Day 1
Prompt: Blue & Green
Summary: There are about three seconds in which Makoto is absolutely, utterly terrified.

Turquoise

oOo

Though the water isn't shallow, at the end of the pier, the poles are high enough that Makoto can barely reach the surface with the tips of his toes. One of his knees is pulled up to his chest, his other leg swinging lazily as he gazes ahead, his eyes settled upon the vast blue sea in front of him, and the lone figure in it, almost too far to be seen properly, but Makoto knows Haru well enough for his mind to make up for what his eyes cannot do. Haruka is floating on his back, the gentle waves brushing locks of his hair this side and that, his arms held loosely at his sides - so different from the constant tightening of his muscles when he swims -, the steady rise and fall of his chest making him rise out of the water slightly, and then fall back a little deeper each time.

There is a part of Makoto that's still afraid, despite how calm the water looks to be right now. It is so big, endlessly so, and he knows all too well how wild it can be, that the present calmness is a lie, he remembers too well how its quiescent azure can turn into a roaring rage of murderous grey foam that once already took something precious from him, and, another time, almost did it again, as well as trying to claim him too.

He may never stop being frightened of the sea, but this deep, calm blue is somehow soothing right now - if he really thinks about it, he has to admit it to himself that Haruka being so close by is probably a part of it.

Taking his eyes off of the other's faraway figure, Makoto's eyes drop, and he amuses himself by tapping his big toe against the water surface, watching as the water rings expand, and then distort around the pier's legs. Maybe he could just jump in... for once... maybe he could swim to join Haruka, maybe... just this one time... perhaps he could share the love his best friend has for this mysterious liquid of life. And then, maybe, one day, he won't be as frightened.

It's so much easier not to be, when Haruka is by his side.

oOo

It was maybe a little cold at first, but Haruka feels completely comfortable now. This is the best place in the world to be, isn't it? The way the waves wash over him makes him so much more at ease than he would be anywhere else. Even swimming in a pool cannot compete, in the end; nobody would be able to tell, by how hard Haruka works for the sake of their team, but it takes troublesomely long stretching sessions after each afternoon spent with training for his muscles not to cramp up from the strain, and Haruka only puts effort into things that are truly worth it.

Then again, it would be a blatant lie to say that doing things for the swimming club (and most importantly, his best friend - Haruka glances in Makoto's direction at the thought) isn't worth the effort.

Haruka turns his eyes back towards the sky, taking a deep breath, and holding it in, letting droplets of water roll down the sides of his chest as he rises slightly with the next wave, a small smile on his lips. He has said it before, back at that memorable regionals competition, when they were so desperate to get Rin back on their side; that it was him, Matsuoka Rin, who had taught Haru what's truly worth swimming for - the team. But as time has passed, Haru has had to realize that that wasn't entirely true. Rin may have said it out back then, thrown it in his face, a fact Haruka was eventually forced to swallow, for there was no way of denying the truth of it, of how much better things felt when he was doing them for the team - but there was more to it, really, and even though at first Haruka kept thinking back to Rin's words, it wasn't long before he came to the somewhat shocking realization, that each and every time he was reminded of it, it was about something Makoto was doing.

He looks at the other again, this time turning his head slightly. From this direction, the shallow water reflects the sunlight in an odd sort of way that makes the surface glisten in a greenish light, and Haruka reflects upon the figure of Makoto sitting on the pier, seemingly watching him in a similar fashion. Unlike Haruka, Makoto has never needed to be taught how to think of others before himself. He has been like that right from the start, putting the happiness of the people precious to him before his own self - and even though Haruka never quite found a good way to express this thought, now that he's a safe distance away from the brunet not to be caught (Makoto is just too good at reading him, really), he can allow himself the tiniest of blushes upon the thought of how happy it actually makes him that he is among the people Makoto cherishes.

... Which is kind of an understatement, but Haruka was never one to boast unnecessarily, not even when there is nobody around to hear. The truth is there, whether he says it out or not, and he is content enough with that.

The Sun is slowly beginning to set, and Haruka dips himself underwater, marveling - not that he hasn't seen it at least a couple hundred times before - at the sight of how the water all around him begins to shift in colour. This is one of the things he truly loves about the sea (among others, of course); the way it is never stagnant, unlike the pool's ever-stagnant, chloric water with a completely still (unless purposefully disrupted) surface. The various blues begin to melt into something softer, a bit of yellowish red reflecting here and there, while the majority of it is beginning to melt into a glossy sort of light bottle green. Haruka holds his breath for a while, till he's beginning to feel a little dizzy, and just allows himself to be swallowed up in swirls of perpetuity.

Makoto jerks his leg out of the water as he sees Haruka dive, a jolt of fear sending a shockwave-like feeling up his spine. Breath held as if it was him being underwater, he waits for the other to resurface, but the surface smoothens out after a couple of seconds, and even though he knows the other is just being his usual self, with the way the Sun is descending, the thought of darkness, and all it hides, creeping nearer, Makoto has to bite down on his bottom lip, hard, not to call out Haruka's name. His eyes search the surface frantically, but there's no movement, no sign, no-...

He recoils with a gasp as Haruka ascends right in front of him, grabbing onto the edge of the pier and hoisting himself up, one knee between Makoto's feet supporting his weight as he leans forward, spraying everything with droplets of water as he shakes his head in that well-known fashion, azure-blue eyes fixing themselves on bottle-green ones with such fierceness that the gentle brunet cannot find it in himself to look away. "Haru-..." he begins, confused, and still a little winded from the fright the other just gave him, but he is not allowed to finish the sentence, whatever it was going to be about.

"Come with me, Makoto." It could be a request, but of course, even the most politely intended things sound like a demand when Haruka utters them, and Makoto can only smile at that, because he - and probably only he - knows it's a request anyway. What he doesn't expect, however, is the way Haruka's arms wrap around his neck, and the next moment, both of them plunge into the water, just a split second after he managed to take a deep breath, and not before he managed to slightly bruise his shin against the rough wooden edge of the pier.

There are about three seconds in which Makoto is absolutely, utterly terrified. The water of the sea is everywhere, and it's darker underneath than he would have thought, and he's just not sure how long he can hold his breath. But then, as he finally takes a moment to take in his surroundings properly, he has to realize that Haruka's arms are still around him, holding on almost fiercely, in a way that makes Makoto feel protected, and he looks at the other through the vibrancy of the rays of the descending Sun's rays piercing through everything around them, and there is an indescribable look in Haruka's eyes that makes the brunet feel - for perhaps the first time since the tsunami happened - at peace.

Then they break through the surface again, and they are both gasping for fresh air, and Haru is laughing - really laughing, albeit completely soundlessly, his shoulders trembling with semi-concealed mirth, his eyes shining. Makoto's gaze softens, touching their foreheads together, and when he asks, "What was that about, hmm?", he doesn't really expect an answer.

It is answer enough for both of them, when the last fragments of sunlight fall on the water, reflecting an entirely new colour. Makoto sees his own eyes reflecting in Haruka's as he leans in, and when their lips finally meet halfway, everything seems to melt into a vortex of green and blue - a perfect turquoise.