𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟏- 𝐏𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐄
_______________________________

_______________________________

The following day, the sun's warm glow radiated off the water's edge as Gōu had gathered her team together before the start of classes, excited to share some news that would be the pinnacle of their day.

The boys all sit patiently on their knees infront of her, while (Y/N) stood off beside Makoto, her arms pressed into her skirt pockets. "I've got some amazing news for the team today!" Gōu begins her surprise, a bright smile on her face.

"Okay ready?" She glances twice to (Y/N), a bit nervous to see how she'd react, but more so excited about what this could mean for their club.

"I was able to schedule a joint practice with the Samazeka swim club!"

The group gasp at the news, most with surprised yet enthusiastic smiles, while (Y/N) stares at her friends with wide eyes.

Makoto and Nagisa share a look before looking up at their manager. "How'd you convince Rin to go for this?" (Y/N) leans forward slightly, also wanting to know how on earth that stubborn man allowed his sister to schedule such a thing.

Gōu placed her hands on her hips and smiles brightly. "It's not that shocking he didn't want to listen to his little sister, so I went over instead and talked to the team captain directly." A small lightbulb turns on, and (Y/N) forms her lips into an 'o' as she chuckles, remembering their first encounter with Samazeka's captain.

'That guy totally has the hots for her.' She snickers quietly in her head, imagining just how quickly that orange haired giraffe agreed when her friend approached him.

"You're an amazing manager Gō-!"

"The name is Kōu."

Makoto reaches up and taps (Y/N)'s knee with his knuckles, a small smile on his face. "Now that we've got the green light to go ahead and use Samazeka's indoor pool, we don't have to wait until summer to start swimming!" (Y/N) grins back at her friend, and gently hooks his fingers with her own.

Her lips slowly form into a line while she thinks, and looks up with a small frown. "Wait.." the attention turns to her. "If it's a joint practice, doesn't that mean we need four team members to participate?" Holding up four of her digits, (Y/N) watches as her friends look down in despair.

"So basically we need to find and recruit a new team member before we go to practice later on today." Nagisa simplifies her question, and taps his chin in thought. "We gotta make this happen, Gōu did some serious flirting for this opportunity!"

Their manager jumps at the statement, and waves her hands while shaking her head furiously. "I wasn't flirting!" Her face only grows red when (Y/N) snickers.

"Are you sure?" She asks, and bumps her hip against her friend's. She yelps when Gōu tries to smack her away, and Nagisa laughs harder.

"Of course I'm sure!"

_____

While the day stretched on, Haru finds himself slowly walking to the space around his school, his eyes closed while (Y/N) slowly guides him, her hand clasped in his own.

"Why are you dragging me away from class?" He asks, his voice as monotone and uninterested as ever. His friend simply shushes him before they turn another corner, and finally stop.

(Y/N) breaths deeply, before slowly letting go of her friend's hand and turning around. She doesn't miss the way Haru's fingers followed after her own, but ignores it to gently tap his shoulder.

"Okay, open your eyes." Haru does as he's told, and opens his eyes to find a black and white kitten floating directly infront of his face, his friend grinning while she holds it up.

"This..is moo moo." (Y/N) introduces the two, and she watches as her blue eyed friend continues to stare at the kitten's face. She chuckles when it paws at his nose, and Haru sighs, but makes no attempt to move when he feels its tiny paws pressing against him.

He brings a hand up and gently scratches under its chin. "Hello moo moo.." he greets, and tilts his head to look at (Y/N). "Why are you showing me a stray cat?" His question causes her to sweat drop, and she brings the cat closer to her chest while laughing nervously.

"Well, since we're gonna be busy with school and your guy's swimming..I'm not gonna have enough time to look after him." She starts her reasoning with a small kiss to the animals head, and Haru sighs.

"You want me to take it home with me?" His question is more of a statement, and (Y/N) nods sheepishly. Haru looks down at the cat before looking up to meet his friend's pleading eyes, and he shrugs.

"Sure."

_____

As the day dredged on, (Y/N) couldn't help but feel nervous as the hours ticked by. It was almost time for the Iwatobi swim club to head to their joint practice, but they still had yet to find their newest member.

Tapping her foot gently against the pavement, (Y/N) glances to Makoto and Haru. The trio had been waiting for just over ten minutes for Nagisa to join them, but were surprised to see the boy hadn't shown.

"Think he fell into a ditch?" (Y/N) wonders aloud, and cringes when Makoto gives her a glare. "Don't say that." He mumbles through a sigh, and looks up at the sound of heavy footsteps heading for them.

"Miss the train or something?" Haru asks a panting Nagisa, who was bent over while he tries to catch his breath. "Hey..guys.." he greets his friends through harsh breaths, and the only female of the group couldn't help but smile.

(Y/N) gently rubs her friend's back, and offers him her water bottle. She watches as Nagisa quickly takes it with thanks before throwing his head back and chugging the water in big gulps.

She stifles a laugh, and looks up when another pair of footsteps heads their way. Surprised, (Y/N) watches Rei walk up to them, his posture rigid and stiff, which made her believe that he was a bit uncomfortable to talk to them.

Picking up her hand, (Y/N) gives the boy a small wave. "Hey Ryugazaki." She greets, and receives a small nod in return.

The blue haired boy finally stops infront of the group, and glances to the monotone boy beside him. "Should I assume you're his little buddy Haru?" His question makes said boy glare, already disliking  him.

"No you shouldn't, because I'm not anyone's 'little buddy'" Makoto and (Y/N) glance to each-other, knowing looks hidden beneath their smiles. 'He's our little buddy.'

Nagisa interjects, still slightly crouched as he grips his friend's water bottle tight. "Is everything alright?"

Rei looks up and adjusts his red framed glasses. "If you're still interested, I'm willing to participate in your joint practice as a trial member." His offer catches the group's attention, and causes the shorter member to beam.

"Wha-Really?!"

"But only on one condition." (Y/N) and Nagisa lean in, their cheeks pressed together, which gave Rei a slightly uncomfortable feeling while they stared at him. However he shakes it off and continues. "I won't do any swimming."

_____