A/N: I'm back! And I'm getting my ass kicked by college and shit! Woohoo!

Free! (c) Kyoto Animation and Koji Oji

"Rin! Haru! It's good to see you two again!" Small, stout hands press against a glass dome. The two mermen look out the glass to see the small boy with gorgeous green eyes stare back at them with the same warmth each and every time he would visit. Wordlessly, they swim towards him and wave to the boy. He enthusiastically waves back. "Guess what! At school today, we got to show the class our stories we wrote for homework." Makoto smiles as he reaches into his standard, yellow backpack to pull out a sheet of paper with foreign writing to the two mermen.

Haru and Rin exchange a sincere look as they adjust themselves to prepare for the story Makoto is ready to tell them. They can't understand his words, but the smile on his face as he tells stories of his life outside his family's aquarium always fascinates them.

Makoto fascinates them.

"I wrote about my two best friends, Haruka and Rin, my friends who are boys with girly names!" He smiles up at them as he presents the two with the sheets of paper with a poorly drawn doodle on top and scribbled writing on the bottom. As awful as it looks, Rin can't help but chuckle. He could just see all the love and effort Makoto put into those drawings. Haru just stares but his expression softens nonetheless.

As Makoto rambles about his day at school, now sitting between the railing separating him from the tank, Rin and Haruka notices how his already drooping eyes seem tired. He must have been at swim practice, Haruka concludes with a small smile to express his fondness.

"Haru." Rin utters to Haruka in their spoken language unknown to humans. "I want to hold him. He looks cold out there." He states, noticing how Makoto is only in a sweater and shorts, but he knew how cold it could get in the aquarium. He's seen people scurrying about, admiring the exhibits and exotic creatures whilst huddling into their clothes. Haruka nods and swims closer to the glass, pressing a hand against it where Makoto's was. He understood Rin's sentiment.

The two could only feel small bit of pain ache in their chest as a man that resembles Makoto carry the boy in slumber away from them.

"Eh? Rin? Is Haru taking laps again?" Makoto asks, facing Rin as the merman swam towards him. Rin nods when he deciphered Makoto's question by the movements of his lips. He became short of an expert in reading lips and interpreting what the humans say.

(In reality, he's had his eyes focused on Makoto's lips for so long and his facial expressions that he eventually picked up on it in all the years he's watched Makoto.)

"Ah, I see." He smiles that warm smile that rivals the sun and places his bag down. Makoto maneuvers his large frame around the railing and sits in his usual spot, directly in front of the glass tank. Rin scoots closer to get a better look at Makoto's face.

He spots some differences from when he was a young boy. As Makoto tells him about his day, Rin takes note of Makoto's matured face. He notices how, despite growing out of the chubby cheeks and the baby fat in his face, Makoto is still gorgeous with his forever sparkling, green eyes and gentle smile that never fails to brighten his day. He sees that underneath Makoto's high school uniform, he has defined muscles, his shoulders fitting perfectly into his shirt, outlining the contours of his upper body.

Rin concludes, that, Makoto is no longer the boy he once adored with all his heart. He was growing into a man and—

"Rin? Are you okay?" Makoto stood up when he saw that Rin had bumped his forehead against the thick glass. He tries to examine the injury from behind the glass, worrying himself silly, but he calms down when he sees that Rin doesn't even look bothered in the least bit from the minor injury.

Rin reaches up to rub at his head, but doesn't mind it at all. He's more bothered by what may have possessed him to lean so close to the glass.

Makoto exhales a breath of relief. "Geez. You and Haru worry me some times."

Rin grins and flashes a thumbs up, forgetting about his confusion and the fluttery feeling in his stomach.

Probably from too much mackerel. Stupid Haruka.

The two merman swim about leisurely one night when Makoto is asleep. They are restless, mainly Rin. Nights like these consists of slurred conversations laced with exhaustion.

"I want to hold him." Rin mumbles, laying his head on folded arms. "Why won't they let him scuba dive already dammit..." He whines. Haruka is looking at him with a passive stare and averts his gaze after a minute.

"Maybe he doesn't want to?" Haruka asked, more than answered. This frustrated Rin.

"Why the hell not! He's always visiting us after his swim lessons and I've never seen him bring anyone! Why wouldn't he want to visit us if he comes to see us through that stupid glass every day?" He fumed, bumping the glass several times with his fingers, mentally cursing the barrier.

"Probably because you're half shark. Have you seen your teeth?" Haruka asks impassively without any real malice behind his words.

"Okay, now you're being an ass." Rin swam past him, bumping shoulders, into his little bedrock to sleep on. "Good night, guppy."

"Dolphin, mind you." Haruka did the same, tucking himself in. "Night."

Luckily for Haruka, Rin was still asleep when a shadow casted over them. Haruka peeks an eye open to look up at the surface of their tank to see two human figures looming on the edge of the surface. He recognizes one of them and it shocks him awake.

Well, damn. Rin needs to make more wishes. Preferably for more mackerel.

Haruka swims closer to the surface to peek his head out to see Makoto speaking with an instructor. He couldn't understand their tongue, but he could see Makoto decked out in a wet suit with an oxygen tank strapped to his back.

The usually passive merman's eyes shone when Makoto looked down and smiled at him.

"Good morning, Haru." Makoto greeted him, crouching down to pet Haruka on the head for the first time. His hand was big and warm, very reassuring. "Guess what? I get to come down and play with you two today!" Makoto relinquishes his hand from atop Haruka's head and directs his attention back on the scuba diving instructor.

"Be sure to resurface when you see a flash of red on this watch." The man points to the watch on Makoto's wrist that regulates the amount of air Makoto will intake. "Otherwise, when you run out of oxygen in here," He pats the tank. "You will have maybe five minutes to resurface. Just be sure not to panic or else you'll exhaust yourself more quickly. I'll be on standby for the first and last ten minutes to watch over you. Ready to go?" Makoto nods and adjusts the goggles over his eyes. He looks down into the tank, motions for Haruka to give him space to jump in, and dives.

Rin opens his eyes to what may or may not be a dream.

Makoto is in front of him, smiling. Did they clean the glass again? It's so clear that those warm brown locks of hair seem so close, so real. Rin smiles drowsily, his delusions getting the best of him. He closes his eyes again.

Haruka smacks him awake.

"What the hell!" Rin all but shouts at him. He's wide awake now, and, to Haruka's left is Makoto in diving gear.

He cannot believe his eyes. In fact, Rin's instincts kick in and he lunges at Makoto with his arms outstretched.

He feels warm, muscular arms hug him back and that fluttery feeling in his chest is back full force.

He can finally hold him.