Hello! This chapter is from Ai's point of view. Enjoy
I don't own Free!
"AI-CHAAAN!"
Aiichirou braced himself as the bubbly blonde swimmer from Iwatobi tackled him with a hug. Disentangling himself, Ai sighed and said "Nagisa-kun, please don't call me that." Nagisa looked up at him and pouted "But Ai-can-"
"No."
"Nagisa, get off of him! Such behavior is not beautiful!" Rei shouted as he and the other members of the Iwatobi club walked towards them. Makoto laughed quietly and gave an apologetic smile to Ai. "Hello, Aiichirou-kun." He said politely "It's nice to see you." Ai smiled back. He was about to respond, when things were interrupted by Haruka tearing off his clothes and diving into the pool, despite Makoto's protests.
Practice began, complete with a relay against Iwatobi (Samezuka won, but just barely), and soon it was time for their rival team to go home. Ai sighed heavily. He was exhausted from practice (and from dealing with Nagisa- that guy was quite a handful), and wanted nothing more than to climb into his bed and fall asleep. He was just about to leave, when the blonde swimmer came up behind him and gave him a big bear hug. "Ai-chan!" he said excitedly "We're all going to get together at Haru-chan's house! Wanna come?" Ai looked around nervously. It might be fun to hang out with Rin's friends, but he didn't want to intrude. He shook his head "I'm sorry, I have to study for a test tonight. maybe some other time?" Nagisa pouted "Come on, Ai-chan! It'll be fun!"
"Please don't call me that. And I'm sorry, but-"
"Hey Ai!"
Ai looked around to see Rin standing with the rest of the Iwatobi team by the door. He smiled slightly at Ai and said "Well? Are you coming or not?" with Rin and is friends all watching him, Ai felt his nerve crumble. He took a deep breath and sighed "All right. I guess I could study tomorrow." Nagisa cheered and pulled him out the door before he could change his mind.
Aiichirou sat quietly, slightly apart from everyone else. They had had a good time, eating mackerel made by Haru, talking and laughing at Nagisa's wild antics, and now he had drawn back to watch, comfortable and full, and too exhausted to take part in the conversations around him. Nagisa was teasing Rei, which was causing the butterfly swimmer to adjust his glasses angrily and give long-winded speeches about beauty, and Haruka and Rin were talking about swimming. Despite himself, Ai felt his gaze lingering on Rin. The redhead was laughing loudly at something Haru had said, and Ai felt the slightest twinge of jealously. Rin never acted as happy and carefree with him a he did with Haru. Ai wished that he would.
"Aiichirou?" A soft voice startled him out of his thoughts, and he reddened as he realized he'd been watching Rin so intently he hadn't even noticed when Makoto sat down next to him. "Makoto!" he said, trying desparately to keep the embarrassment out of his voice "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." Makoto studied his face calmly for a moment before turning to look at Rin. "Does he know?" he asked quietly, causing Ai to flush even darker and feel panic well up inside him "I-I don't... What d-do you mean? Does wh-who know what?" Makoto looked at him gently, the look on his face answering Ai's questions. Ai deflated slightly, looking down at his feet. "No." He said softly "I haven't told him. How did you figure it out?" Makoto smiled "It was the expression you had when you looked at him. It was clear that you really care."
Ai nodded silently, wondering what the gentle giant would do now. He felt his heart jump into his throat as he thought "What if he tells?" Makoto seemed to read his mind. "Don't worry." he said "Your secret is safe with me. You might want to think about telling him yourself, though. It might make you feel better"
"What?! No way!" Makoto raised an eyebrow at the adamantly negative response, waiting patiently for Ai to explain himself. "I know he doesn't like me, it would just make things awkward between us. I don't want to lose his friendship over some stupid crush." Makoto stared at him for a moment, green eyes unreadable. Then he looked back at Rin. The captain of the Samezuka team glanced over at them, then turned away again in embarrassment when his eyes locked with Nitori's. The Iwatobi backstroke swimmer smiled in amusement. "I don't think you'd lose his friendship." he said "In fact, I think you just might realize he feels the same way." Ai felt his eyes widen and his heart beat faster. Could Makoto be right? Could Rin feel the same way? He had fantasized about that thousands of times, but never even dared to hope that it could be true. Looking over at Rin again, seeing his face, clouded over with some unknown annoyance, Ai shook the thought from his head. Makoto may have guessed correctly about his feelings, but he was definitely wrong about this. There was no way Rin felt the same, Ai would have figured it out long ago if he did.
Next time, Rin's conversation with Haru. Please leave a review, and thanks for reading!