𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 / 𝘪𝘬𝘶𝘺𝘢.

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 / 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨.

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'this is like a school trip!' asahi commented, lying on his futon. everyone laid their own futons on the floor in the living room, which was a little stuffy, but it worked.

'hurry up and go to sleep. you're loud,' ikuya demanded, pulling the covers of his futon up to cover his body. 

'don't say things like my parents do. i can't sleep,' asahi whined.

'we do have school tomorrow,' [name] noted, shifting in her futon. as haru sat down, makoto passed him the photo frame he held.

'i really feel like i want to swim right now,' asahi said, pretending to swim as he lay on his bedding. he buried his face into his pillow, mumbling the rest of his thoughts.

ikuya turned his head to stare at asahi. 'even though just a while ago, you were swimming with a face like you were going to die.' asahi stopped moving at ikuya's words. the brown-eyed boy leaned on his elbows.

'i feel like, now... i'll be ok. when i saw haru swimming free... it felt like i was going to be swallowed up by the fact that there was someone so much more amazing at free than me.' asahi rolled onto his back, cradling his pillow in his arms. 'i thought about it a lot, and that's the conclusion i came to.'

'so, why does that mean you're better now?' ikuya asked, wrapping his arms underneath his thighs. [name] withheld her will to hug him and pepper his face with kisses.

'when i saw haru pass out today, it made me think, oh, this guy is a normal human, too.'

haru turned away, 'of course i am.'

asahi sat up again. 'i'm quite prideful, but seeing haru like that made me feel so much better. it made me realise... that i probably have my own faults, too. but! that's why i can't accept continuing to lose to you.' asahi turned to face haru, pointing a finger at him. 'someday i'll definitely beat you!' he delcared.

'do whatever you want.'

'yeah, that's right. i will!'

'well, you thought quite a lot for you, asahi,' ikuya said.

'are you making fun of me?'

'now, now. that really is amazing. taking such a good look at yourself,' makoto reassured.

'a good look at myself?' the boy with blue hair and purple eyes came to mind. 'oh, i see. this is what that guy meant by that...?'

'that guy?' [name] wondered.

'there was a guy i met at the library who gave me advice,' asahi explained.

'what kind of guy?' makoto asked.

'he wore glasses,' asahi described terribly.

'that's it?' ikuya asked, annoyance laced through his voice. 'nobody can tell anything from that!'

'haru, [name] and i... in elementary school, we experienced a really amazing medley relay,' the green-eyed boy began.

'makoto,' haru called, facing the boy.

'at iwatobi sc?' ikuya asked, tilting his head. 

haru, makoto and [name] shared a glance. 'that's right. it was with another guy named nagisa and a guy named rin whose name came up at the prctice tournament. we thought that those were the best members we could ever have,' [name] explained, leaning her head against ikuya's shoulder.

'and we did win. but we graduated, and suddenly everyone went their separate ways. we thought there couldn't be a team better than that,' makoto added.

'that's why we couldn't really face the relay,' the [hair colour]-haired girl continued, closing her eyes. ikuya leaned his head on top of hers, ignoring the stares of his teammates. [name] smiled slightly, nuzzling into the crook of his neck gently.

'i didn't really know why, but i realised that you 3 weren't really focused on the relay,' the teal-haired swimmer said.

'sorry,' makoto apologised. 

'i don't get it. if it was that good of a team, then why are you so focused on the past? that's just disrespectful to that team,' asahi commented. [name] opened her eyes, revealing her [eye colour] orbs at his words. 'it's fine if that team was the best.'

'but that's unfair on you 2,' makoto said with concern.

'why? i also think that my old relay members from my sc were the best! but, i also want to make the best team i can here, too.' everyone pondered asahi's sudden wisdom before turning to their own beds.

'[name], makoto, haru, don't listen to this idiot's weird theories,' ikuya advised, making the girl leaning on his shoulder laugh.

'are you trying to pick a fight?'

'i'm fine with swimming alone. i though if i just swam my best it would be fine... but now i think i want to do a relay with this team,' ikuya said, tucking himself into bed as [name] got into hers.

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haru woke up earlier than everyone else. as he sat up in his futon, his eyes landed on ikuya and [name]. they had subconsciously shifted to sleep beside each other, ikuya's arm draped loosely around the girl's waist and her head and hands resting against his chest. he watched them in silence, still processing the sight before smiling to himself. ikuya would treat her well. but for the love of god, they need to get together instead of just doing this couple-y stuff and avoiding the matter at hand.