Hi! This chapter was hard to write (I kind of used the last of my ideas in the last one...), but I finished it, so here you go. Enjoy!
I don't own Free!
"I mean, it's not like I care or anything, but they shouldn't be spending this much time together. Momotarou is a bad influence on Ai. Did you hear that joke he told the other day? It was awful, and poor Ai just sat there, smiling politely. He really is too nice. I bet even if he didn't want to hang out with that brat, he would keep doing it anyway, just to keep from hurting Momo's feelings. That's just the kind of person he is, you know? And I don't want him to be corrupted by that little idiot! Besides, it's not like they're really all that close, right? They're just roommates, that's it. And why the hell does he need to spend so much time with him, anyway. We're WAY closer than he and Momo are, so why doesn't he ever come over here. Not that I want him to. Well, I mean I don't not want him to, I just don't really care either way. Well, I care, but not that much, you know? It's not like it's really all that important to me what Ai's doing or who he's hanging out with. But I still don't think he should be hanging out with Momo so much. Of course, I don't really care, but-"
Rin's ramble was interrupted by the sound of Sousuke's fist hitting the desk. He looked over at his roommate, startled by the sudden noise, and saw that Sousuke was hunched over, fist clenched and face dark. "Rin, shut up." he said through clenched teeth. The shark huffed indignantly "What? Why?" Sousuke let out an aggravated snort.
"Why? Why? Why the hell do you think, you idiot? You've been talking about Nitori constantly since before the relay, and it's really pissing me off!"
"Well, fine. If you don't like it, I guess I won't talk anymore!"
"GOOD!"
"GOOD!"
Sousuke stared at Rin angrily for a moment, before rolled his eyes and sighed. "Look. If you want to talk to him that badly, just go ahead and do it. I was supposed to coach him tonight at eight, how about you go instead and tell him I wasn't feeling well. If that works out, maybe you can start coaching him weekly. That way you can talk to him AND stop bugging me." Rin sat silently, staring at his feet. Then, with a quick glance at the clock, he got up and headed towards the door. As he left, he yelled back "I don't want to talk to him that badly." Sousuke just laughed.
Oh god. This had been a bad idea. In fact, not only was it a bad idea, it was probably the worst idea ever known to man. Why had he thought he could just stroll in and talk to Ai? The whole thing was doomed from the very moment he had walked in he door. Nitori, already in the pool ("and looking amazing" a strange little part of his brain whispered, which he promptly decided to ignore) looked up at him in confusion and said "Rin Senpai, what are you doing here?" Rin felt heat rising to his cheeks, although there was no real reason for it, and mumbled out something along the lines of "Sousuke... sick...coaching...?" before turning away to hide his embarrassment. "Oh." Nitori said, an unreadable look on his face. Was he disappointed? Why would he be? What did Sousuke have Rin didn't? Besides, he had known Ai longer, so he had first claims to friendship with the second year. A strange feeling of jealousy fluttered in his heart at the thought of Ai and his roommate here at the pool, alone. He immediately wanted to reach out and hold onto the younger boy, yelling loud enough for the whole world to hear "MINE!" Which was ridiculous, because Nitori was not his at all.
As he mulled over all of this, Aiicirou stood patiently in the pool, waiting for some sign to begin. Finally, Rin snapped back to reality and the coaching session began. It was fairly quiet, aside from the occasional tip or compliment from Rin and the splashing and heavy breathing from Nitori. When they were finished, Rin leaned down almost automatically and helped the younger boy out of the pool, just as Ai had hundreds of times before. "Good job today." He said with a smile "Your times are really improving, and I can see you're getting stronger." Ai grinned so wide it was a wonder his face didn't crack and he forgot himself as he rushed forward excitedly to give Rin a tight hug "Thank you so much, senpai!" he said happily.
Rin didn't say anything. He stood, stiff as a board and felt the temperature in the room rise to uncomfortable levels. Finally, he made a weird, half strangled yelp half cough noise, and Ai seemed to realize just what he was doing. "Oh! I'm sorry, Captain. I mean, Matsuoka senpai, er, Rin Senpai." he spluttered. The thing Rin wanted most in the entire world was to reach out and pull Nitori tenderly to him, to hold him until the night faded into day and the day turned back to night, to never let him go. But the awkward atmosphere kept him from moving, and instead, the pair stood in silence until Rin cleared his throat and said in a hollow, scratchy voice "...Curfew?"
"Right. Um... I'll see you tomorrow at practice, I guess." Nitori said, looking very interested in his shoes. Rin nodded and made a beeline to the door, not daring to look back.
These two are such idiots! I would like to thank my friend, the morbidbookworm, for giving me the idea not only for this chapter, but for the next one, too. She is the best!
In the next chapter, Nitori and Rin go hang out with the Iwatobi gang! See you next water time;)