kick to the bank. She forced him to swim, not letting him stand for a second but also not letting go and ensuring his head stayed above the water. He grinned as he ‘swam.’ Kicking his legs clumsily as Kohane dragged with enough force to keep him moving but letting him do most of the work. They reached the bank quickly, and he finally got to stand, nearly falling over at the unexpected weight as he tried to pull himself out of the water. Kohane stifled a laugh but steadied him. They flopped down next to the other two, basking in the sun.
“Sorry, again,” he said, squinting against the light.
An waved him off. “Not your fault. More surprised this is what got you to use magic properly…” she trailed off before shooting upwards, shouting. “Wait, you used your magic and didn’t die!”
He blinked, sitting up with her. “I—yes. I…I suppose I did.” He looked at the river and then down at his hands. “I used my magic. I feel fine. Weird, but fine.”
Akito threw an arm around him and dragged him into a hug. “Knew you’d fucking do it eventually. It felt so normal I don’t think any of us even realised you’d done it. What the hell.”
He lit up, and he didn’t know if the heat was coming from Akito or his face. “I feel a lot lighter now.”
“You weren’t wearing the blocker, either.” Kohane glanced at his wrist. “Do you think it’s helped your control? You only froze…half the river,” she stuttered, trying not to laugh at the absurdity.
“As opposed to the whole thing?” An threw herself over him and Akito, grabbing Kohane’s wrist to drag her into the impromptu group hug.
“Guess we gotta get that done in winter. We can go ice skating,” Akito joked, and Touya lit up, pushing out of the hug to stare at him, eyes wide.
“We can?”
Akito snorted at the look on his face. “Yeah. If you can freeze the whole thing, then I don’t see why not. I’d love to see An eat shit on the ice.”
“Oh you fucking would, wouldn’t you?” An growled playfully, lightly shoving Touya and Kohane away so she could scoop Akito up into a princess carry.
Akito screeched as An stumbled towards the river, scrabbling at her shoulders. “Not again! Don’t you fucking da—”
The rest got shouted into the water, angry bubbles rising to the surface as Akito raged beneath it, the water boiling as he purposefully let off some heat.
Touya laughed wildly.