Yuu had no idea how to weave his way through the colossal crowd forming around the brawl of two freshmen boys. His locker was just past the inconvenience, seeming unfeasible to reach with the rambunctious gathering that was thirsty for action.
He crept through the outskirts, hearing fists land on skin and noses and sneakers squeaking against the floor. The kids screamed in amazement, cheering and betting, piercing Yuu's ears. To say fights were uncommon was a genuine lie. He was far used to it now.
It was like a common greeting. Like a handshake.
Spinning the combination for his locker, he peered over at the officers beginning to separate the two boys shouting horrid things at one another. One spit in the other's face, blood trickling out of the purple, distorted nose of another. The crowd was dismissed when handcuffs were threatened.
Who even obtained the energy to brawl so early in the day?
An enigma, to Yuu.
Harbor Lee's witchcraft.
Gym was not his preferred first period class, especially since they were swimming that day.
Besides, there were two issues:
Yuu couldn't swim.
He was poor and couldn't afford swimwear.
He was poor, but with occasional luck. He was lucky he ever even discovered that shoddy, cheap phone Mika disintegrated into thin air with a toss on that one night. There was no phone plan, no data... It was really just his camera.
Now it was just gone.
He was back to square one on sources of entertainment.
Yuu anxiously gnawed his chapped lip as he tread to the pool arena, which was expectedly adorned in filth and neglected in care. Much like himself.
The reeking breath of chlorine made his eyes water and his sinus clog. Boys and girls of all classes were already jumping in, splashing one another and playing Chicken.
If only someone wanted to play a game with him...
He quietly walked into the changing rooms, keeping his eyes directed to the floor and off of the bare boys around him.
The last thing he needed was to be beaten for accusation of being a homosexual.
Although Yuu couldn't care less about the subject, he still didn't want to be jabbed for something he could not control. It wasn't like the boys there were very friendly, or even attractive for that matter.
He fished through the donation box in utter humiliation and prayed the pair he chose weren't contaminated in any form.
He hid away in the bathroom stall, undressing his pasty body and sliding on the baggy pair of awful neon-green swimming trunks that were far too big for his frail size.
Not to mention but this process was embarrassingly common.
Everything Yuu practically owned was directly from donation.
He stashed his towel and other belongings in the back of the musty room, knowing far too well from freshman year never to leave his stuff unattended and out in the open. One too many drugs had been slipped into his bag as a passerby "trash bin".
He wrapped his arms around his ribcage - the most vulnerable and insecure area of his little body - and waddled out to the actual poolroom itself.
"Alright! Everybody dive!" the husky coach hollered, a whistle piercing through the smelly air. Seconds later, an orchestra of twenty-three splashes echoed throughout the tunneled area.
Yuu watched apprehensively, sitting himself on a viewing bench as he hugged his skinny ribs. He wasn't exactly certain of his stay-plan on this bench, but one can assure you that it didn't last very long.
"Do a lap," commanded the coach again, pacing the outer edge of the pool. And there went his school of fish, following right after orders were spoken.
More splashes.
Yuu would rather be anywhere else. Even the mere sight of the water discomforted him. He could just stimulate the all-too-familiar feeling of water infusing his nose and pouring into his lungs... The hopeless feeling of pawing through the asphyxiating liquid and taunting bubbles popping in his eyes and nose. His eyes teared up at the thought.
He playfully swung his feet underneath his seat, watching the students and their effortless talent at gliding through the water like it were some natural borne talent. Was it? Was Yuu just inferior? Highly likely. A pool noodle was swung between two kids, angering one of the females as it smacked upon the back of her head.
Yuu's bushy-haired head turned to the arriving male out of the changing area, his glossy jade eyes studying the figure tying up his hair. Suddenly, all color drained from his face, his stomach plummeted, and nausea fogged his core.
There was the one and only. He never noticed that the golden-haired boy that once nearly choked him to death was in his PE class. Only until the incident on the rooftop did he recognize that wonderfully sculpted face right in that minute.
Mika glanced down at the shivering boy who quickly dodged his stare.
Of all classes to share... he thought.
Yuu watched the taller male walk off, noticing how much different he appeared in comparison to the rest of the boys. A long-sleeved, black swimming shirt covered his body - more so for his tattoos - and his hair actually fit into a small ponytail.
That was eye-catching.
And quite humorous to Yuu. He slightly chuckled at the sight.
"Amane!" the coach shouted, making him flinch. He timidly stared into the hairy coach's never-ending brown eyes that resembled black holes. "Why ya not in the water?"
Oh, sir, just for a million reasons that all end in drowning. He stammered, bouncing his leg uncomfortably.
"I... I don't know how to swim."
"Aw, c'mon, get in here and learn. That's why we're in here today, boy."
Absolutely not happening. Especially not with nearly all the attention on him now.
He begged the coach for mercy just with his big emerald eyes.
Please, don't make me go in there. Please.
His stomach churned as a blond girl and a heavy-weighted boy snuck out of the water in giggles, approaching right towards Yuu's direction with no intention of help whatsoever.
"Come on, pretty boy," the chubby male threatened, taking Yuu by the arm. "Either you conquer the water or the water conquers you."
He was dragged off the bench.
"Wait, no," he panicked, shaking his head as he was pulled to his feet. Struggling was futile. He was too skinny with no muscle and already the joke of the room. Before he knew it, the pool was getting closer and closer, like a cage of death slowly approaching. "Stop! Stop it! Let go of me!" he screamed, cheers and laughter polluting the air. "NO!"
He regret being so scrawny and light-weighted. He was swung into the air like a bird taking flight.
The warm water slapped his frontside like a beating, his limbs gliding through the liquid as he plummeted towards the bottom of the twelfth feet. The suffocating sound of water encased all around him, a fuzzy aquamarine his only insight and the silhouettes of legs. He screamed out of horror and anger, water already flowing into his system. He coughed and choked on the abundant intake of the dirty pool water flooding his body, trying desperately to paw his way to the surface through the shame.
He wasn't going up. In fact, the water seemed to grow.
I should just drown instead, he believed was going to be his last thought ever.
Time is not gifted to prepare final thoughts when death lurks.
Mika spun after the sound of the collision and the erupting sounds of commotion. He surveyed the water for the blurry body, watching the limbs move slower... and slower.
He eyed the bench, noticing the little boy's presence completely absent. Not a second was wasted as he connected the clues.
The coach joined the commotion, peering into the water. "Watch out, let him swim up!"
Even an idiot could figure out he wasn't arriving above to the surface any time soon.
Mika's humanity got the best of him, dependent on the pills he took just before first period.
The girls began to panic, moving away from the possible deceased body, the boys inspecting nervously.
Everyone swam away as the blond approached the lip of the pool with haste, his face plastered with pissed focus. He locked the location of Yuu's small body sinking lower and lower...
He pounced off the edge of the concrete, his body swiftly piercing the water like a blade in a slick dive. The water hugged him at his arrival, bubbles clinging to his face.
His eyes stung in the chlorine, loose strands of hair swaying in front of his eyes like luscious blonde seaweed. He paddled down quickly to Yuu's body that was sleepy with movements, his green eyes going idle. Looking up. Helpless.
Mika wrapped his arms around Yuu's skinny ribs, working harder than usual to swim upward. Not to mention he was running low on oxygen himself. He felt Yuu's small hand tug on his shirt, his other blindly jamming Mika right in his nose in alarm. A gurgle of pain escaped the blond's lips, but only briefly as he gasped for air at the surface.
Havoc burst into his ears.
The kids - yelling and some cheering and others swearing their heads off.
The coach - his goddamned annoying whistle.
Yuu - thrashing, yelling, and hitting Mika in his face in anxiety.
"Let go!" Yuu screamed, water gushing out of his mouth and nose. "Let go of-" a short puke "-go of me!"
"Stop!" Mika shouted back loud enough to silence the entire room. He yanked Yuu's wrists together in one hand, gripping his body tight against his own. The last thing he needed were his frantic hands to yank down his shirt and reveal his tattoos. He hauled him over the edge of the concrete, his limp body scrambling onto his hands and knees away from the water. The blond climbed out as well, getting the soaking green-eyed boy to his feet.
Yuu gazed recognizably into Mika's eyes glowing with too many emotions for his brain pounding with pain to comprehend.
What? Why? I...
Suddenly, he turned around, hauled over, and threw up all the chlorine-polluted water in his stomach and lungs.
Right into the pool.
He wept in the process, his throat burning with bile.