A/N: So yeah, I probably have enough stories on the go at once, and this one is a day late going up as it is, but we're going to overlook all that because I have discovered Free!, and that is far more exciting ^_^

So this story is for my friend and eternally patient beta, Laura, who will hopefully be getting a new fanfiction account soon, because she wanted winter Free! feels :3

Chapter 1: Haruka

"..." I'm wet and cold already; going back in the pool isn't going to make much difference...

He doesn't learn. He probably should have by now; this has happened every year since before he can remember, you'd think some sort of message would have been pounded into his thick skull by now.

But no, because Nanase Haruka will swim in the outdoor pool if he damn well pleases, regardless of the consequences.

And when those consequences make themselves known; with sneezing, shivers, and severe headaches, well...it's already too late. So he might as well just keep swimming.

Unfortunately, not every member of the Iwatobi Swim Club subscribes to Haruka's school of thought in this particular area. In fact, a lot of them – mainly Makoto, but with his kind eyes and soft smiles, his way of thinking is more contagious than this cold – seem to think that getting in the pool with a cold is actually a bad idea?!

(Haruka doesn't know where this vicious rumour about his precious water came from, but you can be sure that when he shakes off this damn cold, investigating the matter will be right at the top of his to-do list!)

But for now, he really does feel a little bit miserable. He's mad at Makoto, who took one look at him this morning before trying to make him stay home – which isn't why he's mad: he's annoyed because he does feel worse and if he listened to Makoto he could be sulking in the bath right now, but Makoto isn't even being smug about it, which is somehow infuriating.

Haruka missed his bath so much right now, and his floaty dolphin bath toy, and his bottles of shampoo lining the rim of the tub next to the tap, and the way the water is always hottest just under the point where the running water hits the surface, so hot it makes his toes curl and his skin tingle-

"Haru-chan?"

Suddenly aware of where he actually is – sitting in the school library, head down on the desk, drooling over his English textbook (he was falling behind...again) – and jerked his head up, meeting the worried green gaze watching him.

"You really should've stayed home today," Makoto surmised again. And there it was: his ability to be right and infuriatingly not-smug simultaneously. If it didn't take so much effort to get annoyed, Haruka would probably be incensed by Makoto's mother-henning at this point. Instead, he pulls his sleeves down over his wrists to combat the cold draft and burrows his head back down again.

He misses swimming practice. For the first time in as long as he can remember; Haruka has not attended practice, and it vaguely surprises him that he doesn't care.

He trudges home, dragging his bag sulkily (by this point, he had a right to sulk!) until he reaches his house. By the time he gets there, he doesn't bother with the bath he'd been craving all day, or the sweet tea he'd been desperate for since lunchtime, he just dumps his bag by the door and crawls his way into his bed.

Knock knock knock!

"Haruu~!" His head twitches slightly, both at the muffled sound of his name, and the phantom vibration of the knocking inside his skull (damn headache), but he quickly settles again, too tired to maintain the effort to keep himself up.

Knock knock knock!

"Haru-chan?" This time his name is clearer, and the voice is deeper: Makoto. It makes sense, he thinks vaguely fuzzily; Makoto knows where he keeps his emergency key, so he'd be able to let himself in. Which means the other, higher-pitched voice, must be-

"Aww poor Haru~!"

...Nagisa. Haruka groans, pulling the blanket over his head, until Makoto peels it back again. He growls at the cold air, reaching blindly for the covers, but they're gone. He doesn't mind that much; it wasn't doing much to keep him warm anyways.

"Nagisa, can you go put the kettle on to boil please?" He hears Makoto ask, and then there's a towel being dropped on the floor next to him.

"You go soak in the bath for a bit, and when you come out there'll be hot tea and broth and we can talk about which times of year are appropriate for outdoor swimming." Makoto tells him. Knowing that the taller boy has a system for 'encouraging' movement if he continues to lie stubbornly in bed – next on his list of ideas is normally a bucket of cold water – Haruka reluctantly drags himself into the bathroom.

His headache is loosened considerably by the hot steam in the bathroom, and his cold, aching body feels infinitely soothed by the warm bath itself. The tea and broth help too, warming him up from the outside, leaving nowhere for the cold to hide inside him, and the company that comes from having Nagisa and Makoto on either side while they watch some awful show on TV chases away the melancholy that always comes with colds and flus.

He falls asleep with Nagisa burrowed into his side and Makoto's lengthy limbs wrapping around the two of them. It feels good, and Haruka muses that yeah, maybe Makoto was right about the benefits of staying at home.

(But he'd never tell him that, no need to feed his ego too much.)

So, opinions? Love it, hate it, should I stick with Pokemon?

Your opinions are really important to me on this!

Bye for now,

-Bug xx