Chapter 1: Dramatic Reunion
The morning sunlight pierced through the clear window, illuminating the entire room brightly. On cue, an alarm clock on a bed stand began sounding loudly, pulling a figure from its slumber. Slowly sitting up in bed and removing the covers, the figure was revealed to be a young man. He possessed dark blue hair and sparkling sapphire eyes. He was sporting a pair of black swim trunks with purple stripes down the side and nothing more. He was handsome and quite well-built, but he wasn't excessively muscular. Releasing a disappointed sigh due to being parted from his sleep, he slowly reached out and turned off the persistent device. Afterwards, he slipped off the bed and rose to his feet, shuffling toward the bathroom. Once he was inside, he slid the door shut behind him and glanced at the shower. He pondered over something for a few moments before he finally slid down his trunks and stepped into the small, ivory chamber. He typically bathed with his trunks on, but he decided against it this time. After turning the shower on, he immediately shivered since the water still didn't have time to warm up yet. He didn't care though. He was far too eager to take his first shower of the day. He absolutely adored water... far more than a normal human probably should. In fact, it had become an obsession over the years... perhaps even to an unhealthy extent. He even tried climbing into fish tanks at the pet store before. Fortunately, his friends had been there to stop him.
He let out a content sigh as the water slowly began to rise in temperature. Eventually, steam was rising off of his body, and he closed his eyes, just savoring the moment. He became lost in his own bliss as the steady streams of warm water slid down his head, shoulders, chest, abs, groin, and eventually his legs. When over an hour had passed, he finally turned off the faucet and climbed out of the tub. Opening a nearby cupboard, he pulled out a blue towel and gently started to wipe off the lingering droplets from his body. Then, he slipped his swim trunks back up over his thighs once more. His hair was still wet, but he didn't seem to mind. After shaking his head slightly to flip his damp hair out of his face, he slid the bathroom door open once more and made his way back to his bedroom. Peeking inside his closet, he pulled out his school uniform and slipped it on over his trunks. He wore them wherever he went, just in case he happened to discover a body of water somewhere.
Once he had finished getting dressed, he walked into the kitchen and donned his usual apron. Then, he pulled out a pan from one of the cupboards and began to fry a slice of fish in it. This was his typical breakfast... actually, it was the typical dish he consumed at each mealtime. Once the meat was finished cooking, he began to devour the steaming creature quickly. After the last bite had entered his mouth, he rose to his feet and set the dirty dishes into the sink to wash later that day. Then, he removed his apron and walked over to the front door, opening it while still chewing. Upon seeing the three figures that were standing on his porch, he blinked. Swallowing that last mouthful of fish, he merely stared at them in silence. They were all three young men who were sporting the same uniform as the first male, and they were all just as muscular as he was. One of them had blonde hair and red eyes. He was quite short and wore a cheerful, energetic grin. Another one had green hair and eyes to match... he was much taller than the blonde and possessed a calm demeanor, yet he was still smiling. The last one had blue hair (lighter than the first male's) and deep violet eyes that were covered by a pair of glasses with a thick, red frame. A few moments of silence passed before the blonde male finally spoke up in his usual light, happy tone.
"Haru-chan! You actually got ready on time! Mako-chan and I thought we were gonna have to bust open the door and yank you out of the shower buck naked again!" His voice was rather high in pitch for a male's.
The first male, Nanase Haruka, said nothing in response as he stood there in his doorway. He was a man of few words, to say the least. He rarely spoke unless he was spoken to... and even then, sometimes he didn't reply. The green-haired male rubbed the back of his head, chuckling in an uneasy manner.
"Nagisa, we never went that far..."
"We almost did!" The blonde insisted, and his lower lip protruded slightly.
"No, we did not."
"Yes, we did!"
"Maybe you did, but Rei and I weren't planning to do that." The taller male seemed slightly flustered by his friend's strange idea, but he was trying to remain calm.
The male with the glasses decided not to get involved in this argument, yet he did seem to be blushing slightly. After nearly a minute, the two bickering boys finally stopped, and the blonde one, Hazuki Nagisa, turned to face Haruka again.
"Haru-chan, you have a piece of food on your chin!" He giggled, lifting his right hand and brushing the tiny morsel off of the other male's face with his index finger.
Tachibana Makoto, the green-haired male, shook his head as that tiny smile returned to his lips.
"We should probably start walking, or we'll be late again." He stated in that smooth voice of his.
Taking his advice, each of the young men departed from Haruka's house and started toward their destination... school. For the first half of the journey, Makoto, Nagisa, and the teenager with the glasses, Ryugazaki Rei, were all conversing as usual with Haruka listening quietly.
"...and remember that time when we took a different route to school?" Nagisa was laughing again as he reminisced. "Haru-chan spotted a small pond along the way, and he was planning to skip classes that day because of it!"
"Yes, that would have been quite a predicament if we didn't tackle Haruka-senpai before he reached the water." Rei nodded, pushing his glasses up as he spoke.
"Deshou? He woul..." Before the blonde could finish his sentence, he suddenly halted in his tracks, and his eyes widened.
"What's the matter?" Rei wore a confused expression while Makoto and Haruka suddenly followed suit with Nagisa. Turning his head, the male with glasses finally noticed what they were staring at. Another young man stood a few feet in front of them, scowling. He had shaggy, crimson hair, and a few strands of it were hanging down in his face. His scarlet eyes were narrowed as he kept his gaze fixed on the four figures before him. He was sporting a different school uniform than the other young men... his jacket was white instead of black. However, he was just as well built as each of the others were, and he clearly had a passion for some type of sport. As he opened his mouth to speak, he revealed his unnaturally pointed teeth.
"So it's true..." He used a bitter tone, moving his gaze entirely on Rei suddenly. "...you've replaced me with a megane freak."
The teenager with glasses blinked after being called such a rude nickname, and Nagisa started to speak again, stuttering.
"R-Rin-chan... i-it's... we're just..."
"Urusai!" The crimson-haired male, Matsuoka Rin, growled. "I don't want to hear any of your shitty explanations. You replaced me, plain and simple."
Nagisa cringed when he was yelled at, and he lowered his head shortly afterwards. He appeared to be on the verge of tears. Rin placed his hands in the pockets of his jacket and started to walk past the other young men. As he did so, he focused his burning gaze specifically on Haruka. The blue-haired male locked his own sapphire eyes on Rin's for a few moments, then finally looked away. There were faint traces of pain and shame evident in his expression, which was strange. Haruka rarely expressed his emotions visibly. Moments later, the red-haired male looked away also, jerking his own head back into place harshly.
"M-matte!" Makoto attempted to stop Rin... to no avail. His pleas were completely ignored, and the angry boy soon disappeared off into the distance. Sighing, the green-haired male spoke up again. "We needed another person to join our club... and we didn't think Rin would be interested anyway. He seemed quite upset when he left us back then." Upon noticing how upset Nagisa was, he gently placed a hand on the shorter male's shoulder. "It was his own choice to leave us in the first place. I don't understand why he'd be angry about this."
"I know..." The blonde sniffled. "...th-this is the first time we've spoken to him since he returned from Australia, and it s-seems that things have gotten even worse."
"Uhh..." Rei was hesitant to ask any questions since he realized how much this encounter had pained his friends, but he just couldn't help himself. "Who was that?"
"Matsuoka Rin." Makoto replied, turning his head toward the male with glasses. He didn't seem to mind responding to the inquiry. "He's an old friend who used to be on our swimming team when we were in elementary school, but he suddenly left us... and he was really upset when he did. I think he became too competitive."
"I see..." Rei slowly nodded, and he didn't attempt to pry further into the matter. Haruka silently kept his vision focused on the ground. He still seemed to be suffering from his own heartache... which may have been even more intense than Makoto's and Nagisa's even though he didn't show it.
For the second half of the journey to school, all four young men remained utterly quiet. None of them spoke a single word, not even the typically optimistic Nagisa. Finally, they all arrived at their destination and entered their classrooms. The day seemed to pass by exceptionally slow for them, but eventually, each of their classes ended. The four high school boys met at the pool which they fixed up for their usual after school swimming club. As soon as he was at the poolside, Haruka instantly stripped down to his swimming trunks and dove in. Makoto, Nagisa, and Rei, on the other hand, headed back to the boys' locker room to get changed into their trunks as well. When they had finished, they headed up to the pool once more, and they were immediately greeted by a young female who had just arrived. She had red eyes and long, crimson hair which she wore back in a ponytail.
"Hey! I was wondering when you guys would show up!" She wore a cheerful smile, but it quickly faded when she noticed the melancholy expressions on each of their faces. "Did something happen? I noticed that Haruka-senpai doesn't seem to be enjoying himself in the pool like he usually does."
"Well, Gou-chan..." Nagisa began, taking a deep breath. "...we... we met your brother on the way to school today."
Gou's eyes widened upon hearing the young blonde's words, and she suddenly appeared to be petrified. She didn't even bother to tell Nagisa to call her "Kou" as she usually did... she was completely frozen. Makoto cocked his head slightly to the left after witnessing the female's reaction.
"What's the matter, Gou? Is something wrong with your brother?" He asked, and a concerned expression appeared on his face. He had never seen her react to anything in such a manner before. He knew it must have been something serious.
The horrified female remained silent for nearly a minute, then swallowed hard. At last, she found her tongue again.
"N-no... of course not... h-he's just... getting used to being back in Japan again, th-that's all..." She slowly turned around to face the pool once more, staring out at the half-naked figure that was immersed in water. After a few moments, she whispered under her breath. "This isn't good. Haruka-senpai might be in danger..."
I swore to myself that I'd never write one of these, but I just couldn't help myself. I randomly got into a RinHaru mood again, and I thought to myself... they NEED a baby. They're just so perfect together. Rin is clearly obsessed with Haruka, even though he doesn't want to admit it... and it's obvious that Haruka cares about Rin A LOT. So yeah... I started writing this to help satisfy my cravings. It's going to be more serious and dramatic than the actual series though, and I changed the plotline around somewhat. However, I'm still trying to keep the characters' personalities the same. Rin's going to be more of an asshole than he was in the anime though. So yeah. Depending on the feedback from you readers, I may or may not continue this. Guess we'll just see how it goes. Next chapter, I'm planning to focus on Rin... and we'll be getting some yaoi action in here soon enough. YESSS! /Cough/ Ahem. I swear, I'm NOT a completely yaoi-obsessed fangirl, but certain couples just make me lose it! D: Anyways, I'd love it if you guys would leave a review and tell me what you think. Later!