Aqua

Summary: AU. In the year of 2068, science is at its finest. With the technology they have now, it was possible to finally get to the bottom of the ocean without the weight of it crushing down on them- but they never expected the mythical creature known as a mermaid to actually exist. RinHaru.

A/N: And here is chapter three *Cough cough* Ughhh, so ill...

Replies:

Freedom Fighter- Ah... Sorry about the chapters being short, I'm not used to writing long chapters ^^' I'm actually used to writing less than 500 words, so... /shot/ a 100 is an achievement for me... Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter~

OniGiriDreamOtaku- Hopefully I got your pen name right ^^ Plots always thicken... eventually~ Cliffhangers are amazing :o Hope you enjoy the chapter~

Clarity in Scarlet- Ermagerd. Keep saying that now xDD Here's the next chapter~

therapeuticChoas- More, more, more- Here's more ;p

onlyoneperson- I'm glad you like it :)

Myanya- You're hooked onto the story? Wao, I feel flattered :') Here's the next chapter~

Chapter Three

Rin didn't know what to think. All he could do was stare at the tank, watching as silky black hair covered the merman's face as he placed two hands on the tank.

Taking a few steps forward, Rin also placed his hands on the tank, causing the merman to tilt his head before flicking his tail so it didn't hit the bottom of the tank.

"Haruka?" red eyes bore into soft blue ones before the merman nodded his head. "... Can you talk?"
The merman- well, Haruka from the looks of it- didn't open his mouth to speak, but Rin's gut told him he could talk, but not right now. There was silence in the room before Rin looked away from the tank.

"Idiot."

Then he moved his hands away from the tank and walked out the room, causing Haruka to blinked rapidly and back away from the glass of the tank, looking confused and thoughtful at the same time.

Free! Iwatobi Swim Club

Haruka swam around the tank, still looking thoughtful before he bumped into the glass again, getting irked every time he hit his head off it.

His hand rested on the glass again, noting he could see his reflection off it due to the lights around the room. He stared at himself, before looking at his tail, which kept flicking on its own accord. It was usually a sign of agitation- which was odd, since Haruka never felt agitated.

But when he saw Rin have that angered- no, when he saw Rin having that hurt expression on his face, he could feel his chest clench painfully.

"Idiot."

What was he meant to do? He couldn't remember what had happened anything before the day he never saw Rin again. He couldn'tremember how he ended up at the bottom of the ocean, swimming with a bunch of other mermaids and mermen.

He just... couldn't. No matter how hard he tried, nothing sprung to mind.

So for many years, he assumed that the person he knew as 'Rin' was all a part of his imagination, a dream so to speak.

Then he was caught in one of those humans nets when he went to the surface. He had been warned plenty times not to go to the surface, at least, not to go to the surface during the day. He didn't listen, he wanted to see the sun, to see these supposedly evil human beings-

And he wanted to know if 'Rin' was a dream or something that actually happened..

When he saw that man enter the room, he knew straight away that the person was Rin- but older and more matured.

The Rin he could remember was a child, while the Rin he saw not long ago was a man. A man that knew who he was. There was no doubt in his mind now, that he had been to the surface as a child and swam with this human.

Humans were not all evil, Haruka had learned.

But why did Rin look like he was hurt after saying his name? Did he do something wrong? Did he upset Rin?

Not knowing caused him to become frustrated to the point he hit his head off the glass again. His thoughts were confused and muddled.

If humans were not as evil as he thought, then why was he here? In such a small, enclosed space? Why did they watch him, cry him a strange creature? What was he to them?

He clutched at his head before tugging at his hair, closing his eyes and swimming around the tank a few times, faster than what he would usually. He had so much energy to burn, but he couldn't do much about that.

Never mind that, he was hungry. Honestly, all they did was put seaweed in the water. What happened to fish? Did they forget there was fish in the sea?

Haruka allowed himself to still, before he floated in the water, eyes closed as he took time to calm himself.

The only thing he wanted to think about was Rin. Rin. The person who called him an idiot, yet he didn't mind that. Maybe he was an idiot, an idiot that couldn't work out how he had hurt Rin.

He opened his mouth, a few bubbles escaping his lips before he shut it again.

How could he talk to Rin? Rin wouldn't be able to hear him unless he was outside of the water. Or possibly if Rin was in the water with him. How could he do either though?

Slowly, he fell into a light sleep, only to dream about Rin from years back.

Free! Iwatobi Swim Club

Rin's head was resting on the desk, eyes closed as the old man that brought him in here was rambling away, clearly excited about knowing the name of the merman.

"Well done Matsuoka! Who knew that you would be able to guess the merman's name just from looking at him!" well, correction old man, I knew his name from eight years ago, was what Rin wanted to mutter, but stayed silent. "I wonder what else you'll be able to find out! I mean, you must have been startled or something because you left the room pretty quickly right after it- but I'm so glad that I brought you here."

"You do realize I can't spend my whole day and night here, right?" Rin spoke, his red eyes flickering open as he raised his head. "I still have to do my training and go to swimming tournaments remember."

"But you can do that and help us out as well, right?"

"... How much free time do you thinkI have?"

Rin was irritated now. In all honesty, he didn't want to come back, simply because he was still in shock over finding Haruka after eight years with a tail and... stuff. He didn't want to come back, because in a way...

It infuriated him. He had only recently gotten over Haruka after yearsof convincing himself that he wasn't coming back. But then this happened. He was annoyed.

He would never admit to being relieved though. Or the fact he was slightly hurt at not knowing his best friend was a mermaid.

"I'll make a deal with you, old man," Rin finally gave into what he had been thinking about- how he could get Haruka to speak to him. "If you let me swim with him at the same time, then I'll give you my time. I'm not doing it in that tank though, it's too small."

"Y-You want... to swim with the merman?" the old man looks astonished as Rin nodded his head. "But how do we-"

"A pool. I'm quite sure if you requested the use of an outside pool for research purposes they wouldn't give a damn. It's publicity for them," Rin rolled his eyes. "If not, then I can't help you."

The old man pursed his lips before speaking.

"We'll see what we can do."

At that, Rin put his head back on the table- hiding the huge grin on his face along with his shark teeth. That was a little too easy to convince an old man.

Maybe now he might be able to talk to Haruka- if he could still talk like a normal human.