"Haruka, do you want to swim?" Makoto looked over at his dark haired friend who hadn't taken his eyes off the ocean waves the whole way back from school.

It wasn't unusual for Haru to be distracted. After all, they were only ten years old, they had very little responsibilities and Haru tended to shirk off the few he had anyway.

"Haruka?"

Blue eyes snapped in his direction. "Don't call me that. And no." He continued walking along the path. "If I go swimming in the ocean I may not come back."

Makoto winced at his words, but knew his friend didn't mean to upset him. Though he appreciated that Haru refused to swim in the ocean.

"Let's go to the pool." He offered.

There was no verbal response, but those unnaturally bright eyes lit up and followed along eagerly.

"Makoto!" Nagisa whined. "Why are we coming to the beach again? Its too cold to swim!"

Their tall friend gave a soft smile down at the blonde. "I just like to visit."

Rei was staring hard at the ocean, glanced over at Makoto, then back at the shinning waves. "Visit what exactly?"

Nagisa tugged Rei away from where Makoto was standing, the waves crashing up to his calves.

"Growing up, Mako had a best friend. They did literally everything together. But when we were fourteen he died." Nagisa said quietly. "He was a good friend of mine too. But he and Mako were in the same class and lived closer together."

"So he drowned at sea?" Rei asked quietly.

"Yeah."

As he adjusted his glasses he nodded solemnly finally understanding. "So that's what he meant by 'visiting'."

"Well…" Nagisa glanced over at Makoto to be sure he wasn't listening. "Makoto really does think he's visiting."

Rei noticed the older boy's lips moving, as if he was conversing with the horizon.

"According to him… well basically, he believes that Haru is still alive."

Wide eyes looked at his shorter friend. "Really? That's unhealthy. Surely someone has explained to him - "

"We tried." Nagisa nodded. "But he always just smiles and says that no, there is no way that Haru could have drowned. He was too good of a swimmer. Which he was! Haru was the best. But there was a storm, and the ocean is strong. And Haru – well we all were – so much smaller then. There's just no way. And if he had survived, then he would have shown up by now. Right?"

Nagisa suddenly looked up at Rei with teary eyes.

Clearing his throat he nodded. "Naturally. It's a terrible thing. And I'm truly sorry I missed the chance to meet a friend of yours. I am worried about Makoto's mental state now though. Would it help maybe if he spoke with – Haru was it? – his parents? Maybe they could grieve together?"

"Maybe that would have worked when it happened, four years ago, but we never saw Haru's parents. They were never around. And no one saw them even after the storm. It was so weird. There was no trace of them at the house. All of Haru's belongings were right where he had left them of course. But as far we could tell it looked like he was living alone."

"Nagisa!"

The blonde and Rei turned to see a newcomer on the beach walking toward them. Maroon hair and frown. Rin.

"I thought you said you were going to stop Makoto from these visits." Rin growled as he stood by them. "Who are you?" He side glanced at Rei.

"Oh hello, I'm a friend of Nagisa and Makoto's, my name is Rei - "

"Nice to meet ya." Rin interrupted before turning back to Nagisa. "Well?"

"I try. But he insists. He says Haru would get lonely without us visiting…"

Rin grimaced. It had been hard on all of them when they lost Haru. But if this keeps up they might lose Makoto to his own lack of sanity. Talking about those who have passed is one thing. But having a conversation with someone who isn't there is what most people consider crazy. And someday, Makoto is going to get caught by someone other than them.

Or – Rin was worried – that it was going to progress into something worse. Right now this only happened at the beach. But if he starts 'talking to Haru' at school, or at home, anywhere really, then it was going to be really bad.

"Maybe we should mention this to his Makoto's parents? They could get someone to help him." Rei suggested.

"He doesn't need help!" Rin snapped. "He needs to just stop." He marched over to where his friend was still standing. "Hey! Makoto!"

Makoto gave him a smile. "Hey Rin. You guys aren't as quiet as you think you are."

"Good!" He snorted. "Then lets go."

"I'm done anyway." Makoto shrugged. "Are we still on tomorrow for practice?"

"Of course."

"Have a good night."

Makoto joined Nagisa and Rei then the three friends walked away. Rin watched them go for a moment before looking out over the waves. Sighing he dropped down to sit in the sand, letting the water just reach his feet. It was relaxing. Soothing. And brought back so many memories of his childhood. Days they played out in the water together. Haru had always stayed away from the water those days. So why – it never made sense – why did that one day did he go in?

How could someone who had won races in pools be so completely incompetent in the ocean? Sure there were currents. But it had swallowed him whole. There wasn't even a body for them to mourn over. The sea had just taken Haru.

"If you are still out there… let Makoto go. You left us! This isn't his fault. So let him go. Let him go so we can let you go!" Rin growled out to the water. "He was your best friend. Don't do this to him."

Once the sun had set fully Rin dusted the sand off his pants before heading home.

Makoto laid awake staring at the ceiling in his room. He had heard what his friends said. He had heard it for years. It was only too clear that his friends thought he was losing his mind. Or already lost it. At first he really had tried to explain to them what he saw. What he knew was there. But it became evident that they weren't going to listen, or even look. So he gave up trying to help them understand. Haru was there. He didn't actually see him today. But he knew that his friend was still there. Because Haruka Nanase could not drown.

"How stupid can I get?" Rin growled.

Earlier when he was on the beach he had left his jacket in the sand. Now it was well past midnight and he just had to hope that someone else didn't take it, or that the tide had reached it and washed it away.

As he got closer he saw someone else standing near the surf holding what looked like his jacket, but it was too dark to see.

"Hello? I lost my jacket, did you find it?" Rin called as he came closer.

The person was a guy about his age, wearing nothing more than a pair of swim shorts that honestly looked quite a bit too small. He had the swimmer build that Rin was very familiar with. Dark hair hid his eyes, until he shook his head slightly and looked over at Rin to reveal two unnaturally bright blue eyes.

Rin felt all the air leave his lungs.

"H-Haru?"

The boy gave a small smile and handed the jacket to him. "Rin."

Please Review!