𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟖- 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄
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Five years ago

(Y/N) sniffs, her nose almost completely red by the excessive rubbing. She looks up at the large cherry blossom tree, its vines laid bare with not a single drop of pink in sight.

Her small hand was clasped in the much rougher ones of Rin, who stared up at the tree with disappointment.

"Aw, it's not in bloom yet!" He sighs aloud, the rest of the team all sharing his look of uncertainty.

Makoto hums. "Sorry, I tried telling you guys it probably wouldn't be." He tilts his head to offer the small girl a gentle smile.

(Y/N) pouts. "I wanted us all to see it together." Her small voice wavers as she speaks, and she tightens her grip on Rin's hand. "It's a bad sign.."

The boys all look down at her, safe for Nagisa who shared in her height. "What?" Rin says through a laugh. "No it's not! I'm just a little sad we couldn't see it before I left, it was silly of me to think it would have bloomed by today."

She shakes her head stubbornly. "It's a bad omen."

"You keep saying that." Haru speaks up gently, and reaches down to hook his pinky finger with her own. "Why?"

(Y/N) shrugs. "Usually when a group plans on something but it hasn't happened, it's a sign that something will happen to them in the future, usually bad." Her answer causes Makoto and Nagisa to pale.

"Like death?!"

She shakes her head, but can't help the small smile that comes with their answer. "No, but I'm not sure."

"That doesn't help, (Y/N)." Makoto whines, only to stop as Rin bends his head down to graze her forehead with his reddening nose.

Chuckling softly, he speaks, his voice just above a whisper. "We'll see it together when I come back, I promise." Squeezing her hand, the two lock eyes, an unspoken feeling passing between them both.

(Y/N) grins gently. "Are you really going to follow your dad's dream?" She asks, and the group listen intently.

Rin hums, before turning his attention back towards the tree. "I'm not really sure what I'm going to do.."

"Hey! Check it out!" Nagisa's high voice makes them all watch as he bends down towards the very base of the tree, where bricks aligned all throughout the soil to keep it firmly in place.
"This is cool, people have written stuff on the bricks." Several words adorned the bricks, each unique and personal in every way.

Makoto kneels beside him, grinning as he eyes the bricks. "We built this garden especially for graduation, everybody picked a favorite phrase and wrote in on the bricks, what do you think?" He points down to one lower than the rest, the phrase "I Swim" written in neat print.

"This one's mine." The rest of the group kneel down, finding their own phrases amongst the others. Rin keeps his hand firmly wrapped around (Y/N)'s and brings her down to point out his own. "This is the one I wrote." 'For the Team' was his phrase, and the girl beside him couldn't help but chuckle as she scanned for her own.

Spotting her's, (Y/N) eagerly points to it. "This one's mine!" The boys all look down, and tilt their heads when they read it.

'Cheer'

"Why cheer?" Nagisa asks gently, wrapping his arms around his legs to stop him from falling back.

(Y/N) shrugs, her hair bouncing as she moves her head from side to side. "You guys always talk about how me cheering for you makes you feel happier, so I just.." she trails off, her small smile slowly settling into a grin.

"You did this, for us?" Haru gently asks, his eyes as well as the others wide with awe. Gently, the navy haired boy brings his arm to wrap it around the girl's shoulder, and tugs her gently to his side where he places a faint kiss to the crown of his head.

"This one has to be Haru's." After a moment, Nagisa points down to the last scribble they had yet to see. 'Free', written just as carefree as Haru would be when he swam. It was beautiful in the case of any word, and (Y/N) grins.

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Present time

(Y/N) rubs her nose, her hands twitching every now and then from the cold before she settles to shoving them deep into the pockets of her team jacket. Haru eyes her from his side, but turns his attention back up towards the tree they all once shared as kids.

"Still no cherry blossoms." Her voice falls under a mumble, but her friend catches it and hums in acknowledgment. Glancing to him, she bends down and grabs a small stick from the root of the tree.

A moment passes as she scribbles away, before handing Haru the stick. "For old times sake." She says with a smile, and gently takes his hand in hers to give it a gentle squeeze.

"Haru! (Y/N)! Let's hurry and get going." Nagisa's voice yells for them from across the path, Rei and Makoto standing idly at his side.

"Just a sec." Haru calls back, and quickly kneels, stick in hand. He scribbles for a moment before setting the tool down, and turns to grab (Y/N)'s hand.

The two make their way back towards the group, keeping that moment just for them to witness, their hearts pounding against their chests while they all slowly start towards the swimming center.

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"Nagisa! Slow down jeez!" (Y/N)'s huffed pleas are left unheard as the honey haired boy bounces towards the stands. His hand was wrapped tightly in hers as he sprints before stopping abruptly.

(Y/N) slams into his back and the two are sent ramming into the railing, causing the others to cringe at the noise. "Idiot.." (Y/N) huffs, and slaps him on the back before looking up.

Her eyes widen at the sight. The pool was large, bigger than any she had ever seen. Swimmers could be seen moving up and down, their yells and labored breaths ringing through the air and hitting her ears.

Too captivated by the sight, she had yet to listen as Gōu and Coach Sasabe slowly made their way to the group.

"Uhm, squirt?" Feeling a hand on her head, (Y/N) flinches before relaxing as she sees her former coach. Offering him a smile, she gently pulls his arm away from her before turning and pulling the maroon haired girl into a hug.

Gōu accepts the embrace with a wide grin, her arms coming to wrap under her friend's arms. "How was your trip?" She gently asks, only to receive a small him in response.

"Could've been better." (Y/N) says, "I could hear Nagisa's snoring from all the way across the hall."

Said boy grumbles in offense.

Gōu chuckles gently, and pulls away but maintains eye contact. Lowering her voice, she speaks. "Did you have a chance to talk to my brother at all?"

Her friend raises a brow. "No, why do you ask?" Turning her body away from the questioning states of her team, (Y/N) eyes her friend.

Gōu chuckles nervously. "I-it's just that, well.." she trails off, leaving (Y/N) to lean her head closer with a frown.

"Well what? Spill it Gōu."

"It's Kōu!" The teen huffs, and shakes her head in defeat. "Well, Rin has been messaging me nonstop about whether I've heard from you, or he just calls and asks whether you've told me anything, it's really weird." Shrugging her shoulders, she offers her friend a sympathetic look.

(Y/N) frowns deeper. "Weird..I haven't spoken to him since.." her voice fades as she remembers the last time they physically spoke to each other, and deflates slightly.

"Never mind, it's not important." She mumbles before shaking her head and turning to the group.

Gōu frowns after her friend, and relents to putting the topic to rest.

"Alright boys listen up!" (Y/N) claps her hands together, determination set on her face. Her friend all turn to look at her, amused at her behavior. "The best thing you guys can do now is go out there and swim for yourselves, not for us, not for nationals, for you!" She eyes each and every one of them.

Sasabe grins and slaps a hand on her shoulder, ignoring the way (Y/N) cringed at the feeling. "Couldn't have said it better myself! Whether you win or loose the point is to be free!" Several looks from people around them cause the boys to chuckle at their Coach's words.

"Now get out there and have fun damn it!" Both Sasabe and (Y/N) tell together, their voices bound together and bouncing off the tiled floors.

The group share small glances at eachother, the nerves once eating at them slowly fading away and into the palms of their hands. "Yes sir!" They yell, and flinch when their friend sends them a small glare.

"And?!"

"Y-yes ma'am!" The boys slowly add onto their cheer, sweat dropping as Gōu and Sasabe cackle from behind the grumpy (H/C) girl.

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