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The crowd was going absolutely wild. Nothing could contain their screaming and cheering as Nagisa finished up his lap. Rei would be up next, and he was nothing but confident. He looked to his left at the crowd of adoring fans, and when he knew that all eyes were on him, he gave a dashing smile that made the crowd scream even louder. He loved it, this sort of attention, knowing that everyone was staring at him because they thought he was beautiful.
He wouldn’t let his confidence dwindle, oh no. He turned back to look at Nagisa and noticed he was only seconds away from reaching him. He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, bending forward and getting ready to make his entrance.
The room was silent. The crowd held its breath. All eyes were on Rei. He bent his knees just as Nagisa slammed his hands on the edge of the pool.
Just as he was leaning forward, a loud tune played, causing Rei to leap forward and fall clumsily into the pool. His eyes shot open and he gasped for air, sitting up-
“What the hell?” Rei whispered, rubbing the tiredness out of his eyes.
He had been dreaming, but the loud tune from his dream was still playing. It was a happy song that he recognized instantly. He reached for his glasses and quickly put them on, then looked at the clock. The bright numbers read 1:32. He grabbed his phone and stared at the screen, though he already knew it was Nagisa who was calling him. Whenever Nagisa called at such hours, there were two reasons behind it: Nagisa couldn’t sleep because he was too excited for something, or he couldn’t sleep because there was something wrong. Rei flipped the phone open and pressed it to his ear, hoping everything was fine.
“Nagisa?” His voice was low and husky, which made it evident that he had just woke up. “What’s wrong?”
“Ah, Rei, sorry. I woke you up, didn’t I?”
“It’s 1:30 am on a school night, of course you woke me up. Why are you awake at this hour?” Nagisa was silent for a while, which unnerved Rei. His suspicions were confirmed: Nagisa was worried about something, enough that it kept him awake for this long. Rei realized he wasn't tired anymore; the sleep from his eyes left and was instead replaced with concern.
Nagisa's breath was shaky.
“School’s almost over, Rei... and that means that Haruka and Makoto will be graduating soon, too. They’re going to leave and do they’re own thing, and I’ll be... I’ll have to...”
“Nagisa-”
“I don’t know what I’m gonna do, Rei!” Nagisa whispered, his voice croaking. "I don't know- I don't know what I'll do."
“Shit,” Rei hissed, shoving his blankets aside as he got out of bed. He made sure to keep his phone pressed against his ear; he didn’t want to miss anything Nagisa said.
“Nagisa,” Rei whispered as calmly as he could. He could hear sniffling on the other line, which made having composure that much harder. “Nagisa, listen, I’m going over right now, alright? Please just... just stay on the line with me, okay? You don’t have to say anything, I’ll be there soon.”
“Okay,” Nagisa said. He breathed in shakily, and the vulnerability behind that caused Rei to take a second to close his eyes and breathe in. Once he was calm enough, he began to pack up his clothes for the next day into his backpack. After pulling on his running shoes, he quietly left for Nagisa’s house.
There was a soft knocking against his window, followed by Rei panting, “I’m here.” Nagisa closed his eyes and whispered, “Okay,” before closing his phone shut and rubbing his palms into his eyes. He took a few moments to recover himself, then got out of bed and walked towards his window. His fingers searched for the small latch locking the window and pushed it up. He didn’t slide the window open. Instead, he turned around and crawled back into bed.
Rei heard the window unlock and waited for it to slide open. When it became evident to him that Nagisa wasn’t going to open it for him, he reached up and pulled the window to the side. It slid open easily, but what wouldn’t be so effortless was getting into Nagisa’s room. He slid his backpack off and set it inside. He then hoisted himself up and inside Nagisa’s room.
His entrance was not a beautiful one; he tumbled inside and hit himself on the knee. He looked up in hopes of seeing Nagisa smiling at him, or better yet, giggling at his terrible landing. But all he saw was Nagisa curled up in his bed, his back facing him.
He stood up and looked around while he was taking off his shoes. Nagisa’s room was especially disheveled this time around. Every time Rei came over, he always ended up picking something up and putting it in its correct spot, or worse, he’d clean up the entire room. He stepped around the discarded articles of clothing and made his way to Nagisa's bed.
“Nagisa,” Rei whispered, “Are you okay?”
He shook his head in response, but didn’t say a word. Rei stood there for a while, the silence only broken by Nagisa’s sniffling. He honestly had no idea how to go about the situation, not while Nagisa wouldn’t talk to him.
Nagisa kept his eyes shut and tried hard not to burst out crying. In all honesty, he was embarrassed. He was a terrible mess and caused Rei to worry so much that Rei left his own house in the middle of the night to come console him. Talking to him always made him feel better, but knowing that Rei was worrying over him made him feel worse. Why did he have to go and bother him with something so stupid?
His eyes shot open when he felt a weight on his bed. He waited silently as Rei climbed onto his bed. Rei’s arms soon wrapped around his waist.
“I’m sorry you’re going through such a struggle, Nagisa,” Rei mumbled. “I want to help you, but you have to tell me more-”
It was all too much for him.
Nagisa turned around and hugged onto Rei tightly, burying his face into Rei’s chest. He finally allowed himself to cry. He tried to be quiet with it, but gasps slipped out every once in a while, and he was constantly sniffling. Rei didn’t say anything but instead hugged him back, rubbing his hand up and down Nagisa’s back soothingly. When Nagisa calmed down enough so that he was only sniffling, he spoke.
“I feel so dumb,” he croaked. He cleared his throat before going on. “I feel so dumb for feeling sad over this. I knew it was going to happen eventually. They weren’t going to be in my life forever, and whenever I remembered that, I just pushed it aside and acted like it didn’t make me feel sad. But of course I feel sad. I feel so sad and alone.”
Nagisa’s voice sounded small and muffled against Rei’s chest. He was so tiny in his arms, and he knew Nagisa probably felt tiny as well. He couldn’t stand seeing someone who was a big part of his life feel so small.
“I’m sorry,” Nagisa continued, pressing his fingers against Rei’s back. “I’m sorry I worried you over nothing. I should have just kept it to myself.”
“Nagisa,” Rei mumbled. He ran a hand across Nagisa’s disheveled, blonde hair, pushing it back. “If you kept it to yourself, it would have worried me more. Your problems aren’t nothing. Of course Makoto and Haruka are parting with us, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to completely disappear. They’ll definitely contact us, and probably even visit. If you try to keep in touch with them, there’s nothing to worry about.”
“But I can’t help feeling so alone,” Nagisa said softly. Rei frowned. He pushed Nagisa’s hair back and pressed his lips against his forehead.
“I’ll stay with you, Nagisa,” Rei promised. “You’re the one who helped me find my passion for swimming. No matter where they go, no matter where we go, I’ll always be with you, okay?”
Makoto and Haru would leave, and he'd feel lonely, of course. There was no avoiding the pang of sadness he'd feel when he remembered they weren't there next to him. But he couldn't let it bring him down. And for the moments when he didn't feel strong, he had Rei.
“Okay,” Nagisa said, and he found himself smiling. “Thank you, Rei. Around you, I’ll never be lonely.”
Rei chuckled, relieved that he was able to cheer up Nagisa. He himself had been feeling down over the thought of Makoto and Haruka departing, so to voice his own thoughts on it made him feel better as well.
Nagisa looked up at Rei. “Are you sleeping over, Rei?”
“Well, yeah. I’ll only waste time I could be using to rest if I walk back home.”
“Nah, you just want to stay and sleep with me,” Nagisa teased, making Rei blush.
“I’ll just go sleep on your couch instead...”
“Ah, Rei! I was only joking with you! Don’t get all embarrassed.”
“Whatever,” Rei grumbled. Nagisa smiled devilishly, then reached up and gave Rei a quick peck on the lips.
“Look, now I really do have to go sleep on your couch!”
“Awww why?”
“Because at this rate, neither of us will get any sleep!”
“Nooooo, stayyy,” Nagisa whined, hugging onto Rei tighter.
“Okay fine, but no more of... that.”
“Of what?”
“You know what I mean!” Rei took off his glasses and set them aside, then sighed and placed his chin on top of Nagisa’s head. Minutes passed in complete silence. When he was sure Nagisa had fallen asleep, he kissed the top of Nagisa’s head, then rested his chin on the same spot.
“Good night, Rei.”
“... G-good night.”