I hope this is better than the last two chapters, because they have sucked.

Summary: —

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

[CHAPTER NINE: "ALL ABOUT PRINCE RIN."]

"Good morning."

Prince Rin blinked, staring increduously at the black-haired servant boy standing just outside the door to his bedroom. He came to meet me earlier than yesterday morning, The male thought to himself, giving the boy a once-over. Above that, he even came to my room today; I didn't have to go meet him.

"Good morning," The red-haired Prince returned the early morning greeting, slowly stepping to the side, pulling the door to his bedroom open wider and allowing Haruka to enter into the room. The shorter male brushed past him and Rin couldn't help but notice that something was off about the boy, watching him intently as he slowly shut the door behind Haru.

"You're early," Rin commented, tucking his hands into the sleeves of the white robe he wore every morning before bathing. In front of him, Haru shrugged.

"I remembered how to get here, so I thought I should save you the trouble of coming to meet me," The blue-eyed male explained, already proceeding to move over towards the door to Rin's personal bathing room. The Prince watched him go, eyeing Haruka's back. I know I don't know him that well, but he seems really... strange today, The Prince noted before proceeding to follow his temporary assistant. What gives? He wondered, frowning.

"Oi, Haru—" Rin called out as he entered into the smaller room after said young adult, stripping out of his robes, red hues never leaving his companion. "Is something wrong?" He asked, letting his robe drop to the floor before slowly stepping into the tub at the center of the room just as Haruka pulled the string that ran the bath.

The Prince dropped down into the bath, the warm water feeling good against the bottoms of his feet and the curve of his rearend as he slowly reclined back against the tub, stretching his arms out across it's edge, as was a habit of his. He didn't watch the boy now; Haru was already rummaging around in the chest just behind where he sat. He heard the chest shut, then some more rummaging and the shifting of Haru's clothes as the slightly younger boy proceeded to sit atop the chest much the same way he had the morning before.

"Not really," Haruka answered dully, reaching out and cupping some of the water from the Prince's bath into his hands before slowly and carefully bringing his hands back up, not wanting the water to spill. "Close your eyes," He told Rin, who let his eyes fall shut just as the black-haired servant seated behind him seperated his hands, letting the water once cupped inside both his palms pour over the Prince's head. Rin grunted, flicking a particularly annoying chunk of hair out from between his eyes. He hated that piece of hair; it always did that, even under the influence of such a minimal amount of water.

Ironically enough, just as the cerise-haired Prince was thinking this, Haruka was coming to a similiar conclusion. It did that yesterday, too, didn't it? The boy thought, distantly recalling the Prince doing that very same flicking movement just as they had gotten started, flipping his hair out of his face. Must be normal for him, Haruka thought, shrugging to himself as he reached back down and repeated his previous actions, pouring handfuls of water over the Prince's head two, three more times before his repetitive actions ceased.

Then he proceeded to reach down onto the floor just beside the small chest he was seated upon, picking up the shampoo bottled he'd fished out of the chest previously, leaving the soap bottle where it was for now. He had just unscrewed the cap of the bottle, pouring some into his left hand, when the Prince spoke again.

"I'm not mad anymore, you know," Rin mumbled, finding the silence in the room awkward. Granted— yesterday they'd made very little small-talk at this point, but then the lack of sound had been comfortable, peaceful even. Now it was just weird and annoying, which he found he rather disliked. "You don't have to be so distant."

Sure, he had been angry with Haru when they'd parted ways the evening before, but only because he was a Prince who was used to getting what he wanted and, well— Haru hadn't given him what he had wanted. Okay, so I turned into a jerk, Rin admitted to himself, frowning. He hated having to admit he was slightly spoiled; slightly.

"Okay," Haru replied from behind Rin, beginning to lather up the Prince's hair with the shampoo he'd just gotten out of it's bottle, and the purplish-red haired son of royalty broke free of his thoughts, then heaved a small sigh. Maybe he's the one that's still mad, Rin theorized to himself, closing his eyes once more as he felt the boy behind him beginning to wash his hair.

"Try not to get any in my eyes or ears," The Prince instructed, definitely not wanting a redo of the day before. Haruka nodded, allowing his hands to pause in their actions just long enough to nod the Prince's head, too, just so the quiet message got across. Rin grunted quietly and then both males proceeded to allow themselves to fall into silence which, on Haruka's part, had been the goal all along. Rin never did get to see the way Haru watched him so intently in these moments of silence.

—

"Oi— you actually got yourself something this morning?" Rin asked about half an hour after he'd seen Haru off to get breakfast, red hues eyeing the plate of food in Haruka's left hand, as well as the plate in his right. The servant boy nodded, stepping into the room and moving over to the small table the Prince used for meals. "Yes," He said quietly, crouching down and placing both his and the Prince's food down on the appropriate sides of the table before folding his legs under himself, sitting.

Rin raised an eyebrow, but moved to sit across the table from Haruka, bending and situating himself in a similiar fashion. The two picked up their eating utensils, slowly beginning to eat; falling back into a seemingly never-ending, all-nerve-racking silence. The Prince groaned.

"Can we not do this again? This silence is torture; learn to speak up!" Rin exclaimed, scowling across the table at Haruka, who frowned, his eyebrow furrowing. "I can't. I'm concentrating," The blue-eyed boy said, causing Rin to scowl once more. "On what?" He questioned, to which Haru then went on holding up his chopsticks, which were just then pinching a piece of sausage between their wooden tips. Rin eyed the piece of food and sighed, popping a piece of the sausage on his own plate into his mouth and beginning to chew.

"Whatever," The Prince mumbled, looking off to the side at a tarp on the wall much the same way he had done the evening before during dinner. He continued to eat all the sausage off his plate, finishing it first before moving onto some rice located on the edge of his plate. Haru watched the Prince from his seat, eating his own food quietly. The rice tastes a little underdone this morning...

—

"What are your plans for the day?" Haruka finally spoke up first, glancing over at the Prince, who walked just a hair or two in front of him. Rin shrugged, one of the two ends of the turban wrapped around his head falling off his shoulder, hanging down his back. The two were making their way down the corridor that the Prince and his sister, Princess Gou, mostly lived in, heading back to the throne room, it seemed. The root of all royal activity, Haruka thought. He'd been there more times in the three days than he had been anywhere else, save for his own quarters and the stables to see Baa-chan.

"Not a lot," Rin shrugged his shoulders. "Right now we're headed to see my Otou-san. I haven't seen him in a few days." Haruka raised his eyebrow.

Is the royal family that distant from each other that they go days without seeing one another? He wondered, thinking back to his own family. We saw each other every day. Every single day. But then again... They hadn't been rich royalty. They didn't have a mansion to wander throughout and be distant from each other in, merely coexisting with each other— let alone one of this size.

"It's okay if you think it's weird; for us it's normal," Rin piped as he opened the door to the throne room, stepping through the doorway and beckoning Haru to follow. The servant boy did, glancing around briefly before pulling his attention to the King and Queen's thrones, situated upon the rulers' of Firdous' own little platform. Haruka raised his eyebrows.

The King wasn't seated upon his throne today, either. Haruka frowned just briefly before his face levelled out again as Rin stepped forward, grunting.

"Okaa-san, where's Otou-san?" The cerise-haired Prince asked, approaching the platform and proceeding to ascend up the stairs leading up to said structure. The Queen looked upon her son as he approached, slowly giving a soft smile and raising her hand, allowing him to slip his hand into her's as he stopped in front of her. Rin squeezed his mother's paler, daintier hand, seeking answers that the Queen was ready and willing to give.

"I'm afraid he still isn't feeling good, dear," The red-haired Queen said, gently pulling her son to sit against the arm of her throne. He let himself be moved, slowly perching himself atop the branch of furniture as he looked down at his mother, frowning. "This is the third day," Rin said in a sort of mumble, looking rather upset. The Queen offered up what was meant to be a comforting smile to her son — though she was rather unhappy about her husband's feeling ill, as well — and reached up, cupping his cheek.

"I know. We've got the family doctor looking at him now. Do you want to go see how it's going?" The Queen asked her son quietly, who gave a small grunt and, briefly, glanced over at Haruka. The servant met his eyes just for a moment, then the Prince looked away once more, casting his red gaze back down at his mother and mumbling a small, "Yes." The Queen smiled again and nodded, slowly standing, never letting go of her son's hand.

"Haruka, I'm afraid servants aren't allowed inside the King's Quarters, so feel free to take a break. I know my son can be a handful," The Queen joked, offering Haru a smile as her son scowled and began to pull her down the stairs gently, wanting to go see his father.

"I am not, Okaa-san," The Prince mumbled as though he were a pouting child. The Queen laughed, throwing up a wave to Haruka as the pair of royals exited the room, which the black-haired servant boy returned briefly before allowing his hand to drop. Haru looked around.

What do I do now?

—

"Examine the tunnels" was what Haruka did then. And he continued to do this before finally deciding he'd had his fill of the small waterways, then he decided to head to his room. What else could he do?

Haru napped all morning, finding that the breakfast he'd previously consumed —being full for once — really helped him to fall asleep faster than normal. He did, however, wake up just a few minutes shy of noon, emerging from his room to go and see if the Prince was ready to eat lunch. He himself wasn't hungry — he was too used to his mealtimes being far apart from each other — but he would go and see whether or not the Prince was.

Except the Prince wasn't in the throne room when Haru passed through it, nor his own bedroom. This left Haru stumped and the boy frowned and slowly turned around, retreating back to his room. He'd been ditched. Well, whatever. He'd come back to check at dinner.

—

"Here."

Haruka sat down the Prince's dinner in front of him— a large bowl of rice with slices of what appeared to be chicken situated just against the white mountain's side, sprinkled with some foreign herb Haru didn't recognize. The Prince stared down at the food, slowly thanking Haru and picking up his chopsticks as his assistant sat down across from him, plateless. Rin raised an eyebrow.

"You didn't get any food?" The Prince asked, raising some rice to his mouth and eating it. Across from him, Haruka shook his head, simply stating, "I ate breakfast, so that one meal should be enough until tomorrow."

Rin nodded, supposing that the boy must have been used to not having a lot of food, as many meals as he did. "Okay," He said, letting the subject drop and expecting the two of them to fall back into an awkward silence. Haruka got him this time, however, as he spoke up, asking, "How's the King? Do they know what's wrong?"

"He..." Rin paused, glancing up at Haruka to find the boy staring back at him, blinking slowly as he awaited the Prince's answer. The cerise-haired male raised his eyebrows, genuinely surprised that Haru was the one starting a conversation between them, but soon he cleared his throat, getting over the shock. He lowered his chopsticks down to his bowl, his surprised look dissolving into a disheartened expression.

"Otou-san and Okaa-san don't sleep in the same chambers, so Okaa-san hasn't been aware of it, but... The doctor said Otou-san very recently started taking the wrong doses of his daily medicine."

Haruka raised an eyebrow. Did that mean... "Overdose?" The boy asked, causing Rin to sigh, shaking his head a little. "Not exactly. The doctor said that it looks as though he's been forgetting how much he's supposed to take every day; at times he's taken more than he was supposed to, yes, but other times he's taken a lot less than he should have. It's because of his bad memory," Rin explained, sounding rather displeased. Haruka nodded.

"How old is the King, might I ask?" Haru questioned, noticing the way Rin's breath hitched and the Prince's red hues briefly shot up to look at him before shooting back down to the bowl of rice between the male's hands just as quickly. "...Fifty-five," Rin mumbled. Haruka's eyebrows raised ever-higher. He's in his mid-fifties and is already having memory problems? That's awful.

As if he could hear Haruka's thoughts, the Prince scowled. "Don't think lowly of him just because a few screws are coming loose. I won't stand for you insulting my father," Rin said firmly, causing Haruka to nod. "I won't."

"Good," Rin mumbled, his mood officially ruined now that they'd talked about his Otou-san— as if he'd even been in a good mood to begin with today.

The two finally dropped into their third awkward silence that day, Rin eating while Haruka sat and watched. Then the boy was slowly reaching into his pocket, taking out a crumpled up piece of paper and a slightly chewed up old pencil. He unfolded the paper, smoothening it out and laying it on the table as he began to write. The Prince caught sight of his movements and frowned, looking up from his food. "Oi— what are you doing? What is that?" He asked. Haru glanced up at him.

"Notes," The shorter male said, looking back down as he continued to scribble some words down. Rin blinked. You've gotta be kidding me... "Notes?" He repeated, leaning forward to get a better look. "Notes on what?" He asked, reaching out to take the piece of paper with these supposed "notes" on it in hand. Haru, however, slowly slid the paper closer to himself, effectively getting it out of the Prince's reach.

"Prince Rin," Haruka answered, drawing a not so straight horizontal line across the page. At the bottom he scribbled some more and had just finished writing his own name out as the taker of the notes when Rin leaned forward again, this time going farther than the time before, and snatched the piece of paper out of Haru's grasp. The servant boy frowned, finding the action incredibly rude. "Hey," He protested. Rin held up a hand, reading.

The Prince's eyebrows raised.

BATH TIME
-has one piece of hair he wishes death upon
-four earrings in left ear, one in right
-never takes off his jewelry, even during baths
-doesn't mind showing everyone his p— but don't try to touch it
-it's not actually that impressive

Rin's face flushed and he scowled, looking at Haruka to find the boy eating a piece of the chicken from his bowl. When the blue-eyed servant caught him looking, he held the piece of meat up by his fingers. "Snack," The boy said monotonously.

Rin grunted, turning back to the piece of paper in his hand, his cheeks still painted red. I dare him to try and tell me his is bigger, He thought in regards to Haruka's fifth note listed. I come from royalty. He thought proudly, as if that mattered in regards to such a thing, before proceeding to read on.

BREAKFAST
-hates silences
-eats one thing at a time
-think he might be obsessive-compulsive

Rin scoffed. I am not, He thought just as he brought another bit of rice to his mouth, refusing to eat the chicken in his bowl yet and instead just working around it.

OKAA-SAN
-looks to her for answers and comfort
-very tan in comparison to her paleness
-looks like her in the face, don't know about the King

I don't have too many problems with this bit, Rin thought, deciding he could continue on. Those three seemed to be correct enough.

LUNCH
-doesn't always show up
-ditched me, probably on purpose

Rin quirked an eyebrow, smirking. So he came around looking for me, huh? He thought, slowly moving his hand to cup his bowl and moving it blindly to the center of the table just as Haruka reached for a second piece of chicken. He read on, beginning to read the second to last section, which appeared to be a bit newer. Probably part of what he was just scribbling over there, Rin commented, starting to read it.

DINNER
-doesn't mind I'm not eating
-still eating one thing at a time

And finally, the last section, which made Rin frown and his stomach drop.

OTOU-SAN
-worried about
-don't ask too much or he'll get depressed
-really admires him, I think

Rin allowed his red hues to scan over the last section a second time before looking over at Haru. Suddenly he looked calmer, less worked up by the boy's list his "notes."

"Haru..." The Prince mumbled, "...why did you write all this?" He asked. Haruka shrugged, standing up and stretching ever so slightly.

"I made you angry yesterday. Then I told Rei about it and he got mad, too, and said I should try and make it up to you. You wanted me to take notes; there are your notes," Haru explained. Rin raised an eyebrow. "Rei?" He repeated, briefly taking the time to think about who "Rei" was. When he finally recalled, remembering the glasses-wearing guard vaguely from having seen him around the palace several times, he nodded. "But wait..." Rin pulled his lips together tightly.

"Why would you do what he said and not what I asked of you?" The Prince questioned, frowning. What was a simple palace guard when put up against a Prince such as himself? He watched the servant boy in question shrug again. "He takes me to see my camel," Haruka stated.

Rin's entire being froze, the Prince's eyebrows raising as high as they possibly could, and Haruka shifted slightly, finding the male's expression strange. "May I be dismissed?" He asked, inwardly scowling. Rin slowly nodded and Haruka returned the nod, saying his goodbyes as he exited out of the Prince's room, shutting the door behind him. Rin looked back down at Haru's notes, his bottom lip quivering.

And he laughed. And he laughed, and he laughed, and he laughed.

Haru... you're... you're... Rin shook his head, unable to help himself as he threw it back, his turban managing to fly off his head and onto the floor as tears pricked at his eyes.

"You're unbelievable!" Rin exclaimed, and on the other side of the door, unable to help but to hear the Prince's laughter, Haruka frowned.

"I am an honest man," He said, huffing as he walked off, going on his way. How dare he.

[CHAPTER NINE: "ALL ABOUT PRINCE RIN." END]

Well, guys? Was it better than Chapters 7 and 8? I sure hope so. Also, speaking of chapters, Chapter 10 should be up tomorrow — you have no idea who excited I am for it, 11 and 12 — and another goal of mine for tomorrow is actually going to be editing all the chapters that have been published so far. Just fixing what's messed up; minor changes. So if you guys see anything in this chapter that should be fixed, please let me know either in your review — if you were planning on reviewing anyway — or a PM! Thanks! PuddinPie outttt.