Disclaimer: Unfortunately, neither Free! nor any of its characters belong to me!
Thank you for reading and reviewing! It makes me happy to share the cheesy stories in my head with you.
The doors leading to the academy's swimming pool bounced and clacked as the redhead burst into the room.
The sound startled the rest of the swim team already inside. They all fell silent as they watched with curious eyes at the boy standing at the entry, panting heavily.
He glared at them, his own way to tell them to mind their own business, as he took a seat leaning against the cold tile wall.
From there, he decided, he would do some proper research. He would look intently at any signs that confirmed his theory of the secret affair going on between the captain and Nitori.
He was doing this out of concern, he repeated himself. Like when that sketchy guy tried to make a pass on Gou. He wouldn't accept that. He was here to defend Nitori's honor, or something like that.
He was still debating his reasons, when they entered the room. There they were, chatting gleefully without a care in the world.
Rin could have sworn, that if this was some shoujo manga, little specks of light would be flying around them. He grunted at the thought, and with a light "tsk" he mumbled under his breath "shounen-ai maybe".
Was this normal behavior? Was he overreacting? He never really had any close friends, apart from the Iwatobi guys, but that was ages ago.
Even if they were on good terms now and were slowly coming back to the way they were, those relations were still odd. So, he had no idea if things like these were actually okay.
He recalled Nagisa, and his clingy nature and how that was all part of his bubbly personality, but that kid was far from normal. Then there was Makoto and Haru. Those two were practically married without even realizing it, so they weren't much help either. Then there was Rei, but the kid was a riddle in itself with his obsession with beauty and perfection.
It was until then that Rin noticed how his friends were all weirdoes, but then again, having shark like teeth wasn't exactly normal either.
So he kept staring. Looking at every interaction between the small boy and the fiery headed captain.
He noticed how Nitori laughed without any worry, and he didn't walk on eggshells like he did with him. He looked completely at easy, and that pulled something inside Rin's chest.
He wondered if that was what true friendship was, and not what he thought he had with Aiichirou.
The kid was clinging to his muscly arm, telling him again and again how amazing he was.
Rin noticed something else too, something he had never expected before.
He was being ignored by the grey haired boy and he didn't even knew why. All those compliments showering Mikoshiba were supposed to be for him. That was HIS kouhai, the one that was ALWAYS by HIS side. He thought everything was okay since the time he apologized for being a shitty human being and an even worst friend. Nitori had seemed to accept that, and everything kept on going as normal, so why this? And why now?
Rin recalled his day at school today, and either he had done an excellent job at avoiding Nitori (which he didn't) or the kid hadn't even bothered to look for him, and honestly he didn't know what to think.
By the end of practice, Rin was pissed. Not only Nitori was being cold to him, talking to him only if absolutely necessary, but he was still sticking to Mikoshiba like he was the best damn thing he had ever seen. The sight made him sick and he needed to get out of there quickly.
He quickly took a shower and changed, ready to get back to the dorm to finally sulk at ease.
That's when he realized that if he didn't like the current situation, he just had to change it himself. So he decided to wait for Nitori to get ready and go back to their room together.
As he waited, he started thinking about all of this. This odd situation in which he had put himself in without even realizing. Why was he doing all of this? When did he start to care so much for the kid to go as far as to "protect" him? Was he really protecting him though? He seemed far better off with someone who didn't have a nasty personality and anger problems.
And then the reason hit him, like a cold dive in the ocean in the middle of march. It had all started because of that dream. That damn dream that had stirred up something within him that he could not get rid of no matter how much he tried.
And that's about when he started drifting off and ended up at a very dangerous area of his imagination.
His eyes darted towards the room inside, listening closely at the faint sound of water running and he started thinking of him. At how the water would glide from Nitori's locks to his small but strong shoulders, following the line of his spine and…
He swallowed hard, trying to avoid any more images that could potentially put him in a very awkward situation. But it was so hard. He was so used to see the glistening little droplets of chlorine water gently caress the figure of the boy. How they would drop from his smiling face, slowly and painfully rolling to his hipbone. It was all too clear in his head because he had seen it a thousand times, but he needed to stop.
He was so focused on getting his mind out of the gutter, that he didn't even noticed the water stopping and the small steps that were getting closer and closer to him.
"Matsuoka senpai? Were you waiting for me?" a little voice asked.
Nitori beamed at the idea that his senpai made the effort to share some time with him. It was strange for Rin to reach for him; it was usually him running after the redhead to get even a little attention.
This simple gesture made him so happy he could explode.
But the voice abruptly brought Rin back to reality and made him flinch. He glanced towards the other boy and flashes of erotic images came back to his mind.
At this point Rin was sure something was starting to wake up in his pants and panicked.
And as all thing ended when he panicked, he lost control of himself and simply barked "Of course not! I- I have to go". So he did. He ran at top speed, regret eating him alive at a quick pace while leaving a heartbroken Nitori behind.
Once inside, Rin slid onto his bed, hiding his face with one if his pillows.
What had he done? He was trying to be a good friend to Nitori and now he had officially fucked everything up. He knew he had problems and anger issues, but this was ridiculous. Wanting to be close to someone shouldn't be considered a weakness, he shouldn't be as scared of it as he was.
So he decided to wait for Nitori's return, to ask for his forgiveness and make up for his horrid actions.
Time ticked and his brain tortured him with every passing second. Every ticking sound of the clock made an even deeper dent into his already fragile heart.
He was in pain, all his bad memories from Australia and his failed friendships coming back to bite him at his weakest point.
But he was resigned to wait for Nitori and beg him to forgive him if it was necessary.
He stared at the door with suffering eyes, his knees against his chest while he hugged them tightly with his arms.
He wasn't sure how much time he waited, but by the time the grey haired boy finally came inside, he was already sound asleep, dreaming of days when everything was okay.
A/N: Thank you all for your kind words and taking the time to read this silly thing. I will probably update soon, since I seem to be inspired and am currently on holiday so yeah.. See you next time.
P.S : I already have the next chapter but I'm not sure about it. What do you think? should I post it tonight too?