"Matsuoka-senpai!" Nitori stared up at the white ceiling of the dorm he and Rin shared at Samezuka Academy. When he didn't get an answer, Nitori whispered again, "Matsuoka-senpai?"
"What?" Rin asked, yawning as he answered.
"I can't sleep, what about you?"
"Well, I was sleeping before you woke me up," Rin growled. Uh-oh, Nitori thought. Now he's angry. "Sorry, sorry!" I have to get him to calm down before he really wakes up. "Are you excited for the tournament tomorrow?" Samezuka was entering an open-to-the-public swimming tournament tomorrow, and Rin and Nitori were both participating. Rin made a sound in his throat that sounded like a 'yes' or a 'sure'. Nitori wasn't positive which one was which.
"I asked Captain who all was participating, and Iwatobi wasn't on the list." Maybe that will calm him down some, he's always so uptight when he's racing against Nanase-san. Rin made a 'tch' sound which meant that he wasn't very impressed, or he was ticked off. Nitori had learned as soon as he had moved into his dorm with Rin that the sounds that Rin made had double meanings. Or in some situations, three meanings. That won't discourage me though! I love a challenge!
"They're not the type of team that enters a lot of tournaments, so this doesn't surprise me." Rin muttered. Ah, so he's unimpressed. "I think that Captain said something about Gou-chan telling him that the club didn't have enough money in their budget, I'm sure they would have loved participating. Especially Nanas-"
"Drop it." Rin interrupted.
"But-"
"Just drop it Nitori. I don't feel like talking about any of the Iwatobi members right now, especially Haru." Nitori was about to open his mouth again, but instead he just nodded and mumbled, "Okay."
"So what do you want to talk about?" Rin asked. The question surprised Nitori. Rin almost never wanted his opinion. "Uh…well…"
"That's why you woke me up right?" Rin asked, a little frustrated with Nitori. "So we could talk."
Nitori smiled. "Thanks Matsuoka-senpai. Let's talk about…um…" Nitori was failing to bring up a subject that wouldn't get on Rin's nerves. But before he could think of anything, Rin said, "You're nervous, aren't you?" Nitori blushed. "I-I guess…" Nitori didn't want to admit it, especially to Rin, his idol.
"Don't be. It's only a public tournament, so there's no pressure to get to regionals or higher this time." Rin said, sounding a little bored.
"Well, that's easy for you to say! You're the best swimmer on the team! You never get nervous!" Nitori argued, catching Rin off guard. Rin stared up at the bottom of Nitori's bunk. "That's not true," he said. "I can act cool on the outside, but right before a race, my stomach gets the better of me and I get really bad butterflies. It's almost like a curse. When you swim butterfly, you get butterflies." Rin smirked. Nitori blinked a few times. He's never ever opened up to me like this before. Maybe he's sleep-talking?
"Wow, Matsuoka-senpai, you're a great actor then! You always seem calm and collected when you're racing. How do you do it?" Nitori asked in awe of his dorm-mate.
Rin closed his eyes and smiled. "I can just pretend that no one's there. Just me and the stopwatch recording a record-breaking time." Rin said. "Maybe a little over-confident to think that I always get record-breaking times because I definitely don't, but hey, whatever works, you know?"
Nitori sighed and smiled. "Thanks senpai."
"Any time kid, now go back to sleep, it's two AM."
The next sleepover will be posted soon! :) Keep on reading loves!