He's Mine

Pairing: Nagisa/Rei

A/N: Sorry for the late update! Here's chapter 4~

Disclaimer: This is a fan fiction of Free!, a light novel originally written by Kouji Ouji. You'll never want me to own an anime, it would signal a catastrophe.

Morning came, and the sun rays were already slowly seeping through the small gap between the drawn curtains, illuminating the room with little light. It was a Saturday, and for most people, Saturdays are meant for sleeping in, but the same did not apply to Ryugazaki Rei. Had it been the usual, Rei would have woken up at 7 AM sharp, mind fully alert and liberated from any traces of drowsiness and lethargy, and ready for his routine physical training regime. However, today was unlike any other, because the previous night had witnessed Rei unable to get a wink of sleep. By the crack of dawn, he was already beyond exhausted.

The cause was, of course, the petite blonde currently snoring right beside him, mouth slightly ajar and limbs spread wide open like a goddamn starfish.

Rei glanced at the bunched up blanket pooling around Nagisa's foot and grumbled. 'If you're going to kick the blanket away like that, might as well give it to me and I would put it to good use!' The bespectacled boy had long since noticed that everything about Nagisa irked him one way or another. Nagisa was clingy and overly touchy-feely, and on top of that, he was a glutton (who in their right minds would eat more than 4 slices of pizza in a sitting) and a messy eater. Unfortunately, as of last night, the list of Nagisa's characteristics that vexed and bothered Rei to no end just got longer with the addition of his hostile sleeping behavior.

Rei disliked things that were not beautiful, and normally one would not classify Nagisa as a beautiful person.

But when the said boy turned over to face Rei –oversized pajama shirt riding up his abdomen, exposing a teasing strip of skin, and messy golden locks framing his round face almost too perfectly- Rei felt his heart flutter a little. Nagisa stirred in his sleep and opened his eyes just a crack to reveal glazed magenta orbs, and Rei's breath hitched in his throat as he watched the other trying to overcome sleep and rubbing his eyes groggily in that adorable way. The sight almost made the blue-haired boy question himself of the true meaning of beauty, and for an ephemeral instance, Rei had a fleeting thought that he would not mind waking up to this sight every day.

It was beautiful.

"G'morning, Rei-chan…"

Rei finally snapped out of his entranced state and blushed a bit upon realizing that he had been staring. 'Wait wait wait what was I even thinking…'

"Good morning, Nagisa-kun." Rei replied with a gruff voice, still worn out from the lack of sleep.

Apparently, Nagisa was not much of a morning person, because within seconds, he was already snuggling back into Rei's chest, arms and legs draping around him, not wanting to get up and leave just yet. The childish act made Rei roll his eyes and push the other away, prying Nagisa off and earning himself a long dragged out whine in response.

"Why are you the one wanting more sleep? I was the one who couldn't sleep last night!"

"Awww, come on, Rei-chan… Just a few minutes more…"

"No. It is already 9 in the morning, and scientific studies have proven that the time frame from 8 to 11 is the most ideal for any outdoor activities as the sunlight will provide the optimal concentration of UV rays vital for production of vitamin D in human skin. Besides, sleeping for excessive hours might lead to a dysfunctional melatonin regulation system, so you should…—NAGISA-KUN ARE YOU LISTENING?!"

Nagisa's only response was a muffled incomprehensible mumble.

"Nagisa-kun, you said something along the lines of introducing me to your friends." Rei was sure he would regret reminding Nagisa of the earlier plan, but that was what it took to rouse the other from his slumber. The blonde's eyes shot open and sparkled in delight and excitement.

"Ah, that's right! I wanted to bring you to meet Haru-chan and Mako-chan!"

"Seriously, it is a necessity for you to address every one with a –chan?"

"It's not, but I thought that names sound cuter that way!"

"It is still rude, Nagisa-kun… But let's not go there. Would you please let go now? I need to take a bath."

After hearing Rei's words, Nagisa reluctantly released his hold and watched as Rei got up and headed towards the bathroom, grabbing a nearby towel in the process. As his eyes followed Rei's every languid and graceful step, a mischievous smirk crept onto Nagisa's face but he immediately masked it with the usual innocent façade. He stood up too, and approached Rei who was just about to enter the bathroom.

"Hey Rei-chan..."

"What now, Nagisa-kun?"

"Can we bathe together?"

Nagisa's suggestive inquiry was met with a door forcibly slammed in his face.

Out of all the places available for meeting up, this 'Haru-chan' guy whom Nagisa always talked fondly about was the one who insisted on the public pool, and Rei had no other option but to comply, albeit with an unwilling heart. The venue seemed to be a reasonable choice as well, considering the fact that it was a swimming club that they were going to establish. However, there was something about pools that put Rei at unease, something about the large amount of water that burdened his heart with worry and anxiety.

It was not as if he hated water or was scared of it or anything, no, it was in reality quite the opposite. He enjoyed watching the white waves crashing down, the crystal clear liquid reflecting the vast sky in that mesmerizing blue hue and the way the surface of puddles on the road ripples when hit with each drop of rain. It made him feel serene and tranquil, but he only liked watching from far. Being in the water, however, was something he did not look forward to.

Because Ryugazaki Rei did not know how to swim.

"Nagisa-kun, are we going to swim today?" Rei asked, turning to his side to look at the blonde who was walking next to him in a relaxed pace. 'Please answer no please no swimming please…'

Unfortunately, Rei's prayers (though had been repeated like a mantra) were not heard, because Nagisa's reply was an overly joyous "Of course we would, Rei-chan! That is the whole point, you see!"

The glasses-wearing boy had wanted to turn fast on his heels to flee for his life, to get away from the pool and the 'Haru-chan and Mako-chan' people whom he was absolutely positive would be as creepy and eccentric as Nagisa, and just go home and bury his face in calculus books instead. But then Nagisa was already announcing their arrival at the public pool, and Rei had never felt such despair in his life.

"Rei-chan, we're here already! Let's go search for them, okay?"

Rei could not utter a proper response and merely allowed himself being dragged forward by a thrilled Nagisa, all the while visualizing the worst case scenario. Birds of a feather flock together, so it wouldn't be a surprise if Nagisa's two friends acted similarly. That he could still probably handle as he was already getting accustomed to Nagisa's antics, but if one of them suddenly came up with an idea of testing Rei's swimming capabilities… That would be a different story altogether, and the outcome was most definitely not desirable.

"Nagisa! Over here!"

The pair turned towards the source of the voice, and Rei's violet eyes lit up upon seeing two perfectly normal looking boys clad in casual clothes standing in front of a nearby bathroom stall. One of them -the greenish haired with a gentle smile- waved slightly while the other stared at the water with a longing heated gaze (akin to that of a rapist, Rei thought with a shudder). Nagisa waved back enthusiastically and in a matter of seconds, the breaststroke swimmer was gone from Rei's side. He latched onto his two friends, hugging them as if it was their first meeting after a hundred years.

When Makoto and Haruka introduced themselves (the latter still with a sour face), Rei was relieved to see no signs of abnormal behavior, although he was quite taken aback by the fact that they were his seniors. He would never have guessed that Nagisa's friends were actually a year older than them.

"Are we done with this? I am going to swim now." Haruka interrupted their little ice-breaking session with impatience evident in his tone, seemingly directing the statement to no one in particular. And then, in a series of unbelievably expeditious course of actions, the black-haired boy stripped down to his swimsuit and leaped into the crystal clear water, disappearing underneath the surface.

Staring with eyes wide open at the spot where Haruka had once stood, Rei gaped like a goldfish, unable to digest the scene he had just witnessed. To make matters worse, Haruka had yet to resurface even after 15 seconds had passed.

"There is no need to worry, Ryugazaki-kun. Haru had always been like that… He is infatuated with water." Makoto, who seemed to have been able to read the pressing questions Rei had in mind, tried to explain the situation.

"You mean, he is in love with water? As in romantically?"

"Well, you could say that… But Haru-chan's love is more like an obsession! Water is like his center of gravity. It's normal to see him being underwater for a reaaaaaaaaally long time!" Nagisa replied with a smile.

'Dear lord… just what part of this is normal? He is a total freak. A weirdo! A hydro-maniac!' Of course, for the sake of courteousness and being polite, Rei kept his thoughts to himself.

Despite the worst first impression he had of Haruka, Rei couldn't deny that he was feeling a tad bit curious about the freestyle swimmer (Nagisa told him that Haru-chan only swims freestyle for some profound reasons), so while listening to Nagisa chatting away with Makoto, his eyes wandered towards the pool, trailing Haruka's every movement. The pool was a bit too crowded but there was still sufficient room to do some lap training in the 50m stretch of water. Haruka had reappeared on the surface a few minutes ago, opting to float and be drifted following the flow of water instead.

The moment when Haruka stopped floating statically and started swimming towards the other end of the pool was when things took a 360 turn. Rei immediately found himself unable to tear his eyes away from the sight. There were grace and elegance in every stroke, and the way Haruka's body glided through the water was swift, stunning and truly the epitome of beauty that he had always been looking for in sports.

"How did he move so effortlessly? The forward propulsion is amazing! Water's viscosity should have made it extremely difficult to steal a breath and still move that quick. Unless he is a natural genius in this…"

"Haru is certainly gifted, especially in freestyle. His catch and pull techniques are the best." The way Makoto-senpai talked about Haruka-senpai with a hint of admiration and affection in his ever-smiling expression sent off a signal that maybe, just maybe, there was something more between them. Nevertheless, Rei brushed it off in favour of thinking of something far more important.

If someone could look this beautiful while swimming, then Rei would want to rise up to that level, too.

Rei was too preoccupied in observing the freestyle swimmer's moves and making mental notes, that he was not aware of Nagisa staring at him from the corner of his eyes, casting a look that was a mixture of distress and jealousy.

Nagisa was getting upset, but he didn't say anything about it. He had noticed Rei-chan's astonished and amazed look directed towards Haru-chan. He knew he was behaving irrationally by being jealous of Haru-chan… Haru-chan was his best friend, for god's sake! But he still couldn't avoid the sudden surge of envy washing over him. The painful clenching of his heart felt familiar...

'Rei-chan had never had that expression when he was with me… Why is he looking at Haru-chan that way?'

"I don't like swimming here. It's too packed." Haruka said nonchalantly, drying his raven hair with a towel. The lanes were getting more and more crammed full, much to his distaste. He could not swim freely without bumping into someone else anymore, so he called it quits and joined the group, listening apathetically to whatever it was they were discussing.

"I agree that the public pool is not the best place to practice… We really need to fix our school's pool, don't we?" Makoto looked at Haru to gauge any reply or reaction but the other remained straight-faced.

"We don't have the money." Haruka said in a-matter-of-fact tone.

Indeed, money was a major problem, especially for a bunch of high school students. To rely solely on the budget supplied by Iwatobi High for new clubs was a hopeless notion; the amount was so meager it could only afford them a pack of plaster for the cracked walls.

They went silent for a while (trying to come up with an idea to generate money enough for repairing works) until Nagisa's eyes brightened in a way Rei knew could only mean that ridiculous ideas had formed in that tiny head of his.

"How about we ask Ama-chan to recommend us for some swimwear modeling jobs? It might not give us much but it's still something!"

Much to Rei's surprise and agony, Makoto -who was seemingly the most levelheaded one- agreed to the nonsensical suggestion, and Haruka did too (after some coaxing involving "But you'll get to swim anytime you want, Haru!"), leaving Rei to finally regret his decision to join the swimming club.

At the brink of collapsing under the intense pressure of hopeful gazes from the three boys (especially Nagisa), Rei could only nod weakly in agreement and wait for the impending apocalypse involving swimming trunks and speedos.

'This is going to be disastrous...'

A/N: Yay for swimming suit modelling! Nothing is more exciting than hot well-built men clad in skimpy speedos~ I realised halfway that this chapter was more of a Rei POV. Next ones will probably be more from Nagisa's angle. Oh, and have you heard that Makoto finished 2nd in the poll 'Male Anime Characters Male Otakus Would Go Gay For'? That speaks volumes of how attractive half naked swimmers are :P Hope you liked this chapter, and I apologize again for the delay. Reviews are welcomed! :)