The first night was awkward, and Rin swore up and down that the next following nights they would not spend sharing the same bed. No ifs ands or buts. Haru supposed, at the time, it didn't matter. Not that he minded sharing a bed like Rin seemed to though. He didn't move very much in his sleep, or snore at all, so Rin couldn't be upset that he woke him up or anything. More or less Haru was confused. They'd shared beds as kids, what was the difference now? Maybe Rin was just self conscious about how much noise and movement he himself caused. Maybe he was just afraid of stealing the other's pillow again (like when they were kids).

Haru didn't care at first… but the more he started to think about it, the more he realized sleeping alone didnt appeal at all. He was scared- just a little. It felt like any length of space between him and Rin would cause the whole island continent to crack open and split the earth between them. And he'd be alone.

So when it came down to it, and Haru's pride was standing on the tight-rope between wanting to outright beg and wanting to just sneak into Rin's bed anyways once he was asleep, he was utterly and brilliantly alarmed by the other male walking him straight past the woman at the front desk. And without a word, Rin stuck his key into the door, and unlocked it to reveal the bed they had shared the night before. He didnt even flinch this time. Didnt say anything. did not spare the bed a second look, and Haru wondered if maybe Rin wasn't feeling well or something.

He immediately started pulling the items out of his pockets-cell phone, passport, directions and bus times that had helped them on their journey today around the city. While they had spent the majority of their day swimming at the pool, they had traveled far to find a decent place for lunch, and since then walked around little boutiques until their feet began to ache.

Haru paused at the foot of the bed, listening to Rin shuffle about in his tired haze before pulling off his own jacket and setting it on top of his suitcase, which was half-unpacked and leaning against the wall.

"Rin." He murmured quietly, undoing his shoes next and glancing over. The other was currently undoing his belt, without a care. Quickly, impatiently. "Is something wrong?"

He shook his head.

"I-Is it the bed?"

Rin stopped, mid-pull of his belt and looked over, his face, which had been set in a slight frown a moment ago, softened. His messy, wind-blown hair seemed to settle against his cheeks, both pink in their own shade.

"I forgot about that actually." He said, looking at the single sleeping space as if it had suddenly just appeared again. Only the night prior he had been irritated, and now he just looked slightly surprised. "Did you want me to go see if they have another room open tonight?"

Haru stiffened a little, setting his sneakers next to his suitcase. Without Rin… next to him… But… what if he woke up and Rin was gone? What if Haru didn't hear the other rise and he wanted to get breakfast and just left? And then Haru wouldn't know how to communicate if someone came to the door. Or what if the room's phone rang? Or what if Haru felt inclined to look for Rin and got lost? Or even worse, what if the continent cracked in half, separating them for good?

"I don't think the occupancy would have changed in… just a day." Haru murmured, tried to sound uninterested regardless of Rin's decision anyways.

Lucky for him the shark merely shrugged, and began to slip off his pants that were still in place over his leggings. "If it won't bother you… i don't feel like arguing with that woman again."

Haru would never admit it, but he was relieved-very much so. Enough to go back to removing his shirt before standing and pulling his tracks pants down much quicker than Rin had. The air was cold against his chest-because it was winter here, and Haru hadn't enough time to pack and considering how abrupt this trip had been. He was actually already out of clean clothes, and was afraid Rin would take his clothes to his foster parents to have them washed. Of course… not that Haru minded Russell and Lori. He was just embarrassed around them because he couldn't actually have a real conversation with them.

And they shouldn't have to wash his underwear… yeah no.

"So, Haru." Rin began after a long moment of silence. He sat on the edge of the bed adjacent to the other. "We have two choices for tomorrow, and i figured i'll let you decide since I dragged you around all day today."

"Okay."

Rin reached down towards his large duffel bag-one that was certainly filled with enough clothes for seven days if not more. He pulled out two pamphlets that he probably picked up in one of the stores today, or kept from the plane ride over in the first place.

"The Zoo." Rin held one of the small booklets towards Haru, all sense of discomfort and exhaustion from a few moments ago fading. His smile was brighter and wider as he elbowed his friend. "Koalas, Kangaroos, ehh?"

Haru pinched his lips together to keep from smirking at the obvious excitement. This was what Rin wanted to show him tomorrow he was sure of it.

The other pamphlet was tossed next to him on the bed in a sluggish motion. "Or the museum."

Haru couldn't help it, he smirked a little this time, directly towards Rin who was leaning back on his elbow now, looking up at him and his cold bare body. "The museum."

Rin's face fell, instantly, and Haru looked away, pinching his mouth together again to stop the bubbling feeling of content inside of him. Why so suddenly, did he want to laugh? And at Rin's disappointment at that? Haru let his eyes wander around the low-lit room for a moment.

"Really?" Rin muttered, glancing down at the pamphlet he had thrown. He wasnt used to Haru being feigning excitement, let alone begin excited to begin with. So of course he couldnt hear the teasing in the others voice "But… I mean… you might not understand what the signs say. O-Or what if theres history to read and its in English. You cant expect me to translate everything for yo-!"

He couldn't help it, Haru let out a tiny hiccup of tired laugher. "Rin. I'm kidding."

The other's pout turned back into a smile, and he was pulling himself up into a sitting position on the bed. He threw an arm around Haru's shoulder, and reached for the pamphlet that he was still holding but not looking at.

"Loser." He said fondly, trying to hide the small shiver that was shared between their chilly skin. He flipped the page over with his thumb and held it towards Haru. "Look at these little guys." He insisted towards the grey fluffy creatures clinging to tree branches. "They're totally cool."

"I dont care for museums anyways." Haru nodded, leaning a little into Rin's body weight. Subconsciously or not, it felt right to be close to him- no Australian gaps between them.

"Good." the other insisted, and the arm on his shoulder shifted-just a little and slowly enough that Haru figured he wasn't pulling away. He stopped, hand resting in the curve of his neck for a moment, and then tentatively he touched the few longest strands of Haru's hair at the nape of it. He rubbed his fingers in the strands, blushing and smiling softly and then pulling back.

"Didn't bring that essential shampoo by any chance did you?"

Haru shook his head. No of course not. He hadn't had time to think about things like that when he packed.

"Looks like you will have to borrow mine." Rin said, suddenly pulling himself completely off the bed and towards his bag again. He reached inside for a bottle of shampoo that he hadn't taken out the previous night for whatever reason. Haru flinched at the swish of distance between them, but figured it was okay then, once Rin was pushing a bottle into his hands.

"I don't mind the smell of chlorine." Rin murmured. "But its bad for your hair if it stays in too long."

Haru didn't really pay attention to what he said-no- instead he was reading the label between his hands and his eyebrows were climbing up his face in surprise.

"Cherry Blossom?"

Rin may or may not have flinched, but he covered it with a confident smile and a shrug. "You know I like them."

Haru just smiled, and the back of his neck tingled a little from where Rin had touched it, and in his mind he thought this was like holding a bottle of Rin's scent-minus chlorine.

"Right." He whispered under his breath, standing and heading for the bathroom door. "I'll be quick."

Neither of them realized that Haru never once declared being quick in a shower or bath situation. Neither one of them seemed to care either.

…

"Oy, Haru." Rin kicked him under the blanket as he fumbled into the bed. "Get on your side."

There was no venom in his voice though, and Haru was already settled comfortable in the center of the space, not willing to move. Thats what Rin gets for letting him shower first anyways- lack of bed space. Oh and hot water. Lack of that too.

He was shivering as he clambered under the heavy comforter. It was too cold outside to be taking cold showers and Haru should have realized that before selfishly using all the hot water. Rin should have also been more upset about this, but he wasn't.

"Mmn. Too much effort." Haru concluded as Rin's frozen toes pushed into his lower back.

Rin groaned. "Come on, I'm freezing here. And I want to get comfortable."

Haru sighed as Rin put his hands to his shoulder blades and moved his upper half with force. Haru merely curled over into himself, and Rin took the liberty of finding the patch of body heat left in the opening. He huddled in it, thus huddling into Haru's shoulder blades.

"Asshole."

Haru blinked, realization hitting him that okay, maybe he was being kind of rude. But really- Rin was a lot closer now wasn't he? He couldn't be… falling off the side of the bed or anything either. Haru was too close to the edge of the bed on his side for that to be possible.

There was a long moment of silence between them-aside from breathing that is- until Rin finally seemed to relax a little, and his forehead between Haru's shoulder blades was kind of comfortable in its own weird way.

"Do you really want me to scoot over?" Haru whispered, thinking of the obvious space between them the previous night… and the very obvious lack of space between them now. He liked this better.

Rin sighed a little, contemplating what HE rather liked better. And that was more obvious in his brain than Haru's. After all. He'd brought him to Australia for a reason. To comfort and understand… and… well maybe a little comfort for himself wouldnt hurt anything right? And maybe Haru was already understanding HIM?

"Maybe if you didn't curl up like an awkward lump." He tried to tease, but his voice was too soft. "We would fit a little better."

Haru obeyed almost instantly, surprised by what the other had said, and eagerly willing to find a better solution. He didn't have to curl up like this when he slept… he just prefered to.

Slowly he released his tight hold on the blanket curled up to his face, and he relaxed his back a little, falling out of the tight C shape and into something more line-line. Though his knees were still a little bent, that didn't seem to be a problem. He scooted down just a tad too, so that when Rin raised his head and adjusted his shoulders, they were closer to the same length- heads falling on the same pillow.

"Better?" Haru said, and Rin was glad it was too dark to see how red his face was turning. Not that Haru was facing him anyways… but… wow was it possible to get warm that fast? His body did a strange little shivery motion, straight up his spine and back down again, and in the same movement he realized he hadn't the slightest clue where to put his arm.

"I...think so." Rin said questioningly, letting his eyes squeeze shut as he gently-so gently- laid his arm over Haru's side. Part of him was sure, that with that motion the other would throw him down to the ground and make him shiver to death there for the night. Another part of him was concerned the other would just be uncomfortable by the weight and then Rin would have to take a step backwards.

It would be like last night… Haru as far to the right of the bed as possible… and him lying on his back as far to the left with no contact whatsoever. Rin didn't want that to happen.

But Haru sighed. Completely and purely and wonderfully content, Haru sighed. And Rin thought maybe he was dreaming. Spooning Haru? This didn't happen in real life did it? No this only happened in his everlasting fantasies. The ones that followed him through middle school and puberty and all the way back to Iwatobi when he left Australia originally.

"Are you comfortable?" Haru repeated, afraid that his sleepy tone would betray him and Rin would see just how comfortable HE actually was. Not that Haru really ever tried to hide the way he felt… at least he never usually had a reason to. He was just nervous. His heart fluttered a little.

"Yeah." Rin allowed, quietly, arm falling just beneath Haru's elbow, resting on his hip. "You?"

Haru nodded, and the first pleasant wave of sleep began to fall over him.

…..

~Makoto~

He wasn't used to being the person who needed comfort, let alone being the person who needed water to provide it. And despite himself, Makoto found that he couldn't have been thinking clearly when he decided to stay in the locker room after the joint practice long enough for the Samezuka team to depart, and Iwatobi to leave him behind.

Rei seemed to be willing enough to lead Nagisa away from Makoto's sadness, but that was probably because he himself wasn't good at comforting others. Nagisa would have tried his hardest, but with that came the embarrassing strut of his penguin impersonation- something no one was prepared for at the moment. And regardless of it all, they had things to do after swim anyways. Makoto didn't want them to wait around for him while he moped. Yes. Moped. As in, get lost in his own mind wandering off to what Haru was doing and if the other was feeling better yet. Or what exactly did Rin plan with him in Australia? And most importantly. Would the fight with his best friend come back once they were home?

All the questions left unanswered in his head were drowned when he submerged himself in the water of the pool, backstroke and freestyle and lazily dragging himself along. He paused now and again, leaning against the side of the tile and debating on whether or not it would be beneficial to use this extra time for training, and ultimately decided that he didn't care too much. In fact. Swimming times and practices were coming to an end for him completely soon weren't they?

Makoto thought back to his fight with Haru, and what had hurt his best friend the most about their conversation. It wasn't that the latter was pressuring him about his future, it was that he was now settling into his own. Leaving Haru behind… going to Tokyo to pursue a dream in teaching.

Mako sighed, resting his chin between his arms on the side of the pool, his legs bent and dangling behind him aimlessly in the water. Almost as if he wasn't tall enough to reach the bottom (which was completely not true). It was strange like this, thinking that somewhere in a different time zone Haru could be calming his nerves in a body of water. But he was not here, and that was a little unsettling.

"OY."

Makoto jolted back, shocked when an abrupt and sharp voice struck him from somewhere on the pool deck. He let himself fall back into the water completely, standing in the shallows and blinking up at the figure suddenly there. Suddenly much larger looking than Makoto had ever bothered to notice before. And all though he knew him well by reputation, he realized that he never once had talked to this man before now.

And where was Makoto's voice? He swallowed.

"You shouldn't be here. Practice is over, Tachibana." Sousuke, hands lost in his jacket pockets, stared downward. The icy color of his eyes reflecting with the water Makoto currently remain unsettled in.

"A-Ah… I know." The slightly smaller boy agreed, using his upper body strength to haul himself from the pool-effortlessly. He hadn't thought the Samazuka team would care if he only just stayed a little while after practice. "Sorry."

Makoto walked slowly past the other, head down and the usual, perfect smile on his face was erased. Sousuke, who really had no business knowing why Makoto could look so down, could only stare in confusion. Wasn't this the team Captain? The cheery one who always had the right words to say? The one who smiled even when others did not? The one who was so goddamn nice about everything, it came off as fake to Sousuke.

He glared at Makoto, justs a little until he could almost feel him shrinking into the towel he grabbed and slung around his shoulders. Sousuke's face softened in confusion as the other made a low effort to dry his dripping hair or legs. He really… just looked upset.

"Hey."

"S-Sorry, Sosuke, i'll dry off outside if its a proble-

"Its not…" He said, still standing near the waters edge, and Makoto could only hope that this wasn't how the next five days would go for him. He tried to urge himself to be cheerful and look at the bright side of things-to see the pool as half full instead of half empty- but in some ways, with or without the argument he'd had with Haru, he knew he was just having a bad day.

Or two days… or…

"Ehh… Tachibana." Sousuke interrupted his thoughts about stubbing his toe this morning on his door frame, and then spilling tea at lunch, precisely after his math teacher had scolded him for getting a low grade on the quiz.

"I...Ah…" For the first time, Makoto watched this giant of a teenager (but maybe he was nineteen by now? He could have been older than Rin by a little bit), standing on the poolside in his track suit with the jacket unzipped a little, and his hands still in his pockets as if they were cold. He looked… a little tired, Makoto decided, wrapping the towel around his waist.

"I shouldnt be here either." Sousuke admitted, though he couldn't meet the green eyes watching him. "But… Usually i have physical therapy three times a week, and they canceled my session today."

Makoto starred, completely unaware of how fast his own self-pity was vanishing, and being replaced with the quiet understanding and care for this swimmer. The one who couldn't be a swimmer anymore actually. Makoto found himself walking over, suddenly smiling sadly in the way that only he could.

His heart felt instantly lighter, and that was only because this was who Makoto Tachibana was- a caretaker. "So you wanted to get to have your own session?"

Sousuke looked embarrassed. "I just… don't like sitting around all day."

He hummed softly under his breath, holding the damp towel out in front of him and wondering if this was even something he should be thinking about. Swimming with Sousuke, from the other team after practice? It wasn't his best idea, he would admit, but Makoto had gone along with breaking into their childhood swimclub and that seemed far worse in the back of his mind.

"You know." Makoto, now closer to the male whose height continued to impress him. "I want to become a teacher."

"What's that have to do with-

"Dont you want to be a teacher?"

Sousuke looked over then, swallowing because Makoto's eyes were SO green, and a lot happier than just a moment ago. And it was scary because Sousuke wasn't sure why he would ask him a stupid question like that. Of course he didn't want to be a teacher… he wanted…

"A coach." He corrected. "I want to be a swim coach."

"That's kind of the same thing as a teacher though. I want to teach kids how to swim…"

"I want to help swimmers improve their times and be safe while doing it." Sousuke thought back to the night he found Nitori overworking himself, and instinctually touched his hand to his wrecked shoulder. He wanted to stop people like him, from ending up like him. He was too stubborn to admit that a coach and a teacher could be considered the same thing though. Teacher's were people that gave tests and letter grades. Coaches were people that gave solid advice.

"Wait, why am i telling you this?" He paused, realizing that it was kind of dumb for him to just start spouting his future plans to this man. He'd never even talked to him before.

"Eh?" Makoto ran his hand through his hair sheepishly. "I'm not even sure… Because teaching swim and physical therapy go hand in hand?"

"Not really."

"Oh."

Sousuke wasn't sure what compelled him in that moment, but the way he was holding his thumb inside his fists loosened, and he let his hand fall out of his jacket pocket with a sigh. Personally he thought physical therapy was a little embarrassing-made him feel crippled and lame in some way. But…

"If you want to stay, Tachibana… I won't mind."

"Makoto."

He quirked an eyebrow upwards, towards the smiling, overly-friendly face that had been so depressed a few moments ago. Something in his chest fluttered.

"You can call me, Makoto."