Back again xD Sorry for the long wait, college being a bi…*ahem* and taking away my free time. So will we see Rin actually find his sister? And where is Gou anyway? I had so many feels about this story *sigh* I may have portrayed Rin a bit too cute than he is but I can't help it…
Disclaimer: I don't own any of this… maybe except my input imagination :)
The five teens stood at the street lamp lit fountain in the center of the park, waiting. Rin felt his feet itch from standing around and twenty minutes felt like hours. Not able to stand still any longer the redhead started pacing.
"Rin, calm down. Everything will be fine." Makoto said when he noticed that the pacing started to make everyone else itchy to move as well. Rin just gave out a 'tsk' and kept walking. Till Rei slid his glasses up on his nose, making the glass shine, and cleared his throat.
"It seems the Samezuka's swim club is here." Nodding with his head to the main entrance of the park where at last twenty guys in black jerseys where hurriedly coming their way, the fiery-red haired captain at the front. Rin finally stopped in his pace and looked at the familiar faces. Somehow the view made him embarrassed.
"We are here." Mikoshiba stated the obvious when the bunch stopped before the five guys waiting. "So, what's the plan?" Rin just looked at them dumbfounded. Lucky for him Makoto took charge.
"We will look around the town and ask shop keepers and passerby's if they have seen Gou-chan. I think splitting up in groups of two would be good. We will have to cover a wide radius after all."
Mikoshiba nodded in agreement, while Rin felt he was out of place somehow. A hand slightly pulled on his sleeve and the redhead looked to his side. Nitori was holding out to him his jacket, smiling warily.
"It's getting cold, senpai. You should put that on." When Rin took the piece of clothing from the younger boy's arms, dressing it, Nitori put his own hands in his jacket's pockets and gave him what Rin guessed was meant to be an ensuring smile.
"I hope everyone has a phone with them. I will send a picture of Matsuoka's sister to all of you for the search part, but if anyone of you intend to keep it I will-" The Samezuka captain was cut off with an loud "What?!" And his yellow eyes fell on purple.
"Where the damn hell did you get MY sisters pictures?!" Rin almost growled between grinded sharp teeth. It didn't matter that Mikoshiba was a senior and the captain of his swim club, or that he offered to help him find Gou, the thought just rubbed Rin the wrong way and if anything those things added to the annoying feeling.
"Ehh…" Mikoshiba scratched the back of his head and unconsciously looked at Makoto, while the green eyed guy met his gaze, his cheeks slowly taking a guilty blush.
"Well…" Makoto cleared his throat. "I… kind of sent them to him." Rin's eyes went to Makoto instantly.
"The fuck?!"
"That isn't important right now…" Makoto said, but cringed lightly catching Haru staring at him accusingly. "We have to start looking. Gou-chan didn't come to school, so it's likely she went missing on the way…"
"No. She is missing since yesterday evening." Rin interrupted, but his voice was bearably more than a whisper. When everyone's eyes turned his way, the angry demeanor was completely gone and he looked like a lost kid caught in the rain.
"Yesterday? How do you know that?" Makoto asked and hearing those words seemed to cast pain on Rin's face. He looked up almost apologetic, before a frown again covered his face, his fingers curled themselves around his jacket's fabric at his chest.
"Tsk" He clicked his tongue, turning sharply around and ran in the direction of the town's evening lights, leaving the group speechless behind.
Haru's and Makoto's eyes met and the teens exchanged a silent conversation which ended with Makoto nodding and Haru hurrying after Rin. The green eyes teen turned towards everyone else and cleared his throat to get the attention back to him.
"Haru will be in a group with Rin. Does everyone have their phones ready? When you get the picture, split in two and spread out. Ask if anyone had seen her tod- No. Yesterday or today, and if possible where she went. If you find something contact Mikoshiba or me. If nothing comes up in three hours we meet here again. Is everything clear?"
"But Mako-chan…" Nagisa spoke still looking at the way where Rin and Haru had disappeared. "Will he be okay? I mean Rin-chan kind of doesn't look so good and …" His words where cut off by a hand patting the blondes head.
"Don't worry, Nagisa. Haru has his phone with him for once and if anything happens we can reach the two." On that the smaller swimmer nodded and the search began.
…
Rin stopped when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket with the notice of a message. As he took a look at it his free hand clenched into a first and connected ferociously with a nearby wall, bruising his knuckles so they oozed blood.
"Damn it!" He cursed under his breath looking at the message.
-.-.-.-
SENDER: Nitori
TITLE: I thought you might need it
Matsuoka-senpai, here is the picture Mikoshiba-senpai was sending out to us all; I just thought you might need it. Picture
Don't worry senpai, we will find your sister. Don't give up.
-.-.-.-
Rin opened the attached picture and Gou with a cute, cheerful smile looked back at him. The redhead kicked himself mentally and at the same time made a note to thank his roommate after everything was over. The message had reminded him that he had not a single one of Gou's pictures in his phone… or at all. Not one. They all were hanging at the walls, at home. Almost forgotten and casted out of his life right now, as he lived in the dorm.
"I feel sick of myself…" Rin put a hand to his head and slid it firmly over his face, messing up his features. He felt like everything itched, as something alien and most definitely nasty was crawling under his skin. He had his hand still over his eyes when soft and steady footsteps came closer and stopped just couple of feet away, the familiar presence tickled his senses. Looking over his own palm with anger filled purple eyes that shouted 'What?!' louder than he would have, if he did use his voice, when his eyes met Haru's.
"Rin… why did you run?" The black haired swimmer didn't let himself be fazed by the hostile gaze.
"That's none of your goddamn business! Leave me alone! I have to find Gou..." Rin turned to leave.
"We all came to help find Kou."
"Yeah, but she asked me for help, not you guys!" The red haired teen snapped back and froze as he noticed his tongue slip, looking wide-eyed back at the blue eyed teen before him. Shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit… Me and my big mouth! He looked at Haru, meeting his eyes, and instantly cursed himself, who thought the black haired swimmer would be the best to talk to. Those brilliant blue eyes, silent and indifferent spoke volumes. Rin suddenly felt like they would see every little sin he had ever made in his life, while not even being interested in the information what-so-ever.
Rin turned around, not wanting to look back in those blue eyes any longer, sighed and started walking.
"Whatever… We need to hurry." The redhead mumbled under his breath and feeling Haru catch up with him he quickened his pace till they were running through the neon lit streets.
…
"Damn…it!" Panting heavily Rin wiped away with his jerseys sleeve the sweat drops that covered the redhead's forehead and threatened to run down his face and looked back at Haru, who stopped next to him, breathing heavy, but not looking as much out of breath, as he was. Rin clicked his tongue, not quite sure what had ticked him off. The fact that he had to thank his obsession with swimming and training, which neglected Gou in the first place, that he was able to actually last these almost three hours running through the streets like a mad man without a break, searching for her? That Haru looked better than Rin, because he had the mind to actually stop for a second now and then to catch a breath, before heading to the next shop? Or was it the suffocating feeling that had his chest between its teeth and the jaw was slowly closing over his heart with every minute that passed by?
Rin spit out another curse under his breath and felt his body ache for the bench that had suddenly entered his field of vision while the two boys switched from running to frantic walking. Haruka seemed to catch the direction of Rin's eyes and gave the redhead an ensuring nod. Rin snorted. As if he needed the freestyler's permission to fucking sit down!
The shark toothed teen practically dropped down on the bench, letting a heavy sigh escape his lungs. His hands rested at his knees, supported on his elbows, while his head sunk down, hitting his chin against his broad chest. For a moment time froze and Rin forgot everything, suddenly sitting was the embodiment of pure bliss, but his mind didn't let him have this peaceful feeling for long as it cruelly reminded why he was so tired in the first place.
"I have to find her…" The sudden, almost despaired sounding sentence that left Rin's mouth made Haru stop in his motions, as the dark haired teen had debated with himself, if he should sit down too or not, and finally decided that a short break would be good for both. Standing at Rin's side while the redhead sat Haru noticed a slight shaking of the other teen's shoulders. Not only his shoulders, but his entire being. Haruka swallowed hard. Was Rin breaking down again?
"I don't want to lose her. If something happened to her…" Rin looked up at the teen standing next to him and Haru's eyes widened. He was… furious? The purple eyes staring back at his brilliant blue were filled to the brim with anger. Haruka knew he shouldn't be so surprised to see Rin angry, as that was almost the only look the redhead had on his face nowadays, but the emotional trip the shark toothed teen was going through and showed off today had messed with the black haired swimmers sense of logic and what was 'normal'.
"I swore to myself that I did never lose someone like I lost my dad. Not knowing what really happened, just that he was gone. From today to tomorrow..." Rin spoke not noticing the rare expression of confusion actually showing on Haru's face. And this time it's my fault! If there is even a hair missing from her head… Rin clenched his fists so hard, his knuckles strained the skin of his hands, breaking the just healed bruises, letting blood ooze out again.
Rin suddenly stood up, determined to continue the search. Although his mind was set and ready, his feet didn't catch up to that so quickly, still bathing in the bliss of not moving. As soon, as the redhead stood he felt his legs give in under him. Like the two body parts had turned to jelly while he was allowing himself a rest.
Without thinking, acting on pure instinct, as he felt his body fall Rin's hand grabbed at the closest thing that it could find – Haru. To be more specific, the teen's shirt collar was tightly trapped between slender, but strong fingers. The set motion made them both bend into their knees, but luckily, mostly for Rin, none of them actually hit the ground.
"Fuck… that scared me." Rin let a relieved sigh slip over his lips, not noticing he had said his thoughts out loud. Turning his head to look at his hand and following it to the fabric that was clenched between his fingers and up, to the slender neck and then the familiar face of his rival slash friend, meeting his gaze.
With eyes wide, frozen in place Haru's brilliant blue eyes looked back at the purple ones before him. Rin didn't need to have Makoto's power to read Haru's thoughts, as they practically shouted at him. "It scared YOU?! I almost had a heart attack!" The unspoken words managed to pull a magic trick on the sharp toothed teen and his lips turned up at the corners of his mouth. A glimmer of white, pointy teeth could be seen for a split second before Rin gathered himself enough to stand on his own, letting go of Haruka's t-shirt collar and looking away from the black haired teen, to the street ahead of them. A soft pink had found its way on the redhead's cheeks.
Haru straightened himself and tried to smooth the fabric of his shirt with his hands, while his mind was torn between wanting to kick the guy standing before him and being glad to see Rin actually smile. That expression suited him better, but knowing the circumstances… Still, seeing the small smile actually appear today was making the black haired swimmer glad… only a little… that Rin had lost his footing.
A melodical sound tore the silence between the two boys and they looked at each other with slightly questioning eyes. A couple of seconds went by with the melody still playing and Rin's brow twitched, not being able to hold his annoyance in any longer.
"Oi! Isn't that your phone?" The snappy attitude was back and showing as Rin eyed Haru. The black haired teen sighed and checked his pockets for the mechanical device that didn't like water. It had been so long ago since he last had heard or even answered his phone, so there was no need to be so agitated over the fact he didn't recognize his phone's ringtone. Haruka thought to himself while pressing a button to take the call and put the phone to his ear.
"Haru? You actually answered? Em… I mean, it's Makoto." Haru could hear the green eyed teen smile at the other end, on which Haru let out a sigh, indicating for the other he wasn't going to comment anything of that, so Makoto should keep talking. "Yeah, sorry. You see, we are meeting up again at the park. No one seems to have gotten any clue on what happened to Gou-chan. Grab Rin and come back, ok? We will have to think on what to do next." Haru turned his eyes to look at the redhead and he knew he wouldn't need to repeat any of the things Makoto was saying to him trough the phone. Rin's face had again that unmistakable hurt and angry shadow lying over it, making the faint smile just a moment ago seem like it never happened. Saying a 'see you' and pressing the end call button Haru turned to Rin. The teen didn't look back at the black haired guy before him and just went past him silently, lightly brushing against his shoulder.
Haruka turned too and they silently went back to the direction they had come from, heading for the central park.
…
"Haru! Rin! I was worried." Makoto broke loose from the crowd of about fifteen boys standing in a messy circle and discussing something with serious faces. The two teens looked over the group and seemed like almost everyone was there. Rin noticed that Nitori had spotted him and was torn between smiling at his senpai and keeping a straight face. The young swimmer was probably trying hard to be considered, Rin thought. When his eyes turned back to Makoto, the red haired teen was slightly taken aback. The tall, green eyed swimmer was gawking at them with a mixture of worry and accusation. Rin felt that Haru had noticed the look in his friends eyes as well and was about to ask when Makoto uttered his concern himself.
"What happened to you two? There… is that blood?"
At that Rin looked to his hand and Haru looked down on his t-shirt. Thought the bruise was starting to close it still was stained red, while Haruka's white shirt's collar showed some red splatters. The two teens looked at each other.
"Oh…" They said almost synchronic and then broke the eye contact. Rin looking at the fountain, as it spit water in the air against the twilight colored sky. While Haru just murmured 'It's nothing' with an almost bored face and left the taller teen confused.
They were interrupted by a high, almost joyful shout of Makoto's name. As the group turned to where the voice had come from a blond was running at full speed towards them. Sliding to a halt, just an inch more and Nagisa had headbutted Makoto in the guts, the smaller swimmer looked up with a big smile plastered across his face. Rei was following Nagisa at much slower pace, noticeably strained from being paired with the hyperactive teen.
"Mako-chan, we found something!" He announced and instantly everyone's eyes were on him. "We were in this shop, you know, and then this aunty was there and she saw Gou yesterday…" The teen said almost in one breath, looking like he didn't quite knew how to breathe and talk at the same time.
"Nagisa, why didn't you call us? We would have gone there." Makoto asked, not intending to sound accusing, but didn't quite manage it. He had said to everyone that they needed to contact the group if something came up. The lead now could be lost…
"Oh! I… Sorry, I wa-" Nagisa was cut off from his apology to the taller swimmer by two strong hands grabbing his shoulders and turning him to face purple eyes. The blonde unconsciously flinched, expecting an anger outburst and most likely a death threat from the red haired teen before him. What he got thought was a pleading look with a soft question.
"Where? Where was that? Where did they see Gou?"
Nagisa blinked wide eyed at Rin, looking like a fish out of water. Rei cleared his throat.
"Five blocks in that direction." The blue haired teen pointed to the way they had just come from. "The convenience store lady said she saw Gou-chan yesterday evening enter a nearby building in the company of some thug looking guys."
"There is no way Gou-kun would go with such shabby guys willingly!" Mikoshiba butted in when Rei stated what their pair had found out.
Rei was about to answer that he knew that such a behavior wasn't suited for a young lady as Gou-chan and that he doubted she was willing to go either, or something of the sort, but his sentence got stuck in the blue haired swimmers throat as Nagisa was showed into his arms and a blur of red hair went past him in a maddening speed.
"There he goes again…" Finally snapped out of his stupor Nagisa said, lying gently against Rei's chest and hands, that had catched his fall, looking at Rin's running back image and giggled. "Rin-chan, wait for us!" Nagisa shouted almost happy and started running too, and after him the rest of the group of swimmers.
Cliffhanger! Muahaha~ I know I'm mean… *goes off to get her a cocoa* No, but I'm sorry for this. Promise to update it faster this time.
Anyway, I don't know which pair of the fandom I like better, SeiGou or MakoGou, so I put somewhat of a joke in this part about it ;P poor Rin
Next chapter will be the last one and shit is gonna go down, baby! lol
You know what to do; read, comment, like or dislike. *wave* See you soon!
