Disclaimer: I do not own Free!

Author's note is below. Do give this a review, favorite and follow if you want more!

Enjoy :)

Chapter 3

.

"The strangest things can bring people together. Separation is unexpected but still to be expected."

.

Aoi's POV

.

"Oh Aoi~ Bring Puga out for a walk, will you? That's my good girl!"

My mother gave me a bright smile as gestured at the 4 month old pug, as she then pushed a lead towards me without waiting for my reply. She ruffled my short hair before leaving.

I looked blankly at the lead in my hand as I glanced at the little fawn-coloured pug.

Sure, the new pug was adorable, but I could still remember the I attempted to walk it back home from the pet shop. I was already running behind on schedule, and the pug was surprisingly quite... hyperactive. After a while, I had given up on walking it and just picked it up and ran straight home.

The little dog was currently sitting on the floor. I could feel my heart melt as I looked at it's wide-puppy dog eyes.

Suddenly, it started to give a small whine, sounding almost sorrowful, and immediately i felt confused.

Out of intuition, I scanned across the room... Only to spot a big puddle in the middle of the floor.

That's right. Mama and I are still potty-training Puga. Meanwhile, the tiny and troublesome rascal seemed realize that as long as it gave a (cute) puppy-eyed look, it could get away with everything.

Shivering, I went to get some napkins as I wiped the mess off the floor before mopping it, giving my hands a thorough cleaning.

As I grabbed the lead, I recalled Mama telling me to bring along a few plastic bags to clean up after Puga if it... well, did its business out there. It's unpleasant, but still necessary.

It's not like I was doing anything productive, either. My activity sheets was on my table in a neat and untouched pile. Most of it was due next week but I can't seem to sit myself at the table for more than a few hours. Instead, I had been surfing the web on random questions I had thought of, but most of them I didn't understand one part of it while I got the rest.

The current website I was surfing told me why was the sky blue, and I understood more than I did the others, I guess? Maybe the teachers will teach it when we go to middle school.

Seeing my old phone that Mama gave me just so she could contact me at all times, I decided to grab it before I approached Puga slowly, with the intention of securing the lead to her collar.

Puga ran away the moment I approached her.

I gave a small sigh.

.

After I managed to catch Puga and tie the lead to her collar, I carried her outside before setting her on the ground.

For a pug that ran away from the lead, Puga was quite enthusiastic in running around. Most of the time, I noticed that she tended to forget that she was wearing a lead, and then she would go running straight in a direction even when she was being restrained.

(Honestly, that worried me. A lot.)

As I walked along the road, Puga trotted happily a few metres in front of me. I could feel a faint smile twist upon my lips as I looked at the small puppy.

Bending down, I beckoned Puga towards me as I squatted down and slowly held my hand out towards her. As she have my hand a tentative sniff, she gave it a quick lick. I found myself petting the side of her head, feeling the soft and fluffy fur against my hand.

Dealing with animals was something new to me, but Mama used to own a dog. She seemed to know what to do and what not to do, so most of the time I mimicked her actions, since what Mama did often made sense.

I hardly see her at home, though. Dad is in Australia working, and Mama is always really busy. I guess that was why she got me Puga, so I wouldn't be alone at home.

Our house was gigantic, by the way. We have a mini-pool outside and a patch of garden. But maybe I was just small, so it seemed big.

For a puppy we got only several days ago, Puga warmed up to me quite quickly.

I have no idea how my train of thoughts got to this, but I'm reminded of the fact that I've been in Iwatobi for more than two weeks and I've yet to have any real friends.

It's probably my fault, but I have no idea how to approach anyone. It would be awkward if I approached someone for no reason at all, and it would be more awkward if we had nothing in common.

Well, so far the only people who I'm at least 'acquiantances' with are Rin and Makoto. I've exchanged numbers with Rin but I didn't message him yet. Makoto was nice to everyone, so I have no idea if he considers me an 'acquaintance'.

(Mama taught me that the meaning of acquaintance was a distant friend.)

Puga licked my hand, and I blinked before standing up. As if on cue, Puga trotted a few meters forward again, yipping excitedly as she did so.

.

"Eh, if it isn't Minami!"

A slightly familiar voice rang out as I looked forward, stopping in my tracks.

Maroon hair and round reddish eyes entered my view as I looked at the person in front of me.

Looking at him, there was a moment of silence as I blinked.

I hadn't thought that I might bump into someone I knew outside. The fact I knew next to no one had strengthened my belief that I would never bump into anyone outside of school. Here I was proven wrong.

"Hello, Matsuoka-kun."

A brilliant smile appeared on his face as he excitedly stepped forward, stooping down as he looked at Puga. It might have just been my imagination but there seemed to be sparkles in his eyes.

"Kawaii... Is this your new puppy, Minami?"

I looked at Rin, and I almost smiled at the adoration radiating from him, before I spoke.

"Her name is Puga. She's a pug, four months old. You can pet her if you want, I think she likes people."

As Rin lifted his hand to place it on top of Puga's head, Puga abruptly gave a sharp whine before backing away a little.

Inwardly, I felt confused and I frowned at the disappointed look that crossed Rin's expression.

Walking over, I squatted down and held out my hand, holding it in front of Puga. If Rin was surprised at my sudden action, I didn't notice it. As Puga sniffed it, I then moved my hand upwards a little, to the side of her head, before petting her, just like how Mama had demonstrated it.

"Try approaching her slowly and avoid petting her directly from above,"

I advised, glancing over to the side. Rin had reached out towards Puga and I could tell he was trying hard not to startle Puga. Very soon, Puga started to give small barks as she jumped up and proceeded to lick Rin's face. After a while, Rin began to laugh as he grinned, at the Puga who seemed to have developed a liking towards the maroon-haired boy.

A smile appeared on my face, and the grin on Rin's face seemed to widen.

Needless to say, we spent the afternoon playing with Puga.

.

Following that incident, I realised that we didn't talk that much at all.

I still went to swimming club, but we never did swim against each other. It seems like Rin was participating in a relay with Makoto, Nagisa and Haruka, who had finally agreed to participate.

I liked the way all of them swim. From the way the swam, it was quite clear how deep their love for swimming ran. I loved swimming too, but I don't think it can compare to how serious they were while swimming. I can swim the front crawl quite well, followed by breaststroke. I was average in backstroke and simply bad at the butterfly style. I should be forbidden from swimming that stroke at all.

The relay was about two months away. I guess time flew past because I didn't realize the end of the year was approaching until I looked at the calender. The competition would be the last swimming event for the year.

I still didn't have friends, and Rin was still an 'acquaintance' to me. I didn't talk much to him but we occasionally talked about swimming and Puga.

When the last swimming practice before the tournament came, about the week before, I was just doing my warm-ups and adjusting my goggles at the side of the pool when someone called for me.

"Minami!"

I recognized the voice and turned around.

"Hello, Matsuoka-kun."

Rin walked over, stopping when he was standing at the lane next to mine.

"Hey, do you want to race? It's been a few months, and I didn't swim with you yet!"

He flashed me a wide smile as he stated, looking at me imploring, as if eager to hear my reply. His eyes seemed to reflect crimson as I considered the offer.

While I didn't particularly want to race, I couldn't turn him down, either, for some reason. Sighing, I gave him the reply he wanted.

"Okay then."

Rin let out a cheer as he heard my response, before pulling his goggles over his eyes, securing them as he pointed to the giant clock at the side of the pool. I pulled my goggles over my eyes as well. For some reason, I was getting nervous. Pushing my goggles so that they were tighter, I looked at the clock as well.

I decided that I would swim as I normally did. It wouldn't be good if I exhausted myself during the beginning of practice.

"Let's start when the arrow points to 12, okay?"

Jerking my head as a nod, I gave him a side-way glance as I positioned myself to dive in, my eyes fixed on the arrow of the clock.

Tick.

Tick.

I could hear the snap of the strap of Rin's goggles just as the clock hit 12, and I plunged in, kicking as hard as possible.

For some reason, the moment my race with Rin began, I had forgotten about wanting to swim normally. I was doing quite the opposite, and that was quite puzzling. Fully conscious of Rin half a metre ahead of me, I immediately propelled myself to close the distance.

My arms and legs were burning, unused to my sudden speed, but I kept up at it.

I never did close the slight gap between Rin and I, though. He touched the wall about 5 seconds before I reached the wall.

"Minami, that was great!"

Rin was absolutely exhilarated over his win, and his gigantic smile showed just how triumphant he was feeling. Climbing out of the pool, he offered a hand towards me and I took it.

I felt... pumped up. For some reason, I wasn't upset over losing.

Feeling warmth in my chest, as I looked at him, my face split into a wide smile. For yet another reason, smiling at him seemed quite natural.

"Good job... Matsuoka."

Blinking momentarily, he pulled me out of the pool. The smile on his face told me he was quite happy with the drop of the '-kun' suffix.

.

Club ended, and for the first time, I felt like I really did my best.

The satisfaction made me realize that this was probably how Rin felt when he swam with Haruka, Makoto and Nagisa.

As I walked home rather hurriedly, seeing as Mama was out working and wouldn't be back until late at night. I left Puga with a big bowl of food and Mama always fed her before she went off to work, but she might still be hungry.

A sudden tap on my shoulder startled me, and I jolted forwards, nearly tripping as I quickly stopped myself before whirling around, tucking a stray strand of extremely short hair behind my ear.

"Oh."

I breathed, looking at the figure behind me.

"You scared me, Matsuoka."

Rin looked sheepish as he scratched at the back of his head as he replied.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to."

Looking at him, I blinked before asking.

"What's wrong?"

The troubled expression on his face worried me.

Rin shook his head, before replying.

"I'll talk about it later... Can I walk with you?"

That was right, I lived quite near to him. I also learnt that he had a younger sister, but I've never met her before.

Maybe the reason Rin wanted to race me today was to take his mind off something?

Who knows, I might be thinking too much.

Nodding at him, there was a period of silence as we walked on.

For once, I felt like breaking the silence.

And so I did.

"If you want, you can drop by my place. I think Puga misses you."

While I had no idea why I offered that, other than the fact Puga likes Rin, I felt like he needed to talk about something.

Rin looked surprised, before a small smile slowly crept up his face.

"Okay then."

.

Puga lay in the middle of the porch, sleeping. Rin and I sat on either side of her. The awkwardness was so thick that I could almost choke on it.

"Hey, Minami?"

"What is it?"

I automatically lifted my gaze off the floor to look at him.

"I'm going to Australia."

My light blue eyes widened as I looked at him as he elaborated.

"I'm going there to pursue swimming, because I want to be an Olympic swimmer."

Rin had mentioned that once, but I didn't put great thought into it. I remained silent as I looked at the floor.

Should I be happy for him? Was it okay to be sad that he was leaving Japan?

"I'm going to miss Japan."

At the confession, I looked up at him, slowly letting out a sigh.

"You're going to pursue your dream, right?"

As a confirmation, Rin nodded slowly.

"Then don't give up on it."

A smile spread across his face as he responded.

"Thanks, Minami."

Silence.

"I'll be leaving next week, after the relay in the swimming event."

At that, I gave him a smile. Somehow, I felt glad that he would spend his last day in Japan swimming with his friends.

"You guys better win." I stated jokingly, the smile on my face widening.

Rin broke into a grin, as I glanced at his eyes. They were shining now, and I felt the same kind of warmth I felt just now when I raced with him.

It was then did Puga woke up. She licked me in a greeting before bounding over to Rin, positively tackling him. It seemed that the small puppy had caught him off guard as he laughed brightly and proceeded to pet it.

When it was time for him to go, I decided to see him on his way. Securing Puga's lead, I locked up the front gate and walked along with him, Puga bounding happily in front of us. As we approached his house, I could faintly hear the voice of a young girl calling out something from inside the house.

"See you, Matsuoka."

Lifting my hand, I spoke, waving as Puga barked in farewell. School ended a week ago, and that meant today might be the last time I saw Rin. Or at least, talked to him.

"See you, Minami!"

After he said that, Rin suddenly held out his fist and looked at me expectantly. Tentatively, I bumped his fist with my own and gave him a tiny smile.

Walking over to the front of his house, he stopped suddenly, his eyes reflecting a pretty shade of crimson.

"You know, you should talk more in class, Minami. Also... "

He paused, as if wondering if he should continue his statement.

"You look nice when you smile, that's why you should smile more."

My eyes widened as he gave me his signature brilliant smile. Giving an embarrassed laugh, he waved as he ran into the house, shooting me a final glance. Stunned, I stood there even when his maroon locks long vanished from my sight.

That day when I walked home with Puga by my side, I might have felt lonely, but I found myself smiling.

.

A/N:

So there was a few more interactions (or rather, 2), a minor timeskip, and a farewell. Rin and Aoi are not very close, but Rin still considers Aoi a friend and at the end of the chapter, she considers him her first friend. He's important to her and will play a huge part in her character development later on *wink wink*

So Rin is leaving for Australia. He won't be back that quickly but do expect his return soon c:

If you think I should continue this, do favorite and follow ^^ Please review as well, because I want feedback xD

(This is my first time writing in first person, should I continue with this?)

Until next time :)

-Cyan Rubies