Chapter Text
Makoto was always with him. It was rather annoying, but Haru didn't care enough to say anything. His friend could tag along like a puppy following it's master. What did it matter? What did anything matter?
He was stoic when he was a child, but now he didn't feel like doing much of anything. What did people call this? Depression? No, he couldn't be depressed. He didn't feel anything for anyone or any activity except swimming.
He sunk into the bath and only emerged when Makoto opened the door to his bathroom. It grated on Haru's nerves that Makoto stuck around. It bugged him that Makoto still used 'chan' again. For the millionth time, Haru reminded him not to do that.
"You wore your swimsuit in the bath again?" Makoto asked in a disapproving tone. It wasn't like Haru didn't know why Makoto always said that. Mako made it obvious how he felt about him. Why else would he stick so close to someone who barely spoke or paid attention to anything he said.
On their way to school, Haru wondered briefly why Makoto even bothered. Because he missed the Opening Ceremony? Who cares? He tuned out whatever Mako was saying about their teacher. All he wanted to do was swim.
"I hope it gets warmer soon so we can go swimming." Mako spoke aloud. Haru turned his head away in annoyance. Why did Makoto always speak what was on Haru's mind? He also always smiled when Haru showed his irritation. He was too happy. It was unnatural.
After their class was over, it was the same old routine. Makoto asked him if he wanted to eat on the roof, Haru thinking he was an idiot for thinking he wanted to spend time with him at all, but he always wound up going along with it. It was easier than arguing or dealing with Makoto's sad dog eyes when his master says 'no'.
He hadn't brought his lunch, though. He'd had no intention of going to school. Why bother? Makoto was rambling on about how he could get food when he was interrupted.
Nagisa stood there, apparently after just transferring. It'd been a while so everyone went to the roof to catch up.
The cherry blossoms that looked over the pool almost made Haru sigh. Nagisa pointed it out, Makoto mentioned it was never in use and that there was no swimming club either.
"Where do you swim, then?" Nagisa asked innocently. He wouldn't have known.
"I quit swimming competitively." Haru stated matter-of-fact.
"What?!" Nagisa exclaimed. "Why'd you quit?! I was excited to swim with you in high school!"
"We're not kids anymore." Was Haru's response. "Things aren't the same." He continued. He didn't want to go into why. A grinning redhead's face popped into his head and he had to consciously stop himself from swallowing the lump in his throat. His chest hurt when he thought of Rin. He still didn't understand why.
Nagisa had some stupid suggestion about making a hot springs club. "I can't stand the heat" was Haru's response to that. He tuned out the rest of the conversation.
As they were heading back inside, Nagisa talked about how their old swimming club was going to be torn down soon. A sharp pang hit Haru's chest.
"How about we go see it beforehand?" Nagisa asked.
"To dig that up?" Makoto responded.
"Yep! We can sneak in at night--" Nagisa responded.
"You two go alone." Haru stated flatly.
"No, come with us Haru-chan!" Nagisa protested.
"No." Haru said, turning away.
"Won't it be fun, though?" Nagisa insisted, grabbing onto Haru's sleeve. He'd always been a touchy-feely, affectionate person.
"It won't." Haru responded.
"Why not humor him?" Makoto said.
"It's too much effort." Haru responded.
"But there's a pool..." Makoto started, "A bathtub can't compare to a pool."
As much as he hated to admit it, he really wanted to swim in a pool. Makoto gave him a knowing grin. Oh, how Haru wanted to smack that grin off his face.
Later at Haru's house, they continued their conversation.
"Is this really okay?" Makoto asked.
"Why wouldn't it be?" Nagisa questioned.
"Is it okay for just the three of us to dig it up?" Makoto responded.
"It can't be helped." Nagisa said. "Rin-chan isn't here anymore."
Yeah, Rin wasn't here. That was something that Haru was painfully aware of for these five long years. Yet they were going to their old club where they'd met Rin. It didn't really sit right with Haru, but he'd go anyway.
When they arrived, Nagisa spooked Makoto with a ghost story before they went inside. Makoto never had gotten over his fear of the dark. It was a little childish, but he seemed to be doing fine despite that.
As they walked, Nagisa apologized for bringing purifying 'sugar' instead of purifying 'salt' to help them ward off ghosts. Things had been going fine until Nagisa kicked a can and Makoto freaked out, hiding behind Haru. Seriously, he always did this. Was Haru his mother?
They continued their trek inside. Nagisa ran into what was once the lounge and ran over to the picture of all of them and Rin right after they won the relay. They'd buried the trophy in a time capsule, which was the whole reason they were there in the first place. It had been Rin's idea. "We'll put it in a time capsule and dig it up when we're older." Rin had said. He looked at Haru with that wide grin and continued, "Like in a storybook!" Haru had to look away then, he felt his face heating up.
Nagisa pointed out the picture to Haru and Mako. Haru couldn't help but stare at the face of his friend who'd been gone for five years. He hadn't thought of Rin this much in a long time. Why did Nagisa have to show up?
His friends were starting to go off without him, so Haru quickly grabbed the photo from when they won their relay. The place was going to be torn down, and that memory was too precious to Haru to disappear among the rubble.
As they continued down the hallway, Makoto gripped onto Haru's jacket and looked at the person walking toward them. Haru recognized him instantly. Rin. Haru gasped quietly. His heartbeat sped up, and his palms began to sweat.
"I didn't expect to see you guys here." Rin said.
"Rin-chan!" Nagisa exclaimed and grabbed his arm, "You're back from Australia!"
"But what are you doing here?" Makoto asked.
"This must be fate!" Nagisa said. "An invisible force brought us together at this exact--"
"Haru." Rin cut Nagisa off. "You still hang out with these guys? You never learn."
"What do you mean?" Mako asked.
No, this wasn't Rin. This wasn't his friend who left five years ago. He may look like him, but they were two very different people. This Rin had no life in his eyes, he didn't smile at them once, and here he was insulting their old friends.
"What about you?" Haru asked Rin. "Have you learned anything?" He was angry. He didn't normally get angry, but who did this guy think he was?
"Haru?" Mako was surprised. It had been five years since Haruka Nanase had shown any emotion at all. It was worse that the first one was anger.
"I'm glad you asked." Rin responded, "How about I show you? Let's race." At that he began walking toward the old pool.
"Race?" Mako was bewildered and then as Haru followed Rin without a word, Makoto exclaimed "Wait, Haru?!"
"Did they ditch us?" Nagisa asked.
"Seems so." Mako answered.
They both ran after their two friends with Nagisa calling out "Wait!"
In the pool area, it didn't take them long to start getting ready.
"I'll show you how different we are now." Rin was saying as he flew off his shirt.
"Sure." Haru responded simply as he threw his own shirt off. "Go ahead."
Nagisa and Makoto were freaking out by the sidelines. Mako tried to stop Haru from stripping his pants off, then exclaimed something about him still wearing his swimsuit from that morning. Nagisa observed Rin had too.
Haru and Rin stared each other down as they made their way to the edge of the pool. If he'd had more time, Haru's eyes may have looked a bit more closely. Wait, what? Why?
"Let's do this, Haru!" Rin exclaimed as he pulled on his goggles. They were running to the edge now. "Ready, go--"
Nagisa shone the flashlight on the pool. "It's empty."
"That's why I told you to stop." Makoto said. He did? Haru didn't hear him.
Rin ripped the goggles off his head. "Tch, lame." He walked away to get dressed. "Oh, did you guys come here for this?" He asked, holding up their middle school relay trophy. "I don't need it anymore." He let it fall to the ground and walked away.
Haru watched him go. He really wasn't the same Rin. No smiling. No laughing. No friendly banter. Haru was glad no one was paying attention to him. He felt like if someone touched him, he'd break down.
"He's so different." Nagisa observed.
Haru grabbed the trophy on the way out. His heart was heavy the rest of the night.
Haru skipped school the next day. He just stayed in the bathtub. He had no reason to go anywhere.
After school, his home was invaded by his friends. They wanted to go to Rin's new school.
"Don't you want to see Rin?" Makoto was asking.
"We saw him yesterday." Haru responded simply. Makoto sighed.
"Here I was thinking you'd actually get to swim this time." Makoto said. "Samezuka supposedly has an indoor pool." Damn him. He always knew how to get to Haru. Swimming. In an indoor pool. He couldn't pass up that chance.
They couldn't get into the pool area when they first arrived, so Haru had to wait. As soon as they entered, however, he was stripped and in the water in ten seconds flat. Despite Makoto's protests, he wasn't fast enough to stop his waterlogged friend.
Nagisa decided to join in. Without a swimsuit, though, he was skinnydipping. He didn't let Makoto stay dry either. He was pulled in by his foot and Nagisa laughed and splashed Mako, which then started a splashing war between the two of them.
"What are you guys doing here?" Rin's voice cut through the rowdiness.
"We came here to see you." Nagisa said innocently and waved. It was odd how he could be so innocent while standing there buck naked.
"Get out." Rin said angrily. Haru emerged from the water just a few feet away from his old friend.
"Free." Haru said quietly. After Rin responded 'Huh?' Haru continued, "Did you forget? I only swim freestyle." He got out of the water, shaking his hair, and faced Rin.
"Show me that sight again." Haru said. "I forgot what it looks like."
"Sure, I'll do that." Rin responded. "But it won't be the same. This'll be completely different."
Shortly after, they both stood at the edge of the pool ready to race.
"After all this time, I still can't figure you out." Rin said.
"Whatever." Haru responded simply. "Get ready, Rin." It was rare he'd use people's names when addressing them.
"As impassive as ever." Rin said. "You really piss me off."
Makoto gave them the signal to begin their race. It was fairly short, and Haru was beaten by Rin.
"Yes!" Rin exclaimed and splashed the water in excitement.
"You win." Haru stated and turned toward his rival. "Good for you, Rin."
"'Good for you?'" Rin repeated in annoyance. He grabbed Haru's goggles from around his neck and pulled him close. Haru wondered why Rin was angry. He'd won. Wasn't that what he wanted?
They were quickly run off by a teacher, which was good for Haru. He felt like his heart was going to jump out of his chest being that close to Rin. Something was definitely wrong with him.
Haru wondered why he bothered to go to school the next day. He was getting chewed out by a teacher, along with Nagisa and Makoto. Oh well, once the lecture was over, he quickly made his way home and got in the bath.
That afternoon, Nagisa and Makoto proposed the idea of making their own swim club. He couldn't pass that up. They'd also brought Rin's sister with them. Haru was out of the bath and making dinner shortly after their club proposal.
"So is this the first time Rin's come back to Japan since he left?" Makoto asked Rin's sister, Kou.
"Huh? He came back every year for New Year's." Kou responded.
"Really?!" Nagisa exclaimed, "And he never got in touch with us? That's mean of him."
A sharp pain hit Haru's chest. Rin had come back every year. Every year for five years. None of them knew. It especially hurt that he'd never contacted Haru. Was all their time together really that meaningless? Haru was a mess when Rin left, and he'd never really gotten back to normal. Nothing mattered to him without Rin around. He couldn't stop the flinching that overcame his body. He swallowed the lump in his throat and blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. The mackerel might be a little extra salty.
The swimming club was approved, but they had so much work to do to get the pool up and running. It was a mess, with cracked concrete and weeds growing out of every opening available. It was a lot of work and took them weeks to finish. Haru even skipped lunch most days so he could work on it. While he did want to swim as soon as possible, he really wanted to race Rin. That was a better motivation for him than swimming. When had that happened? When had Rin become more important than swimming?
Haru didn't remember who's stupid idea it was to carve their mascot, Iwatobi-chan, out of wood to entice new members, but he was stuck carving them anyway. Even after fixing the pool, they still needed a fourth member to keep their club going. Since Nagisa was the peppiest, he took it upon himself to ask people. As it turned out, he wasn't not that great at it.
It was pure luck that Kou decided to join their club as their manager while they were putting the finishing touches on the pool area. It was the first time in a long time that Haru actually smiled. At least their club wouldn't die out after doing so much work.
The next week, they celebrated the reopening of the school's pool. Their advisor said they filled the pool early, and they threw in chlorine tablets. Haru couldn't resist. Even though it was only April, he was stripped and in the pool with everyone except Nagisa yelling at him to get out. They just needed to shove it. He was free.