Rin was tired. Exhausted really, emotionally, mentally, and physically all at once. He let out a sigh as he laid in bed staring at the hotel room ceiling. He muttered to himself how ridiculous it was he was required to stay at a hotel when his apartment was less than ten miles away from the Olympic village that was set up for the athletes. This was his third Olympics since he graduated high school, and it was being hosted in Sydney. Even though he was Japanese native, after he graduated high school he immediately applied for dual citizenship so he could join the Australian national swimming team, and the whole country quickly accepted Rin as their pride and joy athlete who won their hearts with his talent, determination, and charisma. Due to his impressive skill from the get go, he managed to qualify for his first Olympics only two years after joining the team, where he won gold in Free style, and also lead his teammates to get silver in relay. For the second Olympics, he was stuck with silver after he was beat by less than a second in the final round by his best friend/strongest competitor, Haruka Nanase, who grew to be Japans all star swimmer. This time around however, neither of them got gold. Rin ended up with bronze, and Haru ended up with silver, both of them just barely behind a young up and coming American kid.

This of course frustrated Rin, but at the same time he knew it was coming. His trainer, his coach, and anyone who had experience with the life of a professional athlete warned him that being on top is a short lived high, and age is nearly everything when it comes to high rank competition. While he might be able to hold onto being Australia's best for a little while longer, on the world stage there's always going to be someone younger, who has more energy, who's able to train more, who has less ware and tear on their body, and no matter what you do they will eventually beat you. "But the fun part is you get to watch them get beat a decade later too. Some twisted little circle of life this is." Rin sneered to himself.

He accepted this reality that he was 'becoming old' for the profession he's chosen, but he was still rather distraught that he failed his country on the year they were hosting. There's always such high expectations for hosting Olympic countries. It's all about showing the whole world the best the country has, through grandiose opening ceremonies, larger than life pools /fields /equipment, and of course, the power of the countries athletes, and this year, Rin failed. Or at least in his standards he failed, while from the outside it seems like third place against all the world's finest athletes is pretty damn good, from Rins perspective, bronze is the lowest of consolation prizes, it takes his last four years of work, determination, and training and says 'here kid, we'll still let you on the podium and have your name slightly remembered in the newspapers, so your whole life till now isn't completely in vain.'

"Maybe I should quit now, I've been on a downslide since my first Olympics, next time it wouldn't surprise me if I didn't end up on the podium at all." Rin sighed, he still had a relay tomorrow but he wanted to go home. He couldn't sleep as it is, and in his current state he'd just be dragging the team down. His mind quickly went back to the idea of quitting. Not right now of course, but after his job is done in this year's Olympics.

Could he quit? Well of course he could, he had enough money from endorsement and minor TV appearances to be set for life, as long as he didn't spend too extravagantly. It would sure look better in the long run to bow out gracefully instead of stubbornly insisting to compete after the rest of the world considers him to be someone desperate to hold on when he's past his prime.

Rin scowled, he knew he peaked too late. A lot of the kids in the Olympics are… well kids. Fourteen to Sixteen year olds are now his biggest competitors while he only made it to the big stage for the first time when he was twenty. If only he was that good when he was younger, he would of loved to have at least one more Olympics, one more chance to beat Haru. He ground his sharp teeth in irritation thinking about the fact that Haru's beat him two out of three times. He wanted so bad to at least even out the score. Maybe he shouldn't quit just yet, just so he can keep competing against the only guy really worth beating in Rin's book, but he quickly dismissed that idea as being selfish and not worth dragging the entirety of the Australian national team into. Besides, if he really just wanted to go against Haru, he could just fly back to Japan, go up to him and ask. Not like Haru's ever before rejected his challenges, they've been swimming together neck in neck since they were kids.

"I wonder what would happen with Haru if I quit…" This thought caused a pit in Rin's stomach as he knew for a long time that swimming was the glue that kept him and his only true best friend together. Everyone else from Rin's younger years had faded away as everyone went on with their separate lives and passions, but since Rin and Haru ended up going on similar paths, they used "the spirit of friendly competition" as an excuse to send weekly e-mails reporting their latest lap times, and calling each other at the end of a long day to complain about who has the more grueling training regiment. Rin knew that if he quit and Haru continued swimming competitively they would lose all common ground and have nothing to talk about anymore.

"Maybe if I quit Haru would follow me." Yeah, like Haru would quit swimming. That's like asking a dolphin to try living on land for a while, see if he likes it. Besides Rin knew it was completely self centered to ask Haru to quit just because he wants to. Haru got silver this year and gold last year, coming out in second is practically a world away from getting bronze. There's a lot of pride in being second, and he could still bounce back. Heck, he never wanted to admit it, but by natural talent in the water alone Haru's always had an edge over Rin. Why not let him keep going until, he too finds that he might be ageing out of this competitive world. And yet, despite all this good logic to let Haru go, Rin couldn't stand the idea of being left behind.

"Sheesh get a hold of yourself, it's not like the two of you can stay together forever or anything. Even if I stay for now, eventually there is life after swimming, we'll find partners, get married, focus on our own families, and then drift away from each other like everybody else." This twisted Rin in even more knots, the idea that drifting is inevitable, that despite his and Haru's success on staying friends for most of their lives, there will be a day when Rin's life doesn't have Haru in it. Just consciously recognizing it caused loneliness to wash over him. Rin never had close connections with anyone else. His love life was laughable. Girls who weren't athletes wanted more attention than Rin could manage, as his life resolved mostly around swimming. He tried dating female team members who kept the same schedule as him but they found his competitive nature a turn off. They'd rather have a boyfriend they could chill with instead of a guy challenging them to swim against him all the time.

The only other person who really shared Rin's passion, who loved swimming as much as him, was Haru. Being in the water together was their way to spend time together, while doing something they both loved. In fact, when they weren't swimming together, Rin was always focused on the next time they will be swimming together, or against each other. He eagerly awaited Haru's e-mails with lap times so he knew what time to aim to beat. When he practiced he always pictured Haru 10 meters in front of him at all times, taunting him to swim harder, push faster, catch up even though Rin's mind never allowed him to actually be caught. "Always chasing after Haru, that's what I've been doing my whole life, haven't I? When'd my life come to this?" Rin knew his dream to be an Olympic swimmer was something he decided on long ago as a way to honor the dreams his father had, but never fulfilled. But he had already completed that dream the first time when he won gold. From that moment on he felt he did his Dad right. So what has pushed him to keep going these past eight years? The answer is simple really.

Haru.

As all this unraveled in Rin's mind he started to think maybe, at least part of the reason of his failed love life was this obsession with his best friend, which made it hard for him to truly absorb himself in anyone else.

"AHH FUCK, NO, HE'S MY FRIGGEN SOUL MATE AIN'T HE? SHIT SHIT SHIT, I CAN'T DEAL WITH THIS RIGHT NOW. I GOT A RELAY AGAINST HIM TOMORROW, I CAN'T BE THINKIN ABOUT SHIT LIKE THIS!" Rin violently tossed and turned as his body flailed against the bed before repeatedly banging his head face first against a pillow a couple of times. This truly wasn't the time for life changing epiphanies. Though he actually, for the first time tonight, found it lucky that right now was the Olympics, and he was stuck confined in this athlete's village. Thoughts like this can't be ignored, and if Rin had to face it, at least Haru's actually in a room nearby. Rin refused to give himself time to have second thoughts about contacting Haru and opened his cell phone, pressing Haru's number on speed dial.

It rang twice "Hello Rin?"

Rin exhaled the nervous breath he was holding in. "Haru! You answered that quickly, don't tell me you still have a hard time sleeping before big events."

Haru rolled his eyes in the darkness of his own room "And you're any better calling me at one in the morning? Whaddya want Rin?"

"Well actually, haha, you got me, I can't sleep either. How about we burn off this restlessness together? The practice pool is open 24/7 to the swimmers. I can meet you there."

"Yeah sure, that sounds great. I'll be there in twenty minutes."

"Awesome, I'll be there…" Rin lingered silently, not sure if he wanted to say anything more on the phone. Maybe some explanation on why he probably sounds so nervous. He sighed, though he didn't mean to out loud.

"Everything okay Rin?"

"Um, yeah, well, no, not really. But I'll explain when I see you."

"You're not upset about the bronze are you? I don't want a rematch tonight, we're both exhausted, and I'm not up to it."

"No, no, it's not that, we'll just be relaxing I promise. So I'll see you there soon, bye."

"Bye."

Haru was the first to hang up and Rin let out another long sigh before rolling out of bed and switching on the light switch to fix his hair and slip on his near skin tight iconic black swim trunks with red accents. He threw on a black tank top which had a pocket for his room card and then left his room, quietly making his way down the hall to the elevator as to not wake up or alert any of his teammates of his departure. The teams coach would surely kill him for sacrificing his sleep in order to meet up with an old friend. Even if he tried to explain he really couldn't sleep anyway.

He made it down the elevator and into the lobby without incident and hurried out the building, jogging to the enclosed practice pool only a couple of blocks away. When he opened the door he was relieved to see no one else was interested in swimming this hour, that he and Haru could be alone to talk about whatever it is he could manage to actually say. Haru was already there, Rin didn't spot him at first but Haru could see a wavy image of Rin from under water. He pushed forward to the edge of the pool near the door and popped his head out to the surface catching some air.

"Heya Rin." He raised his hand and did a half wave.

"Haru!" Rin grinned ear to ear, just saying his name. He then got flustered, feeling more self-conscious about his outward affection towards his friend. "Have I always been so happy go lucky just to see him? He's not staring at me like I've done anything weird. I guess I have but this seems a little too excited for normal friendship. How could neither of us have noticed this before?" Rin tried to brush it off and pushed himself into the water in the lane next to Haru's

"So what's up Rin?" Haru asked, bobbing in the water.

Rin sighed, not sure where to start. "Haru, I've been thinking for the past hour and I've come to the conclusion that we're soulmates and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. HAH! How the hell do you ease into this?" He decided to better start with where his thoughts first started. "Haru, I'm thinking of quitting competitive swimming after the closing ceremony's next week."

Haru audibly gulped, he knew Rin to be a very stubborn and very competitive guy and the last time Haru beat him and he mentioned quitting, Haru didn't see our hear from Rin until years afterwards. Could he be upset that Haru beat him two Olympic years in a row? Did he stop enjoying competing again? Haru couldn't stand upsetting Rin like that again, winning wasn't worth it if it meant making a true enemy of his friend. He reached out across the polypropylene rope to grab Rin's wrist, afraid that his friend might have an emotional outburst and dash away at any moment. "H-hey, you're still a great swimmer. You followed your dream and you did more than your father would ever want for. We're at the Olympics Rin, the highest peak of the athletic world. We've made it… please don't doubt yourself now, please don't quit again."

Rin quickly realized that Haru's sudden flash of fear was due to déjà vu and shook his head chuckling. "No, no, I'm not upset Haru. Look at me, I'm not angry I'm not crying. It's just that I'm getting old you know? Least in swimmers years. I don't want to push myself too hard, if I continue training this hard while my body ages I might end up like Sosuke you know? I'd rather be healthy for the rest of my life and be able to swim enjoyably rather than risk it all trying to get a few more years of fame in. If I did try to stay in the game I'm not even sure if I can hold on for another four years to make it here again."

By the end of his explanation Rin was leaning against the wall of the pool, his arms crossed against the concrete edge holding his body up afloat. Haru pulled himself out of the pool and stepped over to Rin's lane, sitting on the ledge and spreading his legs wide in order to let his lower legs hang into the pool. His inner thighs were practically pressed against Rin's elbows. "God man, do you realize how this looks right now? Do you realize how inviting you are?!" Rin sunk his face halfway into the water and blew bubbles against the surface with his nose to ignore some of his newly found, one way, sexual tension.

"Are you serious about this Rin?" Haru asked to break his perverted distraction.

"Yeah, I mean, well, I probably wouldn't of thought about it if I didn't get that bronze today. But it's not just because of the bronze you know. That was just my kind of wakeup moment that maybe it's time to move on. Really it makes sense, I don't have the same drive that I did when I was younger. I realize that I have been so focused on swimming that swimming is all I got, well, swimming and you. And well, I dunno about you, but my trainers been warning me that being an athlete isn't a lifelong thing you know? So, I've been thinking about my future and well…"

Rin nervously looked up into Haru's eyes "Haru, have you ever considered starting a family?"

Haru didn't pick up on Rin's bad attempts to share his feelings, without outwardly sharing them, just stared at Rin with an annoyed look. Of course, with them knowing each other so well Rin read it right away as a "You know for a fact that I'm not into romance, and I have no interest in being a father" look. Rin sighed wondering how it was possible that Haru has gone so long without any outward interest to anyone of either gender. He started to second guess if he really wanted to be with someone who was nearly emotionally mute. But then he grinned, he grinned because it dawned on him how special he was. Haru wasn't an emotional mute to him, Haru smiled for him, cried in front of him, got riled up in competition against him, expressed some of his deepest secrets to him. To the outside world this guy was cold and indifferent, but around Rin, he could truly feel. This gave Rin a quick surge of confidence to say the words stuck on the tip of his tongue.

"Haru!" Rin exclaimed leaning up cup both of Haru's cheeks in his cool wet palms, his eyes shining with dumbfounded hope and yet his lower lip was quivering. "Haru, I want you in my future. Would you consider starting a family with me?"


Hello :D Saphire here. I would like to warn for the next month I will be an overly busy college student. In fact, I'm already an overly busy college student, who really shouldn't of taken a full day off homework just to write this. But I do ever so love this pairing and as soon as the words of this story started coming to me, they simply would not stop till I put them on word document. But I do plan on doing something with this series, trust me I already have the beginning of Chapter two in mind, I'm just trying to hold it back at least until I have more time. Anyway, it's been like, a year since I've watched free (I watched season two right as it was airing and releasing one episode each week), so I'm not sure how well my character accuracy is, please let me know what you think ^^