Open Waters | Free! Fan Fiction

1. An Old Face

Open Waters

Chapter One

An Old Face

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A gust of wind sent a curtain of light-brown hair to obscure her vision, turning everything on the outside hazy. Hana sighed and pushed the stray strands off her face, using the hair tie on her wrist to pull her hair back into a neat ponytail.

With no haze of light brown interupting her vision, Hana returned to gazing at the outside. It was so strange, looking at these views again. She never thought she'd come back to Iwatobi, ever.

She had used to live in this town, before her father's job demanded he relocate for work. The whole family had been dragged off. But now, they had returned, and that also meant that she could be going to school again.

Hana felt a flurry of nerves at the prospect of being back amongst people who used to be her friends, but were now nothing more than strangers to her.

How much as this place changed since I left? How have the people changed?

Anxiety clawing inside her, Hana turned away from the view and glanced in the mirror, biting down on her lip as she smoothed down her skirt for the third time in the last five minutes. Huge butterflies attacked the lining of her stomach as she ran through a mental checklist, ensuring she had everything she needed for school.

I'm sure I have everything. I triple-checked last night. Hana blew out heavily and checked the clock above her bed. It was just about time to leave.

Smoothing her skirt down one last time and tucking a strand of hair that had escaped the hold of her ponytail behind her ear, Hana bounded on over to her bed, where her bag was sitting. Hitching it over one shoulder, she hurried out into the kitchen, where her mother and father were seated, enjoying cups of steaming coffee.

"I'm headed for school," she said, a nervous tremor to her voice as she stooped down, quickly embracing them both before she left.

Mae, her mother, squeezed her hand before she left. "Don't be afraid, honey. You have lived here before, you know. It's just a new school."

Hana exhaled and managed a weak smile. "I'll bet no one will remember me if they did know me before, Mum. And I'm still the new girl. Everyone will have changed, you know. I-I know I have."

"Hana, you'll be fine," her dad, Ren, said reassuringly. He was always the calming, reassuring one of the household, compared to the few panic attacks Mae and her daughter sometimes fell prey to.

Hana managed to smile and even laugh lightly before she backed out of the kitchen, waving as she left.

"I'll see you later then, I guess," she said, awkward because of her nerves.

She closed the door to her home and took in a deep breath, hearing it click shut behind her. She turned around and walked down her path and on to the street, where she began her trek to school.

Hana glanced around the village as she walked. Her pace was a little quicker than usual as she tried to burn off her nervous energy. It's strange, she thought, drinking in the sight of the town as she walked by. I've been gone for a few years, and yet little has changed, and I still feel like a complete stranger here.

A car drove past. Hana placed both hands over her skirt to keep it from flying upward. While this had been the place she'd grown up and spent her childhood, Hana had changed since then. She'd grown up, and was "borderlining womanhood," as her mother so plainly put it.