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Relay?

"We have a problem."

Gou came walking in. You had just finished your thousand meter swim ritual and were now stretching out some of your muscles. Rei and Haru were still in the pool.

You looked up at the manager. "What is it?"

Makoto and Nagisa came up, also curious.

Gou pointed at the piece of paper in her hands. "We have to fill in who participates in the relay. But we have two freestyle swimmers."

The four of you took a glance at Haru, who seemed to be in his own little world, as usual. You scratched your head, feeling a little guilty knowing the team was going to have to choose between the two of you.

Nagisa shrugged. "Why don't we just pick the fastest?"

Gou answered like you were invincible. "They haven't really had a race together, and they keep beating each other's time, so we don't really know who is the fastest."

Yeah, you and Haru never had a race. Neither one of you ever even brought up the idea. Which was weird considering you two were the fastest on the team.

You coughed softly, getting the other's attention. "Shouldn't we discuss this with Haru?"

They blinked a couple times before Makoto nodded and walked to the lane Haru was swimming in. Haru, who just finished, grabbed his hand and walked up to the rest of you.

Nagisa got straight to the point. "Who's gonna swim in the relay?"

Haru shrugged. "I don't care."

You rolled your eyes, knowing very well he did care. "Riiight. Well, I guess we can just have a race and see who is the fastest.." You suggested.

It fell silent again. Haru broke the silence with his monotone voice. "The day before the relay we're both in the 100-meter freestyle. Whoever wins then, swims in the relay."

You blinked and looked at him, but his face gave absolutely no emotion away. Nagisa piped up: "So we'll finally see the long-awaited race between you two?!"

You shrugged and looked away from Haru. "Sounds fine to me."

The others discussed how awesome it was gonna be, but you weren't listening. Determination filled your mind. You were not planning to lose this race.

***

The locker room was too silent. The only noises were the shuffles from changing clothes. Haru and you did not share a word, a glance or even a breath towards each other.

The 100-meter freestyle was the second race on the schedule. Nagisa had already been in the 200-meter breaststroke and sadly got second. Yet, of course, he was still warmly applauded. But you knew everyone had been waiting for this race. You felt pumped, you had been waiting for a long time to race Haru and now it was finally time.

The sharp sound of Haru shutting his locker wakened you from your thoughts. You looked sideways. Haru was looking strictly at his locker, not giving away any sort of emotion.

You couldn't help but feel a small pool of uneasiness in your stomach.

"Haru?"

He didn't respond, but you knew he could hear you.

"If you want to swim in the relay, you can just ask."

Still nothing. You smiled sheepishly, mainly to yourself. You averted your eyes back to the locker. "Either way. I'm still going to kick your ass."

You slammed your locker harder then Haru. The cloink it gave could probably be heard from outside the locker room. You put your goggles around your neck and walked past the still soundless raven-haired boy.