Your POV
~Flashback~
Makoto, Nagisa and I watch Haru as he swims from one end of the pool to the other. He always swam so wonderfully and it never ceases to amaze me.
I met Haru, Makoto, and Nagisa when I first joined the Iwatobi Swim Club. I was shy at first, but I started to warm up to everyone around the third week of me being here. I usually get the same question about my eyes. My left eye is (E/C) while my right eye was a different shade of (F/C). It was natural for someone to ask about them and it was also natural that I get weird looks from others saying that my eyes aren't normal. But when Haru first started talking to me, he told me that it doesn't what others thought about my eyes and that they were beautiful in their own way. His words made me comfortable and gave me more confidence in myself. Then I started hanging out with Nagisa and Makoto and our friendship went from there.
"He swims so amazingly", I say.
"Yeah! Like a dolphin!", Nagisa says excitedly.
Then a boy with maroon hair stands in the lane right next to him, slapping his goggle strap onto his head and dives into the pool right after Haru. I saw that he swims just as fast he Haru does.
"Who's that?", Nagisa asks.
"That's Rin Matsuoka", Makoto answers, "He just transferred into our class."
We watch as they practically race each other and, as always, Haru ends up being the fastest. As his head reaches the surface, he pulls off his goggles and shakes the water out of his wet hair.
Makoto holds his hand out to pull the blue-eyed boy out of the pool.
"And you're still fastest in the water, Haruka", Makoto says with a cute smile.
"When will you stop calling me 'Haruka'?", Haru asks as he lets Makoto pull him out of the pool.
"You're so fast! Someday I want to swim just like you!", Nagisa says.
"You will one day, Nagisa", I say with a smile.
"I guess the rumors were true. You are pretty fast", I hear Rin say to Haru", So, do you know what your time is?"
"I don't care about the sort of thing", Haru says while turning his head.
I sigh and lightly shake my head. Haru is usually like this and you could barely get a smile to come onto his face.
"So, I see you're gonna hold onto your reputation", Rin says, "Hey, I was wondering if you want to swim in the next tournament with me."
It takes few second for Haru to say, "I only swim free" then jumping back into the water.
"Sorry about that. You'll usually get an answer like that from him", I say to Rin.
"No, it's fine", he says then takes another look at me, "Aren't you that girl people talk about at school?"
"Yeah. I'm (Y/N) (L/N). It's nice to meet you."
"Rin Matsuoka. My name may be girly, but I'm still a boy!"
Even though it was obvious that he was a boy, I smile at his introduction and at the fact that a new friendship came about.
~Present Time~
It's my 2nd year in high school now, and one more year before I graduate. Things have changed as the years passed, but it's a working progress. Now I'm trying to get Haru out of the tub. He spends so much time in there since it's cold outside.
"Haru! You have to hurry up! You need to get ready or we'll be late!", I yell, but I knew that he didn't listen.
I live with Haru now due to my mom passing away and some parental issues with my dad that I won't talk about at the moment. Haru's mother was able to take me in and give me shelter so I won't have the possibility to be so far away from Iwatobi High School.
As I pull my hair into a high ponytail (or keep it down if your hair is short), I hear the doorbell ring. I open the door to reveal Makoto standing in front of me.
"Morning, Makoto", I greet him.
"Good morning, (Y/N)", He greets back with a kind smile, "Is Haru ready yet?"
"I think you know the answer already."
"Of course. Why did I even ask? I'll go get him."
As Makoto goes to get Haru, I finish getting myself ready for school. And a few minutes later, Haru comes out of the bathroom, but he was still in his swimsuit. I sigh as he goes to the grill and makes himself some mackerel.
"Wait, you're talking about being late, but you're doing this?!", Makoto shouts.
"I didn't have any breakfast", Haru says bluntly.
"But you're wearing an apron over your swimsuit. Aren't you gonna get cold?"
"Not really. I didn't want to get any oil on my swimsuit."
"Well, you might want to hurry up. School will be starting soon, and we don't wanna be late", I warn my friends.
~At school~
Makoto and I were able to get Haru out of the house and to school on time. When we got there, the teacher starts taking roll, calling the students' names of who were here. And when she reaches Haru's name, she mistook him as a girl. Again.
"Actual, ma'am, Haruka's a guy", Makoto corrects her, as the class laughs at the mistake.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Mr. Nanase. And I'll be your new homeroom teacher this year. My name is Miss Amakata. It's nice to meet you", Miss A greets herself.
Apparently, Miss A used to work with modeling before becoming a teacher. I don't know why she gave up such a great job for this one, but I know that's none of my business.
"Hey, Haru, (Y/N), it's lunch time. You guys want to go up to the roof?", Makoto asks us with a smile.
"Sure. What about you, Haru?", I say.
With a small smile on his face, he mutters a yes and we head up to the roof. I made a bento box last night that I'm glad to try out.
"I forgot my lunch today", Haru replies.
"I thought you made yours last night. Oh well, do you wanna share mine then?", I offer to him.
Before he can answer, a boy with strawberry blond hair appears at the bottom of the stairs.
"Haruka! Makoto! (N/N)! It's a long time since we've seen each other!", the boy yells.
(N/N)? No one's ever called me that except-- Wait, I think to myself.
When I figure out who I was talking to, I run downstairs and give him a huge hug.
"Nagisa! I've missed you!", I say in excitement.
"I've missed you too, (N/N)", Nagisa says as he hugs me back.
~On the roof~
Makoto, Haru, Nagisa and I are all on the roof, catching up on the years that we've missed.
"We haven't seen each other in forever, not since the swim club shut down. And how long has that been?", Makoto says.
"A long time. The pool was the only place we could ever hang out since I went to different middle school", Nagisa explains, "Wow! Cherry Blossoms! Didn't they have these back at your middle school, Haruka?"
"Do not call me that", Haru says.
"But that's your actual name, though."
"The cherry blossoms do make the view very beautiful, but there isn't a swim club so the pool is never being used", Makoto says.
"Really? So where do you guys swim now?", Nagisa asks.
"I don't swim competitively anymore", Haru answers softly.
"Wait, seriously?! I tried so hard to get into Iwatobi to swim with you guys again!"
"I dunno what to tell you, Nagisa, but we aren't kids anymore."
"Haru.."
"Well, even though Haru doesn't compete anymore, he'll still swim. He needs water more than anything. And when it's warmer, you can find him the ocean", I say.
"Yeah, except this morning when he was in the bathtub", Makoto continues.
"That sounds more like he's into bathing", Nagisa says.
Nagisa keeps trying to convince Haru about joining a club, but he still would refuse.
~Timeskip~
After lunch, we leave the roof and go back to the main building. Nagisa is ahead of us though.
"Did you guys hear about our old swim club?", Nagisa asks, "They lost the lease and they're gonna tear it down. So we should stop by before they do."
Wow.. Old memories in that place are about to leave with the actual building. That place was where I found my passion for swimming.
"We have to go and dig that up, right?", Makoto asks.
"Yep! It's already closed, but we can sneak in while it's dark", Nagisa suggests.
"You guys have fun with that. I'm out", Haru says as he tries to walk away from us.
"Come on, Haru! Please!"
"No way."
"Don't you think it would be fun?!"
"Not really."
Nagisa keeps whining and tries to convince Haru to come with us once more. Then Makoto comes beside us chuckling.
"Maybe you should just to humor him", Makoto says.
"Why should I?", Haru asks, turning his head.
"Well, we would have a pool to ourselves", I say, not missing Haru flinch a bit.
"Yeah, a pool that's bigger than the bathtub", Makoto continues.
Haru turns back in our direction while his eyes glisten with excitement. I giggle because I knew that it was gonna be very easy to convince him to come with us by bribing him with swimming.
~Later that evening~
3rd POV
Makoto and Nagisa go with (Y/N) and Haru back home. Since Nagisa doesn't live close by, he doesn't know about the move (Y/N) had to make.
"Wow! I didn't know you guys had the house for yourselves!", Nagisa exclaims, "Did you guys move up in your relationship or something?"
That question catches the upperclassmen off guard. (Y/N) gets very flustered/turns red and Haru turns back to the mackerel with a light pink hue on his face.
"N-No! That's not it!", (Y/N) yells, still flustered/blushing, "We aren't even dating!"
She's right, but why does it hurt when she said that?, Haru thinks in his head.
He brushes those thoughts away and continues making his mackerel. Makoto, (Y/N), and Nagisa walk up to him to see what he was making, even though, to Makoto and (Y/N), it's pretty obvious.
"Mackerel again, Haru?", Makoto asks as he shakes his head, chuckling.
"I'm not asking you to eat it", Haru argues.
"I remember that you ate this a lot", Nagisa says.
"And he still does", (Y/N) says.
Makoto's smiles fades out with a semi-sad look on his face.
"Hey, guys. Do you think this will be a good idea?", Makoto asks doubtfully.
"What?! Don't back out now! You were all for this minutes ago!", Nagisa whines.
"No, it's not that. It's just that... It doesn't feel the same just being only the four of us."
"But we can't do anything about it. Rin's in Australia, remember?"
(Y/N) knows that she does. Rin transferred to Australia before middle school started. He went because he wants to be good enough to be in the Olympics when he's older. It took a toll on them because it would be a while before they can be able to swim with each other again.
~Later that night~
Your POV
We all arrive at the old Iwatobi swim facility. And it is trashed. Paint was fading away and the walls look like they were going to give out in a way.
"This place does look run down", Makoto says.
"That's why I came prepared. I brought purifying salt", Nagisa says as he pulls out a napkin with salt in it.
"Why salt?", I ask.
"It's because some say that this place is haunted."
"Please don't scare me like that", Makoto says as I can hear the trembling in his voice.
"I'm being serious!", Nagisa shouts, causing Makoto to flinch, "There are many stories about this place, Makoto. A girl in my class said that she heard somebody sobbing."
I glance towards Makoto who is trembling in fear. Even if he looks like a strong man, he's the biggest softie anyone has ever known. He has been easy to scare since grade school and he still is now.
Nagisa goes behind us and starts dousing us in salt. Makoto still trembling in fear, me being unsure about the whole "haunting" ordeal, and Haru, being Haru, stands there like nothing is happening. Until I see him flinch slightly, looking at his shoulder.
"Wait a sec", he mutters.
"What's wrong Haru?", I ask.
"Nagisa, this is sugar, not salt."
I look at him confused, but when I take a smidge off of my shoulder to give it a taste, I taste something sweet on my tongue.
"How did you mix up sugar and salt, Nagisa?", I ask as we enter the abandoned swim facility.
"It can be anything of you believe hard enough", Nagisa answers.
Sometimes I forget that Nagisa is still a child on the inside, I think to myself.
"Whatever you say", Haru mutters.
"Like with ghosts: They're not real. People say what they want you to believe in", Makoto says as he starts to calm down.
But that doesn't last long as we hear something knock over. Makoto yelps and moves behind me and Haru, too afraid to move.
Nagisa rubs the back of his neck and chuckles nervously and says, "Sorry. My foot just hit the can."
"Nagisa... Stop doing this on purpose!", Makoto shouts, relieved that nothing was going to get us.
"It isn't my fault that you're scared of everything."
I chuckle at the fact that what Nagisa said was true. Even when we were little, Makoto was scared of many things. That's why he has gotten into the habit of hiding behind Haru any time something scared him.
As we go further into the abandoned swim club, memories start flooding through my brain from the time I started, to when I met Haru, Makoto, Nagisa and Rin, and also when we won our tournaments.
As I look around the old locker room, something catches my eye.
"Hey guys. Come look at this", I call out to my friends.
They come over to where I am, looking at what I found: the picture of me, Haru, Nagisa, Rin and Makoto after we won first at the tournament before Rin moved to Australia. Even though I had my individual race that day, the boys were in the relay, but that was still a great day. I still remember that day.
Flashback
Haru, Makoto, Nagisa, and Rin were all in the relay together while I had my own individual races. The four boys did really well in their relay and came in first while I came in first in breaststroke and second in freestyle.
After the tournament, the five of us were at the back of the swim club with the relay trophy in a box in a hole.
"Let's make this into a time capsule and then dig it up when we get older", Rin suggests as he looks over at Haru and me, "See? I can be a romantic."
Rin smiled at both of us, Haru looking away and me blushing red/flustered.
Back to the present
"Haru, (Y/N). Are you guys coming?", I hear Makoto calling out.
Haru and I look at each other before catching up with Makoto and Nagisa.
We go a little bit further into the facility, probably getting close to the pool. Nagisa, being the happy guy that he is, is loving the fact that he is in here, while Makoto, on the other, is still scared and is holding onto Haru's shirt.
Suddenly, I hear footsteps from the right side of me, so I turn to see what it was. It was a guy coming toward us. I see Haru looking shocked like he knew who it is.
"Hey", the guy says, sounding awfully familiar.
"Do you know who that is?", Nagisa whispers.
"No, not really", Makoto and I answer in unison.
"What a coincidence finding you all here", the guy says as he pulls the strap of his hat back.
That's when my eyes widen. Now I know why he's so familiar. The guy was Rin...
"S-Sharky...", I say.
I gave him that name years ago because his teeth reminded me of a shark.
Right now, I am completely still, trying to process the fact the one of my childhood friends is standing right in front of me. When our eyes meet, his expression softens as it feels like an eternity since we have seen each other. Even if I have tried with every ounce of my body not to lunge at him, it didn't work. I have to hug him, and I did. The last time I talked to him was when came to visit, and that was way too long ago.
"You... You're back", I say, not finding any more words to say.
Feeling the warmth of my best friend is enough for me. I feel arms wrapping around me which made me smile.
"Rin, you're here now!", Nagisa says with excitement.
"When did you come back from Australia?", Makoto asks in shock.
"Does it matter? It's clearly fate! We just happen to be here at the same time so we--"
"Haru. You still hang out with these guys? Kinda pathetic if ask me", Rin says, cutting off Nagisa.
My smile fades at what he says and I lift my head up to look at him.
"What's that supposed to mean?", Makoto asks, a bit offended.
"Like you're one to talk. Did you learn any new tricks in Australia?", Haru asks.
"Sure did. Let's race and I'll show you", Rin says with a confident smirk on his face as he places his hat on top of my head.
"U-Umm are you sure guys wanna--?", I was about to ask until Haru walks right past me.
"Did they just ditch us?", Nagisa asks.
"I'm afraid so", Makoto answers.
After a short time, we run after them to the pool.
Once we get there, Rin and Haru start taking their clothes off. I guess they're very serious about this racing thing.
"They're actually gonna swim here?!", Nagisa asks, very shocked.
"I don't think this is a good idea", Makoto says.
"I don't think so, either", I reply.
Then all of a sudden, just as Haru unbuckles his pants, Makoto covers my eyes as I blush red/grow flustered.
"Wait, you never changed out of your swimsuit?!", Makoto says in shock.
He uncovers my eyes and I see the Rin has done the same thing. Makoto and I still have the same mindset that Haru and Rin shouldn't be swimming in an abandoned pool, but Nagisa was for the idea to see them swim again.
Haru and Rin were about the jump in until they see that the pool was empty.
"There's no water in there", Nagisa says as he shines the flashlight on the filthy looking pool.
"Yeah. Why do you think that (Y/N) and I said that it was a bad idea to do this in the first place?", Makoto comments.
I hear Rin scoff as he steps down and walks towards the exit, not before stopping to look at us, with an item in his hand: The championship trophy from grade school.
"You guys came to dig this up?", Rin asks as we all look in shock, "I don't have any use for this anymore. So you can keep it."
Then he drops the trophy on the floor and walks out. Seeing him like this breaks my heart. Then I realize that his hat was still on my head so I take it off and stare at it.
What happened to him in Australia to make him act this way?
The next day
3rd POV
Haru, Makoto, Nagisa and (Y/N) all sit in the schoolyard thinking about why Rin acted how he did yesterday. Haru, being Haru, comes up with weird suggestions on why, such as him being a ghost or a doppelganger.
What they didn't know was that two female first years were observing them.
"So, you say that you know those four?", the girl with dirty blond hair asks.
"Haruka Nanase, Makoto Tachibana, Nagisa Hazuki, and (Y/N) (L/N). They all used to go to the same swim club before it down. (Y/N), being the only girl their group, is noticed for her different colored eyes, while the boys are for girlish sounding names", the magenta hair girl explains.
"How do you know so much about them?"
"It's a secret."
"Well, you do have something in common with the boys. You're a girl with boy sounding name."
That comment aggravates the magenta haired girl.
"I wouldn't be if PEOPLE WOULD STOP CALLING ME GOU!!", she yells.
Your POV
Let's just say that the school day wasn't as great as I thought. Haru, Makoto, Nagisa, and I had gotten in trouble for trespassing on private property last night, well Haru had gone home before we did. I want to know how they knew we were there in the first place. But Ms. A saved us from getting into trouble by telling some kind of quote.
But all of that aside, Makoto, Nagisa, and I are by the shoe lockers, trying to find Rin's.
"Are you sure that he would be here?", Nagisa asks.
"Well, if he had come back, there still is a possibility", I answer.
As we look down each row, still's still no luck finding Rin's shoe locker.
"I found it!", Makoto exclaims, "Wait, no, it's Gou Matsuoka. Who's that?"
"That's Rin's little sister. Remember her?", I answer.
Time Skip
We make it to Haru's house and see that Rin's sister, Gou is there looking for Haru. When she turns around, she faces Makoto, Nagisa, and me.
We take her by the shore to take about why she was at Haru's house in the first place.
"So, you're Gou, right?", Nagisa asks.
"The right pronunciation is Kou, not Gou", Gou reminds him.
"But aren't you named after that guy from medieval times?"
"Yeah, but it's modern times now, and Kou's how it's pronounced now. You need to learn how to respect a girl's wishes."
"Um, excuse me?", Makoto asks.
"Don't gloss it over!", Gou yells.
"I'm sorry about that, Kou. But we really wanted to know why you were looking for Haru earlier", I explain.
"At least someone knows how to say my name right", Gou comments, "But anyway, the reason why I was over at Haru's was because I wanted about if he'd seen my brother."
"So, it wasn't a doppelganger. Rin really is back", Makoto says.
"How is that shocking?", I ask him.
"Well, he actually came back to Iwatobi recently, but he hasn't actually been home yet, but what I've heard is that he goes to Samezuka now", Gou answers.
"Oh, I've heard of Samezuka. My cousin graduated from there. That's the all boys' boarding school with one of the best swim teams in Iwatobi", I say.
Maybe we'll be able to see Rin again.
At Haru's house
"No", Haru answers bluntly as he dries his hair.
"Oh, come on, Haru! Please!", Nagisa begs, "We have to go see Rin!"
"We just saw him yesterday. And besides, we'll just get into more tomorrow."
"And here I thought you'll get a chance to jump into an actual pool", Makoto says, causing Haru to stop drying his hair.
"Yeah, Samezuka has an indoor pool, so you'll be able to swim", I say afterward.
Haru looks up with that same sparkle in his eyes. I guess he's coming now.
3rd POV
As the sun sets, Haru, (Y/N), Makoto, and Nagisa take the bus to Samezuka. Nagisa, Makoto, and (Y/N) all fall except for Haru. He looks over at (Y/N) as she lays on Makoto's shoulder as they both sleep.
He never thought that he would be jealous of his own best friend. He's liked (Y/N) ever since they were in middle school. Even he quit swimming, she was there for him to make that decision.
His thoughts come to a halt as the train stops.
Makoto is the first to wake up and feels a weight on his shoulder. He looks over to see (Y/N) laying on his shoulder, still sleeping. His face turns red seeing her laying on him. He doesn't want her to move, but since the train stopped, he had to wake her up.
He shakes her a bit as (Y/N)'s (E/C) and (F/C) eyes open up. She rubs her eyes to wake herself up.
"Are we there yet?", she asks groggily.
So cute, the three boys think.
"Y-Yeah", Makoto stutters.
They all get off of the train and head towards Samezuka Academy. As they do, they find the indoor swimming pool and see that the swim team is still practicing.
"There's so many of them, but I don't see Rin", (Y/N) say.
We turn to see Haru already stripping out of his clothes. Before he could unbuckle his pants, but Makoto stops.
"Would you stop taking your clothes off?!", Makoto yells.
"You brought me here to swim and I only came to swim!", Haru argues.
"Hold on. Why don't we just wait until dark, when practice is over", Nagisa suggests.
"But that means that we're technically trespassing, Nagisa", (Y/N) says.
"But, remember what Miss A said about 'holding a glass to a full moon'? We have to live our lives!"
I have a bad feeling about this..., (Y/N) thinks to herself.
Your POV
As night falls, the pool area begins to clear. Once everyone was gone, we sneak in.
"We're gonna get in a whole lot of trouble for this", Makoto says.
But Haru doesn't listen as he takes off his clothes and jumps into the pool, despite Makoto's protests.
He looks free again, I think.
"How about we join him?", Nagisa asks in excitement.
"Oh, no. I'm not in there", I deny.
"Besides, we're only here to Rin", Makoto continues after me.
"We are, but we can for a while. And no one will know we're here as long as we turn off the lights", Nagisa says as he takes off his clothes.
"But you don't have a swim--"
Makoto stops talking and looks at Nagisa in shock as he is completely naked. I cover my eyes and turn away, my face being as red as a tomato/ feeling the heat on my face.
"Give me a warning next time!", I yell.
"I'm gonna skinny dip", Nagisa says, ignoring me.
I keep my eyes covered until Nagisa jumps into the pool. Once I hear a splash, I uncover my eyes and I see Makoto facepalming.
"Makoto! Come here for a sec", Nagisa calls over.
Makoto walks over to the edge of the pool with a sigh. As he does, Nagisa grabs onto Makoto's ankle and drags him into the pool. I snicker at the fact that he fell for that old trick. I see Makoto's face coming above water, then he strips out of his shirt and swims towards Nagisa. They start splashing each other, laughing and having a good time. I smile at them having fun and Haru floating around the pool.
But that moment ends as we hear the door open. We all look over to Rin, who must've seen us from afar. He walks towards the boys, not acknowledging yet.
"What the hell are you guys doing here?", Rin asks, glaring at the trio.
"Rin! Well..", Makoto starts off.
"We were just coming to see you!", Nagisa answers, trying to lighten up the mood.
"Get out!", Rin yells.
I walk up to the boys and stand beside Rin.
"U-Uh.. Rin?", I call out to him, causing him to look down at me, "I a-actually wanted to come to return this to you."
I hold out his hat that he left with me last night. I partially lie because I was afraid that he didn't want to see me either.
I expected him to glare and yell at me for not bringing it back sooner, but he just looks at me and then takes the hat out of my hands.
Then I see Haru swims up the edge where Rin is standing.
"Free..", Haru mutters, Rin slightly gasping at his comment, "Don't you remember? I said that I only swim free."
I look between the two boys wondering what was going on at the moment. Maybe something happened between them? Is that why Rin wanted to swim against Haru yesterday?"
"I have only 3 years until I'm normal, but I guess I can wait a little while", Haru says as he shakes the water out of his hair, smirking at Rin, "What was that something that I wasn't supposed to forget? I think I'm having a time remembering."
It seems like Haru is challenging Rin at this point, and it looks like Rin isn't going to back out of it.
"I see how it is", Rin says, "If that's what you want, fine. But to be clear, it's gonna be way different than the last time."
Rin and Haru stand in front of each other, ready to race with each other again. I wonder how this'll turn out.
End of S1 E1