CHAPTER TWO:

"Come on Nagisa, tell me where Haru is!"

Stomping her feet on the golden grains of sand, Nagisa continued to looked down on the petite woman with a grin across his face.

With his feet dipped into the cold morning ocean water, Nagisa kept on smiling as his old high school manager stood by the shore, arms crossed and more irritated than he had ever seen her before. The young man was sitting on a dinghy sailing boat. It was a sailing boat people used to get more excitement and enjoyment from the regular sailing boat. A team of two or more would need to stand or sit either side to make the boat turn either left, right or straight. Gou knew Nagisa and should have guessed this was the type of sailing he would pick for him and Rei.

Gou questioned how on earth they were even a pair.

"Sure, as long you come sailing with me." He teased.

"You know I can't swim Nagisa!"

Standing onto his two feet the young man tried his best not to tip the small boat over. He walked over and from the boat threw a spare life jacket to the woman.

"You won't be drowning with that on!"

Gou caught the yellow life jacket as Nagisa spoke, "Come on, this is like the only time you'll be anywhere near the water!" He cheered.

With his hand held out to her the young woman looked around. Still, neither Haruka nor Rei were anywhere to be found. With her gut telling her to back away and waited to her both their opinions, Gou looked back at her friend and reached for his hand. Nagisa pulled Gou onto the dinghy boat and both held each other for support.

"This really isn't your regular boat." Gou spoke nervously. "Great." She muttered to herself in a scarcastic manner, rather displeased.

Holding each other as support both made their way to the center of the dinghy boat. Holding the rope, both sat to the left of the boat. With a grin Nagisa started to move the boat into the ocean as Gou held onto the rope nervously. She looked at Nagisa who was pushing the boat as far as he could until his feet no longer made any contact with the sea floor and pushed himself onto the boat.

Taking his seat next to his friend he held onto the rope as the dinghy boat sailed in whatever direction the wind pushed them to.

"So…why sailing?" Gou asked. Her mind reminded her of the swim club she managed with the four boys.

"Well I thought Rei would like something different from time to time besides the usual swimming we do. And isn't going in a boat really fast just so much fun?" He spoke cheerfully.

Nagisa leaned backwards a little more while holding the rope as he let the ends of his blond hair touch the surface of the sea. Gou watched and worried if they would both go under at his rate.

Gou felt the boat sudden tip backwards a little, making Gou's back touch the surface of the sea a little closer. First it was just splatters of the salty water caused to the speed they were going but soon her body was cutting into the ocean wall little by little.

"Nagisa?" Gou turned to face her friend. She had one eye shut due to the splatter of the water. "What is happening?"

But before the young blond man could reply the small dinghy boat capsized on the both of them, sending them both under.

"I see. It's getting worse huh?" Rei spoke in response to Haru. Both placed the snacks they were holding onto the picnic table.

"I just get angry when I see him. I know it's been at least three months since I caught him cheating but the feeling still feels new. I love Rin but…"

"Maybe you need some time apart?" Rei suggested. "Maybe it's your last chance to-"

"GOU!"

Nagisa's loud voice echoed in the early morning sky, breaking apart Rei and Haru's conversation. It wasn't new for them to see Nagisa be so loud, but the way he spoke Gou's name made them worry. His voice was covered with a sense of fear and regret as he tossed his life jacket away. They both stared at Nagisa's face as he was ready to enter into the ocean again.

Both boys rushed over as Rei reached and was lucky enough to grab his boyfriend by the wrist.

"Nagisa, explain yourself!" Rei yelled as he fixed his glasses with his spare hand.

The young swimmer glanced over his shoulder to look deeply into their eyes. His arm was shaking and his irises were trembling. None have seen such fear in the goofy boy's eyes since the day back in high school where Rei nearly drowned on them.

Rei pulled on Nagisa's arms, demanding an answer from him. Haru looked at the couple before staring at the sea. He looked back at his friends and towards the sea afterwards many times before it suddenly clicked to him. Without a word he rushed to the open sea and dived as soon as he could. Haru could hear the chants of his name before he dived under.

A sense of fear ran his body to swim faster. Even if he was a trained professional swimmer that didn't give him any head start to save Gou.

He wanted to yell at Nagisa at whatever he did to make Gou go under but his trembling face reminded him that he didn't want any of this to happen. Soon the sense of death sunk into him and that the idea that Gou might be gone from them forever haunted him.

She was the only person somehow that made him look forward to living. He didn't know if it was because there were just things you could tell a woman too and not a man or maybe because she was the only sense of family he'll ever have.

The water turned darker and Haru reached the point where he had to retreat. He wanted to keep swimming. He knew that if he went back up and returned back down Gou was far from his reach. But his body begged for air and soon he found himself swimming to the surface.

With a giant gasp of air to greet him Haru opened his eyes and saw the bright blue sky shining down at him, passing the clouds and leaves. He began to scope his surroundings in the hopes he would find some sort of good news.

And there, in the distance was a vision of something yellow. His heart screamed that it would be Gou as his body rushed towards it. Even he was short on breath he didn't want to lose a second. He needed to know if it was her.

The waves pushed the yellow object closer to him as his heart leapt for joy when he was able to notice that rich ruby hair and petite woman floating in the water. Her eyes closed and her body drifting further away from the shore, Haruka swam faster.

Soon his fingers were able to touch the fabric of the life vest that was the only thing that was keeping her afloat and dragged the woman closer to him. With one arm he swam himself and Gou back to shore. It didn't take long for Gou's eyes to open once again and notice she was moving.

Lifting her head she saw it was no other but Haru that had came to save her and by the shore was Rei and Nagisa with faces filled with glee. Before they both made their way back the young woman reached over and held Haru's arms, causing him to stop. The water was now just past his shoulders and Haru was now able to just walk them both to shore.

"Haru," Gou smiled. "Thank you."

Without a single word escaping his lips he pulled the woman into his arms; an unexpected gesture that nobody saw coming. With her feet finally able to touch the sea bottom Gou stood there standing in the arms of Haruka. Her mind at a lost if she needed to embrace Haru back or tell him to stop.

But she felt the way he was holding her that he needed this moment. She was the only sense of family he had left due to being an only child and having parents that would travel overseas for most of the year. It didn't help knowing that her brother cheated on a man that had been so lonely most of his life.

Gou couldn't even imagine the pain he was feeling, sure they both had been cheated on but her suffering couldn't be on par to Haruka's.

Finally pulling apart he showed a warm smile; a smile that showed her how grateful he was that she was still alive. Gou began to wonder what would had happened if she had never survived that car crash the night she discovered Makato had cheated on her. If Haruka never had been there by chance, would she still be alive?

It had now been twice that he had saved her life.

Before Gou could even begin the downpour of 'thank you' Nagisa quickly ran up to Gou with tears building up in his eyes. He reached for her hands and held them tightly as his tears finally started to run down his face. Even now they were full grown adults Nagisa still wasn't shy or afraid to cry in front of any of them.

"I'm so, so, so, so sorry!" Nagisa repeated over and over again as he held Gou's hands tightly. "I should have been more careful with you on board knowing that you couldn't swim."

Rei walked over and stood by his boyfriend's side. "Gou please forgive this ignorant boyfriend of mine. I can't believe you made such a miscalculation on Gou's behalf."

Nagisa still with tears still running down his face, "I just want her to be happy! She and Haru have been through so much lately! I just want my friends to forget their problems, even for a day."

Caught off guard by the genuine care Nagisa had for both victims of love, Gou held Nagisa's hands a little tighter.

"Even though I'm mad at what you did, I can understand what you're trying to do and me and Haru thank you for it." Gou looked up at Rei. "You too Rei, I couldn't have asked for better friends."

Embracing the woman Gou finally smiled and Haru watched her and put up a smile of his own. He was glad she was alive and well. He couldn't understand what Gou had to make him feel happy to be around her and look forward to each day he was given. Maybe it was her kind and gentle aura that made it easier for him to open up about his problems with Rin.

Being around her gave him a certain kind of peace that he badly needed right now.

Rei chuckled as Nagisa hugged Gou tightly and Gou starting to pull Nagisa off her due to how tightly he was hugging her. Rei's eyes soon started to drift to Haru and noticed the way he was looking at the young woman in the group. He started to question the way he was staring at her.

It was different and Rei couldn't put a point on it. He didn't want to admit that Haru could be starting to fall for another Matsuoka. But Haru was never the one for neither girls nor boys back in high school, but yet he proved them all wrong with Rin years later.

Maybe, he was going to do it again.

The glow of the orange sun started to turn the once clear blue ocean into a relaxing orange colour. After the scare Nagisa gave to that all with Gou the four of them spent the rest of the day eating and sitting by the edge of the ocean, promising both him and Gou to take proper sailing lessons with a professional once they had free time once again.

Saying their goodbyes Haru and Gou agreed to stay behind a little longer before returning to their broken lives. Still in their swimwear both sat by the ocean, the waters lightly wrapped themselves around their waists.

They both sat in silence as the sea gulls above them called to each other as they flew past and gossip from other people filled their surroundings as they passed them by. The wind stayed low as the warmth of the setting sun gave them warmth.

"You gave us quite the scare back there." Haru finally spoke between them.

"Well Nagisa forced me to take a ride with him." Gou sighed. "I'm going to get payback for today I swear."

Giving off a small chuckle, "Would you like a hand with that?"

With a determine look on her face. "The more the merrier." She spoke with determination. "Maybe before his birthday we could ask Rei to help us as well." Gou began to ponder, her voice dropping to a simple mutter as she continued to plan her devious plan.

As Gou pondered her revenge on Nagisa Haru looked towards the ocean. He watched it move as light waves crashed at their bodies. With his arms wrapped lightly around his knees Haru couldn't help but wonder about the man he had waiting for him at home, Rin.

Three months had passed and yet he couldn't have a decent conversation with his husband. There was so much anger and rage in him that he was tired of having. He never was an angry person and when he discovered Rin had cheated on him, he felt a part of him had died and was filled with this angry person he didn't knew.

His body walked over the ocean as Gou watched from the sidelines. He saw Haru just letting his body float on the huge collection of water.

Her and Makoto was no longer an item and had agreed to call everything quits. She was now was living with her mother. Gou always had a plan of some sorts and now having her life just break apart so badly so quickly, she had no idea what sort of plan she could make after what she had just been through.

Lying back she let the golden grains of sand run wild in her long ruby hair as she closed her eyes as the water lazily wrapped around her body. She felt the sensation of the water climbing up her to her waist before backing away. Even with the cold wind around her the warmth of the setting sun gave it warmth as was relaxing to the touch.

Her ears soon heard the sounds of someone pulling out from the water and afterwards drips of water crashing down her petite figure. Opening her eyes she noticed Haru looked down at her, Gou gave off a puzzled look.

"Haru?" She asked.

"You know the water helps me forget my problems. Maybe you should give it a try."

"I nearly died today by being in the water." Gou stressed.

Haru held his hand out to Gou. "Do you trust me?"

Still lying on her back Gou stared at Haru in a questioning manner. Trust, it was a word she didn't have issues with until recently. And to hear it again so soon felt foreign. Even Haru, who was a victim of the same crime, it still felt weird to trust anyone at this point of time.

But if there was anyone that she could start to begin trusting again, it would be him.

Reaching her hand forward Gou held Haru's hand tight as he pulled her to her feet. Letting go of his hand Gou held onto Haru's arm as he guided her deeper into the water. Each step was getting harder as she held tighter and tighter onto Haru's arm. As soon the water had reached their waist the man stopped.

"Climb onto my back."

"What?" Gou cocked an eyebrow. "I'm not ten you know."

Haru glanced over his shoulder, confused at why Gou was rejecting his offer. "All you have to do is hold tightly. Just don't choke me the more we go deeper." Haru forewarned.

"What if I slip?"

"What if you just trust me?"

Silent, Gou stood in her spot as Haru bent down on one knee, his back facing her and waiting for her to jump on. Taking small steps she placed her hands on his well toned back.

"Why are you doing this?" Gou asked as she pressed her body onto his back, her arms locked into place.

"To be honest I don't know. Maybe I just want to distract myself from the things I have to face right now."

Haru rose himself to his two feet as he slowly took one step at a time, deeper into the ocean. Gou felt more stressed and held onto her brother-in-law a little together the deeper they went.

"Why are you making me feel this? I can't swim. I'm not even a water-type of person." Gou asked as she tried to divert her mind from the stress she was feeling.

Haru stopped as soon the water reached his shoulders as he glanced back at his sister-in-law. "Don't you want to feel something else besides pain?" He looked at the horizon ahead of him.

"I guess. But I'm lost. I've always had a plan to follow and now, it's gone. I don't know where to start."

"Then you and I are the same then."

Gou looked down at Haru's face as he looked back up at her.

"To be honest I have no idea how or when I and Rin will be better again. Rei suggested that we should spend some time apart but I'm scared that will make things more badly. I mean that was one of the reasons he turned to Sosuke to begin with."

"Well what if you make one day away from my brother? Like just for a few hours at least once a week? Maybe it will help you think things over."

"I guess, but swimming doesn't seem to help right now as it was one of the issues that started the damn problem."

Gou pondered as she rested her chin on Haru's shoulder. She noticed the tiny, tiny fishes swimming past them by.

"What about sailing?" Gou suggested. She cringed at the idea of suggesting such an idea.

Haru glanced at Gou who was resting on his shoulder.

"It's new, its un expecting and fast paced."

Haru was quiet as his mind raced a millions answers he could say back. Soon his lips moved and spoke out his answer.

"If I take this sailing thing, you want to come with me?"

Gou pulled up, "What for? I nearly died last time I went on that damn boat."

Haru began to turn back at walk back to shore with Gou still on his back. As soon it was shallow enough for Gou to get off she did, Haru looked at his sister-in-law.

"First, tell me how the water felt with me by your side."

Gou blinked. She didn't notice how long she had been in the deep end riding on Haru's back. Her fear was distracted the more she talked and hung around somebody she trusted. She even noticed tiny fishes passing them by just by taking the time off from the mainland. She looked back at her brother-in-law. He softly smiled.

"Come on, you need it as bad as I do."

Still accepting the trial Haru made her go through it only felt right to help him a little, even just once a week.

"But you don't know how to sail those floppy boats."

"I could always learn. And by that I mean not from Nagisa."

Gou cringed at the idea of letting Nagisa teach them both how to sail. Gou soon noticed Haru offering a handshake to her.

"We'll need a name though."

"We…do?" Haru was left unsure.

The young adult took a few steps and spun in her spot. She leaned back on her heels and turns to face Haru. Her hair tossed all over the place due to the suddenly pick up of the wind. Looking at the professional swimmer she made a hash tag sign with her fingers.

"What about #teamheartbroken?"

Taking in a minute to let the name sink in, Haru took a few steps towards Gou and sighed.

"That's…a really dumb name you know."

"Not as dumb as that mascot you drew for the team back in high school." Gou laughed as she reminded herself of the mascot Haru drew back for them in high school.

Irritated, "I really worked hard on that you know."

Still teasing, Gou turned her back on her brother-in-law. "To think you wasted such great art skills of yours on such a questionable mascot." Gou started to make her way back to the picnic table that was placed in the distance.

Still in his spot, Haru watched as Gou started to make her way from him. Haru cringed.

"He has a name you know!"