All That Glitters Is Not Gold

Iwatobi Swim Club Free! Oneshot

By LilyTheNinjaGirl

Set right at the beginning of Haru's freestyle race at the end of Episode 9 in Eternal Summer (Season 2) (the one where he stands up). This is an alternate ending. I have no idea where this idea came from *starts laughing* *starts crying*

Haruka Nanase placed his goggles over his eyes and squeezed them into place. Despite being dressed in only a swimsuit, he was sweating. He placed one foot and then the other onto the platform and crouched forward. Looking up, he felt the neon lights bear through his cerulean eyes. Whereas he normally felt transparent and carefree in this position, suddenly he felt really heavy, as if something was weighing him down.

A whistle blew. Haru felt his muscles tense automatically, and he nearly spazzed in a knee-jerk response. Something was wrong. He was never tense before a race. Cramps? He hadn't eaten anything since his breakfast. A second whistle blew. With sudden panic, Haru realized that his breathing was coming in short gasps. He desperately drew in and released long breaths, trying to slow down his heart beat like every amateur swimmer knew was incredibly important to do. It didn't help. His breathing kept getting more and more shallow. He nearly choked as the final whistle blew, but he thrust himself forward anyway.

His position of entry was wrong. So very wrong, and he knew it. It was an unwelcome feeling, one that he had never experienced before. His angle of entry had always been perfect. It shook him.

"What is wrong with me?" he thought desperately, thrusting his hands forward and trying to pull himself forward in the water faster. If anything, he moved slower.

Back in the stands, Gou and Coach Sasabe were screaming their lungs off cheering for him. Rei was leaning over the balcony, a tense look on his face. Makoto was intently watching Haru fall slightly more behind the other swimmers.

"His entry angle was off," Rei muttered.

"And he's losing ground," Makoto responded quietly. Nagisa threw himself in between them.

"Come on guys! I bet Haru is doing it on purpose! He'll let everyone else get overconfident, and then BAM! He'll sweep in for the win and impress the scouts! Cheer him on!" Nagisa shouted. Makoto looked away. Unless Haru had a sudden change of heart, that seemed like the last thing that would happen.

Meanwhile, Rin was scowling from where he stood with the rest of the Sumezuka team, a few feet away from the pool's edge. What was that idiot doing? He knew that there were major scouts here, who were undoubtedly going to be keeping their eyes on him! He felt irritation well up inside of him as he watched Haru lose ground.

In the pool, Haru wasn't worried about how far behind he was falling. He dragged himself forward, and every movement made his muscles burn a little more. His legs felt like they were filled with lead, and his chest was about to collapse. He desperately pushed himself forward. His mind was reeling. It was like the water was holding him back. He could feel himself being dragged down. His chest was burning. He was only half-way through the first lap.

His air supply was getting lower and lower. He was drawing in less air every time he tilted his head. His heart was pumping too fast, using the oxygen far too quickly. His lungs throbbed. Spots began to appear in his vision, twisting the beautiful blue of the water into a whirlwind of blurred colors. He couldn't tell which way was up and which way was down.

He twisted his head in one last attempt to suck in a lungful of air… Only to nearly swallow several mouthfuls of chlorinated water. His nose burned and he began to choke on the water, only to have more enter his mouth. When had his goggles slipped off? He fought for air, only to be beat down again and again. He couldn't move his arms or legs anyway. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he should curl up and try to float, but he was so tired. So, so tired…

The water wrapped its greedy grasp around him, yanking him down, down, down. His vison started to fade. He tried to thrash around, but to no avail. He had wasted his energy beforehand. The pool was only about 7 feet deep, but to Haru it seemed as bottomless as the ocean. Everything hurt, everything burned. The water betrayed him. That was his last thought before he slipped into unconsciousness.

Rei had a feeling that something was wrong with Haru, and that feeling was slowly becoming a reality. He watched as Haru swam slower and slower. It didn't seem like his friend was able to bring his head to the side for air often enough. Rei's stomach twisted in knots. Haru was normally beautiful and free when he swam. Now he seemed almost burdened, like someone had tied an anchor to him. Rei began to panic slightly as Haru reached the halfway mark of the pool while every other competitor was preparing to turn.

Behind him, Gou's cheers had dwindled down and now she sat staring at the pool, her eyes widening a bit. Coach Sasabe scratched his head, and Ms. Amakata looked very concerned. Rei watched Haru slow to almost a dead halt, and when he turned he saw that even Nagisa had a look of extreme worry on his face. Even worse than that, when he caught Rei watching him he didn't even force a smile.

Nothing, however, could compare to the look on Makoto's face. Makoto, who was normally so confident and easy-going. It brought Rei back to the night two years ago during training camp. It brought back the memory of the cold waves slapping his body, threatening to drag him under. He could taste the salt from the ocean in his mouth. And Makoto's face had reverted to that same, fearful, monstrous look that Rei had seen only once before, that fearful night. His pupils had shrunk and the green in his eyes glinted dangerously.

Rei turned back to the pool, heart pounding. "Surely Haru is alright. He's going to stand up any minute now. It's a cramp. Or he's just being stubborn again and refusing to swim for the scouts. It'll all be okay. It'll all be okay," he told himself over and over again.

The entire stadium was dead silent, save for the splashes of the other swimmers as they passed the now nearly still Haruka, oblivious.

"His feet will touch the bottom any minute now," Nagisa said softly, holding back tears. He was crushing Rei's hand in his own. Seconds felt like hours. Haru stopped moving. The rippling water made it unclear as to what was going on. Finally, it was clear that Haru was not okay.

"HARUKA!" Makoto screamed, in a voice so fearful and shrill that it made Rei want to throw up. He grabbed Makoto's shoulder to keep the boy from scrambling over the balcony and attempting to drop 30 feet. He looked so desperate that he wasn't thinking straight. Makoto shoved Rei off of him and back against the bleachers, snarling. Nagisa grabbed Makoto's arm and dragged him towards the stairs to the pool deck.

Before Makoto even started moving, before the state-required pool life-guard had woken up from his nap and realized that a professional swimmer appeared to be drowning, Rin was sprinting towards the pool with reckless abandon. He dove in and swam through six lanes, his stroke tearing up the pool as he raced to get to Haru.

Haru, who appeared to be unconscious and had been underwater for far too long. Rin grabbed Haru's hand and pulled him above surface. As he broke the water's surface, the chlorinated water mixed with the tears that were streaming down his face as he frantically dragged his friend to the edge of the pool. Haru was completely limp, his head falling into the crevice in Rin's neck. Makoto, Rei, and Nagisa helped pull Haru out from the water and lay him on the tile surrounding the pool. Rin jumped out and threw himself next to his best friend and childhood idol.

Rei had already started CPR, knowing exactly what to do. After several minutes, Haru still hadn't responded. The pool medic finally arrived with a defibrillator, and yelled at everyone to clear the area. Nagisa gently pulled Rin a few paces back and started sobbing into his chest. Rei and Makoto soon joined in, hugging each other. Nitori looked hopelessly at his team captain and the three sobbing boys surrounding him.

Suddenly, Haru began heaving and throwing up water. Rin and Makoto threw themselves down on the ground, while Rei and Nagisa continued to hug each other and cry. Haru's body jerked as he wracked and his lungs tried to clear himself of water. His eyelids fluttered for a half a second before he went limp again. His skin was pale and his breathing came in labored spasms. Makoto clung to Haru for all he was worth, until the medical team finally forced him aside so that they could lift the unconscious teen into a stretcher.

Rin was in a daze as he watched it all happen. Everything was kind of blurry and unreal. His tears made his vision worse, but his heart felt numb. He was the one who pushed Haru, he was always the one who pushed Haru! Who lectured him about his future and who made him race today. This was his fault if Haru didn't make it.

Nagisa reached over and brushed Haru's bangs out of his eyes before the medics turned and left, heading for the ambulance and taking their fallen brother with them. Nagisa collapsed into a little ball on the ground. The pool security came down and tried to escort everyone back to a more private area. Rin didn't follow the others. He sat himself down on a bench in the stadium.

The rest of the days swimming events came and went. Whistles blowing, people cheering, the slapping sound of the swimmers' bodies against the water. Rin heard none of it. Nitori, Momo, Gou, and Soususke all came over and tried to talk to him. He angrily shoved them away. He kept his head buried in his hands and refused to meet their eyes.

He only left when the pool security came and told him that they were closing and locking the stadium. Rin turned to leave, but before he went he stopped and stared at the pool. This was the water that Haruka was so addicted to. This was the water that had nearly killed him. Rin felt a surge of anger. He longed to lash out, to punch the water, to strangle the breath out of it like it did to Haru. But you can't hurt water. The water doesn't care.

Rin turned on his heel and stomped out of the stadium, his heart throbbing and his eyes brimming with tears he refused to let fall.

TBC