Chapter 9: Fragile

Morning came; bringing a new day and sunlight along with new things each second passed. The weather could be categorized as cloudy. The usual bright layers of golden light didn't greet the earth today, the vast blue sky was completely covered with thick clouds. The birds were chirping happily despite the weather.

The weather could send the mood plummeted to the ground, but that didn't affect Haru in different ways. The boy stood in front of the mirror, hand pulling on the collar of his black gakuran.

The only thing that could send his mood down was how he didn't like the collar of his uniform and how he's frowning every time he had to cope up with it. Violating school regulations and having himself scolded or getting a detention was the last thing he wanted to face.

After some time adjusting his uniform, Haru finally descended the stairs and walked towards his front door. The black-haired boy slid it open and found himself staring at his empty front yard–something unusual for him.

Makoto and Tomoya were always there to greet him good morning, picking him up so they could walk to school together like they used to.

That clearly confused him. Haru stepped outside, one hand holding his bag's strap and looking everywhere for the sign of his best friends. But he found nothing. The boy decided to walked towards Makoto's house.

"Oh! Haru-chan, good morning." Mrs. Tachibana greeted him with a smile. "Makoto has class duty today, so he left a little early this morning."

Haru's eyes slightly widened at the news.

"Your mother has already left, hasn't she?" the older woman asked, knowing her neighbor asked her to check on her only child. "Start coming over to our house for dinner today, okay? Also bring Tomo-chan along! Mrs. Otohaku is also away, isn't she?"

"Yes, thank you very much." Haru said.

The black-haired boy ascended the stone stairs towards Tomoya's house. Not even a minute, he already arrived at the Otohaku household–standing on the front door of the two stories building. Haru pushed the doorbell.

"I'm coming!"

The boy heard several thuds of wooden and rustles of fabric before the door opened, revealing Tomoya already in neat uniform and hair up to her usual ponytail. Her bag already slung over her right shoulder.

"Ah, Haru! Good morning." She greeted before stepping out of her abode. The girl closed her door and inserted the key to the lock, securing her home from unwanted things since her parents were away.

"Morning, Tomo." The said boy greeted back.

"Where's Mako-chan?" Tomoya asked, noticing the brunette's absence.

"…Class duty." Haru answered before turning to walk towards the stairs.

Tomoya blinked before she jogged to match her pace with Haru's. She knew well Makoto usually told Haru or her about his class duty or other things that wanted him to be in school more early which made him couldn't walk to school with the two.

"That's unusual for Mako-chan." Tomoya said and Haru understood what she was thinking.

The two walked by the beach. The waters weren't so blue because the cloudy sky, but the rolling waves and the sound of it was the same. Haru looked at the view on his left before focusing back to the road. Tomoya glanced at him but she didn't say anything. Instead, she wrapped her free hand around Haru's right hand.

Tomoya didn't mind Haru's hand was holding his bag. She tightened her grip softly before letting go. Haru didn't have to say anything, the gesture was reassuring and something he needed at the moment.

.

.

Meanwhile, Makoto focused himself on swimming. He did his signature backstroke, swimming laps in Iwatobi SC. The sound of splashes echoed through the empty building as he sliced through the chlorine waters before slapping his hand to the wall.

Makoto panted, trying to regained his uneven breathing. It took him some time to regain his strength so he could swim another lap, which means he already swam few laps since early morning. The brunette didn't intend to stop. He gripped the railing again, ready to start another lap.

"Hey, Makoto!" Coach Sasabe called out, stopping him. "You have class duty today, don't you?"

Makoto looked at the older male who had a towel in his hand. The boy lifted himself from the pool to approach Coach Sasabe, leaving trails of dripping water behind him.

"What's up? Saying you want to swim this early in the morning." Coach Sasabe questioned with curiousness.

"Because I like swimming." Makoto answered, not meeting his former coach's gaze as he dried his hair. His somber smile also present on his face as he lowered his shoulders went slumped.

"Huh?"

"Well, I'm going to school now!"

"Okay…"

Makoto quickly ended the conversation and jogged towards the changing room, leaving Coach Sasabe behind. The said male looked at the boy's figure lost inside the changing room.

"What's up with him?" Coach Sasabe muttered in confusion.

.

.

"Huh? Haru… is that all you're having today?"

In school, the lunch had started. The students were busy with their own world of friends and enjoying their lunch or having some free time to relieve stress from the studies since morning. Like usual, Haru, Tomoya, Kisumi, Asahi, and Ikuya had lunch together after pressing tables and moving seats.

Now, Asahi was currently questioning why Haru's lunch was just rice with grilled mackerel. No addition of stir-fry vegetables or such. Haru scooped up some rice with his chopsticks as the others stood up from their seats to inspect the boy's lunch.

"Grilled mackerel." Ikuya said.

"It is a lot less than yesterday." Kisumi commented.

"It's because my parents won't be home for a while." Haru finally said after he finished swallowing his rice.

"How long is a while?" Asahi questioned after he gasped in surprise.

"Wait, Auntie is away?" Tomoya questioned.

"About a week." Haru answered.

"Eh? So, you'll be by yourself that whole time?" Kisumi asked, also surprised.

"It's not a big deal."

"It is if you can't cook." Tomoya said as she shook her head.

"Really? It would be impossible for me…" Kisumi commented as he leaned on his seat and folding his arms behind his head.

"Me too." Asahi agreed with the pink haired boy.

What they didn't know is how Ikuya tightened his grip on his chopsticks slightly.

"You're fine with being alone, Haru…" the dark sea green haired boy said as his amber eyes went downcast. Asahi's and Kisumi's conversation were just like wind to him, just flowing but not being acknowledge.

"My parents won't even leave me alone for 3 days." Asahi said.

"Eh, but you seem like the type of person who wouldn't die even if someone tried to kill you." Kisumi replied, teasing the red-haired boy with his words. Haru just continued to eat as the conversation went by.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Asahi asked.

"No." Tomoya was the one who answered, making Asahi went into full rant mode on Kisumi who just laughed it off.

'Bitter' Haru thought as he tasted the mackerel he grilled by himself.

.

.

Practice went on under the cloudy sky. But that didn't stop anyone to go to the club as usual. The members were already gathered and having turns in swimming laps. Splashes of water could be heard; the scent of chlorine was masked by outdoor air.

"Alright, next we're going to do five sets of 50m of free." Nao, who stood on the dry side of the pool announced. In front of him stood Makoto, Asahi, Tomoya, Haru and Ikuya.

Asahi, who heard it, instantly having his shoulders tensed.

"Asahi, can you do it?" Nao asked as he looked at the red-haired boy in worry.

"Y-Yes!" he said, which didn't sound too convincing as Makoto, Ikuya, Haru, and Tomoya looked at him also in worry and uncertainty.

Finally, they made a simple line to have turns. They had their own empty lane for the free style.

"I'm going to time you, okay?" Nao said. "Let's start with Haruka."

The said boy immediately stood on the starting block already wearing his black swimming cap and purple lensed googles. Haru bent his knees to make a start position, Asahi watched the boy. Then Nao blew the whistle and Haru dove into the water.

Asahi studied his moves; the way Haru sliced through the clear liquid with ease, the way Haru moved swing his arms to keep moving. The black-haired boy kicked the wall and made a turn. As Haru swim, Ikuya copied him even though he's on the dry side of the pool.

The dark sea green-haired boy lightly swung his arms, imitating how free style moved. Makoto looked at the boy with a small smile present on his face while Tomoya could only gave him a glance.

When Haru touched the wall, Nao called out Asahi to continue.

"Next, Asahi!"

"Yes!" he shouted in rather high-pitched voice. Asahi then nervously wore his swimming cap and googles. He stepped on to the platform at the same time Tomoya pulled Haru out of the pool. Asahi kept his uneasy gaze on the clear liquid in front of him before the whistle blew and he jumped in.

The next thing was sound of splashing with Asahi didn't move forward an inch after he dove in. Asahi was jumbled mess of splashing in the pool and Nao frowned at the view, knowing the boy hadn't make any progress about the mental thing just like he thought.

After several tries of swinging his arms in the water and moving his legs, Asahi knew he didn't do it right. The red-haired boy stopped and stood in the pool.

"Damn it." He muttered as he gritted his teeth.

"Asahi, you don't need to push yourself!" Nao reminded.

"Damn it!" Asahi shouted as he punched the water.

"Next, Makoto!" Nao called out.

Natsuya could only watched it all from the sidelines with a frown as the others could only looked at the view in confusion. On the other side, Makoto dove into the water and Asahi walked to stood in the end of the line–face painted with frustration.

"Hey, Haru," the red-haired boy called. "How do you swim free?"

Haru turned his head to face Asahi, Tomoya too, quite worried about him.

"I don't fight against the water and trust my fingers into the surface to make an opening. Then I move my body through that opening." Haru explained in his usual tone and Asahi didn't get the meaning of it. He didn't understand what Haru meant.

"I don't understand that at all!" Asahi shouted. He gritted his teeth. "I used to be fine…"

Nobody didn't say anything. Ikuya, Haru, and Tomoya could only watch how Asahi looked down – his shoulders shook, mind racing one mile per second.

"Now, your individual strokes! Five sets of 100m in 3 minutes cycles. Time is important in this." Nao announced. The members stood on the starting block and dive after the whistle, each performing their best stroke to catch up time.

"Tomoya," Nao called as the girl stood on the block, wearing her swimming gear.

"Yes?" Tomoya asked back.

"Are you going to do the indivdual medley?" the soft lavender haired male asked. Tomoya fell silent.

"I think…" her voice faltered as she averted her turquoise orbs towards Haru and Natsuya who stepped onto the starting block. They looked at each other and started to put on their gear.

"Let's race." Natsuya confirmed. Haru nodded in agreement, blue eyes filled with determination as he put on his swimming cap.

"I'll stick with free." Tomoya finally said and smiled. Nao returned the smile.

"Don't push yourself." He reminded and walking back to the other side of the pool since Tomoya stood on the fourth starting block. Tomoya nodded.

"So, you're in the race too?" Natsuya asked her.

"If you don't mind." Tomoya remarked and Natsuya grinned.

"Brace yourself then." The upperclassman said as he winked at her and Tomoya just shook her head but couldn't help to form a smile.

And Haru couldn't help himself to not gave Natsuya a displeased glare. Tomoya caught his glowering stare and gave him a confused look. Haru huffed before looking away, feeling heat began to crawl his cheeks and ears when he heard Tomoya lightly giggled. Nao, who watched it all from the sidelines, shook his head and sighed.

The three bend their selves until they could touch the block, making start position like the rest and diving in when Nao blew the whistle. Ikuya found himself watching his older brother raced Haru with sadness adorned his face.

Haru and Natsuya sliced through the water with ease, immediately getting a hold of their speed. No one intended to fall back or being lead.

"Geeze those two." Nao muttered to himself as he watched the atmosphere of competition brewed between the two. But he also had his eyes on Tomoya who tried her best to catch up with their speed, following closely behind.

Natsuya and Haru sped up when they almost back at the starting block. They slapped the wall almost at the same time.

"Who won!?" Natsuya asked in a hurry after removing his swimming gear, Haru also did the same thing. The two looked at Nao, who looked at Tomoya who finally reached the finish.

"Natsuya just barely." He finally said.

"Yes!" Natsuya cheered and swing his arm in victory before hauling himself from the pool, followed by Haru's displeased gaze on his form.

"And Tomoya 10 seconds after Natsuya hit the wall." Nao announced, quite pleased with the results.

The said girl panted while holding the rail, trying her best to regained her breathing pattern occasionally followed by few coughs of exhaustion–which earned a worried gaze from Haru. Tomoya removed her swimming gear and shook her head, letting her ponytail free.

"You okay?" Natsuya asked as he extended his hand towards her. Tomoya nodded and took the hand. Natsuya pulled her out of the pool almost easily, realizing that Tomoya was light.

"That was amazing, you know. You did a great work." He praised her. Tomoya laughed nervously.

"But it's still not enough." She said averting her gaze from Natsuya's orange orbs. "And won't be…"

Tomoya added, muttering to herself and curling up a bitter smile but Natsuya caught it. He frowned but decided not to say anything. The boy sighed and patted her head in the end.

"Well, it's more than enough for me." Natsuya blurted and regretting it a second later.

Tomoya looked at him in confusion and he started to jumbled out his words. "I-I mean–you–the time–"

"Thank you, Natsuya-senpai." When the dark-chocolate haired girl cut him off, Natsuya almost sighed in relief he didn't have to embarrass himself. Tomoya had a simple smile etched on her lips which made heat rushed over to Natsuya's cheeks.

Again, Haru had his stare boring at the older male.

When Haru heard splashes, he looked to the line beside him. Makoto just finished his lane. The boy was holding the railing and panted hard, clearly exhausted. It even took him a while and he's not regaining his breathing pattern.

"Makoto…" Haru said in worry as he looked at his best friend. Hearing Haru, Tomoya averted her gaze to the said boy and then rested on Makoto's figure.

"Mako-chan…" she muttered also in worry.

"Makoto, you've been swimming for more than ten minutes, haven't you…?" Nao asked as he kneel down and looked at the boy with worry expression just like Haru and Tomoya.

"I did… one extra set…" Makoto said between his ragged breaths.

"If you swim so recklessly, it isn't good for training." Nao said.

"It's okay," Makoto stated. "If I just rest a bit… I can… do another…"

Haru and Tomoya looked at each other. When their eyes met, an exchange of mind was made and Tomoya nodded. She walked towards Makoto and extended her hand.

"Mako-chan," she called, signaling the boy to take her hand. But Makoto pushed it away.

"It's okay, Tomo-chan…" he said. "I'm okay…"

Haru frowned and hauled himself from the pool. Makoto still trying to regain his breathing pattern and rested his hands on his knees. Nao's worried gaze still lingered on him as Natsuya approached.

"How is it going?" the captain asked.

"Their individual times aren't bad. This includes Tomoya. But the problem is their exchanges for the relay." Nao answered. Natsuya hummed. Soon, the boys were lining up with Natsuya and Nao stood in front of them. Tomoya stood not far from them, watching them in worry.

"We're going to do relay training now." Natsuya announced.

"Yes." Everyone saluted and Haru looked away, Ikuya did the same. Natsuya clearly displeased by it and Nao just smiled nervously. The two looked at each other.

Finally, Makoto was back into the pool and ready to repeat his back stroke while the others lined up according to their individual stroke.

"Ready," Nao called out and then blew the whistle. Makoto dove and began swimming, when he's entering the turn, Ikuya was ready on the starting block. Makoto slapped the wall and it took a few seconds for Ikuya to jump into the water.

"That was slow! Too long!" Nao remarked. Ikuya swam in his breast stroke and immediately finished, which was Asahi's start. But the boy dove too fast for a start.

"Too fast! Watch closely!"

Asahi did his butterfly stroke and then the last would be Haru with his free. Just like Ikuya, he jumped in a few seconds after Asahi touched the wall.

"Slow! Are you really trying?"

Soon enough, the members were gone from the swimming pool area. After they did their practice, they went home–leaving the first-year relay team, the only advanced individual medley swimmer, the captain, and the manager behind. Silence was quite heavy since only few persons left. The sky was grey and wind stirred up, flying some leaves off from its tree.

"You're slow." Natsuya commented to the four boys who stood in front of him, his hand holding the stopwatch with not so satisfying results of numbers displayed on it.

"What do you think is the reason for that?" he continued and showed the object.

"Our exchanges…?" Makoto asked, testing the waters.

"That's right." Nao confirmed. "So then, what is the reason your exchanges aren't going so well?"

Tomoya visibly cringed at the question and stopped playing with her jacket sleeve immediately. Especially when the boys didn't answer the question.

"Do you want to swim the relay?" Nao asked again. Their somber expression deepened and Tomoya couldn't help but grimaced.

"We should all just do individual events."

What Haru just said made Tomoya's heart dropped to her stomach. The others turned to Haru in disbelief while Nao looked disapproved and Natsuya was on the edge on snapping.

"I'm fine with just swimming individual free." Haru added.

"Haru." Makoto muttered.

"I told you if you quit, then we won't be able to participate in the relay!" Natsuya spat.

"All of us think it's fine to just do individual." Haru stated, voice not wavering a bit.

"Well, it is impossible for us to do the relay with these members to begin with." Ikuya commented, not helping the situation at all.

"Don't say that!" Asahi interjected. "I don't think that at all!"

"Then try to cooperate with me a little!" Ikuya snapped. "Asahi! You just swim however you want!"

"Shut up!" Asahi shouted, looking at Ikuya furiously. Makoto looked uncomfortable with the situation since it's beginning to run out of control with Ikuya and Asahi being angry and started to yell at each other.

"Enough." Natsuya cut off, arms folding in front of his chest and looking angry while Nao looked upset. "The reason your exchanges aren't going well is because you're all just thinking about yourselves.

"Individual events and relays are different. Think about what that means. All of you, go cool your heads."

With that Natsuya dismissed them.