Clouded Distance | Free! Fan Fiction

2. An Invitation

Clouded Distance

Chapter Two

An Invitation

After the amusing turn of events at Makoto's, Hana bid farewell to everyone and walked back up to her own house, Haru by her side. Hana ended up teasing him mercilessly about Gou's proposed idea, which he just rolled his eyes to. Hana giggled.

They reached her house soon - too soon for Hana's liking. That was both the advantage and disadvantage of herself, Haru and Makoto living so close together: it didn't take long for them to reach each other's houses, but it was an ill suited arrangement for walks when you wanted to spend just that little bit longer with someone.

The sun was just starting to dip into the sky, the wind as nippy as it had been that afternoon. They ended up staying at Makoto's longer than Hana had expected: the meeting fazed out and turned into the six of them just hanging out, watching television and eating. It had been a shame to leave, but they had to. It had been growing late.

Hana sighed, standing just shy of her door as she turned around to look at Haru. "I'll see you tomorrow," she said, shivering a little in the cold.

Haru took her in his arms, feeling how icy her hand was, despite them only being outside for a little while. "You should get inside, you're going to catch a cold by the looks of it."

"That's a probably a good idea." Hana smiled. She stayed in Haru's arms for that moment longer, reluctant to leave. Eventually, she told herself that Haru would get cold too should they stay outside much longer, and reluctantly disentangled herself from their hug. "Okay, goodnight, Haru."

"Night, Hana."

Hana looked back at him and continued smiling, and didn't let the smile drop until she had opened the door and closed it softly behind her.

Hana stayed there for a moment as she usually did after she came home with Haru, smiling softly to herself. She then straightened herself up and walked further into the house. She inhaled appreciatively. It seemed like her mother was cooking lasagna, one of her favourite dinners, second only to pizza.

Despite having eaten a lot at Makoto's, Hana felt her stomach rumble at the prospect of dinner. Her favourite foods tended to do that to her.

Mae looked up from where she stood, overlooking the oven when her daughter walked into the kitchen. "Hi, honey!" she greeted warmly.

Hana smiled, quickly embracing her mother. "Hey Mum." She looked quickly around the kitchen. "Where's Dad?"

"He got called in late to continue working, unfortunately. So, how was everyone?"

"Great. We've come up with a plan for recruiting first years to the swim club this year." Or rather, Gou came up with the idea, an idea that amuses me and both horrifies and terrifies the boys.

Mae smiled and stepped back, returning to overlooking the lasagna. It must be nearly ready if she was keeping this close an eye on it. "Speaking of clubs, have you made up your mind about joining the writing club?"

"Huh? Oh... not really..." Hana rubbed the back of her neck and looked away. Though she knew her parents had her best interests at heart, something she felt ad though they were just trying to push this issue too much.

Mae frowned, disapproval clear in her eyes. "Hana, I really think you should," she said seriously. "As a part of the writing club, I think you'll be able to go far. Your skills will be more developed, and you'll egg the chance to enter competitions. You could get recognised, which could open up so many career paths for you."