Note: Makoto and Haruka (and any other sea person) appear like mermen creatures amongst each other while to normal humans they appear like the actual mammal/fish they are. If that makes sense.

Haruka jumped, arcing over the tall fence and heading straight for the orca tank. Makotos eye's widened fearfully, wondering if his best friend would make such a dangerous jump. What was he thinking?! He quickly swam backwards to give the other room as Haruka just made the tank, scraping his chest and tail painfully against the cement edge.

The audience soon descended into screams and shouts and chaos. The trainers rushed out of the dolphin area, flooding into the orca pen because killer whales eat dolphins. Nagisa hurried over to try to get a sense of the situation, seeing the water around the two dolphins become clouded with blood. He turned around and started calling for a net and food to try to trick the larger cetacean to swim away from his new prey.

Below the surface of the water, Haruka attached himself to his long lost friend, clinging to him tightly. Makoto was in a state of shock, not knowing how to react. Being suddenly reunited with the person he'd swum miles for… And having the normally reclusive dolphin clinging to him so desperately… It was all too surreal. He blinked and felt the other touching his face and turning his head to look at him, those blue eyes wide and searching. It was only then he realized the other was speaking-or maybe a better word would be chanting-his name.

"Makoto. Makoto! Makoto, you're here right? This is you right? Makoto say something!" Haruka pleaded, shaking the orca slightly, worried by the other's dazed expression. It had been so long, too long, had he forgotten what his best friend looked like? Was he mistaken? Was this just a dream?

The crack in the smaller boy's voice broke the killer whale's heart, and the brunet soon took the other's hands from his face and held them tightly in his own. "Yes it's me, Haru. It's me. Everything's fine."

And the relief that rippled through the dolphin's expression only made him feel all the worse. Just what had he endured in this prison? He was about to continue his soothing when he saw a net descend around them. Blue eyes caught sight of it too.

Haruka panicked, pressing closer to the whale in sudden fear of being separated once more. He wrapped his arms tightly around the other's neck, burrowing his face into the crook of his shoulder and squeezing his eyes shut in an effort to block out reality. He was in a state of shock; he just needed more time to accept the fact that Makoto was here.

The orca held him just as close, but tried to think of some sort of plan or action. He backed into the wall, away from the nets instinctively. It was only then he realized he had backed them into a corner. They were trapped. Makoto's tail lashed out in frustration.

He rose to the surface for air and glared at the surrounding human crowd, tugging the dolphin closer toward him protectively. There was no way he would let them be separated now. Haruka made no move to pull away.

There were murmurs and tense silence among the humans at the scene. Nagisa peered at the situation closely and curiously. There was blood in the pool, and yet the dolphin seemed relatively unharmed. Furthermore said cetacean did not make any movement to get away from the predator.

"Everyone stop!" He shouted, stepping closer to the two mammals and crouching. The orca backed away slightly, bringing the dolphin with him. The trainers paused obediently in their frantic motions, looking over at the blond in confusion. He paid them no mind, "I don't think he's hurting him. Let's just watch for a second."

Makoto remained tense, even as the humans seemed to stop all action. He was on guard and for the first time ever he felt like a killer whale willing to kill for his family, his loved one, if he needed to. The anger coursing through his veins surprised him, and somewhat scared him, but he kept those thoughts at bay.

Haruka squirmed as he caught sight of the familiar human face and pulled away from the orca's embrace. Makoto let him go with a bit of hesitation, trusting the look the dolphin sent him. Haruka swam a distance away, made a lazy circle before going over to where Yellow was watching him oh so carefully. He splashed him in annoyance, as if to say, leave me alone and let me be.

Nagisa shouted in surprise, getting thoroughly soaked. There was a tense silence among the trainers until the short man's boisterous laughter put everyone back at ease. He weaved some fingers through his wet hair, letting the droplets scatter about his person. When he blinked his eyes open again, having squeezed them shut at the onslaught of liquid, he found the dolphin swimming back to the patiently waiting orca. And even, at least from his perspective, nuzzle into his side.

"Nagisa…" Rei was the one to break the silence after the laugh faded off, worry shining in his eyes as he came forward. "What should we do?"

"Well, I think Haru wants to stay there so I say let him be!" He smiled, with a shrug, standing up and shaking about. It was something that simply came to him, with the spray of the water. He had never seen Haru so relaxed than in that moment. There was a certain spring in his movements, and the way he insisted on being near the predator soothed the worry in his mind. Furthermore, the fact the orca was equally calm, and never chased after the intruder, but merely allowed it into his space… He could tell Haru was safe. He just knew it.

"You…You can't be serious!" Rei reasoned, looking over to the dolphin with concern, "That orca could turn at any second! He could kill him!"

"Then why hasn't he already?" Nagisa probed, "I mean, both of them are pretty weird. I say let them be weird together."

Rei frowned, glaring at the other with such intensity that it made Nagisa's heart sink. Nevertheless, he held firm in his decision, ordering the other trainers to get the net out and return to their posts. They complied, moving about and slowly dispersing from the area back to their jobs. The dolphin trainers regressed to their own area, murmuring amongst themselves about having to change the show once more, or at the very least, put it on hold.

Rei remained.

"Rei, get back to the dolphin area." Nagisa ordered softly, feeling a bit guilt for snapping at the other earlier.

Rei didn't look up at him, but kept his eyes on the two cetaceans floating in the pool. "Haru is my responsibility. I'm staying here and watching him."

Nagisa frowned, "Rei, I can handle Haru just fine, go back to your area." He continued.

Rei didn't answer him but pushed his way past him to sit by the edge of the pool near his charge and his would be killer.

"Rei, you're not qualified to be so close to orcas. It's dangerous!" The blond pressed, pouting further and scrunching his eyebrows together. It worried him how close the other was to the killer whale. Rei was not the best swimmer. He should not be that close. He bit his lip.

"And yet, you let Haru stay even if he's that dangerous." Rei snarled bitterly, not turning around from his vigil. He would sit and watch and make sure the dolphin was ok.

Nagisa let out a sigh, thinking a moment before finally settling down beside the other trainer. Rei didn't turn to look at him, but moved so they were a few inches apart. The blond figured not to press him for once, deciding to sit in silence with the other, keeping his own vigil over the blue haired man.

Rin felt his hands clench into tight fists as the damn fish would not stop talking. He really was too nice. Even though he was trying to be a lot more colder, he'd still managed to have another companion weasel into his life. But it was a fucking useless fish rather than an apex predator.

Nitori remained oblivious, swimming perkily beside his protecter, yammering about this and that easily enough. Neither were paying attention to where they were going. Nitori was too busy chattering, Rin was too busy trying to ignore him.

As such, it seemed Rin's fins subconsciously carried him to a certain cave he had made a point not to go anywhere near. He froze up when he realized, stopping dead still at its foreboding mouth. Nitori stopped too. Rin felt the bitter taste of blood in his mouth, smelled the phantom stench and heard his sister's screams ringing in his ears.

He shut his eyes closed, drawing back as if he had been burned. Nitori ventured toward the cave, placing a hand along its edge and running his pale dainty fingers across its rocky surface.

"Get. The. Fuck. Away. From. There." Rin hissed angrily, seething at the very sight of anybody daring to desecrate his sister's tomb.

"But Mr. Rin…" Nitori murmured, turning back around to reveal tears brimming at his eyes, "I don't understand? Why are you upset about this evil cave, too?"

Rin stared at him, as if his entire sense of self had been robbed before him, "Excuse me?"

"I…" Nitori looked down, down into the darkness of the sea, "I lost my dearest friend here…and a new friend too! I lost everyone I had…right here…" He whispered, his breath hitching slightly at the memory.

Rin's eyes widened, "What?! That can't be! I lost everything here, not you!"

"Eh?" Nitori looked up, confusion dancing in his red irritated eyes. And then something seemed to dawn on him as he looked closely at his new companion. At his long red hair, at his piercing eyes… He seemed to gasp, "Mr. Rin! Are you…Are you Miss Kou's brother?" He asked suddenly, a light shining through his head. How could he not have seen that before?

The shark froze, it had felt like eons since he had heard his sister's name. He rushed over to the pilot fish, gripping his shoulders tightly and staring deeply into his face. There noses were almost touching and he could feel Nitori tensing in fear and confusion at the sudden movement beneath his powerful grip.

"Tell me every single thing you know about my sister right the fuck now!"

Nagisa and Rei fought all the time, but they could never really fight, and so although the tension in the air was so palpable at first, it waned away fairly quickly. Rei simply could not hold a grudge, and Nagisa was much too sweet to stay mad at. It was something the handsome man's aura projected that kept him from ever getting angry at for long periods of time.

His shoulders slouched in defeat, and the blond took it as a sign to scooch a bit closer and let a smile slip his face once more. "I'm sorry if I sounded mean earlier." He apologized, looking over sweetly at the blue haired man.

Rei waved a hand, "It's alright. I apologize for not respecting you as a superior in front of others." He added, "And…And I can see that getting Haru out of there will prove difficult. At least for now." In their silent watch the dolphin and orca had never strayed from each other, not even for a second. And there was not a hint of aggression coming off either creature. It made Rei start to think…to think about everything he knew of Haru over the weeks of watching him…He began to recall any and all details he had filed away on his ward.

Nagisa hummed lowly, watching the pair swim together, "Didn't Haru hate company?" He asked aloud, that fact bothering him about the whole scenario. It just seemed so out of character for the dolphin. He also really wanted to see what all that blood was from, though it disappeared fairly quickly and neither creature seemed to be in pain…

"Yes. He seemed to prefer his solitude, which is quite uncharacteristic for the social nature of dolphins in the wild. He absolutely abhorred being near any of our other dolphins, although he was never violent toward them. He almost seemed terrified of their presence. The other dolphins, at first, were quite curious but they have since grown hostile toward him. As for the other trainers, he pays them no attention either. He only cares about food rewards. In addition-"

"Ok, ok! I know all that." Nagisa complained, rubbing his temples at the info dump he had just received, "What I want to know is why the sudden change? Why an orca?"

Rei seemed to pause, his eyes becoming steelier and turning back to the pair swimming together in the pool. "That I am not certain…However, I do have a tentative hypothesis…" The blond blinked, giving his companion his full attention. He looked up at him, arms drawn back and leaning forward slightly in order to listen better.

"Go on!"

"Well…" Rei flicked his glasses up, a little nervous and embarrassed about sharing the idea he had been rummaging through his head for only a short while. "Haru does not form bonds easily. It takes a lot of time and effort to get through to him. As such, I can not believe he would simply suicidally jump into another tank to make a new friend. I have noticed, however, that Haru has always seemed to be drawn to the killer whale tank. Whenever he did any jumps he always angled himself to face the exhibit. It was never really a problem. He never made any move to get into that tank either, even when our new friend appeared-what's the orca's name again?"

"Mako."

"Mako?"

"It means 'faithfulness'," Nagisa explained, eyes shining bright, "And I mean, look at the guy! He refuses to leave lil Haru's side, and keeps us away. Also we found him with that shark! And Mako is like a type of shark!" He grinned up at the blue haired man, "See, I can be good at name meanings too!"

Rei didn't know why his heart sped up at the happy declaration, nor why he felt the now familiar tingling of heated blood rushing to his face, but he decided to ignore it. He looked away again, pretending to lift his glasses up and shielding his face with his hand in the process, "R-Right. Nice choice."

"Thank you!" Came the sincere, happy response.

It didn't help Rei's nerves; he cleared his throat, "A-Anyway, even when Mako appeared he showed no interest in the orcas. Yet, it wasn't until Mako made that weird vocalization, do you remember? That was when Haru became interested and jumped."

"So? Whats the point?" The blond probed, his head hurting from all the confusing talk.

"I believe…that maybe they knew each other in the wild." Rei fidgeted slightly.

"But Haru was found far away, miles and miles! Mako ended up on the beach right here!" Nagisa insisted, his eyebrows furrowing at the very thought.

"Yes, but…Don't you remember Haru's strange circumstances?" The dolphin trainer continued, "He was being attacked by a shark and a killer whale."

Nagisa began to frown.

"And not only that," The blue haired man continued, "But the fisherman stated the orca kept chase for quite a while before finally tiring out."

The short blond looked back at the pair of cetaceans in the pool, swimming close together. "Maybe they did know each other…" He mumbled out in acceptance, nibbling at his lower lip, "Oh no, Rei!" He shouted, turning around and suddenly grabbing the taller man's shirt, pulling him down to his shorter height. Rei almost stumbled, making a surprised sound at the movement, and their noses bumped. Rei flamed up; Nagisa didn't miss a beat.

"Nagisa, what are you-"

"We separated them! They were best friends and we separated them! We're terrible people! We should release them! Right now! Back into the ocean-"

"Nagisa!" The blond quieted and Rei managed to pull away from his grip and straighten back up, "It's not our decision to simply let them go. We need to figure out how to get Haru back in his tank for the shows…"

"No! He has to stay here with Mako!" Nagisa put his foot down on the issue.

"Haru is the most successful part of the dolphin show! The higher ups wont let us just lose all that money because of my own hypothesis of their perhaps friendship!"

"Then we'll just make a better show starring the two of them!"

Oblivious to the plotting humans, the cetaceans continued their close reunion and embrace, never losing contact with the other for more than a second.

"How did you get here?" Haruka breathed out, the danger of separation seeming to dissipate and yet, he refused to let go of the other. He still could not believe the orca was here, in the flesh, before him. Deep in the dark regresses of his mind he had been convinced he would never see the other again. And yet, here he was. "How?" He insisted, because although he was elated at his presence, the fact that Makoto was now also trapped here did not bade well in his heart.

His own hands danced around the other's form, trying to map out his physical presence, trying to memorize every detail in fear of losing him again. They climbed all the way up to the brunette's face, cupping it softly.

Makoto let out a light laugh, trying to soothe the tension in the air. He took one of the hands on his face, and held it in his own between them, giving the other a reassuring smile. "It's a long story." He tried to wave off, only to be given a stern look. Look around, Makoto, we're in a bathtub for the rest of our apparent lives I have all the time in the world for this story, the deep blue eyes communicated angrily.

And so, Makoto began, starting from his vain following of the boat, to meeting Rin and Gou, to their travels together until finally reaching the coast. He left some tidbits out, like Rin's kiss. It felt out of place, and wrong to discuss it, especially without the shark's presence. The matter was done with anyway. No need to open up old wounds.

"But how did you get here." Haruka persisted, his mouth forming a thin, impatient line. Makoto smiled awkwardly, looking off to the side.

"Well, I, err…Beached myself…" He trailed off, a bit self conscious of his own actions. They were incredibly stupid in hind sight, he could have easily died. It was miracle he even made it here.

Blue eyes widened at the thought, "Makoto!" And Makoto looked down at the dolphin in that moment-really looked. He saw the wide eyes, the slightly drawn eyebrows, and they shone with the absolute worry and guilt of putting him in this prison with him.

"It's ok, Haru." He offered in an effort to reassure him, taking his hands again in his own. Their warmth seemed to do little this time.

"Why would you leave the ocean? Why?" Haru insisted, confused and with a growing sense of anger at his friend's stupidity. He ripped his hands out of their hold to ball them into fists at his sides. All he had been longing for was to get back there…to swim in the wide seas again…How could Makoto just throw that all away so easily?

Makoto's face flashed with a semblance of hurt, he looked deeply into Haru's eyes, quieting him with his powerful gaze. It felt as if time had stopped between them as the orca spoke out in a sudden rush of emotion, "Because, it's meaningless without you! I want to swim with you!" He surged forward, grabbing the other's forearms to pull him close once more.

Haruka's eyes shined at the words, and he could feel the lightest of blushes stain his pale face. He looked away, biting his lip, not knowing how to respond to such a declaration.

Makoto reddened more so, embarrassed by the words that had tumbled out of him. He let go of the other, withdrawing slightly. He wanted to brush it off, saying something along the lines of "sorry if that sounded weird its nothing really!' but that made it seem so hollow. Those words had come from deep within and they only held the truth.

Haruka said nothing, but, after a painfully long moment, he did take back the other's hand, entwining their fingers just like back then. It felt so right. And Makoto cherished the feeling of completeness it gave him. He couldn't help the warm smile from growing on his face once more.

Haruka stared at the smile that had been absent from his life for far too long and realized he wanted to capture it forever. And so he did. With his hand occupied in the other's embrace, he leaned up and pressed his lips to Makoto's own and kissed him.

Sorry this is a bit late

this is a terribly written chapter sorryyyyyy sigh

i hope you guys enjoy anyway!

thank you for all the kind reviews omg

love y'all

see ya next week