Rosalya emerged from the surface taking in a breath of air, as she stared around the pool she was currently in. It was mostly boys, but she could see some girls in there, too. Taking her cap off, she climbed to the edge of the wall and sat on it, staring and inspecting the people around her.

There was a group of boys that especially called her attention. There were four of them; one with olive hair and green eyes, another one with orange hair and pink eyes, another one had black hair and blue eyes, and the last one had maroon hair and red eyes. They definitely stood out, and they kept staring at her, even though they thought she couldn't see them.

Rosa was torn between going up to them and trying to start a conversation, or just ignore them. She had heard that Japanese people were rather reserved, and she wouldn't want to make them uncomfortable, but she was also curious.

Making up her mind, she stood up, fixed her hair (to make a good first impression), and smiled brightly as she approached them.

"Hi!" she greeted happily, making them turn to look at her surprised upon seeing her talking to them "I'm Tawaraya Rosalya" she replied. It was still weird to say her last name first and then her second name, but that's how Japanese people introduced themselves, so she had to get used to it if she was going to live there from now on.

"That sounds foreign" observed the orange-haired boy, placing a finger underneath his chin inquisitively, without so much as saying his name.

"That's because it is" replied Rosa with a chuckle "I'm from the USA. I moved here with my family two weeks ago. I noticed you a couple of minutes ago, so I thought I'll come over and say hi," she said, still smiling "So, hi. What are your names?" she asked kindly, excited about meeting these boys, and possibly making new friends.

"I'm Matsuoka Rin" the maroon-haired boy spoke up with a grin. He was also interested in this girl, the four of them had noticed her swimming, and she was pretty good. She was also sort of cute

"That's Tachibana Makoto" he gestured towards the olive-haired boy "Hazuki Nagisa" that was the orange-haired boy "And he's Nanase Haruka" he was referring to the boy with black hair.

"Nice to meet you all!" she said energetically.

"You too," said Rin in a friendly manner.

"Oh, and sorry if I seem a bit bubbly or rude" she added, very aware that they probably weren't used to attitudes like hers "I'm not trying, it sort of just comes out" Makoto chuckled softly.

"I wouldn't worry about it"

That was the day that everything changed.

On the first day of high school, Rosalya woke up early and refreshed after a good night's sleep. Mako would come to pick her up, since they both lived fairly close to each other, and she didn't want to keep him waiting.

She got dressed in the uniform and grabbed her bag from the corner of the room before getting out. On her way to the stairs, she stopped in front of her brother's door, which was just across. There used to be a sign that said 'Luke' in block green letters, the background decorated with some superheroes he liked, but it was gone now.

Taking a deep breath, she braced herself for what she was about to see, before turning the knob. She hadn't visited it the first day she came because she needed a whole lot of mental preparation; it had taken her over four months to get into his room in Brighton, which wasn't as personalized as this one. It hurt, but she couldn't pretend it wasn't there. Especially if she had to pass it every day on her way to the stairs.

Luke's room used to be the most colorful one of them all. He had a wooden bed with spaced-theme sheets and a blue cover; there was a rug that simulated the lanes in a race. He had many toys, some of which were stored in a chest by the feet of his bed, and others scattered throughout the floor in boxes, except for a single toy train and its railway that was always in the middle of the room. There was also a wave wallpaper decorating the wall, and that was the only thing left now. The rest of the room was empty, Delaney had stored all the boxes with Luke's things in the attic, not wanting her niece to see them there because she knew how difficult it was going to be for her.

But the fact that there was nothing was even more painful to bear, the room looked desolated and depressing, no sign of the bright ten-year-old boy who once called that his lair; it filled Rosa with a sense of gloom, and everything seemed obscure all of a sudden, despite it being a sunny day.

Turning around, she closed the door behind her and walked away, before the dark thoughts consumed her once again.

Downstairs, she was received by Toby and breakfast on the kitchen table, because her aunt had to go to work early.

"Good morning to you, too!" she greeted, petting the dog, before sitting down at the table. It had been a long time since she last ate Japanese food, so it tasted weird when she first tried her breakfast, but she knew she would get used to it eventually.

She then noticed there was a note by the side of her plate, and an envelope. Frowning, she took it in her hands and read it.

Good morning, Rosa! Putting some things in order last night, I found a photograph you might want to have. I know how precious they are for you, so I sincerely hope you like it. Have a wonderful first day!

Opening the envelope, she found a picture taken around two or three years ago when the Tawarayas came to visit Delaney for holidays. In it, Luke and she were making silly faces towards the camera with a cherry blossom tree in the background.

A smile crawled up her lips.

They were so happy that day, not knowing the tragedy that was to come. If she could turn back time and go to that wicked day, prevent what happened from occurring, she would. She would a million times until Luke was safe back in her arms.

"I miss you, little brother" she breathed out with some tears in her eyes, before placing the photograph on the bag she would take to school and finishing her breakfast.

As she waited for Mako to come by, she started to walk around the living room.

It was your typical living room, with a couch, a small table, armchairs, a rug, and a fireplace, but what made it stand out more was the fact that it was full of pictures. You can call them old schooled, but the Tawaraya family really treasured those pictures, those memories. Everywhere in their houses, you could find portraits of members of the family or family photos.

Rosalya had a bunch of pictures that she always took with her when she moved to another place, and that's why her room now was full of those. She had brought others, too, like some with Joy back in England, and with her teammates back at Laguna Creek. Even though she was closer to Joy than to any other person there, she really cared about her other team members.

There were some specific photos that Rosalya had framed, and others were in a box on one corner of her room, and she loved to look at them and remember in what circumstances it happened and who took the picture.

Her doorbell rang, and she immediately opened up, finding Makoto on the other side of the door.

"Good morning, Rosa" he greeted, polite as always.

"Good morning, Mako" she greeted back, and closed the door behind her "Does Haru still live in the same place?" she asked, as they both started to walk down the road.

"Yeah" replied Mako "He lives alone now since his parents are always traveling"

"That must be fun" replied Rosa with a smile "Not many people could handle it"

"You think so?" asked Mako, looking at her curiously.

"Yeah" she replied "It's a lot of responsibility, and some people are just not apt for it" she replied. She honestly wouldn't have any problem moving to Iwatobi and living on her own, but she was lucky enough to have a family member living there, who was more than happy to take her in.

"Good morning, Ms. Tamara," he greeted a lady in the front yard of her house, as the two of them got into Haru's neighborhood.

"Good morning," Rosa said politely, even though she didn't know the woman.

"Oh, good morning Makoto!" she greeted, before looking at the girl "And who are you, dear?"

"My name's Tawaraya Rosalya" she replied with a smile.

"Well, nice to meet you," said the other woman, before taking out two loaves of what Rosalya could only assume was bread from a basket and giving it to them.

"Oh, woah, thank you," said Mako, grabbing it.

"Have a good day!" wished Rosalya, before both of them went off. They could hear the lady saying 'you too' in the background.

As the two of them went up the stairs, they heard meowing and noticed a small white kitten hiding in between some grass.

"Hey, there," said Mako sweetly, crouching down and petting the cat softly. Rosa smiled upon seeing that; the boy was as sweet as ever.

Upon arriving at Haru's house, he rang the bell, but no one answered. Rosalya frowned, as her friend looked through the bathroom window.

"Why am I not surprised?" he asked tiredly "Let's get in through the backdoor" Rosa frowned upon hearing that, but followed him anyway.

"Are we allowed to do that?" she questioned, not really sure how she felt about trespassing into someone's home.

"It'll be fine, it's Haru," said Mako in assurance, sliding the door open "Hey, it's us! Coming in now!" he announced in case Haru heard, as they went through a curtain, which led into the first part of the bathroom. Rosalya remembered the layout of his house faintly, she hadn't gone much, almost always her house was the meetup place.

"He's not even dressed yet?" asked the girl, looking at a plastic basket with Haru's clothes inside. Mako sighed and opened the door to the second part of the bathroom. She stayed back because she had no idea what she could find inside.

Rosa heard bits and pieces of the conversation going on in the bathroom, until Haru finally came out, in his swimsuit.

"Good morning, Haru!" she greeted, energetic as always, and then she frowned when she saw what he was wearing. "Why are you wearing your swimsuit? Did you bathe in that?"

"Yeah, yeah" he replied, shrugging it off "We're gonna be late for school"

"Isn't that supposed to be my line?" asked Mako, making Rosa chuckle.

"Not anymore, apparently" she replied with a smile.

Instead of getting dressed, Haru decided to cook mackerel.

"I thought you said we were gonna be late!" reminded the girl.

"Well, I haven't had breakfast yet," he replied logically.

"Yeah, but you're wearing an apron over your swimsuit" shot Mako, looking at the blue apron, and after some moments of silence, he finally asked, "Aren't you cold?"

"No" replied Haru "I just don't wanna get oil in my swimsuit" Rosa couldn't help but chuckle. This was the kind of thing she had missed, these random and funny moments with the guys.

Being there with them was going to be good for her.

"Nothing's changed much!" observed Rosa, as the three of them made their way to the high school "I'm actually glad about it"

"Well, it hasn't been that much time since Rin and you left" replied Mako logically.

"Did you guys hear anything from Rin in the past few years?" asked Rosalya with interest. Haru tensed a bit upon hearing that since he had seen him before, but he didn't say anything.

"Not really..." replied Mako, noticing Haru's attitude "You?" he asked, looking at Rosa.

"We skyped a couple of times" replied the girl "But that's about it. I haven't heard of him in a long time" the first few years of his transfer to Australia, they talked almost every week, but after some time he stopped calling back or calling in general, and Rosa didn't really know why "To be honest, I'm sort of worried"

"Well, that's natural," said Mako "You and Rin were very close" Rosa knew he was right.

She cared about all the boys and she loved spending time with them, but the relationship with Rin had always been different. They shared laughs and jokes and moments, all of which were stored in photos and in her memories. Some people often thought that they were siblings, and someone always pointed out how comfortable they seemed around each other.

After class, it was lunchtime.

"Wanna eat on the roof?" Rosa questioned as they stood atop the stairs.

"I didn't bring my lunch"

"Go buy something in the cafeteria" suggested Mako "Or you can share mine if you want"

"Haruka, Makoto, Rosalya!" a familiar voice called Rosa's attention, and she looked down the stairs to find a boy with familiar orange hair "It's been forever! It's been a long time, huh?" his cheerful tone betrayed him, Rosa immediately recognized him.

"Nagisa!" she exclaimed, and immediately rushed down the stairs to hug him, making him chuckle happily "It's so good to see you again! Wanna come to the roof with us?" she also wanted to catch up with him.

"Sure!" he replied happily.

"We haven't seen you in forever!" said Makoto as the childhood friends stood on the roof, staring down at the buildings ahead of them "Not since the swim club shut down!"

"How many years ago was that again?" questioned Rosa.

"A few!" replied Nagisa "And I can't believe that Rosa is back from England!"

"It's so surreal" confessed the girl "But I'm so happy! I really missed this place, and I really missed you, guys"

"We missed you, too" replied Mako with honesty, and he was speaking for everyone. They were all glad to see her again.

"Woah, cherry blossoms?" exclaimed Nagisa, as they stared at the pink trees underneath them

"They had fancy landscaping like this around the pool where you went to middle school, didn't they, Haruka?"

"Please stop calling me by that name"

"But isn't that your actual name?" questioned Nagisa; the boy didn't answer.

"I missed the cherry blossoms" Rosalya admitted "We didn't have anything like this in England"

"The cherry blossoms are a nice touch" commented Makoto "But the pool never gets used here. There's no swim team"

"That kinda sucks..." Nagisa said softly "Where do you guys swim these days?"

"I don't "replied Haru "Not competitively" Rosa was surprised to hear that.

"For real?" she questioned. Haru didn't say anything, and the girl took that as a yes.

"What the hell!" Nagisa exclaimed "You're kidding, right? Do you know how long I've been looking forward to enrolling in Iwatobi so we could race together?!" Nagisa knew that Rosa didn't swim anymore, but he had no idea that Haru didn't either.

"I don't know what to tell you, Nagisa" replied Haru "Things change. We're not kids anymore"

"Haruka..." breathed out Nagisa, still not being able to grasp the recently learned information.

"Well, Haru is still swimming, just not competitively" explained Mako "Trust me, he needs water like we need air. When it's summer, you can always find him in the ocean"

"Unless it's this morning when we found him in the bathtub with his swimsuit on" pointed out Rosa, making Mako chuckle.

"You're kidding. Those aren't even the same thing" said Nagisa "Just sounds like he's into bathing" he then got an idea "We could start a hot springs club!" Rosa raised an eyebrow amused upon hearing that.

"A what now?" she questioned.

"You'd be in it, right?!" asked Nagisa, shaking Haru slightly, before turning to look at the girl "You too, Rosa!"

"That's not a thing, Nagisa," said Rosa with a small laugh.

She was so busy laughing at Nagisa's ideas, that she didn't notice Rin's little sister, Gou, looking at her from afar, while eating lunch with one of her friends.

If Rosa was back, then maybe she knew something about Rin that she didn't.