And you can't?
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
As Rin watched Haru swim, for a moment he was back to being twelve. Back to being utterly enthralled by Haru's swimming. "That reminds me," he said suddenly, turning to his companions, "I had the weirdest dream about Haru back in elementary school."
"You did?" asks Makoto, his ever-present smile working to reflect his curiosity. Sosuke held his tongue.
"Yeah, I dreamt Haru was a merman and he let me drink his blood to give me strength," replied Rin, "I told Haru about it the next day but he didn't think much of it."
"I don't know about that," commented Makoto, "I mean, he remembered it. That's probably why he dreamt about being a half-fish the other day."
"That's not why," replied Haru as he swam over to them but didn't bother getting out of the water, "It was Makoto who dreamt he was a firefighter. Firefighters have dangerous jobs."
"Ah well, I guess if you weren't a magical half-fish, you couldn't turn into water to save me," replied Makoto. But then added, "Well Haru would have run into the burning building to save me anyway but it would be bad because Haru couldn't use the water cycle to come back to me," Makoto shuddered, remembering the part of his dream where he went back to being all alone after months of living with Haru. He never wanted to be away from Haru.
"Wait a minute," interjected Sosuke, a heartbeat faster than Rin who was still puzzling out the meaning behind Makoto and Haru's banter, "Why are you talking as if you were dreaming together?" he wondered.
They both of looked at him in surprise, "Well we fell asleep together while playing games," explain Makoto, "So umm… we were very close to each other and I guess that's why we ended-up sharing a dream," Makoto explained matter of factly.
There was a moment of silence but then Rin blew his top, "What the hell! You can't share a dream just by sleeping close to each other!" he insisted.
"But…" Makoto started but faltered in the face of Rin's emotions. Doubting himself.
Haru, however, was going to have none of it, "You might not," he replied, "But Makoto and I have always dreamt together, when we sleep next to each other."
"Haru's head does have to be very close to mine," Makoto said, as if that somehow made the absurd situation make more sense.
"Maybe they just influence each other," suggested Sosuke, "You know, talk about something just before going to bed and/or after waking up discuss their dream in a way that makes them think they shared a dream."
"No," Haru replied flatly.
"We did discuss that dream," Makoto pointed out to Haru, "Remember?" he asked, "You were very angry with me for running into the building."
"Makoto shouldn't rush into danger. The girl was outside already," replied Haru.
"Stop!" screamed Rin, "Backup, how did you know you dreamt the same dream?"
"Well in the morning, after I woke up, I remembered the moment Haru evaporated after saving me from the fire, and I got really sad," explained Makoto.
"I saw Makoto get sad and figured that he was remembering sad parts of the dream," Haru continued, "So I reminded him that I had returned to him and I would always return to him."
"You are the ocean and water always returns to the ocean," Makoto repeated with a big grin, "That's what Haru said," Haru ducked down below the waterline and looked away. There was a bit of bubble around his face. Maybe he said something that they couldn't hear.
"Don't repeat embarrassing things," Makoto interpreted with a grin.
Rin just gaped as Sosuke noted, "Well there goes that idea," he said defeated, "They might have been prompted by something before they fell asleep to dream about the same world or something. But in the morning they just seemed to know they had the same dream. Which is freaking weird!" declared Sosuke.
"It… it is?" wondered Makoto.
"It's not weird," Haru declared, emerging from the water, "Rin and Sosuke are just broken. It's normal to share dreams when you sleep close to each other."
"No it freaking isn't!" replied Rin, "If that were true, husbands and wives, strangers on a plane and so, so, so many other people would share dreams when they sleep next to each other."
"Only soulmates share dreams," Haru stated in a tone that implied Rin should already know such a basic and important piece of information.
Rin didn't like the implication, "What! Are you implying Sosuke is not my soulmate?"
"No I am saying you and Sosuke are broken!" declared Haru.
"Screw you Nanase!" replied Rin, "I'll show you I can share dreams with Sosuke!" turning to Sosuke he continued, "Come on! We are going to sleep!"
"But I am not tired," Sosuke pointed out, smiling at how easily Rin could be goaded.
"Maybe it's the bunk beds," Makoto commented absently.
"Then we'll run all the way back to Samezuka and, and sleep together in the same bed!" said Rin, "Then we'll share a dream and show Haru we are not broken!"
"You can't even read each other's mind when awake," Haru pointed out, "You can't share a dream."
"Fuck you, you wannabe dolphin," cried Rin, "Sosuke's thoughts patterns are clear to me!"
"That's not the same thing," replied Haru calmly.
"Yes it is!" replied Rin, "But let's settle this properly. Let's have a best friend mind read off!"
"Ah Rin…" Sosuke began but was quickly interrupted. Makoto too couldn't interject to stop the escalation.
"Doesn't matter to me, I always know what Makoto is thinking," replied Haru.
"And I'll prove to you that I always know what Sosuke is thinking! Now let's get some pen and paper. Makoto and Sosuke will writing down what they are thinking and we'll try to guess what they wrote! I'll show you that my mind reading is just as strong!"
"Fine," agreed Haru, quickly settling back into his calm, slightly apathetic self as Rin went looking for stationary.
"Haru, don't beat Rin too badly," whispered Makoto.
Sosuke rolled his eyes, "Rin does understand be better than anyone you know," Sosuke pointed out.
"I guess," conceded Makoto with a smile, "Maybe it'll end in a tie like most of Rin and Haru's challenges," unfortunately for both Rin and Sosuke's egos, it wasn't even close!
Author's Note: I felt like writing something for Free! recently. It was either this or Free! X Dragon Age: Inquisition where Haru swears vengeance on Solas because Makoto innocently romances him on his female elf and… well, anyone who played DA:I will know why female elves should always go for Cullen! Come to think of it, that would be an awesome AU. Inquisitor Haru, Makoto Cullen and Sosuke Solas. It could be SouHaru and MakoHaru! Please ignore me, my head is just still full of DA:I!