Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or Free! Iwatobi Swim Club.
Nagisa was immediately curious when he saw the envelope on Rei's home-desk labeled with his name.
The current day was Sunday and it was raining. Not quite a storm, but not quite a drizzle. It was the mildly peaceful rainfull that could lull someone to sleep. Nagisa and Rei had decided to get together at Rei's house as it was the weekend and they had nothing else to do (the rain had wiped away their plans of swimming with Makoto and Haru).
The blond had hurried over, greeted Rei's mother who told him that Rei was currently making dinner. Nagisa had nodded and smiled brightly before heading up as he did usually to Rei's bedroom. Opening the door, Nagisa had been greeted with an overly neat room with the shades drawn shut. He had flipped on the lights and dropped his bag besides Rei's bed.
That's when he spotted it. A small, cream colored envelope on Rei's desk that had 'Nagisa-chan' labeled on it. Curious, the blond boy had scurried over to the desk and picked up the envelope. "Nagisa-chan?" He questioned aloud. Since when did Rei add '-chan' to his name? Nagisa slipped the envelope open to find a folded note.
He reread it multiple times to make sure he had read it right each time before. This letter was.. a love proclamation? Nagisa felt his heartbeat quicken as he slipped the note back in the envelope. So his feelings were returned? It was no surprise the blond haired teen had a crush on his fellow classmate and friend Ryugazaki Rei if you actually observed their behavior- as Matsuoka Gou, their swimteam manager and friend had.
A few days ago, last Thursday, Gou had approached Nagisa and asked him about being in love with Rei. Nagisa had tried to deny it, but he was known to be a quite terrible liar. The redheaded female saw right through his façade. Nagisa had then realized it was hopeless to deny, and finally admitted. Since then, Gou had constantly tried to get him to agree to let her set them up. She was "so sure Rei-kun felt the same!".
Shaken from his thoughts, Nagisa heard the door open to reveal Rei with a look of surprise on his face. "Nagisa-kun?" He managed to squeak out before he had a face full of blond. "Rei-chan!" The blond haired boy attacked his glasses-wearing friend with a giant hug (well, more like he threw his entire body on Rei basically almost knocking him over).
"Nagisa-kun!" Rei complained, pushing his friend off him. With that he straightened his clothes, pushing his red-rimmed glasses up before telling his friend that dinner was ready. Nagisa smiled and linked his arm with Rei's, dragging him downstairs towards the sweet-smelling kitchen.
Once dinner was over, Nagisa had pondered whether to bring the letter up or not. He had texted Gou with the excuse it was his parents, asking her for advice. She had told him to wait until Rei gave him the letter to bring it up. Nagisa agreed to this idea and continued his stay at the Ryugazaki household until he left with a penguin-covered umbrella.
Monday, Nagisa had excitedly sprung from bed (not entirely true; he was tired for staying up half the night with butterflies in his stomach. "What if Rei-chan gave me the letter tomorrow?"). On board the train to school, Nagisa noticed the almost-obvious nervousness on his friends face. Nagisa's hope built- It's definitely today!"). The entirety of the train ride, Nagisa fidgeted as he and Rei spoke of upcoming tests, their friends and swimming.
Once the train stopped, Rei and he exited their compartment and sprinted towards the school. Upon arrival, Nagisa and Rei joined their friends (Gou giving them an excited grin which Rei didn't seem to understand). The day went on normally, Nagisa internally complaining about why Rei hadn't given him the letter yet. The school day had ended and still no letter. Maybe he chickened out? Maybe he was too afraid? Maybe-
"Nagisa-chan!"
The blond boy looked up to see Rei running his way, a smile lighting up his face. He opened his mouth to speak when another voice cut him off. A feminine voice. Nagisa saw his friend move past him and towards a shorter girl who seemed to be in the year below them. She had long brown hair and glasses. Nagisa watched as his friend reached into his bag and pull out the envelope, handing it to the female blushing.
Nagisa felt his world crashing down. He felt a heavy weight on his chest. He felt tears beginning to burn in his eyes. It made sense now, though. Why Rei had written 'Nagisa-chan' and why he hadn't seemed particularly embarrassed around his pink eyed friend. Nagisa watched in pain as he saw the brown haired girl hug Rei tightly, before pulling back and pecking him on the lips.
With that, Nagisa felt jealousy. He felt anger, pain, sadness- he turned himself away. He couldn't watch this anymore. The blond haired boy forced himself to trek towards his group of friends, who had seen the entire ordeal. Haru had the normal impassive look on his face, Makoto looked ecstatic for Rei, and Gou looked sympathetic.
It wasn't until Nagisa passed them did Makoto and Haru notice something was wrong. Makoto turned to Nagisa, asking him where he was going. The blond boy replied with a simple, "I don't feel too good. I'll probably be better tomorrow!" Makoto and Haru shared a look but decided to let Nagisa go.
Gou frowned as she saw Nagisa walk towards the train station. The blond boy had turned to his friends and held his stomach, giving what he hoped was a convincing semi-smile. Gou was the only one who saw through it. She had been wrong, and it caused her friend to have false-hope.
Later that night, Nagisa lay in his room, before receiving a call from the last person he'd like to talk to.
"Nagisa-kun? I heard you were sick. How're you feeling?" Rei asked through the phone, concern conveyed through the phones speakers. Nagisa felt his chest ache once more at the thought of Rei's new girlfriend and it took him a moment to answer. "Nagisa-kun?"
"Sorry, Rei-chan! I'm fine, don't worry."