Free! does not belong to me. Neither does High Speed!

The events in this work take place after Ocean tides (a cursed child and a battle against fate).

His world, my world, our shore

.

Rin's hand had stopped stroking his hair long ago, fingers tangled with dark locks as the man's breathing got deeper, slower, his chatting subdued between yawns. His other hand was intertwined with Haruka's own, relaxed while the sea man gently played with his fingers.

Haruka had stopped trying to fall asleep. As he listened to Rin's heartbeat, he looked through the glass wall, staring into the darkness and seeing what humans would miss: little animals running on the ground, birds flapping their wings, probably chasing after them. Besides the constant reminded that Rin was with him, Haruka could hear wolves howling not as far as he would have liked, not exactly helping him to get sleepy. He knew they were safe inside the house, and there weren't many threats for half-fish people, but he couldn't ignore the instinct that had saved his life so many times.

He liked the human world. There were things he didn't understand no matter how many times Rin explained them to him, and despite having spent four months living on land he still got surprised easily (according to Rin, of course. But Rin was human; it was his world). There were animals Haruka wouldn't have believed were real had he not seen them with his own eyes, and plants that looked like giant seaweeds but weren't edible.

And there were humans. Haruka didn't like them much, except some of them; aside from Gou, some of Rin's colleagues and (not that he'd ever admit it out loud) Sousuke, Haruka didn't want anything to do with them. They were loud (not that Rin and Gou weren't), obnoxious (Sousuke too; but at least he looked after everyone) and liked to ask way too many questions.

Which was the reason Haruka hadn't allowed Rin to do anything that would let marks on him. He hated to have on more clothes than necessary (he disliked clothes, in general, and was used to way colder environments), and people loved to ask about things that weren't any of their business. The first time Haruka had gone to work sporting several dark blotches on his neck (without even thinking about hiding them on purpose in case Rin got offended), there hadn't been a single person in the restaurant who didn't ask what had happened. Not that he would mind if they knew, but it was tiresome.

It was a pity, really. Haruka loved the marks themselves; they reminded him that the ghost of Rin's hands roaming his body wasn't his imagination, but an actual memory. Plus, it had taken long enough for Rin to deduce sea people didn't reproduce by spores.

(Haruka hadn't been in a relationship with anyone before, be it human or sea person; but he knew sea women that had mated and gotten themselves pregnant in less time than it'd taken for Rin and him to share a single kiss.)

But humans were completely tactless. If they lived in the sea, nobody would have anything to say about love bites; they would be even congratulated. Sadly, Rin couldn't breathe underwater.

As if guessing what he was thinking about, Rin's hand squeezed Haruka's fingers, tightening his unconscious hug around him. Haruka snuggled closer into his chest, his uneasiness vanishing as he focused again on Rin's steady heartbeat and calm breathing.

Now he really wanted to sleep.

.

"Good mo– Damn, it's late."

Haruka hadn't expected those to be the words that woke him up. Yet there he was, trying to open his eyes as Rin took him off his body, wishing it were night time again. He'd managed to fall asleep just before dawn.

A kiss landed on his cheek. "Haru, it's almost ten. We should–"

"Sleep," Haruka mumbled. They didn't have to work, so it would be fine if he stayed in bed all day, properly enjoying the main bedroom of the tiny house Rin and he had just moved in two weeks before. Rin caressed his hair. "Tired."

"But you said you had to go to the sea today." Haruka frowned, not wanting in the very least to listen to Rin. "Don't you have to see your friends or something?" Haruka shook his head, trying to bury it under the pillow. "Won't Makoto get worried?"

"I'll go tomorrow."

"But the winter solstice is today."

Haruka opened his eyes reluctantly. He hated to admit it, but Rin was right.

There was no mackerel for breakfast, which had Haruka pouting while he munched on his toast, taking his time to get fully awake as Rin walked around preparing things they should take to the beach. Haruka looked through the window to the few animals that dared to be outside in the shortest day of the year, frowning at the cloudy sky. It looked like the sea would get angry and Haruka knew by now how badly the ocean wanted Rin's life.

"Have you finished yet?" Rin hugged his shoulders from behind. "How can you be so slow?"

Haruka stuffed the rest of the toast into his mouth, knowing it was too early to shut Rin up with a low blow.

.

The water was too cold for Rin to swim, but for Haruka it was just perfect; he almost forgot to take his clothes off before shifting and diving from a large rock, already calling Makoto. He knew his friend would freak out if he were late, even if it were just for a day. When he resurfaced, Rin was sitting on the rock, staring at the sea with a longing that made Haruka's chest hurt.

"You can't get in," he reminded the human, holding on the edge of the rock.

Rin huffed.

"I know that." Haruka climbed to sit next to him. "How is it? Underwater."

Haruka flicked his tail, pensive.

"Dark. And cold."

"It doesn't sound very… welcoming."

It was, Haruka wanted to say. But his welcoming wasn't Rin's welcoming. For him, home was a tiny cave with a seaweed bed, looking at fish swimming by and going to the depths to see bioluminescent jellyfish every now and then. For Rin, it was watching a movie wrapped up in blankets, waking up to the smell of cooked food. And it was starting to be that way for Haruka, too.

So he shrugged. He couldn't show Rin any of that, anyway.

"Haru!" He jumped when he heard Makoto's voice. He looked away from Rin and saw his friend's head poking out of the water. He wasn't surprised when Nagisa and Rei breached shortly after and swam towards them.

"It's been ages, Haru-chan!" Nagisa leaped to the rock too, but the others stayed a bit away. They already knew Rin, but they didn't fully trust him. Although Rin wasn't scary in the very least, Haruka couldn't really blame them. Only Nagisa, so careless it was a miracle he'd escaped Natural Selection, dared be near the human. "How have you been?"

"We went to Australia," Haruka started, and soon Rin was explaining their most recent trip.

Haruka remembered the plane, the (more than usual) strange animals, the Great Coral Reef. He had gotten in trouble when he decided to explore by himself and found an angry shark; Haruka was grateful for having gotten away without losing a limb, but he had an ugly scar on his caudal fin (and his left ankle) as a reminder. Rin had panicked when Haruka had gotten back to the hotel limping and leaving a trail of blood behind him.

Then, Rin had been angry. Haruka had given him one of the two teeth that had gotten stuck into his wounds as an apology.

"You should be more careful," Makoto said, getting just close enough to see Haruka's scar, followed by Rei.

"I'd like to go too," Nagisa whined. He dove again and grabbed both Makoto's and Rei's arms. "Hey, how about we go there one of these days?"

"Not everyone can shift," Rei reminded him.

Haruka glanced at Makoto, who pretended to be still looking closely at the shark bite. He knew his friend was frustrated for being one of the few sea people who weren't able to shift and, therefore, to explore land. At least, he thought, he wasn't like Rei, who could shift, but the only time he'd done it he'd been ten metres below the surface and almost drowned in his human form.

"Still, we can swim there." Nagisa was swimming in circles around his friends, and it reminded Haruka of the shark. "It's summer there and it shouldn't take us long. Please, Mako-chan…"

Haruka smiled. He was glad to see them again.

.

Rin was unusually quiet on their way home.

He sat next to the window when they got on the train, and unlike the other times they'd gone to pay Haruka's friends a visit he didn't say anything about Rei's overly polite speech pattern, didn't complain about Nagisa almost making him fall into the cold water, didn't ask Haruka why, despite everything, Makoto was still cautious towards him.

Rin didn't even take Haruka's hand in his when the sea man sat down next to him. He was looking through the window, staring at the clouds that had covered Iwatobi for the whole day; Haruka glanced at the sky, guessing the sun was hiding beyond the sea when he noticed how quickly the clouds were darkening. He couldn't help but sigh, relieved because Rin wouldn't be near the sea when it got angry.

It was then that Rin stroked the back of his hand. It was so soft that Haruka almost missed it, but he tore his gaze away from the window. Rin, however, wasn't looking at him.

"You had fun," he whispered, despite the train was almost empty. Haruka nodded, not knowing what else to do. "Don't you miss it?"

"'It'?"

Rin's gaze fell to his lap. "The sea. Your friends. Being… there, doing what you want. Not having to work or wear clothes… I bet you like it."

Haruka felt something dropping into his stomach, something so cold that he had to supress a shudder. His fingers closed around Rin's hand.

"I like it," he admitted, faintly. Rin bit his lower lip.

"You should go back."

Haruka blinked. Once, twice. Rin's words still didn't make any sense.

"Huh?"

Rin took a deep breath; Haruka could hear how his heartbeat quickened. "You miss it. Don't think I don't realize. I– I see it, you know? You spend the time just… looking through the window, or soaking in the bathtub. You haven't even been sleeping well lately."

The cold had taken over Haruka's entire body by the time Rin finished talking. He understood what Rin meant, but… Did he– Did he seriously–

Does he want me to leave?

"Do you not want me around?"

A heavy silence hung on the clattering of the train. But finally Rin raised his head, his eyes meeting Haruka's at last.

"No. No, of course not." His grip on Haruka's hand tightened. "But if you want to go back to the sea… it's okay for me." He looked down again, slightly blushed.

"Rin." Haruka refused to keep talking until the human looked at him in the eye. It took him almost a whole minute. "If I wanted to get back there, I would have done it already." Rin frowned. "I lo… I like living with you."

He wasn't sure why he didn't say what he really meant. There wasn't a single cell in his body that didn't adore everything about Rin; but saying it out loud would make the meaning behind those words not only his anymore.

But Rin looked at him again, hopeful and flushed.

"Really?"

"I haven't seen everything yet."

Rin smiled softly, weakly, as if he were afraid of being too happy. Haruka squeezed his fingers, and he brought the sea man's hand to his mouth to brush his knuckles with his lips.

"Then what's bothering you? You seem moody."

Haruka frowned.

"Humans. They always ask things that have nothing to do with them. They're annoying."

Rin laughed.

"I'm afraid I can't do anything about that."

Haruka sighed. He'd figured out as much.

.

It was one of those nights when they wanted to take their time.

It had finally started to rain, but not even Haruka could hear it; his heartbeat resounded in his eardrums, as well as Rin's own. He resisted the urge to cross his arms over his chest and look away, Rin's gaze fixed on him as fingers slowly grazed his skin.

Haruka put an end to the staring by leaning towards Rin and kissing him, but didn't take into account that Rin wasn't expecting it; he toppled over him, Rin's hands grabbing his hips as they melted into a new kiss.

"You're too beautiful," Rin breathed out, fingers digging into Haruka's skin, and he was glad it was dark and Rin couldn't see the pink spreading over his cheeks. "Is it a mermaid thing…?"

"Sea people," Haruka corrected under his breath, leaning down for another kiss.

"Whatever," Rin's hand brushed Haruka's fringe aside. "I love you, you know."

"Something (a lock, probably) broke within Haruka. He stared at Rin, dumbfounded, not really believing how easily the words that had been stuck for months in his throat had come out from the man's lips. It was ridiculous, the fearlessness Rin did everything in his life with.

Then again, Rin was ridiculous.

But who was Haruka to judge him?

His nails dug into Rin's shoulders as he gathered his courage, trying not to think about his reservations, about what he'd lose. But would it really be a loss if he just gave it to Rin?

"Me too." Haruka cleared his throat. "I love you, too," he clarified, voice so weak he wasn't sure Rin had heard him.

Ate least, until a wide grin spread over his face, and if the room hadn't been so dark Haruka would have seen the way his eyes shone. He did feel Rin's legs hugging his waist, pulling him down and giving him a new kiss, though; this time it was longer, deeper.

"Good to know," Rin muttered, thumb trailing across Haruka's cheek as the sea man leaned his forehead against Rin's. "You should say it more often."

Haruka looked away.

"I'm not a parrot."

He could feel Rin's laugh through his chest.

And it was okay, because even though Rin teased him about starting to speak like a human he was warmer than ever, and Haruka didn't want to go anywhere too far from his tight embrace.

Author's note: I finished writing it to ignore the anxiety I have when I can't sleep. But if you see any mistakes, please do tell me.

Also, please tell me what you think about it!