iSWIMfortheTEAM ✰⁎* weSWIMTOGETHER

“NAGISA! Oh my gosh!! You’ve got to try these!”

She hadn’t even spoken to him that long ago, but discovering the majesty of the canapes she’d had to rush back almost immediately. With what was essentially two plates full

“Small food! It’s so cute! And- Aahh, it’s amazing!”

After savouring the heavenly morsels for a moment longer, a slightly sly grin crossed her face.

Nagisa’s eyes grew wide as he watched Nami approach him, his arms waving in the air as if she didn’t already see him as he beckoned the tasty treats closer. It only took him a second to start grabbing from the plate to stuff some of it into his mouth.

“Not that many! But I’ve been checking out the snack tables...”

They were his favourite part of these balls that the city’s citizens threw. Sometimes he wondered if the delicious spreads were enough to almost say that sometimes, living in Hive City was worth it.

“I didn’t forget! I… I just couldn’t buy anything with all this mess… so I asked Hozuki-san and he helped me to make some chocolates… I hope it’s acceptable! T-thanks for everything!” Blushing a bit, he offered a carefully tied small bag to Nagisa, filled with penguin-shaped small chocolates.

Nagisa laughed and wrapped his arms around Nitori in returns, giving the other boy a big squeeze.

“Big presents and stuff like that don’t matter! I’m happy you’re here with me, Ai-chan, that’s the best thing!”

His eyes trailed to the small, adorable chocolates.

“Buuuut, I really love these! Ehe, thank you! I wanna try one right now!”

The city was still burning and engulfed in pure chaos, but what else was new. After some time isn’t unusual to become desensitized no matter how bad the situation looks, and truth to be told, Hozuki always have been very good at that. Even if he had his own share of worries and stress too and the last few days - weeks - weren’t easy at all, his spirit wouldn’t bend so easily.

Honestly though, much of that was possible because there was light in his life, enough light and warmth to shine over the heavy dark clouds. Countless nights passing by and the most dire situations falling over only made such light look brighter and more precious, unique to his eyes, just like the urge to protect it by all means grew day by day. Even after so long, part of him was still amazed by the healing power of that single soul, in essence the same as any other of his kin, but at same time special as a rare individual among, to be fair, any known species. Bad traits were never an exclusivity of human race.

So, nothing more natural than celebrate the day when such special spirit was born again in the harsh living world, bringing something inherently good with him. Good enough to make a demon wake up before dawn (after barely get some sleep at all, given the circumstances) totally fueled for some hours of work in the kitchen. They couldn’t lure Nagisa out of home for now, so any surprise would need to be done as early as possible. Hopefully let him sleep in a bit more would help with that, since work was shut down for the time being.

“A breakfast like this… well, just once in the year, won’t hurt.” He mused to himself, giving one last look to the three pizzas carefully placed on the table, one strawberry-flavoured. In one of the chairs, a package wrapped in pretty pink with a large yellow ribbon. “Specially when the world is ending out there.”

Of course, there was a normal breakfast to the other residents if they didn’t want to take part in the unexpected pizza party. Hopefully make the cake together later would be a good way to spend the day while they were sheltered inside, too.

In any case, despite all the odds, that definitely would be a good day. Good thing he bought a present pratically one month in advance, too, huh? He wasn’t paranoid enough to consider the possibility of an apocalypse, just couldn’t risk the piece going out of the stock if he waited more.

As the first of August came around, Nagisa snoozed away without a care in the world, letting the morning hours fly by as he dreamed of who knows what really, only to be startled by one of the few things that could wake him from such a deep slumber.

“What’s... smell...?”

He mumbled as he struggled to push himself from the comfy indent he had made in his mattress, the scent of baked dough and cheese and fruit slowly making him rise more and more. After some stumbling and a quick trip to the washroom, Nagisa trudged his way down to the kitchen, sleepy eyes gazing while his mind took a moment to connect the dots. Pizza. Presents. August.

“Hozuki-kun?”

To: Nagisa

From: Rin

[TXT] 1/ 2 Hey Nagisa, not sure where you are atm but I hope you’re having a good birthday

Fr: Nagisa

To: Rin-chan

[1] yayyyyyyy!!! ty rin-chan!!!! im gonna eat lotsa cake!!! ୧(˃◡ु˂)୨

“I used to live in 5 when I first arrived, but it never caught my attention. Well, I suppose it’s pointless to come alone or such.”

To not mention their financial condition and stability now were way better than two years ago, so there was more room to distractions and fancier fun like this. Hozuki wasn’t working so hard just for self satisfaction, after all. Even though be able to spoil his friends was still part of it, too.

Once they got to the ferris wheel he sitted next to Nagisa. The sight above was quite impressive, displaying a huge part of the city.

Once they were in the air and it didn’t matter where in the carriage they were sitting for a good view, Nagisa leaned back to enjoy the atmosphere and the alone time with Hozuki.

“Ehe, I know how you feel. I love amusement parks but I never got to go to them much back home. Iwatobi is too small for the really good rides and I never traveled to the city very often. Mom and dad were always too busy.”

“We arrived. I don’t know how we didn’t come before, but better late than never.”

That morning, Hozuki knew Nagisa was free and invited him to go out without tell where they would spend the day - just saying he would know once they get in there, in other words, a surprise. Easy to know the boy accepted without hesitation, since his trust in the demon was complete and unshakeable.

Hopefully, now they were parking the bikes in Sector 005’s amusement park and taking the path to the tickets line, the surprise was worth the wait and the ride across the sectors.

“So, where do we go first? Haunted house? Roller coaster? Ferris wheel?”

“Ahhh! I totally forgot about this place!”

Nagisa had traveled to the amusement park before but never with his brother. Taking Hozuki’s hand he bounced, eagerly pulling them in as if it wasn’t the demon’s idea in the first place to visit.

Before Nagisa could get another word in, he felt his head being cupped, pulled, and pressed against the other person’s chest. He was confused for sure, not only by the gesture but also the mention of ‘nee-chan’. A sisterly term? Well, that wasn’t really something for him to question. Any either way, she did remind him more of home and his own sisters. Perhaps having more sister-like figures in the city wouldn’t be so bad now that he had his share of brothers.

He stood still, stunned for a moment (and possibly pacified by the gentle pets against his scalp) before pulling himself away to actually see who he was talking to.

“Nagisa! They got you too?? Are you ok??”

He pulled away from the embrace slightly, just enough to check the younger swimmer was unharmed and in good shape - which he was, thank goodness. It was a short lived burst of jubilation though, the severity of their situation hanging over them like a heavy rain cloud.

Nagisa wriggled as Makoto pulled away, as if he didn’t want the hug to end. And really, he didn’t. But they also couldn’t stand in an embrace in the middle of the sidewalk forever.

The brief moment of joy faded quickly as Makoto reminded him of their predicament, something that Nagisa admittedly forgot about often. Little did his friend know just how long he’d been in the city, so much that he had grown accustomed to his second life, so much that he almost didn’t seem to mind it anymore.

“I don’t think the government knows about it, Mako-chan... or anyone from home. I don’t even know if we exist in our home anymore.”

It was a rather dim statement for the usually cheerful boy to make but the city had it’s ways of changing him, altering his way of thinking. It wasn’t something that he liked, necessarily, but it was inevitable it seemed.

This place in particular however filled her with joy. Warm feelings of acceptance, happy memories. Family… When she saw this mansion, she practically forgot about the world she’d come from.

“DING DONG!!!”

“I’M SHOUTING BECAUSE THE DOOR’S ALREADY OPEN FOR SOME REASON!”

She had yet to grasp how long she’d even been gone. It felt like a nap but she knew that wasn’t true. Thoughts of whether or not they were all still here didn’t even enter her mind. But perhaps subconsciously, that’s what held her at the door.

“GUESSS WHOOOOOO!”

Nagisa had only just opened the door to let a cool breeze in, despite Daylen’s warnings of letting bugs (and other unwanted monstrosities) into the mansion but the weather was really too muggy and he couldn’t be bothered to get ready for a dip in the pool just yet. But perhaps he should have heeded the mage’s warnings when he heard something come crashing in while his back was turned---except as soon as a disjointed yet familiar voice called out, well, he knew he didn’t have anything to worry about.

“Nami-chan!”

Doing a complete 180, the boy ran back to the entryway, ecstatic to see that it was indeed Nami, in the flesh, just as she had been since the last time he saw her. He didn’t hesitate to slam into her with a tight hug.