Sinking Man

[Rei Ryugazaki]

551 words

Reeve Kasamatsu

BY MINNIE OF GS

AND IT'S DARK ON A COLD DECEMBER,

Captaincy was never a title which Rei desired, yet it was one which he gained nonetheless. Being who he is Rei wasn't one to do poorly at a job just because he did not want to do it. So, he hit the books and researched techniques on how to be a good captain, though the advice he once received from Haru stuck in his mind and he tried to use some of his own instincts as well. To say that the captain was overwhelmed would not be inaccurate. On one hand the team was bigger than it ever had been before, but on the other hand some of the swimmers were struggling and Rei had no idea what to do. He considered going to Nagisa or Makoto to ask for help on what to say, but those options felt weak. Rei wanted to show that he could do this himself.

One such member who appeared to be struggling was Reeve Kasamatsu. He'd been watching the first year for the past few weeks at swimming practice and the boy piratically radiated timid... and poor swimming techniques. He never talked and not to mention the scar that wrapped around his entire body which quite frankly disconcerting and more than a little worrying. To be honest Rei didn't know what Reeve was doing swim team. Rei could count the number of times they had conversed on one hand. Though, if he were including the times which Reeve actually gave a verbal reply the number went down to one.

"Alright, finish up the lap you're on and head to locker rooms, practice is over," Rei raised his voice as to be heard through the water. "And, Reeve, I want to see you after." Rei turned around and headed toward the locker rooms so he could shower, shaking his head along the way. He shouldn't of had called out the boy in front of the entire team, but he couldn't take it back now. Rei walked over to the shower, turned the knob to warm, and jumped out the way to avoid being hit with cold water. Once the water was warm enough Rei had a quick rinse and turned the water off. He walked over to his locker, grabbed his clothes and made quick work of drying off and changing into them.

Partially dry and back in comfortable clothes Rei walked back over to the pool and sat on one of the benches, waiting for Reeve. The captain didn't quite know exactly how to talk about what needed to be talked about, but he did know that it had to be talked about. Rei wiped his palms on his shorts and looked down to ground, considering his options. He could either go in for the kill, or he could try to make the underclassman more comfortable first by talking with him, or would it be to him? Hell, would trying to talk to him just make the kid more uncomfortable or not? Rei shook his head once and sighed. He just wanted to make sure that he didn't ruin what his senpais left behind. He had a legacy to uphold and right now he flet like he was failing them. Rei brought up a hand to fix his glasses and looked around. Where was Reeve?

- - i think i love you better now

[Reeve Kasamatsu]

Kept on the inside

Sometimes a shadow wins

It really didn't matter hard hard Reeve tried or work toward anything in the swim club, he just never got any better. He looked pathetic in the water, just an odd looking skinny kid flopping around. Everyone else seemed to have these athletic forms that just completely put him to shame. It really seemed like swimming would have been the easiest way out and best choice for him when his psychologist first told him he had to join a team of some sort, but as the days went on, he realized how wrong he was. He would have joined art, but it seemed that his other side enjoyed showing it's self a lot more in the pictures he'd created, and he didn't want any questions from the teacher on what things meant and all of that. Plus, he sucked at that too. He could hardly draw a stick person and make it look proportionate. Reeve sucked at absolutely everything he tried, and it was incredibly frustrating.

Briefly in the distance, Reeve heard the captain say something about finishing up their laps since practice was almost over. Unfortunately, Reeve hadn't even started his. He tried to do so, but then he'd accidentally bumped into someone before getting into the water. It had frozen his heart, and he had backed himself into the corner against the fence while everyone else swam theirs. He was trying his best to blend in with his surroundings and to avoid eye contact with anyone. If he had, they might ask him a question or notice he wasn't doing what he was supposed to. His heart started beating a little faster when he thought about the possibility of having to answer anyone's questions. Disappear... Disappear... His mind kept repeating the word over and over to himself, still dying of embarrassment from running into that other guy.

And, Reeve, I want to see you after.

The second part he'd actually heard, but his head didn't snap up to look at the captain. His eyes just widened, staring at his feet as he rocked slightly against the fence. Immediately his mind started flooding in possibilities about what he could have possibly wanted. Did he notice he hadn't been swimming his laps? Was he in trouble? Had his psychologist gone against his wishes and told him why he was really here? His heart felt like it was going to fly out of his rib cage. Just leave me alone... Despite the fact that Reeve was afraid of just about everyone, he was more afraid of himself and what he could do if the switch to his disability happened to get flipped. It didn't happen very often, but there was always that chance. He tried to take deep breaths. Maybe it was nothing at all. A few heads seemed to turn to look at Reeve, and he froze, forgetting to breath for a moment, only choosing to gasp for breath when it felt like the eyes had been shaken off of him.

When everyone finally seemed to be cleared out of the pool area, Reeve slipped out and into the locker room where he showered with his swim gear still on. Then he'd slipped into the locker room where he'd grabbed his clothes and ran into a stall to change into them. Just after pulling his lightly blue sweater over his head, he made his way out of the locker room.

As he reached the pool area, he could see the captain waiting on a bench for him. Reeve froze, staring for a moment, breathing heavily. He began to feel a little light headed as he finally forced his legs to start moving over to wear the captain sat. Approaching him cautiously, he took a seat at the other end of the bench. His rear was only half on it as he did his best to stay as far away as he could manage. Reeve pulled his sleeves over his head, looking down at his worn out shoes, not daring to look over at the captain or say anything at all.

Rei Ryugazaki • 0680

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