Chapter Text
Ever since the regionals tournament, something had been off.
Makoto wasn’t sure if he was just looking at things too deeply, but he was confident that there was something amiss within his circle of friends. After all, Makoto considered himself well-versed in how his childhood friends were feeling and how to respond accordingly, often advocating on their behalf as well as advising them.
And while Makoto wasn’t as close to Rei as he was to the others, Makoto felt confident in his assumption that there was something bothering Rei, especially after the regionals. After all, the disqualification was to be expected since they did break a major rule by switching one of their members with another school’s. But nonetheless, everyone saw as well as felt the importance behind the regionals, which was to get everyone — including Rin — to swim together.
And while Makoto felt immense happiness and gratitude towards Rei for doing what he did to allow everyone, especially Haruka, to swim with Rin again and put behind all their issues; now that that had passed, Makoto felt that lingering feeling that was at the back of his mind at the time.
As days passed, Makoto managed pin down what that feeling was. Guilt. They never really got to swim with Rei at the regionals, did they? And after everyone in their small swim club had said a lot of inspirational things, such as how every member was irreplaceable and that they were team, too…
Looking towards the first years’ direction, Makoto saw that Rei had only eaten half of his lunch, and with a rather serious but unfocused expression, he was listening to Nagisa and Kou’s animated conversation.
Nagisa’s usual antics, such as his overactive imagination, and Gou’s logical, if a tad extreme ways to help Rei didn’t bring much out of the usually sharp and quick-witted male, who only gave vague and non-committal responses.
Makoto also noticed that there was a faraway look in his eyes. Not only that, but the feeling he was getting from Rei confused him as well. Like even though Rei was physically there with them like always, it felt as though Rei wasn’t really entirely there.
“Makoto.”
Pulled back to reality, Makoto turned to Haruka, who was also currently eating his lunch quietly. “Uh, yes Haru?”
“I need to talk to you about something later.”
Surprised, Makoto nodded. “Sure Haru.”
After school finished, everyone began their way home. Gou was the first to leave, walking home with her friend Hana, leaving Haruka and Makoto to accompany Rei and Nagisa to the train station.
Surprisingly though, when they got to the train station, Rei politely stated that he’d be going home alone. Nagisa was shocked at first, questioning the bespectacled male as to why; Rei was quiet at first, but then he bowed, politely requesting that he would really like some time to himself to reflect on some things. Bowing once again and excusing himself, Rei began jogging. Nagisa, disappointed and upset that he couldn’t take the trip home with Rei, sadly waited for his lonely trip home.
Seeing the shorter boy, upset that he couldn’t take the train home with his friend, Makoto ruffled Nagisa’s fluffy blond hair. “It’s okay Nagisa. I’m sure he has his reasons. He’ll be back to normal before you know it!”
Nagisa casted a sad smile towards Makoto, “I hope so...I want Rei-chan back!”
“Of course! See you soon Nagisa!” Makoto said waving goodbye to the blond as he boarded his train.
Soon after Nagisa’s train left the station, Makoto and Haruka began to make their way home. It was quiet at first, as both of them had stopped by a local convenience store for some ice blocks and were enjoying the tasty treat. However, both knew what was on each other’s mind.
“Rei’s been acting strangely since the regionals,” Haruka stated, taking a bite out of his ice lolly.
“You think so?” Makoto let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness, I thought I was overreacting and being overprotective of everyone again.”
“No…” Haru replied quietly, looking off to the side. “You weren’t.”
Makoto smiled warmly. “Don’t worry, Haru. I don’t mind taking care of everyone every once in a while,” he replied as he took a bite out of his ice lolly. “But I’m worried nonetheless. I wonder what has gotten into Rei?”
Sucking on the icy sweet treat, Haruka went quiet. Makoto wasn’t reassured by Haruka’s quietness, but he understood nonetheless. If both of them had to be quite honest, they each had various ideas as to what could be making Rei act so differently from usual. To fill the silence, Makoto voiced some of the theories he had on why Rei had been acting strangely since the regionals — from disappointment at the fact that their team couldn’t compete in the nationals to maybe Rei being jealous of Rin; Haruka occasionally made a small noise in agreement or disagreement.
As Haruka let Makoto voice his opinions, they finally made it to Haruka’s house. Makoto, feeling much better since he’d voiced his concerns to Haruka about Rei, had an idea about what to do when they next saw Rei.
“I’ll text everyone later and see if we can visit Rei tomorrow. Maybe we can get to the bottom of things if we talk to him directly about it.”
“Un.”
“Well then, good night Haru!”