These late nights spent exerting his body until he ached to his very bones were becoming increasingly familiar. Even with years of competitive swimming under his belt and the tutelage of his senior, somehow, knowing he was pushing his boundaries and pushing himself to chase something bigger still wasn’t enough to satiate Ai’s drive to be better, to be faster. Holding back now simply wasn’t an option; not only had he made a promise to Momo, but Yamazaki had selflessly given his time to keep Ai on the right track, and Ai himself wouldn’t stop until he was certain he could make a time low enough to potentially make it onto the medley relay team.
And, of course, there was Rin. The drive to be better, to be faster was founded entirely in a dream to swim with Rin, just once. To be able to stand next to Rin as an equal; to swim alongside him and keep pace and come above at the end filled with a sense of pride.
He’d nearly lost hope, but that dream had been shared with another, and even if Ai was ready to give up on himself, Yamazaki wasn’t. There was an unspoken unity of making this last summer count, and more than giving him the coaching he needed to become a better swimmer, Ai perhaps owes his senior for keeping that flame alive in him in the first place.
The burn in his muscles and the almost alarming shortage of breath are Ai’s final cues that he’s at his absolute limit; Yamazaki left an hour and a half ago. The tug-of-war between not wanting to over-exert himself but not wanting to stop nearly made his head pound as much as the rest of his body felt like it was pounding; but, with legs that felt like anvils and arms that felt like gelatin, Ai pulls himself up and out of the pool, takes off his goggles and swim cap, and shuffles toward the showers to rinse off.
Dried, he returns to the empty, dimly lit locker room, slipping on his sports shirt and jogging pants; a quick glance to the clock tells him it’s minutes shy of 11:30 PM. The weight in Ai’s chest sinks further at the realization he still had to take a proper shower and finish his homework. As he hoists his sports bag over his shoulder, Ai lets his eyes scan over the exit of the locker room-- and of familiar wine-coloured hair tucked just outside the doors. He quickly opens his sports bag again with a mental hunch, digging through it until he could find what he thought he’d find: a protein bar and a bottle of water. Realization dawns on him with a well of breath, staring back out to the door. So, Rin-senpai, all this time...!
He’s quick to zip his bag and trot toward the exit, pausing for a brief moment before shutting the lights to the locker room and exiting with as quiet of a shut of the door as he could manage, almost as if trying not to startle Rin. Ai looks up at him, unsure if he feels grateful or indebted or both. “Rin-senpai?” Ai croons, voice soft to match the quiet night-time atmosphere that engulfed them, only the sound of distant crickets disturbing the otherwise tame, calm air. “It’s nearly midnight, what are you doing out so late?”
