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: Meh. Just meh.
Replies:
OniGiriDreamOtaku: ;p Like the flow of my writing? Warning, it can be nice one moment and awful the next-
Of course he could talk, I'd get confused if he couldn't talk xD
onlyoneperson: I don't know either-
Hooked? I wouldn't say the story was that good o-o, I feel flattered~
Clarity in Scarlet: Thanks :D -Just woke up and took ten full minutes to process your review- Hope you enjoy the next chapter-
Chapter Five
Rin was jogging. Jogging with his big headphones on and ignoring the rest of the world- not that there were many people awake at this time, but even if it was later in the day, he'd act the exact same way.
It had been over two weeks now since both he and Haruka started swimming in the pool and he could feel himself started to feel a lot better. Haruka looked happier to him too. It was a nice feeling in his chest.
Thankfully, everyone had stopped talking about Haruka, mainly because they finally thought he didn't actually exist, others for reasons Rin would never know.
As he approached the Iwatobi research centre, he noticed a few people, wearing hoodies, darting past him quickly. Maybe on a running team? Rin had never seen people run so fast so early in the morning before. It was always people jogging or early work starts.
But then he stopped, when he heard loud alarms going off from the Iwatobi Research Centre, loud enough that it got through his headphones. How anyone got in when the gate wasn't open was a wonder though. He tapped in the code before walking through the gate, making sure it shut behind him before walking into the building-
And got grabbed by the shoulders by the old man that brought him here. Still didn't know his name. Which was pretty bad. Yeah.
"Matsuoka, this is awful!"
"Your alarm is broken and is giving everyone a headache?" murmured Rin, looking around himself. "Better get it fixed old man-"
"No, someone had actually broken in! We couldn't stop them though!"
Rin paused, before he glowered.
Track runners. They weren't track runners at all.
"What did they take?" he questioned, watching the old man flail his arms. "I'm guessing something important?"
"They didn't take anything!" Rin looked irked when he said this.
"Then why are you making such a big deal-"
"They smashed open Haruka's tank!"
Rin was off the instant he heard that, running off down a hallway before noticing the room Haruka was in was open- well, open because it was kicked in, before he noticed the amount of water all over the floor. He walked in, seeing a few people in the room, kneeling by the tank before he looked inside.
His eyes widened when he saw Haruka just laying at the bottom of it, eyes screwed shut and shaking. Glass was everywhere, but the first thing he noticed with the little nicks and cuts all over Haruka's arms-
And then the glass embedded in his tail.
"M-Matsuoka-san..." Rin snapped out of it before looking at the men kneeling by the tank. "W-We don't know what to do... every time we move him he starts thrashing..."
Rin moved forward before moving as slowly as he could through the smashed gap in the tank, a bit of glass catching on his cheek and causing it t bleed, but he ignored it to kneel next to Haru, allowing his bottom half to get soaked.
"Haru. Look at me," slowly, soft blue eyes opened up and Haru's head moved. "We need to get you out of here, you're bleeding."
Haruka shook his head before he tried to move, only to screw his face up and go still again. Rin looked up at his tail, before thinking.
"True, if he moved his tail just slightly, every muscle in it would move. That's probably why it's hurting him so much," Rin sat on his knees before he wrapped his arms under Haru's shoulder and pulled him up, causing a loud hiss to come from him, but ignored it so that he could have Haru laying on his lap.
Haru could only glance up and stare at Rin, staying still and settling with Rin's arms around him. He felt Rin lean over, before a soft whisper brushed against his legs.
"Do you remember how to get legs?" was all Rin said, causing Haruka to blink in confusion. "You've had them once, you can have them again."
"I-It's not easy to do... It takes a lot of energy..." Haru mumbled before closing his eyes. "Why...?"
"You'd just be in a lot less pain with legs than the tail."
Haru closed his eyes and thought about it. He himself knew that his tail could be shedded off like a skin and he could get his legs again, but he'd probably pass out and possibly not wake up for a few days. Was it really worth it? Probably, he was hurting so much right now..
Plus, in a way, he wanted to be the same as Rin, to be human. They could walk together. Like all other humans.
"Fine..." Haruka whispered quietly, making Rin strain to hear over the alarms. "I'll... I'll use my energy to get legs, just... promise to look after me..."
Rin blinked rapidly before he nodded his head, taking Haruka's hands in his own. He felt Haru relax against him, taking a deep breath in before closing his eyes. To Rin, it looked like Haru had fallen asleep, but he could feel a firm grip on both his hands which showed he wasn't.
He glanced to the side, noticing that a lot of people were cleaning up the glass and were waiting for Rin to do something. But there wasn't anything he could do. He was waiting for Haru to-
He quickly looked back at Haru when he felt the grip on his hands go slack and felt Haru's body slump against him before he quickly looked at his tail.
It looked almost as if Haru had been wearing a fake tail that was now torn because of the glass- but Rin knew better. He picked Haru up before feeling the tail off, staring at the pair of bloody legs in front of him.
After that, he carefully moved out of the tank, making sure he was the one getting cut from the shard sticking out rather than Haru before kneeling down, placing the unconscious male on the ground.
"I-Incredible... he has... legs..."
"Old man, you shouldn't be thinking about that right now," Rin growled, irritation finally getting the better of him. "He needs medical attention."
"H-Hai..."
Rin closed his eyes, eyebrow twitching before he pulled the sleeping Haru against his chest, hugging him gently.
Free! Iwatobi Swim Club
Rin sat in a chair, staring at white sheets as they raised up and down from steady breathing before his gaze was brought up to where the pillows were, but he couldn't bring himself to look at Haruka's face.
Why couldn't he bring himself to look at Haruka's face? Because he felt somewhat guilty. What if... What if he had arrived just a little bit earlier? Maybe this wouldn't have happened?
All he knew was, his heart ached a bit when he saw Haru in pain. His heart ached watching Haru lay there, looking lifeless and pale. It shouldn't have happened. Today should have been like all the other days- they would have went to the pool, swam around and talked to one another and ate fish.
Rin knew Haru loved doing that everyday, yet most people would hate the repetitivness. Leaned over, Rin brushed a bit of hair away from Haru's face, staring at the plasters that coated one side of his face- much like his own actually. After Haru was taken away to get treated, he was dragged off to get his back and arms tended to.
He never noticed how deep the glass cut until he looked at himself. He wasn't bothered by it though. He was perfectly fine compared to Haru.
The old man had theorized that when the tank had been smashed, Haruka must have been pretty close to it and the force of the water rushing out must have caused him to hit his tail off the sharp shards whilst getting away from it.
All Rin wanted to know was who broke into the Centre so he could murder them. Plus, why would they break into such a place only to do that? It seemed plain stupid. Not only could they have killed Haru, they would have gotten beaten to a bloody pulp after he found them.
He relaxed back and sighed.
"Wake up."
Silence.
"Wake up, idiot."
More silence. Rin knew he wasn't going to wake up any time soon, but he wanted him to wake up, badly.
But Haru was dreaming. Dreaming about that day...
Free! Iwatobi Swim Club
'Surprised hardly anyone's here,' Rin spoke, looking around the beach and watched a few younger kids play in the sand. 'It's sunny, so why is no one out?'
'That swimming tournament at the school is taking place now, a lot of people are going there because some of the fastest teen swimmers are there.' said Haru, brushing his black hair away from his eyes. Rin glanced at him and then closed his eyes and grinned.
'You wouldn't mind that, now would you? You near enough get the water to yourself!' he laughed, before opening his eyes when he heard a splash. Haru had dived into the water the instant he could. He swam deeper before floating there, allowing the colder water to hit him with a soft smile on his face, legs and arms stilling. He allowed himself to stay there, his blue eyes opening to look up, not being affected when salt water hit his eyes. 'Where'd you go? I know you're a fast swimmer and all, but you're not that fast!'
Haruka could only keep smiling, before he moved to swim back up-
But then strong hands grabbed onto his ankles, causing him to freeze up before he kicked his legs out, trying to free his legs from the vice grip, but he was failing badly. He held his breath, looking down before seeing long hair floating around his ankles, but he couldn't see who it was.
All he could see was a dark, green, scaly tail which alarmed him more.
'Haruka?'
Haru could still hear Rin speaking at the surface, but his voice sounded distant to him. He heard a splash, meaning Rin had dived in to find him- but the hands holding onto his ankles pulled him down deeper.
He opened his mouth to try and make a noise, but then a few bubbles escaped his mouth. At this rate, he would drown. He kicked out again, feeling his lungs scream at him for oxygen before he went still, a few more bubbles escaping his mouth before he closed his eyes.
Slowly, his legs turned back into a tail and he passed out cold.
He hated it. He loved water. But he loved being in water with the person he loved.
Not with his own kind. The kind that hate humanity. His head had a dull ache, even in his unconscious state before he was dragged under by those strong hands; far, far away from the surface.
Far, far away from Rin.