At Last [Free! Iwatobi Swim Club]

It All Begins

"So this is Iwatobi High School?" Hanako thought to herself, looking down at the printout scrunched in her grip and compared the photograph on the printer-paper to the buildings that lay in front her. Students just swarmed past Hanako, taking no notice of her, as she studied the buildings with great curiosity. She was told that the grading in Japan was done differently to the Australian school system she was so used to, but Hanako reckoned that she was probably still in the second year.

Hanako started to follow the other students, and trusted her gut in finding the administration office; Hanako really didn't trust her poorly-Japanese skills enough to ask anyone where the office was. To her left, Hanako saw that the red-brick grounds led off to a courtyard, where groups of dark-haired girls chattered loudly on wooden benches, while what looked like a baseball team practiced pitching on a long stretch of grass toward the other side of a multiple-story building.

To her right, through the other side of the flowering cherry-blossom trees, was a beautiful grassed area, where some students were sitting and studying before class. And in front of her, was a bricked-area flanked by two rows of tables, each set up with sign. "This must be for the new students," Hanako said under her breath, "So they can see what kind of clubs are available." Hanako was quite dismayed to see that there wasn't a swimming club, yet the website said the school had a pool on the premises. One bubbly girl who wore her silky hair in two ponytails that were fixed to either side of her head bounded up to Hanako and started talking in Japanese so quickly, that Hanako had to strain her hearing to catch every word the girl was saying.

"Good morning! Are you new here? Welcome to Iwatobi High. I'm Akane Seiiji, but you can call me Aka-chan!" Was all Hanako got from the flurry of words that attacked her ears the moment the other girl opened her mouth, so she just nodded politely and tried to introduce herself to the best of her ability. Hanako could understand almost everything a native could say, but pronunciation was one of her weakest points.

"My name is Hanako Ashfield. Pleased to meet you, Aka-san..." Was what Hanako intended to say, but from the look of confusion on the other girl's face, Hanako knew she probably said something completely different. Bobbing her head as a substitute for a proper bow, Hanako raced off to the office in a flash, she really didn't want to embarrass herself further on her first day.

Once through the doors, Hanako found herself in a plain hall, to the side a large desk stood out from the white walls and green-carpeted floor, where a woman sat typing away at a computer that looked as if it had seen it's best days seven years ago. After a short while, the woman looked up from the square screen she was staring so intently at and regarded Hanako's presence with a smile.

"Where can I find class 2-1?" Hanako asked, not bothering to try in Japanese again. The woman sat stunned for a second, probably mustering up her courage to reply in a language she probably didn't know too well. She abruptly told Hanako to go to the eastwardly building, the classroom was on the third floor. But by the time she got to the building, the first bell had already sounded.

"Crap, I'm gonna be late! Now I'll have to introduce myself to twenty other strangers I hardly know!" Hanako thought to herself, rushing up the flights of stairs to the third floor landing. Too bad the secretary didn't tell her where the room was on the floor. Though each door had a sign sticking out of the wall above it, imprinted with black letters that told the reader which classroom was which, and it didn't take Hanako too long to figure out which one to go in.

Hesitatingly, Hanako knocked on the door, a vertical rectangular window enabled her to peer into the room. The school used the same chairs and desks as the school Hanako attended back home, each in perfect alignment with one another. "It looks like almost all the seats are taken," she thought, "Save for a few at the back and near the windows."