Anime Oneshots

Swimming Lessons (Haru x Reader)

Summer has officially arrived. A perfect day to jump into the pool and swim around all afternoon. Funny thing is, that's what Haru and I are doing. It's his birthday today, so I asked him if he wanted to do something. He only replied, "Water." So we put on our bathing suits and made our way to the Iwatobi high pool. For the first five minutes, we simply swam around. But after that, I wanted to learn more ways of swimming.

"Haru, can you teach me how to swim?" I asked.

"Just be one with the water," Haru replied.

"No, no. I mean like backstroke, and breastroke, and butterfly." Haru sighed and nodded his head yes.

"You should really ask Makoto and the others to teach you though," Haru said as he swam towards me.

"Yeah, but, I'm closer to you than anyone else on the swim team," I giggled.

"First, I'll teach you backstroke." Haru placed one hand on my back, the other scooping me off my feet, causing me to yelp. "It's okay. I've got you." I stared into his eyes, which looked like pools of water. "Try to float on your back, and move your arms and legs like propellers." I began to move my arms and legs reluctantly, while Haru still had his hands in the same spots.

"I think I'm getting it now!" I exclaimed.

"Okay, I'm gonna let you go now." At the sound of that, my confidence dissolved, but my body kept moving even after Haru let go of me. For the first few seconds, I was sinking, but after that, I gained my confidence back.

"Watch your form. Straight legs, flat back…" I kept muttering to myself. "Hm, I wonder why I haven't hit a-" Just as I was saying that, I swam right into concrete. "Well, I found the wall," I croaked.

"Are you okay?" Haru swam towards me.

"You're actually concern for me? Now that's a first," I laughed jokingly. Haru's face still showed worry. "I'm fine, really."

After that, we moved on and began doing butterfly. It was much more difficult than backstroke, but I can see why Rei calls it beautiful. Once I felt like I knew half of what I was doing, we moved on to breaststroke. I thought that it was similar to butterfly because they looked alike, but I was way wrong. The sun began to set as I became better at swimming.

"Haru, I wanna race you." I looked him straight in the eye with determination. He nodded, and we both swam to the diving boards. "We'll race freestyle."

"Are you sure?" Haru asked.

"Don't hold back. You can count us down." I got into my diving position.

"Okay, then. Ready…set…" I got into position, anticipating the takeoff. "Go!" We both dove into the water, but Haru was just a centimeter ahead of me. At the turn, I sped up and Haru and I were neck and neck. With all of my strength, I pushed through as the wall became closer and closer. As soon as I touched the wall, I nearly jumped out of the water. Haru turned to look at me, his face covered with either water or sweat (or maybe both). "You…won," he panted.

"You're just saying that to make me feel better," I chuckled.

"I'm being serious, you beat me." It took a few seconds, but I began to smile and giggle like crazy.

"I actually beat you! I thought it was impossible, but I did it!" I turned to face Haru, who was actually smiling for once. "Look at that, you can smile." I was caught in a laughing fit. "So, do I get a prize?" Haru swam closer to me, our lips centimeters away. I started to blush as Haruka Nanase, the boy who I thought loved water more than anything, pulled me in for a kiss. Haru and I are friends, that part is true, but the fact that he's has feelings for me is unheard of! The swimmer that officially captured my heart slowly pulled away from me, leaving me to process what just happened.

"I, uh…I love you more than water," Haru mumbled. Realizing what he just said, I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head against his chest.

"I love you too." Haru wrapped his arms around me, and we began to drift in the water.

"OOOOOHHHHHHHH, GET 'EM, HARU!" The bushes exclaimed.

"Nagisa, you just blew our cover!" The bushes spoke again.

"You guys, they can see us." Makoto, Nagisa, and Rei popped out of the bushes.

"We were going to surprise you, but someone gave away our hiding spot." Rei gave Nagisa an annoyed look.

"We didn't want you celebrating your birthday alone, so we brought you this." Makoto walked over to one of the tables and brought back a giant cake.

"Happy birthday, Haru!" We all exclaimed at the same time. Rei brought plates and silverware for the cake. Nagisa brought a lighter for the candles (should anyone trust Nagisa with that?). After the candles were lit, we sang Happy Birthday.

"What did you wish for, Haru?" I asked. Haru leaned close to my ear.

"For us to swim freely together," he whispered in my ear. I blushed a bright shade of red as Haru secretly held my hand. I really just wanted to spend the day celebrating Haru's birthday, but to find out that the birthday boy has feelings for me made this day one of the best days of the eternal summer.

Author's note: Happy Birthday, Dolphin Boy!!! I'm currently on my way to New York for vacation, so I won't really be able to upload much (not that I do anyways). One year ago today (6/30/17), I finished Free Eternal Summer. I never expected that I would love this anime as much as I do now. I cried so much during the last episodes and I didn't want it to end. Welp, see you in the next chapter! (｀・ω・´)