"I'm..." A voice echoed through the warm night, darting towards a sole listener. It stuttered for a moment, not sure of itself. He didn't want to say these words. How was it that they hurt physically to say? The boy sighed. When he had finally worked up enough confidence, the voice revived itself to a mere whisper.

"I'm going to Australia now, Haru. I'm leaving."

He closed his eyes tightly, hand squeezing his bag closer into his chest. He couldn't bare to see the reaction of his friend. What would he say? How would he react?

The blue eyed child opened his mouth to speak, but words would not flow. They stood silently, Haru's tongue twitching with the words he couldn't think to say.

It had all happened so quickly. Too quick. Why had he decided to tell them the day that he was going to leave? Why hadn't he given them more of a warning to his departure? Didn't they at least deserve that much? Was a quick goodbye all his friends were worth?

Haru's knuckles began to turn white, his head pointed towards the ground.

That was the last relay they would ever swim in together. That was the last time he would be reminded of the day Rin burst his world with color. How was that fair?

A gentle wind puffed out the unzipped jacket Haru wore. His swimsuit flashed from underneath, reminding himself of the last times he was having at this moment.

Had he already witnessed the last of the smiles he always secretly waited for? After all, Rin wouldn't look at him. He couldn't see the first pair of vibrant eyes he had ever looked into. They were closed tightly, much like the boy himself.

"Rin-"

"Haru, please..." The red-haired child picked his head up steadily, tracing it towards Haru. A painful smile filled his lips.

"Just... Don't say anything... There's nothing.." His grip on his bag loosened, dropping to his side. Rin took a deep sigh as he rubbed his neck.

"There's nothing to say. I don't know if this is the last time we'll swim together, but-"

"What about the colors, Rin?" Haru cut his friend off from his thought, bringing up a topic they had not discussed in some time. They had just left it as it was, figuring it wasn't that big of a deal. What if he could never find out what it all meant? What if Rin left before Haru got his answers?

Haru took a step towards Rin.

"What about what they say? If you leave, then what's going to happen? What will happen to the both of us?"

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, huh? What about the other thing they say about soul mates and distance? What did they call it?

Color Blindness.

The world that had been so vibrant in his friend's presence would grow duller and grayer with each day passing. The water he would gaze at for hours would be reduced to the harsh and cruel slop of lines with no depth or emotion. How could he go back after Rin had shown him so much? How could Rin go back?

The child whipped his head sideways, turning his whole body away from Haru. His eyes once again found themselves staring to the ground.

"I don't know what will happen, Haru. Hey," Rin traced his foot in a small circle, trying to shake off the blue set of pupils on his back.

"What if it was... You know, just a fluke? What if we really aren't meant for each other? I mean, two guys?" A nervous laugh billowed in his throat.

"How stupid is that? What would my dad say? Or our swim team?"

The blue eyes set upon his best friend widened slowly in the words capable of shaking a world of thousands of colors to simple strokes of a pencil. The slight sniffing he heard was soon accompanied by Rin raising his hand to his nose.

"I-I mean, let's get serious, Haru. We would n-never..." The childish tears he tried to wipe away only smeared further across the boy's face. He tried swallowing, but the lump in his throat wouldn't disappear. It felt as though he was beginning to drown. The water he had loved for so long was dragging him down into a bottomless pit that only became darker and darker, draining all color from the world he had grown to love. With the person he loved the most.

Rin's legs gave out, dropping the boy to his knees. His pitiful stare towards the ground grew blurrier as he continued to cry. The tears streamed down, dropping to the ground and wetting the soil. His fist connected with the earth as he slid down further.

"Damn it! Why!? I thought I had decided what I wanted to do! I thought I knew what was going to make me happy! This isn't... This isn't it..." His head slowly made contact with the dirt. Rin shut his eyes tightly.

"Why..?"

Haru stood still, unknowing on what he should do. Nothing he could do would change the fact that Rin was leaving. His best friend was going to Australia whether he now wanted to or not. The fish boy reflected for a moment, taking in the scene around him. He glanced upwards, eying the cherry tree still not in bloom. Behind the bare branches flashed a sunset of oranges, reds, and yellows. Clouds intermingled in this frenzy, bouncing the colors into different shades until they all ultimately reached their inception point. Haru's eyes narrowed nostalgically.

The sun never seemed to shine so brilliantly.

"Rin." It was a commanding voice that picked this boy's head up. It was only now that he realized the ground Haru had covered in the short time he had gone blind. Haruka now sat next to him, eying him deeply. Rin could only sniff.

"There isn't anything you can do about it; You're leaving." Haru stated plainly, and as he usually did.

Rin's eyes widened, unsure of where he was going with this.

Fish boy looked around, eyes adjusting to the scenery around him.

"And we're not going to see each other for a long time. Everything will fade to black and white like before we met. But there is one thing that you can do." Haru glanced back, a faint smile on his face.

"You can keep swimming until the day we meet again. You can become better at what you love. You can become the best. But lastly," Haru leaned into his friend, setting a soft kiss to his lips. Several seconds passed before he decided to retract back to his position.

Defying all logic, red eyes widened even larger in size as they stared back. A redness occupied his cheeks as he heard the words Haru uttered with a fleeting laugh of his.

"You can beat me, Rin."