Ikuya Kirishima/Relationships

Relationships
Iwatobi Junior High School=

At first, Ikuya pays only slight attention to Haruka Nanase by glancing at him in class. However, after watching Haru swim for the first time (tying with his older brother) Ikuya sees Haru as a role model. He starts imitating Haru from eating to swimming stretches (which Makoto Tachibana notices). Later it is revealed that Ikuya imitates Haru in order to win back his brothers love (something he never lost in the first place) and make him pay attention to him more. In the end, Ikuya learns to appreciate Haru as a teammate -not just a role model. When Haru passes out from low blood sugar, Ikuya helps in cooking meals for him and spends the night at his house. Afterwards, Haru also accepts Ikuya as a teammate and agrees to swim with him and the others in the relay. Along with Makoto and Asahi Shiina and foursome win the relay where they all hug each other.

In Free!-Dive To the Future-, their relationship has become horribly deteriorated. It is shown that Ikuya likes winning and he is so amazed by Haruka's freestyle that he wishes to copy it but also make it his own. Ikuya and Haruka share an emotional bond over a meteor shower, where they both affirm each other. However, after Haruka seeing Rin's anger in losing to him, he quits swimming. Ikuya presses for a reason but Haruka is reluctant to give him one. Asahi also changes schools. Angered at the lack of consideration for his emotions, Ikuya leaves for America to train and stay with his brother.

Upon returning, he seems to have mastered all types of swimming and swims competitively for the Shimogami University. Haruka had lost contact of him over all these years but it seems everyone: Haruka, Asahi, Kisumi Shigino and Makoto — are all ashamed that their actions have impacted Ikuya's life and seemingly made him have a mistrust of others.

When Haruka tries to sincerely apologise to him after seeing after six years, Ikuya doesn't seem to be bothered. Later on, Asahi commented that Ikuya has a quiet anger towards him. Ikuya's symbolism for the swim team breaking apart is drowning. He felt he was drowning in loneliness and was abandoned.

Still Haruka plans on making things right with him. It finally happened when Haruka also entered the IM relay where Ikuya is. Ikuya realized that he is just running away and also he realized that it is not about being alone but anyone can swim for someone they value the most. This led him to finally break free of his past and win the medley relay while Haruka is on the second place. Ikuya and Haruka both reminisce the past about their promise under the meteor showers and Haruka stated he remembered the pact that they made and finally fulfilled it. Ikuya cries and hugs Haruka.

Ikuya and Asahi first meet in Class 1 during the High☆Speed！－Free! Starting Days－ movie. The two instantly clash when picking clubs. This is especially shown when Ikuya shows his disdain for school swimming clubs. Ikuya states that swimming teams in school are useless as the instructors don't teach you proper methods of swimming. Asahi disagrees stating that Ikuya was only afraid of jumping into something he had no idea about. In order to prove him wrong, Ikuya joins the swimming team along with Makoto, Haruka, and Asahi.

Upon entering the club, Ikuya is withdrawn and would rather swim alone than with others. Haru agrees on this idea. However, Asahi disagrees. Throughout the film the two continue to clash with Asahi desperately trying to be Ikuya's friend. Ikuya tries as well, showing concern for him when he can no longer swim freestyle. They often make fun of each other and are shown walking home together.

Sooner or later, Ikuya says he wants to quit and runs off crying. When Ikuya cries and tells the team that he was lonely and missed his older brother, Asahi is the first to lend his shirt in an effort to console him. Though is baffled when Ikuya fully bursts out in tears. When returning to the swim club after the incident, Asahi speaks up first saying they were late because he wanted to help Ikuya. Though Ikuya fully explains later. The two still have joyful bickering and Ikuya calls Asahi an idiot for his attitude. Yet they do care for one another and help each other when Haru passes out. In the end, Ikuya learns to enjoy or at least tolerate Asahi's company.

Makoto and Ikuya first meet as Haru and Makoto are being drafted onto the swim team. Sadly, Ikuya and Makoto don't have much of a relationship outside of the swim team due to being in different classes. However, they do value each others company and work well together (probably because Haru and Ikuya have a similar aura). Makoto is the second to notice Ikuya's imitation of Haru (after Haru of course). Yet dismisses it after asking Haru about it. When Ikuya finally tells the team about his loneliness and longing for his brother's company, Makoto consoles Ikuya stating that no older brother can hate his sibling. The two of them are probably face their feelings the most. Together with the rest of the team, they open up, help Haru when he was sick, and win the relay race. Others=

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- You'll never be ordinary.

Ikuya has a close friendship with Hiyori Tono as they are both 1st year students at Shimogami University. In the very first episode when Ikuya comments he doesn't desire to be ordinary, Hiyori affirms this by saying he does not think that Ikuya will ever be anything ordinary. Ikuya does not seem truly satisfied with the affirmation and immediately Hiyori inquires that if Ikuya is upset with him. Ikuya indifferently replies that he is not while distracted by a bird in the sky.

The relationship between Ikuya and Hiyori is a bit complex and complicated. On one hand, Ikuya seems to care deeply for Hiyori and appreciate him. When the Shimogami University coach asks Ikuya why he doesn't swim medley and thinks its a loss of talent, Hiyori supports Ikuya. On the other hand, Ikuya seems to find Hiyori a bit of a nuisance in that he can deeply interfere in Ikuya's life.

Hiyori seems to know that the reason that Ikuya now swims individual medley because of Haruka and Asahi suddenly quitting in middle school, which had a negative impact on him. Ikuya swims to mirror some of Haru's insecurities in the first TV series. Where Haruka was adamant to swim only Freestyle, Ikuya seems adamant on swimming only Individual Medley (IM) and no longer wishes to participates in relays. In this mirroring, Hiyori seems to be an "extreme" parallel to Sosuke and Makoto, in that he loves Ikuya deeply and wishes to protect him. Like Sosuke did with Rin in Free!-Eternal Summer-, Hiyori seems to challenge Ikuya to be the best at swimming and feels no one can compare. Like Makoto, who seemed to never in the past question Haruka leaving swimming, he doesn't seem to try to help Ikuya grow or change out of his reluctant attitudes about the medley. Later on, he reveals that Ikuya almost drowned badly in America as a child and it implied he somewhat blames his old friends for it.

In a way, Ikuya and Hiyori's relationship seems to have both positive and negative attributes. Whereas Hiyori is very caring and kind towards Ikuya, he seems to overindulge him and put him on a pedestal. This means Hiyori cannot always understand the complex human emotions of Ikuya. Despite these shortcomings, he is a devoted friend and seems to always hold Ikuya as a top priority.

Natsuya Kirishima is Ikuya's dearest older brother of which at the start of the movie Ikuya has hated him for two years. When they were young, Ikuya follows his brother around often and looks to him as a best friend. A young Natsuya is seen encouraging Ikuya to swim more as he is getting better and better. However, when entering Middle School, Natsuya abandons Ikuya telling him to make new friends. While coming from a good place as an older brother, Ikuya takes this painfully and decides to withdraw himself from his brother and society. He becomes more silent, eats and sleeps less. He is also shown crying after being in an argument with his brother. At first, whenever the two come in contact, the atmosphere becomes heavy and Ikuya becomes silent. However, Ikuya still looks up to his brother. When seeing Haru tie with his brother in a race, Ikuya starts to imitate Haru so his brother can concentrate on him. Ikuya is slightly jealous of Haru in this way. Ikuya often stares at Natsuya when he's not looking.

Despite Ikuya's hatred for him, Natsuya still shows concerns for his welfare and encourages him to say on the team. When helping Haru carry class materials, he asks him about Ikuya and how he feels about the team. Haru notices this and reiterates it to Ikuya while he cries to the team. After Ikuya confesses his feelings to the team and to his brother, they appear to be on better speaking terms. They are seen training together near the end of the film.