It was 6:00am and it was time for the Iwatobi Swim Club members to take their morning stretching practice; a ritual that was invented by Nagisa that was to be done before each swimming practice began. Luckily for Rei and the others, Coach Gou had set up a series of twelve swimming exercises before the next national tournament began.
"Rei-chan! Wakey, wakey!" a childish voice called out from below Rei's bedroom window. The blue haired swimmer winced at the unmistakable, high-pitched voice that was now echoing in his head. Damnit, Nagisa, why now? Rei grumbled in his thoughts. Hearing Rei's growl of disapproval, Nagisa huffed and proceeded to sing an irritating tune to stimulate the possibly sleeping figure to wake up. After five whole minutes of Nagisa humming a made-up tune, then a further three minutes of Nagisa's whining, Rei jerked up from his bed and massaged his temples.
"NAGISA!"
The two boys headed towards Haruka's house to pick him up. Nagisa, having already worn his swimsuit like the impatient little kid he was, stood beside Rei, who on the other hand, was wearing a three layer jacket, a scarf, and gloves to protect him from the cool, morning breeze.
"Rei-chan, you look like you're preparing for a blizzard," chuckled the blonde.
"Shut up." Rei sighed in response.
They both knocked in synchronize on the free-style swimmer's front door, with Nagisa calling 'Haru-chan' in a chirpy tone. To their surprise, Haruka had flung the door open a second later, clad in his bright blue track suit.
"That's weird; did you guys swap wardrobes, or something?" Nagisa commented, then bursting into a fit of laughter.
Rei and Haruka made eye-contact, but then glanced to opposite directions upon realising Nagisa's words. "Shall we visit Makoto next?" Haruka asked.
"Yeah, I bet Makoto has everything packed and made breakfast for all of us already," Nagisa smiled, "then we can meet Gou-chan in the park, just on time!"
The three boys proceeded to go to Makoto's house when Haruka and Rei noticed something unusual: Makoto's front door was slightly open.
Oblivious to what the others' saw, Nagisa burst through the open front door and greeted, "Ohayo, Makoto!" Looking around the seemingly-too-quiet scenery, Nagisa noticed a note stuck on the wall entrance. "Will be back next week – Mom," Nagisa read aloud with squinted eyes due to the small handwriting, "P.S. Make sure to study while we're away."
"It seem like Makoto is home alone. But where is he?" Rei wondered.
"Hey guys, Makoto left his breakfast on the table!" Nagisa noticed. He walked up to the bowl and cupped each side; he examined that it still contained some unfinished porridge, and that it still felt slightly warm. "I can feel the warmth so he mustn't have gone for too long."
"Makoto's swim suit…" Haruka's voice was heard from one of the bedrooms. Nagisa and Rei followed after the source of the sound.
"What do you mean Makoto's swim-?" Rei paused mid-sentence. Eyes wide and mouth agape, his eyes met what looked like a burglar had rummaged through every inch of the room. Clothes lying around, bed sheets sprawled across the floor, and an opened treasure box huddled in the corner, caught the eyes of the young swimmers. The room was a wreck and it terrified them.
"Makoto's swim suit is missing." Haruka said, blankly.
"Trust Haru-chan to notice that one," Nagisa remarked as he peered into the mysterious-looking chest, noticing a bunch of rolled up maps and, standing out of them all, five opened letters. "Guys, check this out."
The trio huddled together as Nagisa picked up the items, passed the letters to the other two, whereas he held the map. Inscrolling the map, Nagisa recognized that the map, was in fact, a map of the town. He also noticed a thick red 'x' on the map, and the words '3 km - 5:30am' annotated next to the mark.
"No, he… he didn't," Haruka's face grew pale at the sight of the map.
Nagisa and Rei shot each other a look of concern. They remembered the story about the fisherman, and how Makoto had developed a fear of the sea because of the events of that day. But was it possible that...
"Makoto..." As Haruka swiftly turned around to leave, Nagisa quickly grabbed both his wrists.
"Haru-chan, you can't search for him on your own," Nagisa grimaced. "We're coming with you." He searched for a rucksack and filled it with supplies such as food and water, also adding the map and the letters inside. Rei had a stern look, but he nodded in agreement.
"I think we should check the boat rentals."
Haruka, Nagisa and Rei stood in front of an antique shop, made out of hard wood; a sign hung from a pole which read "Boat Rentals" which swung back and forth against wind. Inside the shop was stocked with boat parts, fishing equipment, fish feed and aquariums filled with native and exotic fishes. It was cramp; products littered random areas, dust coated every surface, and long, thick cobwebs decorated the walls which made the room appear as if it had been unused for years.
"Hello?" Nagisa called out.
There was a no reply. The boys stood as frozen as ice, and the only sounds they could hear were their heartbeats and the howling of the wind. Haruka's eyes darted to the counter and noticed an old picture frame, he recognised the figures in the image: a scruffy old man grinning proudly, and a young boy smiling in absolute happiness.
Suddenly, some rustling could be heard under the counter, causing Nagisa to shriek and cling onto Rei's arm. "Hey, Rei, do you see that?" Nagisa pointed out.
Rei forcefully closed his eyes in terror. "S-see what?!"
Behind the counter popped a hat - a fisherman's hat to be exact - and it seemed to tremble as it slowly moved up. The swimmers stared at the moving item, when they realised it was a person behind the counter. "H-hi... I'm th-the shopkeeper," the boy stuttered as he spoke.
Rei's eyes slowly opened and he sighed. "Hi. Do you have any boats to rent?" asked Rei.
"Rei-chan, we didn't come here to rent boats!" exclaimed Nagisa.
"Unfortunately, our last boat was already rented," replied the shopkeeper.
Haruka's eyes widened. Could it be? "When was your last boat rented, and what did the person look like?" he questioned, bluntly.
The shopkeeper perked up. "Actually, not too long ago... at 5:30 I would say?" He looked thoughtful for a second, then continued, "Tall, muscular, and olive-green hair?"
The swimmers looked at each other in understanding, then nodded.
Makoto.