Title: Impromptu Planning
Fandom: Free!
Pairings: Sousuke/Rin, Makoto/Haruka
Rating: T
Warnings: Sousuke and Makoto being friends?
Summary: Post-Free! Eternal Summer Fic
Sousuke wasn't much of a schemer, never was. However seeing a certain tall yet timid swim captain gazing longingly at the same sight he had just tore his own eyes from had him thinking it was about time he started to become one.
A/N: Free! Has taken hold of my heart since it came out and now it's making a monster out of me. Will my need to write fanficition for these stupid married couples ever end? My story is unbeta'd, but I tried my absolute best! I hope you can forgive any mistakes and find some enjoyment out of it. If you notice any glaring mistakes, let me know!
Impromptu Planning
As summer ended and fall rolled in, it was no surprise that the Iwatobi Swim Team was spending an increasing amount of time at both Iwatobi SC RETURNS and Samezuka Academy. Joint practices were far more frequent than last year, with Rin as the new captain. Still a professional, there wasn't much time for idle chit-chat until after the formal practice ended. It was Rin's fire and professionalism during both regular practice and after that kept Sousuke from intervening with the set up.
His initial over-protectiveness became more reasonable after realizing that the boys at Iwatobi truly did help Rin achieve higher. It would be lying to say he was completely happy with the arrangement. Nonetheless, there was no falsehood in his words when he assured Rin that he had no problems with Rin hanging out with his other friends.
Sousuke would even go so far as to say he enjoyed Tachibana and Ryugazaki's company. Even Hazuki was entertaining to a point. Sousuke didn't find him irritating often, though that bubbly personality and loud cries of a nickname he never asked for did irk him at times. No, Sousuke rarely had problems with people, much less the people that have proven to be helpful to Rin. Even so, there was one person Sousuke could never quite deal with, and that was Nanase.
Nanase may no longer stand in the way of Rin's swimming career and future, but he was a troublesome existence in Sousuke's life. Nanase represented everything Sousuke could no longer be, what he never was in the first place. Nanase was a rival for Rin. He was a fire that sparked Rin's unending passion, someone Rin depended on. Nanase had taken over a place that Sousuke had desired, had craved for since he was a boy.
Still, Sousuke could no longer complain about such things. With his shoulder shot, and his professional swimming career over before it ever started, he had other things to worry about. He had to figure out a way to stay true to himself, and keep from being the thing he himself threatened Nanase about: a burden to Rin.
Sousuke had ideas about what he wanted to do. After coaching Nitori he realized how much he wanted to keep people from damaging their own bodies like he had. It really solidified his desire to continue to be a part of the swimming world. Becoming a personal trainer came up at one point, and started to become more and more appealing as time went on. He had started picking up some of Rin's captain duties, and coaching from the sidelines as his shoulder healed from surgery. Sousuke was off the swim team's roster after what happened, but Rin made a point to keep Sousuke around, making him an unofficial manager of sorts.
It had its perks, but it was also a pain watching Rin and Nanase racing each other like there was no one else in the world besides the two of them. Rin was simultaneously the most amazing and most heartbreaking thing Sousuke had ever seen when he swam against Nanase. Being frequently exposed to it was starting to take its toll.
Sousuke wasn't much of a schemer, never was. However seeing a certain tall yet timid swim captain gazing longingly at the same sight he had just tore his own eyes from had him thinking it was about time he started to become one.
"Haru! Now that practice is over, it's time to get down to business!" Rin said with a smirk, not bothering to wait for the rest of Samezuka Swim Team to disperse before heading over to the starting block. Haru simply huffed before following suit. They had not raced even five minutes earlier during the actual practice. Still, Rin was dissatisfied with his defeat and would not leave without a rematch, or ten.
"Haru-chan, Rin-chan! I'll referee!" Nagisa cheered, standing at the edge of the pool with a timer in hand. He shouted "Go!" with so much enthusiasm the whole room was ringing from the noise. Rei was quick to shout back at Nagisa that it is unnecessary to be so loud when everyone could hear him just fine.
The two were off on yet another fantastic race, lost to the world. Sousuke ignored the duo and found himself walking around to the opposite end of the pool, where he saw Makoto standing near their bags. The tall swim captain watched his friends' race with clear longing and admiration in his eyes.
"Tachibana." Sousuke called, walking over with a small wave of the hand. Makoto jumped a little in surprise, too immersed in watching Haru and Rin swim to notice his earlier approach.
"Ah! Yamazaki-kun, you scared me," he admitted. Embarrassed but with a smile on his lips, he snuck another glance at the pair swimming the long expanse of the pool.
"Yeah, sorry about that. I gotta admit it is a sight to see, but Tachibana you're being a little obvious." Makoto jumped again, staring at Sousuke with wide eyes and a bright blush on his cheeks. It was no real surprise to either; both had stumbled across the other's feelings not long after the sudden increase of joint practices started. Sousuke knew it was more the fact that he was stating it out loud in such a public place that had him so embarrassed.
"Ah, really?" He asked, eyes still flitting back to the pair of swimming rivals. Sousuke couldn't help but smirk a little at the innocence of the tall teen.
"Yeah, it's also obvious you strained your back during practice." At this Makoto flinched. Sousuke was cracking down on people taking care of themselves now that his own injury was out in the open, and it affected the mood greatly when he said something. You couldn't lie to Sousuke about those kinds of things anymore. Makoto relented under the taller boy's gaze, shrinking in on himself, hand rubbing the back of his neck in his uncomfortableness.
"Yeah, I woke up with a bit of pain in my neck, slept wrong I guess, but it didn't really feel like anything bad until practice. I tried avoiding it but I ended up doing something to my back instead. Ha ha, kind of silly of me, huh?" he admitted, keeping his voice light. Despite knowing Sousuke would already realize he was trying to play it off, it was in Makoto's nature to try and keep from being what he perceived as a burden to the people around him.
"Stop with the self-deprecating talk already Tachibana, and turn around." Sousuke commanded, already aware of Makoto's bad habits of putting himself last.
"Ah, sorry."
"Just turn around already."
Makoto didn't say another word, sensing the annoyance in Sousuke's voice. It was no real surprise that Sousuke was one of the people who tired of it quick. He was very kind, which also made him easily upset by people who put themselves down. He tried to hide his pathetic-self, but Sousuke was always the one who saw it most. Maybe it was because Makoto knew that Sousuke was in a similar situation to him that he allowed these weaker sides of him show.
"Actually Tachibana, I wanted to ask you about something."
"AH! Haru-chan wins again Rin-chan!" Nagisa cried, pumping his fist in the air, voice echoing in the open room. The harsh click of Rin's tongue and his demand for a rematch followed the proclamation. Hoisting himself up and out of the pool to restart, Rin noticed Haru's confused eyes staring at the place in front of him.
"What?" he barked, angry that Haru wasn't getting out of the pool already. Haru turned in the pool, scanning the room for Makoto, who should by all means be right there to hoist him up out of the water as always. Rin caught on and followed Haru's gaze when it stopped, eyebrows furrowing the slightest. He almost asked what was wrong before seeing his eyes set on Makoto and Sousuke sitting on the bench with their bags.
"What the?"
Haru lifted himself up out of the pool, annoyed but unwilling to show it. Nagisa was the quickest to notice what was going on, running over to the other side of the pool.
"Nagisa-kun don't run!" Rei sputtered, following with a brisk pace after him.
"Sou-chan I want a back massage too!" Nagisa chirped as he ran over to the tallest members of their group.
Rin and Haru followed, Rin unclenching and clenching his fists. In his head Rin tried to rationalize the situation, as he knew that Sousuke was interested it guys, but he would never so openly flirt with them. He would never flirt with Makoto. Makoto likely had some aches or pains that Sousuke couldn't ignore, that was all there was to it, he reasoned.
Makoto was straddling the bench, with his head down, lulled into a sleep like state by Sousuke's skilled hands. He heard the approach of his friends in an out of body like experience, registering the noise late.
Sousuke, on the other hand, was already acutely aware of the situation, plan forming in his head. He did start out kneading out the knots on the swimmers back, before turning his once innocent movements into more sensual ones. In his peripheral he watched Haru's confusion when he found his friend not there to take his hand. He saw the undeniable annoyance as he and Rin walked toward them. Sousuke did not stop at his neck or the pull in his back, no, he worked through his shoulders and his sides in slow movements as the rest of the group corralled over.
"Wah! Sou-chan you must be so good at this! Mako-chan is practically asleep!" exclaimed Nagisa. Bubbly laughter followed as Sousuke pressed the pads of his fingers deep into Makoto's sides, eliciting a soft groan. Makoto, Sousuke discovered earlier, was quite sensitive, and very vocal.
"Tachibana pulled some muscles in his back earlier," he explained, gazing at Haru and Rin who had finally caught up. Ignoring Rei's thoughts about message theory and their impact on health, Sousuke decided to heat things up. With dark intentions Sousuke worked his hands, gentle and firm, over the entirety of the tall boy's back. A string of soft pleasurable moans fell out of his mouth on reflex. Sousuke had to fight down the smirk threatening to break his face as three of the four observes' eyes went wide, red painting their faces. Only the most devious of the group was left unaffected.
Popping himself down in front of Makoto, Nagisa came to pull him back into a state of consciousness.
"Mako-chan! How amazing does it feel!? Are Sou-chan's hands magic!? Are you going to fall asleep right here!?" The questions that spilled out of his mouth all had a purpose, and Sousuke was not sure if he was impressed or alarmed by the boy's observational skills. The glint in his eyes as he glanced at Sousuke told him he should be wary of the young swimmer.
"Eh? Nagisa? Mm, it feels good. Yamazaki-kun is really good at this," the subdued reply came. The boy made a valiant attempt at keeping his eyes open, and noticed that the others of the group had joined them. Makoto turned to see that his peripheral was not lying, and that Rin and Haru were already there and done with their race. Sousuke slid his hand up Makoto's spine and dug his fingers gently into the base of his neck.
"Ah! Ah, Yamazaki-kun," Makoto half moaned, eyes flitting shut as Sousuke worked his fingers against the already tightening neck. He confirmed that Makoto was an easily stressed person by how quick his work began to undo itself upon seeing Rin and Haru. Sousuke kept his eyes trained on Makoto, but paid careful attention to how Rin sputtered at this, saying that practice was over and it was time for the others to go home. Haru concurred with the sentiment.
"Makoto. It's time to go home." Haru's calm voice commanded him. As though a spell was broken, Makoto's eyes opened and he began to stand up, all his lazy comfort forgotten. Sousuke let his hand glide down Makoto's back making a show out of watching him leave, before turning his eyes to Rin and Haru.
It seemed his little impromptu show had the desired effects. Haru was not hiding the malice in his gaze, and Rin was looking scandalized and perturbed at the turn of events.
"Tachibana don't forget about what I asked, yeah?" Sousuke put on his flirtatious smile on purpose, but Makoto, unaware, only smiled back.
"Of course I won't."
With that and a couple of mandatory parting pleasantries the Iwatobi gang left. Rin said nothing of what happened while changing, or on the way back to the dorms. He knew that his fiery friend wanted to say something, but that particular silence meant he was trying to figure out what to ask and how to ask it, so he let him be.
Sousuke could only hope that this would finally set things in motion, for not only himself, but Tachibana as well.