Swimming Pools | Sayuri

The air was warm. Chlorine whiffed through it. The heated gases fell upon the japanese girl who was already at a loss. It danced around her, and when she breathed it entered her lungs. The warm, chlorinated air irritated her throat and bothered her eyes. And the warmth made her sweat uncomfortably. Or maybe it was this sudden interaction that was doing it to her. Regardless, she was feeling anxious now that she talking to someone she had just been spying on.

’What now?’ She asked herself, trying to coerce her body to budge. The apology was given, but the brunette did not think that was everything. She did not know what else it was that she had to do, but she did not feel right to immediately walk out of here. That would be strange for the stranger. A girl had watched her, apologized to her and then left. Even if that was not a problem, it would be a problem that Sayuri would now have to avoid the stranger, if they were to ever see each other again.

Her eyes drifted. On the water. On the clean, beautiful water. She looked at the water, wondered about it. But she did appreciate the water enough, not like the girl that was now engaging the water. Rather, Sayuri lost interest in the liquid and returned her sights to the bathing suit-clad woman.

This became an old movie. One of those old shows where the actors moved about, but they did not say anything. Well, the other girl did speak. Her mouth was opening, but at first Sayuri did not grasp that anything was being spoken. Tunnel vision had taken her, and she remained fixated on the other girl. ‘Swimsuit’ would be the first would that got through to her.

Everything else this person said had confused her. She was confused in a way that she could not blame anyone for, because she could not attest to having fully mastered the english language herself. Still, the accent and pronunciation remained strange for the brunette until the woman got to ‘Swimsuit,’ and it became obvious what she was saying.

The question was whether she had a swimsuit. Yes, she did. Sayuri had a one-piece swimsuit somewhere in her closet, in her room. That would have been a short walk from here, and she could have been back within the half-hour. She could do that, but the bigger question was whether she wanted to. Social situations were not a strong area for Sayuri, and so she considered denying that she had anything like that. That’s what she began to say.

”Swimsuit? No..” Then someone, another stranger, had said something. ‘Wow’ had interrupted Sayuri and pacified her such that she became quiet again.

Blue hair, brown eyes; that was what Sayuri saw when she looked to the origin of the voice. The girl, like the first, did not look to be a native of the region, she was foreign. Once again, Sayuri did not know where she was from. But now Sayuri found her situation more peculiar, for now she was interrupted by someone after having interrupted someone.


She remained shy though. If the other girl or she had to speak, it would be the girl that spoke first, most likely. That’s if anything was said up until the newest girl introduced herself. That triggered something in Sayuri. The girl had introduced herself and so Sayuri would, almost automatically, bow her head and say, ”Sayuri Shirai.”

That was purely manners, the kind that her parents raised her to have. But once she had revealed her name, she went back to watching and listening.

It was the most bizarre situation. Sayuri had done like was said, she had followed the introduction of her name with a bow. That was customary where she was raised. These may have been her peers, or even underclassman, but because they were foreign to her, and even her country, she gave the necessary respect they deserved. And yet when she pulled her head back up one of the girls had suddenly vanished. The one in particular made this situation awkard.

That was the one with the blue hair. Sayuri did not see where she went, but when she looked up again the girl had vanished. The encounter was as brief as encounters can get. A person shows up, introduces herself and then walks away. Was it something that Sayuri did? She did not know. There was no reason in her head to believe that, and yet she could not think of anything else. All she could do was stare with a puzzled expression on her face. But that lasted until the other girl added to the conversation.

Sayuri blinked. ’Montreal? Canada?’ Had she been born on the western continent those names would have triggered an immediate flag. She would have known where they were and, with the amount of education that she had, she would have an idea what they look like. The map would have come to her mentally. But having been born and only raised on this great island, the country the girl mentioned was just a faint blur to her, something that she could visualize, but she was not certain if she got it right. Montreal would be further beyond her familiarities.

And now that the girl’s home city was revealed, Sayuri thought about her own. There was no fuzziness or blurriness there. The brunette could remember the traditional town she was raised in. The shops, the houses. She could remember her old schools and the scenery there. What she remembered brought upon nostalgia, and that allowed her to speak her mind without hesitation. ”No. I mean yes. Sort of.”

Sayuri did not know which answer was right. It was true that she was not from here, the school itself, but she was a native of the country. In less than an hour she could be back home, if she was supplied the right transportation. But she did not need to clarify any of that because her answer should have been able to reveal that much.

”Canada? I’ve never been there.. I’m from Kyoto. Kyoto, Japan.” Her english remained better than the other girl’s, but the tone, quietness and accent hinted that she could not speak english the same as a british or american individual.

Her expression changed now. The hand of her right arm grasped her left and she leaned back a little as she thought about her current situation. Conversation with this new person was more relaxing than she thought, but it was still sudden. The other girl probably wondered why she was here to begin with. Half turning to walk away, or at least making it look like she was considering it, Sayuri asked, ”I’m not interrupting you, am I? I was just looking around. I didn’t know there was a pool here.” The brunette alternated between looking at the pool-bound woman and plain water of the pool..

There was a lot to be seen in this room. That was an understatement that Sayuri did not initially take note of. Entering the room, she only had reason to look at the water. Then she saw the other girl, and finally there were the extras within the vicinity of the pool. However, now that they were talking casually she had permitted herself to glance around.

Evidently, this area was not here for show. The school did not have a pool on its campus just to enamor swimming enthusiast. Rather, the pool existed as a place for swimming classes to be taken and for extracurricular activities to occur. Banners and signs, scoreboards and trophies covered the walls. In so many locations was the name ‘Hoshizora,’ enough that it was breathtaking. But that was enough of of her eyes wandering, the conversation was still going on.

Yes, Kyoto was not far from here. To answer a question like that, Sayuri only nodded her head. That was fortunate for her because she could go home at any time, but at the same time it brought misfortune. She was unlike the others at the school. They were special; they had not only went to a prestigious school, but one in another country. Some students turned that into meaning that they were smarter or better. And even if they didn’t, there were others that still didn’t think going here from the surrounding area was the same as crossing the ocean to come here. But that was not the only trouble that she experienced.

The campus may sit in Japan, but it was mistaken to think that Japanese people, or even people of asian descent, made up the largest part of the population. Europeans were much more populous here, along with people from other and similar countries. Together, the ways they thought were different from Sayuri’s, nothing like the traditional life she was accustomed to.

”Oh, really?” She now asked, hesitantly. This was after Secret told her that she was not a bother. What she said specifically had risen Sayuri’s mood a bit. To learn that she was benefitting the girl was nice, but that pleasure was short-lived in the shy girl. Just as soon as she felt she did something good, she defeated that feeling when thinking that she did not have much more to talk about. She did not know what to do, not until the other girl said something more.

The words that came next surprised Sayuri. Having heard english and bits of french, she did not expect the other girl to know another language. It was true that Sayuri was bilingual herself, but, in comparison, she did not know a third language, and the number of people at this school that knew more than one was shockingly low.

She had to catch herself, and pull herself back to the present. Sayuri had to take a moment to switch her mind back to her primary language, and so she was as slow a communicator as ever. But she got it and responded by saying, ”Busy? No. No, I really have nothing to do the rest of today.” She looked down at her hands as she said that. Those two hands wrapped around one-another--she played with her fingers. Like the other girl, she switched to speaking the country’s primary language.

”I only planned to wander around today.. I guess.” She continued to fidget.

Sayuri was holding her neck. As if to steady her body, she grasped it tightly and stretched her arm. Occasionally she looked away from the girl she was conversing with, as if trying to back out of this. The reason for this became more evident as the other girl spoke twice more. She had expressed her feelings, what she was doing here and what she could be doing. But what Sayuri would have preferred is that this girl kept doing what she was doing. At least the brunette was sure she wanted to continue along her away.

But that was not going to happen. Sayuri was not the type that could drag herself out of a situation that she had fallen into. It was not easy for her to admit a mistake, or to put together an excuse. What she would say was what she honestly felt, and so when she was presented a question she answered as accurately to her feelings as she could. ”That’ll be alright,” She told Secret.

She believed herself that it was only because she did not care either way. But really company was something that she wanted. Better than walking around alone.

”Uh..” Now that she had gave a confirmation, she had to follow-up. It couldn’t just be her answering the question and then acting like it didn’t happen. This may have been her thinking more into it than she should, like she did with most things, but she still continued on to say, ”I’ll wait out there.”

She pointed. Out there was to be where she had entered. It was the hallway and area nearest the entrance from the last building. That was all that Sayuri knew and all that she could describe it as. The name of the building was not something she knew, and so she knew even less where she was now.

Unless there was something else said, she would follow through what she told Secret. Sayuri would walk back out of the doors and bring her back to fall on the wall right outside there. From there she would get a direct view into a classroom, and in there she could see through a window. What she would have hoped to see was the center of campus, and instead she got what looked to be the track field. Seeing that made her sigh--She was still lost.

Next came the wait. At first Sayuri did not move after leaving the pool area. She stayed in place fearing that if she did walk away there would be a misunderstanding. Her feet remained planted, and so she was left to work with her mind. That brought her to wonder where she would go with this girl. It was someone she just met, she knew nothing about them. Worst of all, Sayuri did not know herself where she was headed, just somewhere; looking around.

She became thirsty. There was something there for that though. As she waited, for what should have been a few minutes at most, she took notice of the things around her. One of those was a vending machine, one with drinks in it. Sayuri would not leave that spot, but she would lean forward trying to get a good look at the drinks offered from about ten feet away. ”I wonder if she’d want anything?” She thought outloud.