Clouded Distance | Free! Fan Fiction

1. A New Beginning

"That would be good," Haru said, with a light smile. Hana chuckled, knowing that Haru was a lot more excited than he was letting on.

Hana had a small bite of her brownie, and another sip of her hot chocolate. It was funny to think that, a year ago, she would have refused to go in the water, and wouldn't give swimming a second thought.

But then, she came back to Iwatobi, reacquainted herself with Makoto and Haru, and then met Nagisa, Rei, Gou, and Rin. It was thanks to the swim team that she had been able to overcome her fear of the water and start swimming.

It was also part of the reason she and Haru had fallen for each other.

Now, Hana loved swimming, and found the time in winter where they couldn't swim in the outdoor pool a little boring - she missed swimming with her friends.

Hana sighed. "Sometimes I wished we were at Samezuka. They've got an indoor pool - it would be great to be able to swim all year around?" Not to mention, Rin was at Samezuka as well. After they'd mended their relationship, Rin had become a close friend. It was hard, not being able to see him as often as they'd like, especially since Samezuka was a boarding school.

They sat in comfortable silence for a while. Hana had a few small bites of her brownie, and dusted a few stray crumbs off of her lap.

"So, have you decided?" Haru asked quietly.

Hana blinked, cocking her head to the side. "Huh? Decided, on what?"

"Are you going to join the writing club this year?"

"Oh." Hana sat back. Last year, their literature teacher had recommended that she joined the writing club since she was rather skilled in that area. Hana had done a lot of writing over the winter break, but still hadn't made a proper decision about joining the club.

She sighed. "It hasn't been fully decided... but I might. My parents think it might be a good idea. They think it'll open up a few opportunities for me." She looked up at Haru and grinned. "But if I do, I'll still have plenty of time for the swim club, don't you worry about that!"

"I wasn't. I knew you'd be able to handle it."

Hana rolled her eyes. "Nanase Haruka, I know you too well. You were worried I'd quit the swim team and join the writing club."

"Hana -" Haru looked away.

Hana just laughed. "You can't lie to me or Makoto, Haru," she teased. "But you needn't have worried. I wouldn't drop the swim team when I haven't had a chance to compete yet! I don't think I'll get that far, since I'm still only new to swimming, but I do want to have the experience of competing! And even once that's done, I've still got my joint-manager job with Gou. So don't you worry, Nanase. I'm not going anywhere."

At this, Haru smiled. "I'm glad."

Hana smiled back. She couldn't help it. Whenever Haru smiled, a warm feeling passed through her, and she couldn't help but smile too.

As she looked down, her eyes lingered no her watch. When she read the time, another memory stirred in her head, and she gasoed.

"Haru! We've got to meet up with the others soon, at Makoto's!" she exclaimed. Gou had called a meeting for the swim club that day. It must have been important, for she had made all the arrangements yesterday raher quickly.

Haru's eyes widened slightly, telling Hana that she wasn't the only one who had briefly forgotten. "You're right."

"Shoot, we'll need to get going." Hana stared at her half-eaten brownie and the remaining hot chocolate she had to drink. She mentally slapped herself for forgetting. "We cut ourselves really short for time."