After dinner, the boys played a game to see who would be sleeping in each tent. I didn't bother because I had a tent all to myself. I said my goodnights and headed off to bed. Sleep had come quicker than I expected, but a desperate cry woke me from my slumber.
"Haru, wait!" Nagisa yelled. I rushed out of my tent to see Nagisa following Haru into the ocean. When I saw Makoto and Rei in the distance, my heart dropped. I didn't think when I jumped into the water after them. The storm was terrible. Haru grabbed hold of Makotowhile Nagisa went after Rei. I followed close to Haru and Makoto until we reached the shore. Haru had started to drag Makoto across the sand. I tried my best to help, but he was awfully heavy.
"Somebody help! Nagisa, where are you? Rei!" Haru yelled as he looked around frantically. His breathing was rapid and his face was pale. It looked like he was about to pass out.
I grabbed Makoto's wrist, trying to find his pulse. "He's still alive."
Haru let out the breath he had been holding. He then brought his ear over Makoto's mouth, listening.
"His breathing's shallow." Haru looked at me for some sort of guidance.
"Ah, umm, CPR. You know CPR, right?" I was starting to panic. Why did he have to go after Rei by himself?
Haru nodded, taking a shuddering breath, but Makoto coughed and rolled to his side.
"Makoto!" I nearly cried in relief. Haru looked the same.
"Haruka, Riku," Makoto spoke softly when he saw us hovering over him.
"Makoto, are you hurt?" Haru asked.
Makoto coughed again. "Where are we?"
"Sukishima, I think. Remember we could see it from the tents?" Haru said, helping Makoto sit up.
"I've gotta help Rei. Where is he?"
Makoto scanned the coast, but Haru put his hands on Makoto's shoulder, squeezing gently.
"You need to take it easy; you could be injured," Haru said.
"I can't let him drown!"
"Nagisa has that covered, don't worry," I said.
"Nagisa?"
"Yes, let's go over there. We'll be out of the rain." I pointed to the small cave.
Haru pulled Makoto to his feet, slinging an arm around his shoulders to keep him upright. When we arrived, the three of us sat in silence, listening to the rainfall.
"Are you starting to feel a little calmer now?" Haru asked Makoto, breaking the silence.
"Yeah."
A few seconds of silence passed by until Haru spoke again, "Be honest with us. The ocean still scares you, doesn't it?"
"I thought I'd finally gotten over it, but then I took one look at Rei…" Makoto brought his hand to his face, "Seeing him like that… the memory of that day came flooding back. I shouldn't have dragged either of you into this. I'm sorry."
"You didn't drag me into anything." Haru looked down at the sand beneath him.
"Yeah, I came of my own free will," I told Makoto.
"Yeah right. This camp was my idea. I shouldn't have been so serious about training. I guess I was trying to recreate what we had when we were kids or something. I just… wanted the gang back together."
My eyes were glossy when I looked at Makoto. That was something I wanted more than anything. I put my hand on his shoulder.
Makoto smiled at me, then he looked up at Haru; his eyes glistened. "I wanted to swim the relay again. If you're not going to be a part of it, what's the point? I want to swim with you, Haru."
Haru's eyes widened, and I could see their sparkle. I hid a grin behind my hand.
"Hey, there they are!" Nagisa called, ruining the moment.
It was a relief that Nagisa and Rei were alright. Rei had apologized to Makoto, who told him not to worry—all of us were fine. Haru, however, chastised Rei for swimming in the ocean at night. When Nagisa told him that Rei was just trying to catch up to us, the frustration on his face lessened. I was surprised, but also freezing, so I dragged everyone along to find a place to stay for the night—it looked like the rain wouldn't let up anytime soon.
.oOo.
The five of us stumbled upon a rest house, but it was definitely creepy.
Haru glanced at Makoto. "Makoto… are you okay?"
Nagisa rolled his eyes. "Seriously, guys? If this were a horror movie, you would be the newlywed couple that gets killed in the first five minutes."
I giggled but pulled the boys into the house behind me. Makoto was clutching the back of Haru's shirt, scanning the area for any sign of movement.
"Woah, that shadow just moved." Haru pointed to the corner.—getting his revenge on Nagisa. Nagisa shrieked, clinging to my side. I grimaced, Makoto would not take kindly to that.
"Sorry, Makoto." Haru apologized when he saw the look on the other's face.
"It's alright," Makoto offered him a shaky smile.
"You guys should stay here while I take a look inside." Haru turned.
"Let us come; safety in numbers, right? We might as well stick together to be careful." Makoto said.
Haru nodded, and the five of us treaded carefully into the abandoned building.
"Wow, it's almost pitch black in here," Nagisa said.
"I feel like something is going to pop out at us." Rei clutched the kickboard to his chest.
"Huh?" Nagisa said. Makoto and Rei jumped at the noise.
"What is it?" I asked.
"It's a flashlight, awesome!"
"Can you reel it in just a little bit?" Rei glared at him.
Haru grabbed the flashlight. Thankfully, it still worked. We explored the kitchen nearby, but there wasn't anything in the refrigerator; or refridge-rei-tor, since it was Rei's 'destiny,' according to Nagisa.
Even after finding a bit of canned food and a few aprons—I grabbed an extra to use as a makeshift blanket—I was still cold. Sleeping wasn't an option because the guys were being extraordinarily loud. Well, it was mostly Nagisa, but he was loud enough for all of us.
Nagisa decided it was a good idea to play a game with all our names on a die. Rei's name was on there twice because he was Rei, apparently. We went through a few embarrassing stories and one "romantic" encounter.
Then it was my turn. A smile grew on Nagisa's face when he saw my name on the die.
"Riku-chan's turn!" He smiled. "Out of the four of us, who would you want to marry?"
"That's not fair." I folded my arms.
"Don't avoid the question!"
I raised an eyebrow. "None of you."
"That's a little harsh," Rei said.
"Yeah, and it's not an answer! You've gotta pick someone." Nagisa looked at me with a wicked gleam in his eye... "Unless you have someone else in mind."
"No! If I'd have to pick, it would be Makoto," I grumbled.
"Ha! I got you to answer." Nagisa laughed.
Haru looked away with a frown, but Makoto smiled and squeezed his knee gently.
After that, it was Nagisa's turn. But then the conversation took a more serious turn. Makoto told us why he was afraid of the ocean. I frowned as I listened, but Makoto explained why he agreed to the training camp. It was about the five of us being a team. A smile grew on my face because Makoto was right—there isn't anything we can't do.
.oOo.
The rain had finally stopped, so we went outside. The sky was clear and covered in stars. It was gorgeous. I stared up at it in awe.
"There's the Summer Triangle, and that one's vega," Rei said.
"There's the squid." Nagisa pointed.
"Where's the mackerel?"
"Neither of those exist." Makoto laughed.
"Rockhopper constellation there."
Rei sighed. "You're making it up."
"Come on! We can call them whatever we want," Nagisa pouted.
That's when I noticed. "Look, guys." The relfection of the stars in the sea was breathtaking; I couldn't take my eyes off it. The boys joined with, awe in their eyes. We stayed at the rest house for a little while longer.
It was just about sunrise as we made our way down to the shore. It wasn't as far of a swim as we thought. So the five of us swam across, and Makoto had turned it into a race.
"I'm gonna beat you, Riku-chan!" Nagisa laughed; he and I were neck and neck.
"No way!" I grinned as I sped up, even though my muscles were beginning to ache.
As soon as I got into shallow water I started running, and Nagisa wasn't far behind. The rest of the boys were laughing at the friendly competition. Just as I had reached the shore I collapsed and started laughing. Nagisa laid down beside me and joined in on the laughter.
"Who won?" I asked Makoto when he joined us on the beach.
"I'm pretty sure it was a tie."
"We'll have a rematch later," I yawned.
"You're on!" Nagisa said, but his words were punctuated by a yawn.
Soon after, we collapsed on the beach and drifted off into a deep sleep. We were up all night after all. Although there was a smile on my face, there wasn't anything we couldn't do.