Chapter 1: About me, about you, about romance

"Do you know the real story behind the little mermaid?" A small group of female students were conversing and one of them brought up the sudden question. A silent young man walked straight behind them. His dark sweaty bangs stuck on his forehead and his blue eyes gazed bored into the distance, watching closely the heat evaporating in the distance. It created a watery mirage. Haruka Nanase was the boy walking, listening to the girls' conversation even if he hadn't meant to. He would have gone around them, but too many people were crowded around them. It would be harder to fight against the current. So he remained where he was, enduring the slow pace and the sweltering heat of the climaxing summer. He listened the girls' chat.

"Is it that the prince marries some other girl and the little mermaid evaporates as she jumps into the sea?" One of the girls suggested

The main talker shook her head. "Nope," she said, "not that. Everybody knows that already! It's something much darker!" Haru had also thought that she might have been referring to that. Guess I was wrong, he thought.

After some more weak attempts, another girl was getting impatient. "Spill it! I want to know!" She demanded curiously.

The main talker said mischievously, "The secret is that the writer of the story had actually written this as a dedication to someone."

"Who? A long lost lover?" The previous girl asked.

"Yes, except that this lover..." The main talker paused, "...was actually a man."

"Ehh?!" The girls squealed in shock. Haru did not flinch but he wasn't quite expecting that either.

"No way! How dark!" The same girl from before squealed.

The main talker continued, "It's true! Apparently this man he was in love with was marrying a girl and didn't even return his feelings for him because he thought it was disgusting. So the author wrote the little mermaid as a way of expressing how he felt about him." The girls were awed. Haru simply wanted to get away.

One of them said, "So that's why the little mermaid evaporated! She felt she couldn't live with the thought of him being with someone else. How sad!" Haru said nothing and only listened. But then, a figure his mind had been too familiar with for a couple of weeks now joined the conversation. Haru felt a droplet of sweat run down his brow.

"What's so good about that? The little mermaid could've made something out of herself instead of evaporating," Rin Matsuoka was the one talking. "For all it's worth, she could've linked the human world with the mermaid world, maybe even start a dating business, making mermaid and human couples' wishes come true as a love guru! Like a dating site but for the 1800's!" Haru couldn't help but be slightly amused.

The girls laughed at him. "Oh Rin, only you can come up with such ideas!" One of the girls remarked chuckling. They continued to laugh.

"Tsk, laugh all you want, but the only tragedy here is her wasted potential!" Rin said confidently, not minding their attitude toward his idea.

It was very typical of Rin, Haru noticed. The way he spoke and carried himself always seemed to bring out the best in others. His confidence and his assertiveness emanated like a strong perfume, people just couldn't help but smell it as soon as they whiffed it. He was that kind of boy. He was the definition of "fresh". Haru was too busy contemplating the crimson-haired boy and was taken aback when Rin looked back and saw him.

"Oi, Haru!" He said loudly even though he was right there.

The girls looked back and were confused for a minute. They clearly had not realized he had been there the whole time. They started to whisper among themselves. Unfazed, Haru said, "Rin."

The girls had walked away at this point. But at least they had cleared the path, and now Haru could quicken his pace. He walked next to Rin and when he least expected it, the other boy brusquely patted his back. He then put his arm around his neck playfully, locking it on his arm. This always annoyed Haru, but he didn't push him away. "Hey Haru, you know what's today right?" Rin queried with a wide grin that no human being could possibly find unpleasant.

Haru looked at him and indifferently said, "beats me."

Rin laughed as if expecting that answer, "That's so like you, Nanase." He let go of him and skipped ahead of him energetically. He said, "Hurry up! we're doing a r-e-l-a-y for practice. Does that ring a bell yet?"

Haru rolled his eyes, and said defiantly, "Not in particular," and kept walking ahead, a playful smile hidden underneath the collar of his jacket.

"Eh? You're kidding right?" Rin exclaimed loudly, clearly not noticing. Both headed for the lockers rooms to get ready for swimming practice.

Inside the lockers, rin and Haru were greeted by an excited blond boy renown for his awfully effeminate body. He was already waving from the other side of the room. Next to him was a slightly taller boy, whose skin was slightly darker and his green eyes dreamy to the extent that most girls simply could not look straight into their honest hues. Typically of him, he greeted Haru and Rin with a kind smile. Nagisa Hazuki and Makoto Tachibana. The two boys, like the rest of the team, were already clad in their swimming trunks and stretching their muscles. They looked ready for practice.

In contrast,Rin and Haru were not even out of their jackets. "Yo, Makoto! Nagisa!" Rin greeted loudly, disregarding the loudness of his voice.

"Haru-chan! Rin-chan!" Nagisa greeted back enthusiastically, "Are you ready for the relay?"

Rin grinned, setting his bag on one of the benches. "Pft, what kind of a question is that?" He replied cockily, "Are YOU prepared in the least?"

Nagisa smiled. "Of course! I haven't been doing extra practice for nothing, you know."

Rin held a thumbs up and replied, "That's the spirit!"

Makoto was stretching his arms, but simultaneously stated, "This time we might be able to swim together for the relay in the next meet. I can almost feel it!" Haru glanced at his childhood friend's hopeful face.

"Damn right we are!" Rin announced proudly, "We'll crush those punks and swim together in a real relay!" He slammed his fist on his flat palm, suggesting his determination.

"Those 'punks' are part of the team, you know," Haru said as-a-matter-of-factly, noticing the intense gazes piercing Rins back. Rin turned around and coolly explained the situation, leaving the three for a minute. "Hey now, y'all know I'm just kidding around," Rin coaxed the other boys playfully, "We're all pals, right?"

After Rin had left, Makoto laughed and nagisa pointed out, "Rin-chan sure is popular."

Nodding in agreement, Makoto added, "I know, I heard he had a huge dispute with members of the football team and even got into a fist fight with the captain. Now they're practically best friends!"

"No way!" Nagisa stated impressed, "It really can't be helped, Rin-chan has such a likable personality."

"I wonder if it's just a rumor though," Makoto wondered, stroking his chin curiously.

"No," Haru replied quietly, "I was there, I helped him during the fight." It was true. That might have been how he ended up meeting him in the first place.

"Ehh?!" Nagisa and Makoto exclaimed loudly.

"No way! When did this happen?" Makoto asked, clearly shocked. Haru wondered if he was shocked that the rumor was true or about discovering that Haru had gotten in a fight before.

Haru thought hard about it. "Somewhere around our first year. He practically dragged me into it."

Makoto pondered for a minute before responding, "Ah, so that's why you were absent for a few days, so you weren't sick!"

"That's so cool Haru-chan!" Nagisa complimented with a charming smile, "You must be friends with the members of the football team, huh?"

"Not really."

Rin suddenly came back, now laughing his head off. He then said, "I'm back! Were you guys talking about me?" He grinned and locked his arms around nagisa and Haru's neck.

"Oi!" Haru cried annoyed while nagisa grinned happily. Makoto laughed, "Come on, it's time!"

"Good work everyone!" The coach yelled in praise after he blew his whistle and all the boys had gathered around the corner of the pool. "I will inform all of you of the results tomorrow. The four with the fastest times will be chosen to swim the relay. See you all tomorrow!" The boys huddled to chant a unique cheer before they dispersed in different directions.

"Nanase! Matsuoka!" Coach called out, "It's your turn for clean up duty. Don't miss any pieces of equipment and close the door completely." He soon left after that.

"Ugh, do we have to?" Rin said mostly to himself, he sounded painfully bored.

Haru was already starting the job. Before they left, Rin asked Makoto and Nagisa, "Yo, Makoto, Nagisa! Since we're in the same relay, why not help out your team in need? Haru said he really needs help."

"Don't stamp me with your laziness!" Haru protested.

Makoto and Nagisa laughed. Makoto replied, "I'm sorry. but I have to pick up my little brother and sister."

Nagisa stated, "I have a compromise with my parents. Oh no! I'm already late!" He half-ran, half-slipped out of there, Makoto following his lead. "Hey! Don't run Nagisa-chan!" He cried after the smaller boy. Rin and haru were left completely alone.

"Tsk," Rin retorted mockingly, "Way to let me down 'team'."

Soon after, Rin and Haru began their after-practice duties. They quietly picked up the boogie boards and the pull buoys which lay scattered around the perimeter of the pool. It was strangely quieter than usual. Usually, Rin would be saying something even if Haru wasn't listening in particular. In the midst of his duty, Haru suddenly turned to watch Rin. The board still on hand, he couldn't help but contemplatet he the seriousness in Rin's face as he finally focused on his task. There was an undeniable difference that Haru couldn't help but admire from afar. His normally intense eyes seemed somewhat cooled off, almost pensive. Haru didn't think much of it since their duties were so menial and objective. He couldn't see Rin-or anyone for that matter-getting excited for clean up duties. Still, Haru found himself appreciating this face of his. His focused eyes, his lips which were set on a fine line rather than his usual curved smile. Suddenly, Haru began to notice more.

His posture. It was so relaxed. It was missing that usual energy as if in complete peace. It was already their last year in middle school and Haru noticed the way Rin's body had begun to develop firmer muscles. Once again, Haru couldn't help but admire it. Admire? He thought as if snapping back from some other dimension, that's weird...

"Hey, Haru! Hurry up! I wanna go home!" Haru heard Rin shout at him from the other side. He looked down and he still had some boards in his arms. He lightly shook his head and set off to finish what he started.

As quickly as they finished, Haru was ready to leave. But he waited, knowing what would come next. "Yo, Haru," Rin said with a grin, "how about a race before we go?" The pensive aura Haru had felt earlier was gone.

"Didn't you say you wanted to go home?" Haru asked to contradict him.

Rin wasn't fazed. He stated whimsically, "I changed my mind. I wanna race!"

So fickle, Haru thought. He looked at him and coldly said, "You always want to race but we both know who's going to win."

Rin liked his attitude. "Hey now, don't get so cocky," he retorted, "That's my job. So, you down or not?"

This time Rin looked at him more seriously and was already standing by the edge of the pool. Haru sighed and readied himself as well. Without a referee to give the signal, Rin announced, "And...go!" The two boys jumped off the ledge and dove inside the depths of the water.

"Tsk! No fair!" Rin cried in annoyance, "My timing was off!"

Haru dried off his hair and body. He didn't like to brag, but this time, he said, "I told you so."

"Rematch!" Rin said angrily, "I want a rematch! Right now! Wait, let's do best two out of three."

"No way," Haru responded, "I'm already dry. And it's already established who won. Just give it up."

But Rin wouldn't have it. Neither would leave this pool until Rin had let out all his frustrations. After hearing Rin complain for a couple of minutes, both Haru and the other boy sat down on the benches near the edge of the pool, both facing each other. They had a chat which mostly consisted of Rin talking. They should've gone home at this point, but for some reason, Haru didn't feel like going home. Talking to Rin might have been impossible sometimes, but there were times they had pleasant conversations. And Haru appreciated listening to Rin talk. He had much to say. It just worked out that way.

Rin talked about his usual topics. Topics Haru practically knew by heart at this point in their friendship. He discussed his love for sports, specifically swimming and football. To Harus surprise, Rin had a huge interest in academics as well, which was odd to him because he seemed so fresh. He had a hard time seeing Rin sitting down and studying without getting fidgety. But then he remembered that intensely focused gaze he and seen earlier. Perhaps there was more to Rin than he had thought. Rin normally concluded by talking about his dreams and talks about the future. But today, something was off.

After talking about sports and academics and a couple of people, Rin said, "You know Yoshioka? He just got a new girlfriend. That guy changes girlfriends like girls change clothes, I swear."

Haru was not particularly interested and was surprised to see that he was.

"I heard he even goes inside the chemistry room with her and...kiss." At that Haru reflexively looked up and observed him. He wasn't sure what it was, but he paid close attention to him and his body movements.

Rin leaned back on the bench and said somewhat dreamily, "It must be nice…"

"What?" Haru asked curiously.

"Kissing," Rin said with a grin, emphasizing the word, "Don't you think?"

Haru felt his heart race and blood rushed to his cheeks. "I guess so," he said, trying to avoid his gaze.

"Oh?" Rin seemed suspicious and began to tease him, not getting up from his current position. "Ah, don't tell me," he said mischievously, a smirk plastered on his face, "You have a girlfriend don't you?! You've been hiding her all this time, huh?"

Haru didn't even turn. There it was again. That painful beating in his chest. This truly felt strange. Rin, persisting on the subject, continued to tease him, driving Haru to the brink of irritation. At some point, Haru scowled at him, fed up with his attitude.

"Will you stop it?!" Haru cried angrily. He must have been very angry because Rin had stopped teasing him. He simply looked at him with a confused gaze. Haru couldn't help but be fazed by his expression. Tsk, don't look at me like that! Haru thought guiltily. There. Something was there. A spontaneous instinct taking over him. But...was it truly spontaneous? He wondered.

Before he did something regrettable, Haru began to stand. But Rin was still watching him with a concerned face. The volcanic eyes seemed almost pleading him to tell him what was wrong. It was too much. Haru didn't understand. But unable to help himself, haru leans over the confused Rin and does something he had never thought he would ever do.

He had planted a kiss on Rin's lips.

It had been so brief. Almost a peck. But Haru could feel everything about Rin in that instant. Chlorine. His lips were dry from the chlorine. They had the salty taste of pool water. Beyond that, Haru could smell the chlorine on Rin's face and hair. Both of their eyes were open and Haru found himself staring into his garnet-like eyes which were clouded with confusion and bewilderment. Haru supposed he must have had the same expression. He had no idea what he was doing either.

Trying to hide his panic, Haru broke the kiss almost instantly. He scowled, feeling the most shame he had ever felt in his whole life. Rin had not even reacted, even though Haru had hoped he would yell at him, or punch him. Anything would do. But his confused gaze didn't let up. Haru decided to stand. Now all he wanted to do was run back home and maybe even run away from home as well. As long as he didn't have to face Rin.

"Tsk, kissing...what's so nice about that?" Haru spat in quiet anger and quickly left the pool area, leaving behind a dumbfounded Rin.

He ran toward the locker room and quickly gathered his belongings. Rin did not show up once. Gratefully, Haru dashed out of the lockers room and the school altogether. What had he done? He wondered. Little did he know that he had just triggered a series of event that would change his life and that of others.

Author's note:

Thank you very much for reading the first chapter of my first "Free!" Fanfiction! It's been year since the last fanfic I wrote, so I hope it's not too bad.

Just some things I wanted to establish before continuing:

-This story is somewhat of an AU, it is set in the same setting as the anime but does not follow the plot sequence of the anime (I hope that was made clear).

-I made the rating 'M' because it is indeed a lemon (so it does contain explicit content that not everyone should read). I have about 75% of this story planned out. I know exactly what's going to happen and early on there will not be any explicit scenes. BUT in the future there will. VERY explicit. So you have been warned... xD

-clearly...it is a yaoi story lol

-please let me know what you think and point out any errors I might have made!