AN- SUNDAYYYYYY! I'm on time like fo real today! Okay so today on Alienation we get to see how publicity screws up lives, or maybe helps them?

Thank you to all the people who follow this story and even bigger to those who leave comments because they keep a smile on my face twenty-four-seven! I love you guys!

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TUMBLR: oswwinoswald or aloisearltrancy

TRACK TAG: 'fic: alienation'

Thanks so much! Ily! Byyyye!

OHH AND PS: All the Instagram accounts (the commenters at least) are real accounts! You should follow them! cumberbabes is run by a friend of mine, kirklandcosplay is my cosplay partner and my best friend, hannah._.jean is my photographer and my closest friend, and aloistrampy is me! My cosplay account at least!

Chapter 9 – Publicity is thy Enemy

I bit my lip nervously, my hand was wrapped tightly around Haru's as some sort of attempt at feeling calm, but I was failing miserably. We were lined up along one side of the pool with the twenty two other (twenty four in total) member of Japan's Olympic swim team. Our coach, Sasabe-sensei, was standing uncharacteristically quiet and still. A group of official looking people we'd never seen before were gathered before us with clip boards.

It was time to start press coverage.

Not something I was particularly excited about.

See how it goes is our coach gives the press a list of the fastest swimmers on the team, from those they narrow it down to most interesting, be it in looks or personality, basically they pick someone the public will love…all the members would get their own interviews of course, but the ones they were picking today were the ones who would become popular. The ones who would cover just as many magazines as J-pop stars. I did not want to be one of those people, but it's not like I would have much of a say in the matter.

The group of press circled us like hawks, I didn't dare let go of Haru's hand. Sure I was a pretty vocal person usually, I wasn't scared of attention, but having all of Japan looking at me…yeah…um …totally no fucking pressure or anything.

I bit my lip as one of the women, a petite girl with thick rimmed glasses, waltzed up to me…us? I don't know, but she came to stop in front of us.

"Rin Matsouka and Haruka Nanase right? You two have the fastest time on the whole swim team," she glanced at our intertwined fingers, "that's very impressive. I'm Mirai and I work for The Paper Sun maybe you've heard of it?" Of course I'd heard of it was one of the most famous talk shows in Japan, "We'd love to have you two in for an interview if you're interested."

Shit shit shit, this is exactly what I did not want to happen, but we were on orders not to refuse the publicity, Haru managed a tiny smile though his tightening grip on my hand told me he wasn't enjoying it much either, "We'd love to."

I nodded.

"Great!" Mirai said excitedly scribbling something down on her clipboard and then tugging down one of the sleeves on her oversized pink sweater, "Can you do Wednesday at nine am?"

Haru just nodded this time.

Tomorrow. I nearly groaned.

"Alrighty! Thank you so much!" she skipped on down to the next person on her list.

Apparently they wanted all out interviews together, I think we only got one separate for an American magazine called SwimmingWorld that was doing an interview with every swimmer on all the Olympic teams, all of those interviews would take place later today according to the man since they were doing one country every three days.

My turn for that particular thing came to quickly and forced me to release Haru's hand…ew.

"So, Rin," the American's voice was thick and a tiny bit southern, "you and Haruka are the fastest on your team? They must work you to death." Was that a question?

I shook my head, "We're the fastest, but the training regimen is pretty mellow. It's strict and demanding yeah, but this is the Olympics, to be honest I expected worse, but it's pretty much the perfect regimen for me and Haru too." Answering was easier than I thought.

"The lives of the Japanese swimmers have been pretty closed off to the public, not many of you have social media, is that a rule or?"

"No, uh, it's not a rule, we can pretty much do whatever we want in regards to the internet, but we're busy I mean our training takes so much time and the rest of it we spend being lazy, playing videogames, sleeping, just hanging out, yeah we're Olympians, but we're just kids, I mean I'm only seventeen and I'm sitting here talking to SwimmersWorld like I'm some sort of professional, but it doesn't feel that way. I guess the free time we have we usually use it to achieve some type of normality and going on the internet and blogging or updating twitter is just not as much of a priority."

"Interesting, so, tell me about your family? How do they feel about your swimming."

Oh here's the part where I get to talk about Dad…fun. "Well my dad inspired my swimming. He swam professionally for a while during his youth, but then he had me and my sister and our mom to take care of so his Olympic dream sort of faded, he died when I was still pretty young, but I always wanted to make to the Olympics for him, of course my mom is really supportive of the idea," I cringed a little, she still didn't know about Haru and I and it bothered me more than I cared to admt, "she made sure I had all the things I needed to do my best, I went to an elite school in Australia for a while, before finally coming back to Japan for the Olympics, supporting my country I guess," I smiled proudly, "I have a sister who's been really great, she's actually an assistant to the swim teams for this Olympics which I'm pretty proud of her for, she's the best little sister a guy could have. She's uh, she's over there actually." I pointed across to where she was standing with Ama-senei and Sasabe-sensei, I watched the camera pan with my hand. The interviewer smiled.

"She looks just like you, are you close?"

"Yeah we're pretty close, I mean she's my little sister so it's like the rule with most siblings the only one allowed to hurt her is me everyone else is dead if they lay a hand on her," So dead, "She's dating one of my close friends, Makoto Tachibana, you might have already interviewed him, I don't know, but yeah she gets along really well with all the members of the swim team because of me and him and they all love her like family, I'd say I do too, but well…I mean I sort of have to." I laughed.

"Speaking of dating, are you seeing anyone?"

I laughed nervously, "I might be, but that's for me to know and you to find out."

"Oh come on, give the ladies some hope."

I thought of Haru, "Sorry ladies, I'm afraid I can't help you."

"So whoever it is, is it serious? Will we see them at the games?"

I nodded at the irony of the question, "You will most definitely see them at the games."

"And in the games you are…" the rest of the questions were sort of generic swimming questions, which events, what's my time, what's the best time I've ever made, what will I do after, yada yada yada. Ten minutes later the interview was over, I found Haru and we met up with Nitori, Rei, and Nagisa, Mako was still being interviewed, we decided to go get coffee.

"Sennnnnnpaiiiii," Nitori whined tucking his head into my shoulder as we sunk into a booth at the cafe, "I hate interviews…"

I laughed, "Me too Ai, me too." My hand was linked with Haru's beneath the table.

Rei sat across from us waiting for Nagisa to return with our drinks, "So Haruka-senpai, did they ask you about your beautiful strokes?"

I set my jaw into a glare, "Are you hitting on my boyfriend in front of me, Rei?" I challenged the tiniest hint of a smile playing at my lips that told everyone I was joking.

Haru shook his head, "They didn't, but they did ask me about my time and if I hated Rin."

"Hated Rin?" Both Rei and I said at the same time.

"You better not hate Rin, because Rin can totally cut you off." I continued.

Haru looked at me and rolled his eyes, "I don't hate you, but they asked because apparently there should be rivalry between us since we're neck and neck for fastest time, I told them I wasn't the competitive sort and you were my best friend so no I didn't hate you."

I planted a kiss on his cheek, "Good."

I heard Nagisa laugh as he approached the table with our drinks, "Going at it like bunnies I see."

My face flushed bright red, "N-no…"

Nagisa just laughed and handed out the drinks, Haru'd only ordered a fruit smoothie since he didn't usually drink coffee, I'd gotten a caramel latte because they were hella rad, "Haru," I aid after taking a sip, "You have to try this it's so good."

"Hm?"

I tilted the straw towards him and he took a small sip, making a srunchy face afterwards, "So how is it?"

"Bitter." He said still making the face.

"Bitter? You're kidding right?"

"No…it's bitter."

"Haru you're like a ten year old sometimes."

"No I'm not."

I laughed, "I'm dating a ten year old."

"You won't be for much longer if you keep calling him a ten year old," Makoto's voice came from behind.

"It's okay because I love him."

Haru rolled his eyes sipping his own drink as Mako scooted into the booth beside Nagisa and Rei, who were doing the same thing Haru and Rin had just been doing except with a chocolate croissant, and it looked more like Nagisa was shoving it down the taller boys throat, however it ended with Rei getting a big kiss on the cheek so everyone looked happy.

"I'm not excited about the interviews." Makoto said reaching across the table and grabbing Haru's drink without asking.

"Me either…" the rest of us all groaned in unison, expect for Nagisa who seemed really excited about the whole thing.

"I didn't even realize I didn't have an Instagram!" he exclaimed, "I made one after the interview, I've called it nagisauce," he made a rainbow motion with hands, "Come on, be in my first post," Nagisa said pulling out his phone and opening the came in selfie mode, "Smile!" he commanded after he positioned it so everyone was in the picture. I shot a peace sign, Haru sipped his reclaimed smoothie, Makoto smiled kindly, Nitori gave a wide grin, and Rei was blushing as Nagisa pressed a kiss to his cheek. It was a very cute picture I had to admit.

He captioned it, 'Starbucks with the team, and the bae' an assortment of heart emoji's was attached to the end.

"The guys was right, no one even knows the Japanese team, so I've decided to put us out there, we're getting involved!" Nagisa said with a contagious grin.

I shrugged, "Works for me, but if you post pictures of me sleeping I'll kill you."

"Deal." Nagisa said with a humored laugh.

The Instagram thing had gotten out of hand really quickly.

Like.

Really.

Really.

Quickly.

Seriously how many times could you actually post on Instagram in six hours? Apparently there wasn't any sort of limit because he'd just started the account and t had twenty posts. Granted he'd gained two-thousand plus as soon as people had found out it was his official account. Apparently Nagisa already had some sort of fan following? I guess that's what happens when you're a cute blond with a big smile.

I groaned. Food. He'd even taken pictures of his food. Who wants to see your food Nagisa? I know, no one. We were all sat around the couch, Haru had made dinner, I smiled inwardly at how perfect he was, and of course Nagisa had posted a picture of it, but that had been nearly an hour ago, the plates still littered the table, but we were all too lazy to move them or move at all, I rested my head against Haru's chest, "Tired?" he murmured into my ear.

I nodded and closed my eyes snugging harder against him I felt him press a kiss into my hair, I didn't even notice the camera flash from Nagisa's phone as I drifted off to sleep.

Morning came too soon as always, apparently the couch had been our bed for the night, everyone else must have gone to their own rooms, because Haru and I were alone, I was still curled against his chest his arms encircled my waist, I loved waking up to him. God I loved it, but that was probably just because I loved him period.

I reached down for my phone which had fallen between the couch cushions.

My eyes widened at my notifications. Fifteen missed calls. Thirteen text messages,

Wow, shit, what did I do?

I opened one of the texts, most of which were from Gou.

Gou (6:45am): HAVE YOU SEEN INSTAGRAM?

My first thought was why the fuck is Gou up at six am and my second was, what the hell?

Gou (6:51am): SERIOUSLY RIN! tell me ur not in the dark about this cuz it's serious

Gou (7:00am): RIN ANSWER YOUR PHONE

Gou (7:05am): i called u 6 times how r u not waking up

Gou (7:06am): look at this

There was a picture attached to the message, a screenshot from Instagram actually, Nagisa's Instagram to be more specific, of Haru and I from last night, he's kissing my hair, I remembered it vaguely, but I was pretty much asleep, after the picture there was a number of likes…how the fuck is a picture even able to get that many fucking likes. So many fucking likes. Like over forty thousand. How the fuck? Below the number of likes Nagisa had captioned the picture 'Rin and Haru' with a million hearts, and even farther bellow that a few comments were visible (though the site was kind enough to say that there were six-hundred more to see) they were pretty kind for the most part the four I could see anyway:

cumberbabes: omfg ! i ship itttttttt! ~Scarlet

kirklandcosplay: THE JAPANESE TEAM IS LIKE SPEAKING FOR LGBT AT THIS POINT! It's awesome! I'm really excited about the games now! I can't wait to see them swim! OR FUCK, I mean swim, yeah swim like hella.

hannah._.jean: idk who these two are but they're cuties! aloistrampy

aloistrampy: Jesus fuck, that's fucking adorable! CAN WE JUST! Ugggghhhhh swimming homos are my new fandom.

Swimming homos? Ship? Fandom? This was weird.

And probably bad.

I read the rest of the messages from Gou.

Gou (7:10am): it's on the news btw. like rin…

Shit.

I checked my other messages, two from Hanamura, three from my coach, one from Nitori, and one from my mom.

Hana (7:06am): Call Gou she's freaking out.

Hana (7:06am): Has your mom seen?

My coach had been more positive thank god.

Sensei-Sasabe (6:55am): Rin you're supposed to tell me when you start dating a team mate.

Sensei-Sasabe (6:57am): However it's great because of the publicity! Listen kid, people go crazy for a power couple! Congrats kid!

Sensei-Sasabe (7:00am): You and Haru do need to come fill out one of the papers though, it's a policy, like HR or some shit, just come by later today. I texted Haru too, but he doesn't ever use his phone so…tell him.

The text from Nitori said:

Ai (7:00am): I went to get coffee, you guys were so cute , I didn't wanna wake you up, but you owe me Starbucks later today, kay? :) Sleep tight!

Then there was a text from my mom…I dreaded it. I didn't want to read it.

I was gonna kill Nagisa.

I held my breath, and tapped the message. It was plain and simple.

Mom (7:23am): Call me.

It was eight-o-three now.

I slipped out of Haru's hold and into the hallway, I was holding my breath. I hit the call button beside my moms name.

She answered immediately, but she didn't say anything.

"…Mom…"

I could hear her swallow.

"…I…I'm sorry…"

An inhale, "So it's a real picture then?"

I took a shaky breath, "Y-yeah it's real."

"You're…gay?"

"Uh…" I thought of Haru sleeping on the couch, "I'm not sure."

"You're not sure? You just let guys kiss you?"

"I…no…it's just one guy…"

"Haruka."

"Yes…mom…I…"

"Rin. Don't apologize. You're not sorry. So don't."

I closed my eyes, "I love him."

"What?"

"Mom I love him. It's not a stupid crush. It's not like that at all. I really really love him…and I know how you…uh…feel about this…I swear I do…but I tried for eleven years to be who you wanted me to be…it's time to be who I am."

"Eleven years?"

"I figured out I had a crush on him when I was eleven…it's why I wanted to go to Australia…I didn't want to be this way…I didn't want to…to disappoint you, but I can't help it. I tried Mom…I tried not to love him…I can't."

"You've been hiding this for eleven years?"

She still hadn't screamed at him, "…I…yes."

"You didn't think you could trust me…you let me say all those things…terrible things…Rin…I said horrible things."

What was happening? Was she serious?

"Rin…I love you. You're my son…and I still don't understand this…at all…but…I love you. And I still love you even though you love him…and I mean…I can try…I will try to understand."

"…You…What?"

"I don't understand, but I'm gonna try to."

"Mom…" I couldn't believe her reaction, I was sort of at a loss for words, "thank you…" I managed.

She was silent for a long time before she finally said, "C-can I meet him?"

"…It's Haru mom, you already know him…"

"But…as your…uh…boyfriend…can I meet him?"

I smiled, she was trying, "Yeah. We'll come see you whenever you want."

"How about this weekend? I can meet that boy Gou's seeing too."

"Makoto," I laughed, "You're gonna love him."

"I'm sure I'll love Haru too."

I wanted to cry, she was making a real attempt, "I hope so."

"…So um, I'll talk to you soon, alright?"

"Yeah…and mom…I love you."

"I love you too."

The line went dead.

I took a deep breath.

That'd gone better than I could have ever hoped for.

Maybe Nagisa wasn't going to die today.