CHAPTER 1: A TAIL

(fic starts somewhere in the beginning of Free! Eternal Summer, so meeting Sosuke and Kisumi (and Momo ofc my precious baby) didn't yet occur; yes, I know it's Extremely un-original idea but hey, lemme try it out)

Yet another sigh escaped his pale lips as he looked into his best friend's eyes. At times he marvelled over how beautiful they were and how they changed colour throughout the day; it would be more accurate to say that they looked differently based on the amount of light they were exposed to, but he knew that wasn't true.

How else would he describe the forest-like green that shone brightly when they won yet another relay? Or how his eyes reminded him of moss whenever they walked home late in the evening, deep in thoughts? No, he wasn't making light an excuse for friend's eye colour constantly changing, and neither was he expecting his childhood friend to think the same about his own eyes.

"Makoto, I already told you that you didn't have to pick up one of those for me," he said calmly without averting his gaze. Even though he felt bad for saying no to Makoto, of all people, he just didn't think that accepting a piece of paper with 'Great Luck' was right. Makoto should have kept it to himself.

"It was no bother, Haru-chan," the latter said and tilted his head to the right, giving Haru his 'Mr. Nice Guy' smile. But Nanase knew better; he could sense how quickly the atmosphere between them changed and that Makoto went from being completely comfortable with him to somewhat uncertain in under two minutes. Sometimes he hated that he had such a great effort on his friend.

A few seconds later Makoto swiftly took the paper from Haru's hands, their fingers touching for a moment, and just a quickly turned around, heading towards his own house. "It's quite late now, isn't it? I'm gonna go. See you tomorrow!"

But Haru didn't buy it because, unfortunately for him, he knew Makoto Tachibana all too well. It was probably due to how long they've known each other for, yet Nanase was pretty certain that it was because of his quiet and observant nature. There was no denying it: he was good in reading people and the boy in front of him was no exception. "Makoto."

At least he stopped. But didn't turn around.

"You really didn't have to, seeing as we will go to shrine and pray in a few months anyway, but thank you for picking it up from shop." It was the most he could master. Brunette was never good with words, so will Makoto understand what he meant?

A slight turn of Tachibana's head and a soft smile spoke volumes.

He understood.

Just like always, he understood without Haru actually saying anything.

The taller swimmer turned around, pushed the piece of paper into his hands and, with a fleeting 'See you tomorrow' literally ran away from his house, sprinting up the stairs to his own house.

All Haru was left to do was stare down at the sheet of paper. 'Great Luck', huh? Makoto, Nagisa, Rei - they all believed in the importance of luck, so why shouldn't he?

He smiled at his own thought and went back into his house, closing the door behind and walking into the kitchen.

Before Makoto came to his house, Haru was about to cook his favourite - and, admittedly, only - dish but something changed his appetite and free-style swimmer realised that he was no longer hungry.

Huh. Figures this talk with Makoto took my mind off food.

The clock was clearly stating eleven, so Haru decided to soak in water from some time before going to sleep. Picking up his swim tracks on the way to bathroom and undressing at the same time, he turned on hot water and leisurely watched as his tube began filling.

The process always took good twenty minutes but he was in no rush; instead, he absent-mindedly placed the 'Great Luck' sign in the sink and stepped over the bathtub edge, sitting down comfortable.

The appearance of all-familiar dolphin in the water was an absent-minded action, too.

Haru tilted his head backwards, looking up at the clean bathroom tiles above his head and studying their smallest details. He didn't really want to think about anything else than water, but images of today rushed at him like a big tsunami.

Ama-chan sensei kept pestering him about what he wanted to do in future. He wasn't annoyed with her, if he was honest with himself, but he wasn't all that grateful, either. It was like she was pushing a red button that had signs like 'Do not press!' all over it and any minute now he was going to take an easy route - anything to get him off his business.

Were people in his age supposed to know exactly what they wanted to do in future? What happened to having a second chance?

Haru sank lower in his tube and turned the water off when he sensed that it was enough.

What if decided to do something but then this something simply failed? Or, worse, he will lose any interest in it and just become one of those middle-aged men with a house, aquarium and a much hated job?

Thinking about his friends, he couldn't imagine them having such a hard decision in choosing a career.

Rei was good in butterfly, there was no denying it but Haru was pretty sure that Ryugazaki wouldn't give up all his achievements in science and maths just to continue his career in swimming. He had a potential to become a great scientist or even do something as awfully boring as accounting - possibilities were endless!

Not so with Nagisa, however. He couldn't help but overhear that Hazuki was failing in some of his subjects and had to seriously study. Yet, he had his dreams - some of them silly, some of them cute and some completely unrealistic - and with those... he will go very far.

Makoto...

Haru closed his eyes and sank even lower into the welcoming water, feeling it with every inch of his skin, absorbing it like a sponge and just being comfortable by being surrounded with it.

He and Makoto never discussed their plans for future. It was just always the two of them: Haru who loved swimming and Makoto who wanted to swim with him for as long as they could.

And this 'long' was ending in a year - April has began a few days ago and so did their school year. They had but a few months before graduation and that meant no more swimming with his friends.

No more relaxed hours in the pool, no more going out to get ice-cream when summer holidays were unbearably hot...

If there was one thing Haru truly wished for, it was changing his future life. Just let him be different from what everyone wants him to be.

xxxx

He slightly moved and felt coldness at his fingertips. Thanks to further investigation, Haruka assured himself that it was simply bathtub that he currently laid in and he fell asleep here yesterday. Nothing new.

Opening eyes seemed like too much of a bother. Maybe he can just lay around and pretend like he wasn't an ordinary high school students that was pressed into making a life-changing decision while he was still a teenager.

Haru decided to distract himself by thinking about water. Albeit it being rather cold, he decided to stay still and just enjoy its coolness. Its stillness. Its unchanging nature...

A loud "Sorry for intruding!" startled him; even though Makoto's morning visits were some sort of routine between them now, Haru was still somewhat not used to them. Perhaps because, besides Makoto, no one else visited him so many times and cared about him that much.

A nasty inner voice whispered 'not even your parents' but he quickly shook off the dreadful thoughts. He was never the one to depress over nothing - at least, that's what he thought.

Haru resisted opening his eyes when thee bathroom door was opened and Makoto - there was no denying it was his voice - walked in. Maybe if he pretended that he was asleep...

"Hey, Haru," the backstroke swimmer finally spoke up but he sounded different from usual - at least, to Nanase's ears.

"Hm?"

"Why are you wearing a mermaid costume?" Nervous laugh. "I mean, I get it how you wanted to be a mermaid ever since you began swimming, but this might be a bit too... much?"

Having no idea as to what Makoto was referring to, brunette finally open his hazy eyes and looked around.

Huh. Everything was the same.

White tube. Worrying Makoto.

Catching his friend's gaze, he looked down at his feet and-

"I don't remember wearing a fish tail before going to take a bath," Nanase spoke up quietly.

A/N: Umm I know it's short (but my first chapters are always short hehe). Should I continue this or leave it be? Leave your thoughts in comments :)