The Former Swim Captain Just Wants Quiet Mornings

Kanna still heard the small god when the house went quiet, and that voice kept her awake when everyone else had already gone to bed. She had learned to fix what other people missed. A stopped clock. A broken lane rope. A teammate who was one breath from panic. At school, she looked like the perfect former captain, but her own body carried old strain, and her hands shook when no one was watching. Then the swim team’s strict ranking system, built from her own past choices, started turning every race into a test of who deserved to stay. Ren kept matching her stroke for stroke, and he noticed the things Kanna tried to hide. Her bad shoulder. Her meal ticket in homeroom. The way she listened to e...