I meant to post this on Monday, but I just kept procrastinating and I am so sorry about that. I don't have much to say about this chapter so just read and enjoy! Also, thank you to everyone that has reviewed, favourited and followed so far! It is good to know you are all enjoying this story!
Disclaimer: Free! and it's characters do not belong to me and belong the respected owners. I only own/made this story.
"I'm late" Rin mumbled, running down the school halls "I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" He felt as though he was the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, but that's because he was late, and he was very late.
He had missed home room, which meant he didn't get marked off on the role. So this meant, as soon as he got to school, he had to run to the office and stand in a small line so he could be checked off and attend class.
Rin was never late, for the whole time he had been at Iwatobi he has had perfect attendance, but this morning he had slept in. Why had he slept in? Because there were way too many things on his mind for him to sleep. Even when he did fall asleep it wasn't exactly a peaceful one. His mind wasn't switching off like it usually did when he went to bed, and now he was a good half hour late for school.
He ran to his geography class like his life depended on it, and quickly slid the door open to see the teacher and a bunch of students staring at him. One of the students being Haru.
"Ah, Matsuoka, it's not like you to be late" his teacher commented, her eyebrows furrowed slightly.
"S-sorry" Rin bowed deeply "I just had some...troubles at home..."
The teacher stared at him for a while before sighing and telling him to sit down. He sat next to Haruka as they were in alphabetical order, since no one else's family name in the class started with M and Haruka's was the only one that had an Na.
"I forgot he was in this class" Rin thought to himself, glancing at the raven haired teen beside him "Well I don't have to talk to him, so I guess I'm fine"
"As you all know," the teacher started "it is almost the end of the school year and your exams are coming up soon. I have taught you everything you need to know and you should now be studying what I have taught you nightly. So, I want you to work with the person next to you and quiz each other"
Rin groaned inwardly as he slumped down into his chair, the world hated him.
Haruka put his hand up and the teacher instantly responded with "No, you can not change partners. You must work with the person next to you" making Haruka put his hand back down.
The students all began to push their desks together, and Rin sighed as he stood up and slid his desk next to Haru's.
The redhead sat down, pulled out his geography book, and began preparing questions before getting Haru's approval to do so. Haru was just drawing some object that Rin couldn't make out.
There was an awkward silence between the two of them as Haru said nothing, and neither did Rin, making both of them feel uncomfortable.
Hesitantly, Rin opened his mouth and said "It's starting to get colder outside..."
The redhead mentally slapped himself. Talking about the weather was the number one thing not to do during an awkward silence, and Haru didn't even bat an eye at the teen.
Nevertheless, Rin still tried to make conversation and muttered "It was always really hot around this time in Australia..."
Haruka stiffened and his pencil stopped.
Rin mentally slapped himself for the second time. His trip to Australia was very clearly a no go zone, what was wrong with him today?
"...it was...was it?" Haruka questioned, gaining Rin's attention.
The redhead smiled as the teen responded, making him feel more confident "Yeah, it would get really cold during the winter, but through spring and autumn it would just be hot. It was always boiling during summer."
"...good swimming conditions" Haru muttered, continuing to draw whatever it was he was drawing.
"Well, yeah" Rin stated "that's why I went there to swim-" he cut himself off as Haruka stiffened once more, seeing a tint of sadness in those ocean blue eyes.
Rin sighed as he turned back to his book and continued to write questions, then silently mumbled "...I did think of you, you know..."
"Huh?" Haruka questioned, his eyes now on the redhead.
"I said I did think of you, while I was in Australia I mean. Honestly, everyday I would look up at the sky and wonder what you were doing. I would wonder if you were swimming, or hanging out with Makoto, or even eating mackerel" Rin smiled to himself, now seeing how stupid it all was when thinking back on it.
"...I was thinking about you too..." Haru mumbled, making crimson orbs widen and stare directly at him. A small blush creeped up Haruka's face as he felt the teen's eyes on him, and tried to go back to concentrating on his drawing.
Rin turned back to his own book and let his thoughts float around in his head, wondering what it meant to have Haru thinking about him while he was in Australia. But maybe he was over thinking things, that didn't mean anything.
The redhead turned back to Haru to see his cheeks tinted a light red, making the corners of his mouth slightly turn upwards. He found it almost funny when seeing Haruka embarrassed, probably because he didn't see it much.
"Haru..." said teen shifted his eyes towards the redhead "...I'm sorry for what happened that night..."
The lead on Haruka's pencil snapped and his face went a bright, tomato red.
"D-don't say that!" the teen almost yelled, making the other students give them a strange look before turning back to their own work.
Haruka let out a small sigh before turning back to Rin "Don't mention that in a place like this! That's not really a good topic...and why are you apologising anyway?"
"Huh?" Rin questioned, titling his head "Because I started-"
"Shhh!" Haru whispered urgently "Y-you don't have to explain! It was my fault!"
Haruka could feel his face burning up again, because it was his fault. If he hadn't asked Rin if he could kiss him then they wouldn't be in this mess. Surely if this was love, then that kiss wouldn't be so embarrassing. After all, Nagisa said he loved Rei and they still act normal around each other after kissing...
Wait, that's it, he just has to ask Nagisa! Surely Nagisa would know what's going on, he was right about the seeing fireworks and your heart beating so fast it feels like it's going to pop out of your chest when kissing, after all.
"...what are you drawing?" Rin asked, looking down at his friend's sketch book. Looking more closely now, he could see it was the outline of a large tree.
"A cherry blossom tree" Haruka answered, still not feeling confident enough to look into the redhead's eyes.
Rin stared at it for a while longer, watching Haru's delicate hands trace the first few flowers. His hands were so pale, so soft, so...fragile. Rin remembered how it felt to be touched by those beautiful hands. Those long, slender fingers kneading through his hair. The feeling of soft, flat palms gently cupping his face. The way those perfectly trimmed nails dug into his skin while he-
"Ah!" Haru cried, his knee bumping the table as he jumped.
Rin realised he had subconsciously moved his hand to the top of Haru's thigh, making him reflexively move it back to sit in his own lap.
Everyone, including the teacher, looked at the two of them. Their red faces almost glowing.
"Is...something the matter, Nanase?"
Haruka looked at the teacher with wide eyes "Just a bug...that surprised me..."
The woman raised a judgemental eyebrow, but dismissed it and told everyone to get back to their work.
Rin didn't dare to look Haru in the eye. Now, because he knew what it felt like to be kissed by the raven haired teen, his self defence was slowly crumbling. He felt as if he looked into those blue, shining orbs, he would lose himself completely.
It was weak, pathetic even, but that's just what Haru did to him. No one in this world, woman or man, could make him feel the way Haru did.
Haruka was also avoiding eye contact, multiple thoughts were bouncing around in his head.
"What was that?! Why did he touch me? Why am I still burning where his hand was?! This isn't right! It was only just a small touch and yet I feel as if I'm losing control of myself! I need to talk to Nagisa! I need to, I have to! I have to find a way to stop this!"
His hands shook as he tried to draw. Drawing always calmed him down, but this was probably the first time it had absolutely no affect on his shaky nerves.
There was no way that this could be love.
...
"So what's everyone doing for Christmas~?" Nagisa chirped, his elbows placed on the table with his chin in his hands.
The five teens were in the mall in a small fast food restaurant. Club activities were cancelled for them that day since it was slowly getting colder and colder, so soon they wouldn't be able to swim at all unless it was at Samezuka.
"I'm going to be having lunch with my family, then probably open gifts and just continue on with the day like it was a normal one" Rei answered, nibbling on a packet of french fries.
"I'm going to be spending the morning with Ren and Ran and try to keep them from waking up mum and dad so they can open their presents. Then I'll have lunch with my family as well and just spend the rest of the day playing with my two siblings." Makoto smiled, wiping his hands from the greasy chicken nuggets.
"Ah...I'm just the same as everyone else. Having lunch with my family and probably just spend the rest of the day watching TV with Gou" Rin yawned, scrunching up the wrapper that his burger had been in.
Nagisa smiled "My sisters are all going to be coming home, so we can celebrate together! They always come over on Christmas!"
Rei stared at the blonde as he tried to talk between sips of his strawberry milkshake "Oh, that just reminded me, my brother might be coming home too"
Rin raised a questioning eyebrow "I didn't know you had a brother, Rei"
The blue haired teen shrugged in an uncaring manner "Well, the topic never came up. He is studying at a university in Tokyo at the moment."
Nagisa smiled once more "All right, so we are all having lunch with our families! That just leaves..."
All eyes moved to Haruka as the blonde trailed off, making the raven haired teen look up with questioning eyes.
He stopped drinking his vanilla milkshake as everyone stared "What?"
"What are you doing for Christmas, Haru chan? Didn't you just hear us talking about it?" Nagisa pouted, watching as Haruka looked up in thought.
Thinking about this for a while, the teen eventually answered with "...I'm not doing anything"
"Ehhhhh?!" Nagisa shot up and slammed his hands onto the table, making everyone jump "That won't do, Haru chan! Christmas only comes once a year! You have to be doing something?!"
"No, I'm not doing anything" Haruka said again, shaking his head.
"But Haru chan, this is a special time of year! You can't just not do anything!"
"N-Nagisa" Rei stuttered "People are looking"
"It's decided!" Nagisa announced, completely ignoring Rei "We will all have lunch with our families, and for dinner we will go to Haru chan's house!"
The raven haired teen frowned "Oi, who said I wanted to-"
"I wouldn't mind doing that" Rin interrupted, a bored expression on his face as he looked to the side.
Haruka blushed slightly when hearing the redhead's voice. Why was the thought of Rin coming to his house for dinner on Christmas Day so weird? Surely that wasn't something to get flustered about...right?
"I wouldn't mind it either, actually" Makoto smiled, the picture of innocence.
"Uh...if it's okay with Haruka senpai then..." Rei muttered, making Nagisa beam with joy.
"Then it's settled! We will be having Christmas dinner at Haru chan's! That way he won't be alone for Christmas!"
Everyone nodded in agreement and Haruka sighed, he really didn't want to be making any big meals on Christmas Day, but he knew they would all show up. Although the thought of all his friends being with him on Christmas did make him feel happy.
Once the five finished eating they decided to walk around the mall, wondering if they should see a movie or just go home.
Haruka stared at Nagisa as they walked, remembering that he wanted to talk to the blonde. Even though they were all together and it wasn't the best time, Haru knew he had to talk to him as soon as possible. Right how Haru's world was just never ending confusion, and he needed to know what was going on.
The raven haired teen saw his chance as Makoto, Rei and Rin started talking while Nagisa went silent, so he tapped the boy on the shoulder.
"Eh? What is it, Haru chan?" the blonde questioned, his eyes wide.
"I...need to talk to you about..stuff" Haruka answered, hoping Nagisa would catch on.
The boy stared at Haruka for a moment, before his eyes had sparked with realisation and he muttered "Oh..."
"What are you two doing? You're dropping behind" Rin stated, staring at the two.
"U-uh, Haru chan just wanted to go to this shop with me! Except it's on the other side of the mall, so we will go there and meet up with you guys somewhere" Nagisa lied, a bead of sweat dripping from his brow.
"I'll go with-" Rei started, but was cut off by the blonde
"No, no! Haru chan and I want to go by ourselves if that's okay!" he smiled, winking at the blue haired teen.
Rei's eyes widened as he understood what was going on, it wasn't exactly a good idea to leave Rin alone with Makoto anyway. He almost face palmed himself for that one.
"Okay then, go ahead. We will meet at the movie cinemas in thirty or forty minutes and decide if we all want to see a movie or not."
Nagisa smiled and nodded then walked off with Haruka, looking behind them to make sure no one was following.
Deciding they were far enough, the blonde asked "So, what did you want to talk about?"
Haruka's face reddened slightly "Well...you know how you told me that when you kiss the person you love, fireworks happen and stuff?" Nagisa nodded and Haruka continued "I just wanted to know...are you absolutely sure that is love?"
The blonde raised a questioning eyebrow "I'm pretty sure it is...why?"
"B-because what if you start trying to avoid that person? Or that person starts avoiding you? Or if it just feels awkward to be near them..."
Magenta orbs widened as Nagisa stared at the raven haired teen "Haru chan, have you...?"
"Hm?" Haruka gave Nagisa a confused look, making the blonde force an awkward smile
"N-nothing! It's nothing! I was just thinking out loud...but I'm not really too good with these things either Haru chan. If you want a love expert you should probably go to Rin cha-"
"Not Rin!" Haruka instantly responded, making the blonde almost stumble back.
"Jeez, I know you two are competitive, but I didn't know you were that competitive" Nagisa half heartedly chuckled, still in small shock at hearing his usually quiet friend yell.
"Y-yeah, competitive..." Haru mumbled "But I really need your help with this, Nagisa, even if you just guessed it would be fine."
"You seem to be pretty desperate to be asking me this" Nagisa joked, even though it was true "Well, let's see...I was never really embarrassed when I was around Rei, but Rei always looked embarrassed when he was around me...I think that just means you really like the person."
Haruka's brow scrunched in confusion "Why do you think that?"
"Because...when you're embarrassed your heart is thumping really fast, right? Well maybe the reason you're avoiding this person is because, every time you see them, your heart keeps thumping. And if your heart thumps when you see that person, that must mean you really like them!"
Haruka's brow scrunched up even more as he tried to understand this. Like Nagisa said, it was just a guess, but it seemed...logical? Yeah, okay, no it didn't, but none of this seemed logical to Haruka. How could someone make your heart thump so fast anyway? The longer he thought about the more unhealthy it seemed. If someone made your heart thump that much then you should stay away from them...but then...why do you keep thinking of that person?
For the last few days the only person on Haruka's mind had been Rin, and no matter how much he tried to avoid the thought, the redhead just kept coming back. It was like he was forcing his way into Haruka's mind, and no matter how many locks Haru put up, Rin had the key to all of them.
"Haru chan..." said teen turned to the blonde to see his wide, questioning eyes "do you have someone...that makes you feel that way?"
"...no, why?" Haruka lied, feeling a tad but guilty for lying to the smaller teen.
"It's because you never seem to be interested in this stuff, like, love and all that. So I was thinking it was because you were confused at seeing me and Rei kissing, or it was because you've met someone that has really made an impact on you." Haruka was about to question the blonde until he continued "I just thought, if you've met someone that makes you feel all these things...then you must really, really like them without even knowing it."
Haruka's eyes shot open as he stared at the blonde, not believing what he had heard. Liking someone without knowing it? As in, like like? Can you even do that? Surely not. Surely he would know if he liked someone in that way, surely he would...surely...
...but it seemed completely possible.
Ever since Haruka had met Rin, all he could remember was his stubbornness and his annoying ways. All he could remember was the way the redhead talked, the way he swam, the way he complained when not getting his way. The way he would look so cheerful in the mornings while Haru felt so tired. The way he gave Gou that concerned and caring look whenever she had hurt herself or started crying. The way he would blush when everyone was around him and complimenting him for his high grades and fast swimming. The way he put on that goofy smile whenever Haru saw him. The way his nose twitched whenever the dust picked up and was about to sneeze.
...who was Haru kidding? He remembered everything about Rin. Without even knowing it he had observed and watched the redhead from the moment they met. Haruka thought he was doing it out of rivalry and boredom, but now he can see it was much more than that.
Nagisa stopped as he realised the raven haired teen was no longer walking with him, and turned to see Haruka standing still with wide, shining eyes.
"Haru chan?" the blonde questioned, staring at his friend.
Said teen looked up, only now remembering he was still in the mall. Everyone walking around him seemed to be a blur, the only person he could see clearly was Nagisa.
"Nagisa..." Haruka spoke when walking up to the teen "tell the others I didn't want to see a movie and have gone home because I'm feeling sick"
"...sick?" Nagisa questioned, and was about to question him further until the teen broke off into a run down the mall. "H-Haru chan!" he called, but got no reply as he watched his friend disappear, making the blonde tilt his head in confusion.
Haruka knew he shouldn't have abandoned Nagisa like that, but he had to get home. He wasn't feeling sick exactly but just...confused. So very confused. Rin was nowhere near him and yet his heart wouldn't stop thudding, the redhead just wouldn't leave his mind.
Haruka could feel his face flush as he ran, both from his thoughts and exhaustion. He didn't want this to be love, he didn't want to be in love, in all honesty he was terrified of love. To be able to make you feel so strongly for one single person, to make you see fireworks and heat up and feel as though your heart is going to pop out of your chest is something he didn't want to deal with.
Now he could see why love was called the strongest force on Earth. Now he could see why some people fear falling in love, because he was one of those people.
Yet there he was, falling in love. Falling in love with some stupid, redheaded fool that forced their way into his life without him even noticing. Falling in love with someone that has caused him so much misery and pain, yet so much happiness and joy.
This was something he had never experienced before, something he hadn't acknowledged until now. Something that he was seemingly and subconsciously afraid of.
This was a new development.
See what I did there?
Okay anyway, all those things Rin said about Australia are true, and I know because I live there. It never snows here and almost never gets cold here ugh. This was kind of a mushy chapter and more love expert Nagisa! Yay! I really love the relationship between Nagisa and Haru, it is really cute.
I am sad to say that chapters might not be coming out weekly from now on, since this is the last chapter that was prewritten. Not to mention all the tests that are coming up at school (I have finished my science one though yay). But I am halfway through the next chapter, so hopefully it will be done at a reasonable time.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
Thanks for reading!