He knew that he's beautiful.

Even in the water which he considered the last element to practice the acts of beauty with. Even in the water he felt himself to be part of something glorious. Because of them.

Rei recognized the hollow feeling as he stood by the pool. It wasn't about a simple beauty. It was about him being good enough to fit into the picture with the four most beautiful people in the whole world. Well, at least in the whole Japan, he had to admit.

Rei kneeled down and dipped his fingers into the cool water, not quite sighing but letting out a heavy breath nevertheless. The light against the water made him remember his friends and Rin smiling after the relay. Back then it had warmed and ruffled him at the same time, now he felt empty. Everyone acted normally but he himself wasn't sure where he stood.

"Re-ei-chan."

Rei hadn't even heard Nagisa's steps behind him and almost landed on his rear, seeing the other boy's face suddenly close to his own. "Don't scare me like that!"

"I didn't know I was that scary," Nagisa smiled lightly. "Why are you here already, Rei-chan? We don't have our club activity yet in three hours," he then gave Rei a sly expression and pinched his left cheek. "Are you ditching?"

"For your information I'm not irresponsible as you," Rei answered calmly but couldn't hide his irritation as he had to rip Nagisa's fingers off his skin. "My class was canceled so I came here to..."

Exactly. Why had he come in here? Was it because he felt lonely? No. That would have been childish.

"Still, I'm glad," Nagisa spoke out, touching his hand against the water like Rei had done. "I'm glad to see you here when even Haru-chan isn't around. That's a one proof that you've grown attached to water."

Rei looked at the smaller boy. There was special affection on his face. Nagisa moved his fingers under the water, staring at it silently as the sun collided with it and made small shining spots on his eyes. Eyes that Rei knew only Nagisa could have.

"You love water, don't you?" it wasn't even a question, just a fact that Rei saw clearly at that moment.

Nagisa nodded right away and met Rei's gaze. "We all do. That's what connects us, right?"

"I don't know," Rei stood up.

"Don't know what?" Nagisa followed the movement, of course.

This time Rei did sigh. "I don't think I love water."

"You do."

"How can you decide it just like that?" he snapped, adjusting his glasses swiftly. He might like it and love the feeling of being a butterfly in the water. But it didn't change anything.

He was still an outsider.

"I don't. I just know it, Rei-chan," Nagisa grinned widely. "Besides I didn't say it was the only connection."

Now Nagisa was just trying to cheer him up, Rei was sure of it. Nagisa must have caught his sore expression, especially the line of his mouth, which also right now was tense. He was about to clumsily try and impress Rei that he had a place with them. "What else is there?"

But Nagisa didn't open his mouth to explain. Instead he pressed his wet palm against Rei's own wet one, tenderly but with firmness which was unexpected. Holding tight he gave Rei another surprise by leaning close until their foreheads touched. Nagisa's expression was serious and his gaze was slashing right through Rei who felt his face grow hot. He had always been able to read Nagisa, the boy wasn't good at hiding his feelings though he didn't seem to want to do that anyway. Now there was something unrecognizable in the situation and Rei started to ponder if Nagisa wasn't so simple person after all. Maybe he could guess what was bothering Rei better than Rei himself.

Nagisa laced their fingers together and normally Rei would have snapped and pulled away but he couldn't do it now, not when Nagisa's attention felt so strange and comforting at the same time. Noses almost bumped against each other as Nagisa pulled away, once again giving his friend a familiar smile. But something grasped Rei's heart when he saw the sof pink on Nagisa's cheeks.

"That," Nagisa said simply. An answer. He took few steps away from staring Rei and calm pool. "See you later."

Rei could only squeeze the fabric of his pants and try to find some words to say because he was anxious, even more than before. He frowned while Nagisa looked at him. Can I really still swim with you?

"Rei-chan," Nagisa's voice was strong and caught Rei's attention immediately. But his eyes were soft. "If I don't see you at here later, I'm gonna bite you."

Then he turned embarrassed as Rei started to laugh. He didn't go back to class anyway but stayed with Rei for a good while, bothering and annoying him until Rei couldn't fall into his secret doubts anymore. He laughed more and liked it so he decided to keep laughing and that was inevitable with Nagisa and others.

The warmth of Nagisa was with him when he showed up at the rehearsal. He did belong here. The happiness he felt with his three friends was beautiful enough to be a proof of that.

AN:

I am really out of my comfort zone so I don't know if I'm satisfied with it. But you should do it for me! Thanks for reading.

-kirr