Prolougue - The Bargain

The thing is with Rei was that he was one of my best friends. Well, I saw him as a best friend. He listened to me, he cared for me a lot, but he made me happy all the time just by being there. He tried so hard to keep up with the rest of us, that he threw himself into swimming. He wanted to be beautiful. He never listened to me when I told him that he was beautiful. I wasn't saying that just to make him feel better; he really was beautiful to me. But Rei wanted to be beautiful like Haru. It hurt me, really. I loved Rei. I really did.

So why did he have to die?

I still think that it's my fault. Makoto keeps telling me that it wasn't my fault at all, that I didn't force Rei to swim in the storm. But I didn't see why Makoto thought that he was the reason for Rei dying. He tried to save him. He really did try. He went into the ocean, the thing that scares him the most, the thing that was so deadly to him. He risked his life for Rei. Even Haru went to rescue them. And all I did was stand there and cry out to them to come back. I was useless.

Makoto came back first. His skin was really white, and he was shaking like crazy, but I knew that he wasn't cold. His clothes and hair were plastered to his skin. His eyes were tired but scared. He looked a little bit broken. When I went to him and asked if he was alright, he just looked at me, as if he let me down, as if he did something so terrible that I'd hate him forever. But I could never hate Makoto.

It seemed like forever when I saw Haru and Rei in my sights. I was thanking God for protecting them. But my relief was quickly destroyed. Haru looked at us, his blank expression replaced with an urgent and panicked tone. He was dragging Rei out of the water by his upper body.

Rei was white, as in he was a corpse white. Everything about him looked dead. His hair didn't seem as blue, he wasn't moving at all, and his eyes were tightly shut. It was like his life was drained from his body. He was definitely dead. Everything was going too slow. I felt my chest tighten. When Haru and Rei reached the shore, I remember Haru began performing CPR on Rei. Makoto began calling for help. I think Gou and Ama-chan was there, but my memory's still hazy. I just remember collapsing to my knees, taking Rei's head and resting it on my lap, asking him to wake up, that he wasn't looking beautiful. As tears fell from my eyes and landed on his face, as Haru looked at me pityingly, and as help finally arrived, Rei never did wake up. And then the horrid truth dawned on me. He really was gone. I would never be able to be with him again

And everything around me fell apart.

I never did regret making the deal with that voice. I still don't.

I was walking along the shore of one of the deserted islands, furthest away from the island where we had camped. It had been two days or so since Rei was confirmed dead. Cause of death: drowning. It was expected from the weather conditions, the doctor said. I actually refused to believe them at the time. Rei's funeral was two or three weeks from the day I made the deal. I stood on the shore for a moment, feeling the oncoming tide touch my feet and retreating back into the ocean. The scenery was beautiful, like a dream or a romantic movie. Rei would have loved this, I thought. But he was dead so he couldn't see what I saw.

I felt tears in my eyes and rubbed them away harshly, and absentmindedly reached for my phone, until I realised that I left it at the other island. I knew that by the time I got back I would have had a few missed calls. A lot of people were worrying over me for some reason. I think it was because of how Rei and I were in the same class as each other and how I had pursued to convince him to join the swimming club. I suddenly remembered how he said that he expected me to be responsible for him. More tears fell from my face suddenly and into the tide. And I just stood there, crying and quietly wailing to myself.

"P-Please, Rei-chan… d-don't be dead… please…" I whimpered to myself, sitting on the sand and hugging my knees, more tears falling. I just wanted Rei to come over to me and sit next to me and tell me that everything was alright, and that he was really alive and how he didn't mean to make us all so sad. But he couldn't. After a long while I lifted my head. I was still alone on the island, which was really good to be fair, seeing that I didn't want people to ask me if I was OK when I clearly wasn't. I got to my feet slowly, took a deep breath, and almost turned around to swim back to the other island. But something suddenly caught my eye.

There was something glittering at me in the ocean, in a space that was the centre of all the islands. But there was something about the light that drew me in, and it wasn't long until I found myself waist deep in the water. As I swam towards the light, it grew more intense so that it was even more blinding when I had my goggles on. But I carried on swimming, because a part of me wanted to see what it was. But as soon as I was able to reach the source, the light was oddly gone. I frowned as I was keeping myself afloat. Maybe it was a trick. Maybe it was just the sun's light catching on the waves. Maybe it was just me slowly going mad.

A felt a sudden tug on my leg. I cried out in shock as I was dragged under. I was surrounded by turquoise blue, desperately trying to kick my leg away so that I could resurface. But the thing grabbing my leg dragged me deeper. The blue grew darker the deeper I found myself in the ocean. I was panicking, and tried pulling my leg with my hands. But I was being pulled under. I couldn't breathe. Everything was dark. My lungs were screaming. And then I was surrounded by black.

It was too dark for me to see anything at all whatsoever. So when the voice called out to me, I didn't know where it was coming from.

"You poor creature." The voice said. I couldn't make out if the voice sounded like a man or a woman, but it was a soothing but strong voice. The voice made the hairs on the back of my neck stand. I felt my senses sharpen slightly.

"H-Hello?" I called out.

"You helpless soul, you. You lost someone so dear to you so quickly." The voice cooed to me in a pitying tone.

"W-Who are you? What are you?" I asked, confusion engulfing my thoughts.

"I'm the one thing that can bring Rei Ryuugazaki back to you." The voice cooed. My heart almost stopped.

"Y-You can do what?" I asked nervously. The voice laughed at me mockingly.

"I am a being of many wonders, all powerful, all knowing. I can awake the dead, give people second chances in life. I can bring back your precious person." The voice said in a boastful tone. I felt my hopes build up at the thought of seeing Rei again, seeing Rei alive and well and happy and safe. But then reality struck me like thunder.

"But Rei… he's…" I muttered softly, my hopes slightly dimming, as I remembered how Rei didn't respond to me asking him to wake up.

"Tell me, you loved Rei, did you not?" The voice asked me. I was thrown slightly off-guard by its question. But as the image of Rei filled my mind in all of his glory, my heart raced.

"Ah yes, your tears were proof enough. So bitter, so sorrowful. If I had a heart, it would most definitely break." The voice said in a fake compassionate voice. I felt my temper fizz slightly. I couldn't believe them. There was no way to bring back the dead.

"You do not believe me, do you, Nagisa Hazuki." The voice suspected. I was shocked.

"How did you-?" I asked.

"I know everything. I can perform any trick, any miracle, grant any wish. Do you not have a simple wish?"

"I…" I said, my voice trailing away. My logic was screaming at me not to do any stupid, not to believe this voice. But for some reason, a small part of me was telling me to ignore my voice of reason.

"You wish to bring back your beloved Rei, do you not?" The voice asked again. I didn't reply. There was a low chuckle.

"Your silence will be taken as a yes. But there is a very heavy price to pay." I frowned.

"What's that?" I asked.

"'An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth;' I am sure you have heard this phrase before. Of course, this particular wish applies to such a saying. A life for a life. A simple exchange, but with great sacrifice." The voice replied. It took a moment for the voice to be processed in my mind. But when it was, I was mortified.

"So… if I wanted to bring back Rei-chan, I-I would have to die?" I asked.

"It is a heavy price to pay." The voice replied. Fear swallowed my heart.

"I… I don't want to die…" I stammered.

"Do you not want to see your beloved again?" The voice asked harshly.

"I do! I mean, yes, I do want to see my friend again. But the thought of dying had never really come across to me." I said thoughtfully. I never thought of giving up my life so easily.

"Life is about sacrifices, Nagisa Hazuki. Your sacrifice would be the result of another's second chance at a life they were stolen from." The voice said in a righteous voice.

"Would I die immediately? Would I die right now if I made that wish?" I asked.

"You would have seven days left of your life. And when you die, it will be as painful than torture itself." The voice added in a dark tone. I swallowed miserably.

"Sounds pretty morbid, really." I chuckled nervously.

"But the wish is worth it all in the end." The voice cooed. I froze for a moment, engulfed in my thoughts. I didn't want to die just before I lived. I wanted to grown up and live my life and make new friends and be happy. But at the time, I was just so desperate to see Rei again, I didn't think of the consequences. So I went ahead with the wish.

"OK… I mean, yes, I'll make the wish… I wish… I wish that Rei-chan will come back." I called out loudly.

There was a no reply from the odd voice after that. Just as I thought that I really was going insane, I felt a sudden tear at my heart, as if someone was really physically ripping it in half. I cried out in pain and grabbed my chest, scratching at my chest desperately, me nails digging into my skin. It felt like my entire chest was burning me painfully. I felt like I was dying right there. I screamed at the top of my lungs. Then everything went silent.

"Hey, are you alright, kid?" A voice asked. I couldn't open my eyes for a moment, but slowly the darkness faded away and a middle-aged man was looming over me, shaking my shoulders lightly. I squinted at the light and shielded my eyes with my hands from the sun. The man breathed out in relief.

"I thought you were dead for a second there. You've been out for a while." The man said. I sat up slowly, rubbing my head hard, my memory fuzzy, and my head whirling.

"What… happened to me?" I asked, looking around. I wasn't in the ocean anymore, but I was on the main island. I turned my head to see my stuff not too far from me. I guessed that I washed up on the shore close to my belongings. The man shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, I just found you here as if you were washed up by the tide. You've been out for at least an hour." The man replied. I nodded absentmindedly, reaching out for my stuff, which was a collection made up of a bag and a yellow jacket. I opened my bag and rummaged through it to find my phone. I had twenty missed calls and a text from Makoto. I flipped my phone open and opened the text. My blood ran cold as my eyes widened in shock.

From: Mako-chan

XX/XX/2013; 13:25 PM

Nagisa, I need to see ASAP! I just received a call from Rei's parents! He's ALIVE! It's crazy, isn't it? He's coming into school tomorrow surprisingly, so we're going to meet up with him at lunch, ok? Reply soon.

-Makoto

I suddenly remembered what happened to me before I was awake at that time. I remembered being dragged into the ocean, and I remembered the voice casting temptation on me to wish my life away for Rei. I thought that it was all in my head, but then I remembered the pain in my chest, and the fact that Makoto had texted me telling me that Rei was somehow alive, I realised two things:

The first thing was that my wish had come true.

The second thing was that I was going to die.

The events of the fanfiction is set after the events of episode five with the worst case scenario with elements of the traditional The Little Mermaid. I know that there is a good chance that Rei won't die, but I had this idea for a while, so I wanted to write it down. I do not own Free! - Iwatobi Swimming Club or the characters. Reviews, favourites, and follows are greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking your time in reading this fanfiction.