An unbearable tightness encircled him, crushingly with both arms pulling around his chest. His chest couldn't expand with the pressure and left him gasping for breath as the image of blue faded into spots of burnt black. Crawling on his skin was the chilling feeling of panic; it wrapped its cold, spider-like legs around his neck. Perhaps it was his own hand, clawing futilely at his weak, burning throat that craved viciously for air. When he tried to breath, an unknown entity with tentacles entered him, slipping into his lungs without permission... but he's felt this before.

He mindlessly disregarded the sickening sensation of skin burying underneath his nails, the flesh underneath seared as exposed to the forceful waves engulfing him. The cold feeling of panic flared when his numbing, grappling fingers came in contact with nothing. He knows the sensation of those clear blue appendages embracing him, building a place for him in the deep ocean below. A space that fits perfectly for him.

He could only idly think, why was he here? It was too cold for swimming, his parents told him. So with reluctance, he left the beauty alone as the rotting leaves descended from their homes on trees. Yet he was underwater, the jacket that had once kept him warm ensnared him, tying his arms behind his back to restrict his movements.

His body thrashed, hurriedly rebelling against the water that filled his swelling lungs and he vaguely remembered flashes of green fabric curling with the shape of the wind. Ah. The memory of cool air biting his cheeks struck him as he was confronted with a despairing girl who looked longingly at her scarf. A scarf that had fallen just beneath the bridge. That's right... he was getting... a scarf.

Helplessly, he opened his eyes to see the sky overcome by rippling waves and his last gasp was drowned by the ocean. His limbs clumsily flailed, too slow to claw his way back to the surface, too frenzied with the inherent panic he grew on a subconscious level. He knew this was how he would die.

It was so cold, his chest felt hot to the point he was overflowing with water, his tears becoming one with the river. He was becoming one with it... Yes, of course this would hurt. But, he couldn't quite escape the feeling that he was returning to someplace he'd always belonged. He was shedding this cumbersome body and going back to somewhere he understood, unburdened by his human needs. Somewhere as he weakly coughed, there was euphoria... and he was happy.

A pinpoint of blue, enveloped in his last vestiges of air, evaporated within his vision and his eyes closed. Acceptance pooled and he felt his body floating on a bed of swaying water, it cradled him as his arms drooped from his stinging throat. The numbing sensation brought a sense of security he had never felt before and he couldn't feel anything... this kind of simplistic confusion was nice. He needn't anything else as he was washed away by his love...

Clear blue irises were suddenly unveiled as his lids snapped awake, sand from the river's bottom still stinging his eyes and he gasped a breath full of waterless air. He felt disorientated as his body rushed forward, hunching while he choked ironically on the thing he needed most. He halfway expected the tasteless water to eject from his lungs.

Everything was so loud again, unlike before in his dream, and he could clearly hear the panicked scuffling accompanying Makoto's movements. While he didn't focus on it, he could feel the large presensce beside him hovering, just like that day. His ears rung with echoes of Makoto's younger self screaming for him to resurface and tonight he did the same.

"Haru! Haru, what's wrong?" The large hand of his clapped his back to aid him but he shooed him away as the foreigness of breathing died down. Now he was left taking in famished gulps of air as the last remnants of drowning slipped down his cheeks. Quickly he brushed them away, hoping Makoto didn't think he was crying. But, then again, whenever he wished for Makoto to overlook something was right when his eyes were fixed on it. It's what made him so annoying at times, "Haru... did you have a nightmare?"

As his breath calmed, he shook his head and flopped on his back only to become aware of the cold sweat dripping down his back, soaking through his clothes. Black bangs stuck wetly to his drenched forehead and he felt as if he'd just resurfaced from his dream. He wanted to take a bath.

He left the bedroom only to realize that they were in Makoto's house and it wouldn't be like his bath at home-besides it was one o'clock according to the dimmly lit alarm clock on the brunette's bedside. With a sigh, he walked back to bed and sat down, all too aware of the green eyes watching his every movement. Silently questioning him with persistence that he's always hated, no matter how useful it was at times.

This time it was Makoto who left the room and when he came back he was carrying a glass of water, a towel, and a change of clothes. He accepted them quietly, immediately downing the glass of water for his strangely dry throat. Afterwards he stripped to dry himself off, feeling no shame as this was Makoto-the person who's seen him naked just about as many times as his mother. The other teen wasn't even attempting to be subtle about the worried way he looked at him. He asked no questions but his eyes did all the asking for him.

It reminded him of what happened immediately after that incident. He didn't often dream about the time he'd almost drowned in the river. In fact it was remarkable to most how well he took it, returning to the pool immediately after his tremendous fever went down. But when he did, he always remembered Makoto's face when he woke up.

Soaked to the bone and screaming as ambulances wailed around them, the senseless noise was as startling as his dreadful expression. He remembered the way clear tears rained down his face, his runny nose left unchecked in favor of shaking him and staring down at him with those puffy eyes.

Tonight on top of the fact he had no idea what contributed to this dream-it was so sudden after so many years-he hadn't seen Makoto's face in his dream, he was just immersed in the experience of drowning. To him, that part had always been the scariest. The horrified expression was unfamiliar to him, never having seen such pure, unadulterated emotion before especially from someone as tenaciously cheerful as Makoto.

He paused for a moment as he pulled the too-large drawstring pants over his hips. Memories from a just two days ago rushed to the forefront as he vividly recalled Matsuoka. The way his cracked, wobbling voice called out to Gou, how his eyes widened with panic and overflowed with tears... he realized at that time what he was recalling. As the back of his mind itched irritably, he thought he might've seen a scene like this once before. It was Makoto.

Matsuoka's desperate cries were enough to drag those quieted pleas Makoto gave so long ago back to his attention. Back from where he thought he'd buried them because remembering something like that would do nothing except harm both of them.

Perhaps that's why he found it so strange that Matsuoka was capable of such a face. Haru had begun to firmly believe that the redhead was only capable to three expressions: anger, boredom, and that ungodly confusing look Haruka had never deciphered. Yet then, none of those expressions were on his face when gazing down at the still body of his sister. It crumpled and contorted to something bottomless.

It was when Haru saw Makoto so distressed looking upon him that he realized just how much Makoto really cared for him. So seeing the elder Matsuoka able to display such an uncharacteristic quality was certainly surprising. The raven also wasn't sure how comfortable he was with this information because he knew after that the brunette clung even closer to his side as if he were given a second chance at everything again.

However, the raven didn't think the expressions were quite identical. The same panic was there... but there was a certain despair in Matsuoka's eyes that made his expression far more dark. He could barely choke out her name and looked at her like he was looking at a ghost. No, they were not the same at all. But, they were just similar enough to spawn this dream from the depths of his memory.

He also felt there was a slight different, undetectable emotion that made Rin's face different from Makoto's. Yet another emotion he'd waste hours of his life pondering on before giving up.

After dressing, he noticed Makoto changed the sheets that he'd sweated in and he easily slipped under the covers to face the wall. He knew the brunette wanted to ask badly but he refused to give in and make things harder for himself by having to explain why he had the dream to begin with. It wasn't like he'd suddenly become afraid of water or that seeing Gou and Matsuoka like that had traumatized him. If anything, he thought he might be becoming sympathetic towards the redhead. For him to become like that, there must be something he wasn't showing. Some unsaid pretense between him and water.

He wanted to stop himself, to quit his wondering and his speculation. If things were to continue, he thought he'd never return to the way things once were.

Green eyes stared at the slender, unmoving back that was dressed in one of his shirts. He knew the other was ignoring it, stubbornly passing over the nightmarish coughing fit he'd had only a few minutes ago. It was horrifying to see that; those blue eyes widened with shock as he attempted to catch his breath but it was never enough. His body rejected it and he was left winded with tears flooding over.

He detested the guilty squeeze his heart gave when he was faced with such a potential emergency. He hated the powerlessness of it all. The way he could only weakly pat the other on the back and the way he was brushed off afterwards as if it never happened. As if the other hadn't been soaked in his own sweat, as if he didn't see the light, trembling fingertips hastily brushing away the evidence.

It was as if Haru was vehemently not trying to get his help.

Makoto knows that Haru has always been independent. He's always hated the idea of having to depend on others for help, preferring to be "free" without the bonds attached to needing someone. That was the exact reason Makoto had taken such an interest in him despite the fact that they had known each other since they were in diapers. While he was so independent, he was also left alone because of it. No one ever thought to help the boy who's only interest was swimming.

Because he always showed a disinterested expression, most teachers thought he was a hopeless student who had only one talent. If he needed help with math, Haru wouldn't ask because he didn't like math. If he were getting teased about his name, it would stop soon because of his lack of reaction. Makoto had always found it ironic, his independent and lonely existence. While he didn't want to be bothered, Makoto almost felt as if it were necessary to bother the other. At least to make him feel like someone was there.

That's why his throat stung, swelling harshly with the unanswered questions that begged to spill. He wanted to show that restless concern he's been harboring but his mouth felt dry and tasteless, like he'd swallowed glue and this was the aftermath. Being confronted with that cold, indifferent back was completely different than the other's usual brush-offs. This meant he had his walls sealed impenetrably tight because he didn't show him his face. Even Makoto couldn't read something like this.

Pursing his lips, he reached out, clinging to the back of his own shirt with a timid tug. He felt like a child who observed with shock as their parent cried before them, miniscule and insignificant, "Ne... Haru..." There was no response from the silent boy before him. His breathing never changed, it was as if Makoto had never touched him to begin with. He tried not to feel too hurt by this as he knows that's just how he is. He shouldn't feel hurt because that meant he was doubting the raven and more than anything he didn't want to do that, "Haru..."

There was a pause, harsh and brittle between the time he said the other's name and the time he answered. Many things went through his mind: thoughts of how he could help Haru or endless reassurances to himself that there wasn't something seriously wrong and it was only one of Haru's stoic moments. Louder than all those thoughts however was one: what did Haru want? If he didn't want his help, he shouldn't force it on him so quickly.

His hand gripped tighter and his swelling voice dried. Maybe he just needed time and someone there. If even just that was all he could do, the brunette would let the silence drift delicately over them until the other made the first move.

He settled in, watching that indifferent back until he heard an answer, "Makoto," his low, timbre vibrated through the room surprising him. He stayed silent, hesitant on what to say. Haru hadn't given him much to go off of, but somehow that innate feeling he got hearing his voice told him Haru wanted to talk. Whether that talk was good or bad, he didn't know.

"I'm not asleep," he answered to the other after he paused once more, "What is it?"

There was another lull in the conversation, courtesy of Haru before he asked something so out of the blue even he was shocked, his eyes widening in pure surprise, "You're over your fear... right?"

The reason Makoto was so shocked was because Haru, as someone who detested wasting time on what he deemed to be "unnecessary", had asked him again for the third time about his phobia of water.

The first time had been back when they were in elementary school, back when his fear had been extremely bad and he'd refused to go anywhere near water without Haru with him. He was equally as reluctant to let Haru jump into the pool without him, he knew it showed and eventually Haru got fed up. Funnily enough, he hadn't even asked if he was afraid of water. He asked for how long.

Then when they were at the beach, he asked if he was alright. Makoto was sure he hadn't shown it, having the same cheerful face on as usual yet Haru had managed to see right through him again. When his green gaze lingered in the ocean, he knew there was some lingering trepidation but he was no longer as terrified as before. The fact that Haru had asked about him at all was more than enough support to push him into remaining the strong, understanding captain he was.

But now... there was a wavering quality to Haru's usually steady voice. An uncertainty that wasn't present during all the previous questioning. It was almost like Haru was asking him for reassurance for his own sake.

In that one question, Makoto knew that he'd dreamt that dream again. He'd dreamt of drowning at the pit of a river without even a soul realizing, and it was terrible. But Makoto's cheeks hurt from the smile he desperately tried to hold back. The reason he hadn't wanted him to see his face was because he was embarrassed. Those tears, that coldness... he laughed because Haru sure had a way of showing concern.

"Quit laughing, it's not amusing," he heard the other mumble and Makoto leaned his head into the space between his shoulder blades, trying to stop his quivering shoulders. Haru was just too adorable for words.

"Of course not. You don't have to worry Haru, I haven't been afraid of water for a long time," his warm voice was muffled in the other's back when suddenly the other turned toward him. The raven's eyes were piercing, intent on searching the very wavelengths of his soul and somehow he felt his face irresponsibly heat up. Makoto just couldn't calm down when those eyes looked at him like that.

"Honest?"

Green eyes looked away from those intent blue orbs but he nodded, completely serious, "Because I have you, I don't need to be afraid anymore. Honest."

He felt more than saw Haru nod as he turned back around to face the wall. No more words were exchanged between them but Makoto made sure to move far away from the raven in case he felt how rapidly his heart was beating in his chest. This was bad. So bad.

Matsuoka came to school more withdrawn than before and in essence fitting Haruka's image of himself more… except for the fact he didn't. Haruka liked to think that the other was so cold and withdrawn all this time but he knew that wasn't the case. He felt he was right to think that the redhead beside him was now a stranger. Matsuoka had lost something in his being that made up the false personality he protrayed.

This lost something wasn't insignificant either, like perchance not drinking some juice he usually enjoys; no, it was much more serious than that. He lost something so entirely vital to Haruka's image of him it like looking at an unfinished puzzle hanging and slowly falling apart piece by piece into something he couldn't decipher.

He was also no closer to being free of the curiosity that plagued him and he was left only staring at the other who sat silently in his seat, his face turning downward and his long bangs easily covering his eyes. To look at him now felt more like looking at a husk that the redhead shed and left behind as some imitation.

Somehow, Haruka thought even his eyes weren't the bright red they were before. Once a clear, crystaline ruby color, it greyed into a bland shade of cranberry that resembled brown more than red. The azure-eyed teen watched as their dull depths stared aimlessly into space, focused on nothing.

Matsuoka's words echoed in his mind, his rough and strained voice that screamed at Gou … why would such a prank make Matsuoka react that way? Those screeches of confusion asking what would possess Gou to prank him like that-although truthfully Haruka thought the joke was also in bad taste once executed-refused to leave him. Fading in and out of his attention, there was the everlasting churn of his words and tears mixing into the evolving sewege vat of his mind that he only wanted to dump. But how does one dump thoughts? How does one forget?

Haruka's head spun and he sighed, desiring to take a dip in the pool to ease his confusion. Everything always felt better when he was submerged inside of a cool body of water. He felt almost as if it was comfortingly hugging his entire body, soothing his worries to the core. Even after that dream last night, he actually thought he would prefer drowning than to have to put up with this meaningless waste that was his thoughts. The slippery tentacles were something he accepted, the dried copy that was Matsuoka was something uninvited to begin with. Though with them being in class there was little chance he would be freed from the bother that was Matsuoka Rin.

He couldn't do anything that hour, though Ama-sensei continuously shouted out for him to pay attention and his classmates laughed at seeing how out of it Haruka was. He could only stare at Matsuoka from the corner of his eyes and spite him for blocking his thoughts once again. His thoughts-when they rested from contemplating the redhead's existence- constantly drew back to his nearly professional stroke that tore through the water. He idly thought the redhead was what his grandmother would call, "a genius". He was like him in that disturbing way and Haruka let himself wonder if the other even knew himself. He had to right? The strength and poise behind his stroke seemed so inbred in him to be able to call it up at a moment's notice, it was like it was a part of his DNA.

Is it a coincidence, another similarity between them? A huff escaped him and he rigidly turned his head away to the pool, slowly but surely entering martyrdom due to an imaginary war in his head.

"Ugh, that Matsuoka! He still pisses me off!" Was the loud introducting lament Nagisa wailed as he sat on the hard concrete roofing. His cheeks puffed out in a pout and though he sported such a goofy look, Rei was able to tell the other was completely serious by two things: the first was how he aggressively bit into his Iwatobi cream roll only to chew it with contemplation for once and the second was how he simply refused to tack on -chan or any actual honorific to the redheaded male's name.

Rei didn't sympathize in the least though with the other's plain boorish behavior. Matsuoka-san at best was an abusive brother with a short temper and at worst a complete ass. He didn't intend to become friendly with anyone who dare believe it was alright to strike a woman, even if the joke she pulled was of poor choice. He should take it with the principles of beauty that also consists of basic manners and just cool off, not fly over the top like that. And the worst part of all this was that Kou-san was still crying over that idiot, "Now, now Nagisa, there's no point in becoming strung out over someone like that. If you didn't hear what he said, he's beyond help."

Nagisa was more verbal with his complaints than Rei-chan, falling on his back an groaning with a mouth full of cream and cinnamon, "Buh, Gou ish shtill cwying ower ih! (But, Gou is still crying over it)," he finished chewing, quickly chasing the bite with milk, naturally strawberry flavored, "He should at least apologize! Who does he think he is to hit a girl and his own sister at that! What a loser, making Gou so sad. Just thinking about it makes me angry."

Nagisa could feel the inherent protectiveness, that came with having three sisters, well inside him, feeling almost like Matsuoka had pushed his own sister down. He wasn't one to get so upset but laying hands on someone was a total act of carelessness and if you should care and protect anyone, it would be your own flesh and blood. Even when his sisters insisted he wear polka dotted dresses and switched his swimsuit out for theirs, he would never dream about hurting them like Matsuoka.

It threw the entire team off when she didn't ogle their muscles blatantly while scolding herself. Or if she didn't battle it out with Nagisa about her name. She looked purely regretful the entire week and most of the times left them to their own devices or sometimes even cried when she thought no one was looking. In essence, it pretty much brought the brother-complex out of the entire team who began to actively dislike the elder Matsuoka for making his sister feel this way.

"Rei's right Nagisa. Now's not the time to be thinking about Gou's brother. We should be wondering how to comfort Gou since she's obviously still upset over this," Makoto's gentle voice formed a canopy over the thinly veiled aggresion Nagisa was displaying. The brunette was well versed in Nagisa's talent of being proactive. If he wanted something done it usually happened, no matter how far fetched. Everyone was already keyed up over the incident even though it had been almost a week since its occurance. With a few well-placed words, Nagisa might be able to stir up the team enough to actually confront the pariah and Makoto knew no one really wanted that.

What they wanted was for Gou to feel better because once she did they would feel no need to even speak the redhead's name. So with a calm smile, he said what everyone needed to hear. To tell the truth though, Makoto felt a strange mixture of satisfaction and guilt.

There was satisfaction that the situation with Matsuoka was working in his favor. He was feeling relieved because now no one actually liked Matsuoka and he didn't feel alone anymore in his instinctive distrust of the teen. He felt relieved because now the trembling insecurity he felt in his heart disappated due to the fact that Haru wouldn't fall for someone like that, someone that they all hated.

It was a fact that Haru only stuck around his close friends and didn't interact with anyone else unless he absolutely had to. So if everyone else despised him there would be no need to worry about their relationship building because the others didn't accept him. Matsuoka wasn't a threat to his budding relationship with Haru at all and that made him ecstatic.

But then... then there was the guilt. He actually felt horrible immediately after the incident a few days ago. The reason being was because he didn't feel... wrong. He didn't feel anything was criminal with the image of the elder Matsuoka panicking over the false sight of his sister drowning. The only thing in his blotted memory of the prank gone awry was a disgusting sensation of frustration. Haru was looking at the teen with those eyes again.

The way his blue eyes widened and unknowingly twinkled in excitement at seeing his skillful stroke pierced him, muting his obligatory words of worry. He could see the other's fascination at his desperate screaming and could see his curiosity at his tears. He just couldn't stop himself from once again feeling the overwhelming sensation of irritation. He simultaneously wished the other would quit crying and that things would ultimately get worse from there on.

Such a sticky, black feeling engulfing him like that... it scared him. He honestly felt a bit shaken from his near violent thoughts toward the other all because Haru turned away from him in just an instant.

The blonde's pinkish-red eyes stared sulkily at him before giving weigh to his fixated, motherly smile. Nagisa huffed and took another bite, "Mou, as always Mako-chan is right. What's really important is if Gou is alright."

Rei nodded as well, a more solemn look on his face than usual. Makoto felt another twinge of guilt. He hadn't meant for this sombre atmosphere to blanket them, he just wanted this to go in a more productive direction. With a nervous laugh, he took a glance at Haru, who was staring blankly forward and of absolutely no help, "U-Um... why don't we have an outing to cheer her up?"

There was a small pause that made him tense slightly in the worry he'd get an immediate refusal from Haru. While they did tend to go out sometimes, it was usually to places of convenience like the swimsuit shop or the grocery store. He knew the other would rather take a day long bath than go somewhere for an outing, although Makoto knew if his friends wanted him to come, there was a high percentage that he'd follow through with some bargaining.

It was confusing since Haru had genuinely expressed concern for him just a few nights ago so he thought he might say yes. But, even with the blank look on his face, this afternoon Makoto could see obvious anger lingering beneath the surface while the other glanced past him toward the pool. He couldn't tell exactly what Haru had become so irritated over but he knew if he was like this the only thing on his mind would be either swimming or a bath.

With this in mind, Makoto began to genuinely fear a decline from his water-centric crush. Makoto wasn't too sure it was his timing was right on this offer.

The sudden silence was broken into shards by a loud whoop, courtesy of Nagisa, "That sounds great! We haven't had any real team bonding time since regionals and it'll be the perfect way to cheer up Gou, two iwatobi-chan's in one go! Rei-chan you want to go too ne?"

Rei scoffed, off-put by how easily Nagisa could speak for both himself and him, "Who said I wanted to go too?"

"Aww! But, Rei-chan! It'll be fun! Didn't you say you wanted to be part of the team anyway? That you wanted to swim with us fore-" His innocuous chatter was interrupted as Rei clapped his hands over his mouth. He couldn't believe how dirty he was playing, throwing Rei's words back at him from a few weeks ago when he discovered he actually wanted to swim with everyone.

Rei turned puce at him bringing it up but Makoto laughed at Nagisa's manipulation. It seemed like those two were going along with them. He turned to Haru only to see him staring indifferently at his spiced rice that he recieved from his mother. Hmm... he seemed like he was thinking about it but not too much. He actually looked like it had nothing to do with him really, making the green-eyed boy sweatdrop nervously.

As he deliberated this detrimental balance, a surprising announcement was made for Haruka to report to the principal's office. The group's conversation halted before unanimously everyone looked to Haruka in curiosity. The same thoughts ran through everyone's head, weighing different scenarios that the raven could've been in that landed him in the principal's office of all places.

Had the raven done something wrong? No, probably not. He never was one to be into causing unnecessary trouble. It required too much effort. So then what could the principal want with him? A worried look passed over Makoto's face while Rei and Nagisa looked at each other in concern. Haruka only sighed at his friends' dramatics and decided to put them out of their misery, "I don't know what I did either."

"Haruka-senpai, that... that doesn't really answer the question..." Rei said with a bit of hesitence as the raven continued to nonchalantly devour his admittedly delicious lunch. There was sadly a smaller portion of mackerel but salt stood out extremely well this lunch and he wouldn't just leave it to go see some strange principal, knowing he hadn't done anything wrong.

Frustratingly, Makoto seemed to know what he'd decided on as he sighed, "Haru, you have to go see the principal, don't just eat mackerel." The raven stared blankly at him, deliberately taking another bite of his simple lunch, "You'll get in trouble, you can't just decide you haven't done anything. Your mackerel will be here when you get back."

"I agree with Makoto-senpai on this Haruka-senpai. As a member of the club, you have to abide by the school's rules. If you don't-" Suddenly Rei's lap was full of a hyperactive blonde as he leaned over to whisper dramatically into the raven's ear.

"You'll be penalized by not being able to swim, or worse you'll be kicked off the team. Without four members, the team will have to disperse and..." even quieter he said to the paling Haru, "they'll drain the pool."

Instantly, yet reluctantly, Haru left his mackerel to rush from the rooftop to the office. He wasn't sure if all of what Nagisa said was right, but there was no way he would chance his amazing pool being drained for anything. If there was something he was sure of though, it was that the others were talking about him behind his back about what he did to land himself in the principal's office.

He quickly arrived at the office and opened the door only to have a streak of red catch his eye. His eyes widened marginally and he turned to see Matsuoka lazily sitting in his seat, his arm slung around the back of his chair and his long legs casually crossed. Dull, red eyes turned to look up at him and he saw a flash of recognition in them before he huffed out a sigh and looked away.

Haruka blinked his own blue eyes and suddenly felt quite curious about why he was called down to the office and the other was there. The redhead hadn't been sitting on the roof this afternoon-a fact he couldn't help be troubled over because now he wondered just where he might've gone and if he was just now choosing to avoid them all completely. He sat down, not as casually as the other, but certainly not attentively either. The principal's tired eyes set on them and he sighed when he looked at Haruka.

Haruka wasn't entirely new to this sort of look from adults. When he was in elementary school in fact, he frequently gained those looks. He didn't entirely know what they meant but Makoto had always told him not to think too deeply about it.

"Nanase-kun, recently… your grades haven't been the best in certain classes," He took out a few tests as proof, showing the 66 he got on his Math test recently and the 13 he'd gotten on his English. He looked at the tests blankly as if to say, 'Yes, I'm aware of this. But, I don't really care either way'. He felt that because of this lack of a reaction, he gained yet another sigh from the older male, "Well, to be frank, because of your poor grades it has been recommended that you get a tutor to improve them. It is your second year and we must get you ready for a good university, these grades just aren't cutting it. This is where Matsuoka-kun comes in."

Matsuoka? Haruka turned to the other, who slumped down in his seat and didn't look at him but at the withering man in front of him that was suddenly beaming. It figures that Matsuoka was probably embarrassed at the way he acted yesterday and didn't really want to make too much eye contact. He'd all but avoided him and the rest of the swim team for most of the day-and vice versa-but that didn't explain why he was all of a sudden able to locate the old man's laugh lines. He wasn't sure if he's ever really seen a superior smile with such genuine pride up close before. And he was smiling at Matsuoka of all people, "Matsuoka...kun?"

"Yes, because Matsuoka-kun currently holds the top scores in both of those classes we figured it would be best to enlist him to tutor you. He's got great things in store for him so I thought he'd be a good role model for you," Haruka looked at the other in slight surprise. Matsuoka had the top scores? So he was smart under those dirty glares and grunts of dissatisfaction?

Haruka somehow didn't want to believe that he'd skipped over such a monumental fact. He'd just assumed the grumpy redhead didn't care about his grades like he didn't care about most other things. He never participated in class discussions, never asked questions... yet he was the best student? How did that even make any sense? Wait... did that mean he was even better than Rei? The megane wouldn't be too happy with this news.

Haruka was slightly embittered at the thought of having the elder Matsuoka as his tutor. It was ironic enough that he was already having trouble trying not to pay attention to him without adding the damage of spending time together too. He said he wanted to go back to swimming and he promised that he'd lay this mystery to rest, but as soon as there was a semblance of normality in his day things were changed so fast he got whiplash. The catalyst was the ignorant Matsuoka with a personality that changed like the wind. Ever since he got here...

He opened his mouth to refuse the offer, baffled that this was even an idea in the first place. He imagined the other would probably curse this idea to hell too in his own eloquent way, well that was the type of person Haruka thought him to be at least. He didn't seem to be the helpful type… he's more of an annoying, itchy, prickly type really… The principal quickly began talking once more, as if he knew just what he would say, "He's already agreed so there's no need to worry about Matsuoka-kun's consent. He's already agreed. There's no objecting to this Nanase-san, it's either this or you'll be suspended from the swim team."

Haruka's mouth neatly snapped closed and he turned swiftly to the redhead who looked as if all of this were completely normal. Although he still guiltily didn't spare the raven a glance. A dark pressure seemed to rise in Haruka's chest. He recognized this to be irritation at once again getting his character wrong and, then of all things, being stuck with him. Was Matsuoka doing this on purpose? Was he deliberately plaguing his mind for a prank he didn't even know he was a part of? He stared at Matsuoka like he were one of his despised math equations as they were dismissed. When he reluctantly followed him out of the office, the slightly taller redhead turned to the raven and for the first time looked him in the eye with a raised eyebrow.

"So, we should start today since we have a quiz this Friday in Math. So I'm going to come over your house and we're going to shape you up. You heard him, no objections if you don't have anything important to do and since I already have your address because of the principal there's no need to give it to me." He was cut and dry, bossing him around like he was in charge. In his tone there was no room for objection and the redhead even had the gall to nonchalantly check his phone while he was talking to him as if he wasn't being a jerk right then, "I'll come after swim practice ends, so be ready."

Haruka's eyes widened in indignation. Who did this guy think he was?! How could he just one-sidedly schedule an appointment between them for something he didn't even want? He said nothing and Matsuoka apparently took that as a sign of acceptance while he turned and walked down the hallway without another word.

00000

Haruka felt his eye twitch and he sighed, walking away to the rooftop. He wouldn't tell the others about this. They already didn't like Matsuoka enough to be infuriated and try to help him in their own goofy way. He could only consider himself lucky that Gou had decided to resume with their scheduled practices again, he really needed a dip in the pool.

Later that day, after swim practice, Makoto walked him home and he at best was a little tense. He mentally ran through excuse after excuse on why he had to break their schedule all of a sudden. A quick glance toward Makoto told him all he needed to know about just how eager he was to proceed with their afternoon activities.

The aftermath of Gou's prank also included the rapid depletion of their joined libido as Makoto was far too worried about Gou and how she was faring. Meanwhile he was preoccupied with her boneheaded brother. With these too distractions, they didn't get much done the past two days although that was fine with him. He needed the time to think.

Truthfully he was surprised that Makoto wasn't worried about last night... or well this morning. He was suspiciously quiet about the entire thing now and even eager for them to continue their sex lives in contrast to how he couldn't even bear to let his shirt go earlier. Part of him couldn't help wonder what conclusion he'd drawn about the incident but the rest of him was all too eager to bury the hatchet and let him think what he wants. However, now that would be far more difficult than he anticipated.

Now he hurriedly had to make up some excuse as to why he couldn't all of a sudden enter his house at all. He attempted to sort the more outlandish excuses out first like saying his bathtub would possess him or something. But the alternative realistic ones were far and few in between-there wasn't much Makoto hadn't seen and even less of what Haruka would hide-that ruled out everything from his parents to the condoms expiring. While Haruka didn't care about what the Matsuoka thought about him, he thought it would be far more troublesome if Makoto even caught the sight of short, red hair anywhere near him. With the whole group against him, things would get far too sticky too fast and the raven thought things were already far too messy for his tastes.

They reached the last stair to his door and Haruka cursed what a half-assed liar he'd been all his life as he watched Makoto reach for the doorknob. If he managed to get in it would be absolutely horrid attempting to get him out, he had to say it now. A bead of sweat slid leisurely down his dewed temple and his brow furrowed with concentration... his mind went blank. Fuck.

"Haru, what's the matter? You've been looking pale for a while now…" he stared at him and he couldn't feel any ideas coming any time soon. All the changing ripples in his life made it difficult to see clearly and he didn't want more of a headache than he already had. Self-preservation had to come before anything else at this point.

He told the brunette something about wanting to bathe alone for today and with a blur of persuading kisses, he managed to ward the other off his scent. With a sigh, he walked up the stairs, stripping carelessly to get into the running bath. Despite everything, he thoroughly enjoyed soaking for the third time today, though he was slightly dreading when the other would come and tutor him. That was the power of water; even in the most unpleasant times, it was consoling.

Hey Guys ^_^ I want to apologize for keeping you hanging for... over a year. I'm in college now but I want to continue this story so here's the first part and expect the second part within two weeks. I really liked where it was going, so I hope you will too. Again, thanks to anyone who read this before, I hope you'll read this chapter.