you're the reason [haruka nanase]

《1》want to know you

▬▬▬▬▬▬ Haruka Nanase, a competitive swimmer at Hidaka University had just finished his last practice of the day and was making his way out of the indoor pool. As soon as he opened the door to the outside, the cool and misty air had enveloped him in a hug. It was a beautiful night, the distant stars stood out against the midnight blue sky, and the full moon illuminated the night. Shaking him out of his thoughts after he stopped to bask in the beauty of the night, a car had stopped in front of where he stood and Haru immediately recognized the person inside it as his friend, Makoto. Makoto and Haruka had made plans to meet up with their mutual friend, Ikuya Kirishima.

Haru climbed into the car and greeted his charismatic best friend.

"How was practice, Haru?" Makoto asked as he prepared to begin driving to go pick Ikuya up from the pool at Shimogami University as Haru buckled up.

"Same as usual, I guess." Haru shrugged, not having anything important to note. Makoto nodded, his eyes on the road. A comfortable silence took over the car, one that anyone friends with Haru often got used to.

"It's a beautiful night." Makoto observed.

"Yeah," Haru agreed, the teeniest of smiles tugging at the outer corner of his lips.

After a reasonably short ride to Ikuya's university, the two boys came to notice Ikuya was not outside of the pool building as they thought he would be.

"Hmmm," Makoto frowned.

"Ikuya's never late." Haru observed, looking out of the window.

"I wonder what's taking him long. He said he'd be done by 6:30." Makoto recalled, gesturing to the clock that told the boys that the time was now 6:50.

"And here I thought that we were late." Makoto chuckled to himself.

"I'll go in and look for him." Haru decided, unbuckling his seat belt and opening the door.

"Are you sure?" Makoto questioned him, raising a brow.

"It'll be fine. He's not in practice, just extra training. I won't be interrupting." Haru said before taking off. In reality, Haru just always looked for an excuse to be near water.

The raven haired male found himself to the pool and scanned the room to find his friend. There was only one person swimming, and Haruka could tell from just one glance that it was not Ikuya.

It was a girl, swimming almost as relaxed as he had seen anyone swim. Haru found himself standing there, admiring her technique. Despite the slow pacing of her swimming, she had a rhythm that complimented the water entirely. She glided through the water with swimming so strong you could tell she had a clear sense of who she was, but she had a certain openness to her. He could tell her mind was no where but the pool she was in right now.

To some people, it would be impossible to tell all of this just from how someone swam. Not for Haru, though. Someone who spent so much time in water has a sense for people who also spend a lot of time in the water.

Stopping at the wall, the girl tugged off of her caps and goggles. Haru snapped out of his thoughts, not wanting to be caught staring. She hauled herself out of the pool and her gaze drifted to meet Haruka's.

Taking in the girl's features, Haru was wordless. Attractiveness was usually not the first thing he took in about a person, but this girl possessed a lot of it. She stood for a second, shooting him a small smile.

"Hi," she greeted the unfamiliar boy.

"Hi." Haru simply said back, inwardly kicking himself over the head for not being more open. He was just so caught off guard by a girl who was almost as beautiful as her magnificent technique.

"You're Nanase-san, right?" She questioned him, wringing out her hair of the water in it.

"Um.. yeah.." Haru mumbled, eyes widened. This girl, the girl he was so memorized over for a multitude of reasons, knew his name?!

"Sorry," she apologized, letting out a light laugh. "I'm a friend of Ikuya's. I've seen you in pictures. Don't tell him that I said this, but he talks about you a lot." She explained.

Haru gave her a genuine smile. "That's okay," he reassured her. The two locked eyes for a few seconds, Haru's heart was beating so hard that he was beginning to think something was wrong with him.

Just as Haru was finally gaining the courage to ask for the girl's name, Ikuya emerged from the distant locker room, changed and ready.

"Hey, Haru. Sorry I took so long. I accidentally dropped my phone in the pool.. I was standing under the dryer trying to get the water out." Ikuya admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

"That's okay. We were a bit late ourselves." Haru said. Ikuya noticed his other friend still standing by the pool deck.

"Bye, (Y/N). You have a way to get home?" Ikuya asked the girl who had just gotten out of the water..

'(Y/N). So that's her name?' Haru thought to himself.

"Yes, don't worry about me, Kiro is coming to pick me up." The girl that Haru would come to know as (Y/N) answered her teal-haired friend.

"Alright. Catch you tomorrow." Ikuya said, waving to her.

"Bye, Ikuya. Nanase-san." She said, saying Haru's name softly, not wanting to be overbearing.

As Ikuya and Haruka walked back to the car, Haru could only think about one thing. Who exactly was this girl, and how did Ikuya know her?

'I guess.. all I know is that I want to know you.'