The following week, the school announced the upcoming regional swimming competitions, set to take place in just two weeks. Excitement buzzed across the team; whispers of rankings, records, and rival schools filled the air like static. But when the selections were finally revealed on the bulletin board outside the gym, only three names stood out:
Sora Fujimoto, Chloe Tanaka and Ava Kimura.
Though the chosen swimmers were congratulated, a heavy silence settled over the rest of the team. The disappointment was sharp, like a current rippling beneath the surface. By the time practice ended that evening, the tension had curdled into bitterness.
Inside the locker room, the air was thick with humidity and hushed voices. The sound of lockers clanging open and shut punctuated the whispers.
"Of course Sora got picked," one girl muttered, tugging aggressively at the strap of her bag. "The teachers love her."
"She thinks she's better than all of us anyway," another replied, rolling her eyes as she peeled off her cap.
A third snickered. "Ugh, I don't know how Chloe even sits next to her every day. I'd go insane."
Laughter followed, sharp and cutting.
Sora, seated in the far corner of the locker room, had been gathering her belongings in silence. Her movements were deliberate, unhurried, as though she were invisible or had convinced herself to be. From her expression, blank and distant, anyone would have thought the words simply slid off her like water.
But Chloe, who had ducked back in after realizing she'd left her towel behind, froze in place when she spotted her.
Sora hadn't left. She'd been here the whole time.
Chloe's instinct was to step in, to stop the others, but something kept her rooted to the floor, half-hidden by the doorway. Her eyes flicked to Sora again, searching for a crack in her mask. Nothing. That same expressionless face, cold and unmoving.
Until the gossip shifted.
"And what about that weirdo, David?" a girl's voice piped up, smug. "Doesn't he follow her around like some stray dog?"
The others laughed. "Pathetic. No wonder no one takes him seriously."
"They're both losers," another added with a cruel little smirk. "Perfect match, honestly."
The laughter came again, sharper this time, feeding off itself like a fire.
But Chloe wasn't looking at them anymore and her eyes were locked on Sora and she saw something she hadn't expected to see that day.
Her jaw had tightened, the muscles flexing visibly. Her eyes, usually half-lidded and uninterested, had gone dark and her fingers clenched so hard against the strap of her bag that her knuckles had turned white.
Chloe: She's angry…?
She had never seen Sora react like this before. Not to the gossip. Not to the stares. Not to the constant judgment that seemed to follow her everywhere. But this—this was different.
Finally, Sora's voice cut through the chatter, sharp and cold enough to make the air feel thinner there by making her presence known to the gossiping girls.
Sora: If you've got enough time to sit around whining about me... maybe you should spend it actually practicing.
The room fell dead silent.
Her eyes swept across them, each word laced with venom.
Sora: That way, next year you'll be picked because of your skill, not because you wasted your energy trashing people who are better than you.
The silence stretched, heavy and suffocating. The laughter was gone now, replaced by a collective shrinking, like the whole group had been caught exposed.
Without waiting for a reply, Sora slung her bag over her shoulder and strode toward the exit, her footsteps were sharp against the tile, echoing until the door slammed shut behind her.
Chloe remained frozen where she stood and her heart was racing, pounding in her ears.
Sora: She… defended him? She did all that for him?
The thought looped in her head, impossible to ignore that she had just stood up for David after her earlier character had proven that she was incapable of such.
Chloe: If only David could see this now...
****
Meanwhile…
Sora's footsteps echoed in the fading quiet of the late afternoon streets. The sky above was painted in shades of gold and orange, the sun dipping low, spilling light across the rooftops. But her mind wasn't on the view. It was still trapped back in the locker room.
The anger. The heat in her chest. The way the words had slipped out, sharp and raw, before she could stop them.
Her hands tightened on the strap of her bag.
Sora: What was I thinking? Why did I let them get to me like that?
Sora's mask had cracked. Just for a second, but enough for anyone paying attention to see. The thought made her stomach twist.
Sora: I can't… I can't keep letting myself get dragged down like this. If I lose focus… if I let myself crumble, I'll fail.
The word fail rang in her head like a warning bell, louder than the cicadas buzzing in the trees. And the idea of it, losing everything she'd worked for, her future, scared her more than she'd ever admit.
Her pace slowed as she reached the corner of the street. She blinked, realizing she wasn't alone.
Up ahead, just beyond the row of vending machines, David stood at the edge of the sidewalk. His bag was slung carelessly over one shoulder, his camera raised, lens glinting faintly in the evening light and his focus was on the horizon, the sky streaked with fire. He adjusted the angle, stepped back, raised the camera again, completely absorbed in the scene before him.
Sora froze.
The world around her seemed to pause too, the cicadas, the chatter of passing students, even the faint rumble of a bus in the distance. All she could hear was her own heartbeat, quick and unsteady.
Her eyes lingered on him longer than she meant to. On the quiet determination in his face, the way he searched for the right angle with a patience that felt both foreign and familiar.
Her chest tightened.
And then, all at once, heat rushed to her face.
Sora snapped her gaze away, her ears burning, and before she could stop herself, she turned sharply down the side street opposite him. Her footsteps picked up speed, almost frantic, as though distance could erase the moment.
David's ear caught the sound of footsteps retreating fast against the pavement. Slowly, he lowered his camera, eyes narrowing at the corner she had disappeared around. For a second, he just stood there, his camera hanging loosely at his side.
Then he exhaled softly, almost knowingly.
David: Just like always.
He sighed and tilted his head back toward the glowing sky, raised his camera again, and clicked the shutter.
Neither of them noticed Chloe.
She had been trailing a few steps behind since leaving the school grounds. She stopped dead when she caught sight of the exchange. First the stillness, then Sora's sudden flight, and finally David watching her leave with that strange, patient calm.
Chloe's breath hitched.
Her eyes followed Sora's retreating figure, then flicked back to David, her mind racing to piece together what she had just witnessed.
Chloe: (to herself) So… even she can't ignore him forever…