This moment is so incredibly important. Haru’s eyes have been dim ever since he lost to Rin, ever since Rin said he would never swim with him. He even said so himself, he didn’t care about the tournament after that. He questioned the only thing he’d ever been sure of and that’s how he felt in the water. And I think Makoto knows exactly how to bring Haru to a place where he can find the answers he needs himself and that is why he is such a god damn good friend. Instead of pushing things onto Haru, instead of trying to fix all of Haru’s problems himself, he knows exactly how much to distance himself to let Haru figure it out on his own. He knows exactly what to say to let Haru sort out his thoughts and that takes something really special. And you can see, in this moment, the light returns to Haru’s eyes and that says exactly how important Makoto is to Haru.
