A/N: Thanks to FanofBellaandEdward for being my beta!

VI

Despite the very minor shift in their current arrangement, Rin felt a huge weight shift off his mind now that his merman had a name.

Whenever he thought of the merman -which was becoming a lot lately -he felt his stomach flip a little as the name 'Haru' fluttered through his mind like a cloud of butterflies. He still had yet to tell anyone about his merman. The speculation and horror he felt whenever the idea rushed through his mind, made his muscles tense to stone. Not to mention he didn't know what else to do in regards to the scales rotting off Haru's tail. The fins had almost completely shrunken and Rin couldn't deny just how worried he was about it.

It wasn't like he could ask anyone, though, and he'd completely exhausted the resources on the internet.

Unfortunately even Haru wasn't able to do more than offer a couple of words at a time.

Rin had to admit that now they'd broken that one barrier, he wanted to keep going and get the back-story or just any information the creature had to offer him. He couldn't deny how curious he was. He itched to spend the entire day locked away in his bathroom and try to gauge as much as he could. He knew it was silly, but the urge was growing.

It was the tail that was worrying him the most; he didn't understand the degradation of the tail itself, not to mention the fact that only about a quarter of the tail was covered in scales now. The rest looked like a raw red mass of muscle with a deep, festering groove down the middle. The groove itself was darkening and growing deeper. Rin couldn't deny just how anxious it was making him, especially when Haru didn't seem necessarily alarmed by any of it. Then again he was staring at the damned thing every second of the day, so Rin wasn't sold on how much to trust the creature's judgement.

By now the weather was getting incredibly hot and Rin had no choice but to clean and fill the pool in his back garden. If he was going to be cooped up watching over the merman, then he was going to get some exercise goddamnit! He refused to get soft just because he was babysitting a giant goldfish.

As it was a hot Saturday he felt that he had nothing better to do than get to cleaning the pool. He left his phone on the counter and had turned the volume down so that he could work in silence for a while, without being disturbed by Makoto or Sousuke texting him to ask if he was free. The entire pool took over two hours to clean out completely, the early season storms having blown half a tree into the bottom of the tiled hole.

Glancing around him he couldn't help but think that maybe Haru would benefit from the pool being refilled? Maybe Rin could carry him out while he was at school and practice and let him swim around? It wasn't the worst idea he'd ever had.

Perhaps that could be his ambition for tomorrow. It would take the rest of the afternoon to fill the pool and make sure everything was still in working order.

By the time everything was done, he was sweating and exhausted as the water splashed down in the long since disused pool. It was calming as he peeled his shirt off over his head and went back inside through the back door. Mopping his forehead with his shirt, he went about making himself some lunch and whilst it was cooking he went into the bathroom with a cold plate of cut mackerel from the fridge. Padding into the bathroom he settled down on the toilet seat and smiled at Haru who was busy peeling small, smooth scales from the ugly, red stump that was now his tail. The fins had completely gone by this point.

"Doesn't that hurt you?" he asked as he looked at the glossy, meaty tail, the deep groove almost running all the way through. Rin couldn't deny just how much he was anxious to see what happened next. Would there be any bone inside it? There had to be some bones in there, surely?

Haru didn't answer right away, which is essentially the way he always replied. Rin shifted and leaned a little closer as he held out a piece of fish. Haru obediently opened his mouth and sucked the fish in, his soft lips rubbing over Rin's fingertips. His eyelids drifted shut and he smiled a little as he swallowed. "S'Good …" he managed to croak.

"I'm glad you like it," Rin smiled softly, "Open up."

Haru obeyed and spent more time with his lips around Rin's fingers than on chewing the bite-sized pieces of fish. Rin didn't pull away but couldn't deny the strange squirming in his stomach. He leaned over a little more and swiped some grease from Haru's lips. The merman blinked at the gentle touch before his steady eyes went back up to Rin's. Clearing his throat the redhead raked a hand through his hair. Clearing his throat the redhead raked a hand through his hair. "I've cleaned out the swimming pool. Once it's filled up do you want to go for a swim?"

Haru's eyes seemed to light up for a brief second before he glanced down at the red mess that was his tail. With a sigh, he shook his head and leaned his chin down on the stiff bend in his tail where his 'knees' would've been if he were human. "No … Swim …"

"Why not?" Rin frowned.

"Tail … Won't work …" he screwed up his eyes as though concentrating incredibly hard on how or what to say. "Can't … Swim …"

"Has this happened before and you've not been able to swim?" Rin asked, offering another piece of fish in between his fingers. Haru shook his head slowly. "Well then how do you know?"

"Can't ... Swim … Tail hurts," he croaked.

"Oh," was all Rin could say as his eyes roamed over the red, raw mass of his tail. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked as he reached down and tentatively ran his fingers up over the slimy flesh. It made his skin crawl a little as he unwillingly pulled away a handful of the red flesh. Was it all loose? Was it all just a giant, squishy red sock? A lump caught in his throat as he tossed the raw meat into the bin under the sink. He hoped it wouldn't leak onto the floor.

"Don't … Know …" was all Haru managed to say before he reached over and plucked a piece of fish from the plate.

"Do you want to try it out later on and see how things go?" Rin asked. He wasn't used to Haru being so chatty but it was a nice change of pace.

Haru nodded, the corner of his mouth twitching a little, "Y-Yes … Try …"

Rin smiled, "Good. Now eat your fish, I need to go and take a shower." He stood up and balanced the plate of fish on the end of the tub before stretching his muscles, "Alright I'll be right back and then we can see about getting you into that pool."

Just as he left the bathroom the timer on the oven went off. He spent the next twenty minutes perched on the kitchen counter –something his mother would have killed him for –and stirred up a bowl of ramen noodles, sauces, diced peppers and chicken strips. It was delicious and filled him right up. He couldn't deny that the food was good but he was unable to see how Haru was able to live on nothing but fish –mackerel no less –alone.

As soon as he was done he put the utensils into the sink to soak before hurrying into the upstairs bathroom. He shuddered vigorously as he stepped under the hot spray of the shower. Despite the temperature of the summer heat outside, he couldn't deny that he loved the feeling of hot water rushing over himself. Cleaning out the pool had made him break out in a dreadful sweat and his muscles were already aching. Maybe he'd see if anyone was about this afternoon once the pool was filled and Haru was swimming around to his heart's content?

Once he was dried off and changed into a pair of cut-offs and a baggy t-shirt. His hair was still a little damp but the sun would dry it within minutes. By the time he got downstairs his phone was vibrating with numerous missed messages and a missed call. He frowned as he saw that most of the messages were from Sousuke and one or two from Makoto. Rolling his eyes he quickly dialled the lesser of two evils.

"Hello?" Makoto answered on the second ring.

"What's with the harassment, Makoto?" Rin joked as he padded outside to take a quick look at how the pool was filling up.

"Ah you know what Sousuke is like. When he wants your attention he'll go through any lengths to get it."

Rin blinked in confusion, "Wh-What does that mean?"

"You'll see," he chuckled.

Within seconds of the phone call ending, the doorbell rang out throughout the house. Rin jumped at the sound, his heart drumming heavily in his chest. He couldn't deny the apprehension he was feeling as he opened the door to the large shadow that was Sousuke, with a sheepish Makoto standing behind him. "I did warn you," the green-haired giant said as Sousuke strolled into the house without waiting for an invitation.

Rin glared after the both of them as he closed the front door, "What's all this then? You can't bear going a weekend without seeing me?" he asked.

"Not when it's the fifth weekend in a row," Sousuke stated, "What gives, Rin?"

"I've had plumbing problems," he stated dryly, "But they're sorted now and I was just filling the pool up."

Sousuke cast an eye over his shoulder and nodded at the truthfulness of his statement. "Okay so you're not busy then?"

"I … N-Not really, no. Why?"

"So that we don't have to kidnap you to go to the beach and fair today; Nagisa is super excited, Rin. You don't want us to invite that hyperactive ball of nonsense in here, do you?" Makoto chuckled.

Rin quickly shook his head, "No! No, that's fine. So what? I'll just grab my towel and my trunks and meet you outside then?"

"Sounds good," they both said before exchanging a look and quickly ducking back out the front door. Only when the door slammed shut did Rin breathe a little easier. His chest felt a little tight as he glanced down at his bare legs and trembled. That had been too close. He needed to make more of an effort to spend time with his friends so that they didn't ambush his house. What if they needed to use the bathroom next time? It didn't bear thinking about.

He hurried back upstairs and made his way around his room to grab at his beach towel, swim shorts and a bottle of sun cream before hurrying back down into the bathroom. Haru had, thankfully, stayed silent as he continued to pick and prod at the raw red flesh of his tail. "Stop that!" Rin snapped, feeling squeamish at the sight of it as he settled down on the toilet seat. "Now listen, I have to go out with my friends today and probably won't be back until later. Do you want to stay in here or try to swim?"

"… S-Swim?" Haru frowned.

"Yes, swim. In the pool in my back garden. Do you want to try?"

Haru looked up with wide eyes before nodding slowly, "Okay … T-Try."

"Okay, this is going to be a little awkward so help me as much as you can okay?" Rin asked as he bent awkwardly over the tub. Haru's skinny arms wound tightly around his neck and he had a momentary panic of being strangled by a giant squid. Snapping back to his senses, he slid his hand under the bottom of the tail and pushed all his weight into his knees to lift the creature out of the bathtub. Rin sighed with relief that the creature wasn't too heavy to carry. However, as soon as he peered down over the wrecked tail he saw just how much red flesh had settled at the bottom of the tub. It made his stomach squirm in discomfort. He tried not to look down at the bone pushing up through the tail and swallowed thickly as he made his way out of the bathroom and down the hallway.

As soon as they stepped out into the sunlight Haru stretched awkwardly in Rin's arms. He let out a weak cry and his tail –what was left of it –thrashed as the sun caught on the raw flesh. "Hey, hey! Hold on we're almost there!" Rin gasped out as it got difficult to hold onto the creature. By the time they got to the edge of the pool he couldn't hang on any longer and unceremoniously dropped Haru into the pool.

He landed in the water with a loud splash.

Rin gasped as he was released from the weight and felt a little miserable at how the creature simply sank to the bottom. He was just about to strip off and jump in after him when Haru moved under the water. It must have been awkward for him to swim with no fins, but he somehow managed to drift back up to the surface, only the top of his head showing as he stared up at Rin. His fingers crawled up over the pools edge and he lifted his face out completely, "Th-Thank you …"

Rin quirked a small smile, "You're welcome. Enjoy yourself in here today, okay? I'll try to be back before it gets dark."

Haru didn't reply, he merely sank back below the surface and started to do lopsided lengths along the bottom of the pool.

Rin watched him for a couple more minutes before the honking of a car horn interrupted his thoughts. He grimaced to himself. Now that Sousuke had passed his driving test and had gotten the car from his grandparents, he'd been showing off with it. Albeit it had only been a week but it still got on Rin's nerves. Without a backwards glance, he hurried on through his house, swiped up his bags and phone and hurried out the front door.

~0~

Merman in his outdoor pool aside, Rin had to say that he enjoyed himself that day when he went to the beach and fair on the pier with his group of friends. Even though Sousuke and he were on the opposing team as Makoto, Rei and Nagisa, there was absolutely no denying that they had fun together when they got down to the public beach.

They spent the majority of the day taking their time and enjoying playing volleyball on the beach before ducking into the ocean to cool down and laze about on their rubber rings.

"Should we maybe go and get something to eat?" Nagisa called out as they bobbed lazily on the waves. Rin rolled his eyes but didn't respond.

Makoto sat up a little higher on his inflatable bed. Sousuke was idly drifting in the water, sunglasses low on his nose and his chin and arms resting near Makoto's legs as they floated. "I guess we could do," he finally said, raking his damp hair out of his eyes, "It's probably long overdue for lunch anyways."

Rin cocked an eyebrow before sitting up in his rubber ring and stretched, "Okay let's go and get food before Nagisa starts fishing for his lunch. Literally."

The others laughed and together they started to gradually steer themselves back towards the shoreline. Rin was a little relieved to towel off and get out of the searing sunlight. He could feel his skin turning a little pink. Pulling a lightweight tee over his head he sighed as he rubbed in more sun-cream, stuck his sunglasses on his nose and hurried to join the others as they walked up along the beach towards the pier where the fair was being held.

Everything was brightly colour in long beams of pink, red, blue, yellow and lime green. It clashed so brilliantly that Rin could barely focus on just one stall. He felt like a kid in a candy store. Nagisa, of course, was the most excitable of them all, dragging poor Rei alongside him as he darted from stall to stall like a bunny on speed. Rin snickered as Makoto announced that he was going to find a table on the beach for them all. Sousuke called out after him for his food order and the 6'2" tall guy merely shrugged, saying he didn't mind. Rin was always impressed that two guys of suck similar heights with similar interests could be so different. Perhaps that's what attracted them to one another. After-all, Makoto was the only person Sousuke, at a terrifying 6'5", could look down on without him being a push-over in return.

As Makoto wondered off, Sousuke turned to cock an eyebrow down at Rin, "So are you going to tell me the real reason you've been cooped up every weekend?"

"I told you, Sousuke, the mains burst; I needed to get them fixed."

"For five weeks? It doesn't take a plumber that long, not even a bad one," the tall man mumbled grudgingly.

Rin shrugged, feeling his skin tingle for other reasons than the sunburn, "I just … I've had a lot of time to think since Gou and Mum went on this trip –"

"That's your problem; too much time to think. You don't need to think Rin, you need to just do. You won't have a lot of time for this sort of laziness if you go or the Olympic teams."

Rin grimaced. He hadn't thought about joining the Olympic team in weeks! He felt so ashamed, like he was cheating on his dreams with the strange reality that had flopped into his life. Eventually he sighed, "I know it's not an excuse."

"I wouldn't mind if it was something worthwhile like a girl or … you know, whatever," Sousuke shrugged, "but pipes? I don't buy it." Rin remained silent, not wanting to admit to Sousuke that his guesses were getting warmer by the second. Any warmer and Rin was sure he'd burst into flames. "Wait …" Sousuke stuck out an arm that caught Rin in his chest, bringing them both to a stop. "Is … Oh my God it IS a girl?" Sousuke's mouth turned into a smirk. "Well, in that case you have my blessing,"

Rin spluttered, "For what?!"

"For finally getting laid. God knows you've had a stick up your arse about something! You've needed some stress release and well … it's nice to see you've gotten some," he slapped Rin on the back, silencing the redhead just as they caught up with Rei and Nagisa and their tray-loads of food. Rei looked less than pleased.

"Are you sure you have enough there?" he asked them as they came to a stop in front of one another.

Nagisa beamed brightly, "Oh I think we have more than enough. Did Makoto go and find a table?"

"Yeah he's just gone down by the beach."

"Okay well don't be too long!" the little blonde laughed.

Sousuke huffed under his breath as they went away towards the nearest stall and grabbed a small tray or various foods, including sweet prawns for Rin. He'd been craving a fair bit of seafood recently. Once they'd paid and got out of the gaggle of dizzying girls in bikinis, they'd made their way to the table where everyone had gathered.

"Took you guys long enough," Makoto smiled as Sousuke casually eased into the seat beside him. Despite the two of them dating for a while, Rin still found it amusing that they weren't affectionate with one another in public. They didn't even hold hands with one another. Rin found it a little curious, not that he could picture Sousuke being soppy in any way, shape, or form. However, he knew that if he cared for someone as much as Sousuke cared for Makoto then he'd show it in some way. "Anyone fancy going to see a movie tonight?"

"I can't," Nagisa pouted, "My parents want me to revise for this test I have on Monday morning."

"I can't," Rei sighed softly as he adjusted his glasses, "but after this exam on Tuesday afternoon I'm free as a bird!"

"Aw that's too bad," Makoto frowned before smiling again, "Are you up for it Rin or will your swimming pool become a whirlpool?" he winked cheekily, which made Sousuke chuckle.

"Looks like it'll just be you and me, then," Sousuke smirked as he ruffled Makoto's hair, his finger's lingering at the back of the other man's neck just a little longer than necessary.

Rin smiled to himself as he continued to eat with his chopsticks, the prawns tasting as sweet as before. So they were slightly affectionate sometimes. And now they practically had a date –one of the first one's Rin had heard of them going on –and he was happy with them. He was also increasingly happy that he could get home by nightfall and check-in on Haru.

Pushing the thoughts of the strange creature flapping around in his swimming pool to the back of his mind, he threw himself into enjoying himself for the rest of the afternoon.

~0~

"Enjoy the movie you guys!" Rin called out from the driveway as Sousuke started to back out onto the main road. They'd dropped him off last once returning Rei and Nagisa off to their respective houses. Sousuke honked just before he drove away, Makoto's arm waving over the roof before they disappeared out of sight.

He shook his head as an evening breeze started to stir the trees. Goosepimples rippled up over his skin. He turned to walk up the path to his house, fished his keys out of his pocket and then opened the front door. The house beyond as dark and silent but then he shouldn't have been expecting anything else. The loneliness that swept over him made him shiver even more. He hadn't realised how much of a 'home' this place was until his mother and Gou had left.

With a sigh he left his belongings on the kitchen counter before hurrying up to the bathroom to apply some after-sun and await the inevitable flourish of the sunburn he knew he had. His skin felt itchy after he'd applied it, which only solidified his theory, before he sighed, changed out of his clothes –the hush of sand falling out everywhere made him grind his teeth –before ducking into the shower. Once out and dried off, he changed into some fresh, clean clothes from his room before lazily grabbing a glass of water and heading for the back door.

The sound of his glass shattering on the patio filled the night air.

His mouth hung open in horror as he was left standing over the edge of the pool, looking down into … Well; he didn't know what it was exactly. All he knew was that the water was now tinged red, with clumps of raw, red skin littering the bottom. There were no large shadows moving around down there. He circled the pool and after thorough checks, he determined that Haru wasn't sunken at the bottom. That didn't reassure him at all.

Where was Haru?

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" he cursed loudly, raking his hands through his hair and biting his lip until he tasted blood. What the hell was he going to do? Who should he call? Someone had stolen his merman! Despite his hysteria, he knew he was being ridiculous. There was no way he could report this. "What am I going to do?"

He scanned his eyes through the darkened scene of his back garden but there was nowhere that he could see the slumped figure of a merman. He suddenly felt very sick to his stomach. He wasn't able to contain himself as he doubled over and heaved up his lunch into the pool. He grimaced at the acidic taste. He was not looking forward to draining out the pool again.

He sniffed and barely suppressed a sob as the realisation dropped like a heavy weight onto his head; someone had somehow known about his secret and had broken in without leaving a trace. It didn't matter either way; it amounted to the same thing.

Haru was gone.

A/N: Yes I am evil aren't I? :D Please read and review!