Don't Let Me Drown

Haven had joined the newspaper club and he was really excited, despite his nervous composure as he headed down to the swimming pool. The little orange haired male was tasked out to interview the schools swimming team. They had apparently been the top team for years and it was just one week until their first meet of the year. He was hoping this would be successful, just like the interview with Ellie on what activities and events she planned to bring to the school this year. Ellie had been so cool and friendly. He hoped Vin would be the same way. The school year was going by rather smoothly if one were to ask him. He'd talked to his mom on several occasions and she'd been pleased with the gifts he'd sent her. He was hoping his father would talk to him, but he'd apparently been busy every time. That was okay. Adults were always busy. When he got to the swimming pool, he saw the team running drills. He pulled out his phone and started taking pictures.  He'd send them to Liz the news chief afterwards.  He smiled brightly. They were really good. Approaching the pool he found Vin talking with a smaller group, probably critiquing them. The freshman waited until Vin noticed him to speak. "My name's Haven,  L-"

"We're not doing interviews," Vin cut him off. "We're in the middle of training. Piss off."

Haven visibly deflated. Liz had said that the interview was a go, that she'd run it by Vin already and he'd agreed. Had she lied to him? Had she not liked his other articles and was doing this to dissuade him? Green eyes began to shine lightly. "Liz said-"

"I said piss off," Vin snapped.

"I'll do the interview with him," a voice came from the pool edge. Haven looked down to spot a silver haired male with blue eyes looking up at them. He pulled himself out of the water and Haven stepped back as to avoid getting water on himself.

"I didn't ask you for your opinion, Kuriyama." That was Vin speaking. Haven was standing there with his mouth gaping open. This was Felix Kuriyama! He was like the star of the team and Liz would be proud of him to get a personal interview! Too bad Vin wasn't down for it. Why was he being so difficult?

Felix stood with water dripping off of him. "It's really not a problem Vin. I'm done with my sets so I'll do it during my break and be back before you know it."

Haven stood looking hopeful, the notebook he'd been holding clutched tightly in his hands.

Vin rolled his eyes. "Okay," he said. "Sure." He walked up to Haven. "In fact,  why not give him some swim lessons while you're at it." He shoved the younger male, causing Haven to fall into the pool.

Felix glared at Vin. "Seriously!?" He turned away to help the struggling Haven out of the water. He originally thought that the other was just in shock, but then he saw that that Haven couldn't swim. He slipped into the water and helped support the younger male who was sputtering water. "I got you," he said reassuringly. Roman and Max and a few others had moved through the water to help Haven out of the water.

Once they had him out, Haven crawled away from the water looking horrified. Max stayed by him while Roman ran to get the nurse. Felix on the other hand was having a standoff with Vin. They looked seconds from fighting.

Kanda walked down the hallway, his sketchpad held in his hands in front of him. There was a black haired girl who had asked if it was okay if she walked with him. She seemed nice enough, so Kanda had just shrugged indifferently with a light "okay" instead of outright telling her no. He was actually surprised. She didn't try to talk with him like the other students did. She just walked with him quietly. Most people would ask his name, or try to strike up a conversation, but not this girl. Kanda could tell from her uniform that she was a junior. He was glad this girl wasn't anything like the class president. The red haired male decided to stop by the swimming pool just to see if anyone was there. He wanted to know what areas of the school were empty at what times of the day. When he poked his head in, he heard a splash, and caught the last second of an older student pushing someone into the pool. Kanda froze when he saw orange hair. Haven? Brown eyes widened when he saw his friend thrashing around in the pool. Like he couldn't swim. Apparently the black haired girl next to him had seen the whole thing too, because Kanda heard her gasp. He saw a couple guys pull Haven out of the water, but instead of going over to Haven, Kanda marched straight over to Vin with a frown on his face, despite the fact that it appeared he was about to be in the middle of a fight. He completely ignored the silver haired male and looked up at the tall one. Kanda was tall for his age, but he didn't near match this guy's stature. "What's your name." It was more of a statement than a question, but the inquiry was still there. He didn't care if he became known in this school as the tattletale. This guy had just pushed his only friend into the pool, and obviously it wasn't because Haven had wanted to take a dip.

Clarissa gasped as she saw the scene. That was awful! She knew that Vin wasn't a real social guy, but to push a freshman into the pool like that! Once the red haired boy beside her entered and walked up to Vin, Clarissa immediately went over to Haven, putting her books down on the ground and kneeling next to him. "Hey, are you okay?"

Haven wss far from okay. He'd never been taught to swim and he really g'night he was seconds from drowning. He used to think that being in a new school, in a new location, with new people would be better. It was not. He was still miserable as ever. His mistake. He coughed heavily, slowly coming back to the present. He was vaguely aware of Max patting his back. Green eyes looked up at the black haired girl with the hazel eyes. Where had she come from? "I'm okay," he managed to get out. He was for the most part unharmed, so there was no reason for concern. He felt his neckline to make sure his locket was still in place and then searched his pocket for his phone. It was ruined, as was his notebook he'd used to write his interviews on. "Really, I'm okay. It was my own fault. I should have waited until after they finished practicing." He was used to taking the blame. He could do it again.

Vin looked at Felix, his gaze shifting only briefly to Kanda. New faces were showing up everywhere. They had to be freshmen, but he could care less. He didn't pay much attention to anything but the success of the team. "Take a hike kid." That was his way of dismissing Kanda. What was he going to do, tell?  He frowned at Felix. "Harmless prank Felix, lighten up. He didn't drown, he's clearly okay. You can piss off too."

Felix was getting really tired of Vin. He'd had about enough. The kid hadn't done anything wrong and there was time to do the interview. It would have looked good for the team and boosted the support. If it was good enough Liz would even get it published in the local paper for more support. Vin was an idiot. "He nearly drowned...."
 

Clarissa shook her head. "No, no, it wasn't your fault! That was very mean of him," she told him with a frown, glancing over to Vin. What was wrong with that guy? Getting up, the black haired girl grabbed one of the towels from the benches and brought it over to Haven. If it was one of the swimmer's towels, they could grab another one somewhere. This poor kid! She didn't know what had caused it, but he didn't seem like the type to start trouble. She'd seen him a couple times in the hallway, dodging out of the way of other students like he thought he was taking up too much space. There was no way this kid had started some kind of trouble with Vin.

Kanda didn't move from his spot when Vin told him to take a hike, but instead turned his gaze to the silver haired guy next to him. "What's his name," he asked again with a frown. He didn't need a name to turn this guy in. It was clear enough that he was the head of the swim team, and that was really all the information he needed. He wasn't going to let his only friend get picked on by some guy who thought he was all that for no reason. The guy didn't look all that tough, either.

Haven looked at the hazel eyed girl, feeling a bit better when she continued to display concern. He was still upset though, but not in the angry sense. He didn't really understand why Vin had done that. He'd always thought that high school would be where people were more mature, especially a senior. Again he'd assumed wrong. He looked down at his phone. His father wouldn't be happy to know he'd broken his phone already. And his mother would be concerned about whether he was being bullied or not. Haven would have to come up with a lie, but it wouldn't do him any good if the nurse or teachers got wind of this and decided to call his parents and explain everything. When Clarissa got up and grabbed him a towel, Haven accepted it without protest. "Thank you." He looked over to where Vin, Felix, and Kanda? where having a three way standoff. "Oh no...." Look what he'd gone and done. Now everyone was about to fight.

Felix wasn't a violent person. He preferred keeping to himself and minding his own business above all, but here Vin was, pushing freshman into pools with no regards. It was suddenly his business. "Vin Weiser." Felix answered without taking his eyes off of the swim captain. Loyalty only went so far. The kid could have drowned. Felix narrowed his eyes when the senior turned on Kanda and shoved him into the pool. What in the hell was his problem? Felix instinctively reached out to keep Kanda from falling in, but Vin shoved him back with the other hand. Felix ended up in the pool himself with a splash. He came up with a glare, blue eyes icy.

Vin Weiser. He'd remember that name. Mostly because he'd be reporting him to the principle. He hoped the guy could find a college that liked bullies. Kanda went to turn away now that he knew the guy's name, but suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. Was the guy pushing him in, too? Kanda's brown eyes narrowed, and he reached forward and grabbed Vin's wrist. Not to keep himself from falling in, no. Kanda gave Vin's wrist a yank as he fell backwards, so that the older kid would end up in the pool too. Kanda came up from above water, pushing the hair from his face. He looked around for Vin, taking a mouthful of water before the other guy came up. He didn't really care if it was nasty, that was what toothpaste and mouthwash were for. When he saw the senior come up from the water, he waited for the guy's attention before spitting the water in his face. "Jerk." Without waiting for retaliation, Kanda started towards the edge of the pool at a casual pace. If the guy wanted to fight, he would fight, but for now he just wanted to get out of the pool.

Clarissa blinked when she heard more splashes, turning her head to look. Had Vin pushed the other freshman into the pool as well?! The black haired girl stood up, only to see that Vin was nowhere to be found either, or Felix Kuriyama. Clarissa gave a small sigh and looked to Haven. "We should get you to the nurse," she offered.

Vin couldn't have looked more caught off guard as he found himself in the cold water of the pool. He quickly swam to the surface, gasping for air, only to get a face full of water. Vin blinked several times, screaming in frustration. He started to swim after the red haired brat, but someone had grabbed his upper arm. He turned on Felix. "Let me go. I'm going to kill that kid." He tried to push Felix away, only for the silver haired male to shove him back under the water. Vin got yet another mouthful of water. It was enough to take the edge off his anger. He coughed several times. "You'll regret that Kuriyama. I swear it." He glared at the shorter male before he glared at Kanda. "This isn't over kid. This is far from over. You'd better watch your back. I'd better not ever catch you in the pool area again!"

Felix didn't particularly find it necessary to fight above all else, but Vin was about to screw up his entire future over a petty squabble. He grabbed the senior by the arm to keep him away from Kanda. Vin was a strong swimmer and would have caught him without a problem. If he got suspended over stupid stuff, he'd lose whatever scholarships were avaliable. Blue eyes narrowed as Vin turned on him. He shoved him back into the water and then waited. It seemed to cool his captain off a bit. Good. Felix shook his head at the threats and swam to the edge. He pulled himself out of the water and glanced at a protesting Haven.

"No, no, I'm finw. Really. It was a misunderstanding. I don't want any trouble." He stood up, gathering his things. "I'm just going to my room to change. Thank you." He needed to thank Kanda for standing up for him. His green eyes looked to the ground. He didn't want any adults to get involved. It would just become one big mess.

Kanda turned slightly in the water to see Vin coming towards him. He couldn't help but to be grateful to the silver haired guy who was holding him back. Water wasn't exactly his element. The red haired boy pulled himself out of the water in time to hear the senior kid threatening him from inside the pool. "Yeah, whatever." The guy could make threats all he liked. Kanda didn't exactly care. What was the worst the guy could do? Kill him? Yeah right. Walking over to Haven, the red haired boy put a hand on his back. "Come on."

"Are you sure? It didn't look like a misunderstanding at all," Clarissa spoke with a small frown, looking back at Vin, who was calling out threats to the red haired freshman. Hazel eyes blinked when the freshman boy just started pushing Haven away. "H-hey, don't you want to dry off or something?" She blinked again when the boy just looked back at her and gave her a shrug and kept walking after telling her he had a towel in his room. He was going to track water everywhere...

Haven nodded. "Yes I'm fine, thank you." The orange haired male didn't resist being pushed by Kanda. He looked to his friend. "You didn't have to do that," he said quietly. "I'm sorry you had to go through so much trouble. You're not really going to tell the teachers are you?" He cast one last look at Vin and Clarissa and Felix.  "Bye," he told Clarissa. He then walked forward. He handed the towel over to Kanda. "Would you like to dry off with this towel? I'm sure whoever this belongs to won't mind." He gave a small sniffle.  "You're going to catch a cold if you don't."

Felix sat on the edge of the pool looking annoyed as ever, even when Vin cancelled the rest of practice. He would stick around for a while then find that kid and give him an exclusive interview to make up for his troubles.  

Kanda glanced to Haven as they walked. "Yes I did. You're my friend and he was being mean. Isn't that what friends do?" It was an honest question. He'd never really had friends before, so he wasn't sure if what he'd done was actually something that friends really did. Maybe he'd been wrong. But...it had felt like the right thing to do. "Of course I'm going to tell the teachers. He's a bully. You could have died." He didn't think he was being overdramatic, either. Haven couldn't swim, so if nobody had puled him out of the pool, he really would have drowned. He really would have died. Kanda knew the thought should have been sad, but all he could feel was a mild annoyance at it. Why was Haven being so passive about this? The red haired male looked over to the towel as Haven handed it to him, giving a shrug before taking it and drying off his hair. He would have to change clothes now. He wondered if there was anywhere he could hang the uniform out to dry. Or if there was a laundromat where he could use a dryer. "Nobody really catches a cold from getting wet," Kanda told his friend simply. At least, he didn't believe they did. It seemed a silly thing to think.

Haven looked at the ground, trying not to look too happy. He'd never had anyone take up for him. Usually, he was being bullied. "Thank you, Kanda." He would have to get the red haired boy something nice. Haven smiled. "I guess that is what friends do." Maybe this would be a good year after all. He couldn't shake his nervousness when Kanda insisted on telling someone. "But the entire swim team was there to save me, and he wouldn't have really let me drown." The last thing Haven wanted was more trouble. "Seriously, it wasn't that big of a deal." He then gave a small laugh as Kanda spoke. "Yeah, well, I'm just looking out for my friend," he answered, bumping into the other lightly.