Taciturn | Haruka Nanase

4/9

- ʟᴏᴠᴇs ᴛᴏ sᴡɪᴍ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʏᴏᴜ

"I don't really want to..."

"Why not?"

Haru turned to you quickly, almost panicked when you denied his offer to swim on the rooftop. Your eyes found his and you merely smiled crookedly to ease him after being softly rejected, "I mean, I'm not really feelin' it today, maybe next week I will."

He was almost appalled, "I don't understand... You don't want to swim?"

He spoke to himself in despair, all the while revealing more of his toned body when he had been taking off his school uniform at the edge of the pool. The sun was shining on the water, the light rippled through the surface and you admired the sight as well, next to Makoto, Rei and Gou, "Oh come on, Haru, you can swim with Rei and Makoto today."

He huffed to himself and dove in without another word.

The water splashed towards you, only just missing when you backed away to see the others all watching Haru's freestyle, he was fast and smooth in the water, you couldn't help smiling when watching the way he naturally flowed through the water like it was his natural habitat - it probably way, really.

"I'm sure he's fine - I bet he just loves swimming with you, [Name]-chan."

"I know.. he always asks me to go in the bathtub with him at his house." You looked at Gou as she smiled reassuringly, "This is all.. normal, then?" Rei asked from beside Makoto, he wasn't in his bathing suit yet as he had chose to wait for Nagisa to arrive from cleaning duties and the tallest brunette answered with a fond smile, "yeah, this is routine, basically."

Makoto gave you a knowing look, just as Haru was about to touch the side of the pool closest to you, the point where he'd jumped from only minutes ago.

You crouched down, staring at the way he kicked his legs to his finger tips when they made contact with the water, slicing through like an invitation had been given and Haru had no qualms about anything else when he felt the stress of any and everything melt away.

He emerged, breathing deeply and he shook his head to rid the water from his face as he opened his eyes, finding yours while his chest rose and sunk, you smiled and he suddenly didn't seem so upset or even annoyed,

"Is the water nice?"

"Yes." It was an obvious answer, a silly question from you,

"Is the water wet?"

He looked away from Nagisa who had arrived to immediately strip before Rei and then to you after Makoto had also began stretching his upper body, "What? Obviously."

He answered as if there was something wrong with you, his eyes on you with a raised brow and you smiling, biting your lips when you replied quietly, "Actually, it's not."

He stayed silent, waiting for you to say that you were joking or something like that, he was confused and opt to stay quiet,

"The water's not wet silly, you are though."

He moved closer to the edge to lift himself, twisting his body as he sat on the pool edge while you remained by his side. He moved his legs nonchalantly in the water while he decided to question your topic of conversation, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, to say something is wet is to say that it was dry before, because, you know.. the action of becoming wet means that something wasn't wet beforehand." He looked away thoughtfully before breathing out harshly, "Is this why you don't want to swim with me?"

"Wha-?" You paused, "No, no, I swear I do but I'm on my period. I'm sorry, I know how much you love swimming with me." He found himself nodding a little, you couldn't help smiling and then he spoke, "Right..." He probably felt a bit awkward, "So... I'm wet, but.. the water isn't?"

"Yeah!"

He grabbed your hand with his wet one, "It hurts, right?"

It took you a second to realise he was talking about your current lady situation and he began rubbing his thumb over you hand when you nodded, "Well, at the moment it's alright." He gave a thoughtful nod and moved his lips again, his calming voice speaking something you didn't really expect, "tell me more about the water thing, then."

You felt the corner of your lips tilting up, "is it because it's about water or-"

"yes... and because I like listening to you."

"Well if you insist~ it's a bit like fire right, like it burns but the fire itself isn't burned, right?"

He continued listening as he slowly dried and took some time from the beloved water to keep you company because why would he enjoy the second best thing in his life when the best thing in his life couldn't.