FMS Episode One 29 (Patreon)

It was about the fifth time Chihaya looked up at the swaying sunlight above her head. She gripped the beam beneath her and put strength into her hands.

"Ugh…"

Her diaphragm contracted and then relaxed. The momentum that created urged air bubbles to break open the seal of her mouth. To distract herself, Chihaya squeezed her lips together and peered at her diving wristwatch.

Two minutes fifty-eight. Two minutes fifty-nine. Three minutes. And one.

(Topping three minutes)

Sense of victory filled Chihaya. She had been able to make three minutes, but today it was not as painful.

(…and counting)

Beside her, Aya was also perched on the cross beam of Yaeyama Maru's mast, also holding her breath as she held herself in place with hands and thighs. Here, the depth was about twenty-two meters. Probably due to the flux of water temperature, occasional cool water flow hit Chihaya’s cheek like a breeze.

"Gulp."

Aya let out a muffled voice and let out a string of bubbles. A three-minute hold shouldn’t be a problem for her. Or was the squatting exercise that she always did before a dive, to give Chihaya a “proper handicap,” starting to take its toll?

(You can give up)

Chihaya put on a provocative smile for her opponent. However, Aya shook her head a few times and kept a straight face, looking a little pale. Thus Chihaya closed her eyes and carried on, simulating an underwater nap. They then sat motionless like underwater figurines, with Chihaya’s wristwatch ticking away their time as the breath hold duel went on.