Relaxing in itself was such a strange concept to Rin – and Nitori too, who sat beside him while he stood on the pier, legs dangling in the water, creating ripples and scattering moonlight. The rest of the Samezuka team swam playfully in the lake. Rin only watched them from the pier. He wanted to swim – he really did. But it just seemed strange, swimming without speed and times pushing him forward, no smell of chlorine burning in his nose.
"Feels a little weird, doesn't it?" Nitori said, and though the lake wasn't necessarily silent – Momotaro's screams of laughter could be heard from miles around – it still felt like Nitori was breaking something in the air, a certain silence just between them. Rin might have been surprised by Nitori's near-psychic ability but he always had a habit of doing that, saying exactly what was on Rin's mind.
And he knew Nitori understood. He worked just as hard as he did – if not harder, because Rin had natural talent while all Nitori had was rock hard determination. They both had a drive to improve. There wasn't much time for relaxing. They didn't give themselves any time for it.
Rin grunted his agreement, still reluctant to use words. Nitori could do the talking for them.
"It's funny, you know? I've always loved the water. When I was little, we'd go to the beach and they could never get me out again," he laughed but it didn't exactly sound like a happy laugh, just a little amused; Rin knew the difference between happiness and wryness well, "I used to be mad that I was born in early January instead of late January because I wanted to be an Aquarius."
"Aquarius' element is the air," Rin corrected, then turned his head to the side, embarrassed for knowing that information in the first place, "Astrology isn't real anyway."
Nitori huffed beside him, "I know that."
They fell silent again, Nitori swinging his legs beneath him, toes dipping into the water while Rin stared upwards at the moon and listened to the rest of Samezuka swim and splash around. It seemed Momotaro started a game of Marco-Polo and their yelling voices traveled far over water.
"I think I forgot," Rin said suddenly, his voice far more serious than he intended.
Nitori stopped swinging his legs and turned to face him, face expectant and – of course – concerned. "Forgot what?"
"Forgot that you could love the water," Rin knew he loved swimming. It took him a year but he finally remembered – watching Haru, watching his old teammates, swimming was once again more than just a means to an end. But it was still work; still speed and times and improvement.
Tonight was moonlight and lakes and Marco-Polo and Rin wasn't sure if he remembered – if he ever even knew – how to do this. "We're quite a pair, aren't we?"
This time Nitori laughed and it was totally genuine, even if they were making fun of themselves. "Let's try," he said with Nitori-like determination and slid from the pier without warning. He didn't take off with force like he would in a competition, but he still went in smoothly, like he was always meant to be in the water.
When Nitori's head came back above water – for some reason Rin was struck by how right he looked, hair sticking to his face, no swim cap to be seen.
And to Rin's surprise he followed without thinking, jumping in with as little fanfare as Nitori but something about it still felt big. He didn't swim back up to the surface and instead just let himself float, enjoying the feeling for the first time in what felt like a very long time. Relaxed. He felt relaxed.
And a little excited.
"Something about that felt different, didn't it," Nitori said and it was phrased like a question but nothing in his tone suggested one, because they both felt a little different and they were in tune enough with each other to know at least that much.
Rin hmm'ed in response, because he didn't need to say much in way of confirmation and he didn't want to say much. The night wasn't exactly quiet but he enjoyed the silence between them. He swam circles around Nitori, who was treading water with his head tilted back, staring at the moon while Rin stared at him.
"It felt…" Nitori began but then trailed off, unsure of what word to use.
"Right."
a/n: kinda ran out of steam on the last few days, so this could be better, but it's done. rintori week was a blast! I had so much fun writing about these cuties and I even made a few friends. 3 expect to see more of them from me in the future!