Chapter One – A Shadow Lost

Rin dove, completely emerging himself in the comfortably cool water. It was the end of the day and he was alone in the Samezuka Academy pool; not even Ai was doing extra practise tonight. He preferred it when it was empty like this, quiet and undisturbed. It allowed him to think and to concentrate more on his technique, but at a more leisurely pace than would be allowed during the club's training.

Arms back and over, shoulders rolling safely, legs kicking strong enough to send water a couple feet into the air. The butterfly stroke was his best of all, although he did not always match up to Sousuke when it came to time. He thought his method was as good as it could be though: not too forceful that he tired easily, but not weak enough to damage his time dramatically during races. A good balance.

Reaching the end of his 400 meter swim, he stretched his arms out as much as possible to try and touch the end of the pool. It could obviously never compare to Nagisa's stretching ability, but it served him well enough.

Standing, he removed the cap and goggles, taking a few deep breaths of air, before lifting himself up to the side. It had been a good training exercise, but after a full day of training with the swim team as well, he was knackered. He allowed himself to lie back on the floor with his feet still in the water, eyes closed.

This was peaceful. He'd rest for a few moments without any disturbances and then get himself back to the showers and then sleep. It meant that he would have more homework to do tomorrow, but he was way too tired to do it now. Tomorrow would do. For now, all he could do was listen to the sound of his own breathing, in, out, in, out. It was a steady and regular exchange.

A soft pitter-patter of rain was drumming on the large windows, marring the view with its distortion and condensation. The water sloshed as he wiggled his feet slowly in the pool, hitting the edges softly and then rolling back, working up a rhythm.

Rin sighed and brought a hand up to his face to move the damp hair that had fallen into his eyes. He swore the damn stuff was getting longer every day. He'd taken to wearing it in a small ponytail at the nape of his neck, but the front bits were always falling right into his face. Making an appointment to the hairdressers was the logical decision but it just seemed as though he rarely had the time to do it lately. His time seemed to get eaten up with the responsibilities of being Captain, and managing to schedule in his own training for tournaments, as well as revision for the upcoming end of year exams. He'd already been approached by a couple of scouts, which was great, but it didn't mean he could slack on his school work any more than he had been. Sousuke hadn't been anyway, so why should it be any different for him?

Not for the first time, his thoughts drifted to Makoto and Haru. They often did when he thought about what leaving school for good meant. How had they both neglected to think about what they were doing after this year? He could sort of believe it of Haru; that boy never thought of anything other than swimming free. Unless he was thinking about mackerel. But Makoto! He could never take a decision so important as this one so lightly! And chances were he would have pestered Haru until he had a clear plan about university as well. But when he'd asked they'd both shrugged and given him vague answers. Secretly, he thought that Makoto would probably just follow Haru wherever he decided to go. Despite his maturity, for the most part, and his motherly tendencies, Makoto had a habit for relying on Haru more than he probably should. And Haru knew it, even if his dependency on the other was just as strong no matter how much he denied it.

"Idiots," Rin muttered agitatedly. "They can't carry on with their dependency problems for the rest of their lives." Great, now he was talking to himself.

Feeling an urge to shake his head in annoyance, he moved his gaze to the clock over by the door. It was half past ten already. Damn, he thought, I should get going.

With a groan, he sat up, finally grabbing his towel that he'd left by the side, and drying himself up a bit. There was a slight chill in the air now that he'd let himself stay wet for so long. A sound of irritation escaped him before he could stop it. Letting himself get cold like that was irresponsible; if he got a cold from it he would not be happy.

He made his way over to the rest of his belongings, near the door, to pack away his things. He zipped up his jacket over his bare chest and put on his flip-flops, stuffing everything away tidily. His swimming cap seemed to have been misplaced though. He rummaged through the bag twice and lifted up everything around him but it was still unseen.

His eyes made their way over the rest of the room and to the spot where he had been laying. No sight of it. Suddenly a flash of movement in the pool caught his attention. His cap was floating in the middle. That was strange; he could swear that he hadn't left it in there when he got out.

Shaking his head, he removed his jacket and shoes in order to wade back into the pool to retrieve the item. Just as he reached it though, it seemed to dive under the water. What the-!? That was definitely not normal. He followed it with his eyes for a few moments, watching the unnatural movements. Somehow it almost seemed as though the cap had attained a life of its own.

After a while of watching it, Rin decided to make a grab for it. As soon as he touched the thing the 'life' of it immediately drained and he was left with the inanimate cap of old. He held it warily, worried that it might start wriggling around again but it seemed as though it wasn't going to. He shook his head again, water dripping into his eyes as he did so. I'm just tired, he thought wearily. That must be it. I need to get out of here and go to sleep!

Abruptly the lights went off, plunging the room into complete darkness except for the pale moonlight that shone through the windows. It wasn't enough to light much of anything, but it did enhance the reflections in the water. Rin turned to stare at the entrance where the light switch was, but found nobody stood there. This was starting to get creepier by the second. It's just my exhaustion. It has to be that! Even his thoughts sounded like they were trying to convince himself.

He began to make his way out of the pool, but a shadow swam across in front of him as soon as he moved making him cry out. The sound echoed eerily in the empty room and he began to shiver. He dropped the swimming cap and tried to make his way to the other side of the pool but the shadow swam across there as well. He was effectively trapped.

His thoughts began to race. What's going on? What are these things? Who turned the lights out? I wish someone would come to check on me. Oh, God, help me!

Rin really had no idea what to do. Should he try swimming away again? But the shadow would be there again, and he didn't know what they were or what they could or would do. But he couldn't just stay here forever either - he needed to get out of this pool, out of this room!

After a while of standing still he risked a step forward. Nothing. Tempted to sigh with relief, he took another step. Still nothing. Did I really just imagine that? he wondered. One more and nothing. He picked up the pace as much as he could and eventually got to the edge of the pool. He pulled himself out hastily and crept away on hands and knees all the way to the wall. The room was silent other than the deep breaths he was taking, with knees brought up to his chest, arms wrapped around them.

It took a while for his breathing and heart to get back under control. Rin couldn't think of a time when he'd been more scared. Not even when he'd moved to Australia by himself at age twelve had he been so afraid, and that had been terrifying: moving to another country by himself, having to learn the language, all the scary critters that inhabited the island. But these past few moments surpassed all of that worry by a mile! Rin was surprised that he wasn't shaking anymore.

Despite the temptation of running straight back to his dormitory without looking back, Rin forced himself to step up to the edge of the pool once more and peer over the water. The glimmers caused by the moonlight were beautiful; shimmering and glistening a bright, white pattern, contrasting sharply with the deep, dark blue of the body. It would have made for a peaceful sight if not for the horror he was experiencing at the realisation that he wasn't reflecting in the water himself no matter how close he got to the surface. Regardless of the lack of light in the room, there was definitely enough that he should be reflected in the water, or at least a shadow of him should show. But neither.

He stood for a few moments marvelling in the oddity until a flicker of motion from the other side of the pool caught his eye again. It was the shadow, clearly in the shape of a human from this distance, paddling around the cap he'd abandoned. Could it be... my reflection?

Without any hesitation, Rin spun and ran for the door, collecting his belongings as he did so, and sprinted all the way back to his dorm.

As he ran, his mind entered complete panic mode and he couldn't distinguish a coherent thought. All that was clear to him was that he needed to escape, needed to get back to people. Either the whole ordeal had been his mind playing tricks on him - in which case he was obviously going crazy - or that had been real. He knew which one disturbed him more.

The door of his and Sousuke's shared room rebounded from the wall with the force he opened it with, and he slammed it firmly behind him, locking it. The clicking sound made him feel safe, and he allowed himself to rest his head on the door, catching his breath once again.

Sousuke had looked around, a hint of surprise on his face, when he'd entered the room. The usually stoic man was watching him with concern in his eyes when Rin finally turned to face him.

"Rin, what's wrong?" he asked, marking the place in his book with a finger and sitting up from his casual position. It wasn't unusual for Sousuke to read, quite the contrary really, but from the look of the cover it was an uncharacteristically romantic novel he was reading. At any other time, Rin would laugh at his best friend for reading such trash (although secretly he read more romance novels than any other type) but at the moment he couldn't work up the strength to care.

Instead, he ignored the question, dumping his bag on the floor, and made his way over to the door that led to the en-suite bathroom and locked it behind him. Twisting the knob for the shower head, he quickly undressed and forced himself to wash off the chlorine. Although he had gotten more used to showers in Australia, he still preferred to bathe after a long day of swimming and exercise, but a shower was more convenient and, honestly, all Rin wanted to do was sleep.

The sound of Sousuke knocking on the door lasted for a few minutes before he seemed to give up, likely returning to his book. Rin exited the shower and stood listening to the dripping of water rolling off him onto the hard, tiled floor. It had been a really strange and tiring day.

Resolutely, he made a promise to himself that he would make more time to sleep a full eight hours a night. Getting this tired again, and reducing himself to nightmarish illusions was not a habit he wanted to get into. One experience of this was enough, thank you very much.

He grabbed a towel - surprisingly soft: Sousuke was much better at laundry than he himself, or Nitori before him - and wrapped it around his waist. He wasn't entirely sure what he was going to say to Sousuke in order to explain his odd behaviour, and he wasn't looking forward to it.

Sighing, he looked at his reflection in the mirror above the sink. As per usual, his red hair was falling into his eyes of a similar shade, but thanks to its dampness he was able to push it back and keep it there. Water surely was a magical thing.

More than anything Rin noticed that he looked really scared. That wouldn't do at all: no wonder Sousuke had looked so concerned when he'd seen him. He made an attempt to strengthen the resolve of the face staring back at him, but to no avail. Instead he just managed to force himself to look both angry and scared. That was even worse than before!

Just be neutral. Make your neutral face, damn it! Apparently his cries of motivation weren't doing any good. His lip curled into a sneer at himself. What am I doing? Just ignore Sousuke and go to sleep, you damned idiot. I'm pissing myself off!

He stretched out his hand to reach for the light, but as he did so, an eye in the mirror winked at him. His mind went blank with shock for the third time that evening. Rin squeezed his eyes shut and escaped through the door. He changed hurriedly into sleeping clothes and fell into bed, head under the covers. Again Sousuke asked him what was wrong, and again Rin ignored him. He just wanted to go to sleep and forget this entire night.

After a while, squeaking of the bed above him signalled that Sousuke was moving. The blue eyed boy moved across the room and turned the light off and got back into bed. He made a sound of irritation that was clearly meant to be audible for him. Rin felt bad for worrying his friend like that, but he knew that Sousuke would mock him for believing that there were monsters in the pool. And the mirror, don't forget that! He scowled. I hate my own thoughts. Maybe he really was mad, arguing with himself like this.

Tomorrow he'd alleviate his feelings of guilt at leaving his friend in the dark; make up something about an argument with someone - Haru maybe. Sousuke would probably believe that. Sousuke liked to believe anything that could let him be angry at Haru. Rin wasn't sure what exactly had gone on between the two when he'd left for Australia, but it had left a mark on Sousuke, at least, for all the years since.

Well, none of that was important right then. He'd deal with it all tomorrow. For now, he would sleep.