Free! A rare member

Secret?

Nagisa put his hand on his chin and thought about something to ask when Rei jumped in. "What were you afraid of?"

Both Makoto and Haru jumped up. Makoto smiled nervously. "What do you mean, Rei?"

Rei looked at the ground for a few seconds before looking up at him. "When... I was almost drowning. I could see you fainting. You were terrified of something... What was it?"

Makoto turned red and looked at the ground, so Haru spoke for him. "We don't need to talk about that."

"But-"

"I said no."

Everyone turned silent. Your eyes were locked on Makoto, he smiled innocently at Haru before he returned your stare. "It's okay Haru, I wanna talk about it."

Your breath got caught in your throat by his harsh stare. Was he mad at you or something?

"I saw..." He clenched his fist and looked at the ground again.

"...A mermaid."

You completely froze. He knows. That's why he was staring at you. You wanted to flee. To run as far away from here as possible. To run in the sea and never resurface again. To-

Nagisa gasped. "Wait really?! What did it look like?? What color was it's tail?! Tell me everything!"

Makoto didn't look up. "It was right behind (y/n). I thought it was going to murder them. I'm..." He paused, taking a deep breath and balling his fists. "...afraid of mermaids."

He said the last part extremely softly like he was afraid even saying the word mermaid was gonna make one attack him right here right now.

You were still frozen in place. Feeling relieved he didn't know what you really were, but sad that he was afraid of you. You were still too shocked to say anything. So he continued.

"There was this old man I used to really get along with. He bought me these fish on the market that I took care of. One day he, and a couple of others, went out to sea to scare off this club of mermaids who had been stealing their fish. The mermaids attacked them mercilessly. They threw everyone overboard and drowned them in the water. I wasn't sad once I learned the news. No, I was afraid. I didn't understand why the mermaids had been so cruel. No matter how well I took care of the fish he gave me, they still died. Ever since then, I've been terrified of mermaids."

Everyone went silent, taking in the information. Nagisa and Rei were looking at the ground but you and Haru were looking at Makoto. It was too silent. Someone needed to say something.

"Makoto, I-" You didn't come any further.

"You still tried to save me," Rei mumbled under his breath, his tone reflecting both compassion and perplexity.

"Why did you agree to this swim camp?" You asked, your voice soft and gentle.

He chuckled without joy and looked up. "Because I wanted to swim with you guys." He said, looking over all of you. "When I'm swimming with you, I feel like I can go anywhere."

Everyone gasped and smiled, feeling heart-warmed by his words.

It stayed quiet for a couple of seconds. No one knowing what to say. Eventually, Makoto sighed and giggled. "We can continue the game if you guys want to."

Everyone smiled and Nagisa rolled the cube. It landed on your name. "Okay (y/n)! What is your biggest secret?"

For the second time in a short period, you froze again. Only this time it lasted a little while shorter. The others must have noticed your nervousness because Makoto quickly raised his hands. "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to."