Fabricated Truths
by: Kiku Nakamura
Rin knocks on the door of the dorm room across from his own. He was standing in front of Samezuka dorm #210. It was the one he was in last year; the one that he shared with his silver-haired underclassman. It's now occupied with the same Nitori Aiichiro and the addition of Mikoshiba Momotarou.
"Oi, Ai. Open the door," the red-haired third year said.
The reply came a moment later. "Ah, Rin-senpai! Give me a moment!" Rin smiled inwardly at the cute response that he gets.
The door opened and he was greeted with the sight of Nitori in his casual clothing (this shouldn't be surprising as they aren't attending class, but this was a bit fancier than usual- almost as if he's going out for the night.)
"Ai, are you going somewhere?" he asked. The smaller boy was beaming up at him.
"Yeah, Momo and I were planning on going out for a movie. Uh, since, um..." Nitori was blushing slightly and his eyes were looking around the room, darting around until they settled on a pair of gold eyes. It belonged to the younger Mikoshiba, who propped himself up on his elbows in his top bunk. It seemed like the blue cornflower eyes were searching for an answer in the gold ones. There was a moment of understanding that flashed between the two boys.
Momotarou had jumped off of the bunk and was standing next to Nitori. To Rin, it was like they were comforting each other just being near; it was like that something Haru and Makoto had. "Well, Nitori-senpai and I are, how do I say this... dating and we were planning on seeing a movie," the first year said, "together!"
"Excuse me?" the Samezuka swim team's captain asked and he was utterly confused. He didn't want to sound arrogant or bratty, but Rin was sure that Ai liked him, because he had walked into the room planning to fully reciprocate feelings (that apparently were never there.) Guess that plan had went down the drain. They had something special, maybe even untouchable. Sadly, Sousuke was right: he was always a romantic, creating fantasies out of nothing real. He could picture that smirk that was on his best friend's face when he said it. There was a chance, in Rin's mind, that there was a meaning behind the late night talks when they couldn't sleep, in the way that Ai would hand him a towel and compliments that went with it when he got out of the pool. He really took his second year for granted. There was so much evidence that they could be something, but he was reading into something that had no deeper meaning.
Before he even knew it, Rin's face was brooding, the bitter expression overcasting his features.
"We were trying not to tell you yet, since we didn't know if this would affect the swim team, but we thought that we should really tell you. Swimming means a lot to both of us. Please let us stay on the team, Captain!" the reclusive Nitori said. He was all proud of his successful relationship with Momo just earlier, until the thought of being kicked off the swim team popped into his brain again and the least Rin could do was congratulate Ai. He needed to support Ai now after all those instances of not giving up on him when he was sour and spiteful to him.
"Don't worry; I'm happy for both of you. As long as your relationship," he almost choked on those words, "doesn't affect your performance, there is nothing to reprimand." Rin had said what he needed to, smiling at them, as he felt the sharp prick of tears gathering. He knew that he couldn't hold up this front for much longer. Although the façade is something he didn't want, the butterfly stroke swimmer didn't want to be hateful again or to change his mind and ruin someone's sense of perfection, even more. There was a reason behind his words when he said, "Go. If you don't leave now, you'll never get back by curfew." And I'll become something both you and I don't want to know. A jealousy-stricken monster.
He walked out of the door and leaned on the wall adjacent to the door frame.
Nitori and Momotarou walked out of the room collectively not long after Rin's departure. The silver-haired boy's lips met his lover's cheek before he turned to the doleful Matsuoka and asked with a frown, "Rin-senpai, I forgot to ask, did you need something from either me or Momo-kun?"
There was a lump in his throat that he just couldn't swallow when he answered, "It's nothing really important," loud enough to hear over the blood pounding in his heart and rushing through his ears. He got a bright smile in return for his lie along with "Okay, senpai!"
Rin waved at the two boys and his hand was still lamely in the air when they round the corner. When it dropped dejectedly, his hands dug into his jeans pockets instinctively and it's then that Rin's painfully reminded all over again as to why he was wearing his favorite t-shirt and jeans and not his tank top paired with sweat pants.
He realized he didn't need the courage that he managed to muster up after all because no amount of pep-talks to the bathroom mirror would change Ai's mind.
"It's nothing important," he repeated to himself. What a joke. "It's just... aishiteru, Nitori Aiichiro." It was lost on deaf ears. He was whispering to an empty hallway.
Author's Note:
I was talking to someone at 2am and I know that isn't good, but laughing about things is addicting. I also realized that I was good at late night break downs, so I was just thinking and as my zodiac sign works, I think a lot. Then this piece of angsty shit popped out of my brain and I decided I needed to write it.
Rintori, why are you not real?
Leave a review, if you want to.
-Ivy, out.
Word Count: 931
Published: August 23, 2014
Updated: September 20, 2014