Chapter 2

"Rin. Don't you think you're pushing yourself too hard?" The red head grimaces. He supposes Sousuke can't keep quiet any longer. Consecutive days of pulling double 'shifts' of practice and his friend is not saying anything? Pfft. Please. Rin knows that he was just bidding his time to hen peck him.

He glances up and makes a face at Sousuke. His friend isn't looking at him though. He's trying to look uninterested by pretending to read but that tight grip he has on his book says otherwise. Rin breathes deeply to calm himself down. His friend is just worried after all.

"What? Of course not! You know I will never compromise my health. I know what I'm doing okay?" Rin tries to reassure him. He grumbles to himself as the other teen made no indication that he heard him. There's no doubt about it. Sousuke is in a pretty pissy mood.

He walks to window and vigorously dries his hair. Well, he might not be in the mood but Rin is. He will try his best not to let Sousuke ruin his night. After all, Rei had finally gotten the hang of all the other strokes in a few short days. And it's nice that he can help the butterfly swimmer improve and be friends with him. After all, he owes the guy big time. If not for him giving up his spot on that relay, Rin wouldn't be able to mend his friendship and connect with the Iwatobi guys again. And for that, he would be forever grateful.

"And besides, Mr. Grumpy-pants. Today is the last day. Rei has been able to learn all he can from me and he just needs to practice on his own. He's really come a long way, you know." He says with pride and fondness in his voice. Rin thinks that should be able to calm his friend down – as he wouldn't be 'tiring' himself anymore. Sheeesh.

"Do you like that dorky butterfly guy, huh Rin?" Sousuke snaps at him as he finally stops pretending to read his book. His friend gets up from the bunk, jumps down and proceeds to glare at him.

Of course, Rin being Rin, he is not the least bit intimidated by this at all. He and Sousuke have been friends for the longest time. All that time apart did not do any real damage to their friendship. In fact, when they first met again here in Samezuka, it was like just picking up where they left off. Like being middle schoolers all over again.

"Hah?" Rin asks as his brows shoots way over his hairline. The red head's confused. He's so shocked that he can't form any coherent thought. That question came out of nowhere. What the hell?!

"Don't play dumb with me. Or are you and that smart pants already going out? Sousuke asks forcefully as he crosses his arms over his chest and glares some more.

"What are you going on about? I don't…" Rin's starting to get mighty irritated himself. He doesn't know why Sousuke's getting so worked up on the wrong reason. At first he thought that the teal eyed teen was angry because he was over exerting himself doing extra sessions. As it turns out, he seems to be mad that he's spending so much time and effort with Rei. Is he jealous?

He's about to go on a rant to let Sousuke have a piece of his mind (and his fist, if he continues to be so damn unreasonable) when the door to their room suddenly bangs open.

"Is it true Rin-senpai?! You're already dating somebody?" Nitori asks his voice quivering and eyes shining. The Samezuka captain looks at his former roommate a little suspiciously. Are those tears forming in his eyes? The red head frowns.

"What you're already seeing someone?!" Momo asks as he looks crestfallen. Is he disappointed? But why? Rin's frown gets deeper. Of all the things that these two could have heard, it has to be the one about him being taken. I think Sousuke's rubbing off on them.

The red head opens his mouth and tries to think of a suitable answer that would shut all of them up, but was distracted when Momo suddenly perks up. He sees the orange haired teen's eyes light up in determination and just like that he's back to his happy, energetic state.

"So who is it senpai? Is it the guy who baked you those cookies? Do you like guys who bake senpai? Or you just fancy guys with glasses?" Momo asks his questions in rapid succession as he bounds over to where his captain stands and invades his personal space. He looks up at Rin hopefully.

Rin sighs as he pinches the bridge of his nose. He can feel a migraine coming up. Just when he thought he'd be going to bed in a great mood, this happens. Why can't he have normal friends/teammates? As of the moment, he has a teary eyed Nitori. A maniacal Momo (the happy sort). And a maniacal Sousuke (the angry sort).

And as much as he wants to brush them off and ignore them, he knows he can't. Rin can already see it in his mind's eye. Sousuke would surely terrorize the underclassmen with all his glaring. Nitori would surely be sulky and pouty. And Momo is already distracted most of the time – adding another thing for him to worry about would surely be disastrous. The red head is sure that this will affect their performance and as their captain he can't have that.

And really, what is it with their sudden obsession in my love life? He asks himself exasperatedly.

"What is this? Gang-up-on-the-shark-with-stupid-questions-night?" He asks lightly and tries to smile at them comically to diffuse the situation. One look at them though and he sighs bitterly. Rin's not getting off this lightly. They really are serious and want to know the real score.

"I'm not dating anyone okay? If I am, it will certainly not be Rei. I mean. Guys. Honestly. Rei has the hots for Nagisa. It's so glaringly obvious that I don't even need to wear my prescription glasses to see it."

"Why did you say 'If I am'? Are you dating someone else?" Sousuke asks as he joins Momo in crowding Rin's personal space. Not to be outdone, Nitori steps closer as well.

"Is it Nanase-senpai? You have always thought highly of him…" His former roommate stutters as his eyes shine a bit more (seriously, he thinks the kid will start bawling any moment now).

"So what is it that you are looking for in a guy, huh senpai?" Momo's eyes go large in attention as he expects Rin to answer him truthfully.

"Enough!" Rin finally snaps. He can't get a word in and their questions are escalating to uncomfortable levels for him to answer. He has to diffuse the situation. And quick!

He stares all three of them down. Sensing that their captain is moments away in getting real angry they turn quiet. Rin, sensing that they are pliable enough for listening without interrupting takes the chance to launch his brilliant and inspired plan. He just came up with it literally seconds after the stare down. He works well under pressure after all – whether it be in swimming or in dire situations. Like this one!

"Okay. For some insane reason I get the feeling that you aren't be comfortable with me spending time with the Iwatobi guys…" He gets three solemn nods. He rolls his eyes. He really have dysfunctional teammates. I mean who the hell thinks that monopolizing a person is acceptable?

"They are my friends and whether you like it or not, I will continue being friends with them and will spend time with them." Rin could see their hackles rising. Before they can interrupt him again, he plows on.

"And for some reason that I cannot even begin to fathom, you guys are only adverse to me being with my Iwatobi friends because you think… that I might be romantically involved with them." He finishes haltingly. He's unsure about this, but with all the dating questions thrown at him – he can only assume that this is the reason. Looking at the vigorous nods he gets, it seems like he's right on target.

"And as I said earlier, it's obvious that Rei's got it bad for Nagisa. I'm not sure about Nagisa, because well, he's sweet with everybody. The little time I get to spend with them is not enough for me to glean information if the attraction is mutual."

"What does it have to do with us?" Sousuke asks irritably. Why can't Rin get to the point already? He doesn't want to hear about the woes of those losers.

"Duh. Do you think I'd date someone who is already taken?" And suddenly like the dawn breaking, his teammates' faces brightened in clarity. Of course! Why hadn't they thought of that? Instead of getting Rin angry like this, they should have taken it upon themselves to make those Iwatobi guys unavailable for their captain. So simple!

"I thought so." The red head says smugly.

"So! Here's what you're going to do. It's actually two birds in one stone. First, you get to see for yourself about Rei's little love situation and second, you can make it up to him by helping him win Nagisa over." He finishes triumphantly.

"But what about Nanase-senpai?" Nitori interjected. Rin winces. He's a sharp one, that Nitori.

"Fine, fine. Well, we all know that Haru and Makoto are already practically attached at the hip." Sousuke eyes flash with annoyance and looks like he wants to argue, so before he could start raging, the red head continues.

"I'm pretty sure that they're in love with each other. I think Mako is just waiting for Haru to acknowledge his feelings but with Haru being as oblivious as he is… Well, he probably thinks that letting Mako pull him up from the pool is enough to let him know that he loves him too." Rin sees the annoyance in his friend's eyes simmer down, so he breathes a sigh of relief.

"So what you need to do is to help Haru be more communicative? Or whatever. It's up to you guys to cook up something. All you need to do is to make Mako and Haru official. Got it?"

"But who is going to do the NagiRei project and the MakoHaru project?" Momo asks excitedly. Rin looks at Momo like he's grown another head. And he thought that he's already finished with the problem.

"We'll do it in pairs. Momo and Nitori you do the NagiRei. Me and Sousuke will do the MakoHaru. " Before he can even finish that sentence, Rin already knew that he had opened a can of worms.

"Unfair! I want to spend time with Rin-senpai too!" Momo whines as he tugs at Rin's arm and proceeds to give him a lethal dosage of puppy dog eyes.

"Why are you favoring Sousuke-senpai? Is it him you want?" Nitori asks as he sinks to the ground and finally, the bawl that Rin has been expecting happened. He looks helplessly at Sousuke and pleads with his eyes to help him, but the taller teen just looks perfectly happy and perfectly smug in his corner.

"GAH! You guys will be the death of me. FINE! We will do rotations. I'll partner up with Sousuke first, then Nitori, then Momo."

"Did you pick me last Rin-senpai because of the saying – save the best for last?" If it could be done, Rin thinks that the kid would start farting rainbows in his giddiness. Sousuke though, loses the smug look in his face at Momo's declaration and proceeds to look thunderous. Rin pushes the kid behind him to hide him from Sousuke. He's getting real nervous at that menacing look in his friend's eyes.

"Rin-senpai likes me the least!" Nitori bawls uncontrollably from his place in the floor.

As the red head looks over at his teammates, he's got a bad feeling that he might have been a mass murderer in his past life. He must've been. Else, he would not be punished like this.

Rin sends a silent prayer to whoever is listening for this night to finally please end.