Hey everyone! This story is set after the final episode of Free!... I do not own Free! or any of the characters (unfortunately) besides my own made up ones :)

Please enjoy!

"But he's always so silent!" The girl had long, curly hair and munched on her chips loudly.

"Yeah, but I think that's kind of, like, cool…" another girl with long black hair blushed slightly.

"You have the strangest taste in guys!" The first girl shook her head.

"No, no! I agree! He's really cool! He's so mysterious…" A third girl popped up between them, opening her lunch.

"So are you gonna do it then?" The first girl had finished her chips and crumpled the bag. The second nodded.

"Yes!"

Haruka walked slowly to lunch. Makoto and Nagisa led in front of him and chatted cheerfully about the events of the day. All Haruka could think about was getting to the end of classes and diving into that beautiful water. It was a fairly hot day, but a breeze cooled the back of his neck. He glanced at other students as he passed by. The guys were all laughing with each other and the girls chattered loudly. Girls, he thought, they're always so loud. Why do they talk so much?

"Um, excuse me, Haruka senpai," a young girl with long black hair blocked his path. Makoto and Nagisa continued walking, unaware of the barrier in front of him.

"Yes?" He looked at her with his stunning sapphire eyes, curious as to why this stranger of a girl had approached him.

"Um, well," she fidgeted and a light blushed tinged her cheeks, "I was wondering if… if you would go out with me."

Haruka looked at her, face emotionless. Inside, he was quite surprised. "Go out"? He barely understood interacting with other people, but going on dates? That was not in his scope of capabilities. His silence made the girl fidget even more.

"Senpai?" She looked at him with bright, round eyes. Haruka never liked seeing girls upset, but he didn't know what else to say.

"Sorry…" He looked down at the ground and then pushed past her, speeding up to reach where Makoto and Nagisa had finally stopped.

"What was that about Haru-chan?" Nagisa's bubbly voice reached him through a haze of thought.

"She asked me out," Haruka replied monotone, mind still wondering how on earth a girl he didn't even know could… 'like' him.

"She asked you out!?" Makoto looked at him incredulously. Haruka nodded. "Hm, well what'd you say?" Makoto and Nagisa continued walking.

"I said 'sorry'," Haruka sighed, still not finding the answer to his confusion. Makoto and Nagisa looked at him and smiled.

"Don't worry about it Haru," Makoto put a hand on his shoulder as they reached the roof, "I'm sure she won't be upset for long." Haruka remained silent.

"Yeah! Oh!" Nagisa stuck out a hand, "Rei! Rei-chan!" He called out to their blue-haired friend who had just opened the door to the roof.

"Hello," Rei nodded to all of them.

"Rei-chan! Haru-chan just got asked out!"

"Really?!" Rei looked as shocked as Haruka had felt.

"Yeah!" Nagisa continued chattering happily about how interesting it would be to see Haruka dating someone. Haruka stood and went to the railing at the edge of the roof. What does a date even mean? He let his thoughts drift. No use worrying about something he had yet to understand. He leaned against the railing and gazed over at the pool. That beautiful, shining water that called so relentlessly to him.

He wanted that water. His hands and feet itched to touch it. He needed to reach his love. As his eyes swept along the clean lines of the pool, he noticed something. Kneeling at the edge was a figure. Squinting his eyes, Haruka leaned forward, trying to see who would visit the pool during their lunch time. After a few moments, the figure stood, and left, trailing long, glowing hair behind them. A girl. Haruka watched her go, wondering why she had been at the pool. Who was that?

Hope you enjoyed this! I'm going to try to keep the chapters as short as possible (with a few longer ones thrown in)... but please let me know how I'm doing!

Thanks for reading! I really appreciate it :)