𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟑𝟎- 𝐄𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇
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The search for Rin proved to be harder than (Y/N) had originally thought. With every turn her worry only grew, and with every empty corner her hands began to clench at her sides, her nails digging into the her palms.

Makoto looks down at her before reaching for her hands. "We'll find him." He says softly, his hands prying hers open to free her bruised palms.

(Y/N) merely sighs, and taps her foot while the others join at her side just outside the locker room. "Where could he.." she trails off, before looking up and making eye contact with Haru. The boy tilts his head at her, before jumping slightly when she grabs his hand and takes off.

The rest of the boys watch them flee with wide eyes, while Makoto's outstretched hand was left hanging in the air, a small frown growing on his face.

"Hey!" Nagisa calls. "Where are you guys going?!" He yells for them, but makes no move to follow as Rei watches them leave with a neutral expression. "They're going to get Rin." He says softly, to which his friend spins around.

"What?! But why aren't we going with them?!"

Makoto shakes his head. "Let's just..give them some space, okay?" He says, and Nagisa only stares at him questioningly.

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Haru grunts as he's pulled along, his feet failing every so often to catch the ground beneath him. "Slow down.." he grumbles, before grunting as (Y/N) quickly skids to a stop.

He rams into her back, and huffs before looking up, and his eyes widen when he sees the person they had been looking for. He feels her hands begin to gently shake, and gently moves from behind her to face his friend.

Rin looks to the side, his attention turned to the large old tree that reminded him so much of his youth. He flinches when he sees Haru, and takes a tiny step back when he spots the girl behind him.

"What are you doing here?" He says with a tense voice, "If you've come to laugh at me have at it." Haru shakes his head, but he continues. "You saw me in the freestyle, did you know they took me off the relay?"

Turning his attention to the sad girl behind Haru, Rin's eyes turn to slits. "What about you? Were you too occupied with your new friends to even watch me?"

(Y/N) takes a step forward, and another, before continuing forward and shaking her head. "No Rin.." she says sadly, and Haru watches as she stands just in front of the maroon haired teen.

Rin doesn't seem to notice her approach, but keeps his gaze firmly on her. "Go ahead." He waves his hand with a tired yet broken smile. "Laugh all you want, don't hold back." His hand falls to his side, his eyes turned to the ground.

He flinches when (Y/N)'s shoes come into view, and he grits his teeth. "Laugh at me damn it! It's all I'm good for!" He avoids her worried gaze and glares at Haru. "Look at me, I'm not even good enough to swim against you guys in a relay!"

(Y/N) reaches for him. "Rin stop it, calm down-"

"SHUT UP!" Rin slaps her hand away from him, causing her to yell in surprise. She takes a tiny step back, and he catches the movement, his eyes even sadder than before. "What would you know?!" His voice comes out broken.

Haru takes cautious steps forward, and comes up beside (Y/N). "I get it.." he says. "I know how incredible it is to swim with brothers, how good it feels to swim in a relay together. And you were the one who taught me that, weren't you?" They make eye contact, and Rin slowly feels his lips begin to tremble.

(Y/N) carefully reaches out and grazes his shoulder with her fingers. The contact makes him pull back but she persists and keeps her hold firm. "I'm so sorry, Rin." She mumbles. "I never meant to hurt your feelings as bad as I did. You're apart of our team, our family." Looking up, she exhales as her throat begins to tighten.

"Please, you mean so much to us- to me." Emphasizing her point, she trails her hand down to his wrist and curls her fingers around his sleeve. "Just let us make it up to you, please.." her plea is drowned out when Rin quickly moves past her, and slams the palms of his hands against Haru's chest.

(Y/N) stares, wide eyed as the two struggle to shove each other off of their feet. Haru quickly makes eye contact with her when she takes a step forward and shakes his head, quietly telling her not to interfere. She hesitates but obliges, and watches the two.

Rin grits his teeth, "Is that why you're here?! To have the one person I actually cared about spout all this bullshit to me so I would get back in the relay, huh?!" He shoves Haru once before pulling him closer and yelling straight into his face. "You want me to race with you so you can rub it in and embarace me infront of her, is that it?!"

Haru shakes his head. "I know the reason I swim! I understand, it isn't about me. I get who I really swim for!" He tries to talk but is shoved backwards, and his eyes widen when he sees Rin reel his left arm up, his hand balled into a fist.

"JUST STOP TALKING!" He yells and swings, but misses and is pulled forward when Haru grabs his arm to shove him back.

(Y/N) cringes when she sees them both land on the ground, hard. Haru's back smacks against the edge of the lines out bricks but he pushes it aside to keep Rin from swinging at him. Raising a brow, she takes a step to the side when they both roll towards her, Rin still on top as he grips his old teammates uniform between his shaking hands.

Rin breaths out shakily, and turns his head when he sees two pieces of writing scribbled in the sand. 'For the Team' is written out beautifully, the small stocked used to carve it out discarded to the side.

He scans the area once more, and his eyes begin to sting when he sees the words 'Cheer'. He glances up and sees (Y/N) staring down at him worriedly, and turns his head back to allow his tears to flow.

Haru takes his silence as an opportunity to speak. "This tree..look at it, just like the one back in middle school. That's why you came here, isn't it?" He frowns when tears begin to drop onto his cheeks, but he doesn't move to brush them away. Instead he allows Rin to cry, and keeps quiet to allow him to speak.

(Y/N) sighs at the sight, and slowly moves to sit down beside them, her knees pulled to her chest as she maintains her silence. Rin scans her face, his vision blurry. "I-" he tries to start but stops when his voice cracks.

"I was supposed to be free- we were-all I ever wanted out of this was to swim with my friends..to swim with you!"

He ducks his head to try and hide his face, and both Haru and (Y/N) watch, their hearts breaking at the sight. "But it's- it's too late now, I screwed up."

"No." Haru shakes his head and leans up slightly on his arms. "It's not too late, let's go Rin." His eyes shine ever so slightly with determination. A moment passes before (Y/N)'s voice hums out.

"The peanut gallery has arrived." She jokes softly, and sits up when both boys look up to see the rest of the team standing a few feet away, bright smiles on their faces.

"You guys.." Rin eyes them before slowly standing up, ignoring his tense shoulders when (Y/N) stands beside him. "It has to be said.."Rei begins, his eyes closed as he slightly scolds him. "Watching you interact frustrates me to no end. If you want to swim then by all means just do it." Haru stands up, and with the smallest of smiles, he nods.

Rin stares at them all in surprise, and jumps a little when he feels a small poke to his side. He looks down and watches (Y/N) smile up at him.  "Let's show you something you'll never forget." She winks, and Haru passes by them with a look of determination.

Small tears begin to flow from the edges of Rin's eyes, and his breath halts when the girl he longed to have a conversation with gently rubs her thumbs under his eyes to catch the stray tears.

She laughs softly while the rest of the team converse with Haru quietly, getting caught up on what exactly had transpired between the three. "I forgot how easy it was to make you cry." She jokes, and Rin scoffs lightly and rolls his eyes lightly. He watches as she goes to move towards the rest of the team, but jumps at the opportunity.

(Y/N) yelps in surprise when she feels two arms wrap around her stomach, and she's pulled into his hold. Her hands lay limp at her side, and she tries to catch his eyes while he pushes his nose into the crook of her neck. "Rin-" she gently calls, and huffs when he tightens his hold around her.

"Just a minute, you owe me ten years." His voice is muffled into her skin, and (Y/N) shivers at the feeling before rolling her eyes and brings her hands up to wrap around his shoulders.

"It was only six." She grumbles, and Rin lets out a long sigh. He feels his shoulders begin to relax, and for the first time in a long, long time, he allows himself to finally feel at peace.

"Add it together and make it sixteen."

He snickers when he feels a small tap to the back of his head, and closes his eyes to stay in this moment- with her- for just a little bit longer.

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