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The beach reminded him of home.
A far cry from the city he now lives in. In Tokyo, everything constantly moved and shone with bright lights-- even in his university’s less-crowded district. Haruka did have to take some time to adjust. For someone who barely ever left Iwatobi before, he managed well enough. While he missed the atmosphere he grew up in, the city didn’t feel better or worse. Just different. Even if “different” used to scare Haruka, he always caught on well.
But some days, he’d feel a sharp longing in his chest for the small town. Even someone so naturally skilled wouldn’t have an easy time, and he realized that the plateaus in his training irritated him more than it ever had before. As much as he loved swimming, and how he wanted to continue to swim, some days the stress felt nigh-insurmountable and even the water couldn’t soothe that.
“What I think you need is… a little vacation.”
“Vacation...?”
“Yeah, something to recharge your batteries! You haven’t seen the ocean in a while, have you?”
“There’s beaches, but they’re all the way across the city...”
“Huh… well, it’s going to be further away than that.”
Just like Rin to always be ready to whisk him off somewhere. Even if that somewhere was back home. Haruka didn’t know how much something so simple might help, but if it could...
While the eight-hour-long train ride almost drained Haruka further, he felt something within him change as he began to recognize some of the buildings and structures by his home town. Something familiar and yet new when he stepped out onto the station with Rin.
They would visit the Matsuoka household and the Tachibana household and meet up with their friends while they’re back in town. They’d see the swim club, and see how everything’s going. On the outside, not much about the town had changed, but everyone’s lives continued on while they were away...
First, they had to visit one place. Where Haruka could burrow his toes in the sand as sea foam collects around his ankles.
Stretching out his arms, Rin tilted his head back as the breeze from the ocean caught his hair. If he noticed Haruka staring, he didn’t say anything. “There won’t be a sight just like this one anywhere else in the world,” he said, eyes on where the ocean and sky met.
While Rin always was about the new sights, he grew to appreciate the older ones. Haruka could relate-- while technically, they could see a beach on any coastline, nothing could replace this one.
The fresh air washed over Haruka. As he parts his lips to sigh, he could taste the salt on his tongue. Closing his eyes, all of his senses were heightened and he could feel everything
Haruka, when he opened his eyes, noticed Rin’s hands, covered in water-darkened grains of sand as he gave shape to a little castle. A wave, reaching farther across the shore than the rest, licked against the side of the sculpture and took some of it back into the ocean. Clicking his tongue, Rin sinks his fingers into the smooth sand, digging it out to create a moat to protect it from further onslaughts.
Watching this all go on, Haruka felt a tug in his own limbs pulling him up to join. He lifted up his shorts above his knees before dropping them into the sand and helping Rin with his moat-digging. Noticing Rin looking at him curiously (as if asking “aren’t you going to build your own?”), Haruka returned his glance and also noticed some of Rin’s hair strewn about his face from the wind.
The tips of Haruka’s fingers brushed against the red strands, and the skin underneath them that’s starting to turn warm under his touch.
“You got sand on my face, weirdo,” Rin said, probably trying to sound grumpy-- not too successfully, as he chuckles and there’s that big, irrepressible toothy smile spreading across his face.
To many, it seemed like Rin was a shark; the creature that always had to keep swimming forward. But he took time to slow down, too. That energy that Rin always exuded could become a relaxing current. The two of them spent the evening at the beach-- sometimes playing, sometimes lounging, and even napping until a chill crept into the air and the sun dipped under the horizon.
“Feeling better?”
“Yeah. Even if it’s another eight hours back.”