Hello, Makoharites! Did you enjoy chapter 1? Here's chapter 2


Chapter 2:

It was the first day of University and Makoto's alarm didn't go off on time. When he woke up he reach over and grabbed his alarm clock realizing he had set it for 7:00pm instead of am.

"Oh no! I'm late!" Makoto scrambled to throw on a shirt and his khakis. He quickly brushed his teeth, grabbed his backpack he packed and left by the door the night before and ran out the door, down the hall and down the stairs out the front door of the dormitory.

When he arrived to class, the teacher along with the entire class stared at him as he sat down in a chair next to a dark brown haired, athletically built man with sad blue eyes. Makoto took out his textbook.

"Your name, sir?" The Professor asked him as he sat down. "Huh?" Makoto responded. The Professor fixed his glasses upon his face and repeated himself frustrated with the brunette. "I said, what is your name?" Makoto answered slightly nervously. "Oh! Tachibana, sir. Makoto Tachibana." The Professor narrowed his eyes at him then spoke in a rather annoyed tone. "Mr. Tachibana, next time you plan on being late for my class…don't. Otherwise, don't show up at all. It is rather disruptive to my class." He turned his back to the class and began writing on the board as he continued teaching where he left off before Makoto entered the room.

The attractive male next to him leaned over and whispered. "Don't worry. He's strict, but if you pay attention and do the work, there is no way you can fail. You'll be okay, mate." Makoto gave him a friendly smile. "Thanks" He whispered back to him and began taking notes until class ended an hour later.

Back in Jupiter, Haruka was still sleeping. Since he didn't have any obligations during the day, there was no reason for him to wake up early. Haruka was asleep in his bed with the kitten sleeping on top of his chest. The black-haired dolphin boy didn't wake up until noon. Haruka stretched and rolled slowly out of bed.

He reached for his cellphone, which lay on his bedside table and checked for any text messages. Hoping to get a message from Makoto, he was disappointed to only see a message from Rin that read:

Hey Haru! I hope you're doing okay. I am in town for a little on a week's break from training. We should have a race.. Hmu ~Rin

"Huh. Rin is home." Haruka placed his phone down, but not before messaging Makoto asking him how his first day was going.

Haruka wandered in to the kitchen and opened the fridge to find he had no Mackerel left.

"No mackerel." He muttered to himself.

Haruka slammed the fridge shut and trudged back into his room and threw on a shirt and shoes and walked out the front door.

As he walked down the street he noticed all the people around him with places to go and things to do. They had a purpose in their lives. Something Haruka couldn't seem to find. It only took a couple minutes to walk to the fish market. The fish market wasn't big, but it was one of Haruka's favorite places to be. As he walked down the row of vendors he came to the one vendor who's table was at the end of the row. Placed along the table were pounds upon pounds of fresh Mackerel. It was his best product.

The old man tending the table looked over and saw Haruka standing in front of the table. "Haru! Hello, son. Here to purchase some more fish?" Haruka just nodded. The old man continued to talk as he packed up a few pounds of Mackerel for Haruka. "You know, I am glad you are here. A lot of the consumers are buying from those big grocery stores now. It's more convenient for them, but since when did convenience take priority over better quality?" Haruka shrugged and the man handed him the fish as Haruka handed him the money. "You take care now, Haru. Hope to see you again." Haruka nodded. "Yes. Thank You."

Haruka began walking back to the apartment when he ran into Rin who was jogging down the street. Rin stopped and hugged Haruka tightly.

"Haru! I'm so glad to see you!" He released the fish lover from his embrace and stepped back and stood in front of him.

"So. How are you, Haru?" Haruka answered with rather little emotion. "I'm fine." Rin didn't quite believe him. He knew Haruka was quite and reserved, but something seemed off about him. "Hey Haru, isn't school in session now? Why aren't you at University?"

Haruka never told Rin about what happened and how he left University a year ago. He didn't know how to explain it to him. He simply looked up at the redheaded swimmer and lied.

"I'm taking some time off." He said.

Rin looked a bit confused, but didn't pry. "Okay, well do you want to meet up later for a race? " Rin raised his eyebrow at Haruka trying to entice the swimmer into accepting the offer.

Haruka declined. "No, sorry. I'm busy."

Rin looked a bit disappointed the water loving, dolphin boy didn't want to race with him. "Okay well, see you later then?" Haruka nodded and continued walking to the apartment with the mackerel in his hands.

Rin stood and watch him walk away confused by Haruka's latest attitude. When Haruka turned the corner out of sight, Rin continued his jog in the opposite direction. When he arrived home he placed the fish in the fridge leaving one out to cook. He changed into his swim trunks and apron and turned on the stovetop. He placed the fish in the pan and fried it until it was cooked all the way through. When finished he placed it on a plate and sat alone at the kitchen table with the small kitten at his feet.

Haruka looked down at the kitten and smiled. It reminded him of Makoto. He dropped a piece of fish at the kitten's feet and continued eating his own.

Meanwhile, Makoto was struggling through his first day. It was Monday so he had classes until 2pm that day. After classes he had swim tryouts. Makoto arrived at tryouts 20 minutes early so he could stretch and prepare. However, Makoto wasn't the only one who arrived early. When Makoto arrived he noticed the same man from his early morning class. He was wearing black swim trunks with white and grey stripes down the leg. The man noticed Makoto and began to walk toward him.

"Hey! Tachibana isn't it?" Makoto gave a friendly smile. "Yes. Makoto or Mako for short." The two men shook hands. "I'm Sousuke. Sosuke Yamazaki". The men smiled at each other. "It's nice to meet you. So you're trying out for the swim team?" Sosuke chuckled. "Yes." Makoto felt utter embarrassment. "Oh, sorry. That was a stupid question. Of Course you're here for the tryouts!"

Sosuke thought his rambling was cute. "Relax Mako" The man placed a hand on his shoulder. "We're going to have some fun today okay?" Makoto got nervous. "Umm okay."

The rest of the swimmers started to shuffle in along with the coach. Sosuke walked away from Makoto and left him to finish stretching. Sosuke was speaking with the coach while the other swimmers were talking amongst each other.

"Okay everyone!" The coach called over everyone as he stood on top of one of the starting blocks. The room silenced as he spoke. "Okay we'll be watching all of you today so do your best, but most of all have fun. Alright let's get to work!" Everyone shuffled to his or her place along the pool. The coach ran drill after drill until he was sure he had seen enough.

At the end of tryouts, Makoto was the last one to get out of the water. A hand appeared in front of him and he looked up to see the bright, blue-eyed captain before him. Grabbing hold of his hand, Sosuke pulled Makoto out of the pool. "Thank You." Makoto showed his gratitude toward the attractive swimmer. "You're welcome." Sosuke handed him a towel and the two walked in to the locker room together as they began talking about the tryouts.

"So do you know when they'll put the roster up?" Makoto inquired. Sosuke nodded. "It should be up by Thursday at noon." Makoto dried his hair and threw on his shirt. "Cool. Thanks." Sosuke gave a small, but cute smile. "No problem. Hey do you want to go get something to eat?" Makoto nodded. "Yes. I'm hungry."

The two walked out the locker room and toward the door to the outside. "So what dorm you in?" Sosuke asked. "Makoto replied. "Oh, I'm in Orca. What about you?" Sosuke looked rather nervous by his question. "Well, actually. I got here late last night so I stayed in a hotel. I have to go pick up my key. Want to walk with me?" Makoto chuckled and nodded. "Sure thing."

The two headed across campus to the student life building where Sosuke picked up his dorm key. "You're in Orca hall, second floor," the receptionist who gave him his key said to him. Makoto was curious. "Hey what's the room number?" Sosuke looked at the information he was given to see he was staying in the room next to Makoto. "Hey you're rooming next to me. Listen, Why don't you come back to the dorm. We'll get showered and changed and go eat. Then I'll grab my car and help you move your stuff in." Sosuke nodded smiling genuinely. "Thank You so much, Mako." Makoto didn't know why he was being so nice to someone he had just met.

Guess I would want someone to help me out if I were he.

Little did Makoto know it was a little more than his own kindness that was causing him to be so friendly.


Wanna hear a bad whale joke? Ready? What do you call a baby whale?

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...A little squirt! Swim free everyone!