"Which class do you teach?" I ask.
Sasaki looks shocked at first. "History"
"Oh" I simply say before watching the boys get onto the diving boards. Sasaki walks away.
"Do you think we'll win?" Teacher Ito asks.
"No" I answer honestly.
"You don't think Aito is good at swimming?" Teacher Ito says disappointed.
"It's not that I think he isn't good it's just that.... he's up against Danny" I say keeping my eye on the boys.
"You're right. Daniel is on par with Olympic swimmers" Ito whispers. "But then those girls don't stand a chance against you."
I look over at the girls I'll be competing against. All taller than me and has muscles in their thighs.
"Imagine if they found out that your younger brother was what they called a 'merman'" Ito chuckles.
"Mm" I hum in response before seeing the boys dive into the water.
Daniel immiedately takes the lead with Aito just behind him.
"Look Aito's catching up" Ren exclaims. I turn to look at him. He has sweat dripping down his forehead.
"How'd it go?" I ask.
"Came 3rd. The Tanaru twins came 1st and 2nd" Ren says a bit disappointed. "Look Aito he's caught up."
I turn back to the pool to see that they have finished 50 meters and are about to do 75. "Daniel's tricking him." I mutter.
"How?" Ren asks.
"Daniel wants Aito to have his hopes up and then destroy them, making Aito mad and falling behind." I manage to say before it actually happens.
Daniel pulls a head while Aito falls back a few spots before swimming again.
"How did you know that's going to happen?" Ren asks in admiration.
"I did that to him the second time we raced" I answer.
After the boys has finished their 200 meter freestyle with Daniel coming 1st and Aito coming 3rd. The girls start to prepare. I stand behind the 4th diving board and stretch my arms and legs.
"Don't even think about getting in my way, pip squeak" the tallest and buffest girl says from class 3-6 says in a deep voice.
"How can I get in your way when there are barriers between us?" I ask.
"You think you're so smart just because you are in the smart class" the girl says waving her hands with a hideous look on her face.
"You shouldn't scrunch your face up. It makes you look hideous and you'll get wrinkles" I warn her nicely.
"What did you say?" the girl roars.
"Okay, okay. She didn't mean to. She still doesn't speak japanese well" Teacher Ito jumps in.
"What do you mean I can't speak japanese well?" I ask him IN JAPANESE!!!
"Don't go starting fights before a race, Chikara" Ito warns.
"I was just saying the truth" I mumble.
"Anyway just focus on winning the race" Ito walks off after patting my back.
I shrug my shoulders before standing onto the diving board like the other girls are doing.
"Now the female freestyle is about to begin. Girls get ready...."
I crouch down and hold the edge of the diving board.
"Set....."
I lift my backside into the air.
"GO!!!" Hayashi yells.
I push off the diving board using my arms and legs. While in the air I bring my legs together and my arms swing forward completing a full circle before coming together. My hands splash into the water followed by the rest of my body. I resurface after a few meters before kicking my legs and rotating one arm at a time making sure that they slightly bend.
Using the water vibrations I can tell that the only girl I have to be wary of is the girl I talked to before.
I clear my head and go back to focusing on swimming. When I get near the end of the pool I dive under water, do a frontflip before pushing myself of the wall and twisting my body. I resurface and start kicking my legs and rotating my arms.
I start get lost in swimming. Back and forth I go before realizing that I'm on my last lap. When I get to the end of the 200 meter swim which is the diving boards I place both of my hands on the edge. I take my goggles off and see that the others are still on their 3rd lap.
"Huh?" I say before pulling myself out of the water. I grab my towel and wrap it around me before anyone notices that I've finished.
"Look class 3-4 competitor has already finished" someone shouts making people stare at me. I smile slightly before watching the race.
All the other girls finish and we are made to stand before our diving boards.
"In first place is Adira Blackwell with a new school record beating the old record by 20 seconds" Hayashi says.
"And y'all doubted my decision" Teacher Ito says shaking his head at the hypocrites.
"Who knew that the small girl was an excellent swimmer?" Hayashi says. "Well Daniel and Adira are the final competitors please get behind your diving boards."
I choose the 4th diving board while Daniel chooses the 5th even though he's not in the 5th class.
Daniel looks over at me. "Are you afraid?" He asks.
"When have I ever been afraid of a two-faced 4 year old?" I ask cocking my head to the side.
Daniel looks pissed and stands up on the diving board while I do the same.
"This race will be mixed. 1st lap will be freestyle, 2nd lap breaststroke (froggy), 3rd lap butterfly and the 4th 50 meters will be backstroke" Hayashi booms.
"Ready...!" The crowd shouts.
Daniel and I crouch down.
"Set....!"
We both lift our backside in the air.
"GO!!" The crowd roars.
Daniel and I push off from our diving boards landing perfectly in the water before resurfing. We start doing freestyle at an amazing speed both neck and neck. Although we are going fast we aren't going at full pace.
I slow down a bit when reaching the end of the 1st 50 meters. I do a flip and a twist before doing breaststroke. Daniel has tiny lead which stays until we reach butterfly where he starts to slow down. I race ahead of him kicking my feet like a mermaid and both hands rotating in a circle.
'This is where having Braxton (youngest brother, R.I.P) as my brother comes in handy' I think of the when my family were all alive. We all used to go to the lake behind the pack house while people stared at us with pure hate.
I do another flip but don't twist. I resurface on my back and start going backwards. Daniel is a few meters behind me. When I am half way through the 4th lap Daniel is only a meter behind. We start picking up our paces.
5 meters...
4 meters...
3 meters...
2 meters...
1...
0.