-Two-
"Haru…" Rin ran his fingers through the dark headed male's hair, "Haru…You should wake up…"
"Nnn…" Haru blinked from the sunlight spilling into his bedroom, "What is it, Rin?" He rolled over, nuzzling his face into Rin's bare chest.
"We should go swimming," Rin smirked, "Just you and me."
Not that Haru disliked the idea of swimming, he practically lived in the water, but where could they go to swim alone? Haru glanced up at Rin in confusion, "What?"
"Oh, come on, you love swimming, Haru," Rin smirked, "It'll be fun."
"But where are we going?" Haru questioned, "Every place I can think of will have other people there."
Rin chuckled and ruffled Haru's hair gently, "That's the fun part. Come on," Rin slid out from under the covers and pulled on his boxers, "Let's get dressed so we can get going, okay?"
Haru half smiled, "Okay."
When Haru got home he had three new voicemails. He sighed and held it up to his ear and listened.
"Haruka-San," Gou's voice chimed on the other end, "We have an extra practice today at two. So please be there, okay? See you soon!"
Haru continued up the stairs as the next message played, "Haru-Chan~!" Nagisa sounded more excited than usual, "We should all get together for the fireworks next week~! It'll be really fun~!"
He sighed and walked into the bathroom, kicking off his shoes.
"Haru?" A familiar voice came from the phone's speaker.
He froze.
"Um…Hey, it's Rin," Haru leaned back against the wall, "I'm sorry I haven't called…Um…It's been alright here I guess…Um…Just…If you get a chance…If you feel like talking…you should…just…"
"End of message. Would you like to hear them again?"
Haru pulled his phone from his ear before staring at it a moment.
"End of message. Would you like to hear them again?"
His breath was caught in his throat. Tears stung his eyes. Rin's voice? Was that really Rin's voice?
"End of message. Would you like to hear them again?"
Haru pressed the end button before sliding down the wall into a sitting position. He stayed like that for a while in shock before the ring of his cell phone jerked him back into reality. He pushed answer and held it to his ear before even checking the ID, "Rin, I-"
"Haru?" Gou's voice echoed on the other end, "Is everything okay?"
The dark haired boy sighed and let his head hang, "Yeah…I was just getting around to taking a bath."
"A bath?" Gou sounded confused, "Um, Okay? So you aren't coming to practice then?"
"Practice?" Haru looked at the wall clock. It read 2:05, "Oh, I'm sorry, Gou. I'll be there soon."
"Okay!" You could almost hear her smile, "I'll see you!"
He hung up and sighed before walking to his room to pull on fresh clothes over his swimsuit. He wanted to be in the water. He wanted to swim free. It was just harder than it used to be. This time when Rin left it was different. It hurt more this time.
When he walked outside he wasn't greeted with the overly bright sun that had been present when he'd first arrived home. This time he was greeted with grey clouds blanketing the sky. He looked up and sighed; it looked like it could rain. And rain meant they'd have to rebalance the chemicals in the pool.
"Haru-Chan~!" Nagisa waved from the diving platform as Haru rounded the fence, "So glad you could make it!"
"Yeah," Haru pushed the fence open, "Let me just go change and I'll be right out."
He walked into the small pool house and pushed his clothes into a locker before walking back out. Gou was sitting in a chair at the end of the pool smiling as she balanced her clipboard in one hand and a stopwatch in the other, "Ah, Haruka-San," She smiled, "Nice of you to join us. We were going to time our averages in the 100m and relay races so we can get ready for the exhibition in a few weeks. So would you mind going after Rei-San finishes?"
"Fine," Haru rounded the pool and came to stand behind Rei as he mounted the platform. Gou sat with a whistle in her mouth, ready to blow it. As soon as she did, Rei dove into the water and began his butterfly. She kept her focus on both her stopwatch and Rei as he swam. When he reached the wall she blew her whistle again and recorded the time on her clipboard, "You trimmed off a few seconds, Rei-San," She smiled, "Good job."
He pulled himself from the water and let his goggles slide to hang around his neck, "Still not perfect…" He sat stood beside her to look at the clipboard, "But at least there's improvement."
Gou smiled, "All right, Haruka-San, let's see if you can trim your average a little, okay?"
Haru climbed up on the platform. He slid his goggles down over his eyes and lowered into a stretching position.
"You can do it, Haru," Makoto smiled.
Haru remained focused on the water. Gou blew the whistle and he dove in. It started out decent. Not good, but decent. His turn was a little sloppier than he would have liked it to be. He came up on his finishing lap when his muscles suddenly became sluggish. It was like he was swimming through quicksand. He fought to get to the end of the pool. When he finally touched the wall he came up and took in a sharp breath. Gou clicked off the stopwatch and knitted her brows together before writing the time down. Haru didn't need to hear her say he'd gotten slower. He started to pull himself up but then hesitated and slid back into the water.
"Haru?" Mako stood at the edge of the pool, his hand extended to his friend, "Is everything okay?"
Haru looked up at him, "Yeah," He took Makoto's hand and pulled himself from the water with the brunette's aid, "Thanks."
Gou watched them for a moment before she shook her head, "Um, Makoto-San, it's your turn to time your backstroke."
"Okay," Makoto climbed down into the pool and suspended himself from the platform. Gou blew her whistle and the brunette flew back into the water, swimming smoothly. His arms cut through the water in clean, concise movements.
Haru sat at the edge of the water and watched. He didn't need to ask himself what was wrong with him. He knew why he wasn't swimming well. He just couldn't manage to focus anymore. His brain didn't want to concentrate on anything but…Rin…
He stood and headed towards the pool house.
"Haruka-San?" Gou finished writing Makoto's time on her clipboard, "Where are you going? We haven't timed the relay yet!"
He paused, but kept his back to his team, "I need a break."
"A break?" Nagisa stepped closer, "A break from what, Haru-Chan? You just got here!"
"I just…" Haru continued towards the pool house, "Need a break from swimming right now."
The rest of group stood there shocked. Haru continued into the pool house. He turned his knob for the shower and stood beneath the cool water. He closed his eyes and let the water flow over his body. The cold water numbed his skin a bit, but he didn't care. He was holding back his team. They were probably sick of him anyways.
"Haru," Mako's voice reverberated off the walls. Haru turned off the shower and fluffed his towel through his hair, "Can we talk about this?"
Haru looked away and started to pull on his clothes, "I would really rather not."
"Haru, Please," Makoto sat a hand on the other's shoulder, "If you would just let me help you."
Haru turned to look at the brunette, "Makoto…"
"You don't need to shut everyone out," He looked into Haru's eyes just as rain began to pour outside, "We're still here for you, okay?"
Haru glanced at the tiled floor, "…Okay…"
Makoto smiled, "A break is okay, but, please, don't quit swimming like before. We need you."
Haru looked back up at him, "…Okay…I'll try…"
Makoto ruffled Haru's hair, "Remember, We can talk anytime about this, Okay?"
Makoto turned back out to the pool to go. He took a few steps before he heard Haru mumble a faint, "…Okay…"