A/N: Very loosely, I repeat, VERY LOOSELY based on my experiences with Free!

Warning: Some bad language! You have been warned!


She was wasting her afternoon away on the blogging site known as Tumblr when it happened.

'The thing that gets me most about Rin and Haru is that whenever they meet, they let their guard down completely, unlike their time spent with their other friends. They're so much more open around each other!'

The caption rested below a gifset of two anime boys, whose faces had been artfully animated to portray shock and recognition. She was immediately drawn to them, agreeing inherently with the small paragraph said. She didn't know it at first, but deep inside her, her mind had confirmed the romantic relationship between the red-haired one with shark-like teeth, and the raven-haired one with eyes so deep and blue she had no clue how the creators had managed to capture it so well.

A couple of minutes later, and thanks to Google and Wikipedia, she was hooked.

The anime was called Free! Iwatobi Swim Club, but she took to just calling it 'Iwatobi.' Finding the episodes online was easy as could be, and by the fourth one she was on the edge of her seat, internally screaming for Rin and Haru to just kiss already, goddamnit! As the credits rolled, she started swearing at KyoAni for being such fucking teases.

Apparently the anime would be released by an episode per week. Already she felt as if her emotions were being cruelly toyed with. How could she manage when the weeks dragged on so?

She spent the first seven days barely skimming over homework, much more invested in lurking on the Free! or RinHaru tag on Tumblr, but they were updated rarely due to the hype surrounding the anime not having reached its peak. When she had finished checking the tags for at least the ninety-eighth time, she finally gave up and went onto YouTube. The only noteworthy video for her so far was a reaction video by a user named Gigguk, and she watched it so many times that by the time the fifth episode was released, she could quote it word for word.

And then the sixth episode rolled around.

And then the seventh.

Then the eighth.

Dimly she was aware that her grades had dropped. Her school days were simply spent yawning and staring out the window, dreaming of the beautifully animated water that awaited her when she returned home, and would sustain her until 3AM.

Episode 9 had her clawing at the screen, mumbling, "Rin, bby, don't cry, pls don't cry, I'm here for you bby." The words tumbling out of her mouth wouldn't form properly, leaving her gasping almost indistinguishable phrases that had wormed her way into her brain from her times on the internet.

And then on Thursday, it happened.

'So I heard Free! only has 12 episodes! This is terrible, I can't survive without my gay swimming anime boys!'

Twelve. Episodes.

Twelve. Episodes.

"WHAT?" she shrieked, seizing her laptop and preparing to smash it into the wall. Only her mother, who had come running at her shout, saved the device and subsequently confiscated it from her until she agreed to "spend more time with the family. It's obvious you're not studying!"

She couldn't make it through one hour before she leapt up from where she had been twitching on the couch, muttering, "I'm going to bed."

Before any of them could stop her, she was safely nestled in her room once more, this time with her mobile phone in hand. The internet ran slower on it, but at least it was a form of connection with the anime boys she had fallen in love with.

On Friday, she got her laptop back and discovered the Swimming Anime Dating Sim (Very Beta!) and played it through to the end, sighing happily when Tsun blushed at Pimp-kun's suggestive words. It was like it was canon.

On Saturday, Tumblr led her to 50% Off. Thug Seme Nagisa had her almost crying in laughter, a grin stretching its way from ear to ear. She had been working on her grin. That night she dreamt her teeth had become sharp and rakish, like Rin's.

By the time Episode 11 came knocking on her door, she shipped Rin and Haru with all her heart and most of her soul. She began skipping school, faking so many illnesses her mother called the doctor, who just prescribed 'more sleep.' Fanfictions and fanart were what really gave her energy, the lemony smut making her blush and the fluff making her clutch her chest as her feels imploded. Whenever she saw the MakoHaru ship surface, she scowled.

The Rintori ship was twice as ridiculous, she often muttered to herself. Rin did not belong with a shota-boy. He belonged with Haru. Speaking of shota-boys, though, the Reigasa ship was her second favourite. Rei and Nagisa fit together so goddamn perfectly. Her third favourite ship was SeiGou, but Episode 7 had left her slightly confused there, as when Nagisa mentioned Seijuuro to Gou, she had looked away, and not in embarrassment.

No matter. "My ships have sailed, and if anyone tries to sink them so help me I will flame all their stupid shit," she growled.

Not to mention Seijuuro was one of the most attractive anime boys she had seen in her life.

Her limbs had taken on a strange stiff quality, locking her in place on her computer chair. Her neck often made a weird cracking sound when she had to turn her head to talk to whichever family member popped in her room, trying to rouse her from her sitting position.

Wednesday morning came and by gods, she couldn't face it. She couldn't, she couldn't…yet she did.

By the end of it:

"RINHARU IS CANON!" she screamed.

Episode 12 was over, her chest was heaving and her pupils were dilated. Canon. Canon. Canon. They're canon. The feels had risen in full force within her, making her hands shake like she had Parkinson's. Did you see the way they fought, did you see the way they cried? She couldn't shake the memory of Rin's tears falling on Haru's face, or their shoujo moment under the cherry blossom tree.

She spent the rest of the day—and night—rewatching the episode.

Little did she know the path her life was about to take.


Oh my God WHAT HAVE I DONE.

I was talking to someone on Tumblr about this, and it kind of took off from there. Oh my God. Not gomen, though.

MakoHaru and Rintori shippers especially, please don't take this seriously! It's not my intention to attack any other ships, I just took my obsession with RinHaru and built upon it so this character becomes a very unpleasant person, lost in the world of Free!... eh eh eh.