Rin Matsuoka
I sit on the side of my bed and stare at Haru's mattress. It's... empty.
I have no idea where Haru is. His wheelchair is gone, so he could be anywhere. I look around the room/ He's probably still in the building because his suitcase is still in my room.
"Sousuke?" I ask, and I hear a sleepy grunt not long after. "Do you know where Haru is?"
"What?" He sounds like he's still half asleep.
"Haru's not here." I'm starting to get worried, knowing Haru he's probably doing something not so smart.
"He's probably just..." Sousuke pauses. "Wait, I think I heard some noise somewhere around midnight."
That could be Haru, but it could also be literally anything else. This school is so big, I don't know where I would look first. Haru could be anywhere.
I get dragged away from my thoughts when Momo and Ai run into my room. "Haru's in the swimming pool!" Ai yells, he sounds nervous.
Shit.
We all know Haru can't swim. Haru himself knows it too; why would he do this?
My imagination is going wild, I see Haru laying on the bottom of the swimming pool. No one would know how long he's in there. He could be dead.
I swallow away the lump in my throat and ask, "I-Is he okay?"
Ai glances away and shrugs. "He's alive... and asleep."
"We don't know what to do with him," Momo adds.
I let out a relieved sigh and get up. It's nice to hear that he's okay, that he didn't drown.
I follow Ai and Momo to the swimming pool, where Haru's laying on the floor. He's soaked. Most of his body is laying on the tiles, one of his legs is still dangling off the edge and hanging in the water. His wheelchair is laying on the ground a little further.
Haru's clearly sleeping, he must've exhausted himself. I don't even get why he tried to swim in the first place, while he knew he can't.
I crouch down next to him and carefully shake him awake. He grunts and turns his head to me.
His lips are purple and the pink of his cheeks is the only part of him that isn't pale.
"Good morning." His voice sounds hoarse, I think he might've been really cold all night.
"What were you thinking Haru?" I ask, while I hand him a towel. "You could've drowned, you know that?"
Haru shrugs. "I won't learn to swim without trying."
That just sounds stupid! He's so foolish!
I shake my head. "That's not how it works, Haru."
He glances away and I think he might've found that out himself.
"You must be cold," I chance the subject to something else. "Let's get you in your wheelchair and get you some dry clothes, okay?"
Haru nods.
There's a sad look on his face. He doesn't look at me for the rest of the day, not even when I help him getting in his wheelchair. He seems ashamed.
When I see him sitting in the corner of the room, staring at us while we're doing swim practice after school. I just know he still has a long way to go... and he knows it, too.
END OF PART 1
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FanfictionSwimming with his friends... that's something Haruka cares about a lot. But will he ever be able to do what he loves when he suddenly ends up in the hospital after getting hit by a car? And will he and his friends be able to deal with this?
