𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟏- 𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘
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Haru dives off the board, his palms outstretched and head pulled down to his chest. (Y/N) watches as he makes his way, almost at lighting speed across the pool.

'Third place.' He takes a turn, and pushes to make it halfway down. The clock continues to pass, the seconds striking at her nerves.

"Let's go!" She hears Nagisa yell from the platform, and leans down to grab Gōu's hands.
The girls hold their breaths as he pushes past the remaining swimmers, and slams his hands into the concrete.

"They did it..' (Y/N) whispers to herself, her eyes wide in disbelief. Her younger friend tackles her, screaming at the top of her lungs. The (H/C) girl stares at her friends, who pull their teammate out of the water before tackling him into a group hug.

"We won!" The group yell from below, and Nagisa is quick to wrap his arms and legs around Haru. (Y/N) laughs, her hand coming up to grip her chest. She bundles the material of her shirt into a fist, and releases a breath she didn't know she was holding.

_____

The Iwatobi Swim Club stand proud infront of their school, medals adorning the boy's necks while grins spread across both manager's faces.

(Y/N) had made it a point to stand next to Nagisa, her palm flat against his back to keep him from slouching while Rei had his arm in a grip behind him to stop his nervous fidgeting.

The (H/C) girl looks straight on to the faces of their peers, her ego rising ever so slightly.

"Despite this being their first time competing at district, these talented young athletes standing infront of you placed in the top eight." The booming voice of their principal rings across the courtyard.

"Which means they've officially qualified for regionals! And we'll be rooting for the Iwatobi Swim club as they fight their way through nationals, let's give them a big hand!"

A round of applause soars through the hands of the crowd, most cheering out of respect while others just followed orders.

The assembly was quickly drawn to a close, and the students were sent back to the ever so mundane life that was school. The teens all stand at the entrance gate, a long banner hanging off the side of the building.

"WOW, how cool is that?" Nagisa awes from the side, his eyes practically shining. (Y/N) chuckles and shakes her head. Looking up, she watches the half done banner, tapped over with their school's name flapping in the wind.

She sighs, "I mean..they could've made a new one.." tapping her chin with her finger, she looks up at her friends and grins. "You guys actually did it!" Somewhat squealing, (Y/N) hooks her arm through Gōu's, and runs into the school with a holler.

Makoto and Haru stay behind as the rest of the group run in after them, their heads turned upwards. The blue eyed boy sighs. "She still acts like she's not part of the team.." he mumbles, and his friend hum.

"Yeah, but she needs time I guess." They nod together, and Makoto tilts his head just in time to catch a flash of (H/C) locks before they disappeared around a corner. "We won.."

Haru hums, before striding forward without another word. "Good." He quickly comments, and picks up speed to keep up with his friends.

_____

(Y/N) fiddles with her nails as she trails behind Makoto. The group had since been excused from class, and we're all headed towards the pool for practice. Haru, as usual, was nowhere to be seen.

"Any idea where Haru wondered off to?" Gōu's question brings her out of her thoughts, and looks up to see her friend shake his head. Makoto places his hand under his chin, and thinks. "I dunno, he disappeared.."

"Do you think he went home or something?" Rei asks from behind (Y/N), Nagisa at his side.

"Who knows, your guess is as good as mine."

"Hey I just realized something." The blond haired boy bounces to his second manager's side, his head tilted forward so he could catch her eyes still trained to the ground. "We hit our goal at placing at district, so that means we get to increase the size of our budget, right?"

(Y/N) hums, and nods as she listens. "I say we use the extra funds to swim indoors all the time!" Scrunching her brow, she shares a look with Gōu as the rest of the group all jump at the idea.

"Yeah!" Makoto looks back at him with a grin, but yelps when he receives a slap to the head. Looking down, he nervously looks between both his managers, (Y/N)'s hand extended in warning.

"You heard what the principal said at the assembly!" His oldest friend scolds, and places both hands on her hips. "This is no time for luxuries!"

Gōu nods firmly from beside her, her dark hair fluttering against her cheeks. "Our goal is to make it to nationals!" Raising a finger, she points to the group of boys, her demeanor strict and authoritative.

"Once we've made it there, the sky's the limit!" She raises her finger to the sky, and (Y/N) hisses when she accidentally faces the sun head on. Smacking the palms of her hands against her eyes, she rubs furiously while the team laugh.

"Come on team, let's give it our all!" Nagisa shouts through a chortle beside his agitated friend, and the rest agree. Rei strikes a rather lady like pose, with his heels crossed over the other while his back straightened up.

"Fly.." he starts, and Gōu and Nagisa raises their fists into the air. "High!"

"Fly High?" Makoto teases the words through his teeth, but backs away when the group all take off into a sprint, racing eachother up the steps through the dense bush towards the pool.

Smiling, he looks down to see (Y/N) slowly come out of her agitated state, and looks up with wide, slightly red eyes. "Aw hell." She groans, "They left without u-US!" Her annoyance is interrupted when she's lifted off the ground.

Makoto's hands were firmly placed under her knees while the other circled around to cup her shoulders. Once again, (Y/N) is left in a compromising position with the one person who had yet to see how his actions affected her.

"Let's go!" He yells with a laugh, and his smile only widens when he feels her fingers grip into his shoulder blades while he sprints.

_____

By the time (Y/N) had finished changing, the rest were already out and discussing training drills for the day. She makes it towards the group, and raises a brow she when she sees the only other person that would ditch his morning classes to swim.

"Haru?" She calls out, and her friend turns his head towards her, his hair still shiny and silver from the chlorine. Sighing, she grabs a towel and dumps it over his head.

"He's really pumped up, isn't he?" Nagisa asks from behind them, the rest of the team at his side. Gōu however, was too busy swooning at the how her friend was softly drying Haru's hair while he just stared down at her, his eyes following the movement of her lips while she talked.

"I can only imagine how upset he is loosing at freestyle at district." Rei hums sadly, pity written all over his framed face. Makoto stays quiet from his side, wondering the same thing as Haru finally removes the small towel from his head, and (Y/N) nods.

She offers him a small smile. "It's good seeing you out there working hard and trying to get better." She muses, and tilts her chin down when Haru shakes his head.

"No, I'm not." She could've sworn a small chuckle passed through his lips, but she ignores it and listens. "I'm swimming because I didn't know what else to do."

'This guy.' A red tick mark begins to form on (Y/N)'s head, as her praise was no doubt ignored while her friend gave an excuse for his actions. Gōu comes to her side, her own surprised look shining through at the answer while the others listen from behind.

"When I feel lost.." Haru starts to explain, and turns his head slightly to look at the water below him, still and clear as if he hadn't been swimming a few minutes prior. "I look for advice from the water."

(Y/N) pulls her lips between her teeth, and Gōu looks up at her with a raised brow. "What is that supposed to mean?" She asks the older girl, more questions than answers swirling beneath her skin.

"Well, looks like everyone's here." Makoto interrupts them, and both girls look up at him in surprise at his stealthiness. "I'd say it's time to get going." The younger of the three quickly jumps at the sentence, and grabs (Y/N)'s arm to pull her away from the pool and towards the diving boards.

"All right everyone, time to warm up!" (Y/N) calls out, and glares when she hears the fast patter of feet. "No running by the pool Nagisa!" She yells, and makes a swiping motion in the air to signal him to stop.

"YAHOO!" The blond yells, dodging his manager and diving into the pool. Rei follows his lead, and quickly dives in to avoid the wrath of their (H/C) friend.

While (Y/N) and Gōu were busy barking orders at the left side of the pool, Makoto had taken the opportunity to glance at Haru, who remained still by his side.

The two had yet to say anything, but they pushed it aside when a certain hot headed teen yelled at them to hop in the pool.

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