Free!Dom (Free! Fanfic/ONC Entry)

Chipped Normality

After a few days, the nail polish Haruna put onto his nails began to chip. Haru sat at the kitchen table at the apartment belonging to their parents. He held up his hand and examined the chipping of the nails while rays of sun appeared between the fingers. Looking at the colors on his nail reminded him Haruna was, in fact, safe, yet kept his mind occupied despite the disruption to his routine of normally going to school and swimming.

The sound of the shower turning off drew his attention to the bathroom. Haruna stepped out with a towel wrapped around her body before heading to her room to change. Haru let his chin rest against the top of the chair he sat backward in while his mind wandered to the idea things would be much simpler if Haruna simply wore a swimsuit like he constantly did. Things were much simpler that way.

He didn't look up even when the door to Haruna's bedroom opened. "Hey. Haru. Care to go and take a walk with me?"

Haru stood up and looked at his sister. She wore sunglasses and a hat for some reason Haru didn't understand. He watched her hand reach out but saw how her fingers wiggled as if inviting him to take her hand. "Please. It makes me feel safe."

"Hair?" Haru's eyes darted up to her head.

Haruna's mouth formed a circle. "Oh. Well, I would love for you to do my hair, but I can't risk anyone recognizing me?"

"Kidnappers?"

"We'll go with that." Haru reached out again and he took her hand. She walked with him down the hall to the elevator. "It's been a while since we've been able to hang out together."

"Yes."

"So, anything interesting going on."

"Swimming."

"Oh, I know. You love swimming."

"No. Swim club." Haru didn't receive a response right away and looked over at his sister who was puzzling over what he said."

"So you joined the swim club at your school?"

"Yes."

"I thought you gave up..." The elevator stopped and Haruna didn't finish what she wanted to say. She instead walked forward, and they started going wherever she wanted. When they released her from the hospital she said something about being allowed some time off, but wanting to spend this time with Haru. Haru saw the fountain in front of the apartment complex. His free hand started reaching up for his shirt so he could strip down to his swimsuit and take a dive into the cold water. "Uh-uh. That's not a place for swimming."

"Oh."

"You really joined the swim club."

Haru looked up at the sky and watched the clouds as they continued watching. "Yes."

"I see. I thought you'd given up competitive swimming. You know, because you upset your friend." Haru let out a grunt. "I guess I'll need to ask Makoto for details then?" Haru didn't answer and Haruna let out a sigh. "Anything else exciting happen since we last talked?"

"Bimbo teacher."

"Okay. I don't want to know about your bimbo teacher. That's just weird."

Haru glanced down and looked his sister in the eye. "Why?"

Haruna let out a sigh. "Maybe if I were a guy it wouldn't be weird hearing about my brother's fascination with an older woman."

Haru's eyes blinked in confusion. "Fascination?"

"As in you like her?"

"Not really." Haru's eyes caught sight of a dolphin plushie in a store window and he tugged his sister over while he proceeded in staring at it.

"Then why call her a bimbo?"

"She's weird."

Haruna laughed. "Haru, I'm not sure you're one to talk."

"Maybe." Haru's face got closer to the window so he could see the dolphin stuffed animal better. The stuffed animal looked super soft, but the dolphin had a mottling of purple and blue on it's cloth surface. The two black eyes twinkled slightly almost as if the dolphin were asking him to hug the creature.

"Haru. If I buy you that dolphin plushie, could you promise me something?"

"Yes."

"Could you promise me you won't take it into the tub with you?" Haruna's comment made Haru look at her wondering why she said something like that. The fact she wore glasses and a hat hiding her face seemed weird. A sigh escaped her mouth. "If you take it into the tub with you, it will ruin it. It's not a bath toy. More of a bedtime toy."

"Oh. Okay. No soggy dolphin." Haruna tugged him into the store and he found himself looking around at all the bright colors. She picked up the dolphin, but without him saying anything picked out a few water toys which caught his attention. Haruna let go of his hand so she could carry everything over to the front register so she could purchase the items.

The male cashier looked up at her but pointed their finger at her. "Wait. Are you the pop idol Haru-chan?" Haruna ignored the man while he scanned the items in. Haru on the other hand turned and looked at the other brightly colored items. "They say on the news that you faked your own kidnapping."

A deep sigh from Haruna as she paid for the items made Haru look u. She held the bag of items out so Haru could take the bag from her before proceeding to latch onto his free hand. Another sigh escaped from her mouth as they headed out into the sunshine. Haru held up his bag of goodies. "Thank you."

"You're welcome Haru." She took a deep breath. "Anything else happened? Other than the swim club and that you have a teacher you think is weird of course."

"Rin's sister."

"What?"

"Rin's sister."

"Rin's sister as in that 'Rin has a sister' person?"

"Rin's sister." Haru corrected her, but his eye narrowed in irritation yet kept holding her hand. "What do you mean by 'Rin has a sister person'?"

"It means you must really like her."

"I don't follow."

"You really don't remember my visit after you met her? You wouldn't stop telling me, 'Rin has a sister'. That was all you said Haru-chan." A laugh escaped Haruna's mouth. "You who normally talk about water, swimming, mackerel, and dolphins would only talk about Rin having a sister, but you never went into detail."

"I still don't follow."

"You're so adorable, Haru-chan!" Haruna let out a laugh before leaning over to kiss him on the cheek. It was then the sound of a camera flash went off and Haru found himself panicking. Haruna didn't seem pleased with whoever was taking pictures of them either and at first berated the person, but her attention soon returned to getting Haru back to the apartment so he could calm down. In the back of his mind, he filed away the fact another person was asking Haruna if she faked her own kidnapping as this didn't make sense to him.

"Hey Haru, I've been thinking."

Haru's head darted up. "Yes."

"I'm thinking I want to return to Iwatobi with you. Is that alright?"

Haru's eyes widened in excitement without thinking about why Haruna asked the question she did. "Yes. I'd like that."