Concrete Walls [Makoharu] -DISCONTINUED

the beginning of the end

Who knew something so deadly— something so dangerous, could happen in the blink of an eye? Swimming seemed so easy once you grabbed the concept. All you had to do was go with the flow; let the water do the carrying. So why? Why Makoto of all people?

;;

Makoto was, to put it simply, a family's dream child. He's the kind of guy a daughter would want to bring home to show off to her parents. And hell, many girls have already attempted to be in that position; even some men too.

He took care of everyone, put others lives ahead of his own. Wherever he went, he glowed brighter than the sun and caught the attention of everyone around him. 'He's an angel sent from the heavens' I overheard one of my elder neighbors comment while I was out playing with the cats. I think you can see where I'm getting at now; that Makoto has a radiance to him that will never dull. I think it'll always stick with him.

Oh, I almost forgot. I'm Haruka Nanase, though I prefer Haru as to not be mistaken as a girl. Makoto's my best friend and I'm pretty guilty of being one of those people who gets constant attention from him even when I don't ask for it. He's been with me ever since he was born, and we've never fought or been angry with each other so it's been smooth sailing right into high school.

Speaking of high school, Makoto and I go to the same one; Iwatobi high. We decided to create a swim team (since swimming was a big part of both of our lives) alongside our friend Nagisa. We were later joined by track team's, Rei Ryugazaki, and hence forth became Iwatobi's relay swim team. We wouldn't be 'just a swim team' for long though, because everyones planning on taking on the prefecturals and regionals head on. Though I don't really care about times in the water, its fun to see everyone happy after we win a race.

As a swim team, it's important that we have good balance, timing, and rhythm because they all play in shortening the amount of time it takes to finish the race. You have to begin at the right time, because a late start could ruin the entire lineup. You have to pace yourself, or else the loss of energy will be fatal in the last leg of the race. And lastly, you need synergy, to trust your teammates and cheer them on, so that they have the motivation to finish and do their best in the pool.

As you can imagine, as team captain, Makoto excels in all of those aspects. He always has, like I said, it's just the kind of person he is.

I miss it.

And it's all my fault that it's gone.

;;

I knew something had been up with Makoto's swimming lately in practices; the way his hands sliced through the water was almost painful to watch. He was forcing himself, it seemed, or maybe his mind was elsewhere. A distraction. Something was distracting him. And being distracted while swimming the backstroke was more dangerous than anything else I know.

It all happened so.. quickly.

It came as a shock to me at first when it happened. Everything around me suddenly didn't exist as my attention was focused solely on Makoto's body being pulled out of the pool. I couldn't hear anything except for an irritating ringing; and my hands and legs wouldn't move at all. It was like my body had completely shut down and I suddenly couldn't breathe. All I could do was shake in my place.

It wasn't until a crimson red liquid ran down the side of Makoto's head that my body acted on impulse and began to run towards him.

Makoto had hit his head against the pool wall.