THE LANE NEXT TO YOU

a FREE! fan-fiction

characters introduced in ch4.

Rei Rugazaki- (17) HS 3rd year. Iwatobi swim team member. Theory Freak. Nagisa's BF (or so he thought?)

Nagisa Hazuki- (17) HS 3rd year. Iwatobi swim team member. Childishly flirty cutie. Rei's BF

ch 4.

STORY OCCURS about 1/2 a semester after FREE! Eternal Summer (OVA) episode 14.

[IWATOBI HIGH SCHOOL]

Despite his constantly incessant theorizing, Rei Rugazaki was confused.

Nagisa Hazuki hadn't spoken to him all morning. Not just all morning but the night before as well. In fact Nagisa hadn't spoken an audible word to Rei since the end of practice the day before!

This was exactly the reason Rei had always been so secretive about his relationship with Nagisa.

Rei tried to never be too touchy feely or blatantly obvious that the two of them where 'together' as in dating and had been, almost as long as Rei had been a part of the Iwatobi swim team.

Both his own and Nagisa's parents were insanely strict and neither of the boys had addressed the issue of their sexuality with them. So Rei knew he needed to be the responsible one till they were ready to tell their families that they were in love and planned to stay together even after high school.

Playing responsible was hard but as part of the many rules he'd made for himself, Rei never kissed Nagisa in public! Ever! Even Rei wasn't sure what had inspired him to do such a spontaneous thing!

The events that caused Rei so much turmoil were as follows:

A.) Momo Mikoshiba had come to visit Nagisa after practice

B.) Mikoshiba-kun asked Nagisa out on a 'date' (of course it wasn't a real date) Mikoshiba-kun was in love with Gou-chan or so he'd been telling anyone who would listen...

C.) Rei had (uncharacteristically) swooped in between the two and planted a cool kiss on his blushing boyfriend's lips and told Mikoshiba-kun that Nagisa 'was otherwise previously engaged.'

Much to Rei's confusion Nagisa had rushed off quickly after the kiss leaving Mikoshiba-kun slack jawed and Rei absolutely dumbfounded. Usually the flirty kissing monster that was Nagisa would have jumped at any show of affection that Rei provided with indescribable zeal. Why had he left in such a hurry?!

Rei had recovered relatively quickly after his initial shock, remembering that not only was it a good idea to follow the obviously affected blonde but if he didn't catch up odds that he'd miss the train home grew exponentially. Rei ran and made it just in time to follow Nagisa directly onto the train. Nagisa quickly found a seat; and purposefully turned his body away from Rei hiding his red face and making it obvious to the train's passengers that he had no intention of speaking to anyone. Rei took a seat nearby and quietly observed as the person least likely in the world to ignore him did exactly that.

That night Rei had sent Nagisa a 'goodnight' text like he always did but he never received an answer. Minutes turned to hours, waiting for the reply that never came, only made his already naturally paranoid mind race faster and faster. Rei was exhausted. Rei was worried.

It was inconceivable to think that Rei's momentary spontaneous lapse in judgment could possibly have upset Nagisa so much that the peppy blonde he adored so much might never speak to him again!? Inconceivable! Wasn't it?

end ch 4.