kei

akei or "kei" ( shortened form of アカエイ, direct translation of "stingray" to jp) is cici's childhood friend and lane-mate from swim team! her best stroke is butterfly. cici and kei and two other unnamed individuals won the relay at state championships, and to celebrate, they got matching fish necklaces! (like the one in this picture). they went to starbucks afterwards and that is where cici got her love of pink drinks!

kei holds some regret/trauma for cici, as she was there when cici had her near-death experience. kei wasn't there when cici collapsed under the water... if only she hadn't gone to the locker room to skip practice/ "use the restroom"

kei works at the pool that they swam at as a lifeguard  , to sorta make it up to cici to save little kids from drowning. she hasn't witnessed any near-drownings yet, though.