Water roared in his ears, parted as he cut a path through it. There was a slight surge in the lane beside him, signaling a competitor was pulling out all the stops for the last spurt. But he still had gas in the tank and pushed himself even harder. His hand slapped against the concrete wall and his head broke the surface of the water. Automatically his mouth opened to take in the air that his lungs craved. His chest rose and fell as he tried to even out his breathing, but bright blue eyes moved up, locking on the results board.

First place and a personal best. He nearly smiled.

Haru heaved himself up out of the pool, and was met with his Coach and some of his teammates. He received a mixture of congratulations and constructive criticisms. The swimmer nodded, listening, but he was certainly distracted. Kiyoko was somewhere in the crowd, and he was really looking forward to meeting up with her. She wasn't often able to come to his races because either they were too far away or her own work schedule didn't mesh with race times.

He rushed through his shower and got redressed in a hurry. As he was packing up his duffle bag to head out, he heard his cellphone begin to ring. Seeing it was Kiyoko, he answered it in a rush.

"Hey."

"Hey! I was hoping you'd answer! I'm waiting for you right outside the entrance."

"I'll be out in a minute."

"You don't have to hurry!"

He replied, "I'm not hurrying."

One of his teammates snickered and he ignored him, listening as Kiyoko informed him, "You're coming back to my place."

"Why?"

"Makoto and I thought we'd celebrate your win! I have wine and I stopped at the market this morning to get stuff to make dinner."

"You didn't have to do that."

"We wanted to! See you when you finish, okay?"

"Alright."

He hung up and was immediately swarmed by three of his teammates who he had grown close to. With a devilish grin, Kaito asked, "Who are you in a rush to go see, Haru?"

"Your girlfriend?" Mitsuo pressed.

Not liking the attention, he simply nodded. Takumi inquired, "Are we finally going to meet her?"

Haru sighed. "You aren't going to let me walk out of here alone, are you?"

"No way," Mistuo grinned widely.

"Come on," he conceded begrudgingly.

The four swimmers left the locker room, heading toward the front of the building. They reached the doors in a few moments, and Haru nearly forgot his friends were there when he saw Kiyoko leaning against a pillar near the entrance. She looked up from her phone upon hearing the doors open, and a huge grin split her face. He barely had time to notice that she wore a lavender high low dress before her arms were around him.

"Congratulations! You were amazing, Haruka!" she said with a smile. She placed a peck on his lips, unable to completely contain her excitement.

The other three swimmers made themselves known by a chorus of "Aw's" which prompted the couple to separate. Kiyoko clearly hadn't noticed them at first, her cheeks flushing to a rosy hue. However, she greeted them with a smile and said, "You all did really well."

"Thanks," Kaito replied. He and the other two introduced themselves before he said, "It's a pleasure to finally meet the saint who can put up with Haru."

"Trust me, he's the saint for putting up with me," she replied with a laugh.

Haru relaxed slightly, seeing that they were all getting along amicably. He hadn't really been worried, because Kiyoko could get along with anyone. Kiyoko turned to look up at him, her expression telling him she had just remembered something. "Makoto is probably waiting for us at my place."

"Oh, kinky," Takumi teased, elbowing Haru lightly.

"We're having dinner," the blue eyed male replied dryly.

Ever polite, Kiyoko offered, "You'd be welcome to come, if you'd like. Makoto went back before me to start some of the cooking."

The three exchanged glances before Matsuo spoke for them, "We'd never decline an opportunity to observe Haru with a girl."

With another good natured laugh, she said, "Alright, let's head to the train station then."

She turned and began making her way toward the nearest station. Haru made to follow, but Kaito grabbed his arm, halting him. "Man, she is hot! How did you even manage that?"

"Yeah, how is a cute girl like her attracted to the stoic swimmer?" Takumi laughed.

"Haru?" He turned at Kiyoko's voice. She had stopped, noticing they hadn't followed her right away.

Turning to his friends he ordered, "Be nice. No teasing her."

They grinned mischievously but agreed. He turned and caught up to Kiyoko, switching his duffle bag to the other shoulder so he could lace their fingers together. The other three swimmers had soon caught up, and began asking Kiyoko about what she was studying, and about how her semester was going. She answered and asked questions of them, too, and the group held the conversation throughout the entire train ride easily. It wasn't long before they reached Kiyoko's apartment and met up with Makoto.

More introductions were made, and as Makoto got better acquainted with the other swimmers, Kiyoko told him, "I figured with more people, we may as well just order in. I texted Makoto while we were waiting for the train, so he didn't get too involved in cooking dinner."

Haru nodded, but said, "You didn't need to invite them. It's just more effort for you."

She gave him a soft smile and said, "Haru, they're your friends."

"So?"

"So it didn't feel right excluding them."

"They would have been fine."

She rolled her steel eyes and said, "You're the one making this difficult."

"I'm just saying," he muttered. Kiyoko just chuckled lightly and place her lips on his in a chaste kiss.

Another chorus of cooing signaled that his friends hadn't been exaggerating when they said they were keen to observe their relationship. Haru turned to them and gave them a look of warning. The group of young adults moved into the living room and Kiyoko began pouring and passing out the wine. They talked for quite a while, about school, swimming, movies, and so on, until they decided it was high time to order something to eat. With their decisions made and the order placed, conversation resumed and continued to flow.

When the doorbell rang, Haru moved to go answer the door, when Kiyoko placed a gently hand on his shoulder. To answer his unasked question, she said, "No, no; it's my treat."

"But-"

"Don't worry about it," she assured, and quickly moved to get the door.

The rest of the night passed enjoyably, and although Haru was glad that his new friends got along well with two of the most important people in his life, he was glad when the group disbanded and it was just him and Kiyoko. They cleaned up, making idle chatter about the successful night, before retiring to her bedroom. Each took turns getting ready until they were tucked into her bed.

Blue eyes watched Kiyoko lean over to her nightstand and turn on her little constellation projector. Once she had settled beside him again, he reached across the sheet for her hand. When he found it, he pulled it closer, idly tracing shapes on her palm with his thumb.

"I could have paid for dinner. They're my friends."

"Is that really bothering you?" she laughed. "Haru, it's okay. I invited them. It honestly wasn't a problem."

He was silent for a moment, before deciding to let it go. "Thanks. I had a good night."

"I'm glad," she said, sidling in closer to him. "I really enjoy watching you swim. It makes me happy when I'm able to go to one of your meets."

"I like it when you come, too." He wrapped his arms around her and tucked her beneath his chin. "It helps, knowing there's someone there for me, not for my time or records."

"I wish I could go to more."

He smiled softly and assured, "You do a lot for me already."

A/N: Thank you for continuing to read, favorite and follow! I have this story almost completely written (one chapter left!) so I think I will try to post three times a week.