A/N: So, this is chapter 1, guys! I hope you'll like it~! ^^

Rin Ice Miyako – I still follow the original plot of Free!, so you could say that I still keep their swimming habits here. I hope that answers your question!

Disclaimer: I don't own any hot guys from Uta no Prince-sama and Free! – Iwatobi Swim Club. I just own this crazy idea of mine.

Waterdere – n. a combination of 'water' and 'tsundere', a person who's hostile at first but gradually shows his/her warm side, or a person who hides his/her sensitive side by acting unfriendly; a term used specifically by the animators for Nanase Haruka.

Chapter 1: A Composer who Loves Water

"Aren't we there yet?"

A raven-haired guy, with serious, ocean blue eyes, questioned as he and his companion were walking in the middle of a forest. At first, he didn't mind going right away to see their new dormitory since his partner and childhood friend, Tachibana Makoto, told him that there was an indoor pool near the dorm. Also, they would start living there next week so taking a peek wouldn't hurt. However, it seemed like he made the wrong choice. The two of them had been walking around here for two hours now. Or, to put it simpler, they were lost.

"Haru-chan, we're almost there, so be patient," the tall guy, with olive green hair and a pair of droopy green eyes, reassured while viewing the map carefully with a troubled expression on his face. He almost liked to nibble his thumb nervously because he was so scared to tell that they were definitely lost. Too bad, he didn't know that his companion already knew that an hour ago.

Irritated by the way he mentioned his name, the raven-haired guy reminded his best friend again, "I told you to drop off the '-chan' already, Makoto."

Seeing him irritated like a child, Makoto calmed down a bit and chuckled softly. "Yes, yes. I get it. Sorry, Haru."

Nanase Haruka pouted slightly when he felt Makoto's large hand patting his head as if his best friend was dealing with a kid. It might feel nice for girls, but he's a boy. So, it only made his mood worse and Makoto quickly noticed it.

"Uh-oh . . . He's pissed off," he thought worryingly. This was bad. He must find the dorm fast before Haruka would search desperately for some any kind of pool to swim on, whether it was a swamp full of crocodiles, or even a river full of piranhas . . . wait, were there even piranhas here in Japan? Well, he'd better focus on finding the dorm right away rather than thinking about random things again. Haruka was the type of person who found solace in water whenever he had a bad mood, so it was a serious matter to deal with. While staring at the map to find the right directions with a determined look, he didn't notice that Haruka finally found his so-called 'solace' when he sniffed the familiar scent of water (which was obviously could not be done by ordinary people). Silently, he walked towards a small lake which was hidden behind tall trees and thick bushes. Observing how serene and beautiful the lake was, his once serious eyes suddenly sparkled with excitement as if he saw a valuable treasure.

"You're so beautiful . . . I want to feel you now," he mumbled slowly as he unconsciously unzipped his blue jacket with yellow lining and threw it down. Then he removed his white t-shirt and almost ready to bring down his brown pants after unbuckling his belt and unzipping them until . . .

"HARU! What the heck are you doing?! It's still spring! You might catch a cold if you swim there right now, so stop removing your clothes!" nagged Makoto as he managed to halt Haruka from bringing his pants down on time. Luckily, he noticed immediately that his childhood friend was missing a moment ago.

When Haruka was stopped suddenly like that, he faced Makoto angrily and growled, "Makoto, don't stop me. You told me that we'll arrive there right away but I can't wait any longer. My body needs water."

"Ahh, geez . . . ! Can't you wait for at least a little longer? I think I know now how to get there!"

"You think? Then that means you're still not sure if that's the correct path, right?" he countered, making the olive green-haired guy to feel down.

"I . . . I just . . . Yeah, you're right . . . Sorry, Haru," apologized Makoto as he stared down with a helpless look. Haruka felt a bit guilty when he pointed it out like that and also, Makoto was just trying to be useful . . . Well, as a matter of fact, he was trying too hard to help out, even to the point of fighting with his parents and leaving their hometown just to follow him. Haruka knew why his childhood friend was acting like that ever since he made a whimsical decision of quitting Iwatobi High School and entering Saotome Academy two years ago. Just recalling what happened back then felt surreal. He wanted to forget but he couldn't. Forgetting would just make him feel more lost and miserable. He threw everything, took a gamble and came all the way here just for one purpose – to find his missing parents. And, because of Makoto, sticking with him until the end, he was finally a composer. Earning a living wouldn't be hard now and searching for his parents would be easy since he would have lots of money, as well. Just a little bit longer until his goal was achieved, huh?

"Makoto," he called his best friend's name, causing his companion to look at him, and then he continued, "Don't apologize. You've sacrificed a lot just to help me achieve my goal here. I am seriously in your debt, so I'm the one who should apologize. I'm sorry, Makoto . . ."

The tall guy blushed after hearing those words. For him, it was kind of cute to see Haruka talking sincerely. It was rare for him to show emotions but lately, he was being emotional ever since they left their hometown. Remembering again Haruka's tendency to feel guilty about his fight with his parents, Makoto gave his childhood friend a tender smile and held his hand. "Haru . . . It's okay. You don't need to apologize to me every now and then. You almost made me a saint back then when we were still studying at Saotome Academy. And then again, I left our hometown because I wanted to, okay? You don't need to feel responsible . . ."

"You're too nice, Makoto. Someday, it might be the death of you, you know," mumbled Haruka as his trembling hand grasped tightly to his best friend's big hand.

"I don't mind if it's for you, Haru," replied Makoto with a playful grin, causing Haruka to blush this time. He quickly turned around so Makoto wouldn't see it but unfortunately, his childhood friend caught him blushing so he was laughing with his usual gentle voice while his hand was muffling his supposed loud laughter.

"Don't always say such cheesy lines at the end, Makoto. It's creeping me out," the raven-haired guy said, releasing his grasp from Makoto's hand, while he took this moment as his chance to bring down his pants immediately and to jump into the lake, wearing only his favorite black swimwear with violet patterns. As usual.

"HARU! Argh, I'm too late . . . ," the olive green-haired guy palmed his face hopelessly when he failed to stop Haruka from embracing his 'solace'. Well, he might not be able to stop his childhood friend at all anyway. Haruka loved water, after all. Even if they left the swimming club, they were still swimming since there were big swimming pools at Saotome Academy. If Haruka didn't have any inspiration whenever he's composing a song or if he just wanted to swim, he would swiftly go to the indoor pool even though he was trespassing every night or even though there were classes. And whenever all the swimming pools were being cleaned, he would go swimming at the lake near the campus, even in broad daylight. He could still recall the times when he would go with Haruka to the Headmaster's office just to apologize for his childhood friend's obsession with water. Of course, Haruka also experienced detentions and suspensions because of his relentless, rule-breaking acts so when he was suspended for a day or more, he would stay at the bathtub for the whole day. Makoto was somewhat amazed that Haruka didn't get expelled. Well, he was warned five times back then that he would be expelled if he continued to break the rules. Thus, his childhood friend would get suddenly obedient, so he was trusted again by the teachers and by the headmaster, Shining Saotome. Once he earned their trust and met their expectations, he would break the rules once again just to swim to his heart's content.

"Hahh . . . Nobody can stop Haru from loving water . . . ," sighed Makoto, sitting on the grass while watching Haruka swimming like a dolphin. For as long as he could remember, he knew that Haruka wasn't the type of person to break so many school rules in order to swim. His childhood friend was a good student with a good reputation throughout their kindergarten and elementary days, even during their high school days back at Iwatobi High School. Since he understood Haruka too well, he bet that the reason why Haruka really needed water all the time was because of his anxiety when he discovered that his parents were missing in Tokyo. Haruka might act cold towards other people but for him, he was the most caring person out there. If ever he was scared or got injured, the raven-haired guy would always get worried about him, so it was possible that he also cared about his parents deeply. That was why Makoto didn't hesitate to go with Haruka when he told him that he would go to Saotome Academy after somebody offered him a scholarship there. Even though the tuition fee was so expensive or his parents were against it, Makoto didn't care. He worked various part-time jobs in order to continue studying with his best friend. This was his repayment for all the things that Haruka had done for him and, also . . .

"My life will be meaningless without you, Haru-chan . . . ," murmured Makoto absentmindedly as he recalled all those memories as if they only happened recently.

"A-achoo-!"

His trail of thoughts was abruptly disturbed when he heard Haruka sneezing. Immediately, he folded the lower parts of his black pants up to his knees and removed his orange sneakers before he stepped into the lake and offered a hand in front of Haruka.

"Geez! I already told you that you might catch a cold if you swim here, Haru," he complained with a troubled look.

"It's not the water's fault! It's because of the . . . A-achoo!" his childhood friend sneezed again and his body began trembling due to the cold temperature.

"Yeah, yeah. I know that it's your fault for catching some cold right now, not the water," replied Makoto as he felt Haruka's wet, cold hand grabbing his hand. Quickly, he pulled him up and guided him out of the lake.

"Did you bring a towel?" he asked.

"No," answered Haruka without any emotion.

Makoto gaped in shock. "Eh?! Then how will you get yourself dry?!"

"We'll just find a cave and make a campfire. That's what everyone does when they don't have towels with them, right?"

"There's no cave here, Haru! And, a campfire? How can we do that here?! Hahh . . . You're lucky that I bring some towels with me today."

"'As expected of Mako-chan! I knew you'll be a great bride someday', I bet Nagisa will tell you that," said Haruka, making Makoto embarrassed a bit and to laugh at the same time.

"Hahaha! That's a perfect imitation of Nagisa, Haru! Oh! Speaking of him, I wonder what happened to him and Rei. The two of us did manage to win the graduation audition, after all, so we don't know what happened to others afterwards. And also, they have partnered up with female students from the composition course since both of them took the idol course, right? I hope they will be scouted by Shining Agency, too, so all four of us can be together again!" beamed Makoto as he imagined all four of them living together in the Master Course dorm. It would be definitely fun.

Nagisa and Rei, their other friends and fellow swimming club members, also quitted Iwatobi High School to join them in Saotome Academy. They didn't care if they wouldn't do much competitive swimming in the future if they entered the famous performing arts school. Also, they had their own reasons for switching schools but they still didn't tell them about it. But their main reason for joining them in Saotome Academy was because they were their friends that would stick together until the end, through thick and thin. Nobody could break their strong bonds. Nagisa would always shout, 'Even if we won't see Rei-chan's speedo and Iwatobi swimming club again, we are still friends!' and then Rei would retort back, 'Why are you always stating that that's my speedo, Nagisa-kun?! That's yours, right? And why did you display that inside the club room when we visited there for the last time?! It's not beautiful at all!'

He missed the two already. He really hoped that all of them would be together again, although they wouldn't do competitive swimming relays anymore.

"STARISH, I have a very big announcement to all of you!" shouted Shining Saotome as he appeared out of thin air in the middle of the idol group's lunch time in the dining hall. Syo and Otoya, who were turning 20 this year, almost choked to death because of the sudden appearance of the president of their agency. Masato and Tokiya, who were one year older than the two, were shocked so they spilled some contents of their tea on the table. The 22 year-old Ren and Natsuki, who was Satsuki for now, weren't surprised at all.

"What announcement is it, president? Our disbandment?" asked Ren mockingly, which made Syo mad.

Standing up from his seat, the blond-haired idol exclaimed, "Ren, how dare you joke about that when our group is like this!"

Instead of Natsuki calming him down in times like this, Satsuki, Natsuki's other self, made the conversation worse. "Will you shut up? Isn't it better if this group will get disbanded already?"

"What did you say, you -!"

"Syo, calm down! Don't let his words get to you!" said Otoya as he immediately tried to halt Syo from marching towards Satsuki and starting a brawl in front of their president. The short idol might get fired if he acted without thinking first of the situation.

"Why don't you want to disband yet, huh?! Do you still want Natsuki to suffer for years and more?! Don't you care about him?!" the curly-haired idol, who was not wearing eyeglasses, snapped as he stood up and banged the poor table with his inhumanely strong knuckles. Masato mentally noted himself that they needed to change the table again later. Their quarrels right now weren't unusual here inside the Master Course dorm. Two years had already passed since their beloved composer, Nanami Haruka, died because of her carelessness. After that shocking accident, Tokiya, her boyfriend, blamed himself for her death and lost his voice due to trauma. The doctor told them that it might take years to bring his voice back or worse, he might not be able to speak again for his entire life. Also, Natsuki broke down emotionally after Haruka's death, so Satsuki had always been with them all this time. Ren and Masato were starting to break down little by little as their work as idols became meaningless to them. Since Haruka wasn't around anymore and they couldn't perform as an idol group due to Tokiya's lost voice, Cecil returned to Agnapolis in order to continue his role as the next heir to the throne. Only Syo and Otoya could still maintain their sanity because they believed that the bond they formed together would be unbreakable. However, they sometimes thought that maybe they were not really destined to be a great idol group at all. Was it really time for them to disband?

"Gentlemen, will you cool down for a moment? I'm not here to disband you yet! I carry the good news that might bring you HOPE!" the dark red-haired president said while dancing in mid-air with transparent wires attached to his body and the way he pronounced the last word was very strong, which made the idol group curious and interested.

"So, what is this HOPE you're talking about, president?" questioned Masato with his usual serious look.

Smiling widely, he dropped something down on their table. All of them stood up and viewed the thing that Shining dropped. It's a picture of a young, serious boy with short straight black hair and a pair of ocean blue eyes. Before any of them could question about this picture, Shining proudly announced the good news.

"He is Mister Nanase Haruka! He will be your new composer next week! He is a waterdere, so treat him well!"

A/N: Oh, great! That's chapter 1, folks! Since I'm so excited to get this out of my mind, the story might be fast-paced and confusing. Well, I hope you didn't get confused with those long fragmented stories about their lives two years ago. And I'm sorry if Rei, Nagisa and Rin aren't here to join the first chapter. I'm also not sure if they will show up on the next chapter, so I'll just surprise you with that! About the waterdere, I found that term from Free! Wiki, so I didn't invent it. Reviews and questions are greatly appreciated! See you next time~!