Chapter 4: Contact

"Dude, what is it with you and those shirts?" Momo pointed at Nitori's shirt and grinned. It was pink with a turquoise trim. A paw and a pair of ears were printed over the pocket, giving the impression he was carrying a small, feline friend.

"I like cats," he shrugged, smiling.

Nitori was in a good mood. He had been the whole weekend. After leaving the trials on Friday with a place in the swim team, nothing could bring him down. As inconceivable as his triumph was, he had made it. He would be spending the year with Rin. He was excited to do so, even if he knew his feelings were somewhat naive. His crush was just a crush and Rin was never going to reciprocate his feelings. Regardless, he liked to dream. With his place on the team assured, the possibility was there and it made him happy, very happy. Even now, despite being part of the longest lunch queue in existence, his spirits were higher than they had been in a long time.

"Urghh," Momo groaned, trying to look over the person in front's shoulder. "How much longer?!"

"There's no rush," Nitori laughed, amused by his impatience. The cafeteria was bustling, the noise deafening, but it was to be expected on a Monday lunchtime. They had got here relatively late too, so that didn't exactly help. Now they were dead last, right at the back of line.

"But I'm hungry," he whined, holding his stomach.

"What are you going to have when we get there anyway?"

"Literally anything, I just want food dammit." He pouted. "What are you going to have?"

Nitori thought for a second. "Hmmm, maybe a-"

"Hey Aiichirou! Look, look!" He was interrupted by a suddenly frantic Momo, who was now pointing excitedly at something across the room. "It's the Cap!"

He gave him a puzzled look. "Who…?"

Oh God he means Rin.

Nitori's stomach tightened, a flutter of butterflies suddenly taking hold. His eyes darted to the source of his nervousness, soon falling upon the boy he liked so much. Rin was sat at a table alone, chewing on an apple and minding his own business. Nitori had never seen him in this setting before. Away from the swim team he looked to be as ordinary as every other student; he might have even missed him if Momo hadn't pointed him out. He wore tattered jeans, an old hoodie, and, much to Nitori's curiosity and delight, his hair in a ponytail.

"Oh yeah, it is him." He tried to play it off as cool as possible; he didn't want to appear too eager in front of Momo after all. Secretly, however, he was debating what to do next. He was considering making up an excuse to go and talk to him, but would that be too risky? Did he really want to bother him while he was eating lunch? There was also the question of his own courage. He just wasn't confident enough to be approaching Rin so readily, especially considering the very limited contact they had shared so far. It would just look weird.

While he silently ruminated on his next move, he felt a familiar tug on his arm.

"Let's go say hi!" Momo was up in his face as always, but for once he wasn't forcing him. It seemed more like he was asking rather than telling.

"Umm… I guess we could," Nitori replied hesitantly.

"Awesome!" Momo gestured for them to move before making his way over to Rin's table, with Nitori following closely behind. He wasn't hiding, but he didn't exactly want to be the centre of attention here either.

"Hey Captain!" Momo bellowed as they approached Rin's table. He looked up immediately, surprised. His indifferent expression quickly returned and so did his signature scowl, although it did seem to soften somewhat when he noticed that Momo wasn't here alone.

"Hi…" Nitori tried, offering Rin a shy smile. In an act of nervousness that he immediately regretted, he also gave him a small wave – despite the fact they were less than a few feet apart.

To Nitori's surprise, he waved back. "Aiichirou, hey." He looked back at Momo. "Momotaro," he simply said, nodding.

"Mind if we join you?" asked Momo, undeterred by his curt response. Rin looked as though he was about to decline, opening his mouth ready to respond even, but Momo hadn't finished. "I'll just grab us some food and I'll be right back!"

"Momo wait!" Nitori protested, losing his nerve.

"Don't worry man I'll get you something too!" With that he shot off back to the ever-growing line, leaving Nitori all alone with Rin.

He stood there awkwardly shuffling his feet, unsure of what to say. Momo had really dropped him in it here.

"S-Sorry about this…" was all he could manage. He definitely wasn't ready for this.

A small smile flashed across Rin's lips. "It's alright." He gestured for him to sit. "I take it he's always like this?"

Nitori nodded and took a seat in one of the free chairs across from him. "Yeah, that's Momo," he laughed nervously.

Rin shook his head. "He's a hell of a swimmer though."

Nitori nodded once more, not knowing how to reply. Silence quickly descended upon the pair. Nitori began to panic, his mind going blank. His thoughts were void of any suitable topics, except one. There was a burning question on his mind, one he knew was risky but was dying to know the answer to. He had promised himself to ask him if they were ever alone, and now was as good a time as any…

"Rin?" he blurted out, a little too loudly. "Sorry, Captain… why did you pick me?"

"What do you mean?" he asked. He calmly finished with his apple and took a sip from his water bottle.

"I mean for the swim team. I didn't think I did very well in the try-outs." Nitori tried not to look him in the eye as he spoke.

"Oh…" Rin cleared his throat. He looked a little uncomfortable, looking off to the side and fidgeting with his bottle. "Hm, well. You might not have been the fastest, but I like your attitude. You looked like you cramped up on the return lap but you powered through anyway. Not many would and I respect that."

The tops of Nitori's ears burned upon hearing this. "T-Thank you…" he whispered, not expecting such praise. He wanted to say more, but he seized up again, not knowing what to say. To his relief, Rin spoke next.

"I saw from your registration form that you're doing English Literature," he stated, his tone framing it as more of a question. The ball was in Nitori's court now. Thankfully this topic of conversation was simple enough for his hormone addled brain to respond to.

"Yeah I am," he smiled. "I've always liked writing, I mean I like reading too I guess, but writing things I enjoy… so I thought it was the best fit for me."

Rin nodded and flashed another rare smile. "Had any lectures yet?"

Nitori couldn't believe this. They were talking! And Rin was smiling!

"Yeah I had my first one this morning."

From what Nitori had seen so far, at the trials and at the fair, Rin was definitely not a people person; he hadn't seen him have a conversation with anyone besides Sousuke, so he couldn't believe Rin was actively taking the time to talk to him.

He must be being friendly because I'm a freshman, he thought to himself. Or because Momo left me here alone.

Either way, he wasn't going to pass up this opportunity to try to get to know him.

"How did it go?" Rin asked, crossing his arms and staring at him with his sharp red eyes.

"Well the material is all very new to me and to be honest it was a bit hard to keep up at times."

"Ah don't worry about that, it gets easier. You'll get the hang of it."

Nitori felt a sudden rush of confidence. "What course are you taking?" he asked, the art of conversation now coming back to him.

"Sport Science."

"Oh of course. I should have guessed something like that."

"Yeah," Rin replied with a laugh. "I'm not a literature person."

Nitori's heart fluttered at such a sweet sound. He wanted to hear him laugh again, over and over. His smiled widened. "It's okay, writing isn't everyone's idea of a good time. What's it like to be third-year anyway?"

"A pain in the ass."

Nitori giggled at Rin's matter of fact tone. Outside of swimming he was the same person, reserved and quiet, a little aloof even, a man of few words. However, he definitely seemed more relaxed here. Whether that was because of the environment or because he was on a lunch break, Nitori couldn't tell. There was another reason he could think of, but he quickly dismissed it. It wasn't because of him, surely…

"I have a lot to look forward to then!"

Rin laughed a little again. "You certainly-"

"RIN!"

He was cut off by a group of girls passing through, shouting his name. Nitori's heart sank.

Rin turned to them and gave them an awkward wave.

"Are you going out on Friday?!" one of them yelled.

Rin, too far away to answer, shrugged and mouthed a simple maybe. He quickly turned back around.

"Sorry about that," he said, shaking his head.

"It's alright," Nitori lied, faking a smile. In reality he was a little disappointed. Deciding to swallow his jealousy, he continued. "Partying on Friday?" he asked.

"Well the swim team is, actually. I was going to email everyone about it tonight. Normally I have a zero-tolerance policy for alcohol for obvious reasons, but I usually let everyone have a few drinks on the first Friday night of the semester. Helps the new guys settle in."

"Oh, I see."

Rin nodded and ran a hand through his hair. "Seen as you're here I may as well ask now, will you be going?"

Nitori thought about this. He wasn't really a drinker, but it would definitely help to get to know his teammates. That said, it was only really worth going if a certain someone would be joining them.

"Probably, if it's for the team," he replied. "Will you be there?" There was an unnatural curiosity in his voice that was painfully obvious, but Rin didn't seem to notice.

He shrugged his shoulders. "For appearance's sake, but I don't drink. Don't let me stop you though. Enjoy it."

"I will, but erm, I don't really drink either." Nitori hadn't touched a drop in his life, partly because he had just turned eighteen but mostly because he had never had any interest in doing so.

"That's a first," Rin beamed. "I've never met a first-year who doesn't."

This was the happiest he had seen Rin so far, and it was heart-warming. "Just water for me," he smiled back.

Rin looked as though he was going to say something more but promptly stopped himself after eying the time on his watch.

"Ah shit I've got to get going," he cursed, grabbing his bottle from the table and stuffing into his bag.

"It's okay, no worries." Nitori stood up for some reason, as if he was seeing him off.

"I'll be emailing about Friday's practice and the night out a little later on tonight, so watch out for that." Rin scooped his bag up from the floor and slung it over his shoulder. "I'll see you later, Aiichirou."

"Have a good day, Rin. I mean, Captain."

"Just Rin," he smiled.

Nitori felt his cheeks redden. He gave him an awkward wave, just as he had done before. "Goodbye… Rin."

With a wave of his own, Rin turned and made for the exit, nodding at Momo as he walked by him. The redhead was on his way over to Nitori having finally managed to buy some food.

"That didn't take as long as I thought," he said, dropping a sandwich down on the table in front of him. He sat in the chair Rin had just occupied.

"Thanks." Nitori was still a little giddy from his chat with Rin, the adrenaline still pumping. Although the interruption provided by Rin's (likely) admirers had been disappointing, it had led to the two of them finding some common ground. Most importantly, he had seen him smile and laugh – two things he had rarely witnessed since first meeting him.

"I saw you two chatting, you looked like close friends already!"

Friends.

With it, that word brought so many possibilities. If they were to become friends, how long before his feelings would get in the way?

He didn't think about that now, though. He simply sat and smiled to himself, pleased with what he had accomplished today. He had been nervous at first, but he had actually managed to have a conversation with Rin. He had even got to know him better.

He was making progress.