Practice was one thing, but this was a bit ridiculous. Everyone was making it impossible to swim due to crowding. That Kono, no less, at the center. If not for recent, er, events, Arceia would think she was bashful or something. But the way she moved on stage, it just told her that she didn't exactly hate the attention. To be fair, in her shoes, who would?

Still... She thought back to that night. How much Kono had flirted with her - no, with DJRctic. It was hard to forget one of the most simultaneously fun and embarrassing nights of her short life so far. If not for the mask, not only would Kono have recognized her immediately, but she would have been outed to the entire school. Even if none of them knew her directly, it would still be hard to move about campus as naturally as she did now with people staring and saying 'hey, it's the bird lady!' or something.

The very thought that she would be caught makes her lose track of her position amongst the crowd, and she gets bumped into, falling over. That's exactly what she gets for thinking too much when action was called for, after all. Then again, if the team wasn't so busy forming a pseudo-mob, that wouldn't be an issue anyway.

"You were so cool!" squealed one girl,

"Ah, I wish you'd have danced with me like that! The DJ was sooo lucky!" cried another.

"Can I feel your bicep?" asked a third.

Konosuke stood in the midst smiling, one hand on the back of her neck, swim goggles on her forehead as she laughed at the compliments.

"It was nothing! But I sure felt super lucky up there," She really wanted to be swimming though, this was cool and all, but man, these girls were kinda in the way. Out of the corner of her eye she saw one of her team mates knocked down by a fan and it was time to say something.

"Hey everyone, me and the team need to practice," she said sheepishly, still smiling. "You're all welcome to watch of course, from the bleachers." A collective awww was heard but Kono was already moving toward her fallen comdrade.

"Hey sorry about that," she said, holding out a hand to her while the other team mates seemed relieved and started stretching as the crowd thinned. She could easily haul the other to her feet with one arm. "Arceia right?" she said, pronouncing her name correctly, without any Japanese accent. Of course she knew everyone on the team, at least by name. She began to stretch, pulling one arm across her front and twisting a little, and repeating the motion with the other side. "Whaddya say we get in the water?" She winked, "Betcha can't make a bigger splash than this!" Shepulled her goggles down and jogged to the edge of the water and leapt into a cannon ball.

She resurfaced, pushing back her hair to see what the whitenette would do.

Oh jeez. This wasn't good. Her cover was as good as blown right now for a few reasons. Her voice wasn't altered at all for the show - of the many contingencies she accounted for, she let such an obvious one slip? - and her close proximity to Kono that night means there was no doubt she would recognize her eyes at the minimum, and probably her height.

How to cover this up?

"Y-yeah." She said, a slightly quiet tone to her as she refused eye contact while behind helped up. Even when she agreed to get started, she tried her best to maintain this non-confidence. Which was hard when you actually were confident in yourself.

Hmm... All things considered, the girl was hopefully obscuring her vision just enough thanks to those goggles that it wouldn't be a visual issue. She decided it was only necessary to mask her voice with a sheepish tone as she leapt into the water, slightly showing off with a backflip - yes, moving forward and backflipping - and crashing into the water. A moment under the surface was all it took for her to comfortably forget herself in the now, too. Sure, music was her first passion, but she was by no means bored of swimming. It paid the bills after all. Er, bill, that is. Tuition in grants and stuff. Normal athlete nonsense.

"You tell me!" she joked, her energy coming to the surface along with her body.

Right away she held up a hand for High five, impressed by the flip.

"Hey," she said looking at her for an extra moment, the word fading as recognition crossed her features, quickly hushed with a playful sideways glance. She tilted her head, like she might ask something, but raised an eyebrow instead smirking. She sent a splash at her. "Not bad!" she said.

She thrust herself backward, kicking her legs and increasing the distance between them and diving under. She swam dolphin style back to the girl, circling her and popping up near her. There was no doubt, Kono was trying to get a good look at her eyes, but she hid her motives with another question,

"Wanna do laps? Or better yet, wanna race? Loser has to buy snacks after practice." She raised her eye brows. No way this was that girl, on the team, with her. Like...No way. She certainly was cute, but no way Konosuke would make a scene, she would quickly understand and respect the girl's secret. Didn't mean she didn't have her suspicions and it didn't mean she wasn't going to tease her.

Haha... Seriously? Kono was the fastest on the team, there was no way she had a chance. That was an obvious setup. She just didn't want to buy her own food today, it seemed. Thankfully, that's all Arceia seemed to piece together from it, despite her paranoia and defense. Well, it was possible that she would oblige the offer, knowing she would lose, but there had to be something else on the table first. But what?

The idea danced around her thoughts for a while before she drew a blank. What did she want right now? Nothing, really. And she did have the extra cash today, thanks in part to her show. She could probably get away with this no problem if it just extended to buying food. Still, being on guard at practice... That would definitely hurt the overall team, which would hurt her too--

Dammit. A trap she laid herself in. No choice really, but like Hell would she admit it. If it came up she would hush the subject with confirmation and then a plead of secrecy.

"Sure." she said after probably too long a pause. It occurred to her that she was so bewildered in her thoughts that the only reaction she gave to the splash was to close her eyes briefly.

As if to kick it into gear, she made her way to one side of the pool, awaiting the other with a knowing defeat coming.

"Yeah-hah!" the cheer came out as a half-laugh and she excitedly zipped to the end beside her team mate, "Hey, do your best! Don't give up so easily," she play-pushed her shoulder and then righted herself, "Ready, set, go!" she said all at once and then shot forward. Her body was a powerhouse of speed in the water, she chose a butterfly stroke that caused a lot of screaming from the stands as they were cheered on. Of course, each swim team member had their own fans, so a few cheered for Arceia too. It was a real race after all! It made Kono's blood run faster and hotter.

Fueled by the sheer amount of fun, and the promise of date with the suspected DJ Rctic she hit the wall and thrust herself back the other direction leaping out and into the water rhythmically. Finally her hand slapped against the original and and she looked to her side, breathing hard to meet the violet gaze of her team mate.

"Yes!" she hissed to herself, smiling from ear to ear with victory also satisfied that her team mate was close on her heels, a worthy person to call a team mate. She held out a hand to shake on a game well played. "Haha so where we going?" she joked, swimming backward across Arceia's path , turning, and swimming back the other direction. This was supposed to be practice, so she was keeping her muscles moving.

Joking aside she was ready to get serious and work on her butterfly stroke some more, as well as offer to help Arceia with any strokes she needed to perfect. Nearby two other team mates started their own race, eliciting roars from the watching fans. Even Kono turned to cheer on the girls,

"Go Yuki!" she called, cupping her hands around her mouth, "That's my girl, yeah! Keep it up Tohru! Kick her bottom!" She rooted both girls, it was no wonder she was captain(maybe?). When that race finished, she turned back, eyes blazing with playful red flames, "Again?" she offered, "You're still buying snacks." She winked.

Heh. She had a feeling that was going to happen, but she wasn't terribly upset by it. After all, it was just snacks with a team mate after. Nothing too big deal. Certainly there was much to be admired in the skill of her team mate, but there was also much to be observed with delicate opinion. After all, she had seen her up close on stage, and knew she could be a bit... Devious. It was a trait she wasn't sure how to digest yet.

"Your choice." she replied, forgettingnot bothering to mask her tone. "I'm okay with anything except seafood."

She was already defeated, and this girl wasn't stupid. She was going to catch on eventually if she hadn't already done so. Either way, she was not getting out of this in the long run. For the sake of her team, she would take the bullet of one student knowing her identity. Well, one besides Margie, who had been on her show earlier that year. But that's all she was willing to allow - no more inviting people on stage at live shows. That being said... Something awakened in her that night. A love for dancing on stage. Maybe she could embrace this. Yeah, being a pop idol could be fun...

But first, swim practice, then lunch.

"With a team this fierce, we're going to dominate Yamaku." she added.

"Heck yeah we are," she replied, pumping her fist, looking fired up. Which she was. Another team mate slapped her on the back as she paused to recognize the girl's voice. She was about ask for real, but the slap on the back was followed by a challenge, more racing! Yes! "Hold that thought," she said, turning to swim off for another few laps around the pool.

Afterward, she meant to go right back to Cei, but then another team mate asked for her help with a certain stroke and she obliged. Practice got in the way of her inquiry for a while. But soon enough it was slowing down, some of the fans were even leaving, having their own plans for other things to get off to.

She met back with Arceia and waited till the others were out of earshot. "So, Miss Arctic," she winked, risking being wrong, s pretty sure she wasn't, "You're pretty cute without that mask." she poked her nose. "Don't worry, I won't tell." She winked again and pulled herself from the pool, immediately turning to help her team mate out.

There it was. She knew. On some level, Arceia knew she couldn't keep it a secret after that night for long, but she's glad it's just one more person and not the whole campus.

"A-aha..." she leaned back slightly, masking her expression with a cough. Surely that hid her red cheeks, right?

"Thank you." she said in a quiet voice. "I know it's not that big a deal if people know, but I've seen what happens to celebrities around here." she joki9ngly makes reference to not even a few minutes ago, with Kono being surrounded. "Not exactly prepared for that kind of treatment. not yet."

Yet being the key word there. It occurred to her a long time ago that the bigger her name became, the more she would not be able to avoid that. It was just her hope that she would be able to afford assistance keeping the crowds at bay by the time she was big enough to have crowds. Swimming was just the beginning for her. From her radio show to her grant money, she would fund herself a concert and then it would be all up from there.

"So... Lunch?" she asked at a normal voice again.

"Celebrity dating, could be fun you know?" she teased, handing her new friend a towel with a grin. She like the girl blush, it made her feel like she was scoring points with her. "Yeah, lunch! We can take my bike," she said referring to her motorcycle of course, though it as no Harley, more like a sporty little thing, it was still cool.

She dried her own hair, ruffling it out till it was messy and then smoothed it back again with the towel and followed Cei the locker rooms. They split up to change, shower, dry off, all that good stuff and Knosuke was ret her outside of the pool, coat and scarf on, her breath floating up in clouds as she waiting in the crisp winter air.

"HOw about something warm, ramen? I know a good place no too far off." She her helmet under her arm, and a second one (retrieved from her locker because reasons) and handed it to her companion.

Dating.

That word.

"E-eep..." she flushed immediately, and lost the ability to voice any opinions further for quite some time. Instead, she listened. Intently. Why? Why that word? Why that implication? Was friendship not an option here? Still, she listened. The suggestion came through loud and clear. All she could manage was nodding. And of course, the tension didn't leave when she had finished cleaning herself up and dressing for the weather.

"Ramen sounds nice." she responded, thankful she had a scarf to mask her face right now. Stop it Arceia, don't let her defeat your resolve!

"Alright hotshot, you've got me here, now take me away." she said from behind a forced smirk. "Let's see if the concert was all bravado."