TV Animation Free! Novelize/Episode 01: Machibito

''Synopsis: Haru thinks about Rin's return with mixed feelings. He heads to an old spa where he's joined by Makoto and Nagisa. Sharing a pool filled with water rekindles feelings of camaraderie for the boy who gave up competitive team swimming because he thought he'd caused a friend to give up on his dream. Now, with the stirring up of memories and the help of caring friends, Haru begins to find a way back to something he once found meaningful though the future is as mysterious as ever.''

Haru remembers how happy Rin used to be -- used to be before their race during winter break as first-years in middle school. Haru was the boy who simply loved the water and Rin was the boy who wanted to go to the Olympics. Haru won and a distraught Rin couldn't handle it, proclaiming that he was quitting swimming altogether. Haru's guilt was so great that gave up swimming, too,  and without explanation to his middle school teammates. He wonders if it was Fate that brought Rin around then and again, when Rin found him at the old Iwatobi SC pool where the much changed person he used to know challenged him to race once more. They didn't and Haru doesn't want to race Rin again. Haru just wants to be a normal person, like his grandma promised, so he doesn't have to think or feel the emotions that haunt him.

Makoto and Nagisa agree that Rin has changed and not for the better. Nagisa wonders if change is inevitable. Haru ponders the fact that although he didn't share the reason he quit the swim team with Makoto, his best friend has the eerie ability to tell what he's thinking even when he doesn't say anything. It's a blessing and a curse, but Haru relies on it nonetheless.

Being early evening, the boys go to Makoto's house where Nagisa plays video games with Makoto's siblings, Ren and Ran, his childlike antics making him a fun playmate. Haru can't stay still, the feeling of the swimsuit worn beneath his clothing pushing his thoughts towards water - calming, soothing water. He abruptly leaves and takes the train to an old family spa he'd discovered yesterday when he skipped the first day of school. He enters the lukewarm pool, alone, and lets his thoughts go.

He isn't alone for long. Makoto and Nagisa, worried about him, have followed and join him. Haru is annoyed, but the feeling of sharing water with comrades rekindles feelings from long ago - good feelings that Makoto inevitably notices. Haru doesn't balk at his friend's insight and agree they'll likely return until they spy a sign saying that the spa is closing down.

During their long walk back to Iwatobi, Haru compares the starry sky to the bottom of the ocean covered with bioluminescent plankton. If he were alone, he'd spend all night looking at them, but the feeling of sharing time with comrades feels good, too. Rin taught him what it meant to have comrades. Makoto is a comrade and much more; he's a special presence and Nagisa has melted his heart just a little.

Back home, Haru again thinks about that fateful winter day. He remembers the letter Sousuke gave him, recalling that Rin was having a hard time in Australia. He remembers buying an omamori at the Iwatobi shrine he could send to him as encouragement but, instead, he'd pulled a fortune that said, "Slightly good luck. The person you wait for will come. The things you wish for will come true though in the distant future." Haru thinks the person must be Rin, his current attitude causing only slightly good luck. As for Haru's wish? He doesn't have a clue, but the fortune is saved in his desk drawer just the same.