Rintori were Nitori wants to quit the swimclub, and Rin talks to sousuke about it.

"Uhm, senpai! I.. I need to tell you something.." The duck-like secondyear looked down on his feet as he spoke to his upperclassman. Rin turned to look at him, and brushed the boy's hair. Nitori's eyes were serious, as they kept looking down. Something was at the wrong.
"Wanna talk somewhere else, Nitori?" he asked. But Nitori shook his head.
"N-no, senpai. It's easier to do it here. It's not really a big deal for everyone.." Rin rose his eyebrow, turning suspicious. He let his hand fall to the side, and waited for Nitori to tell him.
"So, what do you wanna tell me?" Rin smiled.
"Well, actually... I..." Nitori tried his best to turn his thougths to words. But he failed.
"Ah- nevermind senpai! It's no big deal, really! I think I can handle this by myself, actually.."
Nitori looked up with his big and blue eyes, with almost aggressive movements. Rin clicked his toungue.
"Nitori, just tell me. What's up?" He seemed to get more pissed as Nitori kept dragging his time.
"I have other clubmembers that needs my help, okay? I can't keep talking to you like this on every training. Hurry up and tell me now, will ya?" Rin's aggressive reply made Ai flinch.
As a reflex, he bowed deeply, apologized, but handed a letter at the same time.
"Please sign this, senpai!"
Nitori held the pose as long as Rin stayed confused, and therefore lasted a few more seconds than he thought. The other members started to stare and make up their mind on what the meaning behind this sight was. Rin got embarrassed and grabbed the piece of white paper. Ai looked up, and handed his senpai a pen. He had problems keeping his feelings under control, but until senpai had signed, he'd keep them in as best as he could.
"There, signed. What is this, anyway?"
Nitori grabbed the paper before Rin could take a better look, which made him more suspicious. Nitori kept looking at the ground, and didn't answer.
"I'm feeling sick, so I'll go back to the dorm, senpai." Without permission, he just turned around and walked out of the swimclub, not looking back.

The paper he clenched in his fist was all sweaty as he made it back to the dormitory. He sat down on his chair, and looked at the paper. "With this, I can finish.." he whispered to himself, with teary eyes. Why did the kanji on this paper mean so much to him? The kanji of Rin Matsuoka, his senpai. A fantastic athlete within swimming, whom will make it far in the olympics. Needless to say, he was an amazing swimmer. But so were Mikoshiba. Both of them, and Sousuke. And all the other swimmers at Samezuka Academy. Everyone in the swimclub were looking high and expected good results. For nationals.
Nitori knew as a freshman that he might not end up as one of the best swimmers, but he'd do his best. In his second year of highschool, this thought kept on bugging him. Do my best, he thought. What nonsense. Totally something to laught about, huh? Nitori chuckled for him self, getting more depressed than ever. "Even the first-years are better than me.." he whispered to himself, as his head fell further and further down. His head made a "thump!" as he hit the desktop. He let out a sound of dissapproval to this pain.
As a second-year, his kouhais would look up to him. Unfortunately, they were all both better than him and taller than him. All he could be proud of, was his age. But that made it all even worse. As an older person, he should be better than the younger! He should be able to teach them things, both academics and swimming! Seemed like he wasn't cut out for being a senpai at all..
Nitori rolled his sleeves up, and with the left hand, he grabbed the cardboard cutter. The skin on his forearm was no longer pure, or soft. It was white.

"Nitori? Are you in there? I'm coming in!" Rin knocked on Ai's dorm before opening the door. Practice was finally done, and he could relax until bedtime. But his head had been full of Nitori since the weird asking for his name. He was very curious about what it could be. Rin was quick to open the door, and found his kouhai lying on his stomach and reading on the bed. He looked behind himself, and tilted his head with a smile. It was an imposed smile.
"I want to ask you about that thing at practice, Nitori. What did you ask me to sign?" Rin sat down on Ai's chair and turned to the silverhaired boy. The boy looked down on his mangam and seemed to refuse to answer. Rin sighed, and started to look around the room. His eyes fell on a piece of paper near the trashcan. As he bent down to pick it up, his eyes rolled over to show the trashcan full of bloody paper. Rin froze for a second, then asked Nitori.
"What happened?" Nitori looked up from the book, and replied with a usual voice.
"I had a nosebleed. I get them quiet a lot now, but I don't know what causes them, tho."
Rin couldn't do anything more than believe him. He left the possibilitys behind and rolled out the paper he picked up. In the corner of his eye, he noticed Nitori winced a little, as if he was scared.
Nitori watched Rin as he read the topic of his paper. His eyes stared at him, to make sure he didn't do anything unexpected. He wrapped his duvet around himself, as an armor to shield himself from the dragon. As soon as Rin realised, he'd be the dragon, and Nitori would end up dead. He waited a few seconds before he snuck his head out of the duvet, and looked at his senpai, still sitting on the chair and reading. His eyes were big and his eyebrows were raised. He couldn't believe what it said. His fist clenched the white paper, and released it. His hand didn't pick it up. For ten seconds, Ai held his breath, waiting for his senpai to yell at him. He snuck his head back into the duvet, and awaited for the scream.
Rin mumbled something, but Nitori didn't really catch what he said. He kept silent. He felt the wave that Rin caused as he sat down on the bed. Now there were only a meter and a duvet between them. Ai was terrified, and his eyes were useless with all the water dripping down. "Please, please don't look at me.. Don't make me look, senpai.." Ai begged for his life. He really didn't want senpai to do this! No more talking, it'd just end up like every other time!
"Nitori, what-" Rin was about to raise his voice, but controlled himself.
"Why the hell do you want to quit the club?" Rin asked, but didn't try to touch him. Ai sobbed.
"Oy, are you crying? Nitori, open up for me, c'mon! Don't be like this!" Rin switched position, but Ai couldn't tell to what. He grabbed the duvet harder, and wrapped it around himself.
"Nitori.." Rin was getting pissed.
"I'm sorry" was all Ai could say.

"You're sorry?" Rin was confused. He looked at the big pile of a duvet and his kouhai.
"You want to give up on swimming. You want to let all your hard training behind like it ment nothing for you! YOU ARE QUITTING THE CLUB, NITORI! And you're sorry?!" Rin rose, and felt his anger came welling up in him. "Please, dont" Ai said, stifled with painful tears. Rin grabbed the covers and threw it away, leaving Ai in the corner of his own bed. Rin's ribcage moved up and down, synchronized with his heavy breath. He looked at the silverboy. His hands was covering his face, and he sobbed uncontrollably. The jacket he wore had only one of his sleeves rolled up, while the other one was close to his wrists.
"Why do you wanna quit?!"
Still no answer.
"Nitori!"
Silence.
"ANSWER ME!" Rin grabbed Ai's pillow and threw it at him with all his power. The throw was so strong that Ai's head smashed into the wall as the pillow his his face. Rin regrettet immediatly his action, but he couldn't do anything. He'd frozen stiff.
"I'M SORRY!" Ai yelled back, jumped out of his bed and ran off. The door smacked behind him as hard as the sound of a slap in someones face.

As expected, Ai didn't show up to practice the day after. Or the day after that. Rin asked around both swimming members and teachers. He was attending class, but nobody knew where he went after that. Even Momo didn't know. Rin wasn't able to leave his chores as the captain, so looking for Ai wasn't easy. Every time he's catch himself thinking about the silverhaired boy, he'd regret not running after him that day. All Rin could do, was to stay paralyzed as Ai ran off, afraid and hurt, both psycially and mentally. His head began to spin as his chest tightened. Why, he thought, did he leave Ai like that? Why did he get all angry, why the big temper? Even HE knew that Ai wouldn't be a great swimmer. He just wasn't fit for it. Even though, he kept trying, doing his best, up 'til now. Even Ai would break someday.
"Rin," a dark voice said, as he turned around. It was Sousuke.
"Ah, it's just you, Sou." Rin smiled at his roommate, but it didn't look very sincere.
"Have you found out where Ai is, yet?" he asked. Rin shook his head.
"I've asked everyone I could think of; the team-members, his classmates, his teachers.. I just don't get where he is, Sou. Where the hell could that fricking babyduck be-" Rin ran his fist into the wall as his sadness turned into anger. Sousuke sat down with him on the bunkbed.
"Why did he run away, Rin." Sousuke didn't ask. He assumed that Rin had said something to the babyduck; something so cruel that he'd never return. Rin held his now hurting hand in the other, and regretted his action.
"He wanted to quit, Sousuke." Rin whispered.
Silence.
"Why would he quit the club, Sou? Why?"
More silence. Rin started to sob.
"Why did that idiot think it was okay to just quit?"
Rin let his head hang, not wanting his best buddy to see his emotional side. As if he hadn't seen it a million times already, Sousuke thought.
Sousuke put his big hand on Rin's head. He didn't rub it, just let it stay on. It was the most comforting thing he could do, Rin thought.
"What did you tell him, Rin?" Sousuke finally said something. He knew that if Rin told Ai to die, he'd do it. But if he was as stupid as to be a tsun-tsun about his feelings, and tell Ai that it didn't matter to him if Ai was there or not.. If so, then he'd punch that little shit of a shark for being stupid. He had to know how much destruction Rin had caused, in order to fix it.
"I yelled at him for wanting to quit, I asked him why, and threw a pillow at him and he-" Rin stopped, but kept sobbing. He clearly realised something.
"What did you do next? This is important, I want to know what caused Ai's disappearance.."
"I.. accidentally threw the pillow too hard, and he smashed his head against the wall. Then he yelled an apology and ran off. Also, he had a lot of nosebleeds for the past days, he said."
Silence.
"Honestly, I don't think that was just a nosebleed. It was too much and too fresh to be for just a few days." Rin clenched his fist. The memory of the trashcan, full of white tissues with blood on.. Rin clicked his teeth.
"Where do you think he is now?" Rin asked, and looked at his friend.
Sousuke closed his eyes and brainstormed.
"I think I know"

"I'M SORRY!"
"Senpai, I'm sorry for this. Sorry for leaving the club. Sorry for all the lies. I'm sorry. So, so sorry.."
Ai kneeled down on the cold road, and cried. His tears streamed down, with no intention of stopping for a while. His knees was completely broken, after running so far. He'd been out running for the past few days, instead of being at practice. He made sure that no one was able to meet him, by running right after school, and come home late. Sometimes, he stopped by Iwatobi to chat with Rei. They were actually getting along very well. Better than Nagisa, that would always be teasing him with the nickname. Ai-chan.
The only weird thing Ai didn't get, was that Rin hadn't asked his Iwatobi-friends where he was. That not only made him sad, but it confirmed his theory that Rin didn't really care.
In fear of the fact that he WOULD call them, he stopped coming.
That only left him with a few texts from Rei, Nagisa and Makoto. Ai was glad they cared, but what did it matter?
He stumbled himself on his feet, dizzy from running too much with too little energy. He had to buy food. His stamina was better now after he started running, but it was still not enough. If he kept up with this, he'd cause himself more problems than he needed.
But who would care? Better to let mysef suffer than let anyone else, right?
I caused trouble for so many people in the club, so why bother them again? My parents would probably take me in again, but in pity. I won't bother them either. I have to think of something soon, or else I'll have bigger trouble..
"Ai," The voice said, gently. He turned around, but saw nothing. It was dark, and the streetlights had just turned on. The stores will soon close, so hurry up, he told himself.
"Ai.."
Damnit, it's just in my head! Leave me alone, gay thoughts!
Ai slapped him self on the chin, leaving a red mark and hella lot of pain. The voice silenced.
"I should get going now.." Ai told himsef. His stomach growled, but it was also sick from the running. His phone showed the background of a babyduck as he checked the time. The numbers glowed, and showed the siffers easily. 20:02.
"Oh, did I run for that long? No wonder I'm hungry.. Huh?" As he checked the time, his eyes focused on the missed calls he'd gotten.
22 missed calls.
21 from Rin.
One from Sousuke.
Ai cursed himself for letting his eyes tear up again. The tears really didn't want his face to be dry this day, it seemed. He kept drying them with his sweater, but they kept coming.
"Damn these eyes.." he sulked, constantly brushing them off.
"You have such beautiful eyes. Like the sky, Nitori"
The sentence popped up in his head, like he'd always remembered it. The water stopped flowing, and Rin's voice kept talking on repeat. The voice came from deep inside his head, giving an echo whenever his gentle voice spoke.
Ai turned and walked back. There was a convenience store close by, and he should get food before he passed out or became insane. The voice kept talking, stronger and stronger. The louder, the more echo. As Ai went inside the store, his head was filled with echo, and it hurt. It really hurt a lot. He fell, and lost conciousnes the same moment the doorbell welcomed him in.

A few hundred meters above, and about 15 minutes before, Rin and Sousuke arrived at Haru's home. Makoto was already there, and helped Haru with homework. Or so they said.
"If we've seen Nitori-kun? No, not today.. Is he gone?" Makoto asked with a worried look.
Rin nodded, as they all looked serious. except Haru. You could guess why.
"He's been skipping practice the last days now, and he hasn't told anyone where he is.. It's kinda my fault, for losing my temper on him.." Rin looked down. His fist clenched again.
"Huh? A few days? But he's been with us! He hasn't swimmed though, but he's been talking to Rei a lot. He stopped coming since yesterday-"
"HE'S BEEN HERE THE WHOLE TIME?" Rin suddenly jumped up. His heartbeat suddenly increased. Sousuke sat still by his side.
"He's gone now, Rin! He stopped coming since yesterday. Rei and I have tried to contact him, and we succeded only once. He said he was fine and all.." Makoto looked down.
"Rin, did you.. do something to Ai?" Makoto looked troubled and stared at the table.
Rin sat down again, and looked at the supreme couple. Haru sat beside Makoto in the usual apron. Rin shook his head.
"I only yelled at him, and hurt him by accident. But if you have any clues about where he is-"
"Rin," Haru interrupted the shark.
He looked serious.
"Ai told us about the quitting."
Rin let out a questioning sound.
"He told YOU guys? Why would he let you guys know, when I'm the CAPTAIN on his FUCKING TEAM?!" Rin raised his voice, and his eyes became fiery.
Sousuke grabbed Rin's shoulder and asked him to calm down. He did as he was told, and tried to surpress his anger. Please continue, he said.
"Well, he just talked to Rei about it, so we don't know that much.. You should go ask him tomorrow, okay? It's kinda late to visit him now, don't you think?" Makoto smiled. The precious ocre turned the Samezuka-guys gay, and then they went off. When the affection of Makoto's smile wore off, the two of them whent back to their dorms. They couldn't do anything more that night, they told eachother.

"Haru, we're out of mackerell. Shall we go to the convenience store? They're still open, don't you think?" Makoto's smile affected Haru too, but it was to see on him.
He nodded, and went to get dressed. The apron was even a special treat just for Makoto.. Haru sighted as he took it off and replaced it with a black hoodie and normal pants.
"Let's go then, nee?"
The moment they reached the destination, Makoto would catch a glimpse of silver hair on a person, not far away from the store. The person was headed to the store with uneasy steps, almost like he was drunk. It was dark outside, so he could only see a little more than just the silouette. He didn't realise who it was, before the person collapsed in the middle of the store's entrance. Instinctively, Makoto starts running towards the person, like a mother when she sees her kid in trouble. By the time he reached the entrance, he was absolutely sure about one thing; it was Ai.
It was definietly Ai. His silver hair, beauty-mole under his eye, small body, even his clothes. The cashier was already trying his best to wake Ai up, and one of the customers helped.
Makoto felt his heart was bursting with stress, but kneeled down and asked what had happened. He just collapsed the moment he came in to this shop, he was told.
Makoto explained his relationship with the silverhaired boy, and the cashier let him take responsability. Haru called an ambulanse, so while they waited, Makoto sat on the ground, hugging Ai and keeping him warm. He looked like a small kid in Makoto's arms, Haru thought.
"Might as well buy the mackerell now."

Rin didn't receive any texts or calls that night. Again, his fist clenched. It was soon midnight, and only Rin was awake in their dorm. Sousuke was half asleep, though.
"Nitori... No, Ai.." He whispered with a trembling voice. He sulked.
"I should check out Mikoshiba's room again. Maybe he's back now.." Rin got out of bed and left his room-mate alone.
"It's useless," Sousuke wanted to say. He rolled over and tried to get some sleep himself.
He knocked carefully on the door, to let Momo know he was entering, but not too loud to wake him up. The door was unlocked, and Rin let out a nervous sound.
Was Ai back?
The door glided open, and the light in the corridor lightened up the room. Momo slept on the top bunk, while the bottom full of clothes. Rin walked in and removed some of the clothes. Still as bad as ever, he thought. Ai never was, and would never be, a tidy person. His clothes was thrown all over his part of the room, while Momo at least put his clothes in ONE PLACE. Rin felt anger welled up in him over this small stupidity, but what did it matter? All of Nitori's stuff was here, except his jogging clothes and a jacket. Not the Samezuka official swimclub jacket, but his usual hoodie. No, it wasn't HIS hoodie. It was actually Rin's. One day in the second year, Rin went through his clothes at school and threw away a few shirts and hoodies that were too small for him. Nitori asked for one to keep, and kept it since. He sometimes used it while Rin and he was alone in the room, and even a few times after school and such. He seemed so happy about that hoodie, Rin thought. And still..
He let go of the thoughts, and kept looking for traces. He went back to Nitori's bed, and revealed the thing under his blanket.

It was just more clothes.
Not only that, it was RIN'S clothes.
All of them.
Again, he clenched his fists and convinced himself not to murder anyone. Because that would explain why his closet was feeling emptier than usual. Case solved.
As he turned around, his eyes stopped at the trashcan. Again.
Bending over it, he could see what was inside. Unfortunately, it was now empty. It was even cleaned. Someone had cleaned it since the last time he saw it.
"Ai, you.." Restraining himself from cursing, he fought the will to kick the can, as he had done that day on qualifications for finals. But that was another day, another story, and for him now; an entirely different universe. Momotarou kept sneezing, and was happily dreaming sweet dreams about him and Gou. Tch, Rin snapped.
"You'll never get my little sister, you otter.."
He looked over the dorm-room once more before he went back to his own. Sousuke was still pretending to sleep, as Rin grabbed the ladder and climbed up. On his way, he purposedly bumped his foot on his mate's shoulder.

"Ah, he's awake. Haru, come with the towels!" Ai barely understood the meaning of the sentence, as he tried his best to concentrate. His eyes were closed, and only darkness would find it's way to him. His head felt heavy, like someone dragged him down to hell, and the stomach ached like it already was there. A few minutes later, Ai could open his eyes. It was a terrible eyesight, and repeatedly blinking didn't really help him. It was impossible to focus on anything, and all he could see was blurred dots and lines. He tried to let out a sound, but his strings stayed silent. Two dots appeared above him. Right, he was lying down.
But where?
"Aah, I'm relieved! How're you feeling, Nitori-kun?" A somewhat familiar voice spoke, but both vision and sound felt blurred, so knowing who it was, would be impossible. Trying to let out another sound, he tried to reply.
"Makoto-senpai, we should let him rest, right? We don't know what he's been through, so we'll let him sleep for now-"
"Oy, oy, Ai-chan! You're finally awake! So good to see you-GACK!"
Nagisa's voice suddenly stopped, followed by louder thumps and a slam. Probably from a door. Someone sat down beside him, he heard. Rolling his head to the side, he tried to open his eyes. It was somewhat clearer, and he could focus more. A tall boy with dark hair sat close, and suddenly, a hand touched Ai's silver hair. It calmly brushed his hair, like it was silk. Quiet big hands, but not like Rin's. Especially not Sousuke, nor Makoto's. Ai looked up.
A smiling Rei looked down on him, and kept fuzzing with his hair.
"Your hair is so soft, like a cat's." He said. Nothing more.

"We should call Rin. We should definietly call Rin. We HAVE to call him. Right, Haru?!" Makoto felt really troubled as his ethical problem kept growing. It was the same situation, but a lot more.. dramatized in his head. Somehow, he came to the conclusion they should turn in for murder. Haru shook his head.
"If he's avoiding Rin, there must be a reason. A pretty good one, don't you think?" Haru put on his apron again, and got rid of his pants. What a hectic day.
"I'm just saying, if Nagisa or anyone did something alike, I would be grateful to know the'd be safe, at least." Makoto looked down. The couple left Ai on a spare futon, and went into the kitchen. Same room, but different. It was almost midningt, but Nitori had'nt eaten anything. He used his little voice to whisper "hungry" not long ago, but nothing more. Haru just had to roll with it. That meant, grilled saba for midnight.
"We should absolutely call Rin.." Makoto reached for the phone, but Haru stopped him.
"If we tell Rin, what do you think he'll do?" he said.
Makoto went silent. His brain stopped working under stress, and therefore never thought longer than to his nosetip.
"Right.. I bet he'd yell a lot, and cry. Just as much."
"Would it help them with their problems?"
"Uhm, n-no.."
Makoto felt defeated, but Haru was right.
He left the phone alone, and helped Haru with preperations.
None of them realised that Ai had all ears opened, and heard every word. He let out a sight of relief, and felt like something liftet from his head.
When the food was done, he rose from the futon and joined at the kitchen table. Both Haru and Makoto seemed relieved that he felt better, and started a cozy conversation. Haru talked about the cats he was feeding, and Makoto whined about not getting to pet them all.
Haru's grilled mackerel tasted better than any other fish-dish Ai'd ever tasted. Maybe because of the atmosphere? It was the first time in a while that Ai had eaten dinner with others. His parents worked until late every day, so eating with them was out of the question. As old memories, he felt nostalgic about this scene, and his final tears appeared. Really, my face must really want me wet, for some reason today, he thought. The couple stopped eating, and stared at Ai. Salty tears dripped down on his plate, and his remainings were left behind. He started sulking, and when Makoto hugged him, something turned itself on inside of Ai. Like a water tap, the floodgates opened and sulking became whining, and whining became loud crying. Not from pain, nor sadness. He was happy. Happy to be able to eat dinner with someone he treasured. Not like his senpais, but Haru and Mako was precious to everyone. Even to Ai.
"I-I'm sowy for causing so much trouble, Haru-senpai.. Makoto-senpai.. I'm sowy.. So truly, truly sowy," Ai repeated until he fell asleep in Makoto's lap. Somehow, they all ended up on the floor with Nitori in Makoto's lap and Haru on the side. Nitori was like a petite girl in the ocre's lap. Haru actually felt a little jealous.

Early next day, Sousuke received a text. A quiet short one, to be expected by the one who sent it. Neither Haru or Sousuke was thrilled to talk with eachother, but if it was an emergency, they'd communicate. Really short. On Sousuke's text this morning, the only words written were this.
"He's here"
It was either the text's information or the big, faint thump from the dorm next door that left him unable to concentrate. He was now wide awake. Even though Haru didn't specify who, it was clear. He meant Nitori.
"Oy, Rin! Wake up," Sousuke kicked the upper bedbunk until he heard deadly growling from above.
"What the fuck, Sou.." Rin hang his head outside the bed, and tried to glare at his best friend.
"I know where Nitori is."
The next thing that happened, was the fact that Rin fell out of bed.