Free! Stories (One-shot FF)

Sunshine on a Gloomy Day (NatsuyaxReader)

A/N: Look at this cutie! He's like a little puppy. And apparently he has the tastebuds of a 12 year old, and he can't handle spicy foods. (I found this out from a link in references on his character page on the Free! Wikia.)

I hope I do his personality justice. This idea came to me after watching High Speed! for the first time. I was going to wait until I had written at least the marriage proposal chapters for the others, but instead of going to bed, I had written this up within like an hour several days ago. And I'm excited to post it. It's a little shorter than a lot of the others, but I feel good about the content.

So without further ado, here is the debut of Natsuya Kirishima! I hope you all like it!
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It was a particularly cloudy day, and just about everyone was feeling the way the sky looked. Even the usually smiling swim club captain was feeling gray. He had his head laying on his desk. His arms formed a protective barrier from the world around him.

This is how the swim club's manager, Nao, found his friend. He knew exactly what was on Natsuya's mind, and he knew just who could bring the brunette out of his wallowing. The gray-haired boy turned and headed back to the school's pool.

There he found just the person he was looking for. A (short/tall) girl with (short/medium/long) length (color) hair.
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You've known Nao and Natsuya for about a year now. Ever since you joined the swim club after transferring there for your second year of middle school. You had become fast friends with the now captain and manager of the club.

You were currently keeping an eye on the rest of the swim team members, old and new, while Nao went to see where Natsuya was. It wasn't long before you heard a familiar voice call out to you.

"(F/n)..."

You turned toward the voice to find the club manager behind you. "Ah, Nao. Did you find Natsuya?"

"Yeah. He's in the classroom moping it seems. I think you should go talk to him."

"Me?" You raised an eyebrow and continued. "Are you sure? You're his best friend, so wouldn't it be better if you talked to him? I'm sure you know what's on his mind better than I would." You felt close to Natsuya, but not like Nao was, so him having you go talk to the sulking club captain came as a surprise.

Nao shook his head. "Not at all." His smile gave off the impression that he knew something you didn't. It wasn't a condescending smile though.

"Alright." You we're still skeptical you'd have any effect on Natsuya's mood. But you went to the classroom anyway.

When you got to there, you found him the same way Nao did. His head was on his desk and was facing away from the door.

"Hey Captain," you said upon entering the classroom. "It's not good for club morale when the captain is absent," you added as you went in and half sat on the desk across from him. You had one foot still on the floor, while the heel of your other rested on the chair, and your hands a little bit behind you on the desk for balance.

Natsuya turned to face you, but still kept his head on the desk. "Oh, it's you (F/n)." He sounded almost as depressed as he looked.

"I've been tasked with lifting your spirits. So what's on your mind?"

"The new members," came his vague reply.

"The new members? Or more specifically your brother?" You knew you had hit the mark when Natsuya turned his head away, back to its previous position.

"Look, I know you're worried about him, but you won't know what's going on if you don't talk to him."

"I know that," Natsuya retorted rather weakly. "It's better if I keep my distance though."

"Better for him or you?" You needn't hear an answer from him seeing as you already knew. And he didn't give you one.

So the air didn't become awkward, Natsuya changed the topic a little. "So what do you think of the first years?" he asked.

"They're very cute."

"That's not what I mean." You could practically hear him roll his eyes. It seems his mood had lightened a little. "What do you think of their swimming?"

You giggled to yourself over his reaction to your previous statement. "Well...Nao would know better than me, but I've noticed lately their individual times have been slacking along with their relay exchanges. It seems to me like they all have their own problems they're dealing with. I know for a fact that Asahi is concerned about not being able to swim free anymore. As for the other three, I can only guess."

You paused for a little while to let what you just said sink into Natsuya's ears. As an outsider basically looking in, seeing as how you're not as involved with the new comers as Nao, your observations were spot on.

"But with Nao instructing them, I'm sure everything will turn out fine in the end."

"You think so?" Natsuya turned his head to face you again, only for his amber-colored eyes to widen and a blush to dust his cheeks at how close your face was to his.

You had knelt down and folded your arms on what space was left on the edge of his desk. Your chin resting on your arms as you smiled at him.

A few more centimeters closer and he'd be able to kiss you. Natsuya turned his head away again at his thought, and to hide the deeper reddening of his cheeks.

Your face being so close had thrown him for a loop. He also thought your (color) eyes were very beautiful up close. He certainly didn't want you to see his reaction for it would give away his feelings. Natsuya wasn't quite ready yet to confess them out loud.

He had formed a crush on you not long after you'd befriended him and Nao. He admired your dedication to swimming, your warm personality, and ability to make anyone around you feel happier. That crush had turned into full on like as more than a friend the more he got to know you.

It was silent between the two of you a moment. Then you stood up from kneeling and asked, "So should we head back to the pool?"

The moment of silence was just long enough for the brunette to calm his flaming cheeks. He got up from his desk and turned to face you. He nodded his head in acknowledgement.

The two of you headed for the classroom door. Before either of you exited the room, Natsuya said, "(F/n)..."

You stopped when he did and hummed a, "Hm?"

"Thank you."

His sincere smile and gratitude made your cheeks flush. You gave him a closed-eyes smile as a reply. It seemed Nao knew what he was doing sending you to cheer up the boy beside you.
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A/N: Leave a comment or vote if you liked it please. Feedback is welcome!

I am planning on adding a time-skip continuation chapter to coincide with Dive to the Future. Quite possibly another one-shot with Natsuya confessing his feelings. And I have ideas for one-shots featuring his little brother Ikuya.

But my next priority is the proposals. I have ideas for most of the boys. It'll just be adding content to flesh out the body of each one-shot.

See you next one-shot time.