Truly Beautiful (Free! Iwatobi Swim Club fanfiction)

47- Comfort

"You didn't have to follow me, you were at school Aoi." Rei smirks a bit as he unlocks the door to the apartment that our family live in.

"No worries, I wouldn't be of help calming Rin down." I shrug.

"I'm going to study." Rei excuses himself. I nod, heading into my own room, collapsing lazily onto my bed. What am I going to do? When will Rin get over himself? I'm sick of him hating m. Can't he see that Chouko the butterfly girl died when Shizu' did? Idiot, it was bound to have been obvious.

"Idiot." I mutter.

Ding. Dong. I sit up. Who could that be.

Rei's answering the door by the time I'm in the hallway.

"Heya, Rei!" Nagisa waves. Behind him stand Haruka, emotionless as usual and Makoto, smiling politely at him. I blush as does Makoto when he spots me.

"We came here to see you!" the blonde chirps as Rei leads them to his room. I follow because knowing my twin he'll freak out when he's asked where he was and end up spewing nonsense.

"Why are all of you here?" Rei asks.

"You weren't at practise today so we came to see you." Makoto explains.

"Oh... I was..." Rei murmurs.

"Oh it looks like you're going to be just fine!" Nagisa jumps at Rei. I giggle. "Gou and Amakata-sensei were worried too. Goro-sensei was worried you weren't taking care of yourself with a tournament coming up."

"Everybody was worried about me?" Rei's eyes widen.

"Of course." Haruka says.

"It's the first time you've ever missed practise. It would be another thing if Nagisa skipped." Makoto explains.

"Hey! What's that meant to mean!" Nagisa yells.

"Sorry, okay?" Makoto laughs.

"Wow, those are impressive, are those from middle school?" Makoto asks, eyes veering to Rei's own array of trophies, scholastic as well as athletic trophies.

"Yes, but that's all in the past." Rei hangs his head.

"But now he has all of these swimming books." Nagisa exclaims.

"Yeah, you're right!" Makoto gasps. "You've read all of those books?"

"Oh, yes." Rei replies, still in awe. "I've got all of the theory down."

I snort from the doorway. "Again with your theory Rei, you are brilliant with or without it."

"You're not supposed to say that Rei-chan! You'll set yourself up to fail!" Nagisa frets.

"Why's that?" Rei muses.

"Rei." Haruka addresses. Nagisa and Rei turn to face him. "Did you really go and talk to Rin?"

Rei's eyes veer to Nagisa, who hangs his head before facing Rei. "I told them everything. Sorry Rei-chan."

A smile crosses Rei's face. "It's okay, Yes I did." Rei admits.

"Was it because I told you about our past?" Haruka asks.

"No, I had my own reasons for meeting Rin. But it's okay now; I'm done worrying about him. He's not my problem." Rei replies.

"Lucky you Rei." I smile.

"Aoi, we're not kids anymore, you don't have to worry about me and my friends being in my room. You don't have to lurk all sullenly. Come in, stupid." Rei teases. I beam, eyes starting to water with joy, damn Nito's lachrymose-ness is rubbing off on me. 

 "Okay then, the four of us are a team now Rei." Haruka smiles.

Rei gasps. "Haruka-senpai."

"Yep, and we need you to contribute to our team." Makoto grins.

"That's right!" Nagisa chimes in. "Every member is irreplaceable, Rei-chan."

"Yes!" Rei beams.

"Let's take a break then." Nagisa exclaims.

"Why did you bring melon bread as a gift?" Rei asks.

"Because the actual melons were too expensive. This is really good though." Nagisa justifies.

"Here Haru-chan, open wide." Nagisa chimes, stuffing the bread in Haruka's mouth. "See isn't it good?"

"Losing... moisture..." Haruka chokes out.

"Are you okay Haru?" Makoto asks.

"Hey Rei! Get him something to drink, quick!" Makoto commands.

"Yeah, I'll be right back." Rei sprints out.

"Haru!" I gasp.

"Haru-chan!" Nagisa shrieks.

"Haru!" Makoto shouts.

"The drink that goes best with melon bread is... barley tea!" Rei pushes up his glasses. "The Ryugazaki family has been serving melon bread with barley tea since my grandfather's time."

"REI!" I groan, sprinting to the kitchen and getting a glass of water.

"Just get him something to drink fast!" Makoto commands.

I jog back into the room, holding out the glass. "Water." Haruka chokes out.

~(^v^)~ Time Skip ~(^v^)~

"You skipped training on the last session! Ryugazaki what do you have to say for yourself!" Sei' chides.

"Gomen Sei-san. I had a reason." His eyes widen.

"Wait, what? Can you still swim tomorrow?" he gasps.

"I can." I reply.

"Then back your bags. Thank god you can swim tomorrow, I don't know what the team would do if you or Mei were unable to compete." Sei thinks aloud.

"Neither do I Sei'." I reply, returning to my dorm.

Nito', Fubuki and Mei are waiting for me.

"What did he say; Seijuro-senpai?" Nito' asks.

"I told him I had my reasons." I snort.

"Aoi-chan! That's a code! Remember! that means that he thought you were!" Mei gasps.

"Shit!" I hiss. I laugh. "I told him I no longer had a reason so it's all good." I blush.