haruxchan: Oh I'm glad! I love this ship as well, but there's not nearly enough fanfiction or fanart for it as Mako/Haru or Rei/Nagi, and that's part of the reason I felt inspired to write this story. I hope you enjoy, I have a lot left in store with these two :)

Alas, chapter two is here! Thanks again to my wonderful beta, Amelie Nockturne, who made this chapter a lot easier for me to read :D I also one to thank my friend Bryan, who although is slightly disturbed by my fascination with yaoi, was a great help with minor details. Enjoy this chapter c:

Title: Chasing Butterflies
Author: Me
Fandom: Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club
Rating: T (will later progress to M)
Pairing: Rin/Rei
Summary: Rin/Rei AU. Rei is a young man who obsessively collects butterflies. Rin is a postman who was recently assigned to Rei's neighborhood. What happens when these two meet for the first time? How will Rei's hoarding affect the relationship between them? Rating will eventually change to M.
Disclaimer: These characters are not mine, and neither is the fandom they are from! All characters belong to their respective owners, I'm just using them to fulfill a plot bunny of mine.

One of the only things Rei loved more than butterflies was sleep. He didn't always get enough of it since he had items to collect and things to organize that usually kept him up late at night, but he always found other times to make up for it.

Despite this, he rarely slept in, because he would be wasting time better spent looking for more butterflies to add to his collection. That's why he always set his butterfly clock to wake him up at 9:00 a.m. every morning, even on the weekends.

Or so he thought.

Rei was sleeping peacefully until he heard someone yell "REI-CHANNNN!" and a loud succession of hard knocks on his front door. He jumped out of the bed and landed hard on his head, nearly causing the figurines on his nightstand to fall over.

'What the...' he mumbled, yawning and rubbing his head as he tried to get his bearings together. He was in the middle of having a great dream when he was rudely interrupted. He was just about to freak out until he heard the yelling and knocks at the door once more, followed by someone harshly shushing.

'Nagisa, you should lower your voice a bit, other tenants could still be sleeping!'

'But it's like one in the afternoon!'

Rei calmed down considerably as he realized the two voices outside his apartment. Shuffling across the floor, he lazily slid open the door to his bedroom and walked towards the front door, barely managing to avoid the butterflies he had lain on the floor in some spots. One quick glance through the peephole confirmed his suspicions.

Nagisa and Makoto, neighbors of his, had come over to visit him.

After slightly struggling with the doorknob (he was still half-asleep), he was greeted with a bear hug from Nagisa and an apologetic smile from Makoto.

"Rei-chaaannn, why did it take you so long to open the door? Do you not want to see me?" Nagisa pouted, but Rei knew the shorter boy was messing with him.

"Nagisa-kun, it's not nice to impose on Rei-chan, he was probably sleeping," Makoto chided lightly. Yeah, Rei's butterfly pajamas definitely meant he was still sleeping.

Rei motioned to push up his glasses, but realized too late that they were still on his bedside table. Quickly recovering, he said, "Nagisa-kun, I thought I told you to text or call me before you come visit!"

By this time, Nagisa had pointedly slipped past Rei to investigate his apartment, and after hearing the collector's words he replied, "But I only live across the street from you Rei-chan! And I did, but you didn't respond so I figured you were sleeping."

"Yet you still came over anyway?!"

"Yup! I wanted to be your wake-up call, and look—it worked!" Rei sputtered, already out of the energy he would need to continue bickering with Nagisa. It didn't bother him that much that they came over unannounced anyway, so he let it go.

"Fine, fine, just text me first next time." Nagisa nodded in agreement, gazing all around to look for any new butterflies that he hadn't seen before. Rei could only sigh at the boy, but he let Makoto in as he shut the front door.

"Sorry about Nagisa-kun, Rei...I bought some tea and octopus dumplings to make up for it. I could cook them if you'd like." Makoto held up the bag in his hand that Rei had just now realized was there. 'Well, I can't say no to that...' Rei thought, thanking Makoto and making his way to the bedroom to change into something more appropriate.

He opted to wear an orange button-up shirt with a purple cardigan over it and his favorite butterfly broach, along with some denim capris. Rei left his room to be welcomed by the smell of fresh dumplings, complimentary of Makoto and his superb cooking skills.

"It smells great out here," Rei commented, his mouth watering. He hadn't been in the mood for cooking in the last few days, so it was nice to have real food instead of leftovers.

With a smile, Makoto replied, "Thanks! I know how focused you can get on your...collection, so I thought I'd help you out. I would have used the microwave but..." On that note, he swiftly popped the dumplings out of the cooking container and placed them on the plate.

Rei was grateful to Makoto, but his disapproving tone didn't go unnoticed. He knew that Makoto had his qualms about his habits, but he couldn't just 'purge his collection.' Just the thought of getting rid of his precious items made him anxious...he quickly changed his train of thought, and let the remark go without comment.

"Rei-chan, are these coffee mugs new?" Nagisa asked, pointing to the cups he bought just last week.

With a smirk and a push of his glasses, Rei answered, "Fresh out the box as a matter of fact, Nagisa-kun. I found these gems at an antique shop an hour from here that specializes in handmade materials. Normally I wouldn't find such things beautiful, but if you look here"—he pointed to a series of intricate designs near the handles of one cup—"the patterns are one of a kind. Under no other circumstances could they ever be replicated, not under normal conventions...that's where their true beauty lies."

Nagisa was amazed. In contrast to Makoto, he absolutely enjoyed Rei's collection. In his eyes, very few things were better than hearing Rei talk about the differences between each piece he collected, or the glint in his eyes when he found a new figurine he's never seen before.

"Wow..." breathed the smaller boy, taking in all the details. He could've listened to Rei talk like this all day, but he remembered how hungry he was when Makoto finally let them know the dumplings were finished.

"So, Rei, what ever happened to those new decals that you were gushing to me about last week?" Makoto questioned. He couldn't notice anything new on the walls, so he guessed something went wrong.

"Apparently they're a little late...they were supposed to be delivered six days ago."

"Ehh?! That's not like Maurice at all, he's never been late with a delivery before!" Nagisa couldn't hide his astonishment, not when he knew how prompt Maurice was.

"Well, if my theories are correct, he's not the reason why they're late. I think there's a small mixup at the post office," said Rei.

"What is it?" asked Makoto. It would be odd to have the post office mess up when Rei always had parcels being delivered to his apartment.

"They probably misplaced my package, but I'm not sure. Whatever it is, I hope they rectify the situation quickly and deliver my decals soon," Rei chastised, pushing up his glasses with a slight frown on his face.

"But Rei-chan, what if this package is special and they're gonna have someone different deliver it?" wondered the blond.

"This package isn't any different from the ones I usually order, so I doubt that. Plus Maurice's track record is way too good for them to just move him over to the side," reasoned Rei.

"Well if what I think happened actually happened, I hope the new guy is hot."

Rei could only blush and sputter at that. "N-Nagisa-kun!"

"What? It's common knowledge that while Maurice is a great mailman, he's not very good eye candy," said Nagisa matter-of-factly.

Even Makoto had to agree with that. "It would be nice to have someone slightly more attractive, especially with the uniform..."

Nagisa jumped up with a start. "Oooh, I can just imagine it!" The blond grabbed a nearby box and struck a pose. With his eyes focused on Rei, he said, seductively, "Sorry, I know I'm not your usual mailman and that I'm late, but I just had this massive package to handle."

"..."

Without any warning, Rei burst into a laughing fit, tears streaming down his face. He was soon joined by Makoto and Nagisa, with the latter rolling on the floor.

However, their laughter was quickly interrupted when the doorbell sounded through Rei's apartment.

To say that Rin had a rough day was an understatement. His first day with the extra route proved to be exhausting for him, a day where Murphy's Law was in full effect.

It seemed like every obstacle that could possibly prevent him from doing his job decided today would be the perfect time to do so.

The first sector of the day went off without a hitch, so Rin thought the rest of the day would pass just as smoothly. But, boy, was he wrong.

Some of the packages for the second area he had to cover got all mixed up somehow, so he had to stop and take time out of his job to do what was supposed to be Nitori's job (and whoever else worked in sorting). Once that was delivered, the front left wheel on his truck busted ('fucking piece of shit'), which meant he had to use one of the loner trucks that the company kept around ('more of a fucking piece of shit').

One tenant in the third neighborhood refused to sign for the package, claiming that he 'never ordered from for anything,' and almost every tenant in the new apartment complex he had to cover wouldn't stop asking him about Maurice's whereabouts.

All in all, he was so glad to be done with his job that he even pulled the truck into the postal services building with a small smile on his face.

That is, until Seijuurou confronted him as he was about to turn in his keys.

"Got some bad news for you sharkboy."

'For chrissakes...' Rin pinched the bridge of his nose as he sighed for the millionth time that day. "What is it now, Se—Boss?"

"Inspection somehow let a package slip through the cracks for almost a week. It needs to be delivered today."

'You've got to be—'

'Jesus fucking—'

"Fine, fine. Where's the goddamn parcel?" Rin ground out, nearly yelling. However, he had to catch his breath when Seijuurou handed him a rather heavy box, which he quickly placed on the ground. "What the hell is in here anyway?" he asked.

As Seijuurou flipped through the packet in his hand, he answered, "I'm not sure, it only says it contains glass, so handle with care. Well"—Seijuurou slapped his shoulder—"you can get on your way now! I'm sure the recipient has been waiting patiently."

"Hn. I'll be back," he said gruffly, carrying the box as he headed to his truck, again. The package only had to be delivered to the new apartment complex on his route, so at least it wasn't too far out. Rin slid the box onto the floor next to the passenger seat, sitting in the driver's seat and taking off for hopefully the last time that day.

"Rei-chan, you didn't tell us you were inviting other people over!" Nagisa said with a slight whine.

"I didn't..." Rei said, rising from his seat to cautiously check the peephole in his front door. After a few seconds, he abruptly jumped back from the door, covering his mouth with his hand as a light blush began to blanket his cheeks.

"What's wrong, Rei? Who's at the door?" Makoto asked, visibly concerned.

"It's a guy, and he has a package in his hand, b-but he doesn't look right..." he trailed off, still staring intensely at the door. Before Makoto or Nagisa, could question what he meant, he hurriedly opened the door and stepped outside, closing it behind him.

Oooh, who could the mystery guy be? XD You'll have to wait for the next chapter! Two review would be nice too...