I am so sorry for how unbelievably late this is but here it is. Yay! :3

I own absolutely nothing of Free! or it's characters.

After Grad

He was late.

Sousuke continued to stare, more like glare, at the wooden door. It had been a year, hundreds of emails and texts but they were finally seeing each other.

The bell chimed.

A loud customary 'Welcome!' was shouted. Sousuke smiled as his purple haired friend filed in. However Rin wasn't the only one coming in. Sousuke's face twisted unpleasantly when he saw the two others file in after his long-time friend. Nanase's blue eyes and bored expressions definitely put a damper on Sousuke's night, so much so he didn't pay any attention to the man Nanase was talking to.

'Damn it Rin. Why bring him?'

Rin's face split into a wide grin as he found Sousuke, leading the two other men to his table.

"Sousuke!" Rin's arm shot out high.

The taller one tipped his hand in response while the three men walked to his table.

"Lucky! This table can fit all of us," Rin grinned triumphantly.

Sousuke only nodded in response. He duly looked up to the standing blue haired

swimmer, "Nanase."

Haru nodded politely back.

The unknown man nervously tried to defuse the tension," Maa Maa, let's just enjoy tonight, ne?", Sousuke's eyes widened, finally acknowledging the other guest.

"T-Tachibana."

The brunette smiled sweetly before taking a seat next to him while Rin and Haru sat across.

The three men ordered, Rin leaned on the table, "Osu, Sousuke. What's been going on?"

Sousuke took a deep breath before chuckling.

And so the reunion went on with food, stories, and lots and lots of sake.

Throughout the night however, Sousuke's eyes always drifted towards the glowing brunette. His smiles never ceased through the night.

Before they knew it, they were walking to the park. Rin stopped though. Sousuke looked back at his friend and Rin shot a sharp grin although his eyes were sad, "Haru and I'll be leaving first."

Sousuke's eyes widened, "Why?"

The purple haired man sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "Well, we're catching an early train home."

The taller man looked a bit dejected at this.

"Makoto can still hang out with you though, right Makoto?"

The brunette jumped in surprise before nodding, "Un"

Sousuke's face lifted.

After the four departed, Sousuke continued to walk lazily to the park while Makoto trailed behind in silence.

Makoto, a little unnerved, spoke,"Ano, Yamazaki-san," the taller of the two stopped and looked lazily over his shoulder to see Makoto fidget, "Where else are we going?"

Sousuke turned to the stars, "Hmm," he tilted his head toward Makoto, " Where do you want to go?"

Makoto's face whirled with emotions from surprise to flustered to endeared to sad then finally sheepish.

"S-sorry, Yamazaki-san. I have classes tomorrow so I believe I'll be leaving first."

Sousuke looked down to the gravel before swiftly walking till he was three feet in front of Makoto.

"When do you get off?"

"Eh? Around 2, but-"

"Then meet me here at 3."

"Ehh?!"

Sousuke only turned and walked calmly away from the tomato red Makoto.

Unbeknownst to Makoto, Sousuke's face was equally red.