𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟑- 𝐁𝐔𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐋𝐘
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As expected, the day after the joined practice, (Y/N) had gone and gotten herself sick. She lets out a loud sneeze from underneath her blanket, her cheeks scorched while her eyes were swollen and puffy.

"Just go help Rei without me.." she mumbles tiredly towards Makoto and Haru, who had come to fetch her for school. Her two friends stare at the lump of blankets sprawled atop her bed, and Haru shrugs before bending down and begins to lift the blanket.

They had all agreed to help the newest member of the team learn to swim, but were now down a member as (Y/N) sniffles, and buries her face further into the comforter.

He stares at his friend's flushed face, and brings his hand up to graze her forehead with his fingers. Makoto follows his lead, and bends down before taking out his as well as Haru's bentos.

"You can have some of our lunch so you don't have to go down to eat.." the green eyed boy mumbles, and Haru hums.

"I'll bring Moo moo to come visit you later.." his gaze softens, before he leans forward and presses his lips to (Y/N)'s forhead. "Get some rest." With that, both boys stand up to leave, and Makoto places his bento, half full with a mix of his and Haru's lunches on her study table.

(Y/N) watches them leave, her face feeling much warmer now, before closing her eyes and allowing herself to rest. She hears her door open, and chuckles when she hears Makoto's voice.

"Wait..what's a 'moo moo'?"

_____

Two days had since passed, all with (Y/N) sniffing and groaning every waking moment. Her mother had made it a point to stay home and take care of her basically dying daughter, who graciously appreciated it.

As the Wednesday sun rolls through the window, a small breeze passes through and brushes against (Y/N)'s seemingly much cooler cheek.

Springing her eyes open, she sits up and throws the blankets off. Darting towards her bathroom, (Y/N) smiles wide when she sees her eyes, as well as her nose, completely back to normal. She taps her nose, and sighs happily at the feeling of it no longer being stuffy.

She gently taps her feet rapidly against her wooden floor, and does a small happy dance before moving back to her room and quickly messages Gōu.

'Guess who's finally gotten over her sickness!'

A minute passes before her phone dings

'Ah! That's awesome! Now you can come with us to go pick out new swimming costumes!'

(Y/N) smiles at the message and pockets her phone, and throws her closet open to pick out an outfit.

_____

By the time (Y/N) had met up with all her friends, the majority had quickly clung to her, their voices wavering between octaves.

She was quick to assure them that she was fine, and here she was, on her way towards a sporting store to buy her friends new swimming costumes.

Now, she sits between Gōu and Haru, a red and white sweater sliding off her shoulders while she sports light blue shorts that reached just above her knees. Ankle high boots hugged her feet, and tapped slightly against the ground.

"So.." she starts. "Is there a reason Miss A didn't tag along today?" Her hair grazed the edges of her cheeks as Gōu gently rests against her friend, her arm hooked with (Y/N)'s while the train rocked back and forth.

Makoto nods from infront of her, his foot stretched out to tap rhythmically beside his friend's.  "Yeah, we could really use her expertise on this kind of thing."

"Oh yeah.." Gōu pipes up. "I forgot she used to work for a swimsuit designer in Tokyo.."

Nagisa folds his arms behind his head, and shrugs. "I asked if she wanted to come yesterday.."

He lists off a bunch of her responses to the invite, and (Y/N) scoffs at most of them. 'There's so many brands to choose from.' 'I have a tone of errands to run.' She couldn't hold anything against her, after all they weren't going to drag the poor woman along.

"Well at least she was kind enough to give us a plethora of excuses to pick from.." Rei voices her thoughts, and turns his head to the side when (Y/N) and Gōu snort at his remark.

_____

'Sports Zero' was the name of the store, and the teens were quick to head inside before they begin picking out their costumes.

Gōu bends down slightly to get a good look at the swimsuits, a bit surprised at all the different shapes and sizes. "There's just so much variety.." she mumbles allowed, and her eyes move in between two manakins.

She sees (Y/N) in the opposite aisle, in the woman's section. Tilting her head, the maroon haired girl watches as her friend traces many swimming costumes with her eyes, her fingers twitching to grab one.

"Hey, (Y/N)?" Rounding the aisle, Gōu watches her friend quickly look away from the costumes, her hair standing on ends as if she had just been caught doing something she wasn't supposed to.

Gōu watches as she tries to make up an excuse, but fails. "I didn't know you were into swimming." She smiles warmly, silently letting her friend know that she was in no means judging her. (Y/N) returns the smile, and nods.

"Yeah..I was."

Thinking for a moment, Gōu watches her far off look, and collects the two swimming costumes she had been eyeing off the rack. Holding it up, she smiles brightly. "How about you try them on! You are the team's instructor after all." She had a point.

Whether she liked it or not, (Y/N) was part of the team, and would have to get in the water at some point to help the boys with their forms, pace and so on. She sighs, and grabs the items from a beaming Gōu before turning around and making her way towards the changing room.

_____

Gōu sits patiently outside the boys changing room, which was just two small rooms separated by a thin curtain at the end of the store. She had let (Y/N) go off and try the costumes by herself, before returning to see what the rest of her team had been up to.

Eyeing the boys coming in and out of the rooms, her mood only brightens as each and every one of them shifts between different swim wear. Her eyes roamed each and everyone one of them.

'Changing rooms and rippling muscles!' She covers her grin with her hands, stars practically circling around her. 'Talk about a super deluxe combo of eye candy!'

The small fashion show the boys were putting on for her put her on a metaphorical high, while each costume became more extravagant than the last. Her euphoria however, slowly began to die down as they just kept changing between different costumes, already growing bored of their appearances.

Gōu deflates ever so slightly, and fails to notice a certain (H/C) girl slowly walk up behind her. Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she spins around, and her eyes widen.

"Oh..my.."

"GOSHH!" Her scream catches the rest of the group's attention, and they all turn around, their eyes practically popping out their skulls when they see (Y/N). She was dressed in a black and white one piece, with white accents running down her sides and meeting at her hips.

She had her arms on her waist, and looks her friends up and down. "..what?" She clears her throat, causing them all to shake their heads. Makoto is the first to try and speak, his heart catching in his throat. "You're trying on costumes?" He asks gently, and traces the white lines on her waist with his eyes.

(Y/N) nods, and looks down before pinching the strap of the costume. "Why? Does it look bad?" Her friends all collectively shake their heads 'no', which she shrugs before turning to Gōu.

"I was going to try the other one on, help me pick out which one's better?" Ending her request with a smile, Gōu couldn't help but blush at her friend's sweet nature. The young girl nods, before looking down and noting that (Y/N)'s physique matched her friend's.

Her arms were toned, not as much as the boys but still very noticeable. The same went for her legs, and the maroon haired girl couldn't help but admire the muscles that poked through.

Seeing the stars once again forming around her friend, (Y/N) shakes her head with a sigh, and gently begins to guide Gōu away from the boys. She looks over her shoulder, and gives them a small wave. "Have fun guys!" She calls out, before disappearing behind the aisle.

The boys stay silent for a few moments, before steam bursts from the top of Nagisa's head. Jumping back, Rei and Makoto scramble to catch the blushing mess of a boy, while yelling at Haru to look for help.

But the dark haired boy had yet to listen to his friends. His hand was clenched into a fist, his eyes glued to the spot (Y/N) had once been standing. He feels his face become warm, but scoffs and turns back to his friends, ignoring the pounding in his flushed ears.

_____

By the end of the day, the team had all left the store, successfully carrying individual bags. Each member had since found a swimming costume that best suited them, including (Y/N).

While traveling back home, she couldn't help but notice both Haru and Gōu had gone suspiciously quiet. She remembers finding the younger girl pressed against the wall outside the building, her hand against her chest.

She ignored it however, and shrugged before making her way home with the rest of them, ready to see just how far Rei had come with his swimming while she was out sick.

_____

The following day, Rei steps up onto the diving board, confidence radiating off of him it made the whole team excited.

He makes a quick check lists of everything he needed, including his brand new swimming costume that went all the way down to his ankles, with blue flare down the sides.

(Y/N) sat at the edge of the pool, also sporting her new swimwear, its white accents complementing her completely. Gōu's spare jacket hangs off her shoulders while the sleeves come all the way up to her hands. Her knees were tucked, and her arms wrapped around them as she watched.

"You know..from here he looks like a world class swimmer.."

"Guess we'll see if the clothes make the man!"

She nods, and they all watch, silent as ever, as Rei takes a beautifully well done dive off the board. "His entry angle was spot on!" Makoto praises, just in time to see their friend make contact with the water.

(Y/N) looks to the other side of the pool, expecting him to resurface, but is left with jaw hanging open when she sees Rei, doing breaststroke in one spot. He was fully submerged, which made it all the more weirder before he flails around and springs his head out the water.

"Why?!" He groans, and looks up to see Haru floating towards him.

"I can show you how it's done.." the monotone boy is met with an astounded look, which he ignores. "Do you want to learn to swim, or not?" His voice is gentle, but holds a slight hint of annoyance.

Makoto and (Y/N) share a surprised look. "Haru, teaching someone to swim?" The girl bumps shoulders with him, and smiles gently. "First time for everything I guess."

"One catch.." Haru's voice catches her attention. "I can teach you free, understand?" Rei hesitates, but nods firmly, fully ready to receive his first instruction.

_____

The rest of the day had gone by pretty quickly, and soon the sun began to set. The group all watch as Rei had received instruction after instruction from Haru, who had, at times grown irritated.

"You have everything you need to pull this thing off." He reassures his teammate. "It's up to you how you use it." The blue haired boy gives him a firm nod, and plants his feet against the pool's edge.

"Just believe in yourself."

(Y/N) watches as he takes a deep breath, and ducks under before pushing himself off. He floats for only a few seconds, his arms moving around him. The group watch, their faces avoiding of any and all emotion.

'Seriously?'

Rei springs from the water, his head turned to the clouds while his face was heated from the embarrassment. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH MEEEE?!"

".genius is made of one percent inspiration and ninety nine percent perspiration." The calm voice of Miss A brings the teens who were occupying the edge of the pool's attention towards their teacher.

Her umbrella was pulled down slightly to shield her eyes from the sun, while a small smile graced her face, most likely high five-ing herself at how clever she sounded.

"That's Edison, isn't it?"

"Basically, hard work always trumps natural talent?" Gōu questions, and Nagisa sighs.

"Looks like we're in for forty eight hours of hard core training.." the group all look down in defeat, but their teacher hums.

"Not exactly." Once again, they all turn to her. "I interpret Edison's causing as all the hard work in the world means nothing without inspiration." They all stare at her for a moment longer before she turns towards them, an innocent smile accompanying her lips.

"So uninspired labor is pointless!"

The group all reel back at this, and both Gōu and (Y/N) hold their hands up to shield themselves from the negative energy. "That's not very inspirational!"

_____

"Our only option is to have Rei compete with his kick board." The following day, the group had all met up outside the supply room to discuss how exactly they were going to get their friend into the tournaments. Considering all their attempts had failed.

(Y/N) sighs, and shakes her head. She was now proudly sporting the same manager uniform as Gōu, as she had now fully accepted her role in the club. "Good luck getting the officials to allow that."

She's met with a small pat on the head, and turns around to see Makoto and Gōu standing behind her, the taller one's hand placed comfortably against her hair. "Actually they might.." he begins, and the younger girl nods.

"I don't think there are any rules that prohibit the use of kick boards in a match."

"We would have to look it up soon.." their brainstorming is put on hold, when a loud splash from the pool catches their attention. Looking up, they're all surprised to see someone doing swimming butterfly between the lanes.

"Someone's swimming butterfly.." Gōu speaks up, and the rest hum. "Maybe it's Haru?" Nagisa guesses, and Makoto shakes his head.

"Can't be, he only swims free style."

"You got that right." The group jump back in surprise when they see the boy they had just been talking about behind them, which made them even more confused

They all make a beeline for the pool, and gasp when they see the last person they were expecting. "Rei?!" Both Nagisa and (Y/N) yell, their mouths open in surprise.

"When did you learn the butterfly?!"

Rei simply shrugs, a wide smile of achievement plastered on his face. "You know it's the strangest thing, it just sort of came to me.." he looks up, and smiles at the perplexed looks of his teammates. "Once I tried it..I could swim."

They all smile brightly the news, overwhelmed with excitement and joy. "Do you know why?" Gōu is quick to ask, interested to hear about his discovery.

Rei turns his head, his eyes watching as Haru stares at two small butterflies fluttering around his head. "I do.." he mumbles. "It's because I'm not free.."

(Y/N) frowns when she hears this, not quite understanding. "What was that?" She asks softly. "You were mumbling." Rei looks up at her, his eyes shining so bright it made her eyes slightly widen.

He simply shakes his head "Nope, your guess is as good as mine." His answer makes her shrug, and decides not to push it any further.

Nagisa beams from beside (Y/N), his fluffy hair bouncing and his eyes rivaling diamonds at how much they were sparkling. "I wanna see another lap!" He announces, and points to the other end of the pool, "Make it beautiful!"

Rei adjusts his goggles, and turns himself to start another lap. "Naturally." He says, and takes off. (Y/N) cheers along with her friend's while they watch him, and looks up to see two small white butterflies fluttering just above the waters surface.

_____

𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝟒