AUTHORS NOTE:

Eyyy! So this is my first Free! Fanfic so yeah.. I hope that this will become a story that I'll continue working on for a long time, but that depends on so much! If you somehow like this first chapter and want to see more I'll gladly continue my hard work on this thing, but please know that I am very busy in my spare time.. I attend School and work part-time, so it's only when I get home that I have time to sit down and work on these kind of things, heh.. :c

In any case; This is supposed to be a RinHaru fic, but I haven't worked everything out yet and then there's that with the rating system and.. I'll change it if y'all wanna see some "Not-suited-for-children" content! :D

Please keep in mind that my first Language is Danish and not English, but I try to fix any mistakes I might have missed while writing.

It was dark. One of the two boys who were walking the streets let out a sigh, a little white cloud forming in front of his lips as his hot breath met the cold winter-air. His ruby eyes blinked a couple of times before glancing to the side, catching a glimpse of the bored expression painted on the other boy's face.

"Haru.. Are you sure you wanna do this?"

The dark-haired boy didn't even so much as look up, keeping his deep blue eyes staring straight ahead.

"It was you who challenged me." He mumbled in response, raising his hand to pull the warm scarf over his lips, shielding them from the biting cold. Small snowflakes had started falling from the sky, melting as soon as they made contact with any exposed skin they came across. Haruka Nanase, the dark-haired boy, chose a snowflake to follow with his eyes and watched it elegantly fall, swaying in the wind before colliding with the sidewalk and disappearing. It took him some time to realize that he had fallen behind.

"..Rin?" His voice was muffled by the thick scarf covering his mouth as he widened his eyes slightly, scanning the area for the now lost teen.

Meanwhile, Rin Matsuoka the burgundy-haired boy, was walking through the streets he knew so well as he continued to talk about how Haru needed to start caring more for racing, when suddenly..

"Wait.. Haru?" With furrowed eyebrows he turned around, walking back towards where they came from in hopes of the blue-eyed boy still being there.

"Tch.. Idiot.." He grumbled as he picked up his pace and jogged around the corner, widening his eyes as he saw.. Nothing.

Haruka was starting to get slightly annoyed at the whole situation he was in, and the fact that he somehow managed to end up in the middle of a local park didn't make much sense to him either. The cold and merciless wind rustled the naked branches above him, sending a shiver down his spine. Why did it have to be so cold? Well, at least he found a small fountain whilst wandering aimlessly around, deciding to settle down for a minute or two. Dropping his sports-bag on the ground next to him, the dark-haired boy walked closer to the clear water. He didn't hesitate to pull his hand out from the warmth of his pocket gliding it across the surface, but quickly pulled it back as the water was nearly freezing. With a dissatisfied pout he turned his back to the fountain, leaning up against it as he let out a sigh.

As Rin surveyed the area to the best of his ability, he managed to find subtle hints that pointed towards where Haruka had gone off to. It wasn't very clear, but in the thin layer of snow he was able to spot footprints leading into the local park. Something about the whole situation reminded him of whenever he'd walk past Gou watching animal planet where some dude crouched around in the jungle, following footprints and whatnot. He didn't have that much of a choice than to follow that absent-minded idiot, praying to god that he hadn't gotten far. The cold was unbearable as he followed the path that was supposed to lead him to Haru, mumbling to himself in the process.

"I swear to god.. Next time he does that I'll kill him.." What was that moron thinking!? To just wander off like that in surroundings he barely knew.. Rin sighed yet again, shaking his head as he tried to hold back a chuckle. He really was something else, that Haru.

'What if Rin isn't coming back for me? What if he just kept on walking? What do I do then?' Those three questions were the ones that kept creeping up on the blue-eyed teen as he leaned up against the fountain, trying his best to ignore them. Of course Rin would come back for him, he wanted to race him that badly after all. Haru opened his eyes, letting out a sigh as he swung the bag he had dropped before over his shoulder. "Hurry up.." He mumbled into his scarf lowering his gaze, now staring at his own two feet. He would never admit it to anyone, but he hated being alone in unfamiliar surroundings. It was a childhood experience of his that made him nervous everytime it happened, and his anxiousness grew on him with each passing second.

"Hurry up!? Do you have any idea of the effort it took to even find you?"

He knew that voice. That voice belonged to Rin, or rather.. It belonged to an angry Rin. He didn't even get the chance to look up at the furious red-head stomping towards him before two strong hands grabbed his shoulders and shook him violently. Between a flurry of black hair and snowflakes he was able to spot two red eyes glaring at him, not quite understanding why. Finally the grip on his shoulders ceased, leaving Haru a bit dizzy after he'd been shaken back and forth for what seemed like a minute.

"You're so stupid sometimes, Haru.. What if I hadn't found you? What would you have done then, huh?" Rin hissed at him, exposing his unnaturally sharp teeth.

"Gone home.." The dark-haired boy replied with a bored tone, glaring back at the fuming red-head who just started to laugh at him. Not what Haru had expected, to say the least.

"Gone home? Yeah right, you just got lost even though your only job was to follow me." Rin was right and he knew it, but he wouldn't admit defeat so easily. After all the two of them had a long story of rivalry going on, it didn't just count when they raced each other in the water. No, it was all a matter of being one step ahead of each other, no matter what.

"It's your fault. You talk too much, I got bored.." Jackpot. Haru couldn't help but to crack a tiny smile under his scarf as he saw the look on Rin's face, amused by the offended attitude that had suddenly washed over the boy in front of him. It was only on rare occasions that he was able to baffle him with snappy comebacks, but he had his moments.

"I'm not boring, you're just.. Bored in general." Rin tried, admitting defeat as he pulled a sour pout and grabbed Haru by the arm to drag him along.

None of them uttered a word as they made their way to Samezuka Academy, only breaking the silence with quiet sniffs and coughs along the way. As soon as they arrived, Haruka didn't waste a second before hurrying through the door immediately greeted by warm, dry air. They both let out relieved sighs as they let the warmth envelop their bodies.

"Why is winter even a thing.." The red-haired teen panted, unbuttoning his coat as he let out a small chuckle and shook his head as if he had just made the best joke in the world. Haru caught himself staring at his rival standing there in front of him, flaming red cheeks, burgundy locks of hair pointing in every direction and his usual confident smile. Every trace of him being annoyed with Haru seemed gone now and the dark-haired boy couldn't help but to smile as well, of course only when Rin was busy fumbling with the buttons in his coat. It was amusing to watch the red-head getting more and more angry until he turned to Haru with a frustrated sigh, making the blue-eyed teen snap back to reality immediately.

"Haru, can you unbutton me?" He suddenly said, followed by a few seconds of dead silence before he rolled his ruby eyes at his startled rival.

"Look, my fingers are frozen and you got to walk around with your hands in your pockets all the time, see?" Without warning Rin grabbed Haru's hand, sending a chill up the dark-haired boy's back. He was right. His fingers were too cold to function, but.. Somehow they were able to hold Haruka's hand firmly, not looking like they'd let go anytime soon. Another wave of shivers ran through Haruka's body, but this time it wasn't because of the cold.

Hey there! I see you made it 'till the end, awesome! Feel free to review or leave some constructive criticism if you have any :D

See you when I get the next chapter done! (Oh lord, I'm gonna be a busy girl ;-;)