Rin managed to put the whole incident out of his mind until the following Saturday, when Samezuka's pool had been unceremoniously invaded by Iwatobi for a joint practice that Gou had bugged him into organising. The whole thing had gone less painfully than Rin had expected, with Momotarou only needing one warning to turn his attention towards swimming and away from his captain's sister.
It was also always good to give his own team a chance to go up against a guy like Haru, who made racing look so effortless and graceful. So far, none of them were quite at his level, but then again, that fed Rin's ego quite nicely as the only one to have beaten Haru.
However, Rin had noticed Sousuke glaring at Haru more than once during the training session, and although he didn't like seeing two of his friends like that, he figured that as long as he didn't see anything escalate between them, he'd leave them to sort out their own issues. He assumed it was some sort of rivalry thing, and as such didn't feel particularly inclined to get involved.
Speaking of the devil, Rin jolted in shock when a heavy weight landed on him, a quick sideways glance telling him that Sousuke had folded his strong arms over his shoulders, leaning his weight on Rin as he read the time keeping records from behind.
"Comfortable?" Rin muttered grumpily, not that he was particularly annoyed by his friend's closeness. Sousuke just laughed, leaning even more of his weight on Rin until he had to jump away to avoid the elbow Rin had sent swinging back towards his gut. Rin was about to say something else when he was interrupted by Ai excitedly calling "Captain!" from across the gym.
Not bothering to look up from the records, Rin absently yelled back, "What is it?"
One of Sousuke's arms wound back around Rin's shoulder, the other pointing out in the general direction of where the shout had come from. "I don't think he was talking to you."
Utterly confused, Rin looked up in the direction Sousuke was pointing, freezing in place when he saw a familiar tall figure standing with Ai and a few of the other older team members. "Oh, shit."
It wasn't unusual for weekend practices to have spectators, between families coming to see their sons and partners wanting to see their boyfriends in action. However, Rin hadn't been expecting to see the older Mikoshiba at training, and his cheeks flushed as arousal twisted low in his gut. Pushing Sousuke off, Rin cleared his throat as he stalked over to the small crowd, immediately grabbing Seijuurou's attention.
"Hey Matsuoka," Mikoshiba grinned, and Rin felt his insides melt a little. He managed to put a scowl on his face, though, regarding the former captain with suspicion.
"And what, pray tell, are you doing here?"
"Don't be like that," Mikoshiba said while still grinning like the big, dumb idiot Rin knew he was. "I'm allowed to come see my baby brother doing the family proud."
It was then that Rin noticed a rather disgruntled Momotarou tucked under Seijuurou's arm, the tan limb bent into a fairly unbreakable-looking headlock. It was obvious from Momotarou's flushed face and pout that he'd put up a fight, but was now resigned to his fate.
"Besides, I heard that Iwatobi was going to be here today...and I know that their manager is always with them."
Looking past Rin to where Gou was talking to Rei and Nagisa, Seijuurou's face lit up and he waved enthusiastically with his free hand as he called out, "Hi Gou! Good to see you!"
Glancing in their direction, Gou waved back with far less vigour, her voice distracted as she called a greeting back. Momotarou laughed, digging his fingers painfully into his older brother's side. "Give it up, bro, she doesn't like you."
Seijuurou tightened his grip on Momotarou, playfully jostling him around a little. "And you think she likes you? C'mon, Momo, like anyone would ever choose you over me."
"Yes they would!" Momotarou bit back, managing to hit his brother hard enough in the gut that the arm around his neck loosened, letting him pull away.
"Would not!" Seijuurou taunted, laughing gleefully as he avoided the fist that swung towards him none-too-playfully.
"Would t-"
"STOP!" Rin barked, cutting off the utterly juvenile exchange between brothers. "Both of you, can you for one second not be fuckwits?"
Rin would never admit aloud how much it hurt him to hear Seijuurou gush about Gou. Thankfully, the pair looked suitably chastised, if not slightly taken aback by Rin's anger.
"Looks like we've got some competition, anyway," Seijuurou said slowly, gesturing over in Gou's direction with an inscrutable expression on his face. Rin turned around, groaning in despair when he saw that Gou had been joined by Sousuke, and he could practically feel the heat from her blush as he grinned down at her.
"Thank god he already has a girlfriend," Rin muttered too quietly for the others to hear, turning back around and trying to erase the image of his sister attempting to flirt with his best friend. Not that it was the first time: he was pretty sure Gou had crushed on Sousuke since they'd first met.
"C'mon, Momo," Rin heard Seijuurou whisper, "let's get out of here before he bursts a blood vessel."
The redheaded brothers looked at each other, nodded, and before Rin could say or do anything, the Mikoshibas were running across the gym, quickly putting quite a bit of distance between themselves and Rin.
"Idiots," Rin sighed, even as he admired the way Seijuurou's long legs carried him away. One Mikoshiba was bad enough, and having two of them together was apparently a recipe for disaster.
"Are you okay, Rin?"
The soft voice was unexpected and not entirely unwelcome, but Rin was in no mood to put up with Makoto's mothering.
The Iwatobi captain was another guy whose physical appearance made him firmly Rin's type, but the redhead was after a boyfriend, not a second mother. Besides, Rin didn't think he would be able to handle the Haru-sized child that anyone Makoto dated would have to adopt.
"I'm fine." Makoto frowned, but he let the topic go, his attention being drawn to where the two Mikoshibas were slamming through the gym doors, their loud laughter echoing through the quickly-emptying space.
"Those two certainly are a handful, aren't they," Makoto smiled gently, shaking his head a little. "But it's good to see that Captain Mikoshiba is going well."
Rin wasn't sure why that was his breaking point. He could handle a lot, had proven time and time again that he could handle a lot. He'd been doing so much better since last year, his temper calming down and his mood swings lessening.
But he snapped, and poor Makoto was in the firing line.
"He's not the captain," Rin snarled, feeling slightly vindicated by the way Makoto's eyes widened and he took a step back. "He's not here anymore, and no matter how many times all of you still call him the captain, that doesn't change the fact that he gave me the captaincy."
"That wasn't what I-"
"I don't care if you all think that I'm not as good as him," Rin continued over whatever Makoto was trying to say, his voice rising in volume. "I'm the fucking captain of the Samezuka swim team, and no captain from shitty, second-rate Iwatobi is going to tell me otherwise."
Before he could see the inevitable hurt look on Makoto's face, Rin stormed off, not bothering to change out of his legskins and team jacket before grabbing his bag and hightailing it out of the gym.
He half expected Makoto to come after him, and there was a part of him that hoped Makoto would so that he could apologise. However, considering how loud Rin's voice had gotten, the other Iwatobi boys must have waylaid their captain, leaving Rin to stomp back to his room alone.
He'd thought that he was over this angry bullshit.
Several hours later, Rin was lounging back on his bed, distractedly surfing the net as he tried to figure out the best way to apologise to Makoto. He knew the tall boy would forgive him, had done so for worse in the past, but he couldn't just leave things as they were. He wasn't Satan, he couldn't leave Makoto upset.
When the Facebook message notification dinged at him, he assumed it was either going to be Gou or one of the other Iwatobi boys, ready to guilt him about what he'd done, as if he wasn't doing a good enough job of that himself. He was utterly confused to see that the only person to have contacted him was a certain tall redhead that he'd seen earlier in the day.
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: I hear shit went down after I left today
Rin seriously considered ignoring the message; he didn't want to give Mikoshiba any more evidence as to why he had made the wrong choice for his successor. But he knew that Seijuurou wouldn't leave him alone until he got a reply, and so he reluctantly set his hands to the keyboard.
Matsuoka Rin: Who told you about that?
Predictably, Mikoshiba was quick to reply.
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: Tachibana did
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: He's just worried about you.
Matsuoka Rin: You talk to Makoto?
Rin watched the 'message read' notification appear on screen, and then frowned as Mikoshiba's typing notification flashed on and off the screen repeatedly. Finally, just as he was beginning to lose patience, a flood of new messages started popping up on the screen.
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: I helped him out with some captain stuff last year
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: And we hung out a couple of times
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: He called me after you left and told me what you said
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: We've already been through the fact that I picked you to take over for a reason
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: So I know that your real problem is something else.
Rin cursed after the barrage of messages was over, hating how perceptive Mikoshiba could be when he wasn't acting like an idiot. The last thing Rin needed was Seijuurou grilling him until he found out that most of Rin's agitation and anger had flared from jealousy. He knew it was petty of him to hate the attention his sister got from the (probably straight) guy he liked, but he couldn't help it.
The message notification sounded and dragged Rin out of his own head, and it was with more than a little trepidation that he read the new words on the screen.
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: Was it because your sister was flirting with your boyfriend?
Sitting bolt upright and almost knocking his laptop to the floor, Rin pulled the screen close, reading and re-reading the message. Nothing on the screen changed, though, and Rin was forced to admit that he'd read it right the first time.
Matsuoka Rin: My WHAT?
Although it probably only took about a minute for Mikoshiba to reply, to Rin it felt like a bloody lifetime.
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: So tall, dark and handsome isn't your boyfriend?
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: I thought with the way he was hanging all over you at practice
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: That you two were definitely dating
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: Because I've never seen you look so comfortable with having someone touch you.
Rin wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or cry, so he settled for trying to sound as unaffected as possible in his messages.
Matsuoka Rin: Sousuke is my best friend, nothing else.
This time, it definitely felt like the appearing and disappearing typing notification was mocking him, and Rin certainly wasn't happy about it.
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: Alright, you're not banging that guy
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: Despite what Momo tells me everyone thinks
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: But I feel like most guys would have taken more offense at the implication of being gay
Taking a deep breath, Rin wondered if he should take this opportunity. His hands shook as he typed, trying to remain as nonchalant as possible even as he revealed one of his biggest secrets to the man he desperately wanted to get closer to. God, he felt like he was going to puke.
Matsuoka Rin: Why would I be offended by that?
Matsuoka Rin: Sousuke's a good-looking guy, just not the guy I want.
It felt like it was becoming a pattern for him to want to hide from Mikoshiba's replies. He wasn't entirely sure why he kept telling Seijuurou such personal things, but he assumed that it had something to do with the safety of distance that Facebook gave him.
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: So are you gay?
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: Or bi?
Well, he was already in this deep.
Matsuoka Rin: I'm gay. Why do you even care?
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: CALLED IT
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: It's Nanase isn't it
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: You said there was a guy you wanted
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: It's totally him.
Matsuoka Rin: Fuck no, are you serious? Haru's not my type at all.
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: But you admit that you like someone
Matsuoka Rin: It's not important, it's not like I can have him. Pretty sure he's straight.
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: Ouch
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: Get him drunk?
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: Kidding. Maybe you should just meet someone else
Matsuoka Rin: Yeah, see how long it takes me to get beaten up from hitting on the wrong guy. What a fantastic fucking plan.
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: Alright
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: Fine then
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: What's your type?
Matsuoka Rin: I dunno.
Matsuoka Rin: Tall and easygoing. Athletic, I guess.
Matsuoka Rin: Wait, why am I even telling you this and why do you care?
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: Don't worry
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: See you next weekend
Mikoshiba Seijuurou: Oh, and apologise to Tachibana, you asshole.
Matsuoka Rin: Wait, what are you talking about?
Matsuoka Rin: Mikoshiba
Matsuoka Rin: WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING?
Matsuoka Rin: Dickhead.
"Fuck," Rin sighed, realising that Seijuurou had gone offline and wasn't about to reply. Deciding that he may as well continue pouring his heart out to anyone who would listen, he clicked back through to his inbox, opening a new thread with Makoto.
He had an apology to make.
