Silky Smooth

Warning(s): Nitori accidentally cuts himself shaving a few times, so blood/cutting is mentioned.

AN: Big thanks to my friend phresine for beta-ing this!


Nitori noticed Rin's legs the first time he laid eyes on him. He had never paid much attention to legs until Mikoshiba started making them do quad exercises, but now he could tell that Rin's were pretty topnotch. They were strong and muscular, and he had very nice quadriceps.

But Nitori had never noticed how smooth Rin's legs were until he started helping him do crunches. With his hands wrapped around Rin's bare ankles, he could feel how smooth and hairless they were, and how hard and solid they were from training.

Naturally, it piqued Nitori's curiosity.

"Um, Matsuoka-senpai," he said as Rin curled up, "why are your legs so smooth?"

Rin eased his shoulders back down and tensed his abs into another crunch. "Because I shave," he said, not even slightly breathless, and Nitori felt a slight pang of jealousy that his lung capacity left a lot to be desired.

"Eh, why?" Nitori asked. As far as he knew, none of the other boys on their swim team shaved. "Is…it an Australian thing?"

"All Olympic swimmers shave. It reduces drag."

"Wow!" Nitori said. "The Olympians do it?" He knew some of the boys on their team modeled their diet and training after Olympic medalists, but he had never heard of shaving before. "Does it make a difference?"

"Every split second matters," Rin said. "How many am I at?"

Nitori's eyes widened. He released his grip from Rin's ankles, clapping his hands together and bowing his head. "I lost track! I'm sorry, Matsuoka-senpai! Please forgive me!"

Rin sighed and shook his head. "Just don't mess up when you count my push-ups."

Nitori nodded eagerly.


Nitori couldn't stop thinking about it. He thought about how smooth Rin's legs were, and how he wanted to touch them. It made him think about his own legs. They weren't especially hairy, but they weren't nearly as smooth as Rin's.

Rin said every split second mattered. No matter what Nitori did, he couldn't make his times drop. He wasn't getting worse, but he certainly wasn't improving. He felt stuck.

Maybe shaving his legs like Rin would help? It couldn't hurt to try.

He and Rin shared a shower in their dorm, but Nitori had never seen a razor or shaving cream in there, so he guessed that Rin kept them in his cabinet. Nitori would have liked to known what brands he used, but he felt weird about snooping. He considered asking Rin, but that just seemed too…childish. He already bombarded his senpai with enough questions about swimming techniques as it was, so he wanted to try doing something on his own.

He went to a convenience store near Samezuka, and bought a cheap bottle of shaving cream and some disposable razors. When he returned to his dorm, shopping bag in hand, Rin was lying on his bed, reading an American swimming magazine. His eyebrows were furrowed. He turned the pages very slowly as if he was trying to absorb everything.

"I'm going to take a shower," Nitori said.

Rin didn't respond.

"I – I might be a while!"

Rin grunted, which Nitori took as an acknowledgement.

In the bathroom, Nitori pulled off his pants. He was already wearing a Speedo underneath. He didn't see the point in getting naked when he had already showered this morning.

Nitori turned on the shower, sat on the toilet, and stuck his legs into the stream. From the shopping bag, he removed the shaving cream and razor. Okay, he was going to do this. It couldn't be too hard. Girls shaved all the time, and the blade didn't look that sharp.

Nitori tucked his legs behind the stream and spread the shaving cream on his legs like he'd spread peanut butter on a banana. When he was done, it kind of looked like he had spread whipped cream all over his legs. Which would be pointless if he didn't have someone to lick it off for him…

Nitori flushed, and shook his head. He needed to focus. He placed the razor just above his knee and brought it up quickly.

"Ow!" A bit of blood was blooming where cut himself. Nitori tried again, but now there was even more blood. The shower washed it away, but Nitori was getting a bit discouraged.

Nitori decided to try starting from a different spot. He leaned over and placed the razor just above his foot, and drew it up quickly. If anything, this was worse. This time there was an even bigger gash, and it stung quite a bit more.

Nitori hissed in pain. Was it possible to die from blood loss because of shaving? He had already cut himself three times, and the cuts were still bleeding. How did girls do this? It seemed…fatal.

Nitori sighed. He was going to have to quit. Death by shaving would be such a lame way to go, and he knew his parents would be embarrassed if he died in such a pitiable way. If he had to die, he's rather it be something cool like getting eaten by a shark.

"What are you doing?"

Nitori started and whirled around. Rin was leaning on the doorframe, looking unimpressed. His arms were crossed over his chest.

"Ah, Matsuoka-senpai!" Nitori plastered a smile on his face. "I'm sorry if I was being too loud! I'll keep it down!"

"What are you doing?" Rin asked again, eyebrow raised.

"Uh, well." Nitori rubbed the back of his neck with the hand not covered with shaving cream. "When you told me about how, y'know, the Olympians shave their legs, I thought maybe I should too? I've been trying everything to shave a couple seconds off my time, so I thought I might as well try this?"

Rin's face was blank. "You're bleeding."

"Yeah, I obviously don't know what I'm doing," Nitori said. He winced. "I think I'm going to stop."

"You're going to look stupid if you have hairless patches on your legs," Rin said. He plucked the razor out of Nitori's hand before he could respond. "The most important thing is that you're not using a dull razor. Is this one new?"

When Nitori nodded, Rin said, "Here. I'll show you."

Nitori knew he should thank Rin, but the words felt stuck in his throat. He watched with wide eyes as Rin knelt beside him and placed the razor on his ankle. "The problem was that your strokes were too choppy and short. It's more like…" Rin trailed off.

"Um, a streamline?" Nitori offered, his heart hammering in his chest.

Rin stared at him for a moment, and Nitori was worried he had said the wrong thing. But then Rin smiled briefly, just a flash of his sharp teeth, and nodded. "Yeah, you could say that."

Rin moved the razor up his leg, nice and slow and gentle, not like what Nitori had been doing at all. Nitori stifled a gasp, his hands clenching into fists. Rin's hand was so close to his leg. Nitori felt his face heat up. It wasn't intimate, he told himself. No, his senpai was just teaching him something.

"See?" Rin said. "You've gotta do it smoothly. If you go too fast, you're more likely to cut yourself." Rin held the razor up to the water. "You've got to keep washing it out too."

Nitori nodded. Rin placed the razor back against his leg and slid it up. The blade cut through the shaving cream, leaving behind shiny, smooth skin. His leg was beginning to look more like Rin's.

Rin washed out the razor again and did another section, but this time he placed his other hand on Nitori's leg for balance. This time Nitori did gasp, and Rin turned around to stare at him.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing!" Nitori said. He put on a smile and forced out, "Thank you so much for teaching me how to do this, senpai! I appreciate it!"

Rin nodded. "You got the hang of it?"

"Yes, I think so. You're a good teacher!"

Rin handed the razor to Nitori and stood up. He leaned to the side and cracked his back. "Remember to get the backs," he said. Nitori had no idea what he was talking about until he felt Rin's bare foot press up against the back of his calf.

Nitori was glad he wasn't facing Rin, because he had to be blushing. "Uh, yes, I'll be thorough!"

Rin walked out, and Nitori felt a combination of relief and disappointment. He finished shaving his legs, but the feeling of Rin's hands on his legs lingered.

After Nitori turned off the water, he couldn't stop feeling his legs. They looked so smooth and shiny that he couldn't help but smile. He raked his fingers across his shins and rubbed his legs together, feeling ridiculously happy.

Even if it didn't improve his time, he was glad he had done it. When Nitori left the bathroom, still smiling, Rin tossed something at him, and he barely caught it. It was a bottle of lotion.

Nitori looked at it, confused. "What's this for, senpai?"

Rin was lying in bed, his head propped on a pillow. He shrugged. "It's for, you know…" He trailed off and gestured downward.

Nitori's eyes widened, and he could feel his face becoming hot. "Uh, I – I don't—"

"You want me to use it on you?" Rin asked. He raised an eyebrow and sat up.

Nitori's jaw nearly unhinged itself. He gaped soundlessly at Rin, like a fish floundering on land.

Rin looked confused for a moment, but then he flushed and shook his head. "On your legs," he snapped. "What did you think I meant, Nitori?"

The words felt like diving into a cold pool. Nitori blinked. "…Oh."

"I get bumps afterward if I don't use it, and it's sorta annoying," Rin said. He stared at his comforter. "You don't have to use it if you don't want to."

"I'll use it," Nitori said. He still felt pretty embarrassed, but he was glad that Rin was going so far to help. "And, um, I can do it myself! Thank you!"

Rin grunted, and stuck some headphones on in reply.

Nitori liked putting the lotion on his legs. They made his legs look sleek and shiny, and showed off the muscles he had gained after months of training. He admired them in the mirror until he caught Rin looking, and then he stopped and started getting ready for bed.

When they were in their beds with the lights off, Nitori said, "Thank you, senpai." It was quiet enough that Rin wouldn't hear if he was asleep, but if he was awake—

"Don't mention it."

Nitori rubbed his legs together, and grinned.