Clouded Distance | Free! Fan Fiction

1. A New Beginning

Maybe that would exempt Tachibana Makoto, though: they'd both known him from childhood.

Hana smiled and buried her face in the warm fleece of Haru's jumper. "You're so warm," she moaned.

"And you're cold," he said, taking her cold hand. "Let's get going."

"That's a good idea. This wind is bitter."

Haru smiled, nodding agreement. They turned their backs on the ocean and started to walk in the direction of their intended destination, holding hands as they did so. Hana chuckled, remembering how awkward holding hands had been for them both at first. Everything had been awkward in that first week, really.

Not many people were outside today, no doubt wanting to stay out of the biting cold. They were rather smart. Hana leaned in close to Haru as they walked at a brisk a pace as was possible. 

Fortunately, the coffee shop they wanted to go to hadn't been too far away, so they got there relatively quickly. Haru quickly opened for the two of them, and they hastily stepped inside. 

Inside, the coffee shop was sugary warm. Hana could feel the heat seep through her chilled veins, warming her up from the inside. She shivered as she shrugged off her jacket. This was just lovely, a welcome relief from the cold outside.

Together, the two manoeuvred their way to a spare table. Knowing their usual orders, Haru left to place their orders while Hana seated herself on the dark wood chair and stretched out, inhaling deeply as she did so. The café had an aroma that was a mixture of sugars and spices. Accompanied with the dark wood of the furniture and the light colour of the walls, this place was cosy and beautiful, but not over the top.

No wonder they came to this place so often.

There wasn't a long queue, so Haru came back soon.

"I can't believe term is starting again," Hana murmured, as he sat down. She still found it hard to believe. When they went back to school she, Haru, Makoto and Rin would all be entering third year - their last year of high school.

The very thought of their final year, of graduation, made Hana's heart beat erratically. The prospect of ending school and entering the world as adults never failed to make her feel a little frightened. She wasn't sure if she was ready.

"It's gone quickly."

"We'll be third years, huh?" Hana sighed, propping her chin up in her hands. "I can't believe it. Third year always seemed so far off..."

It had. Even in her second year, Hana had looked at the third years, and thought that it seemed so far away.

Now, it was staring at her in the face. It had come up so suddenly.

A thought came to her suddenly, and Hana gasped. "Oh gosh, we'll have to start thinking of our futures soon! I don't want to think of my future!"

Hana was saved from going into overdrive as their orders arrived. Hana smiled, composing herself to thank the waitress and take her usual order of a hot chocolate and brownie. To calm herself down and force herself to breathe, Hana had a long sip of her hot chocolate. The hot, creamy liquid warmed her right up.

Hana lowered her cup, and found Haru looking at her, a little amused. "You okay, Hana?"

"Sorry." She blushed lightly. "I'm going a little overboard again. Let's change topics - to how soon we'll be able to swim again!" Her panic was quickly replaced by a huge grin as she thought this. She had missed being able to jump into the pool and swim, especially since last year she had been able to really start progressing with her freestyle. "The weather should warm up relatively soon."