One day on Slowpoke Isle, a young male hedgehog, named Sonic, whistles to himself as he walks through the village. 

"Hmm... what a great day. Maybe I should go and visit Ki-- ahh!!"

Sonic yelps and quickly backs away before holding onto a nearby tree. He looks around and notices various villagers giving him a confused expression. He soon clears his throat and tries to act normal as a young female looks over to him.

The young female, named Kira, looks over and notices a puddle nearby. She looks back up at Sonic and sees him, shivering. 

"I wonder why Sonic is freaking out with that puddle..."

The young female soon looks over and notices Sonic backing up further from the puddle.

"N-no! Stay away from me!"

She soon gasps as Sonic was about to back into a tree. She points.

"Sonic, look out!"

"W-what?"

The blue blur soon groans as he hits his head on the tree trunk. He rubs his head and looks up at Kira.

"Ughh... stupid tree."

Kira runs over and gently places a hand on his head as she lowers her ears. Sonic blushes as Kira holds her hand out to him. He takes her hand and stands up, rubbing the back of his head.

"Are you alright?"

Sonic groans and shakes a bit as he looks over to the puddle.

"Yeah..."

Kira notices how nervous Sonic seemed and wraps an arm around him.

"You look a bit nervous, are you sure you're ok?"

Sonic smiles nervously and nods as he walks further away from the puddle, hiding slightly behind Kira. The young female ponders as she looks down at the puddle and then back to Sonic, who was hiding behind her.

"Is it because of that puddle? I know that the experience from before didn't help your fear of water."

Sonic shivers and gulps a bit as he speaks.

"W-well... I'll admit that I was a l-little freaked out by it."

Kira looks unconvinced. She looks up at the sun and soon fans herself, feeling the heat of it. She takes out her bottle of water and takes a sip, feeling relieved from the cold water. Sonic looks over to the bottle of water and opens his eyes widely before yelling out and curling up into a ball on the ground.

Kira watches and lowers her ears as Sonic begins shivering. She puts the bottle away before placing a hand on his shoulder. Sonic looks up and slowly begins to stand up. Kira gently gives him a hug and looks at him, nervously, as he continues to shiver.

"Sonic... I've never seen you like this before, I'm worried about you."

Sonic hugs back and lowers his ears a bit before blushing slightly.

"Alright I admit it. Ever since that underwater thing, I've hated water even more. I don't even like looking at it now... I wish I could never see water again!"

Kira lowers her ears as she wraps her arm around Sonic before sitting next to him on a nearby bench.

"I know it's hard having a fear of water but you can't keep living like this. I'm going to help you get over this."

"How?"

"I'm going to teach you how to swim..."

Sonic gulps a bit as Kira puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Here me out. I know a shallow pool near here, I can teach you there. It will just be the two of us..."

Sonic thinks for a bit.

"I don't know..."

Kira smiles a bit.

"Come on, it'll be ok... you won't drown or anything, it's really shallow."

Sonic sighs in defeat before standing up.

"Alright, I'll do it."

"Great! Meet me in the forest at 2... oh, and make sure to wear some kind of swimsuit!"

"But I hate wearing pants!"

Kira smirks before crossing her arms.

"Well, if you'd rather want to do it completely nude--"

Sonic soon opens his eyes widely and blushes before waving his hands around.

"N-no! I'll get something! See ya at 2!"

Kira giggles as she watches Sonic dash off back towards the village.

<i>"He's so cute when he's embarrassed~"</i>

---------------------------------------------

The young female sighs a bit as she looks at her watch, whilst sitting on a rock. She was wearing a dark pink bikini with a matching sarong.

<i>"Where is he? It's not like him to be late..."</i>

Kira sighs frustratedly before turning around, hearing a sound nearby. She smiles and watches as Sonic dashes over and stops in front of her. 

"Sorry I'm late, Kira... had to make sure that I have everything I need!"

The young female looks Sonic up and down and soon giggles from the sight. Sonic was wearing a pair of brown trunks as well as child-like armbands and a duck rubber ring around his waist. Sonic looks down at himself and blushes, turning away.
 
"I knew you'd laugh... I just thought it would be better to be safe than sorry though..."

Kira stops giggling and smiles as she stands up from the rock. She looks closer at the rubber ring.

"I understand but you just look so cute in all of that!"

Sonic blushes more as he looks over to Kira, who was blushing too.

"Cute? Me?"

Kira smiles shyly as she nods her head. Sonic smirks as he runs his hand through his quills.

"Well, I am pretty cute but handsome and charming are more like me~"

Kira smirks a bit as she shakes her head and crosses her arms.

"Oh boy... we gotta fix that ego of yours too~"

Sonic continues to smirk as he proceeds to flex his arms.

"Come on, you know you love it, Kira~"

Kira sighs and shakes her head again as Sonic gives her a wink. The young female blushes a bit more and smirks at his flirty behaviour but soon walks over to the edge of the pool, Sonic following behind.

"Now, how about we start with the basics? Let's see if you can step into the water..."

Sonic gulps and watches as Kira slowly steps into the pool. She smiles back at him and holds her hand out. 

"Need a hand?"

Sonic blushes a bit and soon sighs before taking her hand. He gulps once again and begins pulling on Kira's hand, trying to move further away from the water. Kira sighs as she pulls harder and watches as Sonic soon pulls too hard on her hand and falls onto the ground. Kira lets go of his hand and shakes her head.

"Sonic..."

"I can't help it! I always move AWAY from water, never closer to it!"

Kira sighs again but soon lowers her ears as she notices Sonic shivering as he's sat on the ground. She soon kneels down in the pool and holds her hand out again. She speaks in a soft voice.

"You can trust me, Sonic... just take my hand. I promise you'll be ok..."

Sonic looks up to Kira before holding his hand out again. He shakily takes Kira's hand and blushes as she puts her other hand on top of his. Kira gently pulls on his hand and Sonic closes his eyes, not wanting to see the water beneath him. He yelps a bit as he feels his toes touch the water but soon relaxes a bit as he feels the warmth of the water kick in.

Kira smiles and Sonic soon opens his eyes before looking down. He notices that his feet and ankles were fully submerged and smiles a bit.

"Good job, Sonic!"

Sonic smirks as he rubs his nose with his finger.

"Aw, it was nothing~"

Kira giggles from his cocky behaviour and soon points down at the water.

"Now, how about you try kneeling down?"

"O-ok..."

Kira smiles as Sonic continues to hold her hand. He slowly begins to kneel down until he feels his knees in the water. He wags his tail a bit.

"Well done! You're really getting the hang of it..."

--------------------------------------

A few hours pass as Kira continues to teach Sonic how to relax when in water. He is taught how to sit down in the water as well as how to perform some simple strokes.

Sonic smiles as he gets out of the pool. He hugs Kira and the young female opens her eyes before blushing. She hugs back and the two share a glance before looking away from one another. Kira clears her throat before walking next to Sonic.

"You did really good today, Sonic... but there is something else that we could try."

"Yeah?"

"How about we try an actual swimming pool? An indoor one to be more precise..."

Sonic gulps a bit.

"I don't know, Kira... I don't really want other people watching me. Especially when I'm wearing all of this..."

"Don't worry, I know for a fact that there's a session at the community pool that no-one goes to. Normally because it's during school hours and parents are still working. Maybe we could go then?"

Sonic thinks for a bit before smiling.

"Sure, that sounds good to me... it would be good for me to learn some more things too, I guess."

"Great, we can head there if you like."

Sonic nods before hearing a rustling noise nearby. Kira gasps and holds onto Sonic's hand as she slightly hides behind him. The blue blur sneaks over to a nearby bush with Kira and peeks out of it. He notices Lady Walrus and her two children heading towards their direction.

<i>"Great, they're heading straight towards us!"</i>

<i>"There must be another way out of here..."</i>

The blue blur looks around before taking Kira's hand and running to an area surrounded by trees. They both sneak past Lady Walrus before heading back towards the village. A few minutes later both Sonic and Kira walk into the community pool entrance and Sonic takes off his armbands and deflates his rubber ring, hiding them both behind his back.

Kira talks to the receptionist and soon hands a towel to Sonic from her backpack. The two then head off into the changing rooms and sort out their belongings before meeting up in the pool. 

Sonic peeks out from behind the wall of the changing room and sighs in relief as he notices that it was only Kira and a lifeguard there. He walks over to Kira watches as she uses the ladder in order to get into the pool.

"Come on in, the water's surprisingly warm."

Sonic nods as he slowly begins to step into the water. He sighs in relief from the warmth of the pool and watches as Kira walks over to him.

"Ok, how we try something a bit different this time? Maybe laying on your back..."

Sonic gulps and nods slowly, a bit reluctant on doing it. Kira smiles a bit as she takes his hand before looking up at him.

"It'll be fine... just trust me."

Sonic takes a deep breath before looking back at her.

"Alright, I'll do it."

Kira nods before wrapping her hands around Sonic's waist. Sonic blushes a dark red as he feels her picking him up. 

"Hey, what are you doing?!"

"Just relax..."

The blue blur watches curiously as Kira lowers him down into the water. He closes his eyes and whimpers a bit as he feels the water against his back. Kira slowly removes her hands from underneath him and smiles as she whispers to him.

<i>"Sonic, look... you're floating!"</i>

"Huh?"

Sonic slowly turns his head around and notices that he was laying on his back. He shivers and begins to wriggle around before Kira gently places a hand on his tummy.

"Stay still..."

Sonic takes a deep breath and soon smiles as he begins to relax. Kira claps her hands and watches as Sonic puts his hands on his tummy.

"You're doing so well!"

-----------------------------------

After a successful day of swimming basics, Kira meets up with Sonic at the reception and gives him a hug. Sonic blushes and hugs back before walking next to Kira.

"Thanks for teaching me how to swim, Kira! I think I'm already feeling more confident with it..."

"It's not a problem, Sonic. You'll get better if you keep practicing... though try to stay in shallow water for now."

Sonic nods as he looks down at Kira and nuzzles his nose against hers. Kira blushes but giggles a bit.

"What are you doing~?"

Sonic smirks.

"Just giving you a friendly nuzzle~"

"Cutie~"