My hands shook as I grabbed a hold of the doorknob in front of me. I knew it was unlocked and I knew that I could run right in, but I didn't think this whole thing through, but no one ever does when they are running on emotions and adrenaline. I ripped the door open and stepped inside.
"Haru!" I yelled. I went to the family room and saw that he wasn't there. He wasn't in the kitchen. He wasn't in the bath, so I went to the last place. Once I ripped open his bedroom door I saw him sitting on his bed with his head hung low. "How dare you!" He raised his head, so he could see me and his eyes widened at the sight of my presence. I was huffing and puffing as I stood in front of him and I knew that tears continued to run down my cheeks without warning.
"Kei…"
"How dare you say all those things to Makoto! All he was trying to do was help you! So was Nagisa and Rei and you turned your backs on them! Why, Haru? Why?" I screeched. My hand were balled into fists and held at my sides as I glared at him.
"Because you all have a dream and I don't!" He yelled at me.
"And you're going to take that out on the people who care about you? That's how you're going to deal with this? Will that help you get any closer to your dream?"
"What would you know? You're giving up your dream!"
"Because I decided that! I decided that making my family proud and living a stable life was more important than making music!"
"Why do you care?"
"Excuse me?" I was taken back by his question.
"You're going to leave me next year when you go to university and you'll find someone new, so why do you care?"
"H-How could you say that…" That thought never crossed my mind. I never wanted to leave Haru and find someone else. I wanted to stay with him and only him.
"Because it's true!"
"That would never happen…"
"Yes it will!"
"No it won't because I love you!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. It was the first time I uttered those words out loud and they came flying out of my mouth at top speed. "I'm in love with you Haruka Nanase." I whispered to him.
"Kei…"
"But you're too stupid to see that!" I cried before turning on my heel and running out of his bedroom.
"Kei, wait!" But I didn't stay to hear what he had to say as I ran out of his house and towards my home.
"Why would you say that?" Makoto asked me as we sat on the roof of the school with our lunch.
"Because of how he treated you guys, it wasn't right." I answered.
"Kei…there was no point in you two getting into a argument too." I shook my head at his statement.
"I don't care. I know he's confused right now and that we should be supporting him, but he's being completely ridiculous."
"So…you told him you loved him."
"I don't want to talk about it." My head hung low as I remembered screaming those three precious words to him and he didn't say it back.
"And did he say it back?" I didn't answer. I just continued to eat my bento in peace.
"Did you and Makoto have a fight? Maybe you and Kei?" Haru tensed up at Rin's question since he was bang on. "Bingo, huh? What happened?"
"Nothing." Haru didn't want to talk about it. He was still trying to get his head around the events that had happened just a few nights before.
"Sosuke and I fight all the time."
"It was my…first fight and Kei…"
"Did you say something to upset her?" Rin looked at Haru with worried eyes, but Haru continued to stare at the soft sand that he was sitting on.
"She…said something." It took a few moments for Rin to put the pieces together, but when he did he just turned away from Haru and looked at the sea again.
"I see."
"Why did he go to Australia?" My mom asked me.
"Because Rin took him there." I answered.
"Why? What's he going to find in Australia?"
"I don't know…maybe it's just good that we have a little space." I could almost hear the smirk on my mom's face as she made a comment,
"You're just like us, huh?"
"Just like who?" My father yelled as he barged into the family room.
"No one." My mom answered.
"Well you said something."
"Were you eavesdropping?" I asked him.
"Do you really want to know what we were talking about?" My mother asked him. He nodded his head as his answer and my mom stood up before she yelled, "We were talking about how you haven't taken me to Australia yet and Haruka is already there before me! Do you not love me anymore?"
"Do you think I can buy a plane ticket with love?" My father yelled.
"You would do anything for me if you truly loved me…"My mom began to make sniffling sounds and I shook my head. She was about to start 'crying' to make my father squirm in her hand.
"Oh please don't cry! Honey bunches, please don't cry!" I stood up from my spot and began walking out of the room.
"I'm going to leave before this gets anymore weirder."
As Haru laid in bed his eyes wandered to the blue bracelet around his wrist. Kei's words continued to circle around the boy's brain as he tried to put the pieces together. His future looked dark and scary and almost like it was non-existent. With the pressures of everyone around him, and the thought that everyone was moving on without him, was terrifying. Could he really find his dream by just looking?
And then there was Kei. She was loud mouthed, sarcastic, hot-tempered, but she still managed to make anyone around her smile. She managed to put everyone before herself and never expected anyone to notice that she did. She was giving up her dream for her family, but she couldn't be happier about it. Those three little words repeated themselves over and over in the black haired boys head and he didn't know what to do. Did he feel the same way? Was this love? How would he know?
I lied on my bed and had my charm bracelet in my hands. I didn't know what Haru was doing and it was a little weird for me. We've always known what the other was doing for our entire lives, which made this separation almost too hard to bare. As I held the dolphin charm in-between my fingers I thought of Haru.
He has always had a thing with dolphins. Like the one Makoto gave him when they were kids at the Iwatobi Swimming Center or the poster of the dolphin on his wall in his bedroom. Haru was peaceful like the dolphin – he never wanted any confrontation (he was always more passive-aggressive) and he wasn't overly competitive like Rin. Haru just wanted to swim. That's all he's ever wanted to do.
As I rolled to my side and placed the charm bracelet on my nightstand I began to close my eyes so I could sleep, but before I did I made a quick wish. I wished for Haru to find his dream.
As Haru looked out onto the pool in front of him he almost felt at ease. His mind began to debate on what he should do with his future. Was swimming competitively really for him? Was this what he wanted? But then he looked to the stands on his left and that's when he saw her.
"Haru!" He saw her with her long black hair tied up into a high ponytail and small earrings on her earlobes. She had the same ridiculously large smile plastered onto her face; it was so large that it reached all the way up to her eyes and her beautiful lavender orbs had disappeared. With her left hand gripping onto the bar in front of her and her right hand waving at him he saw the charm bracelet he gave her on her wrist. She stood there and continued to cheer his name as loud as she possibly could and that's when he knew what he wanted to do. That's when he saw what he was looking for.
"Hey mate." The sound of someone calling him in English brought the black haired boy back into reality. He looked beside him and saw a blonde man standing beside him. "How's it going? Let's go!" He announced as he took off into the pool and as he did Haru saw the whole stadium fill up with people. They erupted in cheers around him and he looked back to the stands on his left side to see Kei and, sure enough, she was there – cheering him on.
He had decided what his future was going to be. He was going to swim. He wanted to swim. So as he jumped forward and went into the water he felt the feeling he had been looking for.
He felt free.
ALRIGHT! So...THE LAST CHAPTER WILL BE POSTED TOMORROW! But do not fear...there is an epilogue because I just couldn't resist! Anyways, leave me a review!
-xoxo