Ah, I'm into the Free! fandom. It's just beautiful and majestic there. Thanks to my kenketsu from deviantart, she has introduced me.

I'm trying to change my A/N ways, if you're asking why it's suddenly into this kind of.. how do I explain it.. form. Yes, form, what a splendid word.

I turned into a Haruka Hairflipper fan. ; u ; You have to say, he does his hair flips good. lD

I also fell into the HaruMako shipping, it's just- I can't even describe it, whyyyy. Tumblr is now my friend at this pairing, haha. Thank you, Tumblr.

Now it's off to my stories, which I try to get better at. If you like, thank you, my bubbalicious bbies. You are all sweet in my other stories. I just hope this one pleases you as well!

Enough with this boring A/N shtuff. One more thing:

Disclaimer : I do not own these people. If I did, I would've slapped Rin-chan with a paper fan in one of the episodes, leaving a faint mark.

Because that's how much I dislike him. He's a cool guy, I admit that.

Makoto was surprised.

The sun would be peering over the ocean horizon, with birds singing constantly with musical touches in their calls. You could almost hear the sea's quiet roaring, and if you look hard enough you would see seagulls plunging into the endless water, flapping its wings freely as it flew away from the depths, having a thrashing fish in its beak.

Everyday Makoto would climbed up the stone steps after accepting the old woman's offering of a snack in the morning, always stopping by to stroke the small, white cat's head that always appeared in the bushes as he walked past.

And then he would knock impatiently on the wooden door, always finding no answer, of course. Makoto soon would be walking at the back of his best friend's house, going under the purple curtain that announced the laundry room, and slide open the door to see Haru sitting peacefully in the bathtub with his usual swimming attire.

That was what Makoto did this morning, though he found Haru sleeping instead of being wide awake. In the bathtub. With his usual swimming attire.

Of course the brown-haired boy would swallow back a chuckle, although he could feel heat rising up in his face. The freestyle swimmer was lying in the tub, his eyes closed and his head leaned back so his forehead was covered with water, but to Makoto's relief Haru's nose was stuck out from the water to breathe. The dark-haired boy's muscular chest was exposed, though water calmly lapped up his body. His breathing was soft and whispery, Makoto couldn't even tell if Haru was even dozing off or dead; he hoped it was choice number one.

After a few minutes, he sighed with exasperation, realizing that the water-loving young man wouldn't wake up.

Guess he'll be late, Makoto groaned inwardly, stepping up closer. He extended out his arms, grasping the male's firm shoulders and giving him a rough shake. "Wake up, Haru-chan," he murmured loudly.

Haru's nose instantly dipped back fully into the water. A wet, sopping head then rose to the surface, a pair of glittering ocean-blue eyes blinking up at Makoto.

"Good morning, Haru-chan," Makoto spoke cheerfully, crouching down on his knees. His green eyes could not tear themselves away from those intense, glowing blue eyes, which had their own depths of darkening blue like an ocean...

"Drop the –chan," Haru huffed disdainfully, doing his usual expressionless hair flip. Makoto loved how Haru's dark hair fell neatly to where it was supposed to go. "We're going to be late," Makoto insisted, ignoring Haru's blunt comment. "Come on, put on your clothes."

Haru rose from the tub, water droplets dripping from his well-built body. Makoto's gaze drifted to the ground as Haru spoke with his monotone voice, "We? Since when was it we?"

Makoto stifled a laugh escaping from his lips before getting to his feet. "Since a long time ago, Haru-chan," he replied, tipping his head to one side. Haru snorted, stepping outside of the bathtub. Small puddles formed around the shorter male's feet as he reached for a towel.

Instantly that dry towel became damp with water as Haru rubbed it repeatedly against his hair, with Makoto watching with a silence. Unfortunately, to Haru, that silence vanished like mist in the afternoon.

"Haru, can't you hurry?" Makoto interrupted Haru's now-finished drying. "We're going to be late, and we have a swim club meeting afterschool. We're going swimming."

Makoto couldn't help but break into a knowing grin as he saw Haru's eyes shimmering wondrously at the mention of swimming. The brown-haired male loved it when that happened.

"I guess I wouldn't be late for that," Haru muttered lowly, grabbing his school uniform from the counter near him. "Go away," he then said in his short sentences. "Privacy, please."

Makoto shoved away a pit of longing and wistfulness blossoming in his stomach as Haru entered another room, shutting the door gently behind him. He would really liked to see- no, he shouldn't think of this. Haru-chan was his best friend, for Mrs. Ama-chan's sake.

Makoto blinked, gritting his teeth as he buried his face in his hands. Why? he wailed inwardly. He snapped open from his mind-reeling thoughts as Haru entered the room with his school attire and backpack strapped firmly on his shoulder. The blue-eyed boy glanced questioningly at Makoto's unusual crestfallen face. "Are you coming?" he asked softly.

The taller boy shook his head, blinking up at Haru with a slightly forced grin plastered across his face. "Of course!" Haru nodded, relieved to see Makoto eager to set off, though his eyes narrowed a bit. He knew Makoto was hiding something; but they always told each other everything since they were little. What had changed?

Haru blinked away from his thinking, walking ahead of Makoto as he exited the bathroom. "Hurry up, Makoto," was all he said before reaching the door that led outside.

A soft blast of salty and fresh air teased Makoto's hair as he finally caught up with the still evenly-paced boy. Together they walked in silence, though every now and then Makoto brought up his usual conversations, as always.

After a few talks about the weather, Makoto saw Haru's blue eyes veering off to the endless ocean. He chuckled softly, noticing Haru's sigh of longing.

"You know," Makoto spoke as they almost reached their school, "you could do some swimming right now. If only we had a day-off or something…"

Haru's eyes brightened slightly, looking up to Makoto's green ones. The taller male held his breath for a few seconds, trying to tear him away from the mesmerizing sea-blue eyes.

"Maybe we can," Haru answered slyly, glancing at the pool where the Iwatobi swim club met. "At least, I can." He gazed back at Makoto again, but instead with the expressionless face he had his eyes full of pleading and anticipation.

Makoto sighed inwardly, shaking his head slightly. "Nothing can get between you and water," he murmured amusingly before finally nodding.

Haru's eyes sparkled before he suddenly stopped walking, with Makoto looking back with surprise. "I'd like to swim right now," he added, his eyes looking solemnly at the ground.

Makoto let out a small gasp, his eyes round as he looked at Haru. "No, you can't!" he argued, clenching his hands into fists with exasperation. "You'll get in trouble!"

The eager swimmer shook his head stubbornly, crossing his arms as he glared at Makoto. "You could just call me in sick," he muttered, tipping his head to one side.

The other young man's shoulders slumped with admitted defeat. "Fine, fine," he finally said, "but the water's too cold, you know, Haru-chan."

Haru shrugged in a dismissive manner. "That'll be a real reason for me to get sick," he replied breezily, giving Makoto a winning but very faint grin. It was an expression people never really got to see; Makoto would do anything to get that soft smile back.

Makoto rolled his eyes. The two were now in the front of the school gates. "Call me if you need anything," he called as Haru walked away. He may never admit it, but there was slight bounce in the happy swimmer's steps as he rushed towards the pool.

The brown-haired boy walked to his classroom, where he sat down at his desk and stared at Haru's empty desk. As the teacher called roll, with echoes of 'Here!' sounding throughout the room, Makoto's gaze stayed with the desk beside him.

Today changed its routine, to his dismay.

As Makoto exited out the classroom, being within the stream of students that were excited to end their class, a short figure stood planted in front of the door as Makoto finally reached the door.

"Mako-chan!" A flash of familiar blonde hair and a pair of violet eyes stared at Makoto as the tall male looked down at the shorter one. "Nagisa," he greeted, patting the wide-eyed boy on the shoulder. "Isn't today a swim meeting?"

Nagisa nodded eagerly, bouncing up and down in place. "Where's Haru-chan?" He questioned suddenly, looking around wildly. His eyes started to darken with sadness. "He's always with you, and he never misses a swim meet."

Makoto looked down at the ground with embarrassment, grinning loftily at Nagisa. "You'll see later," he promised the blonde. "And I bet you'll be surprised."

The excited boy's eyes started to lighten up. "Okay!" Makoto stifled a laugh as he followed the skipping Nagisa to the pool.