“Izumi, come on in!” you tried to coax the stoic, snowy haired student. “The water’s amazing!”
“Not yet,” he replied, burying his nose deeper into the chemistry textbook. “I need to finish this chapter and the next.”
His apathetic, icy blue gaze meets yours and you return it with an equally steady, unwavering stare. It is a terse silence that drifts about as you wait for any indication -- perhaps a flicker of uncertainty or discomfort that would warrant your triumph, but of course, the student council president had no such thing to offer.
In fact, it would be him to draw such a thing from you, what with his cold gaze, neatly folded hands and the grim line that his rosy lips form.
And receive it he does, in the form of an almost indiscernible dart of your gaze and the slight shift that is to be expected. With this, his lips form a smug smirk and he returns to the tome before him, spine cracked and pages creased in the corners as a result of frequent use.
“I have the second volume of that book.”
At those words, he is the one caught at off guard and his head snaps, narrowed icy blue eyes disbelieving and wary as he studies your visage -- shoulders set back and locks of hair swept about. His spectacles glint in the light as he carefully brushes away a snowy, feather wisp away from his pristine face. His eyes are a dull, almost silvery hue that is tinted with the touch of winter and his delicate, porcelain-like skin create a rather atypical appearance, as though he were the embodiment of the cold itself.
His uncharacteristic surprise was disrupted as cool droplets of water showered down onto him and he turned to glare at the troublemaking redhead. “What?” Akira asked innocently, tilting his head to the side as if unaware that he had annoyed his friend.
“You got my book wet,” he informed his red haired friend.
“Oh, come on senpai!” Bak exclaimed, doggy paddling over to the solid concrete edge of the pool closest to his superior. “Just take off your shirt and dive on in!”
“Yes, shirt off!” Tatsuki squealed excitedly, bouncing up and down in the water with his bright yellow arm floaties. “Join us, Izumi-chan!”
“There’s no need to study so hard,” Kento added, smiling fondly at the blonde’s tactics. “You really need to loosen up a bit.”
Sou let out a sigh that went unnoticed by the swimmers and stood up slowly, gently closing the book as if he was touching a precious artifact. You cheered along with the dance group as the ever studious Student Council President neatly folded his crisp white shirt and set it softly on the table, placing the textbook on top of it. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, his fingers hovering over his gloves, before shaking his head and leaving them on his hands. His shoes and socks were left neatly placed beneath the table as he slowly walked over to the steps and dipped his pale toes into the water.
“It’s rather warm,” he stated bluntly, withdrawing to the edge of the pool to sit down.
“It’s not warm when ya jump in!” Akira said suddenly, easily swimming to the stairs and climbing out. The white haired boy raised an eyebrow at his approach, gripping the edge of the pool tightly, even though the push he was expecting did not come. Instead, a hand was offered to him and he let himself be brought to his feet. You caught Akira’s gaze and he jerked his head to the deep end, where it was nearly 20 feet down to the bottom; you nodded and exited the water as well.
The redheaded rebel brought his friend to the green plank, leaving a trail of watery footprints, and urged him up the ladder. The white haired boy climbed the three steps onto the board as slowly as possible and you quickly followed him up, adjusting the spring so that the board didn’t dip so much as you both stood on the edge. “Come on, Sou!” you cheered quietly for him so that only he could hear you. “You can do this. Once you jump in, you’ll never want to leave the water!”
“Yes I would,” He hisses, grimacing at the sparkling waters below and beginning to form rather farcical notions -- all of which lead to his untimely death. He teeters precariously at the edge of the board, head tilted upwards and azure eyes imploring as they meet their twin above them. His gloved hands instinctively retreat to adjust his clothing, though his nimble fingers grasp at empty air and as he crosses his arms, he is left with a rather raw vulnerability that only prompts him to step backwards -- a subtle movement that is not gone unnoticed by your watchful gaze.
“Sou,” You coax him gently, as though beckoning to an easily frightened animal. You nudge him back to where he previously stood and study the lurking anxiety beneath his typically dull, uninterested gaze. He finds the water to be utterly mesmerizing, as such things of lethal, captivating beauty are able to do, and despite the unconscious wish to gracefully dive into the waters, he immediately steps back once again, desperately wanting to retreat back onto the pavement that had grown lukewarm with the sun’s touch.
Though as the ever lovely fate would have it, he had not expected your arm to be barring his escape and in one swift movement, his foot ungraciously dances across the accumulated water and he is sent tumbling through the air. For the briefest moment, he is suspended, as though by a thin, frail string that snaps in an instant, leaving him plummeting to the earth -- or rather, the waters below. He does not dare to allow an earsplitting scream to escape his lips, but instead a breathless gasp that catches in his throat when the amassed liquid strikes his back harshly, the entirety of the water jostling in protest at his abrupt intrusion. The water grips him, tightening its grip around his frail body and forcing what little breath remains away from his searing lungs.
His icy blue eyes are open.
They are open and he faintly realizes that he is without his glasses, though such a petty thing is beyond his need. He is ungracefully kicking his legs and thrusting his arms but to no avail -- the water had only grown weary of his incessant struggle and quelled his movements, sapping his strength slowly but steadily. And then, he is nothing more but a motionless figure watching helplessly as everything darkened into a uniform blackness.
You wince at the abrupt impact and the slight contortion of pain evident in his face (though he disguised it rather well; it had only been a brief flicker that registered). The perch atop the board is one of surprising beauty -- the lukewarm sun and the endless, vast expanse of azure in both land and sky. You gaze downwards, revelling in the height as you await him to resurface though your brow dips as the snowy head of hair does not reappear. Without another thought, you leap and gracefully dive into the waters, a sleek figure that easily maneuvers about the element.
Sou! You think with slight alarm as you hurriedly swim towards his unmoving body. Your fingers grasp his arm and you propel him to the surface, finding that your lungs ached for the air as well. His limp body dragged along behind you as you kicked as hard as you could to reach the surface.
Your panic was evident as you broke the surface, shifting your grip to under his arms to keep him above the water. His snowy white hair clung to his face - messily, something that Sou would never stand for - as you propelled the two of you towards the edge of the concrete bowl and waiting hands dragged him out of the water. You easily pushed yourself up next to him as his teacher gently laid him on the sun-warmed pavement. "T-turn his head to the side," you told the group, not quite sure who your shaky command had been directed at.
Kneeling at his side, you weaved your fingers together and pushed on his bare chest as quickly as you could. "Come on, you stubborn idiot," you whispered, hoping for what you considered a miracle. Your hope was granted as he convulsed violently, coughing up water.
Your hands were still placed on his chest as his azure eyes opened, atypical panic evident in their blue depths, and he blinked quickly. His face flushed brightly as he realized this fact - though he couldn't see it was you; indeed, he believed that his teacher had saved him - and tried to sit up. You immediately moved your hands so as not to restrict his movements.
"Where are my glasses?" he croaked, his brow furrowing as he tried to distinguish one blob from another. With a quick instruction to find his spectacles, Akira dove into the water, surfacing barely a minute later with the said eyewear. You gently took Sou's hand and placed the glasses on his palm, smiling as he put them in their proper place. Without them, he looked so different and it was a very strange sight to you.
"Why didn't you tell us, you idiot?" you demanded, your worry fading as you realized that he would be alright.
"I-" His reply was cut off as you threw your arms around him. He hesitated a moment before returning the hug softly. "Thank you," he whispered, the soft spoken words not reaching any of the others.
'Aww's were elicited from the four onlookers at the embrace, though neither of the two on the ground heard them. Kento, the oldest and supposedly most mature, let out the loudest 'aww' - as well as a nigh silent 'get a room' -and grinned as an idea formed in his head. You pulled back from the hug, meaning to tell the ever studious boy off for scaring you, when your head was propelled forward and you felt a soft pressure on your lips. It took a minute for you to register what had happened and when you did, the purple haired teacher was already in full retreat.
You were about to sprint after him with curses jumping easily to your tongue when a gentle hand on your shoulder stopped you. "Let him go," Sou murmured, searching your eyes. The others took the older man's retreat as a sign to disband and splashed back into the water. For the rest of the day, as the others swam in the ever shifting mirror, you sat next to Sou at the edge of the pool with one arm wrapped around his waist and your head leaning on his shoulder.
A/N from Hitomi-kohai: This was a collaboration stemmed from a headcanon that Sou couldn't swim, attributed to the video filmed in Singapore of them dancing to OTN and in which he is standing in rather shallow water as opposed to deeper water. Hope you enjoyed!
