Water ran gently over his little shoulders as he floated in the pool, completely content with the world at the moment. It was always nice to swim or just be in the presence of water. A sudden splash sounded from his side and his blue eyes opened up, flicking them over to where the disturbance had been heard. A head of dampened Cerise locks popped up, grinning in his spot as he used one hand to wave at the Raven haired boy. "Haru-chan!"
The intruder swam over to him, swishing his feet underneath the water to keep himself afloat. " Nagisa, Makoto, and I are all heading over to my house to play some video games after practice is up. Want to come?" the red eyed boy asked, shark-like smile on his face.
Haruka thought it over. He hadn't been to his friend's house lately. Only Makoto was a regular, but they were like brothers without blood relation, so that didn't count. Nagisa hadn't invited anyone over in a while, but he guessed it was because his parents were busy. He understood that. His grandmother was usually busy herself.
"Sure, I guess."
"Sweet! Come on, coach is timing us all." With that the other boy swam to the edge, pulling himself out of the water, letting it pool at his feet as he waited for Haruka to follow him.
The black haired boy trailed after the other boy, walking over to the wall to wait for his turn to get his time. Rin had gotten much faster than when he had first begun swimming in their school. He had always been good in the 50m races, but he still had trouble with longer distances.
First up to the block was Makoto.
Then Nagisa.
Then Rin.
And finally Haruka.
The three boys watched him swim through the water like a dolphin, legs connected like a long tail, propelling him along in his way. He really was a beautiful swimmer.
Makoto laid the towel he had been drying his hair with over his shoulders, walking over to the edge of the pool, holding out a hand to help his friend up. It was accepted and the taller, stronger boy pulled him up and out of the water. " Wow, Haru-chan, that was amazing!"
"I've told you not to add 'chan' to my name. Just call me Haru."
Makoto gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry."
Rin rolled his eyes, turning to Nagisa. The younger boy was wrapped up in his towel, sitting on the floor, watching the other two boys converse with one another. A small smile came to his lips as he watched the youngest member of the swim team. He was so childish. He took his towel off his head, dropping it over the little blonde with a smile.
"Ah! It's dark now."
Rin snickered.
Makoto and Haruka walked over to the pair.
"Where's Nagisa?"
The tower of towels moved and a little head of blonde hair popped out, smiling. "Boo!"
Makoto jumped in surprise, Haruka didn't even flinch, and Rin laughed at his friend's reaction.
The boys left the spot where they had all gathered, towels over their heads as they walked to the locker room to wash in warm water and then dress to leave. They had no problem changing in front of each other since they were all boys, so the process started and ended quickly.
The group left the swim club, saying goodbye to their coach and heading over to their friend's house. The walk as a quiet one. They had not been over at his house before and were slightly anxious as to what was in store for them. Were his parents nice? Were they strict? So many questions.
As they approached the gate, Rin brightened up considerably, speeding up and running over to it, opening it for his friends. They walked in and watched as Rin shut it behind them. When he caught sight of their faces he frowned. "Come on, guys. My mother isn't going to bite your heads off. She's cool."
Makoto smiled slightly. Haruka remained expressionless.
A sound drew their attention away from Rin. A woman with hair slightly darker than their friend's was smiling, opening the front doorw wider as she got their attention. She was adorned in a simple white dress with an apron around her waist. "Ah, Rin, you're home! Welcome back, sweetheart."
Her eyes trailed over the rest of the boys.
"Oh, you must be the boys Rin's always telling me about. Come in, come in."
They walked forward slowly, watching as the Cerise male ran forward to hug his mother, nuzzling into her. She smiled, toying with his hair before stepping aside, letting the other boys in.
From what the boys had gathered, his mother was a kind person. Hopefully, they wouldn't upset her. They walked into the house, removing their shoes and placing them by the door in a neat, orderly fashion as they waited for Rin to come back over to them as to end this awkwardness. He joined them shortly after, slipping off his own
shoes before taking Haruka, Makoto, and Nagisa into the living room and sitting them down, crawling over to the TV to pull out some games from the storage beneath it. "So, what do you guys want to play?"
"I'm really okay with anything you choose," Makoto said, rubbing a hand at the back if his head nervously. Rin made a face of disapproval, turning to face his other friends.
"What about you guys?"
"I don't really care," Haruka stated.
Rin made another face.
"Oh! I have an idea!"
The Cerise haired male blinked, turning to Nagisa. "Yes?"
"Lets play a racing game! You do have those, right?"
"Mmmhmm!" hummed the crimson eyed boy, crawling back over to the box of games, shifting its contents as he searched for the designated one. He reigned victorious in his search as he pulled out Mario Kart. All the boys snapped their attention to the game.
"Cool!"
"What is that?"
"It's Mario Kart. It was created by nintendo for the nintendo 64."
" I have one of those, but my mom and dad only give me brainy games to play on it. It sucks."
"Well, now you can play some not-so-brainy games for a change."
Rin pulled the game system from its rightful spot on the shelf below the television and set it up, popping the game into the console and turning it on, waiting patiently for it to load up.
He distributed all the game controllers out; Haruka claimed the first controller for himself, it was blue. Rin had no problem with this as he handed out the other ones. They were gray. They had just enough slots for the four of them.
Rin explained the game, let them play a few practice games to get used to the controls while he got up to get them some drinks, and then the race was on.
Makoto was in the lead, but Nagisa quickly passed him up, Rin at the tip of the other kart, ready to pass him as well. Haruka remained at the end, not really caring if he won or lost. The match was close, but to their surprise, suddenly, at a sharp turn that sent them spiralling into the lava, Haruka remained on the bridge, passing them all. Rin made a face of disbelief as he regenerated. No one had expected that at all.
Makoto let out a small laugh as he regenerated, following Rin as they chased Haruka's player. Nagisa had managed to back himself into a wall as he laid on the floor, laughing at the plot twist. He was in dead last now, but he didn't really care. He'd get them the next round.
The ending results were polar opposite to the starting results. Haruka as Mario was first, Rin as Bowser was second, Makoto as Toad was third, and Nagisa as Princess Peach was last.
They had asked about why Nagisa had chosen a female for his player and he simply answered, "If Mako-chan can be a mushroom, then I can be a Princess." They decided to leave it at that. It was a logical point.
"Okay, Haru-cha-"
"Please, lay off the chan. Just call me Haru."
"Okay, Haru, you won, so you get to choose the next course."
The boy flipped through the courses, watching all the ones with water closely. The rest of the boys all facepalmed. There was no surprise there. They ended up playing the beach course.
Haruka ran his character into the water at the very beginning, just sitting there the rest of the time, a content smile on his face.
Nagisa was in the lead again, Rin on his heels, and Makoto eating their dust in third.
Rin took the lead by using the waterfall shortcut to cut Nagisa off, grinning ear to ear at the little noise of disbelief that left the youngest boy's lips at the sudden switch.
Makoto blinked as he passed through a item square, getting a strange blue shell looking thing. Rin caught sight of his screen and grimaced, flicking a curious glance over at his face. He was completely clueless that that item could knock Rin out of first place if set off. The red head sighed and paused the game, turning to face Makoto. " You didn't learn about the items, did you?"
He shook his head.
"Well, I guess it's my fault, seeing as I left the room."
He pointed at the blue shell. "This is an item that targets the first person. If it hits them, it stuns them for a few seconds, letting the others pass them. The banana peels make a character slip and slide over the road, letting others pass them. Green shells hit and stun if you run into them. Red shells target people in front of you, like the blue shell." He looked over at Nagisa's screen and saw a little ghost, waiting to be used. Makoto followed his gaze. " That. That is a ghost. You can use it to steal other people's stuff. You just have to click the little button on the back of the controller." Rin modeled it. The boys all tried it. "It's a little awkward at first, but you get used to it."
With that he moved back over to his spot and clicked the button to resume his game, preparing for the blue shell at any moment. It came swiftly and Nagisa passed him, smiling widely. Rin shook his head and continued playing once he regained control over his character. Well, at least he was being fair by teaching them about the game instead of pelting them with item after item and not explaining anything.
A small cough distracted them.
Makoto paused the game this time, turning to face a small, head haired female. She looked about four and had a remarkable resemblance to Rin and his mother. She was absolutely darling.
Rin smiled brightly, scrambling up and running over to her, hugging the smaller girl close and tight to him. "Gou! You're up from your nap?"
She nodded as the disconnected, slinking behind her older brother shyly. Rin quirked a brow at her behavior.
Nagisa ran over to her, crouching down in front of her on the side of Rin. She shrieked and ran to the other side, grabbing her older brother's hand and using it to hide her the best she could. "oniichan," she whined.
He frowned, looking down at her and then Nagisa. " I think she's afraid of you, Hazuki-Kun."
The strawberry blonde blinked and crawled on the floor, over to the little girl. " Oh, come on, Miss Gou, I'm not a scary person, you don't have to be afraid of me. I promise." He held out a pinky to her. She hesitated before wrapping her pinky around his own. Nagisa smiled, shifting his position and holding out a hand for her to take. She did and he slowly walked her away from Rin and over to the others. Haruka was leaning over Makoto's sholder, peering at the small female coming over to them. She was like a mini Rin with more hair and darker eyes.
Rin followed after them, moving the drinks out of the way as his younger sister sat down. She wrapped her arms around her small legs and laid her head on her knees.
She wanted to play with them.
Rin sat besides her as his friends unpaused the game and they went back to racing.
Nagisa came in first, Rin in second, Makoto in third, and Haruka in last, but not really caring about that because his character had been submerged in digital waves of water.
Gou smiled.
"Nagisa, your turn to choose the map."
That turned out to be a bad idea.
He flicked through the courses until one caught his attention. Boo Boardwalk.
Makoto's face fell.
The race started and Makoto was in first for once, that was, until he saw a ghost, then he just went over the edge and tossed the controller away from him, grabbing his legs and rocking back and forth. Gou frowned and reached for the controller, holding it in her small hands, running a finger over the buttons. She moved forward on the map and smiled. Rin looked over at her and mirrored the smile. The race continued like that for a while. Gou won, perhaps out of pity of her fellow boys, or, maybe, she was just that good.
Nagisa turned to congratulate them, catching sight of Makoto. A small, mischevious smile came to his lips. Makoto swallowed thickly. "Aww, what's the matter Tachibana-chan? Are you afraid of the game?"
"Yes, yes I am, Hazuki-kun..."
Rin frowned. "Come on, you guys, no poking fun at others, it's not nice. We have to set a good example for Gou!"
Gou smiled wider. She was being included!
Haruka moved closer to Gou, sitting on his knees in front of her. Her smile faded as she scrambled to get behind her brother once more. Haruka blinked, lips going downward ever so slightly.
"Oh, Gou..." Rin sighed, reaching around to take her into his arms, resting her in his lap as he pet her hair. She buried her face into his shirt, hiding from Haruka. "I guess she's not used to you guys yet."
"Maybe we should introduce each other?" Makoto suggested.
"I like the sound of that. What do you think about that?" A little head of red hair shook back and forth over the crimson eyed kid's chest. He smiled sadly. "Come on, Gou, for me. Please?"
She stared up at her brother before pouting and turning to face the other boys. They took that as an invitation.
Makoto knelled in front of the small red headed young girl. "Hello there, Gou. I am Tachibana Makoto, but you can call me Mako-chan or just Makoto."
"M-Makoto?"
He gave her a warm smile. "Yes, Makoto."
She smiled slightly.
Makoto moved and let Nagisa get into the spot her was just in. " We're already friends, but it never hurts to learn each other's names. Hello there, I'm Hazuki Nagisa. You can just call me Nagisa though."
Rin smiled down at his sister, awaiting her reaction. She smiled back at Nagisa. "Nagisa."
The strawberry blond beamed at her. "Good! Very good."
Haruka was last. His expressionless face made Gou wonder whether or not he was capable of smiling at all.
Nagisa moved and let Haruka take his place, sitting next to Makoto as they watched him.
He took a breath as he stared at the young red headed girl in his friend's lap. She squirmed under his gaze. The raven haired boy flicked his blue eyes over her face, seeing she was becoming uncomfortable. He didn't like doing that to people. He just couldn't express himself the way he wanted to.
He held out his hand to her, expression blank as ever. "Nanase Haruka."
She stared at the hand as if it was sprouting another set of fingers from it's base. Rin laid a hand over her own, gripping it and setting it on top of his friend's before removing his hand and just leaving her's there. She carefully took his hand, holding it lightly. "Haruka..."
The rest of the boys smiled as Haruka shook his hand with Gou's.
Rin laid his head on top of his little sister's. "So, what are we going to play now?"
Nagisa crawled over to the box of games, going through it's contents. He pulled out Mario party. "What's this?"
The red headed children smiled a wicked smile. "That's Mario party, a game of trust," they said at the same time. They blinked, looking quizically at each other. That was odd.
"Game of trust?"
Gou turned in Rin's lap to look at Makoto. "Yeah, you play a whole lot of mini game thingys with each other."
"Some of the games test people's trust."
"Yeah, what Oniichan said."
Nagisa smiled widely. "Lets play it!"
The next half hour was pure torture. It started out all right, but then Haruka got a star and Nagisa stole it. Rin and Gou were naturals at the mini games, but Haruka was good at the actual game of wit. It wasn't quite fair for Makoto to be helping him, but Rin was helping his little sister, so they called it even.
They were about half way through the game when Rin gave a frustrated sound and paused the game, fuming. He didn't like being in last at all. Nagisa had stolen his coins and Gou and taken his stars. She looked up at him, frowning. "Oniichan?"
"I'm going to go see how mom is doing. You guys keep playing." He changed the settings of his character to a computer player, lifting Gou from his lap and getting up, leaving his friend's.
They looked at each other and shrugged. Makoto could technically take over for Rin, since Gou had taken over his controller, but he didn't feel that would be fair. He sat and watched Rin go with a sad smile.
The Cerise haired boy walked around his house, searching for his mother. He tried her room and found nothing. He checked the kitchen and found nothing as well. He decided to search outside. Slipping on his shoes the young boy opened the door, walking outside. He found her in the garden, tending to some fruits. She turned her head as she heard footsteps, smiling. "Ah, Rin, how is your day going?"
"It's been better."
She blinked and ushered him toward her. "What's the matter?"
"Well, we're all playing games and everyone keeps beating me..."
She smiled, brushing his pinkish locks from his forehead. "Oh, is that so?"
"Yeah, and I'm trying not to get upset, but it's just so hard to keep being a kind host when you're fighting back frustration..."
A gentle pair of arms wrapped around him, hugging him. "Akachan, that's just how it sometimes is. You win some, you lose some, but in the end... It's the fun you are having that counts."
He pouted, nuzzling into his mother. "I'm trying to have fun, mom... It's hard. Gou's having fun at least."
"She's awake?"
He nodded.
"Well, it was kind of you to include her."
He smiled.
" Hey, mom, if we get permission from their parents, can they spend the night?"
She thought it over. "Well, I don't see why not."
He smiled wider, hugging her side. "Thank you." With that he ran to go back inside, kissing his mother on the cheek before making his hasty departure.