A/N: Thanks to FanofBellaandEdward for reviewing this!

IV

The following morning, Rin couldn't deny that he felt a little better. His talk with Makoto the evening before has calmed his nerves. They'd discussed what Rin had missed during the training session he'd missed the evening before. He'd just about gotten away with it with a text he'd shot off to his instructor whilst the bath had been filling up. He'd turned his phone on silent to avoid the angry call that he knew was inevitable. However, he'd called Makoto up as soon as he reckoned the tall man was home from practice. It hadn't been a long conversation by any means, but they had chatted, deciphered that Rin was not technically in trouble for skipping one practice, but he needed to not let it happen again.

Once all that had been sorted and he'd gone in to check on the, oddly enough, snoozing merman, he'd decided to head up to his own bedroom and see if the last day and a half had been nothing more than a surreal dream.

Unfortunately, when he heard a loud splash of water echo up from downstairs, he knew with great clarity that it hadn't been a dream.

He'd gone about his own business of the morning, washing, dressing and preparing himself a quick breakfast to help him get him through until lunchtime. When his stomach rumbled as he whisked some eggs in a bowl, his mind was wrenched back to the soft sound of moving water in the bathroom down the hall. The merman hadn't eaten since who knew when. He chewed on the inside of his cheek as he heard the water lapping within the bath. He set the bowl on the countertop and walked out of the kitchen.

Upon entering the bathroom he was assaulted with the odour of fish. He wrinkled his nose as he turned his attention to the merman who was staring up at him, only the top half of his face visible through the water. The water itself had gone a little cloudy no doubt from all the dirt Rin had been unable to clean off him.

Rin tilted his head to the side to regard the merman, "Did you sleep okay?"

The merman stared at him for a while and Rin could do nothing more than sigh. He settled down on the edge of the closed toilet lid, his bare feet tensing over the warm floor tiles. "Look, you're going to have to help me out some more than this," he indicated to the tub the merman was slouched in. "I can't keep guessing what you want to say, or what you're thinking. You need to help me out."

The merman had the nerve to blow bubbles at him.

Rin scowled down at him. "I'm being serious. I don't even know what to call you. I can't keep calling you … Well … 'you'! it's ridiculous!"

More bubbles.

Rin ground his teeth together. "You know what, if that's all you're going to do for the foreseeable future then maybe I will just call you 'bubbles'. I mean, sure you'll sound like a hooker but who cares, because you can't talk to me!"

The merman stared up at him for a moment with heavily-lidded eyes before ducking completely under the water. Rin was about to get up off the toilet when its head popped back up and a shot of water doused his pyjamas bottoms. He leapt up and gaped at his sodden trousers, "What the hell was that for?" he cried out as he quickly tugged the wet garments down. He was left standing in his damp boxers and a t-shirt as he glared down at the merman who had a very vague smile turning his mouth upwards. Rin could do nothing except roll his eyes as he left the bathroom, "Stupid fish!"

He grumbled all the way upstairs to his room and quickly dressed for the day. He grabbed his keys and quickly cleaned up everything in the kitchen. He could eat on the way back from his run. With another look down the hallway at the bathroom, he decided to grab some more money. He needed to find something for the big stupid fish to eat.

As he locked the front door behind him he shivered at the wind that clawed at his hoodie. The rain had stopped for the time being so he was prepared to take some time to enjoy the lack of it. He stretched out over the front porch and as soon as his trainers touched down on the main pavement, he was filled with a burst of adrenaline. He steadily picked up his pace so that he was soon jogging up through the town. There were barely any people out, the damp weather keeping most of them inside. The few that had braved the outdoors were hurrying back and forth in their cars.

He made it past the fish market and slowed down, his eyes drawn to all the varieties laid out in tubs of ice. The smell made his stomach coil but he braved it for a moment longer before carrying on. He needed something to eat himself before he could let his mind wonder to his new 'pet'. He hurried along to the nearest café and made his way inside, the sudden warmth making his skin break out in goosepimples and his body to shiver. He was a little happier in the queue when he was standing under the overhead heater. By the time he made it up to be served he wasn't as cold as he had been.

"What would you like?" asked the bored-looking assistant behind the till.

"Can I have a large coffee, a bacon butty and a tea-cake please?"

The guy rang everything up the total. Rin quickly paid and then went to the end of the counter to collect the tray with his order on it. Checking the clock on the wall, he made sure that he had enough time before his morning lessons before digging into the hot, greasy food.

Once he'd eaten and checked his emails on his phone while he waited for his food to go down before reluctantly leaving the warmth of the café and heading back through the wind towards home.

On the way back through he finally stopped at the fish market. As he looked at all the cold, scaly flesh he wrinkled his nose at the smell. He honestly couldn't tell which one would be better for silly 'Bubbles' back in his bathtub. His cash was limited since he'd bought a rather large breakfast for himself. Eventually he sighed, rubbed the back of his neck and managed to attract the attention of the gloomy looking salesman. In the end, he walked away with a carrier bag full of a couple of fish; trout, salmon, tuna, mackerel, cod and place. One of them was bound to be appealing to the creature.

He paid the man and made his way home, the bag of fish swinging from his hand.

~0~

As he kicked his front door shut he felt his stomach clench at the sight of water leaking out from underneath the bathroom door. It had stretched out in a stream right down the length of the hallway. "What the fuck?" he cursed as he sloshed through to the kitchen and dumped the bag of fish on the side before hurrying down to the bathroom. He tried to open the door but was stopped by a heavy weight resting against it. He pushed and pushed and eventually managed to get the door open wide enough to stick his head around the frame. "Oh Jesus!" he gasped as he saw the creatures tail flopping uselessly on the tiled floor. He hurried to the cupboard under the stairs and turned off the heating for the floors. Who knew how long the merman had been lying on the warmed tiles? He had no idea what would happen, but he didn't want to risk more trauma.

Forcing all of his weight against the door he continued to force it until it was just wide enough for him to ease inside. The weight of the tail forced it locked with a 'BANG!'

"What the hell did you do?" he cried out, looking down at all the grimy water swilling everywhere. Even his grandparents hadn't made this much mess. Ducking over the side of the tub he grimaced at the few blackened scales that had sunk to the bottom. Pulling the plug out along with the drain-guard, he quickly rinsed it all down the drain and then tried his best to clear the scum from the sides of the tub.

Turning back to the merman sprawled awkwardly in the confined space, he grabbed him from under his arms and hauled the limp creature up and back into the clean tub. He frowned at the crusted scales that had fallen off and onto the tiled floor but didn't pay much attention to it. He had bigger concerns, like the thick line of raw, seeping flesh running down the middle of the creatures tail. Had that been where the scales had fallen from?

Rin turned the taps on full so that the fresh, clean water splashed down into the tub, dousing the creature's tail in tepid waves. He reached out as the creature wheezed and gasped out, its gills stretching awkward at his neck as though they were gummed down from lack of use. How strange. Rin reached down and smoothed his cool wet fingers down the length of the raw red flesh. "Does this hurt?" he asked.

The merman lurched forward with an ear-piercing screech.

Rin winced and jerked his hand away, the sight of those teeth and nails sending chills through him. "I take that as a 'yes' then."

Leaning away from the edge of the tub, Rin ran his hand through his hair and down the back of his neck. What was he going to do? Perhaps it was just what happened with old, rotten scales? After all he had a merman in his bathtub, how was he going to know it's healing methods when it couldn't even talk properly? Sighing heavily, he turned the taps off just as the water crept up and completely submerged the creatures' tail. "There you go, now no more of this bid for freedom crap, got it?" he flicked water at the creatures face, taking a small amount of pleasure in watching the merman flinch and glare up at him, "Bad fishy, making such a mess."

His trainers' sloshed through the water as he got to the door. He groaned; he really needed to mop the place up. "You know, I think I'd prefer a suicidal goldfish," he grimaced down at the creature before deciding to leave and fetch the mop and bucket from the kitchen.

Mopping the hallway and the bathroom was a long and arduous task, one he suddenly had a newfound respect towards his mother for undertaking without complaint. His back ached a little and, with a cursory glance to his watch, determined that he had missed his morning lecture. He really needed to get better at shortening his runs. Once the floors were drying out, he went back into the kitchen and opened the windows to let in the cold, wet air. The kitchen reeked of fish but other than putting the packs into the freezer there wasn't much else he could do.

Casting a look at the bathroom door, Rin decided to hurry up the stairs and have a shower in the second bathroom. He couldn't afford to miss anymore lectures. Makoto could only cover for him for so long, and even Sousuke was growing irate at his lack of commitment to the swimming team practices.

He missed the swimming too.

And his friends, of course, but mostly the swimming; in the water he was able to feel connected and free to swim as fast or as slow as he wanted. He had complete control of the environment around him.

Once he was out of the shower and dried off, he cast a cursory glance at his watch as he was shoving the last of his books in his messenger bag. 10:30AM. He only had half an hour to get to his second lecture. "Fuck!" he cursed out loud, before tearing down the staircase and out the front door, thoughts of the merman and cooking fish far from his mind as he ran down the street at break-neck speed.

He managed to catch his train and hurried into the assigned lecture hall with two minutes to spare. He slammed through the door and panted heavily, his heart aching in his chest. The entire room turned to stare at him. He felt his cheeks flame up a brilliant pink under the weight of all those eyes watching him, silently judging him. He'd never been late before, absent yes, but never late. Okay, so he technically wasn't late but it was close enough and he was still disturbing the class.

Clearing his throat, he straightened up and made his way to the only available seat which was next to Rei. Makoto gave him a sympathetic look as he passed by the tall man's row of chairs. Slipping into the vacant seat, Rin quickly took his books out of his messenger bag and started to quickly write down the notes that everyone else had already copied down. As their professor started talking and explaining the days plan, Rin felt his mobile vibrate in his pocket. Taking it out, he tried to be discreet as he opened the message. It was from Makoto;

'You got here just in time. I was worried I'd have to cover for you again. What's going on?'

Rin blanched and hesitated before quickly tapping out a reply before sending it.

'Just a funny turn the other day, I suppose. I'll be alright, don't worry about me.'

He knew it was silly to tell Makoto not to worry. The taller man was nothing but concern and compassion wrapped in a neat little bow. He was practically the polar opposite of Sousuke which was almost as refreshing. Rin tried to focus on the lecture but couldn't really pay attention to what was being said. For the most part he copied Rei's notes over the bespectacled teen's shoulder. When the time the bell chimed for the end of the lecture Rin grimaced down at his notebook; he'd only gone and doodled bloody bubbled in the margins! What would his professor say about that when he handed it in?

Rin let out a heavy groan as walked out of the lecture hall and collapsed back against the wall of the lockers. Makoto came up to him then, "Are you going to tell me what this is about?" he asked gently.

Rin cracked an eyelid open and peered up at him, "Don't worry yourself, Makoto. Seriously I'm fine."

The tall green-haired man shrugged, "If you say so. Will you be at swimming practice tonight?"

Rin nodded, "Of course, but I need to stop off at home first. It won't take me too long, though. I just need to check on things now that mum and Gou are away for a while."

Makoto nodded and then grinned at him, "How is Gou doing? Have you heard from them?"

Rin felt his neck heat up with guilt. He'd actually forgotten to call his mother or Gou to make sure they'd gotten there safely. Perhaps he would do that when he got home, whilst waiting for all that fish to cook. God, the house was going to stink! Rin rubbed the back of his neck, "I haven't been able to get through. Bad service I think. I'll be calling her when I get back to make sure everything is going well."

Makoto clapped him on the shoulder, "Well make sure that you're there on time, tonight. Sousuke has threatened to cut your hair off if you don't show up. Plus, I saw him buying a pair of gardening shears, so I think he means it."

Rin cocked a disbelieving eyebrow at Makoto but didn't rise to the bait. He knew Sousuke; the man was dedicated but when it came to handiwork he was lazy as sin. He wouldn't buy gardening shears not even if his own mother had given him the money and asked him to do so. He'd have ordered a pair online and left it at that. Kept the change for pocket money.

"Makoto, I'll be at swimming practice okay? Let's just go and eat before Nagisa turns into a cannibal waiting for us."

Makoto and Rei couldn't help but chuckle as they turned and followed the red-haired teen down the bustling corridor towards the dining hall.

Nagisa caught sight of them as soon as they entered the hall. "Rin-chan!" he cried out, waving energetically from his seat. He'd somehow managed to save an entire table just for them. Rei adjusted his glasses with a sigh, "We'd better hurry up, he's getting impatient now that he knows we're here." They bought their food and made their way over to the large circular table Nagisa was waving them down from.

"Oh, Rin-chan it's been so long that you've been at swim practice! Sousuke's been harassing us for information on you! He thinks we're trying to steal you!" Nagisa bemoaned with a flourish of his hands.

Rin snorted as he grabbed his hamburger with two hands, "I highly doubt that you're in any danger from Sousuke, Nagisa."

The petite blonde pouted before turning a curious eye back to Rin. "So, where have you been the last two days? Did you have to help Gou-chan go off on her year holiday?"

Rin shook his head, "No, I saw them off first thing in the morning and then I went for a jog. I must have pulled something along the beach. It's healed now; I just needed to rest for a bit."

"Oh good, so you're coming to the joint swimming practice tonight?" Rei asked rhetorically.

Rin inclined his head, "Of course. I wouldn't miss a joint practice, especially when the chance of me and Sousuke kicking your butts is climbing through the roof as we speak."

Rei snorted as Makoto laughed good-naturedly and shrugged the matter aside. They talked about tedious schoolwork and projects for their upcoming professors that were underway. Rin felt himself relax a lot as the usual day unravelled around him and he let himself be swept away on the tide or normalcy. So much so that he'd almost completely forgotten about the creature lying about in his bathtub until he'd gotten home later that afternoon. Unfortunately, the faint smell of fish from the kitchen and the raw lemony scent of the floor-cleaner that had been used to scrub the floors clean that morning.

Dropping his backpack down behind the front door he cast his eye over the glossy, laminate flooring and suddenly felt a weight drop down onto his shoulders. Did he really have to spend the next hour or so cooking various fish just to see which one the stupid creature preferred?

It wasn't exactly his idea to de-stress himself before swimming practice, but he supposed that it had to be done.

"Alright you sodding fish, you'd better appreciate this!" he called out down the hallway before reluctantly turning into the kitchen and mentally preparing himself as he heated up the ovens.

The smell almost killed him. He had never loathed fish so much in his entire life as he sliced the belly of a small cod. He remembered the salesman frowning when Rin had requested all the small fish of each kind. Usually the tiddlers didn't sell well if at all, but he wasn't about to spend good money on fish that was going to go in the bin after a mouthful. Grimacing, he waited for the pieces to finish cooking before he added them to the plate set on the counter. These were the last couple of pieces, and then he was done cooking for the night. He didn't think he could stomach touching anymore raw animal bits. He didn't know if the merman would eat cooked fish, the thought dampening his mood a little, but he reasoned that if nothing else, they could both learn from this experience.

With his stomach rolling around inside him, he picked up the plate and strode down the hall to the bathroom. He wanted to get this experience over with as soon as possible. Knocking on the door to announce himself, he straightened up and twisted the handle, "I'm coming in! Make yourself decent!"

He almost laughed at the stupid joke. Almost.

He was surprised when he walked in to find the merman in a sitting position with his tail bunched against his chest, almost like someone who was holding their legs up. Rin was caught off-guard by the change in position. The only time he'd seen the creature mobile was when they struggled together at the beach. Closing the bathroom door he set the plate of fish on the side and crouched down on the toilet seat. He leaned forward and peered closer at the merman's features; his gills still looked like they were gumming together and the dry skin on his face looking scaly and rough. He reached out hesitantly before tentatively touching the creature's cheek. It flinched but didn't move out of Rin's reach. His cheek was clammy as though he was starting to break a fever any minute. Could it be the lack of food? Well, luckily Rin was there to fix that particular issue.

"I've brought you something to eat," he finally said, breaking the heavy silence between them. His fingertips still tingled where they'd brushed against the merman's cheek. He reached for the plate, "I didn't know which fish you'd prefer so I got a few different ones. Let me know which one you prefer okay?"

The heavy eyelids closed for a moment, before a small almost imperceptible nod cause Rin's stomach to knot.

"Okay," Rin licked his lips. "Open your mouth," he instructed raising the small piece to the merman's mouth. His fingers trembled a little as the dark indigo eyes looked down at the offering. The gills flared underneath the film of skin. Rin jumped back a little as the merman snatched the soft, white flesh between his teeth and guzzled it down in the blink of an eye. Rin's heart was in his throat as he sat frozen on the toilet seat, watching.

The creature let out a choked sound before it lifted a slimy pale hand and forced two fingers into his mouth. Grimacing a little, it searched around before extracting a small pearly bone and flicked it over at Rin. The red-haired teen flushed a little awkwardly, "Oh … Sorry about that. The guy told me they were boneless fillets."

The creature huffed a little before opening its mouth for the second piece. Rin rolled his eyes and obediently dropped a second piece into the creatures waiting mouth. He watched almost in satisfaction as the merman patiently accept each piece of fish after that, the brush of his lips against Rin's fingertips making his stomach flip strangely.

Rin watched in fascination the way the creature moved; the muscles it had were reminiscent of a swimmer's that much was obvious. He'd be worried if the merman didn't have that network of muscles, all things considered. Truly entranced, he reached out with his free hand and stroked along the wet trails running down the creature's back. The merman froze as his fingertips gently stroked down the soft skin. He watched Rin with dark eyes that could drown a person if stared into for too long.

Rin's watch beeped, shattering the moment. He grimaced and drew back, the merman swallowing the last of the fish bites. "Sorry, I need to go for swimming practice. If I miss another session I'll get kicked off the team. Will you be alright for a few more hours?" he asked, suddenly aware that the merman wasn't like a goldfish at all. That he might actually have a problem with Rin disappearing for a while.

"I promise I won't be more than a couple of hours. I know you don't have a concept of time but just … I'll be back," he assured, rubbing the back of his neck before sighing and leaving the bathroom.

He went up to his bedroom and quickly packed his swimming stuff in his shoulder-bag. As he locked the front door behind him, he felt his muscles growing tense as he hopped down from the porch and briskly walking back along the familiar route to the swimming pool where they usually practiced. He clenched his fingers into tight fists as he marched further away from the house, responding to Makoto's messages that he was, in fact, on his way.

The sooner he got to practice the sooner it would all be over and he could go back to check on his merman.

A/N: Let me know what you think so far X