Ahhhh, hi guys. How are you all today? Well, here's the sixth chapter of "TKS." I hope you like it and... please look at the WARNING section below?

Summary: —

Warnings: Some semi-heavy RinxNitori implications. Please read the note at the end of the chapter for more details.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Free! Iwatobi Swim Club.

[CHAPTER SIX: "HARUKA'S FATE."]

"How dare you, how dare you, how dare you— How dare you!"

Haruka blinked, staring back in the direction of the Bahr as he was dragged towards the throne room by the Princess he'd successfully — though unintentionally — dragged into the Great Well with him previously. The black-haired servant's heels slid across the floor as the Princess stormed down the hallway, going on about how she was going to make sure to it that the King punished him thoroughly.

Haruka made a face. She was going to pull out all the stops she could to make this as troublesome as possible for him, wasn't she? It had been an accident and, above that, it'd been her fault for grabbing onto him...

"I told you, it was an accident. You shouldn't have—" The newest servant boy began, but went silent as the Princess forcefully dragging him along hissed, taking it as his cue to shut up. Lest she become more obnoxious.

Staying quiet with the intention of not further angering the visiting Princess, Haruka stared down at his feet, wondering just how much of his skin was being peeled off by the floor as he was dragged along. Exfoliation...

Meanwhile, the Princess was inhardly fuming. How dare he, how dare he, how dare he... The girl raged to herself as she pulled the servant boy along, hardly caring what he was doing. She stopped at the door to the throne room, throwing it open.

"Your Highness, Your Highness!" The purple-haired girl cried out as she made her way into the room, pulling Haruka around to her front and pushing him forward as she approached the tall staircase that lead to the thrones of the King and Queen. Haru found himself mentally noting that the girl was much stronger than she looked. He pulled his attention away from the whiny Princess, however, as he caught sight of her proceeding to shoot daggers at him with just her eyes.

Haruka looked up to the King and Queen's platform to avoid looking at the Princess. His eyebrows raised. The tenth Princess frowned.

How dare he look away from me again! I am important! I am the future Queen of Firdous! The Princess mentally snarled and snapped her head forward, shooting her blue hues up to the King and Queen as well. "Your High—" She stopped, her mouth ceasing to move and her lips refusing to finish out the title as her eyes caught sight of the two thrones overhead.

Only the Queen was seated up on the platform, sitting comfortably in her throne. The King's seat was empty; the ruler of Firdous was absent.

The Princess held her breath as she watched the Queen's red eyes dart to her. Damn her outburst— damn the tantrum she'd be having!

"...Ob—" The Princess tried to speak, but found she didn't have enough breath stored in her lungs to finish the word, not enough oxygen in her chest— at her disposal. She sucked in a breath to try and talk again, only to be beaten to the punch as the Queen began to speak, her red gaze briefly shifting to Haruka before going back to the tenth Princess. Haru had only seen her once before — the Queen — but he'd never seen her eyes look so cold, so glazed over.

"You," The Queen murmured quietly, her hands tightening around themselves in her lap, clutching onto each other tightly. "You couldn't possibly be one of the ones my husband—" The red-haired woman broke off, pulling her lips together tightly. She must be, The woman thought to herself, taking in the girl's soaked appearance, as well as Haru's. They've been to the Bahr— to the Great Well. His Highness must have forgotten.

"One of the girls His Majesty, the King, chose to be your son's bride?" The tenth Princess finished for the Queen, slowly finding more and more of her voice as she spoke each word, until finally she was back to speaking with full confidence, the same way she would to anyone else. "Why, yes, I am." The girl smirked. The Queen took in a short breath, puffing out her cheeks slightly in disbelief, then let the breath back out, her hands moving to clutch at the arms of her throne.

"I see. Then you should be at the bridal selection, not standing in the middle of my throneroom, soaking the carpet. The both of you— what happened?" The older woman asked. The Princess frowned.

"Where is the King? He's the one I wish to speak to," The girl declared, causing the Queen to scoff. "My husband is resting; he has complained of a terrible headache. If you speak with anyone, it will be me."

Haruka felt the Princess's grip on the back of his vest tighten, her hand giving a quick shake. Why did she want to speak to the King? Didn't she know he was losing his mind? Or... is that why? He pondered, suddenly curious.

"No! It must be him!" The Princess insisted, continuing to push her desire out into the open, trying to force it onto the Queen. She had to speak to the King— not her! "He is the ruler of this city, not you!"

"But I am his second command!" The Queen sounded very agitated now, standing from her throne as she gazed upon them with fire in her eyes, the ice in her tone having melted away. The red-haired Queen's eyes narrowed. "If you speak with anyone, it will be me, Minako. If you won't settle for me, you'll settle for absolutely nothing." The Queen's voice was rough, firm. The Princess shrank back. Haruka briefly found himself wondering how the Queen knew the girl's name.

"F-Fine," The Princess backed down from the Queen and her challenging tone, her grip on Haruka loosening briefly before it tightened all over again and the lilac-haired female thrusted him forward, her free hand pointing at her own soaking wet ensemble.

"This servant boy, this peasant—" She spat the words out, showing just how clearly she thought Haruka to be below her, "dragged me into the Great Well with him! He ruined my outfit, my hair, my makeup... And messed with my chances of becoming your son's future bride! I demand he be punished severely! This is a crime— an act of sabotage against visiting royalty!" The girl ranted, arguing her point.

Slowly lowering herself back down into her throne, the Queen made a face. I figured as much, The woman thought, recalling why the servant boy in question, Haruka, was there in the palace to begin with. After all, he'd only been brought in the day before for diving into the fountain in the center of town. It didn't surprise her to hear that he'd done the same thing all over again, only this time over towards the Bahr, the Great Well, and in a way it made the woman want to laugh on the inside.

As humorous as it may have been, however, the girl did have a point and she did see it fit that Haruka faced the consequences for his actions. The Queen nodded.

"I will make sure he faces some sort of punishment for his actions," She promised, choosing not to dive deeper into the subject, if only to pacify the girl quickly. "Is there anything else? A compromise we can reach to help patch things up after this incident?" The Queen asked. She immediately regretted it as another smirk spread across the girl's face. "Yes," The Princess said quietly, grinning up at the Queen. "I want to be your son's bride."

"Absolutely not." Haruka was surprised at how quickly the Queen shot down the girl's proposal, as was the Princess. The purple-haired girl's hands shook, her eyes narrowing, and she scowled, curling her hands into fists.

"You asked what could be done to make up for this! I'm telling you— I want to marry your son!" The girl, Minako, exclaimed, this time in something of a shout. The Queen shook her head. "I refuse to allow that."

Again, Minako's hands shook, and Haruka carefully peeled himself away from her grasp, surprised when she let him go so easily. He took a step away, not sure what the girl might do.

Much to his surprise, however, the girl just wheeled herself around, turning away and shooting a glare at the Queen over her shoulder. "I'll be back," Minako promised and moved towards the palace exit, stomping her feet all the way to the doorway. Haruka watched her go, glancing back up towards the Queen, who had one hand on her face, her fingers squeezing the bridge of her nose like she was trying to fight back a piercing headache.

I think there must be some history there, Haruka thought to himself, flinching just slightly as the Princess knocked over a torch on her way out, letting it hit the floor with a bang, it's fire quickly diminishing. Then the door located just to the right of where he stood opened and both he and the Queen turned their attention in that direction. A smile slipped onto the leading woman of Firdous's face.

"Rin, my son— what brings you here? Have you chosen your bride?" The Queen asked. Haruka found it funny how quickly her demeanor had changed. That girl was rather obnoxious, though.

"Yo, Okaa-san!" Rin greeted his mother, throwing a wave in her direction as he approached the staircase leading up to her throne, stopping just at the base of it, a few feet from Haruka. Nitori stood just behind Rin, though a bit to the right, and was fiddling with the strap of his satchel.

"Nah. I hate to say it, but none of them stuck out." The Prince raised his hands, shrugging his shoulders. "What can you do?" He said in a dismissive manner. The Queen sighed, though in a content sort of way.

"Well, it's fine. I've heard what happened; we'll hold another bridal selection for you soon. Maybe with less girls so you can sit down and get to know them, hm?" The Queen suggested, knowing that her son would rather select his bride in this manner rather than in the way that his father had set up for him previously. He's losing it, bless his soul, The woman thought in regards to her husband.

"Yeah, sounds good," Rin nodded, grinning. "But hey— where is Otou-san?" The cerise-haired Prince asked, a bit of his smile slipping off his face as he looked around for the man. Oh, she couldn't stand to see that. The Queen stood, clasping her hands together.

"He was complaining of a headache, so I asked him to lie down for a while. He'll be fine; your father is a fighter. But above that," The Queen glanced to Haruka and gave a warm smile. Haruka's cheeks flushed and the Queen returned her gaze to her son.

"I have been told of what happened in the Bahr and I was asked by the Princess of Aaqir to make sure that Haruka here suffered the consequences. Seeing as how there is no particular set of punishments written out for performing such an act as his, what would you propose be done, my Prince?" The Queen asked her son, smiling. Rin blinked. "Eh?"

The Prince placed one hand on the back of his turban, playing with one of the "donkey tails" as he glanced over at Haruka, who met him with an almost blank, but slightly curious look. The Prince grinned, looking at his mother.

"I don't think anything should be done against him for what he did. It was funny as hell," Rin commented. Up on her platform, the Queen scowled. "Rin!" She scolded and the Prince laughed. He knew his mother disliked cursing. "Sorry, sorry, but really— It's fine. He made things interesting," Rin insisted, turning and smiling at Haruka. The boy's curious expression was no longer present. Rin looked back at his mother, almost distressed— disappointed.

"Well, if you're sure..." The Queen said with a frown. "But Haruka, please apologize, at the very least. I can't let you off quite so easily."

"Ah, right..." Haruka murmured, supposing he could do as the woman requested. The black-haired servant turned to the Prince, letting his arms lay flat against his sides as he bowed his head. "Sorry— I apologize."

"Heh..." Rin watched Haruka bow his head and apologize, submitting himself easily to his mother's wishes. Haruka looked like he was made to bow— born to submit to someone else. The Prince looked back to his mother, smiling. "Actually, I think I do know something I want done."

"Oh?" The Queen raised an eyebrow, curious. It wasn't often Rin asked for something. "What— What would you like done, my dearest?" The woman asked. Rin's grin widened and he raised his hand, pointing at Haru.

"I want to make him my personal assistant for three days," Rin declared. Behind him, Nitori nearly jumped out of his skin in shock as well as horror, and Haruka blinked, looking up.

"B-But Prince! I am your assistant!" Nitori argued, unable to help himself. He had been at the Prince's side for ten... almost eleven years! How could he look to replace him so easily? Three days? Why not just one? Why any at all? Nitori inwardly panicked, wondering what he'd done to deserve to be cast aside so easily. Rin sensed his panic, however — as he'd had a lot of practice in the decade or so they'd been together — and snickered, turning towards Nitori.

"Calm down, Ni. I only said for three days," Rin said, placing one hand on his hip while he stuck up the three center-most fingers on his other hand for Nitori to see. The silver-haired boy looked at the three digits, still looking as though he'd just been slapped in the face. He shook his head. "But... But..." Again, the boy could do nothing but shake his head, tears springing into his eyes. The Prince was his best friend! So why...?

"Ni." The Prince was in front of him now, directly facing the boy as he placed his hand's on his assistant's shoulders, bending down slightly and looking the blue-eyed boy in the face. Nitori frowned, returning his stare. "Why?" He murmured.

Rin sighed, wondering why he'd let Nitori become so dependent on him, and smiled. "I just thought you could use a vacation, Nitori. You've been stuck to me like glue, doing anything and everything I said, for years. Don't you think you deserve a break?"

Yes. Nitori couldn't help but agree with what the Prince was saying, but the thought of being cast aside, even for just a few days to allow himself to have a break, upset him. Then a spark of hope sprang into his eyes. Wait!

"B-But... Even if you give me a break, I can stay with you, right?" Nitori asked, voice small and slightly shaky. Yes— he could still stay by Rin's side, even when on vacation! They could actually have fun together and he could watch someone else wait on the Prince — maybe even him, too, if Rin allowed it — hand and foot! Yes, that'd be wonderful! Hurry, Rin! Hurry and say yes!

"No, definitely not." Rin shook his head. Nitori's mouth dropped open and, up on her throne, the Queen giggled. What?! "B-But Rin!" Nitori cried out, only for said reddish-purple haired male to hold up his hand, effectively silencing his assistant. Nitori shrank back, hurt. Haruka just found it strange that both the Prince and the Queen let the boy's calling the Prince by his name go so easily. There must be some history there, He thought for the second time that day.

"But why?" Nitori asked, sniffling as his shoulders shook. Again, Rin sighed, this time a bit more gruffly. "Ni," The Prince bent back down to the silver-haired teen's level, looking him in the eyes even though the boy had his eyes squeezed shut, refusing to return his gaze like he'd just been absolutely, positively betrayed.

"If you stick around me during your break from being my assistant, you'll only correct each and every little thing Haru does." Rin tried to explain to the boy. Haruka's eyebrow twitched. What made him think he could address him so informally like he knew him? Well, whatever.

"So?" Nitori retorted back quietly, rubbing his eyes, trying to wipe away his tears. He hadn't let Rin see him cry since they were children— since the donkey tail incident. Rin frowned, reaching up and pulling one of Nitori's hands away from his face. "So, you won't relax, Nitori— not even for a second. I want you to just stop and take a breather for a few days. Don't worry about me or Gou or anybody else— not even what Haruka's doing. Just relax for a while, okay? I'm not replacing you or anything," Rin promised, moving his hand to clasp onto Nitori's.

"You're like family, Nitori. I'll always keep you with me. Except these three days." Rin leaned forward, resting his forehead against Nitori's. "Let someone else suffer my wrath for a change," The Prince joked with a laugh, before going quiet, becoming serious. "Will you do that for me?" He asked quietly. Nitori nodded, defeated. He would, since it was Rin who was asking this of him.

The Prince grinned, slowly leaning away as he shook Nitori's hand with his own. "Good."

Turning away from Nitori, considering the situation handled and his feelings and wishes having successfully gotten across to the silver-haired boy, Rin looked back to Haruka, grinning. "What do you say, Haru? Want to be promoted for a few days?" The Prince asked. The blue-eyed, water-obsessed boy shrugged, his face dull. Rin laughed.

"You can start tomorrow! Meet me here in the morning and I'll explain some of the basics to you," The Prince said as he turned away, placing his hand on Nitori's shoulder and beginning to guide him back towards the door they had entered the throne room from. Haruka slowly nodded, watching the pair go, Nitori still wiping at his tears. Up on her throne, the Queen watched the long-time duo leave, smiling down at them.

Family— huh, Rin? The Queen thought as the door shut behind her son and his still-but-soon-not-to-be assistant. She laughed, shaking her head. My, my.

[CHAPTER SIX: "HARUKA'S FATE." END]

Annnnddd... that would be a wrap. Okay, to anyone who dislikes RinxNitori— it's not romantically, okay, guys? I want them to be your, like, brotp in this fic. You just have to understand that, with the way I am writing this, they're really close. Like I implied pretty heavily this chapter, they've been together a long time. So, please, if it pissed anyone off, I'm sorry... but it's my story and I am going somewhere with all of this— even just Rin refusing to allow Nitori to hang around while Haru is his assistant. Please be patient, kukapow. Okay? I hope you said, "Okay!" because now I'm saying "Good!" Pha, bye, guys.

Reading over this, I foresee it getting... 2, maybe 3 reviews. It really is just a connector chapter, guys. And I'm sorry for Haruka's punishment being so predictable, but really— sometimes it's good to have elements like this, I think. And it's not gonna be three days equals "LOVE!" or anything, so... Yeah. Okay, NOW I'm out. Bye!