章 24: Take a Dive
"That's a really cheesy way of saying it." Misei was not amused.
"I'm-I'm sorry." He said. Arata just couldn't resist saying that line. "Anyway, let's just hop in over at the shallow side here." He led them over to the part of the water where they could just stand.
They entered, sans Misao who found herself a place to sit and watch. The cold water sent a chill up his spine, he was certain they felt the same way. In a sense, looking at them, wearing those floaties for children. Arata felt like he was watching over kids like he usually did.
"So what now?" Misei asked, impatience seeping in. Getting this done was the first and only thing in her mind right now.
"First, you should try letting your feet up. That way, just let yourself float in the water." They should be fine, they do have precautions after all. He wanted them get used to the feeling, so they didn't have to panic for later.
They did as he said. Lifting their legs up, they leaned back into the water. Their floats did most of the work in keeping them afloat. Not that it didn't make Erina nervous, he could see the labored breathing she had.
"Erina, please calm down." He instructed. "You're just making it harder to stay above water."
"Right…" Misei was doing much better than her counterpart.
"Nice job, president." He commended her. "Now let's just try some simple water kicks…" He continued to give them basic moves to learn. There wasn't any shortcuts to teaching that he was aware of, nor did he want to try any. It just wasn't worth it, if they weren't at least competent in swimming by the time this was over.
He thought that things were going really well at this point. Of course, once he thought that, fate just had different plans for him.
"Oh hello everyone." A new voice filled the room. Arata wasn't expecting anyone else, the student school nurse was not what he would've anticipated.
"Hello Ms. Mino" Misao greeted her back. She had been reading a book while waiting for them. Arata motioned the other two to continue practicing what they had been working on, Meanwhile, he exited the pool to confront her.
"Hey, I didn't think you'd be here." He walked up to the girl's that weren't swimming.
"Well I was about to go home myself, when I ran into Aono and the others. He told me that you were giving Hayama and Jingu some swimming lessons. So I wanted to be here, in case something goes wrong." He understood it now. Seeing as the last time he saw her, they were in a medical emergency. She probably saw them as a problematic bunch.
"I've taken precaution for that. Thanks anyway though, I'm grateful for how much you care about the students." He turned back to his students. Misei seemed to notice that they weren't alone anymore. Instead of following his instruction, she sunk her head up to her nose. Trying to hide from their new guest.
"I promise I won't distract you." Said Koume. "I'll just sit with Ms. Shitara, if you don't mind."
"Yeah, that's fine." He returned back to the swimmers, hopping back into the pool. "Good job you two." He complement their quick learning. It was a bit surprising how quick this was going. How did they not learn before?
"We might be going at a good pace, but what is she doing here?" Misei asked.
"Oh don't worry about her, she just wanted to make sure we were safe." He explained. "Though now that's she's here, maybe we can try a bit more of a challenge." He believed that if they could do this, that his job was done.
"A challenge?" Erina's look on her face made it clear that she was concerned with this.
"Sure. First, let's get those floaties off, then we're off to the deep end." He got them out of the pool to take off their extra gear. Then he walked them over to the deepest part of the pool. Arata leaped in without a second thought, the other two were much more apprehensive.
"You can't honestly expect us to jump in?" Misei tried to sound serious, but she had a slight worry to her voice.
"Of course not." He replied. "Erina, we'll start with you. Just slide in slowly. Don't worry, I'm here." He guided the girl down, She felt herself tense up as she got into the water. Remembering the time she nearly drowned. At this depth, without any flotation device. She'd certainly sink to the bottom if it wasn't for him.
"You won't let go of me, right?" She asked him, her hands still clasping onto the side of the pool in a desperate attempt to not sink.
"No, you don't have to worry about that." He gave her affirmation.
"Speaking of worry, what exactly makes you think you're qualified to be teaching us how to swim?" Misei asked. It seemed a bit late to be questioning his methods. Perhaps she was just as scared as Erina, now that they were in a less safe area.
"I wouldn't say I'm qualified, but I did teach some kids how to swim last year." Over a year ago was when he started babysitting those kids. Since it was nearing Summer, the parents asked if he could also give them swimming lessons. Arata couldn't say no to money, so he accepted the job. That day was probably the one of the scariest for him, he spent the entire day stressing over if a child would drown on his watch.
His attention turned back to his student. Now in the water, he helped her keep afloat while she was getting used to the lack of ground under her. The objective was not complicated, just swim from one side to the other, then back again.
She was scared at first, but he assured her again that he was going to support her all the way through. So they started, slowly at first. Arata kept his hand under her belly, making sure she didn't fall under.
He didn't want to think it, but it was impossible with his position. There was no way to ignore that Erina was a rather attractive girl. It was one thing whenever he saw fanservicey bits in a manga or anime, and there were a lot of those. Getting this close to a real girl was another thing entirely. He really wished that Yogi was a more superficial person at this point, because he was certain that she'd win that battle.
About halfway through, they picked up the pace a bit more. He could tell she was gaining confidence in swimming. There was no panic or tension in the way she moved her body. The two soon reached the end of the first leg of this course.
"Nice job!" He gave her glowing praise, even if they weren't finished yet. She was glad to hear it, they gave each other a high five. When they did though, it seemed like she regretted it. The look on her eyes went from one of pride to guilt. She put her hand down, turning her head away from him. "Hmm? What's wrong?"
"Oh it's nothing." She tried to pass it off. "Come on, we're not done yet." She urged them forward. Arata was bothered by her reaction, but he didn't want to pursue it further. This was not the place for it.
He led her back again, this time she was moving really fast now. She really picked up on this quickly. In no time, she touched the side of the pool once more. Her practice now finished.
"Yay! We did it." She cheered.
"No, you did it!" His voice did not sound like where she felt it should've been. Instead, when she turned around she saw him way back, about a quarter into their second lap. She didn't notice it then, but he let go of her when he thought she was able to keep herself from sinking.
"What? You…" She was shocked at this, a little upset even. Then she let go of the pool walls. Erina couldn't believe it, she wasn't sinking to the bottom, or drowning. Even though he was far away from them. He could hear her ecstatic yells from where he was.
She wasn't a strong swimmer by any means. More like someone that could find themselves in the water and swim normally now though. He was going at a good pace now. Next up was Misei, Arata was hoping that this was going to be just as easy.
"All right, it's your turn." He returned back to the starting point. She just looked at him dismissively. She sat at the ledge, slowly entering the pool. As her body submerged into the water, he was about to help her stay afloat. His hand had other plans, he retracted back. It felt like instinct had taken over.
"Is something wrong?" She still had her hands holding herself on the side of the pool. She noticed he hadn't kept her up like Erina.
"N-no, there's nothing wrong here." He replied to her nervously.
"It looks like there is." Misao's appearance gave him a fright. She and the nurse moved to them to get a closer look. They had an interest in his teaching methods. "I don't know why you're so worried, Erina worked out fine."
"Yep." Erina gave confirmation, as she practice her swimming moves in the deeper waters.
"I'm fine, I guess I'm just a little tired." He lied. To be fair, he wasn't sure himself what was wrong. His body just acted on its own without his input. "anyway, let's get started. You already know the drill." He directed her. She let go, getting into a swimming position. It took every fiber in his being to hold her up like he did with Erina. Why was he so nervous? Arata was pretty certain that his methods were working.
Unless it wasn't the swimming that he was worried about. Thinking about it as they moved slowly across the water. Here he was, teaching the school president how to swim. Touching her body like this, he knew for a fact that plenty of boys would love to be in his position.
Yet that's why he just wanted to leap out of this pool and run away. Who was he to be doing this? Some nobody just going through school without a second thought if it wasn't for a certain girl. There was also the part that she was probably wanting a certain other boy to be doing this with her, at least that's what he imagined.
"Hey Arata!"
"Ahh!" Lost in his thoughts, a new voice entering his mind gave him a huge shock. It was Matsu, who sneaked up on the two of them. In his panic, he almost dropped Misei underwater.
"Hey! Watch what you're doing." She yelled at him.
"S-sorry." He apologized. "What are you doing here?" He looked back at Matsu before quickly averting his eyes. At the angle of him being in the pool and her squatting down to look at them on land. He had a decent view of something indecent.
"Hm? Is something wrong?" She noticed his inability to look at her.
"We can see you're underwear." Misei told her directly. "How inappropriate, doing that in front of a boy." Matsu jumped in, embarrassed at this mistake. She threw her hands over her skirt to make sure nothing would show.
"I'm sorry." She said to him. He told her not to mind, it was an accident after all. Not that it was the most important thing, that would be what she was doing here. Misei certainly wasn't happy to see another visitor to this lesson.
"So what are you doing here?" He asked.
"Oh, well I was looking for you. I ran into Aono and the others and they said you'd be here." She answered. Arata was thinking at this moment that he should've told them to not mention what he was doing here. Too late for that now.
He told her to go stay with the other two girls, so as not to distract from his lesson. She accepted with a salute and ran back to them. Now he could get back to giving his attention to Misei. Who was now visibly shaken by this.
Even with that newfound stress, he was able to finish the first leg of the lap. They reached the end of the pool, but Misei already knew what she wanted to do.
"I already know your trick with Erina." She said to him. "Just don't bother holding me this time. I'm pretty sure I can do this on my own now." He agreed to let her. Personally, he felt she wasn't just ready. However, could he really argue with her?
"Now… Start." He commanded her to go, and while a bit slow. She was making progress without him. Perhaps she was right after all. He was feeling good about this, until she made it about halfway through. "Are you all right?" He noticed that she had slowed considerably.
"I… I'm fine, it's just a small leg cramp." She said back to him.
"Then just take a break, it's fine." He said, but she didn't listen. Instead she tried to tough it out. "Hey, did you hear me, just stop and float with your arms. No! Stop." She went too far, she was struggling now to keep afloat. Misei was sinking like a stone. Too far from the side to grab, he sprung into action.
Running along the edge, he got close to where she sunk. He jumped into the pool headfirst, diving directly to her. The others rushed over to see if he was successful. He emerged, Misei draped over his back.
"Pl-please… Help me, she's too heavy." He cursed his small statue, if he were alone with her. This would've meant trouble. Luckily, the others were there to grab onto her and help him up. "Thank… You." He was out of breath of the effort he had to give.
"Is she okay?" Erina swam up to them, worried about her friend.
"I'm… fine." Misei coughed up her answer. Picking herself back up.
"You may say that, but if you don't mind. I'd like to take you to the nurse's office." Koume offered. "I just want to make sure you're all right."
"…Okay, I'll go with you."
"What was that all about?!" Arata was upset over this turn of events. "Why didn't you listen to me? That was a very stupid thing you did there." She didn't respond at first. Staring at the ground, avoiding eye contact. Misei had a very dejected look to her.
"I'm sorry." That was all she said, turning around and walking away. Koume was a little surprised, having to move quickly to keep up with her.
"Please. Don't be too hard on her." Misao told him.
"Why shouldn't I be? She could've been seriously hurt." That was the truth of the matter, but looking at the way she acted when she left. He couldn't deny that he felt a little bad for yelling at her.
"Yeah I guess that would be a problem for the school president, right?" Said matsu.
"President? What are you talking about? It could be anyone and it'd be a big deal."
"Hehe, gotcha." She said. He swore, confusion was just what he felt about with these people all the time.
"I swear, you need to be more direct with me."
"What she's saying is that you care about other people's lives." Misao answered for her. "You usually try to explain your actions logically, as if you need to do them."
"Well, uh, that doesn't mean anything…" He tried to deflect. "Besides, isn't caring for other people's lives just logical anyway?"
"Maybe…" She replied. "But I guess how you feel isn't important right now. It looks like practice is over, so I'm going to go check on Misei at the office." She left without saying anything else.
"I guess it's time to go ho…"
"Let's go grab some ramen!" Erina cut him off. What he wanted to do was go home, but just like his life, this girl was changing those plans. "Come on, you deserve a treat for teaching me how to swim." She said.
"Yeah, let's go." Matsu joined in, as if she was invited.
"But I… Sure." he relented. "Let's go get something to eat." He couldn't help but thing of Misei as they left. Something that was not lost on the two girls, for that was why food was offered in the first place.
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