The Pool

Crystal blinked and looked up to see that Nori had showed up and smiled. "Hello, Nori. Still trying to get out of the 'san' stage with me? You are allowed to call me Crys or whichever name you feel fits." She said kindly as she stood up and stretched her arms up above her head.

She smiled and titled her head at him. "If you'd like, we can start stretching. I know you've been busy with the student council and haven't been able to be here as often as you'd like." 

Ché didn't think he was late! According to his watch he was pretty much on time! Well... he had been kept behind for a while after class. Being class president was a lot more work than he thought it would be, he was so tired! But he had swimming practice today, and he couldn't miss that. No matter how tired he was! 

Once he'd changed out of his uniform, and into his swim trunks, put it neatly into his locker, he'd grabbed his goggles and headed quickly to the pool, hugging his orange hoodie jacket close to himself, only to see that he was probably late. 

"Emmerson-Senpai, Washio-Senpai! Good afternoon!" He headed over quickly, drawing level with them and smiled brightly, "It's great to see you both!" He still felt tired, "A-Ah. Sorry I'm late! I had class duties to do, it ran over a bit!" 

Oooh, what was this Ayame spied? Her cute cousin and his cuter friend, Crystal? Was a romance blossoming? Ayame chuckled to herself as she stood in the doorway, watching the two exchange their greetings. Oh, Nori-chi was so cute in how he fumbled over his words and his formalities. Ayame could just see the moe sparkled around him and Crystal. Part of her hoped the two might one day end up together. She considered Crystal the PERFECT match for her dear younger cousin. However....the word on the grapevine was that Crystal had formed some kind of relationship with Treasa Munro. Ayame knew of Treasa's preferences, but she wasn't about to let that stop her.

Her arms were starting to hurt. Oh, that's right! She had a particular, medium-sized box in her arms. Deciding to make her presence known, she strode into the room, her low heels clicking against the hard floor of the pool room.

"Good afternoon!" she greeted. "Sorry I'm late, it seems we had a delivery today." She set the box down on the closest set of bleachers. "The swimsuits for the first years just arrived. I'll be handing them out today as well as helping with your practice. Coach seems to have come down with a nasty cold."

Norimasa and Crystal's reassurance seemed to calm his worries down and Ché  beamed brightly at both of them, eyes crinkling as he did so. He carried out the stretches quickly, stretching his arms over his front and then leaning up, lacing his fingers together and stretching. He yawned widely before suddenly feeling a chill. 

When Washio-Sensei finally arrived he turned around, holding his elbows as she spoke. Ayame always had a way of... making him feel uneasy. It had to be the way she watched Norimasa interact with any girl in the immediate vicinity. It was like an anime... the way her eyes glinted. The first time Ché saw it he'd assumed it had simply been a trick of the light and that he was being silly... but then it happened again... and again. It was... kind of scary if he was honest. 

When Ayame announced the new swimsuits for the first years had arrived, he perked up quickly. That was him! He could stop wearing his own jammers! Although... he liked his jammers... maybe he could alternate between practices?

When Norimasa spoke up he nodded in agreement, "Yeah, Washio-Sensei! There's an awful lot of us for just you!" 

Ayame chuckled at her cousin. She knew he didn't like that she tried to set him up with the girls she thought most appropriate, but it was one of her hobbies. That and setting up all of her students. It had been especially amusing last year when she had had Nori-chi and Crystal in her class. She was constantly pairing them up for projects, hoping a love would bloom. Sadly, Nori-chi started dating that Nanami girl. Oh, Nanami was a lovely, sweet little thing...but Ayame felt Nori-chi needed someone more assertive in his life that wouldn't walk all over him. Like Crystal.

"I was going to ask, Nori-chi, if you and Crystal would help running the drills and such," she said to her cousin with a smile. "I'm afraid the Coach only has me here to look pretty and to keep the order when focusing on your individual talents."

What nobody had seemed to notice at this point was that she had moved next to her cousin and was now proceeding to pat his butt. "Of course, we could always work one of one, Nori-chi, if you need the extra practice."

At Crystal's wink, Ché beamed brightly. Maybe it would be better to wear the school swimming gear, even though his upperclassmen had made him feel very comfortable and welcomed in the swimming club, it would make him and the other first years really part of the team! Yeah, this was a good thing!

Aaaand Ayame had ignored him. Huh. It was like he hadn't even spoken at all, she hadn't even acknowledged him, not a nod, not any kind of affirmation. That was... rather rude. He didn't want to doubt Norimasa's family, because he was always kind and friendly... He'd heard stories about Ayame though... being outcast from the rest of the family... maybe being rude was why? His smile fell for the briefest of moments before appearing again as though it hadn't flickered once. He didn't want to dwell on it too much. It wasn't any of his business after all. 

Then suddenly it all happened very fast. Norimasa had pushed Ayame away from him and Ché blinked... then swallowed. More rumours immediately flew to mind on some of Ayame's... eccentricities. Looking up at Norimasa in concern he quietly sidled between him and Ayame, trying to seem casual but probably looking more concerned than anything else. 

He looked around, clear concern on his face. "Washio-Senpai, are you okay?"