Day two of the Competition began two days after the first and this time, it was on a weekend. 

The air inside the gym was heavier than the day before and everyone present could feel it. The semi finals meant fewer competitors and higher stakes. Chloe, still riding the high of her last run, sat with Aya on the benches, both stretching as they waited for the announcer to call the names for the next event.

While they waited, Chloe couldn't help but notice that Ava kept her eyes on Sora who sat on the other bench a few feet away from them. After watching her do this for a few seconds, she snapped her fingers in front of Ava and brought her back to reality. 

Chloe: If you keep staring at her like that, people will think you're in love with her.

Ava's face immediately got irritated, embarrassed and shocked.

Ava: Huh?! That's not what this is!!! Why would anyone have eyes for her and besides... I already have a boyfriend. 

Chloe snickered a bit and held herself from laughing which made Ava more embarrassed than she already was. 

Chloe: I'm sorry... I was just trying to lighten the mood coz you seemed tensed and you kept staring at Sora. 

A familiar memory flashed in Ava's mind and then her embarrassed demeanor disappeared and was replaced with a calm and determined look.

Ava: Yeah... I just don't want to lose to her...

Chloe: ? 

Just right then, the announcer’s voice boomed, calling Ava’s name for the 100m butterfly stroke and after taking a deep breath, she stood up and began jogging toward the starting blocks and just as she was about to reach there, Chloe shouted to her. 

Chloe: Good luck!

Aya smiled and winked back at her before before moving forward. 

She stepped onto the block, adjusting her goggles, but her focus slipped inward for a brief moment.

She remembered middle school, the whispers of a prodigy named Sora Fujimoto, the girl who shattered records like it was second nature. Ava had never even met her then, but the name alone was enough to spark something inside her. 

"If she could do it, maybe I could too."

When high school came, Ava finally stood face-to-face with the girl she had once admired from afar. But the warmth she had imagined wasn’t there. Sora barely spoke, brushing off others with that same dismissive air, as if teammates were weights she refused to carry.

The admiration Ava had held onto so tightly curdled into something else; envy & even bitterness. Day after day, she told herself she wouldn’t just follow Sora, she’d surpass her. She’d prove that no one has the right to look down on her.

The whistle blew.

Ava launched forward, cutting into the water with sharp precision. The cold enveloped her, but her body knew what to do, her arms slicing, her legs kicking, her rhythm unfolding like it had been etched into her muscles.

With each pull through the water, flashes of memory surged up alongside her. Middle school whispers: 

“Sora Fujimoto won another competition.” 

The awe she’d felt then, the way she’d taped Sora’s name at the back of her mind as a reminder to keep pushing.

Her arms drove harder. Her body arched higher with each butterfly stroke. Then came the memory of the first day of high school, the day she met her idol for the first time. She had been nervous, almost giddy. But Sora’s cold stare, her clipped words, had crushed that image in an instant and the admiration had soured into something jagged.

The water slapped against her goggles as she broke through the surface again. She grit her teeth and pushed harder, her strokes sharper, her kicks snapping like whips. Every practice, every lap, every early morning where her muscles screamed, it was all for this.

Ava: (to herself) I’ll surpass her! I’ll show her she isn’t untouchable!

Her lungs screamed as the final stretch came. The crowd blurred and the sound of cheering seemed to have melted away. All that existed was the last wall, the last chance to prove that her years of envy, her fire, weren’t meaningless.

She slammed her hand against the wall and immediately looked to the scoreboard as it lit up. 

She got first place.

For a second, Ava simply floated, chest heaving, her muscles trembling from the effort. Then a smile broke across her face. 

She had done it.

From the bench, Sora watched closely, her eyes narrowing. There was no dismissal in her gaze, qqonly a sharpness that suggested she was paying attention.

As Ava stepped out from the pool, Chloe was waiting for her already.

Chloe: You were amazing!

Aya laughed, wringing water out of her hair. 

Ava: Thanks. 

A few moments later, Sora’s name was called for the final contest for the day which was the 200M freestyle. The crowd stirred with excitement as whispers of her reputation spread had already spread quickly before the events of the day occured. Chloe noticed that Ava’s hardened expression had return as she was watching Sora intently as she approached the pool. 

Sora stepped up to the block, her face as unreadable as ever causing a chill to be felt in air and around the other people competing with her. 

When the buzzer rang, she hit the water like a blade. Her strokes were fast, efficient, merciless. With every lap, the gap between her and the others widened. By the final stretch, she was nearly a full body length ahead.

The crowd erupted as she finished in first place by a landslide.

Chloe felt her jaw drop slightly. Even though she knew Sora was good, seeing it up close was something else entirely. It wasn’t just skill, it was dominance.

Sora climbed out of the pool, water dripping from her hair, and grabbed her towel. No celebration, no reaction. She walked past everyone without looking at them.

Chloe: She really is amazing.

Ava nodded but then Chloe noticed her clenching her fists in annoyance to which she couldn't blame her.