"I'm leaving after we swim in the relay together."
It was a sudden declaration, to say the least. Makoto had never mentioned the desire to move away from home; to leave them all behind. He hadn't wanted anyone to try to talk him out of it or make him feel bad for his decision and so he'd decided to keep it to himself until the last possible second. This was something he needed to do. No matter how much it hurt to leave all he knew behind, the brunet couldn't live like this anymore. He had to do something. He had to change. He had things to overcome on his own and there was no way he could do it here with these friends who cared so much for him.
"Makoto. What's the meaning of this? Why didn't you say anything until now? Do you think this is funny?" Rin's voice sounded angry. He'd never heard his voice sound angry before.
"Yeah, Mako-chan, if this is a joke you should tell us now!" Nagisa was staring at him with eyes so wide and innocent that he had no choice but to avoid the gaze at all costs.
He didn't want to hurt them. He didn't want to leave. Why did they have to make it so much harder? He didn't want to feel like this during the relay that meant so much to all of them. Makoto forced himself to look up and meet the eyes of his long-time best friend.
"I understand." Haru ...
"What?! What do you mean you understand, Haru? This is ridiculous! He's going to leave us all behind, don't you get that? Don't you care?"
If Rin sounded angry before, he must be livid now. Who knew an eleven year old could hold so much anger in their voice. But the older knew better. There was pain and sadness in those ruby eyes and it was tearing at every piece of Makoto's heart. this wasn't what he wanted. He didn't want to cause any harm.
"You aren't thinking about Makoto at all, Rin. You are only thinking of how you feel about this. You have to think about what Makoto wants. This is his decision, not ours. We should support him no matter what, because we're his friends, right?"
Haruka's words brought a lull of silence over the quartet, each of them staring wide-eyed at the normally silent member of their group. It wasn't like the dolphin to speak up, especially so adamently, about anything that didn't involve the water or swimming. But this was Makoto, after all. They had been friends - best friends - the longest out of them all and they'd practically never been separated in the entirety of their lives. If anyone had a right to be angry, it was him.
And yet, here he was, defending the orca's decision and telling the others to support him. Before he knew it, Makoto felt tears prickling at his eyes and flowing down his cheeks. Ah, no ... This isn't supposed to happen. They just kept coming, though, and the brunet let out a frustrated sigh, burying his face in his hands.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
Three pairs of arms were around him so fast he thought he might have gotten whiplash. Despite their individual feelings, here they were, comforting him in the most critical of moments. Honestly, he didn't feel as though he deserved these wonderful people as his friends. That just solidified his need to do this. He was going to go for as long as necessary and then he would come back a better, stronger person.
For the team.