FIRST PRACTICE
903 Words
AIDEN
The first practice as captains felt different.
The changing room buzzed with post-tryout energy—lockers slamming, water dripping from hair, voices overlapping.
Assistant captain.
The title still felt like it belonged to someone else.
Kaito stood near the centre bench, towel around his neck.
“Morning practices start at six,” he said, “If you’re late, you swim extra laps. No excuses.”
A few groans. No one argued.
His eyes shifted to me briefly. “Aiden will handle conditioning rotations.”
“Nothing complicated,” I said, keeping my tone calm. “We rotate by stroke strength. You’ll get your assignments before practice.”
One of the taller guys by the lockers snorted. “Assistant captain after one tryout. That’s crazy.”
Kaito didn’t raise his voice. Didn’t step forward. He just looked at the guy.
“Performance decides rank,” he said.
Practice started smoothly after that. In the water, everything made sense. Orders, timing, structure. I kept my focus on the team, on the lanes, on anything that wasn’t the awareness of Kaito’s presence moving parallel to mine.
When practice ended, the others filtered out in clusters.
Eventually, it was just the two of us.
Lockers closing. Water dripping onto tile.
Kaito grabbed his bag, then paused.
“You handled that well,” he said.
“So did you.”
A quiet beat settled between us.
“This is fine, right?” he asked, not quite looking at me. “Us working together.”
I adjusted the strap on my bag. “It’s just swimming.”
He nodded slowly. “Right. Just swimming.”
By the time I got back to the room, my hair was still damp and my shoulders aching from the practice.
Liam looked up from his desk the second I walked in.
“Well?” he asked. “How was Captain Life?”
“Assistant,” I corrected, dropping my bag by the bed.
“Details,” he waved off. “How was practice?”
“Fine,” I said, pulling off my hoodie. “Structured. Early mornings. Extra laps if you’re late. Very inspiring.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You’re deflecting.”
“I’m not.”
“You are. That tone? That’s your ‘I’m pretending this isn’t a thing’ tone.”
I shot him a look. “It’s swimming, Liam. We swam.”
“And Kaito?”
I busied myself with my towel. “He led practice.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
I sighed, finally glancing at him. “He’s head captain. I’m assistant. That’s it.”
Liam leaned back in his chair, studying me like I was a puzzle he almost had solved. “Anyone give you trouble?”
“Someone questioned the appointment,” I admitted.
His posture straightened. “And?”
“Kaito shut it down.”
“Oh?” His brows lifted. “How?”
“Just… did.” I shrugged. “Didn’t make it a scene.”
Liam smirked slowly. “So he’s got your back in public now.”
“It’s about the team,” I said quickly.
“Sure,” he replied, not sounding convinced at all.
I grabbed my water bottle and took a long drink, hoping it would cool the heat creeping up my neck.
“Just don’t get too comfortable,” Liam added more quietly. “Every time you two get linked, something happens.”
I capped the bottle and looked away.
“Yeah,” I said. “I noticed.”
---
The music hit before the door even opened.
I was already regretting this.
“It’s just the swim team,” Liam said, dragging me up the porch steps. “You’re assistant captain now. Attendance matters.”
“I hate that you’re right,” I muttered.
The door swung open.
And everything in me stalled.
It wasn’t just the swim team.
The house was packed—crowded with faces I didn’t recognize. Different departments. Different years. And threaded through the noise and flashing lights was something else—
A shift in scent.
Not just sharp alpha colognes and competitive heat.
Sweeter notes. Softer ones.
Secondary genders.
I stopped just inside the doorway.
“You didn’t say this was mixed,” I said tightly.
Liam blinked, scanning the room like he was noticing it properly for the first time. “Oh.” A pause. “Huh. Guess they went bigger than expected.”
Bigger was an understatement.
This wasn’t a team gathering. It was an outside campus-level party.
Alphas laughing too loudly. Betas moving easily between groups. A few softer silhouettes near the kitchen, their presence subtle but undeniable in the air.
My pulse ticked up.
I adjusted my hoodie, grounding myself, forcing my breathing to even out.
“Relax,” Liam said under his breath. “You’re fine.”
Yeah. Fine.
Across the room, near the staircase, I spotted him.
Kaito.
Black shirt. Sleeves rolled. One hand loosely wrapped around a cup. He wasn’t drinking much—just watching. Talking occasionally.
For a second, he didn’t see me.Then his gaze lifted. Found mine.
The music pulsed harder. The air felt thicker.
Liam leaned toward me, voice low. “Well. That changes things.”
Yeah. It did.
Because suddenly, this wasn’t just a swim team party.
It was a room full of variables. And Kaito was still watching me like I was the only one that mattered.
- Writer
