He's Mine
Pairing: Nagisa/Rei
A/N: Good news! My finals are ending on 6th November (goodbye college!), so after that, I'll have a long break and the updates will be regular :') By the looks of how the plot is progressing right now, I'd say it's far from over... Hope you'll stick with me till the end!
Disclaimer: This is a fan fiction of Free!, a light novel originally written by Kouji Ouji.
Rei-chan had been acting strange for the past few days, and Nagisa was having a bad feeling about it.
He had noticed the change in Rei-chan's behavior when he had went to Rei-chan's house early in the morning to leave for school. On normal occasions, they would have waited for each other at the intersection that separated their homes, though it was more often for Rei to be the one doing the waiting. Nagisa would arrive a little bit later, skipping with a piece of toast still halfway chewed in his mouth and chipper as always. This time, however, Nagisa was feeling particularly sweet and romantic, and he suspected that his mood for love might had been influenced by the chick flick he had watched last night, in which the young man fetched his girlfriend from home with a bouquet of flowers every morning.
'Imagine how cute a starry-eyed and flustered Rei-chan will be when he sees me in front of his doorsteps, with a bouquet of fresh red roses and a charming smile!'
He contemplated on doing the same (not that he's declaring that Rei-chan is his boyfriend, but yeah, they're getting there) but for now, the idea seemed a bit too far-fetched.
Much to Nagisa's chagrin, his enthusiasm was met with Mrs Ryugazaki smiling apologetically.
"Sorry, dear, but Rei already left earlier. He said he needed to return some books that were overdue. I hope you're fine with going by yourself?"
Her voice was calm and soothing as she ruffled and patted Nagisa's golden hair lovingly, and the petite boy melted under the affectionate touch.
"It's okay, I understand! Thank you for telling me!" Nagisa responded in a sing-song voice and proceeded to walk to the train station alone.
So much for a romantic morning.
It would've sounded like a logical and believable excuse for Rei-chan to break their habit of going to school together, except that it wasn't, because Nagisa knew that Rei-chan never kept a book until it is overdue. More often than not, the theory-obsessed bookworm would've kept his nose buried in the latest books he had borrowed and finish them in less than a few hours. Even if he brings the books back home, he never exceeds the due date.
Another queer thing about this whole 'Rei-chan leaving home early to return books' conspiracy was that Iwatobi High's library system would only be active from 8 am onwards. It was barely even 7, so if Rei-chan were to insert the books into the drop box now, the smartcode wouldn't be detected and it would still be considered as checked out. Besides, based on his observations (through stalking, though Nagisa tried hard to deny this) Rei-chan always returned books after school; it was more convenient that way.
He wasn't saying that Mrs. Ryugazaki was lying; she was always so honest and sincere, but Rei-chan most definitely had something up his sleeves to come up with an excuse like that. Nagisa could sense it.
Although Nagisa was notorious for being an airhead most of the time, there were important occasions in which he could think properly and delve deeper, pinpointing the details and making inferences. After spending a good portion of his time around an outstandingly knowledgeable person (Rei-chan, of course, who else?), it was only natural that some of the wisdom would rub off on him.
With no one to chat to, time seemed to flow at a frustratingly slow pace and the train ride felt perpetual. 'Was the journey always this long?' Nagisa mused, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. It was then that it dawned on him how much Rei-chan's existence had affected him. It might sound a tad bit too dramatic and sappy, but for him, the blue-haired boy was like the missing puzzle piece he had always been looking for and couldn't bear losing; not when he had finally allowed himself to fall in love again.
He sighed when the middle-aged salaryman sitting next to him (on the seat that was usually occupied by Rei-chan) started nodding off, his head threatening to fall on top of Nagisa's and his thinning hair brushing against the flaxen-haired boy's shoulder. Nagisa inched away from the man and gazed out of the clear window to absent-mindedly watch the blurred scenery of Iwatobi passing by, his mind falling into deep thoughts for the rest of the eerily silent ride to school.
'Could it be that Rei-chan is trying to avoid me?'
Rei-chan was acting weird again.
Nagisa arrived at school just in time before the school bell rang, and he was heaving by the time he reached his class. Upon entering the classroom, he was greeted by the sight of a scowling Rei-chan scrubbing vigorously at his table with a piece of blue cloth (the one he always carried around, so it seemed) and needless to say, Nagisa was intrigued. The other occupants of the classroom paid no heed to Rei's actions, as though it was a completely normal scene.
The sounds of hurried footsteps brought Rei out of his reverie and when he saw the familiar blonde heading towards him, he stopped scrubbing, instantly hiding the cloth behind his back and fiddling with his crimson glasses.
"There you are, Rei-chan!"
Launching himself at Rei to engulf the boy in a tight embrace, Nagisa nuzzled his face into the crook of Rei's neck, inhaling the faint citrus scent mixed with lemongrass that he had come to miss (though it had been merely a day since they last met). Rei groaned in annoyance, but still awkwardly wrapped his arms around Nagisa's waist, trying to ignore the warmth creeping onto his cheeks and the stares of their classmates. It was already a common occurrence and he was getting used to it, but the embarrassment was still there.
"What were you doing, anyway? I saw you scrubbing at my desk with all your might! You looked cute, all focused like that!" Nagisa beamed at him and Rei's face paled immediately.
Oh no.
He had to make sure that Nagisa didn't know about the insults and curses scribbled on his table every morning, at least not until he managed to find the culprit.
He had to protect Nagisa at all costs.
"Y-your table was… dusty." He coughed lightly, striving to chase away the lump forming in his throat. He had to somehow make this excuse believable. "Yes, it was dusty and filthy. It's not beautiful. And you know how I hate things that defy the rules of beauty." Rei was pretty sure that he was just rambling and spouting nonsense but he hoped Nagisa would buy it.
"Awww, that's so sweet of you, Rei-chan! But you shouldn't have, I could clean it on my own, you know?"
As Rei stared into the sparkling dark pink orbs gazing up at him with such visible adoration, he felt a painful twinge in his heart as he recalled the words scribbled on Nagisa's table this morning. How could someone hate this boy? His smile was so bright and beautiful, it could rival the sun!
Okay, maybe he was kinda annoying at times, that Rei had to admit.
It was just like he had expected; the person who was doing it knew that Nagisa was unaware of the current circumstances and that Rei was trying to protect his feelings. Whoever it was that was responsible for this wretched way of conveying hatred and loathing, that person had seen Rei meticulously rubbing the words off every morning before Nagisa could see them, and was not pleased with it.
It had to be someone from their class. Rei was 100% sure of it.
"Hey, Rei-chan, why did you leave earlier this morning? I felt sooooo lonely on the train…" Nagisa gushed on, pouting lightly. "There was this old man… His drool almost got on my uniform! And I nearly forgot to get down at the correct stop!"
The screeching sound of the sliding door opening startled them both (Rei could practically hear the ferum (III) oxide crusts clashing against each other; a signal that some oiling maintenance was due) and Nagisa unwillingly released his hold. Their homeroom teacher entered with the attendance file in her hand, and the sounds of shoes scuffling resounded in the classroom as the students scrambled to return to their respective seats. Rei did the same, but not before catching a glimpse of Nagisa's table to double-check in case there were any traces of the writings left.
Fortunately, there were none, and Rei sighed in relief. It was the right decision to bring a bottle of thinner to school, it made cleaning up much easier.
He started feeling a little bit relaxed, listening to the teacher taking attendance, until he heard someone snickered loudly within close proximity. Whipping his head around towards the source of the sound, Rei saw one of his classmates, Hikaru (who was seated two tables away from him) giggling and muttering something to her neighbouring friend, Yui. The two girls paused to look at Nagisa before laughing again.
Rei felt his eyes twitch and his instincts tingling. The girlish peals of laughter could insinuate a lot of things; perhaps she's crushing on Nagisa? Or was she mocking him for something? Either way, Rei was not pleased.
He could feel his inner detective awakening.
The once deserted and grubby sore excuse for a pool was now a long stretch of crystal clear water, tinted in an interesting shade of blue; cerulean mixed with cobalt, and it looked far more hospitable than it was before. The bluish colour was merely an illusion -a reflection of the endless sky soaring above them-, that much was already in Rei's knowledge, but he still couldn't stop thinking how beautiful the water looked like. At least now the idea of swimming in the pool didn't seem so bad.
The sound of water sloshing around as Nagisa plopped down at the edge of the pool and dipped his feet inside was among the few sounds that could be heard in the vacant area (save for Nagisa and him), the other being long strings of words coming from none other than the jubilant blonde. Rei made his way to sit next to Nagisa, coughing lightly when his shoulder brushed against Nagisa's.
"Mako-chan told me that they filled this pool with water yesterday. We can finally start our practice tomorrow! And there's also a tournament in 4 weeks…"
Rei tried to focus on what Nagisa was saying, he really did, but his mind was preoccupied with the scene he had witnessed in the class earlier. Detective Ryugazaki Rei was too busy weighing the circumstances and inferencing based on his observations.
Was Hikaru involved? If she was, then what could be the possible explanation as to why she hated Nagisa so much up to the point of trying to hurt his feelings? She always seemed like a nice, helpful person and she had quite a number of admirers. Though when looking from the other side of the coin, there's a possibility that she might be harbouring feelings for Nagisa...
'Now that won't do, because then I will not get the chance to confess my own feelings to Nagisa…' The bluenette paused to replay his thoughts in his head. 'Wait a second, what feelings?' Rei's violet eyes widened as he felt the brick of reality dropped on him. 'Since when did I stop denying this?! I-it was supposed to be a teenage-hormonal-imbalance-phase kind of thing!'
His cheeks were warming up considerably, and he was too far gone in his mental debate to notice that his blonde counterpart had stopped chattering and was waving a small hand in front of him enthusiastically.
"Rei-chan? Rei-chan, hellooo?" When the other boy did not respond to his call ('Is that steam coming out from Rei-chan's head? And why is his face so red?'), Nagisa sulked, supple cheeks puffed out in indignance at the disheartening notion that Rei was trying to ignore him. Slowly, he lowered his impish hands into the pool to scoop out a handful of water and leaned in to the unsuspecting boy, inching forwards until his lips stopped merely inches away from Rei's right ear.
"REI-CHAAAANN!" A shrill voice boomed in Rei's ear, accompanied by the sensation of cold liquid hitting his face (déjà vu much) and he leaped up instantly like a cat dropped in a bathtub filled with cold water; feet clambering in a futile attempt to find grip on the slippery ground and hands clawing in empty air to grasp at anything, just anything to stabilize himself. He felt himself floating for a fraction of a second before tumbling down just as fast, inadvertently grabbing Nagisa's sleeves and dragging the boy along with him. Nagisa's dark pinkish orbs widened twice their size when he realized what was happening, but by then, it was too late.
Together, they fell into the depths of the pool.
The sudden heavy pressure exerted by the water was restricting his breathing and cutting off his oxygen supply, and all Rei could think of was 'I don't want to die'.
It was his first experience of being underwater, and Rei wanted to cry at the thought of it being his last.
The awe at the beauty of the translucent liquid that he had just admired a few moments ago was quickly morphing into fear. Caught off guard by Nagisa's piercing yell and even more so by their unceremonious fall, Rei started panicking on reflex. His limbs were getting heavier and heavier with each passing second as he started gradually sinking to the bottom of the pool.
Rei's lilac eyes could catch glimpses of little bubbles escaping from his mouth, increasing in size as they rose to the top. He struggled to make his way towards the blinding rays of light and trail after the bubbles, moving his arms forward in smooth strokes and kicking with his legs in an awkward attempt at mimicking a swimmer. The theory was unquestionably perfect –his growing collection of swimming books taking up the space of his mini library was proof of that- but somehow it didn't work. He was still sinking like a rock (or to put it in a more sophisticated terminology; a submarine).
Nagisa was nowhere to be found, so Rei figured that he must have had swam away with ease. For a brief instance, the cobalt-haired boy felt envious at Nagisa for being able to do something that he, the almighty Rei, could not.
Why was Nagisa not coming to save him?
'Oh. I forgot. He didn't know that I can't swim.'
Well, Rei did not really blame Nagisa for this; the cheerful brat meant no harm and only wanted attention. Rei was partly to be held accountable as well, considering that he had been spacing out when he should have known that Nagisa despised being ignored and was very, very unpredictable.
'How ironic, to be thinking of the person who had indirectly caused your death, right on the brink of death itself…'
The strenuous burden on his lungs increased steadily and his mind started getting hazy (Rei's pretty sure his nerve cells are rapidly dying one by one now), his limbs going almost entirely numb. Rei knew that his heart was pumping at a maddening pace to strive to supply enough oxygen to all parts of his body, but with no input, there would be no output. Closing his stinging eyes and feeling water rushing into his opened mouth, Rei could practically taste the chlorine and he hated it.
He'd very much prefer the addicting taste of Nagisa's lips against his; with a tinge of the strawberry ice cream the boy seemed to be so fond of, and a sweet, indescribable flavor that was just so Nagisa (Rei always wondered if the blonde had lip balm on but never got the chance to ask). An intense wave of regret of not being able to kiss his love interest anymore assaulted his senses.
'Ah, I really should have confessed earlier. And I still haven't solved the mystery…'
Along with the fleeting regretful thought, the last thing that came to his mind was Nagisa:
Nagisa with his twinkling magenta eyes, Nagisa with those tempting luscious lips curved into a smile, Nagisa with that beautiful, beautiful silky golden hair he had come to love so much, Nagisa with his melodious voice calling out for him so endearingly…
Rei could vaguely hear the muffled sound of someone screaming his name before his world went black as he succumbed to the feeling of water's ruthless claws reaching out to engulf him completely.
A/N: That last scene was loosely based on my own experience of drowning in a freakin' 1.5m pool because I panicked. I could stand upright in it easily, but the panic got to me. I rewrote this chapter twice, and trust me, I didn't mean to leave it hanging like that! It just... happened. Looks like Detective Rei will have to put his case on hold now! Just curious, what other things do you guys want to see Nagisa do when he's jealous? I have a few scenes in mind already (in fact, I'm writing it now) but I'd love to hear from my readers. ;)