Haruka and Makoto walked home idly, enjoying a set of blue popsicles that Makoto had bought at the corner store. Swimming practice had gone on for awhile, so they were both tired, and not much talk was said on their walk.

Suddenly, Makoto asked, as if something had just came up to him. "Ah. Are you going to visit Rin?"

"…No." Haruka replied shortly, cracking the rest of his popsicle and flinging it in the nearby trash can.

Makoto laughed softly. "He seems lonely, you know?"

Haruka hummed softly and scuffled his shoes, not saying anything.

"I think that he misses you, actually." Makoto breathed, ducking his chin down to the collar of their swimming jackets. "Visit him, Haru."

"Why?" Haruka nearly snapped, furrowing his eyebrows. "It's not like he'll be grateful or anything, right?"

"…You two were such good friends back then-can't you just compromise? Rin can't….you know. Anymore."

Haruka bit his lip and looked down. "That won't change anything. He'll still swim."

"Haruka." Makoto looked like someone who was about to break a death confession. "Rin is physically disabled from the waist down. He can't swim anymore."

"This is my house." Haruka said bluntly. "We passed yours a while ago."

"Eh?" Makoto looked startled. "Ah…thanks. So…" He awkwardly shuffled his feet-What was he supposed to say?

Makoto snuck a glance at Haruka.

When did things become so awkward?

"I'll see you tomorrow." Haruka finished, flinging open the paper door and striding in his house, already taking his clothes off and heading to his bathtub.

"…Right." Makoto murmured, not even sure if Haruka could hear him anymore.

Soon, warm clouds of steam were filling the air, and Haruka lazily reclined against the still cool edge of the tub, tilting his head back and listening to the little pinks as water droplets bounced off his hair.

The sweet scent of aloe and mint leaves was unfurling in the air as Haruka shampooed his hair gingerly; he usually didn't do this, so why now?

He found himself trudging out of the bathroom, towel draped over his waist, sooner than he had anticipated, and to give himself something to occupy his mind, he cooked mackerel, duly looking at the slices that he flipped over and over-maybe a little too much, because when he got the slices out of the pan, they were slightly burnt.

But all the same, Haruka didn't taste anything as he mindlessly sat down at the wooden kitchen table, soon falling into a pattern of dull repetition.

Even then, he couldn't finish all his mackerel, packaging the fish into a plastic Ziploc bag and heading towards the fridge to save it for later. Opening the fridge door and feeling the cold blast of air hit him, he was suddenly struck with a idea.

I could give this to Rin.

Why, though? After last time? What was the reason? The point? What were they, now? Surely not rivals anymore-so was there any connection, at all? Friends? Possibly.

But despite all that, Haruka changed into a loose sweater and jeans, walking out the door again after slipping on his running shoes. The paper door behind him slid shut with a click as he took off, running with a plastic bag slung over his shoulder.

Breathe in, out, in, out, in, out Haruka settled into a steady rhythm, feeling the grit and dirt under the soles of his feet, feeling the wind in his hair, and before he knew it, he was at the door of the hospital, breathing in medicine and countless other artificial things, and he really didn't know how he ended up here so quickly.

He opened the door and walked in, the warmth of sea breeze being replaced with cold, stiff air that Haruka could practically feel around his nose, his mouth, his eyes, a cloth pressing down and suffocating him. How could Rin stay in such a place?

"Rin Matsuoka." He said to the receptionist, and she smiled and nodded, clicking something on her computer before telling him to go on. The elevator still played its tinkling music which Haruka so despised, the hallways were still gray and endless, and the doors were still white wood and sterilized glass.

And true to everything, Rin was still there when Haruka pushed open the door without invitation. He was in his wheelchair this time, pushing the wheels with irritation as he tried to make it turn.

When Haruka came in, he lifted his head slightly, acknowledging his presence, but nothing more.

Haruka hesitated slightly, then walked in the room, holding out the plastic bag with the leftover mackerel in it. Rin sniffed the air. "You can't be serious, Haruka. Mackerel again?"

Haruka scowled. Why did everyone keep saying that? He didn't eat mackerel that much, did he? "It's a perfectly healthy food." He retorted, glaring at him.

Rin snickered and pushed the bag away. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm not feeling like mackerel today." His stomach grumbled. Haruka smiled slightly.

Twenty minutes later, Haruka finally coaxed Rin into eating, finding him a plastic fork from somewhere in the hospital.

Without a word, Rin dug in, stabbing a piece of mackerel and holding it up, glaring at it as if it had killed his family. He opened his mouth and chewed the fish, a displeased look on his face. "Haruka, after all these years, I thought that you would've gotten better at cooking."

"My cooking is perfectly fine." Haruka yawned, sitting on the edge of Rin's bed. "It's your taste buds that have evolved from Australia.

Rin huffed and said nothing, eating the rest of the mackerel. And all Haruka could think, looking at him, was-He still remembers my cooking?

After polishing the plate off, Rin threw the fork in the trash can and yawned, stretching. Suddenly, looking at Haruka, he had an idea. "Hey," He ventured hesitantly. Haruka blinked. "Do you want to…help me go outside?"

Haruka looked confused for a minute. "Walk outside?"

"No, goddammit!" Rin sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I mean, help…wheel…me outside." He spat in disgust.

"Ah…" Haruka got up from the bed and hesitantly ran a hand over the silver bars of his wheelchair. "What do I do?"

"You see these handles?" Rin pointed to them, arching his back. "Hold them, and push them forward, okay, Haruka?" His voice took on a bitter, mocking tone.

Wordessly, Haruka took the handles and steered Rin towards the door, helping the boy push it open. In the endless gray hallway, it seemed less scary, because Rin was with him.

The doors that passed by weren't gleaming, mocking eyes anymore, but just doors, because Haruka wasn't alone this time-they couldn't accuse him with another bystander-

And the elevator music that played wasn't as haunting, because Rin was there, cursing the fact that his wheelchair took up all the space, and Haruka held on to that sound, never wanting to let go of it again-never wanted Rin to go to Australia again.

When they passed the doors and outside, Rin actually hesitated, gripping onto Haruka's arm tightly as the sunlight shone in his eyes, making him squint. "Haruka…"

Haruka wheeled him forward and out, heading down a familiar street that he knew too well. They passed gardens of fresh flowers, their leaves vibrant and green from the rain, and little puddles of raindrops that had fallen just yesterday.

"Isn't this…" Rin started. Haruka nodded, pointing to the building. "Iwatobi High School."

"Such a dirty place." Rin scoffed, and Haruka bit his lip, not wanting to contradict him. "It's not too bad." He finally said. "We're putting on this haunted house for our festival, and if you…want to come…." He trailed off. Rin didn't say anything, just turning away. "Let's go somewhere else."

Haruka took him to the shrine, and Rin cursed at the sight of all those stairs, while Haruka had the task of helping his wheelchair up every step, something that left both of them irritable and cranky.

Rin clapped his hands twice and bent his head, peeking once in a while at Haruka, who was calmly doing the same.

Rin went first, pulling his fortune out of the slot. Haruka went next, but his paper got stuck in the opening, so he had to pull to get it out. But as soon as the paper was released, it tore out of his hands in a gust of wind, spiraling out over the town. Haruka uselessly stretched out his hand for it again, and Rin shrugged. "Why not just get another one?"

Haruka didn't meet his eyes as he deftly said-"It's not the same."

Rin rolled his eyes and opened up his own fortune.

You will be reunited with friends from your past.

There will be some hard times ahead, but you will overcome them.

Hard work triumphs over all.

"….What the fuck did it mean by hard times ahead?" Rin laughed. "It can't get any worse than this, right? Besides, fortunes aren't real."

He threw his paper into the air as well, a gust of wind picking it up. "…Anywhere else you want to show me?"

Haruka hesitated, then looked back down at the stairs that were waiting for them. "One more place." He admitted, inwardly groaning at the prospect of wheeling him down this time. At least it wouldn't be harder…Rin would just have to suffer more headaches, that's all. Haruka pushed Rin down the stairs. "HARUKA YOU FREAKING BASTARD I SWEAR TO GOD-" Rin yelled as his wheelchair rocketed down the steep stairs, but then he looked at Haruka, who was running beside him, and the boy was laughing and Rin couldn't say anything else, didn't resist anymore.

Haruka put on a burst of speed and ended up at the bottom before Rin's wheelchair could crash into him, successfully catching it by the wheels. That maneuver led Rin to be facing Haruka's chest, watching the quick raise and fall of it. And for some reason, his head grew lightheaded, and his stomach thumped erratically, something that he had only heard about, but never experienced himself.

Haruka took him to the ocean next, despite Rin saying that he always saw it. The waves were calm this time, no sign of the roaring typhoon that had happened years ago-the one that had wiped out all the fisherman, Makoto's friend, Rin's father, and countless other nameless ones that Haruka mourned, all the same. Rin didn't say anything as he watched the sunset, and Haruka inwardly admired the way that his hair blew in the wind, the way his eyelashes seemed to gleam in the sunlight, the way his face seemed to be so sharp and elegant in structure-wild and fey.

And somehow, his hand inched towards Rin's, and he finally grasped it, Rin looking down in surprise. Then, without a word, Rin entwined their fingers together, slotting them so that there were no gaps. And after that, the boy leaned back and closed his eyes in exhaustion or content, and they stood there for awhile, feeling the warmth of the sun on their faces, feeling the salty ocean breeze that Haruka could practically taste, and feeling whole and together.

When it was time for Rin to go back, Haruka helped him get back the hospital, wheeling him into his room again. Rin gave no sign of thankfulness, but instead wheeled his chair by the bed, and with a grunt, swung his body up, propelling it with his arms to sit on the bed, moving his bandaged manually with his own hands. And Haruka could almost cry at that so desperate, pathetic act.

He fled, running out the door and down the hallway that again seemed to mock and suffocate, walk into the elevator whose music seemed haunting once again, into the lobby where everyone seemed to be staring at him.

When he reached him, he got in the bath and took a shower, musing his hair with shampoo and conditioner. When he got out, a towel wrapped around his waist, he saw his phone beeping-but barely anyone called him, because they knew he didn't like using phones that much-stupid electronics that hated water-he flipped it open and saw a new text from

Matsuoka, Rin

"Goodnight." He had said. Haruka blinked for a moment, then smiled to himself and quickly typed out a reply, but after he sent it, he saw another text from Rin, this time saying-

"Thank you."

...yeah. Please review!

K.K