Disclaimer – I don't own Free! This was written for Open Novella 2019 which started in January and made it through the first two rounds. The prompt I chose was General 5: Missing Beauty. "When a teenager beauty queen goes missing, a small town is torn apart with worry and grief. But as time and the investigation progresses, several ugly truths are revealed…" This is my take on the prompt, but the story didn't end up quite the way I wanted.

Free!Dom - Disappearance

The sound of a clock ticking permeated the otherwise quiet room. Gou lay on the couch looking up at her favorite magazine. Red locks of hair escaped from her ponytail as she perused her pages. Every time she turned a page and ogled another guy with amazing muscles, she found herself holding back a squeal of delight.

"You might want to put that away before the guys get here."

The youngest member of the Matsuoka family bolted straight up. Her feet thumped onto the ground rather loudly while the magazine fell to the floor in front of the couch. Gou turned slightly and looked over her shoulder. "Rin!"

Her older brother stood behind the couch glaring at her rather unladylike behavior. A towel wrapped around his shoulders while water dripped down from his red colored hair. "Can't you be more ladylike?" After a brief period of exchanging gears with his sister, Rin decided to say something. "This is rather embarrassing to say, but maybe you should act more like Haru."

"What?"

"You heard me!" Rin snapped.

Gou let out a sound of irritation and scooped her magazine off the floor. Her fingers pressed between the pages and took a deep breath. "Where did I leave off?" One of Gou's eyebrows twitched upon seeing the page opened in front of her. "Not her."

"Who?" Rin leaned over and looked at the page in question. Where one might expect one of the muscle-bound guys Gou enjoyed ogling at one instead saw an advertisement with a specific model. Her vivid blue eyes looked out making eye contact while locks of black hair cascaded elegantly down her shoulders. Whatever was being advertised, the model exuded the aura of feminine elegance Gou likely never would. "Oh, her."

The younger Matsuoka family member looked up as her eye twitched. "Rin! You dummy! Telling me to act more like this model! You…" A sudden glint of amusement appeared on her face. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have a crush on her?"

"Her? Where the hell did you get that idea from?"

"You said it was rather embarrassing to mention, so it must be because…"

"Moron. She's not the only Haru we know." Rin let out a sigh. "Could we possibly not repeat this conversation when the guys get here?"

"Because you don't want them to know you have a crush on a local celebrity?" Gou continued looking at her brother mischievously for only a few minutes. She soon found herself contemplating something else. "All of the girls talk about her, but every single one wants to be like her. She's probably a bitch."

"She is."

Gou felt her lips twist into a frown of confusion, but the doorbell rang before she could ask her brother what he meant. She instead turned and watched her brother head to the front door and greet their guests. Makoto stood at the door smiling like he usually did as locks of blond hair fell into his face. "I made sure to bring Haru."

The "Haru" in question stood in the doorway with Makoto pushing lightly on the middle of his back. Haru's bright eyes were glazed over indicating his mind was on anything water related instead of the get-together Gou planned for the swim club. After a few seconds, he walked in and headed straight towards the kitchen. Rin stood at the door frowning. "Hey. I didn't give you a proper greeting yet."

The youngest member of the Matsuoka family turned slightly and looked at Haru, remembering what her brother said. Rin's eyes widened when she started speaking, but he headed over towards Gou with a rather evident glare. "Oh. So that's what you meant by embarrassing. Yeah, I can see why…"

Rin's hand clamped down over his sister's mouth. "Don't. Don't say another word Gou. And put that magazine away. You're going to make the guys uncomfortable."

Gou's magenta colored eyes glanced down at her magazine before quickly tucking her reading material behind a pillow. One of Makoto's eyebrow's shot up. "What would make us uncomfortable."

"Nothing." Rin stood up straight. "I was kind of hoping it was the pizza guy showing up instead of you guys so I could scarf…"

"Pizza?" Haru's head darted up, but a twinkle appeared in his eyes.

"So now you notice I'm here Haru?" Rin smiled at his childhood rival and friend in amusement.

"Hi, Rin."

Makoto's mouth twisted in amusement much in the same manner as Rin's did. "It's a bit late for greetings Haru."

Gou sighed. "Haruka senpai is Haruka senpai. His mind is almost always on water."

"Or the design he submitted for the town mascot contest." Makoto chuckled and shook his head as Haru's attention drifted yet again. The doorbell rang and Haru was told he needed to wait until Nagisa, Rei and Amakata sensei arrived. This resulted in Haru staring non-stop at the pizza until he finally received his piece and he proceeded to go off into his own corner and not socializing with anyone else.

The younger of the Matsuoka family members slid on the couch so she sat on the side she'd hidden her magazine. She bit into her pizza while watching the swim club supervisor head over towards Haru, but the avid swimmer didn't notice the approach of his teacher until Amakata sensei started speaking. "Nanase-san? Would it be possible for you to join the rest of the swim club? As manager of the club, Matsuoka-san doesn't typically let you boys have leisure time with which you may socialize with each other."

Gou took a deep breath and picked up the television controller and turned the television on. "The idea was for the guys to take a much-needed break before getting back into vigorous training. A pizza and movie night seemed enjoyable, but Rin decided he wanted to join in despite going to a different high school."

She pressed the button which changed the channel and started flipping the channels towards the one featuring the movie she picked out yet let out a sigh of dissatisfaction. She heard Amakata sensei continuing her attempt at getting Haru to join in with everyone else. "Come on Nanase-san be more sociable with the rest of your peer group and make your sensei happy. Don't give me that look."

In the back of her mind, Gou figured Haru turned his head away due to his dislike of his homeroom teacher's original career plan of being a swimsuit designer, but her finger stopped pushing the button upon seeing a familiar face on the news screen. She felt her mouth twist downward at the corners upon seeing the girl the rest of her classmates idolized. A sigh escaped while the room fell silent.

"I know that girl." Gou's head turned towards the teacher who mentored the swim club. "I ran into her a few times when I used to model. You know, when I still had plans on becoming a swimsuit designer."

"Sensei, should you really…" Rei pushed up his glasses.

"The police can't tell us anything more regarding her disappearance."

Gou glanced back at the news broadcast yet found herself feeling slightly guilty for hating on the girl, yet in the back of her head, she remembered Rin agreeing with her assessment regarding the young model. She thought about prying into what her older brother thought when she heard the clatter of a cup containing liquids hitting the floor. She bolted upright knocking her pillow onto the floor.

Haru stood in the middle of the kitchen staring at the television. "No." She watched Haru begin looking around anxiously as if looking for something. "No. No."

The majority of those in the room looked at Haru in confusion, but Gou noticed the look of horror on both her brother and Makoto's faces. Nagisa glanced over the back of the couch where sat down to eat pizza. "Hey. What's wrong?"

"No. I… no." Haru didn't look anyone in the eye, but his mouth pressed together while he struggled with articulating himself in a normal fashion.

Makoto let out a deep sigh and let his hand run through his brown hair. "Sorry guys. I think I should get Haru home."

"Yeah, but what's going on?" Rei couldn't hide his worry as he looked at the front door.

"Just. I really can't go into it. Sorry." Makoto looked over at Rin, almost begging for help.

"I'll go with them."

Gou took in the rather serious look on her brother's face as Makoto started ushering Haru towards the door, yet attempted speaking in a rather calm manner. Rin followed close behind and the front door closed behind them.

"So…." Nagisa twisted around so he faced the television again. "What do we do now?" He saw the magazine which now peeked out from the pillow Gou knocked off the couch and lunged for the item. "Oh. Is this yours Gou-san?"

Gou's eyes widened. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Rei walked over and looked at the magazine. "Why wouldn't it be? All of us know of your obsession with muscles. Still. I wonder why Haru reacted to the news report like he did."

She let out a sigh before sliding down where she sat.