118 reviews... This fic has 118 reviews as I publish this. Oh my gosh. That's crazy. To me, anyway.

To all those of you who have reviewed, thank you so much! I hope you'll keep reading on and I hope everyone likes this chapter, because I personally feel more confident about publishing it than I have the last few! Sorry for the lack of Rin screentime! (to those who have seen Episode 6, hey— doesn't that sound familiar?)

Summary: —

Warnings: The note at the bottom of this chap has spoilers for those who haven't seen Episode 6. (I got a PM asking to put these sorts of warnings, too, lol.)

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

[CHAPTER TEN: "BACK INTO THE CITY."]

"Oi, Haru— How about the way I hold my chopsticks? My eating face? Or how I save the best for last? Hm, hm?"

Haruka's eyebrow twitched. Here we go again for the twelfth time today, The boy thought and let out an aggravated sigh, lowering his chopsticks back down to rest against the rim of his bowl of rice. How annoying.

"What about it? What does all that have to do with anything?" The servant boy asked, shutting his eyes so he wouldn't have to catch the Prince's gaze and proceeding to pretend that he didn't know what Rin was up to, even though he knew full well just what he was trying to do.

The Prince had been doing this all day— pointing out little things about himself as if Haru was going to start a new sheet of notes about the sharp-toothed heir to the throne of Firdous again today, as he had the day before. He had pointed out how he walked, how hey— one of his earrings was bigger than the rest, and he'd even been the one to point out his abnormally sharp teeth, which Haruka couldn't believe he hadn't noticed until they'd been pointed out to him. Those things were like miniature saws sticking out of the taller, tanner male's gums, just waiting to tear into something. They were creepy.

"Oh, you know," Rin grinned, seated across the table from Haru for the third time that day; they were eating dinner already. "I'm a Prince. Don't you want to know everything about me? You should be writing this down; I'm a very fascinating person. Don't you want to learn all that you can about your future King?" The Prince said with a proud grin, one that screamed, "I'm so cool." Haruka scowled.

"The only thing I've learned today is how freakishly sharp your teeth are. It might be a good thing you didn't choose a bride; I'd hate for her to have to kiss a mouth with teeth like that," Haruka commented, trying to be a bit insulting to get Rin off his case, and the Prince's face flushed ever so slightly. He scowled.

"I'll have you know I've had plenty of women after me before, all of which have commented on how superior my kissing skills are compared to most men's. So chew on that!" Rin exclaimed and grunted, eating a bit of his rice. Haruka raised an eyebrow.

"Women? Women from where— I thought they were no women in this palace, except for your mother and Princess Gou?" The blue-eyed servant asked, frowning a bit. Rin laughed, though to Haru it sounded more like he was scoffing. "Please," The Prince drawled, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the wooden table that they were seated at as he tossed a smirk Haru's way. "There are girls in the town of Firdous, you know. Gorgeous ones, even if they aren't nearly as rich as I am. There are some handsome men, too. They happen to like my kissing, as well as my package, so don't go commenting on that, either."

Haruka really had to raise an eyebrow now, the dark line of hair going as high as it could possibly go. "What?" He questioned, ignoring Rin's comment about his little "it's not that impressive" note the day before. The Prince swung both ways? Is that what he was supposed to have gotten out of that comment? If it wasn't, well hell— Prince Rin sure didn't know how to choose his words carefully.

That smirk of his says it all, though. He's been with women, as well as men, Haru thought, eyeing the Prince, who was smirking down at his bowl of rice, having gone back to eating after giving Haruka something he thought would make the boy eat his words.

Haruka slowly reached down and took his chopsticks back in hand, pinching at some rice and raising the white clump to his mouth. I wonder if that's even allowed? He thought, taking the food from his chopsticks and chewing the white bits. Were princes allowed to be anything but heterosexual? Wouldn't that interfere with how their people saw them and what not? Haru really couldn't help but wonder. So he asked.

"Is a prince allowed to be like that? Bisexual, I mean," Haruka questioned, shifting his blue hues to look up towards the Prince. He thought he saw Rin's right hand flinch, but aside from that the Prince merely laughed again, raising his head to look at his assistant. "They are if no one important knows," Came the red-haired male's response, smug and secretive. He tossed a "You better not tell," sort of look Haruka's way, one that the black-haired male gave a slow nod in response to, the message getting across. Rin grinned, finishing up his rice and standing from the table.

"You can take the dishes back to the workers in the kitchen once you finish eating. I also have something else for you to deliever; something special," The Prince said, moving over towards his desk. Haru blinked, glancing up at the male, watching his movements. "Something special?" He repeated.

The Prince's covered head nodded and Haruka watched Rin reach into one of his desk's drawers, pulling out a sheet of paper and a pencil. Rin braced the paper against the surface of his desk, scribbling something onto it. Haru didn't know what he was writing, but he made quick work of whatever it was, and soon enough he was dropping the pencil back into the desk drawer he'd fished it out of. Rin turned to him, folding the paper in half.

"I need you to take this to Nitori. His room is closer to the servants quarters; once you leave the throne room from the door located between the fourth and fifth torches, go right instead of straight. His room is the third door on the right. Don't ask him what this says and don't read it before you get there; I'll explain it to you later."

Haruka raised an eyebrow, slowly lowering his chopsticks. The two small wooden utensils clicked against his empty bowl as he stood, bringing the blue dish up with him. He walked around the table he was seated at, reaching down and putting Rin's bowl under his, slipping the Prince's used chopsticks into his bowl on top, right beside his own. Then he headed over to said cerise-haired male, stopping just in front of the Prince and taking the small slip of paper as Rin offered it. He looked it over briefly, taking it it's blank, white back, and then tucked the note into his pocket, making sure to push it down deep so it wouldn't fall out. Seems important, he noted.

"Anything else?" Haruka asked, looking up to the Prince, who was only an inch or so taller than him. Rin's red hues scanned over Haru's face before he shook his head and he grinned, reaching out and slapping Haruka half-heartedly on the shoulder. "Nah, now get going."

Haruka nodded, turning and making his way to the door. Rin watched him go, his arms folded into his sleeves. I hope Ni's still eating, he thought as he watched Haruka leave, then he glanced around, trying to decide what to do while Haru was gone.

Meanwhile, Haruka distantly found himself wondering why he had to give Nitori a message; why couldn't Rin? He'd be much happier to see him than me, I'm sure, Haru thought to himself in reference to Nitori, quietly excusing himself as he opened the door at the end of the corridor, which was home to the Prince and Princess's private kitchen.

The head chef turned to him, offering him a happy grin and a greeting, and Haru quietly returned the hello though held back on the laugh, handing over his and Rin's dirty dishes. The cook took them, thanking Haru all the while, and handed them off to another staff member within just a few seconds of receiving them. He then waved Haru goodbye as the boy left, shutting the door back behind himself. He'd realized on the very first day that he disliked coming to see the cook. Why, he didn't know. Too chipper.

Okay, so maybe he did know why.

Next came Nitori. Haruka didn't see anything too complicated about the directions Rin had given him and he found himself standing just in front of the door he assumed would lead him into the silver-haired boy's bedroom in no time. The door itself was plain, but just beside it, carved into the wall, was a large "P" followed by a slightly smaller "A."

PA? Haruka repeated to himself, wondering what the initials stood for. It was only after he'd knocked on the door and heard Nitori call from the other side, "Coming!" that the letters' meaning came to him. Prince's Assistant.

"Hello?" The door in front of Haruka opened to reveal Nitori — big surprise there — standing in the doorway, dressed in a light yellow gown. The boy's eyes were lined with red circles and Haruka couldn't help but take notice of them. Has he been crying? Haru wondered. It sure looks like it...

"Um, can I help you?" Nitori mumbled, frowning as he noticed the older boy staring intently at him. Haruka blinked, letting his eyes zoom out from the boy's red eyes, allowing them to focus on the boy's face as a whole. He nodded, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the note Rin had slipped him before. "The Prince wanted me to give you this," He said, offering it out to the shorter boy, who stared at it, wide-eyed.

Nitori's lower lip shook and he slowly reached out, taking the note into his hands. Haru watched as he unfolded it, the boy's bright blue hues reading across the scribble that Haruka could just barely make out through the thin paper. He briefly found himself wondering just what that messy scribble said, thinking to himself, "Even I can write neater than that." Then the boy in front of him gave a little sob, a choking noise, and Haruka frowned.

"Is something wrong?" Haru asked, only to look and find Nitori smiling. The silver-haired assistant-on-vacation shook his head, his smile growing wider and wider by the second as he pressed the note to his chest, clearly very happy. "No," The boy said and gave a laugh, reaching up and wiping at the corner of one of his eyes. "I'm sorry," He apologized, laughing again. "I was just so scared he would forget," He admitted, though when he never hinted as to what he had been scared the Prince would forget, Haru was forced to ask.

"Forget what?" Haruka questioned, eyeing the boy and the note pressed against his chest. Distantly, he could hear Rin's words from before echoing in his ears — "Don't ask him what this says." — but he wasn't really asking exactly what the note said, now was he? No, I'm just asking what there was to forget, Haru thought, confident in his argument. In front of him, Nitori's smile finally stopped growing and shrank back down into a small one.

"My birthday is today," The silver-haired boy said quietly, as though he didn't want anyone to know, and gave a shaky laugh. "It's not really that important and sometimes he has a lot going on, so sometimes the Prince forgets, but this year..." Nitori trailed off, smiling, and Haruka found he couldn't help but allow the corners of his own mouth to turn slightly upwards. "He didn't forget?" He finished out Nitori's sentence, causing the boy to nod.

Haruka returned said nod, going on to say, "That's good." Then the two fell into a comfortable silence, Nitori gazing down at the note he'd been given while Haruka let his eyes wander back over to the "PA" on the wall.

"Well, I'll get going then," Haru finally spoke up after they'd stood there for a bit longer than was necessary in absolute silence. The black-haired male began to turn around, ready to head off, when he heard Nitori thank him quietly— "Thank you for bringing me this."

Taken by surprise, Haru looked at the boy before he slowly — this time unable to help himself — smiled, nodding as he began to leave. Nitori's face flushed and as he watched Haruka's retreating back, he too smiled. Haruka-san's smile is nice... The boy thought to himself. Then he blinked.

"Wait..." Nitori mumbled, glancing down at the note in his hands. He flipped it back open, unfolding it, and read through it once more. "What does he want to meet me for, though?" He wondered, blinking.

Meanwhile, a few minutes later, Haru questioned Rin about the same exact thing. "Meet him?" The boy repeated after the Prince, who smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I told him to meet me here at midnight in my note. I'm glad to see you followed orders and didn't get curious about it," Rin said with a smirk, crossing his arms. Haruka scowled. "I had no reason to concern myself with it; he's taking back his role as your assistant tomorrow, anyway. And I can follow orders when I choose to, you know." Haruka insisted, causing Rin to raise his eyebrows. "Oh, really?" He inquired. Haruka nodded and Rin smirked again.

"Well, good. Now we can get on with your next assignment," The Prince stepped forward, reaching into his robes and pulling out a bag. It's contents jingled slightly and, upon having the bag slipped into his hand, Haruka's eyebrows raised. Feeling the bumpiness of the objects inside the bag, he knew exactly what he'd just been handed money.

"What's this for?" Haruka asked, frowning as he looked up at the Prince, who grinned. "This," Rin reached out, flicking the bag in Haruka's hand, "is what you're going to take into town to buy Nitori's birthday present with."

"What?" Haruka's frown deepened, his hands feeling at the bag of money. What on earth could he be planning to buy? He wondered. Distantly, he heard Rin laugh.

"I want you to take this into town with you and go to the tailor, Amakata-san. Ni's been complaining to me about his outfit forever; I want you to go buy him a new one. I think he wants something a little more... colorful."

"Amakata-san, clothes... Okay." Haruka nodded, wondering if he was supposed to go right then. As Rin waved him away and wished him luck, he knew the answer was yes— he was supposed to be going now. It had to be about eight o'clock already, judging by the way the moon was beginning to shine in through the open window of the Prince's ceiling. And so Haruka turned, exiting out of the room and beginning to wonder if he was supposed to just walk to town or what.

It's not far, if I remember right, but he sure didn't give me good instructions, The boy thought as he slowly headed down the corridor, soon moving through the doorway that lead into the throne room. From there, he headed for the palace entrance, briefly glancing up at the King and Queen's thrones. There was no one seated upon them. The King must still be feeling ill, He thought, but went on his way without another thought about it. He'd probably have to explain himself to the guards; why he was leaving and with a bag of coins on him, at that.

He actually received a pleasant surprise, however, as he emerged from the palace and found Rei stationed just outside the entrance. He soon found those thoughts slipping away, as well all his concerns totally forgotten. "Oi," He said to the guard to catch his attention, who turned his amethyst hues to him. Upon seeing him, Rei gave a little smirk. "Hey," He greeted Haruka, eyeing the bag of money in his hands. Maybe he needed to put the money in his pocket, if it'd fit. "Can I help you?" Rei questioned.

"I'm going into town for the Prince. He wants me to buy a birthday present for his actual assistant," Haruka explained, holding up the bag of money for Rei to see clearly as he did so. The guard eyed the servant and nodded. "Today is Nitori's birthday, huh? July 31st... Ha, tomorrow is the first day of August— can you believe it?" Rei asked, shaking his head and adjusting his glasses. Haruka closed his eyes, shaking his head, as well. No, he couldn't.

It's been a full month since I left home... Haruka thought, sighing. He'd been away from his family for the entire month of July, only Baa-chan remaining at his side, even as he had packed up and decided to leave. Haruka smiled, thinking about the camel. Good old Baa-chan.

"Oi, are you daydreaming? I didn't know you could dream," Rei said, trying to catch Haruka's attention as he waved his hand in front of the boy's face. Haru blinked, looking at Rei, and scowled, brushing his hand away. "No, I'm not daydreaming. Just thinking," He said and Rei stepped back, adjusting his glasses again. "Daydreaming is an abstract form of thinking," He argued, defending himself, and Haruka rolled his eyes, beginning to move forward. Rei watched him go, shrugging as the boy walked away. "Well, it is."

"Just because I said I was thinking doesn't mean I was daydreaming, though," Haruka mumbled to himself, stepping out past the gate that seperated the palace grounds from the actual city of Firdous. Haruka continued to walk forward, seeing the city just a little ways ahead, and once there he looked around, slowly slipping the bag of money Rin had given him into his pocket.

The city looked much more deserted at night than it had the day he had arrived there. The streets were empty, torches lit to light the pathways, as the sun had already retired for the night. Haruka felt a good breeze blow against him and he scowled, continuing to trudge forward. He needed to hurry up and find this Amakata-san and her tailor shop, because the night air was abnormally cold against his form. Too cold.

As ready as he was to find the woman and her flower shop, he couldn't help but to stop at the fountain in the center of town as he came across it, anyway. The boy stopped at the small collection of water, which currently sat still as a mere pool of water; unlike when he'd been there a few days previously, the fountain wasn't going.

There must be some sort of trick they use during the daytime, Haruka thought, examining the fountain and briefly wondering if the Queen had ever replaced the water. Rei said she would, He thought, hoping that she actually had. That older man Nagisa had called Manoto-san had really gotten onto his back for "poisoning their water supply."

Haruka paused, an image of the friendly blonde boy he'd met here in Firdous not a week before flashing through his mind. Nagisa... I wonder what ever happened to him? Where did he go after I was arrested? Haruka wondered, staring dully down at the water in the fountain, which only shifted as breezes blew through the city. He knew not to touch it this time around; Nagisa had gotten onto him the other day, too, when he'd tried to.

Haruka smiled slightly, thinking back to the blonde boy and the kindness he'd shown him. He'd been interesting, to say the least— even though Haru had found him rather loud and annoying during their little touring session. Looking back, he found he was glad, overall, to have met Nagisa, and so quickly. He was glad that out of the entire town of Firdous, Nagisa had been the one to stand out to him, because without Nagisa he'd have never been able to see such a beautiful dance as the boy's, or tasted the water of the fountain he was currently standing beside, or anything. Yes, he really did owe the blonde a bit, looking back on it.

I think he even showed me where the tailor's was, if I remember right, Haru thought, looking to his right. It was that way, wasn't it?

Slowly, Haruka moved around the fountain, silently bidding it farewell and heading down the street he could distantly remember the tailor's being on. As he passed by the many alleyways lining the street, he shivered. The darkness inside them was unpleasant; anything could have been lurking in the hidden pathways, ready to strike.

As the black-haired male passed by one of the brothels he remembered Nagisa skipping over during their tour, however, the only thing he found striking out against him was a high-pitched gasp, which caused him to flinch in surprise. Haruka frowned, glancing at the next alleyway to his right. Another cry sounded, this one sounding a bit less surprised and a lot more resisting. He slowly creeped closer, somewhat concerned. The male stopped against the wall, pressing his back against it and staying still as he listened, perched just outside the mouth of the alleyway.

"Hey— isn't this great? You're getting to have fun on your birthday, even though you aren't working," A deep voice said, the sounds of rummaging and shifting clothes following in it's wake. There was another gasp, followed by a low moan. "It's not— ah! My birthday..." Another voice mumbled soon after, then the individual continued to press on, insisting that they be let go. Haruka found something familiar about the two voices— one more so than the other. He tried to place where he'd heard them, then flinched just as there was a loud cry from the alleyway.

"Stop! That hurts!" The second voice he'd heard previously said, followed by a small sniffle. There was a laugh, one that was cut off by a loud slapping sound and a grunt. Another cry followed, as well as the sound of what sounded like a fight two people moving against each other, one trying to move the other away while the other tried to keep the two of them close. Haruka frowned, wondering if it was a rape scene in-the-making he was hearing.

At the next few cries, then another slap followed by an even louder, harder one and an exclaimation of, "Knock it the fuck off, Nagisa!" Haruka's eyes widened, his brows raising. Nagisa...?

Again, an image of the happy blonde flashed through his mind, and Haru found himself feeling foolish for having not placed the voice with the blonde's face before. That's him, for sure, He thought, frowning. But who's the other one? He pondered. The second voice — the deeper one — was one he stil couldn't pair with a face.

At the next sound of rough contact, another slap and a sharp cry, Haruka decided he didn't need to figure out who the second voice was, however. He could feel a small ball of anger building in his stomach and at the sound of Nagisa crying, officially in tears, the male frowned. He stepped out from behind the corner, entering into the alleyway with a sharp cry of, "Nagisa!"

The pink hues that shot to him looked relieved, but more fearful than anything. The man all over the smaller male raised his head, beginning to look towards Haru, but he didn't get a good look at his face, still didn't know who the man was. All he knew was that suddenly he felt a second pair of hands, ones that definitely didn't belong to the man or the small blonde he'd jumped in to rescue, grabbing onto his vest, jerking him to the side and pinning him to the wall.

He'd just registered the cold tip of a knife against his neck and the pain that came from having his arms twisted painfully behind his back when Nagisa gasped, beginning to thrash against the man holding him, trying to break free— to get away.

"Haru-chan!"

[CHAPTER TEN: "BACK INTO THE CITY." END]

Hey, guys. I'm sorry that this didn't go up yesterday like I promised; a lot of stress has been circulating around the fandom since Episode 6 aired. I have to say, I almost wish it had never aired at all. I don't know how many of you have a tumblr — if any of you do, go follow me (url is yorudan-ai) and I'll follow you back! — but if you go into the Free! tag... It's crazy. I think we're about to be in the middle of a shipping war, guys. MakoHaru shippers versus RinHaru shippers. It's ridiculous.

For those who don't quite get what I'm talking about, let's just say people are getting really immature and aggressive about what is and isn't canon. "Episode 6 makes it official! MakoHaru is canon!" "Nuh uh! Wait until Episode 7, then you'll see how canon RinHaru is!" That sort of thing. It's stupid. I'm about to stop going into the Free! tag all-in-all until next week, because I'm tired of seeing all that garbage.

My OTP is RinHaru, but I think MakoHaru is nice, and I liked Episode 6, and Nagisa was cute pretending to be a penguin. And that scene where they leave the rest house and there's all that water and they look down and the sky is being reflected in the freaking water is beautiful, and that's all I have to say. Oh— and Rin had hardly no time in this episode, but he was gorgeous during both his appearances, so I'm okay with that. I don't care if you ship Haruka with Makoto or Rin, but I do want everyone to get out of everyone else's faces about it, because it's stupid. Okay, well, that was just me blowing off steam.

Anyway, I'm thinking Chapter 11 will be up... Saturday(08/17)? Yeah, I think that's safe to say. So look forward to it, guys! I'll see you all later!

(btw, I apologize for the horrible chapter title. I went to name this chap and I got distracted by one of my cats, Oreo, sleeping and just... Ugh, I was too distracted to think of anything better. Sorry! Okay, now bye!) PuddinPie out!