Open Waters

Chapter Five

A Proposition

"So? How did it go? Did you manage to get Rin to talk to you at all?"

Hana waved a fly off her shoulder as she stared at the three boys in an expectant manner. She had to squint to see them through the morning sun rays. Students poured passed them, all talking animatedly as they headed to school for another day.

The three boys looked at each other, almost uncertain. Hana smirked inwardly. I knew it. I knew this would be the case.

"Well, there wasn't much talking," Makoto ventured slowly. "Mostly, it was just Rin and Haru racing."

"Racing?" She shouldn't have been surprised. The two had attempted racing at the old swim club, though there had been no water. Now that they had been at a place with a proper pool, she guessed it was only natural they continue their race there. "Who won?" she asked, tentatively. She wasn't sure about etiquette involving sports, but figured there shouldn't be a big problem with the boys telling her who had won.

Right?

There was a small pause, and for a second Hana was worried that she had said the wrong thing. Then Haru spoke and said, very casually, "Rin."

"Oh." Hana was disappointed. She had wanted Haru to win, even if this had just been a recreational race, and not a competitive one.

"No big deal," Haru said, looking off in the distance.

"Still, we were found by a teacher," Nagisa piped up. "And, he wasn't impressed."

Hana found her lips spread out into a teasing grin, just as the bell rang to symbolise that class was about to begin. She hitched her bag further off her shoulder and said, "Oh, you three are going to be in huge trouble."

* *

Hana drummed her fingers against her leg and sighed, checking the time on her watch. Goodness, they've in that office for a while, she thought wryly. She wasn't surprised. A teacher had caught the boys trespassing in Samezuka's indoor pool, after all. No doubt they were receiving another lecture, this one more serious than the one she had received yesterday.

Thank goodness I'm out of this one. I wonder if Miss Ama-Chan will be able to help them out this time around?

Hana started when she caught a flash of movement. She turned, and realised it was Haru. Good, they're out. Hana jumped up and was about to approach him, but caught the expression on Haru's face. She hesitated, but let it go. It didn't look like Haru wanted to talk to anyone at the moment.

Instead of following him, Hana dashed back inside the school to find the others. If Haru was out, it surely meant the other two were out as well.

Sure enough, she found Makoto and Nagisa, Gou beside them.

She and Gou had talked after Nagisa and Makoto had left the previous day. During that time, Hana was resolved to call Gou 'Kou' to her face, but any other time she'd address her new friend as Gou.

Hana had found she and Gou could become quite good friends. The other girl was bright, cheery and easily approachable, the complete opposite to her older brother.

"Hey guys!" Hana jogged up to them, sending a teasing smile Makoto and Nagisa's way. "So, boys, how much trouble did you get into?" She was hoping it was something major, something she could tease them about later.

"Just the standard lecture," Makoto informed her.

Hana pouted. "I was hoping for something more, exciting." She sighed and tossed her hair back. "Anyway, what's going on?"

"Kou-chan was just telling us about her brother," Makoto said. "Apparently, he hasn't been responding even to her."

Hana refrained from rolling her eyes. Why am I not surprised? Rin sure did seem like a jerk from the little encounter I had with him.

Nagisa sighed and folded his arms. "How come Rin-chan's changed so much? Did something happen in Australia?"

Gou shrugged. "I don't know. I was hoping he'd open up after meeting you guys."

Wait, is she suggesting that -

"Are you responsible for Rin showing up at the swimming club?" Makoto asked, voicing Hana's thoughts.

Gou flushed and smiled innocently. "I wouldn't say I was responsible... I was just trying to help. I happened to overhear your conversation, so I sent him a message. But he never replied."

"That's why you went to Haru's yesterday?" Makoto asked.

She nodded conformation. "Yes. I hoping he might have some answers."

"Hey, I have a great idea!" Nagisa exclaimed suddenly, startling Hana who was beside him. It was as though his excitement had translated into action; he jumped in front of them, a large grin on his face and an excited spark to his eyes. "Let's start a swim club! Then we can see Rin-chan at tournaments."

Makoto would be the one to bring Nagisa's sudden bright mood down. "Uh, I'm not sure Haru will be on board with that," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh." Nagisa deflated a little.

"Hey," Hana said bracingly, trying to lift me mood. "There's only one way you're going to find out, and that's if you ask him. It's worth a shot, anyway."

"I suppose." Makoto shrugged. "It's worth a shot. Nagisa, what do you think?"

"I agree with Hana-chan." Nagisa smiled, and Hana only rolled her eyes.

"Just Hana," she corrected absently.

Makoto looked over Gou. "Do you want to come with us, Kou-chan?"

Gou beamed, looking pleased to have been invited along. "I'd love to."

Together, they left the school and headed for Haru's. The entire way, they smiled and chattered continuously. This time around, Hana barely noticed the stairs as they climbed it, too absorbed in the conversation with her friends to pay much attention to anything else.

Upon entering the house, Hana sighed to find Haru wasn't there. Unless, like the first time she came here...

"He'd be in the bath, again," Makoto sighed.

"He's in the bathroom?" Hana squeaked. "Um... would it be appropriate for me to be in there?" She looked across at Gou, panicked as to what to do. Haru probably had his swimsuit on, as usual, but still. It was the bathroom.

Gou smiled. "You boys handle this. Hana and I will stay out here."

Hana shot a grateful look over at her friend as the two boys entered. She sighed and sat down by the table, Gou taking a spot next to her.

"You seem to know them fairly well," Gou said brightly.

Hana shrugged. "Not really. I know Makoto well, since we were childhood friends. I know Haru, but I never met Nagisa until two days ago. Still, I feel accepted by them, and that's all that matters, I guess."

Gou laughed. "Yes, I'd say so." She paused, and her cheeks reddened a little. "They're all quite good-looking, aren't they?"

Hana's mind flashed back to the incident at the swim club and grinned, nodding agreement. "Most definitely," she giggled, causing both of them to break out into a chorus laughter.

"What's so funny?" Makoto asked, as he, Nagisa and Haru stepped out into the room. Hana noted that Haru was shirtless, again, and was drying himself off. She also noticed that Gou gasped and was quick to redirect her gaze.

"Nothing." Hana shrugged as the boys sat down. "So? What did he say?" she asked. She tried not to make it look like she was staring at Haru by glancing directly at Makoto, though she was still looking out of the corner of her eye.

Makoto smiled. "He said he'd join."

Hana beamed. "That's fantastic!"

Makoto's gaze turned to Haru, and Hana felt her eyes slip that way as well, despite her efforts not to stare outright. "Are you sure about this? We won't be doing this by ourselves. You're expected to join the club."

"I know," Haru sighed.

Hana was aware that throughout the conversation, Gou had been turning around, losing her self control. Hana chuckled to herself as Gou finally opened her eyes and stared, wide-eyed.

"Oh, yeah," Nagisa said presently, and Gou snapped back to reality, though a tinge of blush lingered on her cheeks. "Haru-chan wasn't with us the other day. This is Rin-chan's sister."

"H-hello," she stuttered. "It's been a long time."

"Matsouka..." Haru murmured. "Kou."

Gou gasped, obviously surprised that Haru had called her by her prefered name. Her surprise then turned to delight and she beamed. "Yes!" she exclaimed. She looked up at Haru as he slipped a blue jumper on, and her expression turned more serious. "I'm sorry about what my brother did yesterday."

Haru shrugged and turned away, headed for the kitchen. "Don't sweat it."

"Oh, if you're making tea, I have some squid to go with it," Makoto called as Haru entered the kitchen.

Hana wrinkled her nose. "Tea and squid?" She had never tried the two together, but it honestly didn't sound very appetising.

"Wouldn't chocolate be better?" Nagisa agreed.

Hana beamed and turned to Nagisa, her hand flat and outstretched. "High-five Nagisa, you're officially my new best friend for saying that." She laughed as he grinned, and their palms collided with a smack.

"Hana," Makoto said, sounding hurt.

"Makoto, you suggested we have squid and tea. Nagisa suggested chocolate." She turned once again to the blonde-haired boy, eyes pleading. "Please tell me that you like pizza."

He laughed. "I love it! Hey, Haru-chan," he yelled after their friend, "tea, with pizza followed by chocolate!"

"We'll compromise and have mackerel," Haru said shortly, not paying any need to the preferences of food.

"That's not a compromise!" Nagisa said, but nonetheless scrambled to his feet and headed to the kitchen. "I'll give you a hand. Is this okay?"

Hana shook her head and redirected her attention to the only two who remained in the lounge with her, Gou and Makoto. Gou glanced over at the trophy in the corner. "Isn't this -"

Makoto smiled. "Ah, yes. That's the trophy the four of us won as kids." The smile slowly dropped off his face. "Rin told us he no longer needed it."

Gou picked up the picture that was beside the trophy and studied it, her fingers holding it gently. "Everyone's smiling."

"Actually, Haru's the sole exception in this photo," Makoto noted with a light chuckle.

Nagisa approached behind them, beairng a tray with tea cups. "Haru-chan's always smiling on the inside," he said, setting the tray down on the table. Hana thanked him, grabbing one and taking a small sip.

"You make him sound like a bad person!" Makoto exclaimed.

"Is this the first time Rin's come back to Japan since he left?" Nagisa asked, taking a seat.

"Huh?" Gou blinked and looked up. "He comes back every year for New Year's."

Nagisa gaped at her. "Really? And he never told us?! That's mean!"

Hana didn't know why, but her eyes flicked over to Haru as Nagisa spoke. She found that the black-haired boy had tensed slightly.

"Haru?" she whispered, filled with concern. However, she stayed put, only looking at her friend with a small frown.

Was he alright?

For the rest of the gathering, Hana found herself a little distracted. She participated in the conversations with a smile, and ate the, surprise, mackerel offered to her, but she didn't process what it exactly tasted like. For the time from then until she left, she pondered over Haru's reaction to Gou's news, trying to come up with an explanation for his reaction.

She came up with a flew plausible explanations, but wasn't sure if they fit the situation.

When the company finally decided it was time to leave, Hana lingered behind. Haru noticed this instantly.

"Hana?" he asked.

"Haru..." she cleared her throat, feeling a little awkward. "Are - are you alright?"

As usual, there wasn't any obvious expression on Haru's face, though Hana thought she detected a flicker of confusion. "I'm okay. Why do you ask?"

Hana flushed and looked down. "I just saw you tense a little, when Gou was talking about Rin... " she murmured. She looked up through her lashes at him. "You are okay, aren't you?"

He nodded. "I'm fine, Hana," he reassured.

"Right." She shrugged. "Well, you basically saved me. The most I can do is make sure you're alright, I guess."

And before she could make the situation any more awkward, she turned and walked out of the door into the night air.

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A/N: uugh i'm so sorry if i'm not writing haru-chan correctly, idk why, but i'm finding him a surprisingly difficult character to write :/

so! the idea for the swimming club has been put forth! Gou and Hana seem to be fast becoming good friends... they are going to have quite a bit of fun together, haha XD