He's Mine
Pairing: Nagisa/Rei
A/N: Happy belated Valentine's Day! Have a fluffy Nagisa x Rei, with some added drama!
Disclaimer: This is a fan fiction of Free!, a light novel originally written by Kouji Ouji.
Rei woke up the next day to a dead arm and horribly cramped legs. While he's thankful that his prayers were answered -since he's still on the bed-, Rei didn't exactly appreciate starting his day with Nagisa drooling profusely on his chest, legs casually thrown over his waist and hips like he's some kind of a life-sized bolster. The scene was nothing like the 'morning after' he had in mind; his impeccable picture had perished. In the perfect daydreams Rei had of the times they'd wake up in the same bed, Nagisa would be in his arms, nuzzling against Rei's neck adorably, and Rei would gently stir him awake with a soft kiss on the forehead, and another on his nose. Then they'd lovingly whisper "good morning" against each other's lips, both all smiles and smelling like sunshine and rainbows…
A harsh kick to his shin and a swat to his chin (seriously though, did Nagisa think he's a mosquito?!) brought Rei back to Earth, out of his imagination of what should've been and into the reality. Rei had to admit, reality is harsher more often than not.
The still drooling Nagisa started mumbling incomprehensibly, something along the lines of 'popcorns' and 'milkshakes', and he's showing no signs of rousing. So Rei used his only still functioning hand to vigorously shake Nagisa's shoulder, knowing from experience that light and gentle movements won't affect the heavy sleeper in the least.
"Nagisa-kun, wake up," Rei said, ruffling the golden hair and reveling in its soft, fluffy texture under his hand. "We might be running late for school."
It was merely said as a threat, a reminder that it's a weekday unlike the other instances in which Nagisa had come over, but it was then that Rei glanced at the clock on the nightstand and froze.
They're late. For real.
"NAGISA-KUN! WE'RE REALLY LATE FOR SCHOOL!" Rei yelled loudly, hurriedly leaping out of the bed and taking Nagisa with him. 'I completely forgot that Mom's not around today! Damn it!' Rei berated himself in his head as he bolted for the bathroom, towing along a half-asleep Nagisa who was just beginning to regain consciousness. As soon as Nagisa finally came to his senses, he rubbed his eyes sleepily and yawned without bothering to close his mouth, watching Rei fumbling about and panicking in front of the wide mirror.
"Ahh... Morning, Rei-chan... Why are you in a hurry?" Nagisa asked, reaching out to intertwine his hand with Rei's. The blue-haired boy paid no heed to the gesture as he was busy applying toothpaste on a yellow toothbrush (Nagisa's spare one left for sleepover purposes), and when Nagisa opened his cute little mouth once again to release another hideous, inappropriate long yawn, the toothbrush was promptly shoved into it.
"Nagisa-kun, we have approximately 30 minutes left before class starts," Rei explained, causing bright pink eyes to widen in shock and mortification. "Yes, that's right, it's impossible to make it in time unless we leave now. So get moving!"
Without needing to be told twice, Nagisa began brushing his teeth at full speed, understanding the seriousness of the matter. Rei-chan was never late for school. Time ranked high in his priorities, and he took great pride in maintaining his reputation as an exemplary well behaved student. Once he's late, the mistake will forever be etched as a charred mark in his otherwise pristine records, and no matter how trivial it might seem to be, Nagisa knew Rei-chan would be disturbed and disheartened if that were to happen.
And that small insecure voice in Nagisa's head was telling him that it's partly his fault.
'But I can't help it, right? Rei-chan was so sexy last night!'
Just as Nagisa finished washing his face (no shower, that's just pushing their luck), he walked out to search for his spare uniform in his bag. A few minutes passed, and Rei's already haphazardly putting his pants on and wearing his belt when Nagisa looked up at him with a horrified expression.
"Rei-chan..."
"We don't have time, hurry and wear your clothes already!"
"Well, you see... That's the problem," Nagisa smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head nervously, feeling intimidated by Rei-chan's scowl. "I don't have them."
"You what?"
"My clothes... I forgot to bring the spares."
Dumbfounded, Rei paused in the middle of buckling his belt to stare at the golden-haired troublemaker in front of him in disbelief. It took him all of his sheer willpower to not scream profanities -not that he knew many to begin with- and Rei thought to himself 'What wrong did I ever do to deserve this?'
He ignored Nagisa's cutesy pleads and apologies, only robotically taking a shirt from his closet and handing it to Nagisa without a word, to which the boy receives with a glomp and a wailing 'thank you'. Checking the time, he noticed it's a sad fifteen minutes away from the time when the school bell rings.
Could the day get any worse?
Apparently yes, it could.
The white summer uniform Nagisa's wearing was pathetically baggy and loose in all the wrong places, and magically, the already petite boy looked even smaller than he already was. It was incredulous; Rei knew that he was bigger than Nagisa, but he would never have guessed that Nagisa could practically swim in his clothes. It's an endearing sight, but the drawback was that not only did it make Rei redden to the tips of his ears upon seeing how cute Nagisa looked; it attracted other people's attention too. Boyfriend shirt was something he had heard his male classmates mention and harp on, but he never bothered to actually look the term up. Now that the real thing's presented right in front of him, Rei could finally understand the strange appeal.
Rei decided that he'd make Nagisa wear his shirts much more often in the future, but of course, it's only for him to see.
Unlike Makoto and Haruka, they both lived further from school, so there's no other viable method of transportation besides the train. Because they boarded the train way later than usual, they're stuck in the mass of office workers in the morning rush hour, and it's common knowledge that within such a large crowd, there's bound to be despicable people who'd take advantage of others. In normal occasions, two male high schoolers won't be preferred targets, but Nagisa's current fetish-fueling clothing state, coupled with his already soft feminine features made him stand out like a sore thumb.
A painfully easy target.
Just then, one of the standing passengers tripped on his legs and grabbed onto Nagisa's arm to stabilize himself. At first Rei thought nothing about it; after all, it's common reflex. But when the middle-aged man glanced at Nagisa and his overly large shirt with a sly perverted grin on his condescending face, Rei grimaced in disgust.
'That nauseating smile... If only I can smash his damn face now!'
"Nagisa-kun," Rei whispered, one hand holding onto the train's handle and the other encircling his lover's waist (the word 'lover' still embarrassed Rei to no end) in a protective embrace. "Stay close to me."
"It's too packed in this coach, Rei-chan!" Nagisa whined. "We should've just waited for the other one!"
"Bear with it, okay? Besides, we're getting off at the next stop."
The remaining few minutes they spent on the train was torturous hell to them, especially Rei. Assaults kept coming from all the different directions, and from the way Nagisa was trembling and flinching every second, Rei knew that the boy was getting uncomfortable, so he tightened his hold on him.
When they finally got off, Rei was extremely glad, because had they stayed any longer, who knew what he might've done to those bastards who dared to lay a hand on his Nagisa.
They had missed a quarter of their first class by the time they reached school. The discipline teacher was waiting at the gates with a cane and a logbook in his hands. He looked fierce -demonic, even- but when he saw Rei and Nagisa running toward him, desperate and out of breath, his expression transformed into one that of bewilderment. In the end, they were exempted from any sort of punishment, thanks to Rei's pitifully lame but believable story of them helping an old lady who was lost in the city.
Nagisa knew that if he had been the one making the excuse, no one would've believed him, but Rei-chan was a really smooth talker, and his good reputation did help, too.
After bowing multiple times to emphasize their apology, the pair rushed to their shoe lockers to change into their indoor slippers. Since Rei's surname started with an 'R' and Nagisa's with an 'H', their lockers ended up separated by a few rows. Usually, Nagisa would straight away make a beeline to his before creeping up behind Rei to startle him, but today, something made him want to follow Rei.
Call it his lover instinct or sixth sense, but Nagisa had a feeling that there's something in Rei's locker that's not meant to be there.
"Rei-chan, stay here for a while, will ya?" Nagisa held Rei's broad shoulders firmly to stop him from progressing any further.
"Come on, now's not the time to play, Nagi—"
"Please? I want to do you a favour… As your boyfriend!" Nagisa pleaded, enjoying the blush that adorned Rei's face. "Give me your shoes. I'll bring your indoor ones for you!"
Heaving out a long, exhausted sigh, Rei stepped out of his black-and-white sneakers and handed them to Nagisa, who accepted with a blinding smile. In no time, Nagisa was already on his way to the second last row of locker where he knew exactly where the one labeled 'Ryugazaki Rei' would be. Taking in a deep breath, Nagisa flicked the metallic door almost dramatically and it opened with a clang, revealing its content.
It turned out that his instincts hit spot on.
Apart from the pair of indoor slippers, there were a few envelopes scattered inside, along with a small paper bag that has been tied neatly with a bright red ribbon. A sickeningly familiar scent of strawberries escaped from the locker's constrains, and instantly, Nagisa felt surges of sharp pain prickling his heart.
There are love letters. Not a letter, but letters. In Rei-chan's locker.
'To think that these girls have the guts to even touch Rei-chan's stuff! Unforgivable!'
Nagisa was rooted to the ground, unmoving. He simply couldn't move, not when the thoughts of girls surrounding Rei-chan, giggling and clinging onto him like he's some kind of a public property filled his mind.
'Mine.' A voice echoed in his head. 'Minemineminemine—'
"Nagisa-kun? Hurry up, what're you still standing there for?" Rei's words startled Nagisa. Regaining his composure, Nagisa hastily replied with a cheery "I'm coming!" and shoved the letters and little package inside his bag. He went to his own shoe locker to change his shoes before running towards Rei and joyfully enveloping him in a warm hug.
"Here, yours!"
Rei rolled his eyes, annoyed by Nagisa's blithe nature, but he cracked an amused smile nonetheless when Nagisa hauled him off to class.
Little did he know that Hazuki Nagisa was keeping a secret.
"Rei-chan, I'm sorry..." Nagisa suddenly said when they were on their way to their club meeting, earning a baffled look from Rei.
"Why are you apologizing?"
"It's all my fault, isn't it? We're late because I did that to you and you're so tired from cumming too much and-"
"Ssshh! School is not the time for this lecherous talk!" Flustered, Rei quickly placed his index finger on Nagisa's lips to silence him before looking around to see if anyone was nearby. When he was sure they were alone, he spoke up, voice hushed and barely audible, almost as if he's telling a secret. "And no... It's not really your fault. Well, not entirely, because halfway through I got too excited and... Yeah. Basically I'm saying that I don't regret doing… you know, that, with you."
It's amazing how Nagisa could lose his guilt in a split second, because right after Rei admitted that he was enjoying last night, too, Nagisa beamed up at him with a full-teethed smile that screamed joy and mischief.
How many types of smile did Nagisa have, anyway?
"Hey Rei-chaaaan," The chatterbox pulled Rei's collar so that he could whisper into his ears. "Next time we should do it on a weekend."
"N-n-next time?!" Rei spluttered and stared wide-eyed at the grinning boy.
"Yup, next time! On weekends we can have sex as much as we want," In a sing-song tune, Nagisa's casually uttered words once again convinced Rei of his derived theory that no, Nagisa was never innocent.
Recalling the little dispute they shared last night, Rei was aware that his chastity might be at stake.
They arrived at the pool moments later, and as carefree as a child, Nagisa skipped gleefully to where Makoto and Haruka stood next to the glistening pool, traces of his earlier lusty expression vanishing into thin air. "Mako-chan, Haru-chan! We're here~"
"Ahh, Nagisa! Rei! Good timing, we're just getting started," Makoto said, smiling ever so gently. "You guys can go ahead and change,'kay? Haru and I are going to get the stopwatch."
"Don't get into the pool yet," Haruka warned, monotonous and threatening at the same time. "I should be the one entering the water first."
Haruka-senpai was acting like a jealous lover, and though Rei craved to point out that water is an inanimate object that's certainly incapable of feelings, let alone desires, the menacing glare Haruka-senpai gave was more than enough to shut him up. And from the way water seemed to always side with Haruka-senpai and flow in flawless synchronization with his every move, it might be possible that there's an inexplicable bond between them...
Images of Haruka-senpai's elegant, graceful swimming slowly flooded Rei's thoughts, and he wondered if he could ever be as beautiful as the freestyle swimmer when (or if) he could finally swim.
Suddenly, Rei remembered something and stiffened.
"Right! Let's get going, then!" Nagisa chirped, pulling on Rei's arm. The blue-haired boy didn't budge.
"Rei-chaaaaan?"
"...ming trunks..." Rei muttered under his breath, his shaky hand moving up to adjust his slipping glasses, a gloomy aura of despair clouding him.
"Hmm? What is it?"
"Swimming trunks! It totally slipped from my mind that I don't actually have one!" The dramatic gestures and petrified expression Rei-chan was making coaxed giggles out of Nagisa. Silly Rei-chan, getting all jumpy and anxious over a small thing!
"Don't worry, Rei-chan! I've got your back on this one!"
Instead of feeling assured and relieved, a new sense of fear crept into Rei's mind, because having Hazuki Nagisa as your savior and only hope was never something to look forward to. Not if you value your life and dignity.
And that smile. Rei knew that smile too well.
'Lord, please watch over me.' He prayed as he was dragged to the changing room by an overly excited Nagisa.
A few minutes later, Makoto and Haruka returned to see a fuming Rei animatedly blabbering about principles of beauty to a widely grinning Nagisa, and needless to say, they were confused by the scene.
"Why..." Rei murmured through clenched teeth, eyes trained on the only piece of clothing he was wearing. "Why must I suffer through this humiliation?! This is absurd! Such contrasting colours and ridiculous design will bring people's attention to my... My crotch!" His pale face turned a few shades of darker crimson at his own choice of words. "And this!" Makoto could've sworn he heard a 'bam!' sound effect when the bespectacled boy turned around to point at the little penguin logo situated at the 'strategic place' right between his bums. "What is up with you and penguins?!" Rei exclaimed exasperatedly.
"Calm down, Rei-chan... It's not that bad! Actually, you look beautiful in it! Stunning, fantastic!" Nagisa sniggered, knowing that Rei always fell for the beauty card. Of course, there's a reason behind the penguins. Nagisa actually regarded penguins as his inner spirit animal. With the penguin embellishing the speedo Rei-chan was wearing, he's indirectly branding Rei-chan as his. 'Brilliant, isn't it?!'
Makoto sympathized with Rei for having to put up with Nagisa's unpredictable antics every day. Still, as the captain, he had to intervene and restore peace.
"I kinda agree with Nagisa. Besides, it's just temporary. What do you think, Haru?"
"As long as it fits the best, it's good." Haruka honestly replied. It's quite true; aesthetics should come second, comfort is the most important aspect.
Seeing Makoto-senpai and Haruka-senpai nodding in approval at his outfit, Rei felt a tad bit assured that he didn't actually look that out of place. He was not sure about Haruka-senpai, but at least Makoto-senpai seemed to be quite fashionable. "Now, shall we?" Makoto offered to start the practice, and in no time, Haruka was already popping the water's cherry.
"Haru! We're supposed to time ourselves!" With a what-should-I-do-with-you sigh, Makoto shook his head in defeat as they watched Haru effortlessly disappear under the gleaming surface.
"Rei, do you want me to teach you how to swim? I'm most familiar with backstroke, so maybe we can start with that?"
It's really nice of Makoto-senpai to offer a hand, Rei mused, but he had something else in mind.
"Actually, I've read that freestyle crawl is the easiest to master, so I was thinking-"
"I'll take responsibility!" Out of the blue, Nagisa confidently made the statement with poise and rigidity of a man asking the parents for a girl's hand for marriage. "I'm the one who brought you into the club, so I should teach you," He finished triumphantly, leaving Rei astounded.
"But you're good in breaststro-"
"You can count on me, Rei-chan! Let's go!"
'There's just no use denying this little guy of what he wants, is there?' Rei sighed, but something in Nagisa's ringing laughter and dazzling eyes make him smile fondly and allow himself to be pulled into the pool.
"Wow, you float like a pro, Rei-chan! That's right... You're doing well..." Nagisa's endless strings of encouragements gave a newfound strength to Rei. Makoto was watching from the side, occasionally praising and giving comments about Rei's perfect form. Well, of course it'd be perfect, he had spent a few days pouring over the theories after all.
"Yeah, just like that, push your arms forward," As he continued to kick and make the strokes, slowly, Rei felt Nagisa's grip on his hands loosen before the boy finally yelled "Perfect! I'm letting go~"
For the first few milliseconds, Rei felt like he was weightless; suspended freely, only supported by the lukewarm bed of water underneath him. He kicked, dipped his head and pushed his chest upward, arms extending backwards to mimic the way Nagisa's moved. Once, twice, thrice... By the fourth time, Rei sensed the eerily familiar burden of water pushing against his body, gravity pulling him downwards and rendering his swimming efforts completely futile.
Ryugazaki Rei sank to the bottom of the pool, the proud smile wiped off his face.
After countless failed attempts of swimming forward without sinking within five seconds, Makoto finally told them to take a break, much to Rei's dismay.
"Perhaps we can... Try tomorrow?" Makoto suggested, genuinely concerned when he saw how desperate Rei looked.
"But we have so little time left till the tournament…"
"Maybe we can get Haru to teach you. Though I doubt he'd be willing to..." Giving a friendly pat on Rei's back, Makoto motioned him to move to the side. "Well, today you can rest. Nagisa, it's your turn to make a lap."
Nagisa reluctantly released Rei's hand –which he had been secretly holding underwater- to follow Makoto to the platforms. He mouthed a silent 'Sorry!' to Rei, and the boy replied with a weak nod and a smile that didn't reach his darkened violet eyes. The rest of the evening was spent mostly with Makoto noting their times and drafting their training schedule, but Nagisa was not at ease at all.
The way Rei-chan sat by the pool, lost in thoughts and shoulders slumped dejectedly caused his heart to clench so violently that it threatened to fall off. Rei-chan looked so down and confused, and all Nagisa wanted to do at the moment was to hug him tightly and never let go.
'Taking responsibility is easier said than done, isn't it?'
"Rei-chan, is it because of me? Am I not good enough?" They were on their way back, barely a few meters away from where they always split, and for the second time in a day, Nagisa said something perplexing again. "I don't swim like Haru-chan, I'm not beautiful."
"Why are you saying these?"
"It's because I'm scared!" Nagisa cried out, one hand curling into a quivering fist by his side, the other gripping onto his bag like his sanity relied on it. "I'm scared that I'm being a bother, that I'm just weighing you down!"
'I'm scared I would lose you.'
Rei was shocked to hear such heavy words coming from Nagisa. It never crossed his mind that this perpetually jovial bundle of energy would ever feel so… vulnerable. Nagisa wasn't looking at him now, and Rei's afraid, so afraid that the boy would start crying again, because he knew his heart won't be able to handle watching Nagisa's tears.
"Listen Nagisa-kun, I've never fallen in love before. Maybe a crush or two, but nothing serious. And I still don't know how relationships work," Bit by bit, Rei held his hand out and took Nagisa's smaller one in his, enjoying just how right it felt. His face was getting warmer, and his hands itched to play with his glasses (a bad habit of his when handling stress). "B-but you said y-you'd take responsibility! So don't go acting all insecure on me, okay?"
Nagisa looked up at him with the most adorable expression yet, his glazed magenta orbs flooded with thousand of emotions, love being the strongest one portrayed. For an instance, Rei wondered what kind of face Nagisa made when he proposes to him in the future.
'Wait, it's still too soon for that!' Rei fought to get the mental image of them exchanging the vows out of his head.
Nagisa was at a loss for words. 'Rei-chan doesn't think I'm a burden,' He thought to himself, and felt his eyes water. Rei chuckled at the sight of Nagisa trying to act tough and failing, and even though they were in the middle of the road –open and unguarded-, he couldn't resist bending down to press a small kiss on Nagisa's lips.
"See you tomorrow," Rei said, letting go of Nagisa's hand at the junction that separated their houses.
"See you!" Nagisa replied enthusiastically, waving until Rei disappeared from his view. He walked back, ignoring his older sisters' petty quarrels in the living room and ran up the stairs to his room, where he carefully took out the various-sized envelopes and the brown packet from his bag.
One by one, he opened each letter and read the contents, sometimes stopping to snicker at the words of adoration the girls had used to describe Rei-chan, occasionally popping a chocolate biscuit from the paper bag into his mouth and cringing at its taste. Admittedly, he kind of regretted suggesting the modeling job in the first place, because it was that magazine that triggered this sudden onslaught of fans.
'Chocolate biscuits? Really? They think they can win Rei-chan over with these?' Nagisa rolled over on his bed, burying his face in Rei's shirt and inhaling the faint scent that lingered. 'Too bad. I'm not going to let anybody take Rei-chan away from me.'
A/N: Yandere!Nagisa? Run, girls, run! Thank you to all of you who have reviewed/fav/followed this story, they meant the world for me (though I'm a total blunder who always forget to reply, I'm sorry!). Of course, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this particular chapter! :)