A/N: This short chapter is in Rin's point of view and there's not much development yet as it's mostly a rehash of the precious chapter. Nonetheless, I hope you all enjoy it. As usual, enjoy, read, review, follow and/or favourite!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Free!
Rin thought she was beautiful the first time he saw her. It was in the second year of high school when he had just gotten back from Australia. By chance he saw her and his old friends. It was weird but when he was being a douchebag to his friends, her distaste for him made her even more appealing. He was used to girls falling all over themselves around him. To have this girl calling him out on his bullshit when all his friends put up with it was refreshing. She had never hid her dislike for him and it intrigued him even more. He was a shark, a predator, and every predator loves a good chase. It was really too bad that when he finally got his act together that she and Haru was dating. He had shrugged it off, there were plenty of beautiful girls out there. He didn't need to spoil his newly restored friendship with Haru over a girl.
But even after he got his act together and his friends forgave him, she still kept him at arms length. He could see the distrust in her eyes and he told himself not to be concerned over it. It wasn't like his livelihood depended on her opinion of him. And it wasn't like he could blame her for being suspicious. She didn't know how he was like before like Haru, Makoto and Nagisa did. She only knew him when he was being a jerk. Obviously she would have a hard time trusting his change. It irritated him that he wanted her to like him and accept him like his friends did. It didn't sit well with him that she disliked him and he was spending way too much time thinking about his friend's girlfriend. He thought the reason he was mildly intrigued by her was because he wasn't used to being disliked by girls. He thought things would get better once he proved himself to her that he's not a douche. Maybe then this silly mild obsession would go away.
It wasn't easy and it took some time when he finally saw that she no longer looked at him with suspicion in her eyes. She treated him like one of the guys. He was elated at first thinking his slight obsession would go away once he attained his goal. To his chargrin, it seemed to do the complete opposite. Where he was intrigued by her when she disliked him, now that she sees him as one of her friends, and she treated him more kindly he found that not only his interest in her had not abated, in grew in proportions. He told himself it was platonic. Haru was his friend, one of his very best. He would not be caught in the clichéd love triangle that tv dramas are so very fond of depicting. He could see that Haru liked her as well, maybe not as much as she would have liked but nonetheless Haru cared about her. He though it was ironic that Haru gets everything that Rin wanted so easily whereas Rin always had to work hard for it.
On her birthday when he bumped into her at the mall he'd almost lost his resolve to keep out of Haru's love life once he saw her distressed face. He knew it was her birthday. Even though she didn't offer up any explanations he knew Haru's absence had everything to do with that sad look on her face. It was probably the best if he had kept to his own business but when he saw Haru at the pool later he couldn't help interfering.
"I saw Kyou at the mall," Rin said to Haru as soon as he got into the pool.
Haru looked at him from the corner of his eyes, keeping silent.
"She looked upset. Isn't it her birthday today?" Rin pressed on even though it was clear Haru did not want to talk about it.
"Ah... But I really need to be in the pool today," Haru said.
"You better becareful. She's a nice girl. I wouldn't be surprised if someone steal her from right under your nose," Rin said. He knew Haru had not considered that possibility. It was just like swimming, he liked to claim he doesn't care about winning nor his time but the thing is he doesn't believe he would lose. It was the same with Kyou.
His words seemed to struck a nerve in Haru and he started swimming away from Haru. He had done what he could, the rest is up to Haru.
He remembered that day when they were at Makoto's house playing game due to the rain. He was playing with Haru and it looked like he was going to beat Haru when he felt her arms around him, trying to get the game console away from him. He was so painfully aware of how her body was pressed to his back, her arms around him and the faint smell of peonies that accompanied her that it took him a while to regain his composure. When he felt his heartbeat slowed to it's regular rate he turned around laughed, trying to act like she didn't affect him and started tickling her. It wasn't until he heard a light cough from Makoto that he realized the compromising position they were in; with her hair fanned out across the pillow, both her wrist pinned on top of her head by one of his hand, he was straddling her, the other hand on her sides. Both their cheeks colored instantly before they jumped apart.
He went back to his game, his heart throbbing relentlessly. He pretended not to notice when Haru grabbed her and pulled her close. He ignored the jealousy that surged through him and pretended he didn't hear Haru whispered to her "Mine." He told himself it was platonic. He had been telling himself that a lot lately.
He had never really understood the appeal of having a girlfriend. Yeah, he had dated but it was all casual. He didn't think he needed a girl tagging along with him wherever he went, or having to care for another person when he's so busy with practices. It seemed like it was more trouble than it's worth anyway. He didn't think he had the time nor energy to spend on going on dates when it could be spent practicing. The girls he had dated only casually was enough work that he wondered how much more work would having a girlfriend cause him.
That was what he truly thought. Until he saw her practically flying down the stairs when she saw Nagisa knocked him over. It was the expression on her face that made him doubt his previous thoughts. Her face was red and her eyes were wide with so much worry. He could see the concern in her eyes and the effort she exerted getting to him when she thought he was injured to the point that she didn't even realized she had cut herself on her hand making her way to him. He thought then that it wouldn't be so bad to have someone care so much for him. He had unconsciously moved towards her to look at her bleeding hand when Haru made his way towards her. Rin thought that it might not be so bad taking care of another person and having the other person caring for him. He wouldn't have minded binding up her bleeding hands for her. That was when he knew for sure that he could no longer tell himself that it was all platonic, not on his part at least.
On their way out, he had slowed down to walk next to her. After thanking her, he grabbed her hand looking at her injury before letting go. It surprised him how much he didn't want to let go of her hands. He knew that now that he was aware of his own feelings, he should make a bigger effort in keeping things platonic between them. It wouldn't be fair to Haru otherwise and he knew Haru is very astute contrary to his appearance. If he kept this up, Haru would know that his best friend is in love with his girlfriend.