Authors Note: So this is kinda like a little summary of when they were kids and Haru dealing with his feelings about Rin leaving. The funny thing about this story is that I wrote it for a creative writing class, switched all their names to my guy friends names, turned it in, and got credit lol I wrote it around last year but recently found it going through my docs so I thought why not I'll change their names back an through it up here. Hope you enjoy :)

They hadn't known each other for very long, in fact they had only met that year, but for some reason Haru couldn't bear the thought of loosing his new friend Rin. At first he hadn't even given Rin the time of day, and why would he already had a friend. One was good enough and besides all Rin ever talked about was racing in a relay which would be far to troublesome and go against his belief of swimming free.

Despite his efforts Haru had some how been roped into the relay race along with his new friend along with another boy from their grade. It was hard for him to admit at first but he actually... enjoyed it. But as soon as it had started it was now ending and an uncontrollable sadness had crept it's way into the pit of Harus stomach. Just thinking about made the feeling spin like a nauseating whirlpool and no matter how much mackerel he ate seemed to fix it.

"You could go with me you know, you're good enough", Rin had said, "We could both train abroad."

"I don't want to swim competitively, I only swim free", had been Harus only reply.

And now he sat in his bath tub watching his fingers prune wondering if he should have said something different. Rin was right of course, he was a good enough swimmer to get into his fancy training school but did he really want to leave his home and all of the friends he grew up to follow one he had just met? In the back of his mind he could feel a mute knocking at his thoughts. The more he thought about the knocking the louder it grew until he finally realized that the knocking was coming from the bathroom door.

The door opened without him having to say anything and his best friend Makoto entered the room, which was fine because Haru was, as always, wearing his swim trunks. This was a completely normal habit for the two of them. They had known each other since kindergarten and Makoto had quickly discovered that if no pools were available the bathtub was the next best place to search for him. Haru just stared up at Makotos kind smiling face, waiting for him to do the talking.

"I thought I'd find you in here. We've been trying to call you for an hour but you never answered. We're having Rins going away party today", he said.

Haru looked away when he mentioned Rin. He wasn't sure why he was avoiding his friend on the last day he would be able to see him. It would be at least a year until he got to see him again and that was assuming that Rin would remember to visit them during the holidays.

Makoto put his hand out to help Haru out of the bathtub. "Come on lets get ready to go over to Rins", he said with a reassuring smile or he would have said that but with Haru he rarely had to speak. They had been close for so long that a simple look was all that was required to know what the other meant.

Haru reached up and grabbed Makotos hand, letting him pull him out of the tub and gently drape a towel around his shoulders the way he always did and let lead him out of the bathroom but instead of heading to his bedroom to put clothes over his bathing suit, since he always had to have his bathing suit on just in case the opportunity to swim presented itself, haru headed towards the kitchen.

"What are you doing? We're going to be late", Makoto said a little alarmed as Haru put an apron over his swim trunks and took out a frying pan.

"I'm making mackerel", he replied in his usual monotone.

"This isn't the time to be making mackerel, that'll take to long. Don't you want to see Rin before he leaves?"

Haru stopped for a second and stared at his frying pan deep in thought.

"No", Haru said and put the pan on the stove.

"No?", Makoto repeated both surprised and confused.

When Haru didn't elaborate Makoto continued. "But you guys are friends. I know Rin would want to see you before he leaves", he said.

"Would he", Haru asked.

"Yes, I really do. Why would you think otherwise", Makoto asked.

Haru wasn't really sure why, or if he even thought that at all. He also wasn't sure why he was stalling or why he always thought eating mackerel was the best solution for his somersaulting stomach.

He thought back to all of the time he had missed out with Rin when he first transferred to their grade school that year. Rin had gone to all of the same swim events as Haru and had even tried striking up a conversation with him but Haru had always given him one word answers, refusing to continue the conversation.

It wasn't that Haru was shy or anything, he was just comfortable. He had grown up with his best friend Makoto who understood him better than anyone and didn't see a need to try to make more friends. By the end of the year Rin was able to show him just how wrong he was.

When the middle of the year came around and Rin began nagging Haru and Makoto about joining a relay race Haru, of course, had said no and Makoto, always the nice guy, had said yes. A fellow swimmer, Nagisa, joined very enthusiastically. In fact he had personally asked Rin if he could join and jumped up and down with excitement when he said yes.

With a team of three they only needed one more person to complete their team and so it was left up to Haru to let them swim or not. As it got closer to the competition he started to feel bad, Makoto kept reminding him that it would be fun, and Nagisa would follow him around the school bugging him to join. By that time Rin had laid off and Haru wondered if he had given up on him until one day, as they were passing in the hallway he said, "It will be worth it, I promise. I'll show you a sight you've never seen."

Haru signed up the next day without hesitation. He couldn't quite understand why he had decided to join but for some reason Rins words rolled around his head all night while he tossed and turned in his bed.

The four of them started to practice together before the competition and decide on who would swim what. Haru refused to swim any other stroke besides freestyle and Makoto was the most comfortable with the backstroke which left the butterfly and breaststroke. Rin, being the physically stronger one, took the butterfly which left the breaststroke to Nagisa.

With only a couple of weeks to prepare they met up almost every day and before they could even tell what was happening, the four of them had begun to bond with each other.

When the day of the race finally arrived Nagisa asked Rin why he had been so intent on entering the relay race. Haru immediately felt bad that this thought had never crossed his mind a single time the whole time they had been practicing together but his face gave nothing away as Rin explained.

His fathers dream had been to become an Olympic swimmer but instead he got married and became a fisherman. One night at sea his father was taken away from him during a storm before he was able to complete his dream so it was Rins mission to complete that dream for him. Before he left to another country to train Rin thought it would be good luck to join his fathers grade school and swim in a relay just as his father had.

They won the race that day and took a picture to savor the moment. It wasn't the trophy that made it worth it, it was the shared expression of happiness on everyones faces. From the moment they started the race they all knew that even in that short amount of time they had all grown together and were able to have fun swimming as a team in what was usually a solo sport.

Haru almost wished he hadn't swam in that relay. If he hadn't swam in it he would have never met Nagisa or Rin or known what it was like to be on a team. But even though he wished that he knew it wasn't true.

"Alright lets go see Rin", Haru said turning the stove off, except the stove was already off. Haru looked down at it confused.

"You never turned it on", Makoto said smiling.

That Makoto, Haru thought, he knew he didn't really want to stall and miss out on seeing Rin.

Haru put the frying pan away and even exchanged his apron for some pants and a shirt before the pair made their way to Rins house.

Haru tried to play it cool and stand off to the side somewhere once they got there but Rin immediately intercepted him, embracing him in a warm hug.

"I didn't think you were going to come", Rin said almost in tears.

"I wasn't sure if you would notice I was here or not", Haru said just standing there.

"Of course I would you idiot, you're my friend", Rin said laughing a little.

"Rin...thank you. You we're right, it was worth it", Haru said and for the first time hugged him back.

"I'm glad", Rin said before they let each other go.

"You won't change you're mind about leaving then?"

"No. You won't change you're mind about staying?"

"No."

"I guess you'll just have to practice more than ever so you can still keep up with me when I come back to visit", Rin said with a grin.

"I only swim free", Haru said and smiled just a tiny bit. An exercise his face wasn't quite used to but at least now his stomach wasn't doing dolphin flips anymore.

Authors Note: I think if I remember correctly the line about seeing a sight you've never seen was from them racing each other but I got lazy and cut it out, sorry :( also I got the title from one of the lyrics in the first opening song :)