Author Note: Yep! It's me here! I know I haven't been on this account for ages but I wanna start up again with my new obsession with Free. I hope you all like it! This is my version of that mermaid AU based of Future Fish. Yesh I know Rin's supposed to be a cop, but in this one he's a merman as well 3
It's pretty sad actually, I donno why I would do this to these bootyful peoples. But I think it will be adorable at the same time lol
Small note: It starts off with a dream then Haru wakes up if that clears up any confusing for the first part. Also, I kind a picture their gill's on their sides, like at their ribs for some reason. Just logically it would be a better placement because it's closest to the lungs. So that's how I'm gonna describe the gill's placement but it's totally cool if you imagine them on their necks lol
Just clearing up any confusion

Please Enjoy!

Declaimer: I don't own Free!

Chapter 1

The vibrate rays of the sun's energy pierced through the smooth slumbering waves of the ocean. A single body pushing his way though. His body—the firmness of his torso mimicked by the strength of his shimmering trail—swam through the water with ease. It was almost too easy for him, his crystal blue scales camouflaged in the lucent movements of the water. Along with his eyes that seemed to reflect the shimmering blue around him: a tranquil appeal to his adventurous expression. With darkened gray hair that danced about his face, this calm expression searched diligently in the vase world he lived. But he wasn't much alone, for mermaids and mermen were social creatures and often searched for their significant other for almost their entire lives. Although this internal longing might have never been satisfied, Haru had already found his company.

Haru…

He would hear his companion call for him. He would always come.

Rin.

He would call back.

In the distance of such a large home these two mermen share, they never strayed too fare from one another. They had become one of each other, as if partners for life. Neither could break the bond they shared and Haru relished every moment of this. He didn't want this life to change. The brooding feeling of never being alone in these waters was almost a forgotten feeling for this merman. Never had he had to worry to face loneliness and the happiness would never be taken from him.

Haru.

He heard his mate call to him again and the water around him seemed to stop as he did. He couldn't locate where his partner was calling him—such a bother it seemed—thus causing his discomfort in not satisfying Rin's desire for his attention. In return he squeaked back in the mimics he learned from dolphins, a common characteristic Haru had developed. Soon the other merman had appeared from below, the shadows of the deep slowly releasing his blurry form into great detail. The shark like merman came up to Haru, his ruby tail balancing himself as he circled around. His toothy grin came to Haru's mellow face, pecking his lips to the significant other as a simple flirt. Haru didn't mind and knew it was a hello, blowing bubbles to avoid how flattered he really was. They came into each other's arms and rin teasingly smoothed down Haru's hair, nibbling his ear with care. Haru seemed not to notice and kept his arms lazily over Rin's shoulders, tugging his hair in revenge of Rin's tease. Rin just fluxed his gills in excitement and circled his partner with ease, his gleaming smile almost as bright as the rays that hit the surface. The almost daydream like appearance made Haru's heart flutter and he pushed himself forward to circle Rin instead; playfully squeaking with joy which Rin didn't quite understand.

Haru!

The dolphin suddenly heard Rin's voice call to him again, this time seeming to echo through the water even though his partner was right next to him. He turned to reply and saw the drastic change in the atmosphere. The water seemed to suddenly turn dark and the fear streaked expression laid on Rin's face startled Haru completely. It was in this shock that Haru reached towards Rin in his pleads to ask what's wrong when heavy threads of rope passed the merman's vision. The mucky net like trap came down on the beaut in an instant, the stench of decaying seaweed and muck still lingering on the ropes. Haru choked for oxygen as he squirmed in the never ending piles of net that entangled him. He searched for Rin. Looking and looking the blue merman panicked with his inability to move from this trap.

Rin!...Rin!...

He called and called again until he felt the strong arms of his partner grab onto him. Rin clenched desperately for his mate and Haru grabbed onto him as the nets started to drag him up. The shark was helpless to release Haru from this trap, pulling and snapping the ropes with his sharp teeth. It was hopeless as Haru went higher and higher, further away from Rin's grasp.

Haru!...Haru!...

Was all that Haru could hear in the echoes of the rushing water as he was forced up and up. The loud irritating booms of sound vibrating his ears and he did not like it. He choked for oxygen. He choked for the desire of his partner.

Now he was alone.

…

The loud banging didn't seem to stop the more Haru squirmed in the crazy dream he was enduring, his body tightening and his breath hitched. He finally woke with a startling, sitting up to see crystal blue. But he was still alone.

He looked up to see three bright lights glaring down on him, blinding him through the water and he had to look away. The faint banging still lingered in his ears and he tried to pin point where it was. It would only be the fragments of his dream that lingered in his ears. He pushed himself up and swam forward, the image of his reflection soon appearing in front of him. Then there was glass.

The hard cold surface of this glass made Haru's dizzy dream state seem to feel so unreal, just a fantasy. There was no vase open ocean or life that flourished in the water. There was no life: no movement, no warmth, no Rin. Just a single blue merman trapped in the four walls of this tank.

It was ridiculous to think these dreams were real, but they were. The agonizing fear that was fresh in Haru's mind every time he closed his eyes. Ever since he was captured, he was forced into this unknown place. He didn't know how long he was here but for how long, he knew hell couldn't possible go on forever. His dull eyes squinted through the transparent glass, seeing nothing but faded black and the customary white blurs of humans that watched him. He quickly swooshed away and curled himself on the farthest corner of the tank. He hated the presence of those white coated humans, their pathetic attempts to make the merman speak to them and scribbling nonsense on their notepads. They kept Haru locked in here like an experiment, putting him through billions of tests. Their greedy pleasure to discovery more of this creature blocked their humanity in Haru's species. Even so, Haru continued to refuse to eat the fish they fed him. Because of this, Haru was now famish with hunger and lost most of his luster in his tail. He lacked energy that seemed to be drained from him in this stale water.

Haru felt like he was dying every day, trapped in this lonesome tank, and swimming in circles for hours like an animal. His dreams were no comfort for they always turned to nightmares. These four boring walls gave him nothing to calm his aching chest. He wanted Rin, he wanted him terrible. His upsetting need was almost unbearable for his mate and he never felt so hopeless in his life. When will this torment end?

Fortunately, in a matter of a few days Haru's lonesome would finally come to an end. The government, whom had captured Haru privately, had actually captured Rin as well. They were astounded by his strength and energy compared to the blue subject, but was also considered more dangerous with his aggressive behavior. After their studies with Haru -whom they already discovered that he can transform to human in the one of the merman's attempt to escape when he first arrived- they had kept Rin away from the other purposely. Now they decided to transfer Haru to one of their larger tanks. When Haru was put into the new tank he was in a whirl of dizziness. He awakened without warning and sunk to the bottom, landing uncomfortably to the hard surface. For a moment he didn't move until the sickening feeling in his empty stomach was gone. Then he decided to look up. There was nothing but crystal blue water. He flicked his tail and pushed himself up to swim to the side of the glass. He squinted out to see the blurry figures of white observing him. With a hiss of disgust he pushed himself off the glass and went to the other side. It was then when he heard faint banging that rippled the water. It startled Haru completely and his body flinched. He then looked across the tank.

It was Rin.

The one person Haru longed the most for the past weeks was right there in front of him. He wasn't seeing the reflection of himself in the glass, but a completely different person. The person he could recognize anywhere. Haru's awe caused him to rush over to the red figure, his heart leaping for joy in his urge to just touch him, just to know Rin was really there. It was then when his eager hands did not touch Rin's warm skin or crisp red scales, all he touched was glass. He collided right into it and fluxed his gills rapidly with panic. His palms pressed hard to the morbid wall, so transparent it killed him. He was so close.

Rin slapped his hands to the glass just the same, pressing his forehead to it and pushing as hard as he could. Finally they once can be with each other's presence, but not to touch, but only to see. Rin could faintly hear the distressed squeaks of his mate and he called back to him with a muffled voice. Pleading to just be in each other's arms one more time.

….

Ever since the two mermen where transferred to the larger tank they were only able to see each other though that dreaded glass wall that separated them. For weeks they would stay wedged up against that glass, laying against its hard surface in any way to seek warmth from the other. But this warmth could only be imagined through memory for they only could feel the bitterness of the empty water that shared no company. Rin's heart ached to be so close to his mate but yet so far. He was torn every time Haru was taken again for unknown data collection. For days Haru would be gone, only to come back weak by being drugged or terrified for the experience he endured. And Rin couldn't do anything but hit these glaring walls. Hit them and hit them until his wrists cracked and his knuckled bleed. It was pointless. He couldn't do anything to protect his mate.

At one point Rin had never felt so powerless in his life, his pride taken away from him so slavishly. He only could watch as one day the water in Haru's tank started to drain. The flickering red light flashed on and off as the water slowly pumped out of the dolphin's container. The blue male couldn't do anything in his trapped state and only could watch as another endurance of his world being sucked away from him. Lower and lower the water went and Haru couldn't escape this panic. His lungs suffocated from the lack of water, his gills already sticking and stressed when he couldn't take in oxygen. Haru didn't wish to turn his beautiful fins into the lanky bones of legs that he was forced to transform once out of water. It hurt him horrible and the heaviness of his body settled in and he could not stop the transformation.

Rin watched helplessly as his partner was forced to turn human once the water was completely drained. It made his stomach drop and he dipped to the very bottom of his tank in his attempt to reach Haru. There was no use and he could imagine the transformation occurring. The cracking of the splitting bones of Haru's lower body, the wilting of his shimmering scales along with muscles rearranging to its new shape. The excruciating pain that Haru must feel in his chest as he draws his last enduring breath until his gills finally close to the control of lungs. It was heart breaking to see and Rin cried out in any way, hitting the wall once more while his salty tears mingled with the stale water surrounding him.

Stop this! Stop this!

He would cry out but none would hear him. He saw the figured of the white coated men come into Haru's tank. He saw nothing but fascination in their eyes, no remorse or sympathy for the poor blue creature. They soon picked up the withering merman onto a wheeled bed where they moved him out, his transformation not yet complete. They ignored the commotion of Rin as if not caring of his presence. It was a mockery of Rin and he was left defenseless as his love disappeared in the arms of strangers.

For two days Rin swam circles and circles in his box like container. He swam nonstop in constant worry for his precious companion, pushing himself until his body was numb. There was no use for the government to get near the aggressive fish. Even when they tried to collect the water temperature Rin tried to drag one man down and sink his sharp teeth in his soft flesh. He was just too aggressive so they just let him keep swimming. They closed off all four walls so that Rin couldn't see through none, it was just him in this white abyss of isolation. But he continued to swim and swim as his mind clouded with the unbearable thoughts of losing Haru again. Again he felt so useless, so weak in his attempts to protect Haru. The fact that he couldn't do a thing ate him slowly as the days gone by.

In the matter of two days, which felt like an eternity to the shark, the boring white walls of Rin's tank finally started to lower to the clear see-through glass he once had. It wasn't much of a relief to Rin to be able to see the outside again. Only when he realized Haru's side of the tank was filled up with water did he finally slow down to see. He gasped when he recognized the blue figure on the ground, sunken low like an iron weight. Rin moved to the same wall that separated them and pressed his palms to it. Haru was laying there. Silent and still. He didn't remove his gaze from Haru's still form for several minutes before the blue fish finally stirred. Haru hardly lifted his head and rested his cheek on his forearm, his vision blurred and he didn't understand why the water felt so thick. He then recognized Rin's reddish image and forced his heavy eyelids to open up a bit more. His once sharp aqua eyes where now dull with exhaustion. He felt ill and his face was pale. Rin could see this and he shifted left to right anxiously. Haru already could ready Rin's anxiety easily and weakly pushed himself up and move his way over to Rin. He then rested beside the wall where Rin laid beside him; unable to touch.

They laid once again like this, their shoulders and back pressed to the bottom of their tanks and getting as close as they possible could. Rin finally stopped squirming after that and rested his tired eyes as Haru did too. Although this wasn't the most preferred reunion for the two, at least they had each in these lifeless container.

Rin dosed off temporarily because his body's need to recuperated although his mind was still heavy with the worries of this never ending nightmare. He wanted Haru to be ok, he wanted them both to swim free again. He tried to dream of the morning glow of the ocean he used to wake up too every day. Along with the indulgence of his mate which he shared curled up tightly together as they sleep. He remembered the calmness in Haru's breath, his voice, and his eyes that would always calm him. He missed his tenderness which he could only imagine in his dreams. He wanted to swim with him again and too explore the vase ocean around them. A place full of danger but yet beautiful. It was home and that's what he missed the most.

A soft tap tap suddenly invaded Rin's comforting dreams and the shark jolted his head up. The small vibrations had echoed through his ears and he heard it again. Tap tap.

This unnatural noise drove Rin crazy and his first thought was to locate it. It came from the right of Haru's tank and he peered out through the glass. A tall man was standing there with mop in his hand and a scared expression across his brow. Rin lowered then because he recognized this man, he called himself Makoni. He thought it was an odd name when Makoni told them which he communicated only through a notepad and pen. Rin didn't even know if the man knew if the fish understood him. But for all Rin knew, Makoni had an odd fascination to watch Haru in his tank every time he came to clean the rooms. It drove Rin insane (he didn't yet realize Makoni's motives where fully sympathy for the poor creatures although Haru was quite beautiful to him) and he glared fiercely at Makoni. The tall male just tapped again on the glass as if he was trying to get Haru's attention instead of Rins.(most likely because Rin scared the hell out of Makoni). Rin saw this and his gaze went back to his slumbering mate that still hadn't wakened from Makoni's troublesome tapping. The red fish suddenly gasped and choked on water.

Haru wasn't breathing.

Rin's heart hammered in his chest in an instant and he paced once again with the surprise of this discovery. How could this be? Why isn't his precious mate breathing? The blue creature laid absolutely still, not a single part of him moving except of the gently sway of his hair. His body was slumped to the side with his pale expression showing discomfort while eyes stayed closed. Every few seconds Haru shallow breathing would hick with a short breath to gather as much oxygen he could from his gills. He couldn't breathe as if he was was sucking the oxygen through a straw. His gills where struggling to filter the very water Haru needed to survive.. His body went still again; then another wheeze. He continued to do this as he slowly suffocated in the very water he lived in. He was completely unaware of Rin's distressed calls to get his attention or Makoni's continuous taps to wake him up. Available help was so close but yet so fare.

Makoni then decided he couldn't watch this no more and he dropped his mop. Rin watched as the man ran out of the room to get help. In a matter of minutes almost fifteen to twenty scientist and researchers came in shock that their subject of discovery was almost died. They panicked and scattered around like ants, trying to figure out what to do. There wasn't many options to take because they didn't know how to handle a situation like this without hurting the rare creature. Especially if the test subject dies the government would be in worse trouble. So they decided to lower the wall the split Rin's tank from Haru to see if the red fish could solve this problem. Rin was in a frenzy of panic and heard the click of the glass divider before it started to lower. He didn't waste time and swam all the way to the top and squeezed his head past, then his torso and tail before the glass had a chance to go all the way down. Rin was right beside Haru in an instant and he put his arms around him for the first time. It was an almost a bitter sweet moment between the two, the fear of it all just so beautiful.

"Haru? Haru? Come on wake up!" Rin cried, his voice cracked with sorrow as Haru's head drooped when Rin lifted his shoulders to his arms.

There was no response, nothing but a small hick again. Rin placed Haru back down and rubbed his chest, back and sides in any way to help him breath. He breathed in oxygen to Haru's cold lips eagerly; again and again he gave his oxygen to Haru until he became dizzy himself. It was no use. He felt around to Haru's sides where the faint pink marks of Haru's gills would be, discovering that they were partially shut. With the amounts of transformations Haru had been forced into, his body could not simply keep up with the change between human and fish. There was no way for Rin to open his gills to let him breath like a fish. There wasn't a way to make Haru breath properly and all Rin could do was watch has Haru slowly lose consciousness and his little huffs for breath became almost forgotten. Rin curled his tail around his dying lover and hugged him tight to his chest. He felt like he was too late and he buried his nose to Haru's lifeless chest.

There was silence as Rin's shoulder shook softly as he tried to hold the tears that swelled up. He couldn't lose his mate, he just couldn't. He wasn't gone he just wasn't. The humans outside the tank could only look on as if guilt shot each of them in the scull. Haru barely stirred from the position he was in now and came in and out of consciousness. He felt strong arms around him and warmth that he longed for a long time. It almost made him numb with sleep from the comfort of another presence. The loneliness was gone and he almost thought this pain was over. For some reason Haru's eyes started to force themselves open either way. He wanted to wake even if Rin was here with him and he weakly shifted his head. He no longer could take in a breath without sucking in water so he coughed bubbled. He pushed his forehead against Rin's lips to get his attention. He saw that he was crying and he found his arm feeling like a weight as he tried to hold onto the other. The shark look surprised and almost hesitant to look to his partners face, almost frighten to discover the truth. But Haru nudged him again as he put his arms around Rin's shoulders. He motioned Rin to look up.

In the mist of this unbearable nightmare Rin managed to understand what Haru meant. He pulled Haru up and pulled him to the surface of the water. He knew if Haru's body wouldn't let him breath underwater then he would be able to breathe in air. They emerged to the surface and Rin used his tail to balance himself and Haru. He pushed his partner up and against his shoulders as he wrapped his arm around him.

Haru was started to wake now but wasn't aware of his surroundings as Rin pulled him up. He hardly remembered breaking the surface and only the fact that he suddenly was very cold and light headed. He still chocked on the needed air to thrive on and very slowly he started to breathe more clearly. He didn't quite respond until his lungs decided to choke up on him. He came back to life in a spit of painful coughs that shook his core. Water spilled out of his lips as he puked the liquid that clogged up his complicated breathing system. Rin could only watch with sympathy and rubbed the other teens' back with his arm that was holding him.

Haru hardly mumbled Rin's name from recognizing his partners touch before even being able to see. It was a huge relief to Haru to have Rin here and even if his weak state he had joy. He wheezed and wheezed as his breath became harsher and harsher. He needed to rest and leaned heavily on Rin's chest—who was still holding onto the side with one arm to keep them both up—while wrapping his arms around his partner's thin waist and tucking his face in his neck. Rin knew he was struggling but at least he was alive.

Unfortunately the relief was gone. He froze instantly when he finally realized people had already opened the heavy latch above to peer inside. Rin cringed his face in anger towards them, fixing his arm more around Haru securely. Now that he had his Haru in his arms, no one will take him away again. The humans didn't move for several minutes and all that was heard was the soft hums of machinery in the builder and the delicate huffs of Haru's breathing. Then one of the scientists motioned to his men to start moving again. They scattered about and left Rin's sight. The shark could only relax for a moment though when suddenly the red flashing of that bright light started to blink in an almost deathly pattern. There was a loud click and the water around the mermen shifted in little waves.

The water started to be drained again.

….

Author Note: Well I think that's it for chapter 1. CHAPTER 2 WILL BE COMING UP IN A MATTER OF A WEEK HOPEFULLY SO KEEP WATCH! Then you'll see what happens next for the miserable fish couple UvU
Support from reviews would be very appreciated because it will motivate me to continue writing this story! I wanted to make it for you guyz cuz fanfiction needs more of these babus so share some love maybe /shyly rolls away