Disclaimer: I, KawaiiTenshiCeres does not own, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club / Eternal Summer, or Nettaigyo no Namida by Flower. I only own my OCs such as Okimoto Asahi.

熱帯魚の涙/ Nettaigyo no Namida / Tears of the Tropical Fish

Chapter Thirteen

"…hi…Hii-chan? You doing okay?"

Waving a hand in front of her face, Satomi smiled at Asahi, who was in a daze. It was lunchtime, with Asahi sitting next to Satomi, as they were casually eating their bentous outside in the courtyard with their other friends. The blond eyed the dark-haired girl who simply laughed at her.

"Hah?" she questioned.

"Don't 'Hah?' me!" Satomi sighed. "You were sighing the whole time. Did something happen?"

Quickly shaking her head, Asahi looked at her best friend with a sheepish smile. "Nothing really. Just that I…"

"Ah, Asahi-chan, there you are!" Gou interrupted. "Can you come with me for a bit?"

A slightly disturbed look formed on the girl's face, quickly hiding behind Satomi. "W-What?" she muttered. "A-Are you going to kidnap me?"

"No, it's not that," the fellow second year smiled. "Though…I've noticed something. Did something happen between you and Haruka-senpai?"

Batting her eyes at her, the blond emerged from hiding. "…What do you mean?"

"I dunno. When I mentioned about going out shopping with you, Haruka-senpai's face looked up at me," the red-head remarked. "It looked like he was a bit annoyed is all,"

'…That's because we only hung out after our clubs and never gone on an actual date.' Asahi thought, trying to hide her slight disappointment.

"Can you at least talk to him?" she questioned. "Or at least say 'Hi' to everyone else,"

Looking at her, a reluctant smile formed on Asahi's face.

"…I can try,"

"Yo, Gou-chan, Asahi-chan!"

A huge smile formed on Nagisa's face, watching his fellow second years emerging from the stairwell. As Gou smiled at the other members of the Swim Team, while Asahi nodded at them, only to look away when her eyes met with Haruka's. The girls quickly sat down, with the blond sitting across from her new boyfriend, and although Gou was the one mainly talking, everyone had noticed Asahi was mainly quiet the whole time.

"Hey…Did something happen, Asahi-chan?" Nagisa questioned looking at his classmate. "You usually don't mind talking to us whenever you see us,"

"A-Ah…I'm a little out of it, sorry," Asahi smiled.

"Did you get into a bad fight with Haruka-senpai?" Rei questioned, eyeing his dark-haired upperclassman. "I know you two argue, but it's usually not this bad,"

Batting his eyes, Makoto looked over at his best friend. "Wait, you got into a fight with Asahi-chan the other day?" he questioned.

"We did no-" "We didn't-"

"You guys should go out and apologize to each other," Nagisa interrupted, patting the both of them in the shoulder.

Both of them stared at Nagisa for a brief moment, before the dark-haired swimmer quickly grabbed Asahi's hand, pulling her towards the stairwell.

Outside near the pool, Haruka had slowed down to a stop, while Asahi looked at him questionably. Releasing her hand, the swimmer sat on the bench, motioning her sit beside him, which she obeyed. The two of them had looked up at the afternoon clouds for a brief moment in silence.

"…What are we supposed to apologize about?" the blond sighed. "Uhm. I'm sorry for going out with Gou-chan?" she nodded reluctantly.

Raising an eyebrow, Haruka let out a brief sigh. "She told you?" he questioned.

"I mean, she probably noticed you acting like that," Asahi remarked. "Even if it's with our friends...As…As long as I'm going out somewhere with you, it's fine," she muttered, feeling her cheeks turning hot.

Watching her expression for a brief moment, Haruka soon leaned in and kissed her. Without a second thought, Asahi slowly moved closer to him, giving him another kiss. As they looked at each other for a brief moment, it was only a matter of seconds until Asahi was pulled onto his lap, practically straddling him. Looking down at him shyly, the blond felt the swimmer's hands touching her bare skin, underneath her shirt.

"Your hands are cold," she huffed. "Were you taking cold baths again?"

"Do you want me to put my hands somewhere else?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow, sliding his hands down her stomach and into her skirt, causing the blond to bury her face into his shoulder.

Before he could do anything else, however, the lunch bell rang, causing him to stop. "Let's head back?" the swimmer questioned, plucking the girl off of his lap, and dragging her back with him.

"E-Eh?" she questioned, trying to fix her clothes in a haste. "A-Already?"

Raising an eyebrow at her, Haruka eyed his girlfriend. "Why? Did you want stay with me a bit longer?"

Tightening her grip on his hand, a blushing Asahi slowly nodded to him, causing him to look away, mirroring her embarrassed look. As they were standing in the hallway, already on the way back to the main building, the two of them were figuring out what to do to make their 'alone time' last a bit longer. It wasn't before long, until the male looked back at Asahi.

"…What's your next class?"

「大丈夫かも」って言える気がするよ
I feel like I can say, "I think I'll be alright"
今すぐ逢いたい その笑顔に
I want to see you now, see your smiling face

Slowly opening his green eyes, the man let out a long sigh. His vision felt blurry, as he blindly reached out and touched his desk for his glasses. Sitting up in his chair, the dark-haired man let out a yawn, before staring at his computer screen, that was filled with numbers, graphs, and e-mail notifications…He could get to it later, right? He pushed back his messy locks, before standing up. He had heard music from down the hallway.

Down the hallway of his home, the man followed to where the music was playing.

Cracking open the door, he watched the woman sitting on the floor looking at sheet music, while an MP3 player was plugged into the speakers playing the song.

あなたを包むすべてが やさしさで溢れるように
It's as if everything that surrounds you is overflowing with kindness
わたしは強く迷わず あなたを愛し続けるよ
I'll keep on loving you with all my heart, without any hesitation
どんなときも そばにいるよ
I'll always be by your side

Closing his eyes, he pictured a dark haired girl softly singing that same song, before looking up at him with an embarrassed look. As he closed the door, he pulled out his cell phone and shuffled through his contacts, before stopping in front of Asahi's name. Slowly heading back to his tiny office, the man dialed Asahi's number before closing the door behind him.

"This person cannot be reached at this time. Please leave your message after this beep."

"…It's me. I know you're coming here in a few weeks, but can we meet up? I want to talk,"

Hanging up, he let out a long sigh, before looking through his phone and stopping at certain picture. A selfie with him and Asahi together, smiling.

"Aki? Are you napping again?" a female voice questioned, as footsteps were slowly approaching his office.

Quickly pressing the lock button on his phone, Akihiro scratched the back of his head in frustration. He smiled at his fiancée, who walked into the room, looking at him questionably.

"Yeah?" he questioned.

"C'mon, we need to finalize some stuff for the reception," she smiled. "I need to call Shougo-kun. That idiot had to take a vacation, but he said he wanted to perform something with the rest of the alumni, so he's running all over the place," she grumbled.

"Of course!" Akihiro smiled, before following her out of the room.

"…I thought you loved her and this is what happens?!"

"…I'm sorry."

"Can 'Sorry' fix what happened in the last hour?
No, wait, the last month?!

…You ruined her life, Aki."