#ikuya|character

‘Wait there Pull yourself out of this state dear Acknowledge you were a fake here From there on you might just grow’

When Natsuya leaves Japan to pursue swimming, instead of leaving to America, he goes to Australia. It’s closer to home, and the caliber of swimmers is supposed to be better, and for a boy determined to be great, it’s the place to be. 

Ikuya follows; there’s nothing left for it in Iwatobi. The swim club had fallen apart, and in Australia at least, there was Natsuya.

You spend enough time surrounded by athletes, and as an athlete and hospitals become familiar You can try and avoid them of course-- keep things iced if you get hurt, don’t over-stress yourself, convince yourself that you don’t need them if you fancy ruining your career. Ikuya had never been able to do that. Three- no four- no, five times, he’d ended up in them because he’d nearly drowned, and that had come with his parents worry, an Natsuya’s and Nao’s. (Nao, who had been in the hospitals because of his eyes, and was better than Natsuya deserved).

Nao who was the only reason he was here today at all because he had refused to let Ikuya train himself intot he ground before his first Olypics. Nao, who had forced him to go see a doctor “for his own good”. Ikuya didn’t like the diagnosis at th time, and now... well, a month later, two prescriptions used, and discarded, and now he was a week into the newest one and hadn’t been feeling terribly adverse reactions. 

He stared down at the newest bright orange bottle. he let out a sigh, letting his head thump against the wall, and he counted to ten, trying to remember what Nao had said. “This doesn’t define you as a swimmer, Ikuya. You’re not weak because of this.” Hah, like it was true. They were supposed to help though, and he would try.

He pulled himself away from the wall, sliding the bottle into the front pocket of the swim bag he’d tossed over his shoulder on the way out of the apartment. He would distribute the bottle to the multitude of containers he needed the to be kept in, and then... he would see.