Rin is in the middle of running when he hears a blast of J-pop from his pocket. He stops to pick up what is actually supposed to be his own phone, but what he has in front of him is definitely not his own phone.
Which is weird because he should have checked his pockets before leaving that video game night at Haru's house. So therefore whichever one of the Iwatobi guys' phone he has mostly like has his own phone. Easy enough.
The first and most obvious evidence is the bright pink of this phone's case. The second is the J-pop ringtone indicating a call from Nanako, whoever that is. He ignores the call and the ringtone and sets the phone on silent. He then flips the phone case over, only to have a penguin sticker greet him. A rockhopper penguin.
Yes, this is definitely Nagisa's phone because who else would have that sort of taste. Which means his own phone is with Nagisa, probably. Almost immediately five texts arrive all from "Rin-chan" as further proof.
From: Rin-chan
OK which one of you has my phone I have Rin-chan's.
18/05/2014 5:32 PM
From: Rin-chan
Mako-chan or Rei-chan or Rin-chan?
18/05/2014 5:32 PM
From: Rin-chan
Either way pls return it ASAP!
18/05/2014 5:33 PM
From: Rin-chan
Rin-chan is this you the other two respond
18/05/2014 5:33 PM
From: Rin-chan
PLEASE ANSWER!
18/05/2014 5:33 PM
To: Rin-chan
Yeah it's Rin.
18/05/2014 5:34 PM
To: Rin-chan
I have your phone don't worry.
18/05/2014 5:34 PM
To: Rin-chan
I can't come now, Out running but I can come over in a few. That fine?
18/05/2014 5:34 PM
He pockets Nagisa's phone and heads back to his dorm. Given how fast Nagisa texted him, he's probably anxious to get his phone back. The feeling's mutual, so Rin heads to the train station; he's confident he knows the way and should be able to get back before dark.
Luckily, there's a train running this late and he boards it. He decides to send another text letting Nagisa know that he's going to head over when the bolded "Drafts" folder catches his eye. 57 drafts. He sits down, eyes held onto the screen.
(He knows he shouldn't be looking through someone else's phone but curiosity is killing him. He will probably be punished in his next life though, but there has to be a general reason why there's nearly sixty drafts on Nagisa's phone.)
He picks one at random and decides to continue from there. The first one is to him, surprisingly, even though the recipient is blank:
To:
Rin-chan, I have to talk to you ASAP.
02/09/2013 12:32 PM
(Okay, that's not so bad. Still unclear why it's a draft if it's just one message from so long ago. Idly, Rin wonders what Nagisa had to talk about, although since it was from last year, it was most likely just catching up. Shit, even thinking about what he was like last year brought up so much regret. He continues reading.)
To:
Do you wanna hang out, you know, just the two of us? I mean I know we already do that but
10/10/2013 03:45 PM
(Still unclear. They'd hung out solo before and it was fun, but…)
Rin finds some half-written drafts to others. Some are to Rei, about homework answers and homeroom activities; some are to Makoto about penguins of all things and none to Haru. Which makes sense because Haru doesn't even bother to carry his phone. There's a few to Gou about Mikoshiba (he feels a surge of irritation towards his former captain and his former teammate both). But those are interspersed between all of the messages that are either to him or have an unknown recipient.
Some of them are…weird and then some of them are just random. All unsent. All just sitting there. Rin scrolls through the ones from last year, finally reaching this year.
To:
Happy New Year RINRIN! (I really wonder what I should do this year…)
01/01/2014 00:01AM
To:
I just realized next year will be kind of my last summer with everyone together. Do you know how scary that is?
24/01/2014 02:25 PM
To:
It's Valentine's Day and you're so romantic but I don't even know if I want to try AHHH THIS IS SO DIFFICULT!
14/02/2015 10:28 AM
(What. What what what. WHAT.)
Rin takes a moment to pause, pinch himself, rub his eyes, look around the room to confirm that he is not, in fact hallucinating this. He isn't, right? None of these have a particular sender so it could be someone else, right? Just because some of them were to him doesn't mean they're all for him, right?
(He goes onto the next one.)
To:
No I can't send anything this year either…I really think I love you, Rin-chan /sighs
14/02/2014 11:32 PM
(Shit.)
To:
I'm secretly paranoid one of these will end up being sent oh god that would be awful
15/02/2014 00:02 AM
(Oh Nagisa. Rin is going to hell for invasion of privacy, but more than that, Nagisa is going to be the one sending him there once he realizes what Rin's seen. It hits him that maybe he should keep this quiet for maybe the entirety of his existence. Even if…
What would he even say if Nagisa confessed to him? It wasn't like he could just dump him or anything and there was only one year left until he graduated and God, this was all confusing, how did he ever miss this sort of thing…
He begins to start sifting through just the messages. There's less and less of these drafts and the dates are becomes more and more recent. He can recall some of the events Nagisa talks about.)
To:
Congrats! It's obvious for you to be captain but still. You're always amazing Rin-chan!
13/03/2014 06:46 PM
To:
I am totally being serious I don't even think it would matter if I liked you or not you'd be absolutely amazing, you know? I'm glad I met you and the others…
13/03/2014 06:46 PM
To:
Has it really been a year since you came back?
13/03/2014 06:47 PM
(Has Nagisa had a crush on him for this long? For starters, these are all things that should have been deleted but for some reason they're still here. Should he close out of the folder? Not that this was incriminating but just kind of…weird. Or not weird but just…made him feel weird. Feeling wanted was weird. And he wasn't exactly…well…the best choice for these sorts of things?)
To:
Sometimes I think you're pretty amazing but then other times I see you and think you're the world. You know, being back home was probably the best thing about starting high school. I know, it's super cliché but that's really been on my mind for a long time.
12/04/2014 07:12 PM
He's reached the end of these almost-conversations, feeling relieved but apprehensive. Has he really been that amazing, for a friend who was gone for years and maybe showed up one time or the other? There's a feeling of gratitude for being able to see things a bit differently, but now he's not sure what to do. He doesn't want to bury these messages under the table and continue on. Even if they make him feel weird. Even if he's still unsure about all the revelations he's had today. But his train is approaching Iwatobi station and he has only one right time to talk about it.
Almost in response to his thoughts, Nagisa's phone lights up and he checks it almost immediately. It's now or never, he supposes, steeling himself for whatever screw up he's about to execute. But then again…
From: Rin-chan
I'm at the station so so sorry for making you come all the way and worrying, Rin-chan. IOU.
18/05/2014 06:15 PM
To: Rin-chan
No problem.
18/05/2014 06:15 PM
To: Rin-chan
Actually, since I'm here already, let's hang out.
18/05/2014 06:15 PM
To: Rin-chan
Solo. Or something like that. Y/N?
18/05/2014 06:15 PM
From: Rin-chan
?
18/05/2014 06:20 PM
From: Rin-chan
OK but why?
18/05/2014 06:20 PM
To: Rin-chan
…Might as well. See you in a few?
18/05/2014 06:21 PM
From: Rin-chan
Yeah of course!!
18/05/2014 06:21 PM
To: Rin-chan
Cool.
18/05/2014 06:21 PM
…There would be time to talk about these after he stepped off the platform.
end.
This one is kind of lighthearted and takes place between S1 and up to the beginnings of S2. Hopefully text messages count as letters; I like to think that either one of them would be one to text their feelings out and stuff and never send it, haha. I hope you enjoyed this.