Fandom: Free! Iwatobi Swim Club

Pairing: Makoto Tachibana/Haruka Nanase

Summary: With Haruka not being able to swim since the weather is getting colder, he has to figure out what to do with his free time.

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or characters!

Author's notes at the end!

It was that time of year again that Haruka Nanase dreaded. The weather got colder, which meant he wouldn't be able to swim for quite some time. And if he tried, Makoto would be right there to stop him from jumping into the pool, or make sure he wasn't in the bath all day long. And when Haruka would catch a cold from sneaking a quick dip at the school pool, Makoto would be there by his bedside to scold him for being irresponsible and knowing that this was a consequence of his 'reckless swimming behavior' and as he went on and on, Haruka would just think about when he would be able to swim properly once the weather got warmer.

Makoto had suggested after the last cold Haruka caught that he should take up a hobby to keep him busy without being able to swim, and the boy didn't think much of it. Haruka felt that he didn't need to do anything like that because he already had swimming and that was enough and the only thing he cared about (besides mackarel and Makoto), and he would be fine throughout the cold months.

And then Haruka stayed over at the Tachibanas one evening and saw Mrs. Tachibana knitting.

He didn't know why it interested him. She was in her usual chair in the living room, a calm look on her face with a slight smile as her hands moved. Haruka wondered how long she had been doing this hobby of hers, because it seemed to natural to her since she didn't look at all frustrated or focused on her hands or what she was working on. Eventually she caught the boy staring after a few moments, and asked if he was interested in knitting himself. Haruka hesitated to answer, and then nodded his head.

"Here, let me get you started," Mrs. Tachibana said, putting her needles down on her lap, reaching into the bag of supplies next to her and pulling out a spare pair of needles and blue yarn.

It had been about two weeks since Haruka was taught the basics, and his first project he completed was a small 'sweater' (it had no sleeves and was more like a bottomless sock than anything) for an orca stuffed animal he had gotten from Makoto during a festival earlier in the year. Haruka had intended it to be a scarf, because he was going to give it to Makoto to wear when he would go outside, but one thing lead to another and he ended up making the makeshift garment for the stuffed whale instead. Either way, Haruka felt a sense of accomplishment when he admired his final product.

While working on the makeshift sweater, Haruka would think about what Mrs. Tachibana told him. From how to have his hands in a certain position so it wouldn't strain his wrists to different stitching techniques, it really was a calming thing to do (even with having a few hiccups along the way which were easily taken care of) when he was trying to get his mind off of swimming.

"Haru?" Makoto had called, upon seeing the plush whale in his new clothing on Haruka's couch when coming to get the other boy so that they could get to school. "Why is your orca wearing a sweater?"

"I…made it," Haruka responded, his cheeks starting to turn a light pink. He stared down at his ball of yarn and needles sticking out of it and sighed. "I tried to make you a scarf because you need a new one and it's getting colder out, but…"

"I think it's adorable."

"…really?"

Makoto laughed and leaned over to kiss Haruka's forehead. "Yes, I do. I also think that it's very adorable that you tried to make me a scarf."
Haruka pushed his face to Makoto's shoulder, hiding his growing smile. "Color?"

Another kiss. "Surprise me."

A week later, Makoto found a wrapped box on his kitchen table and inside was a hand-knitted, blue and green scarf.

Makoto never left home without it during the colder months.

Author's note: and hey, first thing on FF! This is a repost from my tumblr, bokunocorgi, and I wasn't expecting this to get over 50 notes on there, so I figured I should put it here too!

This was actually inspired by my best friend, who knits, and has a orca plush with a sweater she made. If anyone wants visuals, I'll be more than happy to provide a link to see! And this is totally unbeta'd, and my other things will most likely be unbeta'd too.

Thanks for reading!

-Miss Elizabeth