fated to see you
"He's trying to sabotage me," Rin grumbles, sitting down in the locker rooms angrily.
"He doesn't even know you, Matsuoka," Sousuke scoffs, pulling off his shirt quickly and running a hand through his hair.
"Oh, he knows me. And he's trying to sabotage me. I can't believe him," Rin complains. He crosses his arms and pouts at the ground. Sousuke rolls his eyes.
"You're an idiot. Really. Just get ready. We have class soon." Pulling a dry shirt over his head, he stands, waiting for Rin, who's still staring angrily at the ground. "Get ready already."
Rin sighs and stands up, turning to face his locker. He rattles it open four times like always and opens it as quickly as he can. He's about to reach for his shirt when he sees a red note stuck between his shirt and sweatpants. He frowns and picks it up, rolling it between his fingers as he studies it.
"What's that?" Sousuke asks, looking over his shoulder at the note.
"Like I know," Rin mutters, shoving Sousuke away from him.
"Oh. Is it a love letter?" Sousuke teases. Rin scoffs and grabs his clothes, stuffing the letter back in between his shirt and pants.
"Shove off," Rin mumbles.
"You're not gonna read it?" he asks, leaning against his own locker, smirking at Rin. Rin glares at him.
"Does it matter?" he grits out.
Sousuke's smirk only widens. "Not particularly." He studies Rin for a few more seconds. "You gonna get dressed?"
Rin looks down at himself. He should get dressed; he really really should, but getting dressed would require him to look at the note again, which Sousuke would somehow, undoubtedly, get from him, and as Rin doesn't know what's in this note, he can't risk it. Instead, he'd rather risk being a minute or two late to class since he would have to get dressed in the bathroom. He meets Sousuke's eyes and smiles innocently before answering, "Not particularly."
Sousuke rolls his eyes and starts toward the exit. "Okay, okay. Just come on. We're already late." He leaves for class.
"Not my fault!" Rin calls after him. He can hear Sousuke laughing as he walks away, and Rin's immediately undressing himself into something drier. He holds onto the note the entire time.
The note wasn't necessarily a love letter, but Rin didn't know what else to call it. It was actually quite simple, a few compliments thrown Rin's way and a few random comments about things like mackerel and swimming, which yeah, Rin could obviously appreciate the swimming aspect of it, but Rin was still confused.
Rin,
I was told to do this. So, I did. I enjoy swimming with you. I want to touch your hair every time I see it. I enjoy eating mackerel and swimming. Do you like mackerel? Hopefully, you do. This is stupid. My friend supposes that just because I think you're pretty when you swim and when you aren't that it means I have to write you this stupid letter. Anyway, nice seeing you today, I guess.
Sincerely,
free mackerel
Rin was just confused. He read it during his first period with chlorine-scented hands and wet hair. He read it again during his second period with a pencil between his teeth and frown across his face. He read it once more during lunch on the bleachers surrounding the pool with Nitori blabbing in one ear and one of his sister's best friends stalking him behind a bush.
Obviously, the person is a swimmer and loves mackerel as they mentioned it more than once. However, it was the fact that they said they've swum with Rin before that intrigued him. He didn't swim with very many people outside his own team and he knows he definitely hasn't made some great impression on the other swim teams here since he's barely talked to them and the fact that the only person he's swum with on that team has been Haruka Nanase.
And Haruka Nanase and Rin Matsuoka hate each other.
The other clue that Rin had was that either they've both seen each other today or he had been watched from afar by this particular person. Rin doesn't know, but he's confused nonetheless.
"Hey, look, it's Haru-san," Nitori comments and Rin's head immediately snaps up. He looks around for a brief couple of seconds before he spots Haru on the other side of the pool on the bleachers opposite of them. Rin watches him shortly and quickly notices Tachibana, Ryugazaki, and Hazuki trailing after him. He snorts and glances back at Nitori who's still studying them.
"Why do you even bother with them?" Rin asks.
"Why don't you, Rin-san?" Nitori asks him earnestly, turning back to face him. Rin frowns, opening his mouth to reply, but then closing it when he realizes that he didn't have a response.
"They're the competition," Rin finally answers, shrugging a bit. It was a lame response, but a response nonetheless. He hopes Nitori doesn't decide to bring up the fact that they play for the same school.
"So, that means they're inherently evil?"
"Yes," Rin says as if it's obvious. Well, maybe they aren't, but they must be treated as such.
"Why can't you just be friends with them like I am? They're super nice, Rin-san!" he exclaims happily. Rin rolls his eyes.
"Maybe, but they're still the enemies," Rin says. Nitori sighs and looks back at the four boys.
"They're looking over here," Nitori says after a few more seconds, sounding a little surprised. Rin jolts a bit in his seat and itches to turn to stare back, but realizes he can't do that.
"Really? Why?"
"I don't know, but Haru-san just shook his head at you," Nitori answers. That's it. Rin turns and finds himself staring straight into Haru's eyes. Rin briefly thinks it's stupid that he can see Haru's stupid blue eyes even from where he was seated. It's captivating, is the thing, and Rin can't find himself to look away. Haru continues to stare at him as well, not moving a single inch as if he moves it'll break this delicate string that has seemingly thrown itself across the pool and connected the two of them.
It's fucking ridiculous, Rin finally decides and looks away, cutting away at the stupid metaphorical string he just thought of. What would it even be a metaphor for? How much they hate each other?
He risks another glance at Haru, but the boy's looking at Makoto now, talking with him as his two other friends seem to share a heated discussion about something.
"I think you two would be good friends," Nitori says, breaking into Rin's thoughts. Rin suddenly finds himself clutching the note again and scoffs, turning away.
It's only until a few minutes later that he realizes that he agreed with him.
The next morning, Rin gets another note. It's on orange paper this time and it's placed in his right shoe in his locker. He stills at the sight of it and glances around, looking for the perpetrator or Sousuke, he doesn't know. He sighs and grabs at it, deciding to open it up right there.
Rin,
This is dumb, isn't it? My other friend told me that it was a good idea though and that I should stick to it. He also promised to go shopping for another swimsuit with me. He advised me to tell you a few things in case you were confused about some things. I asked him what you could possibly be confused about, but I agreed to it anyway. First thing- I do know you. Second thing- I am male. I didn't really think it was all that important, but there you go. Today, you swam pretty beautifully again. I'm sorry about your friend's shoulder though. Anyway, swim amazing tomorrow once again. Also, you should pack better things for your lunches.
Sincerely,
free mackerel
It was a boy writing the letters, which…okay. Rin hadn't really explored his sexuality all that much, but he's not dumb enough to realize that he's attracted to men maybe a little more than girls. Also, he was right. He knows him.
Another clue though was that he knew about Sousuke's shoulder, which means he was there this morning to see Sousuke stop swimming due to the pain. So, he was on the swim team. Also, because he was apparently in here yesterday during lunch, he's a part of one of the top two swim teams, which…yeah, okay. That narrowed it down definitely, but Rin didn't know to whom. Rin sighs and folds the note back up, sticking it into his pocket.
He'll be late to class again if he thinks about this any more.
Rin has one class with Haruka Nanase and he's managed to avoid being reminded of that for almost the entire semester already, but when he walks into English that day, he immediately notices the difference in the seating, which draws his eyes to the new seating chart on the board. His teacher eyes him as he walks over, studies it, stiffens when he sees who he's seated next to, and swallows loudly as he walks over to his chair. It seems Nanase wasn't here yet, but he can assume that he won't be particularly happy about this predicament either.
Haru walks in not even a minute later and Rin watches as he visibly studies the classroom before realizing the same thing that Rin realized. Haru walks over the board and Rin has a good view of a good back that, of course, as Rin suspected, noticeably stiffens. Haru turns slowly and watches Rin for a second before making his way over. Rin scoffs and shifts his gaze to his teacher who has started setting up the lesson plan for today.
Haru's chair is loud as he scrapes it across the floor and Rin jumps a little in his chair, and even though Rin still kept his gaze forward, he swears that Haru was smiling a bit at his reaction.
Damn him.
Rin keeps his gaze forward the entire class even when he drops his pencil from his mouth when his teacher calls on him to read a passage aloud. He knows Haru was laughing at him, but damn him—Rin kept his head forward.
The next note is encrypted on a light blue sheet of paper that looks crumpled up and old. He finds this note in the inside of his shirt, which he only discovered when he put on his shirt and the note fell to the ground. This note was a little different though as it seemed to Rin it was more direct.
Rin,
Hey again. I still think this is stupid, but my friend still thinks it's a good idea, and also, I guess I am getting into this habit now. I think we'll be able to talk more now, which is cool. I don't know what to talk about though. You wore your hair up today and to be honest, you looked pretty hot. Trust me when I say I was drooling from afar. Wow. My friend just laughed at me because I said that. Actually, it was a little weird, wasn't it? I got a new swimsuit today. I didn't want to say that as it might give me away, but I was just assured by my friend that there would be no way you'd notice. I don't see how you wouldn't. It's a completely different swimsuit. I have to go shopping today for more food because all of my friends, particularly one, ate all of it. It's so tiresome, you know? Have a good day, cute swimmer.
Sincerely,
free mackerel
If Rin wore his hair up all morning that day, no one would have to know why. Rin's been keeping all of the notes in his notebook and he's getting a little worried about how easily he could lose them. They've somehow become pretty precious to Rin, which yeah, could be considered a little worrisome, but right now, it doesn't matter.
When lunch comes around, he heads over to the pool once more, knowing that neither Nitori nor Sousuke were there to entertain him today. Nitori had to make up something with a teacher and Sousuke was with the physical therapist today to check up on his shoulder.
He sighs, bringing his back up with his hand and throwing it over his shoulder as he makes his way down to the pool itself. He just wants to swim today again and allow himself to get lost in the pool before it becomes too much of a chore for a while now that regionals are coming up.
After putting up his things in his locker, he makes his way out to the pool, immediately stilling when he sees that Haru and his friends are there once more. They haven't seemed to notice him and it's not like Rin doesn't want to swim in front of them because he's scared or something, but lately…something's off. He keeps walking and in his peripheral vision, he sees when they finally do notice him. He takes a deep breath and simply dives in, trying to ignore their lingering gazes.
He brings his right hand over his head and briefly brings his head about water to take a deep breath and suddenly he's swimming. It's a few strokes later that he realizes he's been swimming freestyle for whatever reason. He doesn't stop though and keeps swimming, heart ramming fast in his chest, strokes only quickening as he glides easily through the water.
He loves this feeling. He loves swimming and he loves feeling the water envelop him as he swims easily through the water. God, there is just no way he'll ever be able to give this feeling up.
After his fourth lap, he lifts himself out of the pool and turns so he's sitting on the edge, feet in the warm water. He smiles, bringing his hand up to drain out the water in his hair and looking up, he sees Haru watching him. Before he can even think about how he's his enemy, he's throwing Haru a wide smile because the feeling of elation and happiness that's in right now has definitely screwed with his mind apparently. It's even more interesting to see Haru smile back and Rin has to look away when he realizes that that isn't how their relationship is supposed to be.
Standing up, he picks up his towel and rushes off to the locker rooms, not even daring to spare a glance at the blue-eyed beauty. It isn't until he's in the room when he realizes his heart is hammering louder and louder while his mind can't seem to get off those damn blue eyes.
He dries his hair for so long that he thinks he's finally managed to shake out all of the thoughts of Haru out of his head.
"Are we even allowed to play poker at this school?" Rin asks as they settle in the gym, waiting for whoever else is going to show up. Apparently, this is some thing that seniors here do and even though Rin thinks it's completely stupid, he's still here. He's also irritated.
"Well, yeah, if you don't get caught," Sousuke replies easily, settling next to Rin on his right. Rin rolls his eyes and scoffs.
"Well, let's fucking hope we don't get caught then," Rin snaps.
Sousuke frowns at his response. "What's got you in such a mood?"
"Nothing," Rin mutters. Absolutely nothing, right? It's absolutely ridiculous that Rin is feeling put out because he didn't receive a letter today. That's stupid. Why does it matter?
Damnit.
Sighing heavily, Rin and Sousuke wait for people to show up. A few seniors Rin has never seen before stumble in and a few minutes after that, a whole crowd of them show up. Rin thinks it's ridiculous that so many people are so invested in this so-called "tradition".
They wait a few more minutes, getting everybody situated around them in a circle and just when Rin thinks that's it, Haruka Nanase and Makoto Tachibana walk in, eyeing their surroundings carefully. Rin glares at them for a second and then returns back to shuffling the many decks of cards.
After separating the seniors into groups, Rin realizes he's the dealer of Haru's group. Obviously, his life sucks. Biting his lip, he shuffles out the cards and sets up the three cards in the middle, waiting for people to put whatever they brought into the pile. The other three boys all take out something like their watches or a few coins in, while Makoto and Haru simply put in money. Rin has to make some sound of approval at that. There's no point to poker if not for the monetary gain of it. Who cares about random items that were probably dug out from under their beds?
They play for a while, two guys dropping out before the River can even be showed and when it is finally time for the showdown, it's not a surprise when Haru wins. Seriously. The universe just has to hate him, doesn't it?
They play for a long time, Haru never saying anything more than when he asks for a raise or if he has to mutter something to Makoto.
He never says a real word to Rin though and that, of course, did nothing to help Rin's irritable mood.
What is with him today?
Also, why does Haruka Nanase appear to be some poker champion? When it's finally time for the poker night to finish, Haru's won nearly all of them except two, one by Makoto and another by one of the other senior boys.
Rin hates him and admires him at the same time.
It's definitely a strange feeling.
It's especially a strange feeling when he feels a poke on his shoulder and turns to see Haru standing there, managing to look cool even holding the valuables of the others.
"Thanks for dealing, Rin," he says and just like that, he's walking out of the doors with Makoto and Rin doesn't even know what to say to that. Not like he could say it even if he did suddenly come up with something, but Rin's just lost.
What is with Haruka Nanase?
The next letter doesn't come soon enough in Rin's opinion even though it's literally the next morning when he finds it in his swim bag. He can't even deny the fact that's he's actually a little giddy to read it when he unfolds it quickly. It's on light yellow paper this time and Rin has to wonder where this guy is getting all of this stationery.
Rin,
Sorry about the absence of the letter yesterday. I got caught up in other things. I saw you yesterday though so it's fine. You know, I noticed that you're a pretty good dealer from where I was seated. You were also incredibly pretty. You're just really pretty. I just want to tell you how pretty you are. When you swim…talk…laugh. Seriously. It's a little distracting. My friend is telling me that I sound like some schoolgirl in love in which I promptly responded that I am not a schoolgirl. I hope you are well, Rin. I always wish I could somehow convince myself to say more to you, but I also feel that we communicate well enough when we swim together. I want to swim with you again, but I don't know when I will get the chance to. Happy days to us.
Sincerely,
free mackerel
Maybe it made Rin a little too happy. He didn't care. When he gets to English, he's smiling widely and when he sees Haru in his seat, he walks over to him and pats him on the back before saying, "You're a good player by the way."
Haru's blue blue eyes seem to get even brighter at that and Rin briefly asks himself how he hated him.
"Thanks," Haru responds, looking away and Rin smiles, bringing his hand back to put his hair up. It's been getting his face all day and Rin is perfectly okay with pretending that's the only reason he's putting it up rather than admitting that it could be because he knows that "free mackerel" could possibly be in here.
"Do you hate me, Haru?" Rin asks after a few more minutes when it's becoming clear that they're teacher either won't show up or is just incredibly late. Haru glances at him, surprise all over his face and Rin realizes for the first time that maybe he was the only one who hated the other. It's not like he ever tried to actually talk to the water-loving freak before his competitive hatred of him.
"No, I don't hate you. Why would I hate you?" Haru asks. Rin gulps. Yes. Apparently, he was alone in those feelings of certain…passion. "Rin?"
"Oh," is what he finally says.
"Oh?" Haru asks, seemingly confused. Rin wishes he were anywhere else but here right about now because this is completely embarrassing. "Why? Did you hate me?"
Rin tilts his head, considering his words and also stalling a bit just in case the universe doesn't hate him and would bring in their teacher right about now. Of course, the universe seems to be against him like always.
"I thought I did," is what he finally offers up as an answer.
"You thought you hated me?"
"I guess," Rin replies.
"What does that mean?"
"It means I thought that I hated you, okay?"
"Okay."
Rin nods. "Okay then." Rin doesn't think he's ever wished for a conversation to be done more than this one.
"Do you hate me now?" Haru asks after another long stretch of silence. Rin sighs.
"No. I honestly don't think I ever did to be honest. Think I was just jealous," Rin answers. Jealous? Damnit. Was he? That would definitely make sense. Also, how can one who's so good at swimming be so damn good at poker too? How is that even fair?
"Jealous?"
"Yeah," Rin sighs. This was beyond embarrassing.
"Oh," Haru breathes out. Rin closes his eyes. Haru's blue blue eyes still continue to pierce him though. "Why?"
Rin opens his eyes at that. "What do you mean 'why'?"
"I mean…why are you jealous of me?" Haru asks, eyes wide.
"Have you seen yourself swim?" Rin replies.
"Yes, I watch myself in the mirror every day," Haru deadpans and Rin has enough dignity to admit that he can appreciate sarcasm when he sees it so yeah, sue him if he laughed.
"I'm sure it's a great view," Rin laughs. Haru quirks a smile at that, but it fades soon enough.
"Yeah, but you're a great view too," he says.
Rin raises an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"
"Yeah. Coming from a professional after all. Even the ghosts think you have a good form."
"Hm," Rin responds noncommittally. It seems that Haru's freaking weird and completely un-hate worthy. Is that even a word? Rin doesn't know, but he knows Haru is it. "Good thing the ghosts have a good view even in their afterlife then. Would hate to see them stuck watching old grandmas knit ugly sweaters for their cats."
Haru laughs, a quiet sound that Rin revels in before realizing that that's a little weird. He needs to say something to change the subject. This conversation was getting awfully close to friendship land and Rin didn't know if he was prepared to make such a life commitment to someone he claimed he hated not even a week ago.
"Hm. I wonder where she is? Our teacher, I mean," he says, hoping that it'll change the subject.
Haru hums, and the door swings open and their teacher scurries in right after, huffing loudly as she settles down in her chair.
"There she is," he says. He opens his notebook, and just like that, the conversation is over.
Rin soon realizes that he doesn't like the silence.
He doesn't get a letter the next morning and he was already having a bad day because he got into an argument with his mother on the phone the night before. He grumbles petulant words under his breath and grabs his swim bag before heading down to the pool. He can skip one day. It's not like they even take his attendance.
As he nears the pool he's reminded that this class period was for Haru's team and that maybe he should leave.
He doesn't.
Instead, he stands next to the bleachers, out of sight of the swimmers, but still able to see them. He watches as Haru gets into position before diving smoothly into the water.
Rin can't even deny it's pretty beautiful.
Rin shakes his head, trying to clear his thoughts, and decides that he'll just go to class after all, but for some reason, his feet won't move. He's stuck, watching Haru glide easily through the water, and he just can't look away.
And suddenly, he can't fucking breathe.
He's falling and his vision is blurry and someone is screaming something loudly, but all he can focus on are the sounds of loud splashes and Haru coming closer to him.
"Rin! Rin! Are you okay?" Rin doesn't know who asks him that, but he knows he opens his mouth to say something, and really, what in the world is going on?
"I'm so sorry, Tachibana. I didn't see him. I jump down to this spot every single day so I didn't look," someone says in a hurried rush.
"No, no, it's fine Aomi. We just have to get him up," Tachibana responds. Rin blinks a few times and then feels strong arms lifting him up.
"You okay, Rin?" Haru asks, his breath warm on his neck. Rin shivers. What the hell?
Rin coughs and shrugs out of Haru's grip on him. "Yeah. I'm fine."
"Are you sure you're okay, Rin?" Tachibana asks, placing a hand on his shoulder. Rin shrugs that off too. What is with them and touching him?
"I said I'm fine," Rin responds, a little too rudely even for his liking. Whatever. He won't apologize. Haru's still staring at him, a frown gracing his face, and Rin doesn't know how to feel about what he's feeling right now. This is ridiculous. Absolutely fucking ridiculous. He takes a step back. "I-I gotta go."
He quickly turns around, rubbing his head trying his very best to ignore the blue-eyed stare he can feel on him.
Rin,
You got hurt yesterday. Sorry for that happening. I guess you wanted to swim, huh? I hope you are better today. I noticed you weren't in English class and I assume you skipped, but if it's because you were so hurt, then I really do hope you are better. Anyway, today is a new day, and just know that you have really beautiful eyes. And hair. And a personality. At least, I like to think so.
Sincerely,
free mackerel
Rin frowns down at the letter, Sousuke talking loudly to Nitori to the side of him. So, he knows about him getting hurt and skipping English. That means whoever this is in his English class. Who's in his English class and the swim team?
Haruka Nanase is.
And according to Haru, he doesn't hate him. And from what Rin's really learned about Haru, Haru's fucking strange and would definitely do something like love letters.
Holy shit.
"Rin, you coming?" Sousuke asks, breaking his epiphany. Rin blinks a few times and just shakes his head.
"Uhm, I need to see about something," he finds himself saying and Sousuke just grunts, walking away. Rin hears the bell ring, which means that well, he's late for his class, and two, Haru should be here soon.
He finishes getting dressed and goes out to wait on the bleachers. He waits a few minutes before he finally sees Haru walking in with Tachibana, talking about something or another.
"Matsuoka!" Tachibana says, a surprised smile coming on his face. Rin just nods at him and focuses on Haru, who's staring openly at Rin.
Rin's suddenly graced with the thought of what if it's not Haru? Well, shit, that'd be embarrassing for sure. But why does Rin almost want it to be Haru? What is he supposed to do—shit.
Rin wants Haruka Nanase.
"Haru," he finally says, throat a bit constricted. "Can I talk to you privately?" Tachibana raises and eyebrow and smiles, walking ahead quickly before Haru can say anything. Haru walks over to him, confusion written all over his body posture.
"Rin?" he asks, confused.
"Do you like mackerel?" Rin blurts out. He watches Haru's reaction go from surprised to confused to realization and finally to embarrassment.
"Oh," he breathes out. "That." Rin waits for him to say something else, but Haru's too busy looking wide-eyed and ready to bolt.
"So…it's you?" Rin questions. Haru licks his lips, looks away, and gives a jerky nod.
"Makoto made me," he mumbles, and Rin almost wants to laugh.
It's Haru. It's really Haru, and somehow Rin used to think he hated him. He used to think all of these stupid things and yet all he can think about right now is how much he just wants to lean in and kiss him.
He wants to kiss Haru.
"Can I kiss you?" he blurts out, and Haru's face reddens as he nods ever so slightly. Rin doesn't even wait.
Rushing forward, he presses his lips against Haru's, Haru tasting like chlorine and breath mint, which doesn't make any sense. At first, there's nothing. It's just like the kisses with other people, but then Haru's hand tightens in Rin's hair and they lean in just a bit more, and suddenly, it's everything all at once.
Haru's everywhere and they're bodies are moving toward each other with every passing second and it's hot and breathy and Rin can't really care about anything right now.
It's Haru who finally pulls back, looking dazed and beautiful, and what the fuck just happened?
"That was a lot better than I thought it would be," Haru finally laughs, and Rin joins in, entwining their hands. Haru narrows his eyes at him though. "Hey, aren't you supposed to be in class?" Rin just laughs harder.
"Yeah, but then I realized that the guy I didn't know I had a crush on me has been sending me love letters that I can't seem to stop rereading," Rin admits, and Haru smiles widely.
"Oh," he says. Rin laughs again, leaning into Haru. He pulls back a bit to get a clear look at Haru's face. "So…I'm Rin Matsuoka and I'd like very much to take you out on a date."
Haru rolls his eyes. "As long as there's mackerel." Rin nods, and wonders briefly how he didn't realize sooner. How he didn't see it. How he could ever hate someone. How anything he's ever thought about Haru weren't the thoughts running through his head right now.
It's when Haru blushes a bit that Rin also realizes he doesn't necessarily care.
Rin just kisses him.
*this entire thing was STUPID. stupid stupid sTUPIIDDDDD.
I started this fic a loongg time ago (okay like three months ago) and I just found it once more, and decided to finish it. It's stupid and awful and the ending is so cheesy that lactose intolerant people runnnnn away. o.o
Anyway, reviews are definitely most appreciated although I expect most of them to be talking about how utterly stupid this was. *le sigh
Baiii guys. :)
-DiAnna44
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