TV Animation Free! Novelize/Episode 01: Machibito

'Synopsis: Haruka Nanase thinks about Rin Matsuoka's return with mixed feelings. He heads to an old spa where he's joined by Makoto Tachibana and Nagisa Hazuki. Sharing a pool filled with water rekindles feelings of camaraderie within 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, Haruka begins to find a way back to something he once found meaningful even though the future is as mysterious as ever.'

Haruka remembers how happy Rin used to be -- used to be before their race during winter break as first-years in junior high school. Haruka was the boy who simply loved the water and Rin was the boy who wanted to go to the Olympics. Haruka won and a distraught Rin couldn't handle it, proclaiming that he was quitting swimming altogether. Haruka's guilt was so great that gave up swimming, too, and without explanation to his junior high school teammates. He wonders if it was Fate that brought Rin around then and again, when Rin found him at the old Iwatobi Swimming Club pool where the much changed person he used to know challenged him to race once more. They didn't and Haruka doesn't want to race Rin again. Haruka 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. Haruka 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 Haruka relies on it nonetheless.

Being early evening, the boys go to Makoto's house where Nagisa plays video games with Makoto's siblings, Ren Tachibana and Ran Tachibana, his childlike antics making him a fun playmate. Haruka 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. Haruka is annoyed, but the feeling of sharing water with comrades rekindles feelings from long ago - good feelings that Makoto inevitably notices. Haruka 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 Town, Haruka 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, Haruka again thinks about that fateful winter day. He remembers the letter Sosuke Yamazaki 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 Haruka's wish? He doesn't have a clue, but the fortune is saved in his desk drawer just the same.