"There it is. Sure brings back memories, huh." Rin approached the door to the Samezuka pool. Haru's eyes flashed, and was not missed by Rin.

"Can't wait to dive in, can you? Well, you'll have to wait a bit longer. Nagisa'll murder us if we race without him commentating."

"Nagisa would be stopped by his moms."

"Huh?"

"Makoto and Rei."

"Yeah, that's true. Anyway, Nagisa would be distracted by a butterfly or something like that. Plus, what kind of murder techniques would he know, anyway?"

"You'd be surprised. He loves horror films. One can earn a lot about stabbing that way."

"True." At that moment, the rest of the swimmers, plus STARISH, arrived. When Nagisa saw Rin and Haru talking outside the door, he jumped for joy.

"Yay! You guys waited for us!"

"Nagisa, why are there so many people with you?"

"They're STARISH, Rin-chan! I told you—"

"I know that! I'm asking why are they here?"

"Nagisa-kun somehow convinced them to watch you and Haruka-senpai race. It was against my and Makoto-senpai's pleas, but Nanami-san said that their manager gave them the okay, so here we are."

"Rei, you know you don't have to call me Makoto-senpai. I'm not even in high school—"

"Wait! You aren't in high school?"

"No. Nagisa-kun, Makoto-senpai, and myself are all in college. Nagisa-kun and I are second-years, and Makoto-senpai is a third-year."

"What about Nanase and Matsuoka?"

"Rin-san and Haruka-senpai are currently swimming on the Japanese Olympic Swim Team. Both of them are two-time gold medalists."

"Wow! That's so crazy! What are your medals for?"

"I have a medal for 100m butterfly, and Haru has a medal for 100m free. I got silver in that one. Then, we each have one for the relay. So really, I'm better than Haru."

"Not true."

"It is. I have more medals than you do. Plus, my time for butterfly is just as fast as your time for free, so I win."

"How is that a win?"

"No one can beat you in free, and your time tops everything else. Therefore, just being able to match that time definitely counts as a win. Of course, you could theoretically beat me in butterfly, but—"

"I only swim free." A moments pause. "And relays."

"We know."

"Really? You don't swim anything else, Nanase-kun?"

Haru glances at Makoto, and the two had a silent conversation.

"Haru is free in the water. For Haru, being in water is like second nature. It's completely natural. There isn't anything else he could imagine doing."

"Wow."

"Well, this is all great, but we need to get this going," said Rin, and he unlocked the doors. Haru tried to go in, but was pushed to the side by Nagisa, and actually ended up being the last person in. STARISH, under Nagisa's instruction, stood on the sidelines. Nagisa began commentary.

"Okay! So to start us off, Rin-chan and Haru-chan are going to race who can take their clothes off first! Don't sweat it, it's PG. And…..GO!" Rin and Haru ripped their clothes off with incredible speed. Haruka hid her eyes, but there was no need to worry: Haru and Rin had their swimsuits on underneath, of course.

"I'm really glad that worked!"

"What do you mean, Nagisa-kun? The taking-the-clothes-off race wasn't planned before hand?" Rei's indignant voice rang through the building.

"Nope! It was a surprise!"

"So you counted on Rin-san wearing his swimsuit underneath?"

"Yep!"

"Wait, you were taking a gamble about Matsuoka, but what about Nanase?"

"That's easy. Haru-chan always has his swimsuit underneath his clothes. Just in case!"

"That's kind of weird…"

"It's Haru."

"Whatever. Anyway, I won," Rin stated smugly.

"Wrong."

"I did win. Makoto can vouch."

"Well, I think it was a tie," Makoto said, trying to avoid taking sides.

"Makoto!"

"Well, the real race is in the water anyway. Why don't you two go to the starting block. I'll count you down."

"Whatever," Rin said again. He and Haru took their places on the starting blocks.

"Alright! Ready, set, go!"

They took off. They entered the water at the same time, but Rin's dolphin kick was faster. Haru was not about to lose, and closed the gap with his stroke. He pulled ahead at the turn, but Rin was close behind. Rin sped up, and again they were neck and neck. Haru pushed himself farther, and felt his hand hit the wall with a slap. He tore off his cap and goggles, and took a deep breath. He opened his eyes, and saw Makoto's hand reaching down, offering to pull him up. Rei was doing the same to Rin. Haru took it.

Once he was on land again, he turned to Rin. Rin was holding one of his hands up; a high five. Haru returned the favor. It was a tradition now, like a signal that said no hard feelings, no matter who won. Speaking of which…