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Pairing: Haruka/Rin/Haruka

The screen in front of him is currently flashing with an almost blinding white light, and Haruka has to squint to shield his eyes from the offending brightness. He blinks a few times, letting his pupils adjust to the incoming light that is far too intense for his tastes. Haruka sighs, grabbing the mouse to move the cursor while trying to figure out where the pre-installed web browser is.

If there is one thing in this world that Haruka would rather live without, it's technology.

By technology, he means the more advanced, avant-garde type people use for leisure and entertainment, the kind that gets obsolete within a matter of months after its release because there's always a 'new and improved' edition to follow. Tablets, laptops, smartphones… they are items that have now become so common, almost like household appliances, and Haruka knows of people who can literally drop dead if they were to live a day without these tools. Thankfully, he's not one of them.

Take his electrical rice-cooker and griller away, however, and he might just pass out from the lack of his staple rice and mackerel.

Okay, so maybe not all technology is bad. Still, he doesn't understand the appeal in endlessly scrolling down pages of pictures and words typed out in too small fonts, doesn't see the point in spending hours and hours on the Internet doing absolutely nothing beneficial. He had seen some of the websites Nagisa always check during recess, something about updating status and replying to the never ending stream of comments. The cheerful brat has an idiotic grin on his face all the time while doing that.

It's a lot of crap, really. Nagisa once forced him and Makoto to make a Facebook account, reasoning out that "it's easier to keep in touch with friends and families, Haru-chan!" and "but you have to play Criminal Case, I swear, it's really good!". Haruka kept silent and responded with a blank stare, because the only 'friends and families' he has are Makoto, Nagisa, Rei and his parents (regardless how pathetic that sounds) and he would much prefer swimming over surfing the Internet any day. Surfing real waves, on the other hand, that's something he'd like to try. Makoto though, being the gentle giant with a heart softer than pudding that he is, easily gave in to his childhood friend's persuasion and signed up for Facebook. Now he's already in the Pet Rescue Saga's Top 20 ranks, and still climbing.

So yeah, when it comes to social networks, Nanase Haruka pretty much vowed that hell will probably freeze over before he actually stoop that low and succumb to peer pressure (aka Nagisa).

The rest of the world doesn't share his opinion, though. Amakata-sensei, along with a few other classical literature teachers of Iwatobi High, came up with the notion that the students should utilize IT in their learning experience, and so had assigned them to research tasks. Each of them had to draw lots on which story they will have to work on, and of course, what is school assignment without long-ass analytical essays? To make things worse, fate is just hating on Haruka because Makoto got a different one.

Which means he's on his own in this. Well, shit.

And that brings him to the current situation. Haruka finds the web browser after a few clicks and cut to the chase. Not bothering to explore any further, he starts typing 'Genji Monogatari' into the search box, and within a split second, thousands of results appeared. Haruka is used to scouring the library after school for research materials, spending hours and hours flipping through the pages while Makoto dozes off waiting. Compared to that, this is practically heaven.

Okaaaayy, he has to begrudgingly admit that this thing is useful and somewhat magical. Still.

By the time he is done with the assignment, the digital clock on his shelf flashes a crimson 02:14 A.M, way past his usual bedtime. Haruka is sure the last time he'd felt this worn out was during that 100m freestyle race he reluctantly participated in a few years back. His eyes are now beyond sore, a pulsating ache throbs deep inside his sockets, and sleep suddenly sounds like the best thing ever after water and miso glazed mackerel steaks. He briefly wonders if Makoto is done with his 'Kaguya Hime' essay. The guy has always been good at literature and is far more tech-savvy than him anyway, so this thing is probably a no-brainer for him.

Crawling under the blanket for a well-deserved rest, Haruka sighs, swearing that he's never touching the little device of the devils again.

But the universe, it seems, has other plans in store.

There is a loud commotion in the classroom that morning involving lots of squealing and screaming. Haruka really doesn't want to know what has prompted the girls who were crowding around one table to act like 5-year-olds high on candies (not like they aren't already always like that) but he can't help knowing anyway, because the girls are yelling continuous narratives throughout watching whatever it is that's tickling their fancies.

"Ohhh my god, he is sooo freaking cute!" One of the girls shouts just as Haruka finds his seat. A few of his other male classmates roll their eyes, and for once, Haruka shares their sentiment.

"I know! He's such a babe, look, he even cried at the hugging scene!" They all go silent for a while, seemingly concentrating on the video before out of the blue, in perfect and downright creepy synchrony, the girls let out a chorus of "awwww!", swooning and sighing theatrically.

"Why can't all boys be like him?"

Haruka is staring out the window at the falling leaves when he hears a boy ask loudly in an annoyed voice. "Like what, a crybaby?"

Instantly, the girls snap around to send deathly glares at the boy whom Haruka now notices is Tsukki, the outspoken guy in class known for his stinging sarcasm.

"No you jerk, a romantic! You guys don't understand the true meaning of romance, at all!" Streams of agreement and complains follow, and it looks as if a fight is going to break out between the two groups. Luckily, class 2-A's resident peacemaker and actual angel Tachibana Makoto is there to calm things down. Haruka observes as Makoto tries to fend off the onslaught of date proposals and love confessions that flood him right after the incident.

"See? Makoto-kun here is the perfect example of how guys should behave, you know?"

"Yeah! But I still think Rin-kun is cuter…"

The casually dropped name sounds awfully familiar. Haruka has no idea who the hell this 'Rin-kun' is, but if the girls fawn over him so much, then he must be a popular person or something. Probably an idol from a random boyband. Or even a good-looking cosplayer; girls are into that these days. Either way, it doesn't concern his life, so he lets it go.

They're having lunch at a quiet spot near the school's swimming pool when Nagisa suddenly pipes up, merrily talking through a mouthful of his favourite ¥480 Iwatobi bread. Sometimes Haruka worries for the kid's health. Eating too much sugary stuff is never a good thing. Mackerel is definitely the way to go.

"Mako-chan, Haru-chan," Nagisa begins, cheeks still stuffed full with bread, some crumbs even spraying out as he speaks. Beside him, Rei is prepared with a speech on eating manners ready to roll off his tongue. "Have you checked out our latest video?"

Haruka casts a side glance at his friend. He already knows where this conversation is going. "Which video," he asks, monotonous as usual.

"The candid camera one where we pranked Amakata-sensei with a frog in her bag!"

"Ah, that one," Haruka says. He has absolutely no idea which video it was.

He's not to be blamed, though, because there are tons of them, all uploaded weekly to the YouTube account Nagisa and Rei run together. Nagisa always comes up with the most bizarre ideas, ranging from reviewing new cake and dessert shops in the city to a guideline of silly ways to kiss, but they mostly revolve around food. Surprisingly, despite the simple, childish and at times immature contents of the videos, the channel is watched by quite a number of viewers. Haruka recalls Nagisa bragging about reaching 999 subscribers last month, and god knows how many there are now. Perhaps the people enjoy watching poor Rei slowly losing his insanity over his boyfriend's antics and crazy eating skills.

Nagisa is sharp enough to see through Haruka's deceptions. "Hmmm… You're obviously lying, Haru-chan. You didn't watch it, right?

"I did." Haruka glares at Makoto to ask for backup help, but the green-eyed boy is already lost in the wonders of his mother's home-cooked bento.

"Oh, reaaaally? Then tell me, what did Amakata-sensei do to the frog when she saw it?"

Damn. No wonder people say that one lie leads to another. "…. She-" Haruka pauses, wrecking his brain to seek for a viable response, finding none. Ugh, screw it all. "…threw it out the window."

"Wrong! She stuffed it in the staff room's fridge! Haru-chaaaaannn!" Nagisa pouts cutely and wails, rubbing his blonde head against Haruka's shoulder fervently to show his protest. The fact that their sweet teacher has just committed a blatant murder on an innocent animal goes unheeded.

"It was uploaded yesterday, wasn't it? I think I saw it on my dash…" Great, Makoto, now you're talking. "I'll probably watch it tonight with Ran and Ren. They're huge fans of their Nagisa-niichan and Megane-niichan."

Upon hearing his nickname kindly given by the Tachibana twins, Rei splutters and chokes on his barley tea with the grace of a strangled swan. Which is, not really a beautiful sight. "Makoto-senpai, t-they're still calling me that?!"

"Well, you've got to admit, it's kinda endearing though," Makoto chuckles, turning to look at Haruka and smile apologetically. "Haru, you want to watch with us?"

"No, thanks. I'll pass."

"Awwwww, you're no fun, Haru-chan!"

"Haruka-senpai, I reckon that it would not hurt to at least watch one of our masterpieces… Oh, the aesthetics of filming are at its height in that video! Such a beautiful angle capturing the scenes discretely from between the shelves… such quality graphics that will blow your mind away!" Rei says dramatically. After realizing that he's fallen into the 'Drama King Rei' mode again, he coughed to hide his embarrassment, carefully putting his chopsticks back into the box. Nagisa has turned his attention to silently snatching the octopus sausages from Rei's lunch. "Besides, it will be a highly enjoyable watch, I can ensure you that. We will be very pleased and proud if you were to watch anything on our channel, Haruka-senpai."

There's that sparkle in his purple eyes, and who the hell can say no when Rei plays that 'pure-hearted, admiring kouhai' card?

Haruka holds his three friends' hopeful gazes for a few seconds. Then, a small "okay" is the only thing he manages to say before he is tackled onto the ground and engulfed in a surprise group hug.

Nagisa and Rei end up following them back to Makoto's place, wanting to witness the moment Haruka is converted to ButterPenguin143's fan.

Bless whoever came up with the atrocious name.

The video is nothing short of wacky and eccentric, as expected of the duo. Apparently, Amakata-sensei was not one bit fazed by the slimy frog croaking at her the moment she opens her bag. Instead, like Nagisa pointed out, she picked it up without hesitation and threw it into the staffroom's chiller, leaving it to freeze to death. Despite the adorable, doe-eyed look… she's really not one to be messed with.

As soon as the screen turns to black and the little boxes of related videos pop out, Ran and Ren clap their hands in glee, glomping Nagisa in a warm embrace while singing and yelling praises. Makoto was certainly not lying when he said that the twins are die-hard fans. Rei smiles fondly at the sight, and was about to close the webpage when something catches Haruka's eyes.

"Wait," he says. "Click on the next one."

Rei stares at the screen, surprised and confused. "Piudipai's Octodad Adventures? My, my, Haruka-senpai, I'd never have guessed that you would be interested in such exquisi—"

"Not that, Rei. The waterfall one." Haruka mutters, pointing towards the small box in the grid of recommended videos. Rei shrugs. He clicks on it, and it starts to play.

"Heeeeello everyone! We meet again! I'm Rin, and I'm here to bring you—"

"Uwah, it's Rin-chan!" Nagisa shouts in an instant, barely able to contain his excitement. He lurches at the laptop and presses his face against the screen, letting out a small squeal.

"Rin-chan?" Makoto asks, patting the heads of his younger siblings when they come barreling into his arms. "You know him, Nagisa?"

"Yeap, it's him! He's the hottest YouTube star in Japan right now. See?" The blonde points at the view counts on the right -just above the fully-blue like/dislike bar- that reads 270,159. "His videos are really popular, and he's so cool too!"

There are more conversations taking place in the room, and somewhere at one point Rei and Nagisa are bantering about who Ran likes more, but Haruka hears nothing. His eyes -now glinting with pure interest- are completely glued to the scenes unfolding on the screen, taking in each and every detail of the crystal clear waterfall that this Rin-chan (or SharkBoiUnleashed, whatever) is talking about right now.

"As you can see, the water here is perfectly unpolluted, and… Oh, c'mere!" The maroon-haired boy exclaims in enthusiasm, motioning the cameraman to come closer. "Fishes! Look, they're so little and pretty… Their silver scales glow when it catches sunlight. Man, this place is awesome!"

Unconsciously, Haruka inches closer and closer, ultimately absorbed by the clip. He can feel it course through his body; the exhilaration at the thought of feeling the water enveloping his body.

Water is there, mere inches from his face, and calling out for him. He's yearning for it, but it's so close yet so far. No matter how spectacularly realistic-looking the waterfall is in the video, in the end, it's only a digital representation of Water, not Water itself.

What a cruel invention this YouTube is.

He watches as SharkBoiUnleashed dives into the pristine icy water without bothering to remove his black tank-tops, and the way his laughter rings in the air as he swims makes Haruka's heart clench tightly. All of a sudden, his chest consists of thousands of acrobats doing cartwheels and triple somersaults, and just before the clip ends, the boy playfully splashes water onto the camera lens, effectively knocking the breath out of Haruka's lungs.

"So guys, here it is, the perfect place for an unforgettable date with your loved one! Romantic, isn't it? Don't forget to subscribe!"

The 6-minute video ends with one final wink from Rin, and Haruka is left dumbstruck.

What. In. The. World. Did he just watch.

Feeling disgruntled and unsatisfied like a child robbed of his candy, he grabs the mouse (left unattended ages ago when Nagisa tackled Rei and challenged him to a wrestling match) and fumbles to find the replay button. The video loops again and ends just as soon. In the background, Nagisa is giggling idiotically and whispering "look, look, Haru-chan is totally into Rin-chan's videos!" to Makoto. Haruka ignores them and quickly clicks on another of SharkBoiUnleashed's video, a fairly new one judging from the significantly lesser view counts. The moment the mesmerizing shores of Shirahama Beach show up on screen, Haruka knows that he's in too deep.

"Heeeeeeeello everyone! I'm Rin, and today we will go on a beach date!" Rin, dressed impeccably in dark red sleeveless shirt and fitting black shorts, waves at the camera and flashes a grin brighter than the summer sun. He stops walking to stand right on the shoreline, letting the little ripples wash over his feet as he spreads his arms out, basking in the ocean's calmness. "Ah, the wind feels great~"

Haru feels his heart stop for a moment.

Yeap, there's no way out of this. Not anymore.

And just like that, Nanase Haruka is lost in the spiral of eternal darkness that is YouTube.

A/N: First chapter of the RinHaru YouTube AU! How was it? Do leave a review~ Oh and you can find me on AO3 and tumblr under the same username, in case you want to talk/send prompts/anything ;)

Hope you enjoyed reading!