The Academy held a very special place in Nayoko’s heart. After his mother’s passing, back when Nayoko was much younger, the Academy is where he turned to try to better himself. He enrolled as a way to make his family proud, but in the process, the Academy gave him a sense of hope, while also distracting him from the realities of the sorry he was facing at the time. He always worked hard when he needed to, and even when he didn’t do the best in his classes, he had striven to. That is why when Nayoko was searching the mission board for some work to do and saw the mission to take some students on a field trip to the pool, he was elated. A trip to the pool would combine some of his favorite things: helping the academy, helping future ninja, and playing in the water! What could possibly go wrong? He grabbed the mission as fast as he could and headed off to help.

As soon as he arrived at the pool with the kids, he knew it was going to be a much longer day than he originally anticipated. The students were all very excited, which is to be expected under these types of circumstances. But the extent to which their excitement was reaching was getting a little out of hand. They were all very rowdy and immediately began running around the pool and jumping in, some before even changing into their swimsuits. After corralling them back onto the side of the pool area Nayoko beckoned for their teacher, Ms. Mayona, to begin her safety talk with the students. “Alright students,” she said in a soothing voice that seemed to miraculously calm down most of the kids, “We are all here at the pool to have a good time, but don’t forget, we have two things we have to ensure happen. Number one, everyone needs to do their timed laps for the swim test before the end of the trip. We will try to do these first so that we can just enjoy ourselves for the rest of the day. Number two, everyone needs to stay safe! Please no rough play kids!” She emphasized that last point very strictly. It would seem that rough play had been a problem with this group in the past. She then introduced Nayoko, who stood and smiled brightly. Sometimes he missed being so young and carefree.

Nayoko was put in charge of timing the laps, which he did happily. Watching these kids swim as hard and as fast as they could was quite the sight. Some of the students were, of course, awful swimmers. Nayoko even had to jump in once when a young girl tired herself out so much that she started to sink. It wasn’t really a close call, but the girl was scared nonetheless. The tests went on for a little while until the very last group came up for their lap. It was then that one of the boys turned toward Nayoko, a finger pointed directly at him. The boy looked stern, is already wet hair falling in his eyes a little but. Nayoko Recognized him as one of the rowdy kids that jumped into the pool when they first arrived. The boy then addressed Nayoko, "Hey Mister! Why don’t you have to do a swim test?” Nayoko chuckled, “Well because I already graduated from the Academy, they know I can swim.” “Then prove it,” the boy challenged, “Swim with us and show us what you can do!”

Nayoko glanced over to the teacher, who looked like she was about to reprimand the boy for being so disrespectful. Nayoko raised his hand and cut her off, still smiling. “Alright fine. But on one condition. If I beat you, then you have to apologize to Ms. Mayona for breaking the rules earlier. Deal?” The kid laughed. “Fine, but if you lose, you have to show us how to walk on the water like the other shinobi!” Nayoko smiled and agreed to the terms, jumping into the water. It was cool, but refreshing in this weather. Nayoko sighed. He loved the water. Always had, and always would.

As the students took up position with Nayoko, they all waited for the OK to start. “Ready, set….GO!” the cry from the teacher came. And just like that, they were off. Nayoko held back so as to give the kid some hope, but in the last lap, he sped up as much as he good, bursting with speed and heartily beating the kids. As he pulled himself up to the side of the pool, he turned around to the cocky boy that had challenged him. “So? Was that good enough?” he said with a smile. The boy, looking dejected ignored Nayoko and approached Ms. Mayona, to whom he apologized. She accepted with a smile, and with that, the free time began.

The swimming continued until the early afternoon when everyone was called out of the pool and began to change. The rest of the time had been fairly uneventful, and as the class made its way back to the Academy, Ms. Mayona thanked Nayoko for his hard work and for dealing with the boy. Pleasantries were exchanged and a mission confirmation filled out. Nayoko then headed back to the administration building, wishing that the pool day hadn’t ended so soon, much like the students in the class he was supervising.

[Exit Thread]

WC: 949
Mission: (949-349)=600/600
Training: Endurance E-1 to E-2 (150/150), Perception E-1 to E-2 (150/150)
Unused WC: 49