Chapter 6 - Scores to Settle – Sapphires, Rubies, and Tourmalines (continued)
Haru woke up with the sun hitting his eyes and hearing knocking at the door. He sat up and rubbed his eyes and smoothed his hair back; it falling back into place afterwards. "What? It's open..." He said; his voice still a little groggy after just waking up. His head turned as the door opened and a built figure walked into the room. He looked up at the figure to see it was Rin.
"It's time to get up Haru..."
"Is school starting yet?"
"Not for three more day."
"Oh that's right..."
"You wanna go to the pool?"
"I-I guess...where's Sousuke?"
"I saw him in the cafeteria for breakfast."
"Oh...does he know where we're going?"
"He will..." Rin said as he walks over to Haru's dresser and wrote down a note.
"What're you doing?"
"Writing a note for Sousuke so he'll know where we are."
"Oh..." He said as he got out of bed.
Rin looked over at him and smirked. "You look nice for someone who just got up."
Haru returned the smirk. "Thanks..."
The shark-toothed teen chuckled and tossed some clothes and a swimsuit to his raven-haired friend.
Haru caught all of the articles of clothing thrown to him and put them on.
Rin walked over to his friend after waiting for him to get dressed. "Ready?"
Haru nodded. "Yeah. Let's go."
Rin smiled and put an arm around the swimmer's shoulders. "Alright then." He said as he closed the door behind them.
Haru locked the door and left the note on the door for Sousuke.
The two swimmers walked down to the pool and into the locker room.
"So Haru..." Rin started.
Haru looked over at Rin as he changed. "Hm?"
"How about a race huh?"
"Sounds like fun, but I'll need to warm up first."
"Of course, and I'll join you." He said with a smirk.
"No tricks Rin." Haru teased.
"Oh no not me...I'd never do such a thing." Rin teased back.
They finished changing and walked out to the pool.
Haru started stretching his arms; catching the attention of a certain redhead.
Rin was blushing a little, trying so hard to be vigilant, as he watched the raven-haired teen's muscles move with him and decided to stretch too.
Haru finished stretching and looked at Rin; seeing his muscles move with his body. He blushed and looked over at the water; trying not to make it so obvious that he was looking.
The red-haired teen finished stretching at looked at Haru. "Haru?"
"Huh?"
"I'm surprised you're not in the water yet..."
"I...I was waiting for you..."
Rin's eyes widened a little in shock. "Waiting for me? This is new." He thought.
"What?"
"Y-you've just never waited to go in water before. Why now?"
Haru shrugged. "Dunno. I just kinda thought I'd make a couple changes here and there with myself..."
"Oh..." Rin started with a smirk. "So this is the new Haru?"
"I guess you could say that..."
"So...you gonna change anything else that I should know about?" He teased.
"Uh...n-not that I can think about right now..."
"I'm kidding. C'mon let's swim!"
Haru smiled and dove into the pool with Rin. The very sound of water in his ear gave him a rush of energy as he starting easily gliding through the water.
Rin looked beside him and saw Haru dart ahead of him. "Heh...same Haru in the water..." He thought before trying to catch up to him.
Haru turned quickly and blasted forward; leaving a cluster of bubbles behind him as he breached the water's surface a little more than halfway across the pool.
Rin's eyes widened. "He gets faster every time he swims...more...fish-like..." He thought before almost catching up to Haru before their race came to an end.
Haru finished first and tried to catch his breath. "It's like I'm going faster all the time." He thought before feeling arms wrap around his waist; making his face get a red tint to it. He looked back to see who the arms belonged to; only to see Rin, a sly yet gentle smirk curled onto his lips.
"Hey there Haru..."
"R-Rin...I said no tricks..."
"This isn't a trick. It's just me being me."
Haru gulped as he felt Rin's hands grip onto his hips.
Rin leaned down and nipped at the side of Haru's neck. "You taste good when you've been in chlorine..." He said with a smirk as he nipped more towards the front of Haru's throat.
The raven-haired teen's face burned a deep shade of red as the redheaded teen moved down the front of his neck.
Rin spun Haru around so that they were facing each other and continued to bite at Haru's lower neck.
Haru lets a soft moan escape from his throat; just below where Rin was nipping.
The shark-toothed teen smirked and looked up at the red-faced swimmer. "Someone's liking what he's getting." He thought as he kissed from Haru's collarbone up to his jaw line. He moved up to his lips and slid his tongue inside the raven-haired teen's mouth when the swimmer gasped.
Haru felt his face burn as Rin backed him up into the wall.
Rin broke the kiss and looked into Haru's deep sapphire pools; smiling gently as he did so.
"H-how come you're doing all of this now?" The raven-haired teen asked.
"All of what? Kissing you?"
Haru nodded.
"I would've been kissing you at the pool, but I didn't wanna make Makoto jealous..."
"B-but...I-I never thought..." Haru tried to say before stopping; he was stuttering a lot!
"Never thought what?"
Haru was silent; no longer trusting his voice.
"You never thought that I'd like you like I'm showing you?"
The raven-haired teen nodded.
Rin chuckled a little. "Haru...don't be ridiculous. I've always had a "thing" for you. I guess I never really showed it because I was afraid that either you wouldn't like me back, or Makoto would do something to ruin it..." Rin said as he looked into Haru's eyes; letting the other teen know that he was telling the truth. "I wanted to show you how much I cared about you, but...when I saw that Makoto was always with you, no matter where you went, I figured that Makoto would do something to make you not want to talk to anyone, including me, and I thought he'd keep you away from me if he knew..."
Haru was shocked; Rin...afraid of Makoto?! "Rin...I...if I only knew earlier..." He started before looking down feeling a little ashamed.
"Haru?"
"If I had known earlier...I would've spent more time with you..."
"You don't have to worry about that anymore...you're here with me now and that's all that matters. I don't care about what happened in the past...I'm with the one I love the most NOW so I'm happy." He said with a gentle smile as he lifted Haru's chin so their eyes would meet.
Haru returned the smile and wrapped his arms around the shark-toothed teen's neck. "You mean all that?" He asked in a whisper.
"Damned if I don't." Rin whispered back. He lifted Haru out of the water and climbed out of the pool. "Let's get changed and go back to your dorm or something'."
"Okay."
They walked into the locker room and got changed.
"Rin I'm gonna go get a water from the soda machine okay? I'll meet you in the hall."
"Okay. Don't take too long."
"Sure." He said before walking to the soda machine.
Rin walked outside into the hallway and waited for Haru; talking to Seijuro as he passed by.
Haru put a dollar into the machine and selected a water. He grabbed the bottle, but didn't turn; feeling like someone was behind him, just waiting for him to turn. He had a serious look on his face, but underneath he was scared. "What do you want?"
"You know damn well what I want...Nanase."
"S-Sousuke! Shit..." Haru thought before turning slightly so he was facing the Tourmaline-eyed teen leaning against the wall; not too far from where Haru was standing (in front of the soda machine). "S-Sousuke...why are you here?"
"I found the note you left on our door and decided to come and swim with you guys; only that's not what I found when I quietly came in..." Sousuke started.
Haru gulped. "H-he saw that?!" He thought as his fear started to show through the serious look he wore.
"I did see you two in the water, but I didn't see any practicing."
"T-then?"
"I saw Rin kissing you, and you like it." He said as he stepped closer.
Haru took a step back. "Not this again..." He thought as he continued to step back as Sousuke stepped forward. He felt his back slam against the soda machine glass. His eyes darted up to Sousuke as the taller boy's hands blocked any form of escape. His sapphire orbs stared into Sousuke's tourmaline orbs; a hint of fear was lingering in his pupils.
Sousuke stared back into Haru's eyes; seeing the very small hint of fear and leaned into him, pressing him against the soda machine, and kissed him.
Haru's sapphire orbs widened; feeling the heat coming off of the taller boy's body. "Seriously? This AGAIN?!" He thought before hearing footsteps. "Rin!"
Rin stopped for a moment. "What do you think you're doing?"
Sousuke pulled away and looked back at Rin; his eyes suddenly widen. "Uh oh..." He thought as Rin walked toward them.
The shark-toothed teen pulled the other swimmer away from Haru letting the raven-haired boy slide down and sit on the floor; gasping and shaking slightly. He looked down at his friend and then looked back at Sousuke. "What did you do to him?"
Sousuke smirked. "Ask him when he can speak." He said before walking away; shoving Rin's shoulder to the side.
"H-Haru?"
Haru was still trying to catch his breath, but he still looked up at Rin; acknowledging his voice.
"What did he do?" He asked as he crouched next to him.
The raven-haired teen simply just leaned on Rin's shoulder in exhaustion. "T-too much..."
"Too much what?"
Haru finally caught his breath and sighed. "Kissing...it was like he was trying to drown me...I mean I could breathe through my nose, but that really wasn't enough for what was going on..." He said as his eyes glanced up into Rin's ruby orbs.
Rin kissed the swimmer's forehead. "You wanna sleep in my dorm?"
"What about my clothes?"
"Oh yeah..."
"I could get a dorm switch."
"That could take, at max, a week. I don't like seeing you like this..."
"He just doesn't know how to back off...or stop..."
"Did he hurt you?"
Haru felt a small surge of pain in his back from being slammed against the soda machine and groaned a little.
"He did..."
"I-I don't think it was intentional..." He said before rubbing his back.
Rin sighed and picked him up. "C'mon Haru. Let's go back to your room then."
Haru blushed. "B-but...I-I can walk!" He stuttered in protest.
"No. Shush. I'll stay with you until things between you and Sousuke cool down."
"B-but he starts it!"
Rin sighed. "You have to go back to your dorm at some point..."
"I know, but I'm just making a point that nothing that happens between us is started by me..."
"I know..." Rin said as he kissed Haru's forehead. "Let's go back to your room. You look exhausted."
"Is that why I'm not allowed to walk?" Haru asked; an eyebrow raising as the question was asked.
"Yup." Rin said before walking to the locker room.
They got changed and Rin carried Haru to his room.
Haru unlocked the door; assuming that Sousuke was either not there or just locked the door out of habit.
Rin walked in after Haru opened the door for him.
"Ya know, I may look tired, but it's nowhere near dark yet."
"So? School doesn't start till three days from today."
Haru sighed in exhaustion and yawned.
"Get some sleep."
"What about you?"
"Don't worry. I'm not leaving. I'll be here when you wake up." He said with a loving smile.
Haru returned the smile; his smile looking more tired though. He got changed into what he had worn to bed and got into his bed.
Rin covered him. "Close your eyes and sleep." He whispered gently.
"Kay..." Haru whispered back before shutting his eyes.
The redhead sat in the windowsill and dozed off for about half an hour. He woke up hearing his name being called.
"Rin! Wake up!"
Rin's eyes twitched and slowly opened. "Not so loud..." he said as his vision cleared. "Sousuke...what do you want?"
"Get out."
"I told Haru I'd be here when he woke up."
"Yeah here's the thing...I don't care. Get out."
Haru's eyes twitched as he tossed and turned a little.
The shark-toothed teen walked past Sousuke and sat on Haru's bed. "Haru?" He said before shaking him. "Haru...wake up..." He said.
The raven-haired teen woke up after being shaken a couple times, hearing his name, and sat up fast with sweat beads on his forehead.
"Bad dream?"
Haru nodded.
"You want me to get something for ya?"
The swimmer shook his head this time; fully knowing what would happen if Rin left the room.
"Okay."
Sousuke looked over. "You gonna leave at some point Rin?"
"No, I'm not. I'm here to be with Haru, and just because you're taller, a little stronger than him doesn't mean that you're the boss of everyone in the room."
Haru had begun to get fed up with all the arguing he's been hearing lately and growled; just loud enough for them to hear.
Rin looked at Haru with a confused look.
"Stop fighting..." he said as he got out of bed and walked up to Sousuke; not even caring about the height difference between them. "You! You always make moves on me when I CLEARLY don't want to do anything like what you want to do! You're very forceful with me and it's annoying. You're never gentle with anything you do to me, and I absolutely hate it." He said; his sapphire orbs corrupted with darkness.
Sousuke gulped.
Rin was completely shocked.
"You always have to start something with either me or Rin, whether it be an argument with Rin or making unwanted moves on me." Haru continued. "And the one thing I don't understand about you the most is that you used to despise me, and all of the sudden when Rin is showing his true feelings to me you have to act all different and try to beat him in everything. You were best friends until you found out that he liked me a lot, and now look where that's gotten you." He said before sighed and leaving.
Sousuke's face was the meaning of shocked and was rendered speechless.
Rin went after Haru; not taking too long to catch up seen as how Haru hadn't gotten the chance to go far enough away from the room. "Haru!"
Haru stopped and turned around and saw Rin. "And here I thought it was Sousuke...man am I glad to be wrong." He thought before getting pulled into the redhead's arms.