AN: partly inspired by Barracuda by Christos Tsiolkas, which is a pretty good book (not as good as The Slap, but still worth a read). I kept thinking about Rin and how he was similar to Danny in the book so I decided to write this. This story is set while Rin is in Australia.
He needed to win. Like everyone else needed oxygen, Rin needed the taste of becoming the first, to be able to conquer every single one there and claim the throne. He knew he was stronger, leaner and faster than everyone there but it was the struggle against the water that worried him the most. The water didn't love him like it loved Haru. Thinking of Haru filled Rin with disgust, he wanted to claw the name out of his brain but to no avail; Haru would always invade his thoughts.
Climbing on the starting block, Rin glared at the water, Haru's name still lingering at the back of his head but now it was the competition that mattered most. All the others boys, the tall and limber, the short and stocky and the absolutely forgettable took their places too. Rin wondered if their heads were a maze full of images like his or had they mastered the skill of maintaining a white blank, a silent zen. Rin leant forward, his body taut and ready to spring forward. He was the predator and the water his prey; yet Rin had yet to truly understand it was a difficult beast to tame.
The whistle blew and everyone leapt out. The moment Rin was submerged underneath after that first dive, he knew water was putting up a solid resistance as if it were viscous mud. Putting all his force into his muscles, he crawled forward. Acid built up in his body and his muscles creaked as he made his first turn; they threatened to weigh him down but Rin needed, needed to keep moving. He was a machine therefore he did not become fatigued.
On his very last stroke, he stretched out his arm as far as it could reach. His hand slammed into the white tile. Rin's head burst out of the pool, lungs begging for deep breaths. His body ached yet it was not nearly as bad as the surreal pain in his gut.
Rin wasn't first nor was he second or third. He was weaker and slower than everyone else there, even the scrawny kid who looked like he was going to waste away at any moment. He hadn't won a goddamn thing. The water loathed him, rejected him. And Haru's name was still there, like a stigma.