Clouded Distance | Free! Fan Fiction

12. Strange Behaviour

Clouded Distance

Chapter Twelve

Strange Behaviour

Hana's tongue touched the corner of her lip as she bent over the desk, scribbling furiously on the page, filling the one empty white space with words.

She was almost done with her final copy. If she could finish it today, then she'd be able to hand it to Hikaru tomorrow, three days before her deadline. Once she did that, it would be a large weight off her shoulders, and she could start devoting more time to the swim club. Not to mention she'd also have more time to do homework. Hikaru would definitely understand if she only turned up to a few odd meetings from then on - he'd always had her best interests at heart, anyway.

Almost done. This is probably the last page. Visualising the entire ending in her head, Hana smiled and selected a new blank place to write on, and hastily began scribbling. She didn't even notice those annoying ink smudges caused by her left hand.

Just as she was nearing the end, her hand aching from the time she had spent writing, her phone went off. Hana leapt out of her seat, heart hammering against her chest. "Gosh," she gasped, clutching her chest. She had been so used to the silence of her room that the sudden, excepted noise had frightened her beyond measure.

Her heart still racing, Hana pushed her chair back and hurried to her bed, where her phone lay resting. Quickly, she accepted the call before the final ring sounded and pressed it to her ear. "Yes?"

"Hana, we need you!" Gou exclaimed, in a way of greeting. Hana brought the phone a little away from her ear due to the volume of her friend's voice.

"What is it?" She frowned.

"We think Rei-kun is lovesick!"

She blinked. What? Where did that come from?

Hana's brows furrowed in confusion. "Explain."

"You know how Rei-kun's been acting weird, right?"

Well, yes. He's been quiet a practices, and he's always leaving mysteriously at the end. He never gives us an explanation either, other than that he has to run an errand, or something similar. "Yeah..."

"Well, I saw him on Sunday, and he was shopping for ingredients to make cakes, and after taking a few other things into consideration, we've come to the conclusion that he's lovesick!" Gou said.

Okay... I understand. But why did you have to phone me to tell me this? Sure, I'm worried about Rei... "So... what does this have to do with me?"

"What does this have to do with you?" Gou sounded incredulous. "You're in a relationship with Haruka-senpai! You know the most about love out of all of us!"

A few things clicked in Hana's mind just then. "You want me to talk to Rei about love?"

"Yes! Could you please, Hana? I mean, Haruka-senpai isn't exactly the right person for this sort of thing, but you...""

Hana chuckled. "Hey, don't worry. I'll be there in a second."

Her story was almost finished, anyway - she'd probably finish that last half page in under ten minutes, and then it only required her going through it with a fine-tooth comb, picking out any small grammar or spelling mistakes. This was her final copy: she didn't think she had to change anything.

Besides, if her friends needed help, she was all too willing to provide it. And if Rei was suffering, like Gou said, then she was all too happy to help him out.