Disclaimer: I don't own Free!.
Reika returned home later that day of the twenty-third, still wearing the owl scrubs she'd worn to work a day prior; she picked up Nagisa from Rei's, and told Rin she'd take him back to Samezuka or his mom's or wherever the hell he wanted to go after she'd taken a shower.
An hour after he'd left and Mom had returned home, the clock claiming it just after seven o'clock, Akihiko had a sudden realization regarding Asuka's birthday present - She'd left it with Rin. After half an hour of whining - which, somehow, caused Nagisa to whine as well, feeling left out - Mom finally sat her phone down in the middle of rescuing pets, saying that if they just let her finish this level, she would take Akihiko to Samezuka to pick up the oil pastels.
And, so, three levels together, Akihiko texted Rin to warn him that she was on her way to pick up Asuka's present, though he never replied back. When Reika pulled up to Samezuka, she barely parked the truck before the retrieved her phone back from her purse, watching, out of the corner of her eye, as Akihiko hopped out of the vehicle.
"Remember what I said." said Reika with a reminding finger shaken at Akihiko, though the girl barely glanced over her shoulder to see it.
"I know!" she called back, patting her purse that hung at her side, closing the door; Nagisa rolled down the back window, sticking his head out to yell at her sister.
"I love you, Onee-chan!" he said, and she laughed.
"I love you too, Nagi!" she said, waving at the blonde before picking up her pace to get out of the snow, entering Samezuka and greeting the secretary before heading back on her way to 210; stopping at the door, she huffed a high, brushing snow-dampened bangs from her eyes. She knocked on the door once, than twice after no reply was given aside from hurried orders being barked around; she blinked, before recoiling into her swim team jacket to gather her courage, reaching forward and grabbing the door handle.
She shocked not only herself by discovering it was unlocked, but also those inside.
"U-um," she panicked, clutching at the strap of her purse, "Rin...? Sorry, I texted you and you didn't answer..."
She stayed just outside of the room, one hand on the door knob and the other on her purse; inside stood Seijuro, Rudolph decorated wrapping paper encircling his ankles, the roll held in his hands; Nitori was also there, attempting to untangle his Captain's feet; and there was Rin, standing with his hands tucked behind his back, looking at the doorway.
"You texted me?" he asked, and she nodded, suddenly feeling as if on trial at all the stares.
"Uh - yeah. I wanted to get Asuka's present." she paused for a moment, the two looking at each other, before she spoke once again, Seijuro and Nitori onlooking as if about to witness a crime, "... What's behind your back?"
"Nothing!" he snapped to her with a huff.
Her eyebrow twitched, though she simply huffed back, "Fine." she said, an edge to her voice, "Can I talk to you out in the hall, then?"
She meant no offense to the two onlookers who quickly looked away with a guilty air when she glanced their way.
"Alright." said Rin, before he paused, and, when he spoke, it was with an ordering tone. "Wait out in the hallway."
Akihiko hesitated, and, as she closed the door slightly roughly behind her, she gave an annoyed mutter of, "Are you kidding me right now."
Waiting in the hallway for a few moments, Rin finally emerged from his room, her foot tapping impatiently (which, Rin hoped she was just going over her music for band in her head, though he knew she wasn't), and closed the door much more gently than she had.
"Asuka's present is in there. What do you want to talk to me about?" he asked, and her excessive foot-tapping stopped, a smirk replacing it.
"I actually want something, to be more precise." she said, and her previous anger seemed to be forgotten, for she leaned in towards him, pressing her hands to his chest, allowing her fingers to trail lightly up and down his shirt.
His eyebrows furrowed together at her touch, though he was unsure if he enjoyed it or if he was annoyed by the slow paths her fingertips were making. "What do you want?" he asked, and she shrugged her shoulders.
"Well," she began, glancing to his chest as she replied, "I wanted to know if I could spend the night." she said, and he hesitated.
"... Tonight?" he asked, and she nodded, fingers skimming across his waistline before sliding back up, producing just the tiniest shiver from Rin.
"Yeah, tonight. Sorry it's kind of last minute. But, if you haven't noticed, I have a bigger purse than usual, so at least I'm more prepared this time already."
He glanced to her shoulder, where, indeed, hung a bigger purse than her normal satchel. "... You literally saw me, like, less than three hours ago. You're getting really clingy, Akihiko."
Though his tone was sarcastic, she scoffed, suddenly whisking her hands back from his torso just as her fingertips were about to slide past his waistline once again. "Fine, but I already talked to Mom, and she's already drove away." she said, crossing her arms over her chest, and Rin resisted the urge to place her hands back to his chest; she was obviously just doing that to get her way.
"Looks like you're gonna be walking, loser." he said, and he leaned into her this time, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist, her elbows digging painfully into his chest. "Just give me a few minutes, okay? Do you need to take a shower or something?"
"Yeah, but I'll start the water, it's fine." she said, brushing off his hands. "... If it's not okay, I'll call Mom, Rin."
"I was kidding." he replied, swooping in and delivering a kiss to her cheek before opening the door to his room, leaving Akihiko out in the hallway once again. When the door opened, it was Seijuro instead of Rin this time, and he grabbed her by her hip, pulling her into the room.
"Aki, you're spending the night again?!" he asked, smiling at her, and she smiled back, momentarily distracted by the roll of wrapping paper leaning against the bunk beds.
"Ah - yeah, Seijuro. Hi, Nitori."
"Hi, Hazuki-senpai!"
"Go take a shower."
She hesitated at that order, glancing up from Nitori to Rin; she puffed out her cheeks, though rolled her eyes all the same. "Very demanding. I was on my way there, anyway." she said, waltzing into the bathroom with her hips swaying in a way that made Rin think she was rebelling against him even though she obeyed his order.
In her own tiny way, she was rebelling just slightly against his command; she closed the door behind her and sat down her bag, pulling out underwear, making sure her make-up and straightener were still in there - though she had not said anything, she expected to borrow a shirt of Rin's to sleep in. Instead of taking a shower, she filled the bath with water and bubble bath she'd brought with her. She took a sigh, emptying her pockets before undressing; she tied her hair up into as high a bun she could get it in, settling herself into the water with her glasses still on and phone in hand, just barely above the water's surface.
Though, she supposed, she was not rebelling against him, for she planned to take a shower still after she felt relaxed enough.
She opened up her group message, and attempted to strike a conversation. 'Merry Almost Christmas Eve guys.'
Suzeme, always on Facebook when they didn't need her, saw the message immediately. 'That sounds very depressing.'
'Does it?' asked Akihiko; she sighed, and, waiting for a reply, she decided to text Rin for a shirt. After a hesitant moment of typing the message and not sending it, she brought up her camera, angling it after turning on whatever filter she found correct, her thighs just barely exposed out of the water, toes painted purple peeking out from the bubbles.
After several pictures, she finally decided on a suitable one, sending it to Daddy Shark before returning to the group message. 'A little bit.' Suzeme had said.
'Anyone heard from Bunko?' Hisao asked, randomly appearing to change the subject.
'Nagisa came home today. Maybe she went over to Rei's?' offered Akihiko, and there was Asuka.
'SPEAKING OF NAGISA,' said the girl, and this obviously drew the attention of all of them, for Lando's name appeared under the message as read, 'HE GOT ME SOMETHING FOR MY BIRTHDAY/CHRISTMAS AND HE WON'T TELL ME AND IT'S HONESTLY FREAKING ME OUT.'
Though Akihiko however did not get a chance to reply, the door to the bathroom opening and closing swiftly behind Rin; she yelped, ducking her head underneath the water with her hands above her head, keeping her phone safe. After a moment, until she could no longer hold her breath, she peaked her head out, taking off her glasses with one hand and flinging them to the sink as her phone dinged with messages she could not reply to.
"Can I help you?" she asked, an edge to her voice, water dripping off her eyelashes.
"I thought the picture was an invitation." he replied, looking down at her with a smirk, and she huffed.
"I highly doubt we both could fit in here." she said, looking down at her phone, reading Lando's messages claiming that Asuka and Nagisa must be talking talking, then.
"We could try." he said as she began to type, and she glanced up at him, squinting her eyes though she didn't need to see in order to tell that his look was smug.
"Or not." she said simply, turning back to her phone, saying that Nagisa probably got her a stuffed penguin, which caused Suzeme to go, 'I'm loling.'
'Asuka would just give it back.' said Lando.
'That's the point.' Akihiko replied.
She hesitated when she saw Rin kneeling; he leaned his elbows against the side of the tub, close enough for some of his features to come into Akihiko's limited vision.
"What're you doing?" she asked, feeling self-conscious with him so close to her in the bath.
"Sitting down next to you." he replied simply.
"... Rin."
"Aki." he mimicked.
"... I'm naked right now. Go away." she ordered, though he didn't obey, and she frowned. "Well, if you're going to stay in here, I forgot to get a towel out, and I need a shirt to sleep in. Please."
He sighed, though stood; as soon as he'd left to get her a shirt, she stood and closed the shower curtain, draining the water and starting the shower, yelping at the first spray of cold water until it warmed up. She leaned out, reading through the previous messages (Bunko had appeared and confirmed that, yes, she was at Rei's, at least for the moment), before locking her phone, taking her hair out from its ponytail just as Rin returned.
"You're no fun." he said, sitting the shirt down, retrieving a towel from the rack.
"Whatever. Hey, take my bag with you out there? I don't want to get water in my make-up or anything." she said, and he gave an exaggerated huff.
"Alright," he agreed, picking up the bag, and opened his mouth to strike up a conversation, when she cut him off.
"Get out, I'm trying to take a shower." she ordered, and he obeyed, after teasing her by flicking the shower curtain open for a second.
When the bathroom door slowly cracked open, steam pouring out, and a small voice cracked out, "Rin?..." the Samezuka triad paused in their conversation, Rin quickly heading towards the bathroom, worried she'd somehow hurt herself.
"What is it, Akihiko? Are you okay? Open the door." he commanded, placing his hands to the door, though, at her snap of, "No!" he forced himself to not shove his way in.
"I'm okay... My pants are in my bag..." she muttered, and he hesitated, this time pushing open the door; Akihiko yelped, stepping out of the way, pulling down the hem of Rin's shirt she wore to cover her bottom, just the slightest bit of red underwear peeking out. "I was going to text you, but my phone died..."
He took a step towards her, and she took a step back, "So what? That shirt's like a nightgown on you. Plus, I mean, you sent me a picture of you in the bath not half an hour ago." he said, taking another step, and she attempted to escape once more, though got herself trapped up against the sink; Rin took hold of her hips, gently trying to push her hands away.
"It doesn't cover enough!" she snapped back, hands quickly going back to clenching at the shirt, staying stiff in Rin's arms. "Besides, all you could see in the picture was, like, my calves and my toes. I made sure not to show thigh!"
"Come on, I know you don't sleep with pants on at home."
"At home, when I'm by myself, not when anyone's over!" she huffed, and then she suddenly broke free from his grip, ducking under his arms with the shirt still pulled down. "You know what, whatever, I'll go get my own pants!"
He hesitated, watching her stomp towards the door, enjoying the slight bit of underwear he could see. "Akihiko, come on. Seijuro and Nitori are out there."
"Close you eyes, Rin!" she snapped, turning around to see him staring, and he sighed, closing his eyes, hearing the door creak open.
"Boys? Could you close you eyes for a minute?..." she asked, using a much more polite tone than she had with Rin.
"Eh, Hazuki-senpai?"
Rin heard Seijuro give a hearty laugh, "Ah, it's okay, Akihiko!" he said, and there was a pause.
"... Just please close your eyes." she said, and, when they finally did, she stepped out to find her bag.
Seijuro, however, appeared to get bored after a moment of this, for Rin heard him say, "Akihiko, you look really cute in Rin's shirt! It's like a dress!"
Rin's eyes snapped open at Akihiko's yelp, and he exited the bathroom, "Close your eyes!" he commanded his Captain, "And don't call my girlfriend cute! You're dating my sister, what more do you want from me?"
"Both of you, close your eyes! The only one I can obviously trust is Nitori!" snapped Akihiko, tugging down on Rin's shirt; Nitori was the only one who had obeyed her command, his hands covering his eyes, though his cheeks were flushed. "Thank you, Nitori!"
"Y-you're welcome!"
Several hours later, Akihiko still lay awake beside Rin in the bottom bunk; Seijuro had left a little while after ten, and the clock on her phone was slowly nearing two o'clock in the morning when her phone dinged with a message from the group message; she exited out of Instagram, smiling - Lando had messaged the group earlier to tell the girls that, when they get older, each month would be celebrated with a week-long party when a certain time came along to celebrate not being pregnant (she said Makoto had already been notified of this, and Suzeme jumped in to say she would be disappointed and most likely cry if there was not tampon confetti).
Akihiko hesitated when she saw the name was not Lando Layton or Suzeme Takahasi, but instead a random message from Bunko Suzuki, obviously hastily typed, saying how much she hated Kiyoko and how life wasn't fair and oh my god, why can't I just have one boyfriend and be happy and be left alone?
orangeporqupine: xD I'm glad! :3
empty-laundry-basket: There will be a whole lot more to the Bunko/Rei problem (I have plans to span this a few chapters) :3 And, yes, Asuka and Nagisa doesn't really seem like it would work out, but I have ideas. ;3