From the moment we dived, it was already clear who was in the lead. Nazuna crawled through the water—already six feet ahead. Even watching from behind, I could appreciate her flawless swimming form. Her arms and legs moved with a precise efficiency that widened the gap more and more.
Behind her, Yusuke and I were swimming neck and neck.
The turn’s gonna be the key…, I thought, crawling forward with all my might.
Nazuna made a well-practiced turn on the far wall and headed back toward us. As Nazuna and I passed each other, I looked in her direction. She seemed not to notice and pressed onward, looking straight ahead.
Huh…?
Something felt odd… I had a nagging feeling about that moment we’d passed by each other in the water… It felt familiar—like I’d been there before. What was the name for that sort of thing…? The feeling of reliving the same moment over again…déjà… What was it again…?
While I was preoccupied with those thoughts, the far wall of the pool loomed in front of me.
I replayed Nazuna’s perfect turn in my mind, blew air out through my nose, and plunged my head down toward the bottom of the pool. At the same time, I bent my knees and placed the backs of both feet squarely against the wall and pushed off as hard as I could.
Nice!
My turn was a success.
When I looked to the side, Yusuke’s spin hadn’t gone as planned, and he was flailing about in the water.
Limiting my breaths as much as possible, I threw everything I had into the remaining twenty-five meters.
I managed to take second place. Hurting for a good lungful of air, I brought my head up to the surface at the starting wall. A stream of water splashed in my eyes.
“Whoa! What’s going on?!”
When I whipped off my goggles and looked again, Nazuna had already pulled herself out of the pool and was spraying me with water from a hose, laughing. Confronted by her carefree smile, I felt my own face turn red. I forced a glower, trying to hide my shyness.
“What are you doing?!”
“Hey, Shimada, are you going to the fireworks display tonight?”
“Huh?”
“Let’s go together.”
“…Why?”
“What do you mean, ‘why’…?”
A hint of mischief surfaced in Nazuna’s smile, and she began squirting the hose at me again.
“Come on! Quit it!”
“I’ll come by your house at five. Be there.”
And with that, Nazuna dropped the hose and walked away.
Huh? What did she just say?
Dumbfounded, I watched her leave. Finally, Yusuke made it to the finish line.
“Oh man. Right at the turn, I suddenly felt like I needed to take a dump… Huh? Where’s Nazuna?”
Yusuke’s words didn’t even register. I stared at the abandoned hose, mentally replaying the conversation I’d just had with the girl.
Nazuna and I are going to the fireworks display together? Just the two of us? Why…?
The more I thought about what had happened, the less progress I seemed to make in comprehending it. I felt all the strength leave my body, and I sank down under the surface with air bubbles loudly burbling up from my mouth and nose. Yusuke splashed over to try to bring me back to the surface. I heard him calling in my direction, but I couldn’t process what he was saying.
✦ ✦ ✦
We’d managed to spend our entire time on cleaning duty at the pool without actually cleaning an inch. Yusuke and I made our way back to the classroom. The hallway leading to the classroom was filled with the commotion of students heading home, but the only thing I could think about was that last exchange with Nazuna.
Tonight, the two of us alone at the fireworks display… This has to be a date… Norimichi Shimada, age thirteen, in the summer of his seventh year of school, about to go on the first date of his entire life…
Yusuke, probably wondering why I was acting so weird, gave me a punch on the shoulder.
“What gives? What’s up with you?”
I felt a momentary panic, remembering the suspicions he’d voiced before the race, and dodged the question. “Um… It’s, uh, nothing…”
Yusuke liked Nazuna. Even if I were subjected to torture, I wouldn’t dare tell him that she’d asked me out to the fireworks display.
“Look, it’s Nazuna,” Yusuke said.
“Huh?!”
Had he seen right through me? I was sure he had. I turned toward him, face full of surprise, only to find that he was looking in another direction entirely.
I followed his gaze to the door of the school’s faculty room. In front stood Nazuna. Unlike either of us, the girl was a model student. It seemed absurd to think that Ms. Miura had asked her to stay after class. So if not because of that, then why was she there?
Yusuke cocked his head to the side, likely wondering the same thing.
“What’s she doing there?”
“Could be anything…”
Nazuna appeared not to notice us staring in her direction. Her hair was still damp, and her eyes were trained intently on the door. There was a hint of nervousness in her expression—nothing like what I’d seen at the pool. Again, it felt as if I were seeing another person entirely. Her hand was closed tightly around what looked to be an envelope. Perhaps she was there to deliver it.
At long last, Nazuna raised a fist, knocked on the door, slid it open, and went inside.