Welcome to the first chapter of this thing I decided to suddenly do.
This story is primarily Gou/ Haruka, but still includes quite a bit of Rin/ Haruka.
My aim is for an unnatural love story, and if the polls say yes to smut, I'll do it. If the majority is against it, I won't. I really just want to avoid soiling a weird romance, lol. And if there is smut, it isn't going to be very R-18. For some reason, this is the only anime where I'm not tempted to write a sex scene for, and I have NO CLUE WHY.
Takes place after season one. No Season two. Bahumbug.
Disclaimer: Any aspect of Free! does not belong to me, I am merely borrowing the characters legally and poking fun with them.
His fists clenched. Breathing, haggard. Eyes cinched shut in desperation. Heart, racing a mile a minute. It was a familiar night, one he knew almost too well. "Sleep." He ordered himself, willed himself. Futile, it deemed. His brawny calves kicked relentlessly at the covers, the ones condoning him to a world he was determined to find, though to no avail.
He couldn't fall back asleep. Not after that dream. Not after the burning image of red hair sweeping across his unconscious vision. He felt toyed with, tampered with a longing he knew unacceptable. His stupid brain was tempting him again, with the same reoccurring nuisances that kept him up on cold nights like these. Vibrant red hair, crooked, wickedly sharp grin.
He finally kicked off the covers, one hand darting up to swipe the side of his dampened forehead, the other gripping the ball of his knee as it bounced in an unknown anticipation. No, no way, he knew he wouldn't be able to fall asleep again. Not with his vivid imagination, coaxed in visions of unruly red waves gliding through an endless pool, the beholder sending a sly, pointed smile over his shoulder. A desire he knew he couldn't pursue.
Instead, he settled for roughly patting his cheek a few times, rising to his full stature, before quietly leaving his room and padding down the hall and out the door to welcome the cool world. His unruly black hair swept to the side, caught in a breeze, and he took a breath. And then another. A final one before bending his elbows and taking off down the street.
Aimlessly, bare feet slapped against the pavement, naked chest pierced with chills against the wind. He shivered. He didn't know why he was doing it. He didn't know many things, actually. Like the reason the same thing plagued him effortlessly and sent him falling into a fervent abyss. Why it was always the damn red-hair of his childhood teammate, latter rival, and current friend that woke him with a pained start. He felt something stir within him, cheeks flushing warmly in offense of spring's temperatures.
"There's no way I… Do I?" He shook his head. It was unacceptable. But it would explain the way he felt… His brain and heart weren't on speaking terms at the moment.
The raven-haired swimmer didn't stop until he was standing before his habitual place of thinking. He kicked off his plaid sleeping pants without hesitation, diving into the cold water in attempt to freeze over his heated body. Maybe he'd get caught, but he didn't ponder that then. It was always the water that came first in this one's mind.
Immediately, he felt rejuvenated, cleansed of his discerningly colorful imagination. His heart pounded against his ribcage as he soared to the bottom of the pool, collecting himself with arms wrapped around knees as his backside connected with the calloused concrete. He sat there, eyes pinched shut as he soaked up the silence, the calm of it loosening his shoulders in his sitting position. Peace. But he was only human, and after about thirty seconds, he retracted his legs enough to kick up and break surface for air. Damn. The feeling was nauseatingly great, despite the chill of the liquid consuming him. He swam around a bit, floating on his back, blue irises still hidden behind the water-dotted lids of his eyes. He breathed out coolly.
Occasionally, he turned over and rocketed off the walls, a dart stabbing through the chlorine, and gracefully glided just beneath the surface to another side.
Why was he there again? It seemed he often mindlessly leapt into pools, long as they had water. Deep down, there was a reason he did it. His heart piped up, saying it had something to do with the love of the sport. Then his brain countered with the idea that it had something to do with taking his mind of things. Possibly both.
He sighed, floating on his back again, allowing the ripples around him to fall flat. Then he saw it.
At first, it was a noise, a very quiet click he managed to pick up with his turned head. His eyes shot open, but his body stayed still. Had he been discovered? Blue orbs cast to the direction of the disruption. They then widened and his body went rigid.
Red.
The same red that haunted his dreams and made him feel how he knew he shouldn't. His mouth parted, tormenting thoughts that went to rest now alive and giving him goosebumps.
The club room door shut as quietly as it had opened. Red hair sashaying behind him as he turned away. But no. They were not a him or he.
At better glance, the swimmer recognized the features of the club's manager; her tendrils cascaded down her jacket-donning back, the first he's seen aside from its usual ponytail.
She paid him no mind, and he figured she was just going to leave. He found himself unable to call out to her. What stopped him? Ah, it was the hair. He was immersed in the fiery locks, sinking deeper into the liquid void. Those beautiful waves that swayed in the breeze, just as they whipped around with decadence in the water. He shuddered, pain in his chest. "But I can't…" The same words chanted to himself, over and over and over and… damn, his chest hurt.
"Haruka?!" Oh. She noticed him. Her wide eyes darted between his discarded sleep wear and his floating form. They were narrowed, but noticeably weary.
When she said his name, his conscience awakened and he swam to the edge. "Kou." He had to collect himself. Put on his mask. Hide his crumbling façade. She couldn't know what he thought of her brother.
He climbed out, disregarding her shock, momentary appreciation of his build, and then even more shock as he squeezed the ends of his tight swim shorts dry. Yeah, he wore them to bed too.
"Haru—what are you doing here?!" He peered at her with a sideways glance, back still hunched forward.
"I was swimming." Bluntly said, but it was his usual way of speech. Gou's hand slapped against her forehead.
"I saw that. But you're going to get a cold! The water isn't ready yet—"
"Why were you here?" The girl's lips tightened and she drew back at the question. Her cheeks flushed, and Haruka stood straight, his eyes searching hers curiously. He didn't have a clue.
She stammered over her thoughts briefly, and tightened her jacket around her torso. "I—I couldn't… sleep." Seemed that way, neither could he. He nodded knowingly. He didn't pry any more, but with the way she bit the inside of her cheek, eyes nervously flashing everywhere but to his, it almost made him want to. It was obvious she was hiding something.
"Me neither," He voiced, bending down to retrieve the wrinkled plaid bottoms. He should leave. It wasn't her fault, that's not why he felt the urge to up and go. In fact, he very much liked her presence. "I shouldn't have even come out here in the first place." Haru felt frustrated with himself. Like before, he didn't know why. "I'm going home now."
"Haruka, wait!" The girl suddenly called out, halting his motion. He glanced back her way, an even more apparent blush tinting her cheeks, nearly matching the color of her hair. Her… hair…
"I—uh, be… safe…?" Wind caught the waves around her shoulders, elegantly flying. His eyes widened. Breathing hitched. Red flames blowing into the night… that beautiful hair. "Be s-safe on your way home!" It was as his dreams captured it. Like the images came straight from his confused mind, feelings conjured by it the same as how it felt waking from those deviously teasing visions. "I'll… I'llseeyoutomorrowbyebye!" She rushed past him, head tilted down.
Though he didn't hear what she said. And before he knew it, his palm was engulfed by the tempting flames, fingers smoothing through every tress before clasping its end gently. Arm extended to feel as much as possible. And she went stiff, stopping upon the capture. Gou stared straight ahead in unaltered surprise. She gulped.
Entranced, the beautiful waves drifted from his pruned fingers, and not a moment went by when he stepped forward, so close, and wrapped them around the silk-like strands again, and again. She shuddered under his touch. Her cheeks, ablaze. Lips parting in a sigh.
The fragrant flood of crimson beset his sense. He wasn't thinking clearly. Intoxicated.
And then, they were gone, and Gou was sprinting away, down the street and out of sight, red hair a soaring mass behind her as she clasped a hand over her lips, refusing to look back.
Haruka watched the familiar tendrils disappear from sight, disappointment filling him. It was so nice, to be able to act on his emotions. To touch the hair that rendered his chest filled with uncertainty and head racked with questions.
There was no doubt now. He certainly was in love. In love with those rose-colored locks. In love with his childhood teammate, latter rival, current friend.
He was in love with Rin.
Reviews are wholeheartedly appreciated, but please, no flames. I'm still relatively young in writing years, and I know there is a lot to improve on. Kind feedback is welcomed :).
Until next time~
