aquaphobia
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Don't mind me, just contributing to the fandom.
Haruka and Makoto are two very different people.
Haruka embraces the water, loves it, lives in it. He doesn't fear it, but rather trusts it wholeheartedly because he knows that the water will always be there for him. It is his home.
Makoto fears the water. He knows that they humans are only guests in it's realm, and it is up to the water to decide whether or not you are welcome. He interprets the smooth caress of it not as something gentle and inviting, but as something deceiving and almost threatening. It envelops you in it's seize, and always wondering just how hard to squeeze.
Haruka and the water go hand in hand, and it is always a disappointment to separate — anxiously he waits until their next reunion. That's why he swims freestyle, Makoto thinks, so he is facing the water, his friend. So they can converse and properly enjoy each other's company.
Makoto's relationship with the water is reverent and polite, not quite as friendly as Haruka's. It's like being around someone you've never met — Mizu-sama — but you are fully aware of who they are, and what they can do, not unlike with a god. For that, he swims backstroke. He is facing away from such a powerful force, afraid that is he looks at it directly it will blind him out of rage. At the same time, though, it shows his distrust of it. In backstroke, you are always breathing and the water can't take you into it's grasp, it has no control. But even then it is a struggle to maintain control over yourself, because the water fights you, tries to pull you down with it. It sends itself into your nose and mouth, angry that you defy it in such a way, to show you that you have not defeated it just yet.
Haruka sees the water as benevolent entity, while Makoto knows it is a capricious and shrewd vortex that will not hesitate to lash out at those who have displeased it in some way. He remembers that sight from when they were young, when Haruka — he who trusted the water, he who was the water's unconditional friend — was swept under the current. He remembers thinking just how quickly the water turned it's back on Haruka, and made no motions to give him mercy.
When Makoto ran in to pull him out, the water became very still, watching him, almost waiting for him to make even the slightest misstep so that he would suffer the same fate. In an almost cruel act of kindness it allowed the young brunette to pull his friend out onto the grassy shore, deeming the two of them not worthy of becoming a permanent guest in it's home.
I will wait until another day, it said to the two of them.
And since then, Makoto has waited, to see just how soon that day will come.
I love Free!. So much. I've been swimming for like, 80% of my life and then THIS comes along and I almost died. I swear, I'm watching it for the plot (although they characters are a bonus) ;), ha! Um, the reason behind this is that it's been implied that Makoto has some kind of fear of the water based on events in the novel and scenes in the opening. I found it on otakubanzai dot tumblr dot com /post/ 55595721331 and makeupsyndrome dot tumblr dot com /post/ 54858974006/ if you want to find out :)
So, yeah. If you liked it, please leave a review telling me so, although favorites are loved just as much!