𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟔- 𝐅𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍
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"Shouldn't we stop them?"

"Not a chance."

Makoto nervously fiddles with his fingertips and watches as Rin and Haru step up to their respected platforms, the tension in the air so thick you could cut through it with a knife.

Rin adjusts his goggles, his eyes burning the side of Haru's face. "As usual, no matter how hard I try I just don't understand you." He says with a grin, and turns his attention to (Y/N).

She stands next to Nagisa, her arms folded and eyes never leaving Haru. Rin grits his teeth. "Not even gonna wish me luck?" He spits, his tone condescending as he mocks her. (Y/N) rolls her eyes with a huff and stares straight at him.

"Bite me." Nagisa and Makoto stare at her for the longest time, taken aback by her attitude towards him. Rin hums, and clicks his tongue.

He then turns to Haru. "You ready?" His rival rolls his shoulders with a similar eye roll to his (H/C) friend. "Of course I'm ready, the real question is are you?" His tease makes (Y/N) grin, her confidence in him growing with each minute.

Rin however, faces forward and licks his lips, "If you're trying to piss me off or something, congrats." He closes his eyes, his heart pumping against his ribcage. "Because it's working."

Haru ignores him, and turns to his friends. Makoto had resorted to biting his nails while fiddling with his shirt. Nagisa was bouncing on the balls of his feet, nervous yet excited for the events to come. His eyes move and lock with (Y/N)'s, the young girl nods her head, and Haru returns the gesture.

"(Y/N), we'll start swimming when you give us the signal." He calls, and Rin jerks his head up. The maroon haired boy seemed to be getting more pissed off with each minute, and his patience wares thin after each mention of the girl he shared so many memories with.

(Y/N) nods. "Sure thing." and watches as they both bend down, their knees bent and hands gripping their boards tightly.

"It's a freestyle race." Rin reminds, "One hundred meters." They all wait in anticipation before (Y/N) finally clears her throat.

"Ready, set.." she watches as Rin's knee bends just a tad bit lower. "Go!" And with that, they both kick off their boards and dive into the water. None of the trio are surprised at the lead Rin had quickly taken, due to the fact that this would usually happen when he swam with them.

Nagisa furrows his brows. "Rin has a stronger kick but I think Haru's stroke is faster." Makoto nods, before looking down and watching as (Y/N) fiddles with the sleeves of her drenched shirt, still clinging to her body from their earlier swim.

"(Y/N).." he mumbles, and she looks up with a questionable raise of her brows. She hums, and waits for him to continue. "Why do you think Rin is so hostile towards you?" His question hangs in the air, but his friends only shakes her head and shrugs her shoulders.

"I'm not to sure myself, Makoto." She sighs. "But I do know two things.." her brown haired friend listens intently. "One, that Rin is a completely different person to the one we knew all those years ago."

Makoto hums, "And two?"

(Y/N) bites her lip, her expression turning sour. "And two..this guy isn't my friend anymore." Her words make Makoto choke a little. "What?" He asks, bewildered. "Come on! Don't you think that's a bit rash-!"

"Do you see the way he looks at us?" She whips her head towards him, the ends of her hair flying upwards. "He doesn't care about us anymore! All he cares about is challenging Haru." Jerking her head towards the pool, her eyes train on the two figures making the turn and start to swim back.

"After today..I want nothing to do with Rin Matsuoka." Her declaration makes both Makoto and Nagisa exchange a worried glance, deciding not to question her any further and accepting her wishes.

_____

The days after the events were uneventful, moving quick and swift without much trouble. At least thats what (Y/N) had thought so.

The young girl had spent the days mostly leaving school and getting home without meeting up with her friends. Despite the worried messages and emails from both Nagisa and Makoto, and a few from Haru.

Her mother had tried questioning her on her darkened mood, but was dismissed quickly and assured that absolutely nothing was wrong. (Y/N) didn't want to put the burden of her worries onto her already overworked mother, so she decided to just keep it to herself.

Today she had decided not to go to school, and spent most of the day sleeping and watching her favorite shows on her computer. Her mother had left a few hours earlier, reminding her of the food she had wrapped in the microwave and kissed her daughter's forehead before heading out.

While (Y/N) continued binging her shows and munching on some leftover food from last night, she couldn't help but wonder to the night before.

Why had Rin been so hostile towards her more than the others? Had she done something in the past to piss him off? And why was he constantly glaring at her as if she was the bane of his existence? It made no sense to her.

Her phone suddenly goes off. Looking down, she sees it's a message from Nagisa, and picks it up with a sniff before opening it and reading it.

'Plz meet us at Haru's house! It's urgent!'

She thinks it over, what's the worst that could happen? (Y/N) shuffles out of bed before changing into some more presentable clothes, and reaches for her phone just as it buzzes once more, another message from her bubbly friend.

'And bring some milk bread!'

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It didn't take her that long to arrive at the Nanase residence, but the one thing (Y/N) was sure she wouldn't have to see the moment she opened the door was Haru half naked drying himself while a familiar Maroon haired girl watches with a raging blush.

The group all turn at the sound, and (Y/N) tries to slowly back away from the scene. "If this is some strip show, count me out-" she's cut off when Nagisa jumps up and tackles her to the floor, tears streaming from his face as he snatches the milk bread from her hands.

"At last! I've missed you." He nuzzles his face into the bread, before looking down. He laughs sheepishly and helps his friend off the floor. "Oh! And you (Y/N)!" Said girl only shakes her head before heading inside, and greeting her other friends before turning to extra girl.

She smiles softly, "You're Rin's sister? Last time I saw you, you were so small!" Her smile brightens more when Gōu gets up and bows her head towards the older girl. "I can't believe I didn't recognize you!" The younger Matsuoka blushes slightly at the attention.

Gōu chuckles softly, her ponytail bouncing while she nods. "It's good to see you again, (Y/N)." The older girl nods before turning around and staring at her friends, her eyebrow raising.

"Okay, what's going on?" Makoto and Nagisa sweat drop slightly, before turning as Haru picks up a blue hoodie and throws it over himself. "They want to form a swim club." His statement makes (Y/N) slightly surprised, but not entirely.

The girl nods and watches Haru move to his kitchen, his apron neatly tied around his waist. "If you're making tea, can I have some?" She calls out, and Makoto joins her. "Me too, please!" Quickly walking into the kitchen, both (Y/N) and Nagisa begin to fiddle when they see the dark haired boy reach into his fridge for a piece of Mackerel.

They all begin to bicker slightly,leaving Gōu and Makoto start to talk more, mostly about their younger days before fishing out the old swimming team picture the group had retrieved a few nights ago.

Nagisa makes his way out the kitchen, carrying a tray of teacups while (Y/N) and Haru remain in the kitchen, both looking down as they prepare a small snack for everyone.

They both listen intently as Gōu catches them all up on the years in between without Rin. How her brother had come back home every Christmas without fail, but just decided not to reach out and meet up with any of them.

That caused Haru to shift a bit from beside his friend, and (Y/N) sighs and bumps her shoulder into his. He looks up and raises a brow, his friend smiling ever so slightly before picking up a small piece of the fried squid she was cutting and raises it to his lips.

Makoto looks up and watches, a small smile on his face when Haru takes the squid into his mouth and munches on it without another word. (Y/N) grins from beside him, and he looks away, his cheeks tinted pink while she bends down to get a better look at his face.

Gōu stops midway through her explanation and looks down at the picture in her hand, her eyes focusing more on her brother's bright smile, his chin rested comfortably atop (Y/N)'s tiny head. The younger girl smiles, "You know, I think my brother had a bit of a crush on (Y/N) when he was younger.." she mumbles, and both Nagisa and Makoto look up with loud gasps.

"What?!" They yell together, and their outburst causes Gōu to shrink back while they lean in closer. (Y/N) pops her head out of the kitchen, Haru following suit, his head slightly above her own while he leans over her.

"Why are you yelling?" Both (Y/N) and Haru raise their eyebrows, but Makoto only waves his hands, trying to dismiss them. "Nothing! Just uh.." he tries to think of an excuse, but fails and causes Nagisa to jump in.

The younger boy lifts the half open milk bread (Y/N) brought and rubs his tummy. "We're so excited about how good this bread tastes!" He sweatdrops as Gōu quickly nods her head and tries to play along.

A moment of silence follows, before (Y/N) rolls her eyes with a grin. "Weirdos." She mumbles, and moves back into the kitchen. Haru stares at the group for a moment longer before humming in agreement and slowly retreating after his friend.

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