Rin scanned the shore, searching for his best friend. It wouldn't get hot enough to go swimming for a few more months, but their favorite swimming center had closed for the week to repair the bottom of the pools. He had a pretty good hunch that Haru would be looking out into the cold ocean.
Sure enough, he spotted him crouched beside a tide pool, his toes in the water.
"Hey, Haru!" Rin called, running up to him.
To his surprise, Haru didn't turn around—he just stiffened, half-rising to his feet.
"What's up? I thought I'd find you…" As Rin approached, he trailed off. "Why are you wearing your goggles? You're not gonna go swimming in January, are you?"
Haru shrugged one shoulder, not looking at Rin.
"Hey, you okay?" Rin reached out to touch Haru's shoulder, and Haru turned panicked eyes on him. Even though his hair and clothes were dry, he was wearing goggles—and his goggles were wet. No. His eyes were red; Haru was crying.
"I'm fine," Haru said, snuffling a little. He wiped his face off with the back of his hand, but it didn't clear the tears from the inside of his goggles. "Just thinking about swimming."
Rin opened his mouth to say something to make him feel better and hesitated. "W-we could go to an onsen. Those are warm."
"They won't let you swim." Haru's jaw tightened, and Rin remembered when Haru had been kicked out of a rotenburo for swimming laps.
"Uh, what about a bath, then?" Rin asked, forcing a smile. "You can soak and spend quality time with the water!"
Haru scuffed his feet against the sand, his mouth still drawn in a tight line. "I'm fine," he repeated."
"I could really go for a bath right now," Rin said. He hooked an arm around Haru's shoulders and turned him toward the train station. "Gou always takes up the whole tub, so I'm used to sharing."
Haru pulled off his goggles and blinked rapidly. "Do you have any pool toys?"
"I have a shark and dolphin set," he said. When Haru looked almost hopeful, he rushed to add, "I'll play with the shark, and you can be the dolphin!"
Haru's eyes lit up—of course. He loved dolphins.
"Heck, you can keep the dolphin. Then we can play together no matter how far apart we go swimming!"
"Really?"
"For sure! We'll always swim together, Haru." Rin reached over and ruffled his hair. "All the oceans in the world are connected, right? So we can go wherever we want and still swim side by side!"
"Okay." When Haru looked up again, he wasn't quite smiling—but he made that face whenever he was smiling on the inside.
The big dummy. Was he crying because he was going to miss Rin? He'd be home for vacations! And, for once, maybe he could prove that he could actually keep up with Haru. That they really could swim together forever.
Impulsively, Rin kissed Haru on the cheek. Turning red, he ran ahead. "Catch me if you can!"
((AUTHOR'S NOTE: In Japan, sharing baths is pretty common. My host mother and both host sisters (10yo and 5yo) would bathe together. It's not sexual in this context!))