𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 / 𝘪𝘬𝘶𝘺𝘢.

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞 / 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵.

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days had passed by now and no improvement was made. no one interacted the same way anymore. everything was always tense. haru never ate with [name] and makoto, ikuya refused to eat at dinner, asahi was losing confidence in his statements and silence filled every meeting they had.

makoto stood patiently outside the nanase household. he rang the doorbell to deliver the food his mum had put aside for haru that [name] had forgotten to take with her. no one answered the door. he put the bag beside the door and turned to head back home, stopping when he saw haru walking up the stairs.

'haru. is that your dinner?' he asked, staring at the bag in haru's hands. it was mackerel.

the shorter boy hid it behind his back and averted his gaze. 'it has nothing to do with you.'

makoto jogged to haru, gripping his shoulders. 'it does! haru... you haven't been eating what [name] has been bringing over, have you? your stamina was weak, wasn't it?' he fussed.

'if you don't want to eat with us, that's fine. but you need a healthy diet,' [name] interjected, leaning against the door frame to her house, rubbing her eyes tiredly. she'd just woken up from a nap and wasn't pleased to hear yelling the moment she woke.

'shut up! haru ripped his body from makoto's grasp. 'everyone is just doing things on their own. what's with you?' he reversed their positions, clinging to makoto's arms. 'you're just changing on your own. looking at you now just hurts.' haru's grip loosened and his hands slid to makoto's elbows. his gaze focused on the ground. 'what are you doing? why are you forcing yourself to change?'

'haru...' the giant mumbled, shocked and saddened by his friend's words.

'you're you,' haru finished, making eye contact once more.

makoto's eyes widened as he remembered old childhood memories he shared with the siblings. 'haru! [name]! come with me!' he invited suddenly. 'let's go! guys!' [name] rose an eyebrow at the sudden change in attitude, but was soon tagging along as makoto dragged haru away and down the stairs.

•·················•·················•

the trio swam in the local pool happily. how they got in was irrelevant.

as they glided through the water in an elegant dance, [name] savoured the feeling of swimming without pain in her chest. she did compete in the practice tournament against sano middle school where a guy gave haru a letter from rin, but she was nowhere near her best. ikuya assured her she did fine, but even he knew she wasn't swimming the way she wanted.

even if she couldn't do this at the tournament, she wanted to enjoy swimming without being anxious. no pressure to win. she broke the surface of the water, her [hair length] [hair colour] hair plastered to her face and her [eye colour] gems shone with newfound happiness. 

'it feels good,' makoto said with a smile as the 3 rested their necks against the lane rope, staring at the ceiling. 'i thought i would surely change when i became a middle schooler. i thought i wanted to. but then, at some point, i just desperately felt like i had to. nao-senpai said to me... that maybe i didn't really like swimming, but just did it because you were here, haru,' he explained.

 'i see,' the blue-eyed boy responded, shifting his gaze from makoto to the ceiling.

'i had never thought of that before, so i didn't know if i really liked swimming, or if i just wanted to be with you, haru.'

'that's why you were avoiding me?' haru questioned.

'i wasn't trying to do that, but... when i was near you i just felt even more confused. being with you was painful. but it must have just seemed like i was avoiding you.' makoto turned to look at haru. 'sorry, haru.'

'it's fine. i was at fault, too,' haru admitted. makoto paused. then his grin grew wider.

'did you find your answer?' [name] wondered aloud.

'i think it's both,' makoto replied immediately.

'both?'

'yeah... for a bit, i didn't have confidence in my own feelings. i tried to force myself, but...' makoto lifted a hand from the water, letting the droplets run down his fingers. 'right now, this is really fun. just swimming feels really good. i really do like swimming.' he paused. 'but... i want you to be there, too, haru.' another pause filled the conversation. 'i love swimming and haru-chan, so i want to swim with you!'

haru's eyes widened at the declaration, soaking in makoto's beaming smile. eventually, he looked to the side. 'i told you to stop using chan.'

'that's right. sorry.'

'and... of course we'd swim together.'

[name] laughed. 'am i intruding?' she teased.

makoto chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. 'no, but you have ikuya now.'

the girl spluttered, falling off the lane rope in her panic. when she resurfaced, she coughed water out before turning back to makoto, [skin colour] flesh burning. 'excuse me?!'

haru stood and nodded. 'you guys are always holding hands and talking.'

'ok, be that as it may, we're not together... i don't think he even likes me that way, he doesn't really initiate anything,' she responded.

makoto and haru looked at each other with blank expressions, this was getting painful. 'well, he's certainly not holding hands with asahi,' makoto joked.

the girl smiled and shrugged. 'we can dream.'