SWAG 2016 MASTERPOST

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horchata

Playing With Matches (1/???)
(Anonymous)
2013-08-20 05:13 pm (UTC)(link)
(Part 1 of ???)

Over the top of her glasses. Haru felt his grandmother's eyes on him as he rolled oranges endlessly across the tabletop. She was all seeing and all knowing in his young mind.

"What is Rin's favorite food? Do you know, Haru?"

"Mackerel."

She tutted at him; but not unkindly. "You should go to greater lengths to make sure your guest is entertained."

"But he likes mackerel."

It wasn't a lie, exactly. Rin said he liked everything about Haru, so of course he'd like mackerel as well.

A sigh marked his grandmother's surrender.

"Is your room clean?"

"Yes, grandma."

"Is the futon laid out?"

"Yes, grandma."

"Then stop bruising those oranges and help me cook."

Haru pulled himself off the ground with feigned effort and staggered into the kitchen to lean against his grandmother's hip. Gaping his mouth, he waited for her to deposit a perfectly grilled tidbit like a mother bird feeding a chick before he got to work.

She pinched his cheek as he scaled the fish with the skill of hours of practice. "Don't leave your face like that or it'll get stuck. I'm sure you two will have a wonderful time."

But his grandmother was not all knowing: Haru has no doubt that he wouldn't have an idle moment with the fiery boy. He was actually more concerned that they'd burn the house down.

(Sorry for the delay - had the whole section written and then my computer crashed TWICE. hhhhhhhhh fml + forgive me for weirdness, this is my first fill.

For the curious, Rin calls Haruka's grandmother Nanase-baa, I think.)

Scales clung to his skin, sticking to the young tender flesh with tenacity, and Haru raised his hand to the light to examine the effect. He rather liked the look, to be honest; sometimes he wondered if in a past life he had been a fish, or maybe a dolphin, or some other creature born in and of the water.

He smiled internally. But if he was a fish, then perhaps Rin had been a carp, one brave enough to leap over the Dragon Gate and become a creature of legend. Perhaps that was why he longed for the glory of the Olympics. He was destined for greatness.

A polite rap on the door ceased his train of thought; he turned inquisitive eyes on his grandmother, who smiled down on him.

"Wash your hands, Haruka. It seems your guest has arrived."

Placing the knife out of reach, she rinsed off her hands with a quick burst of water and a flick of her fingertips before heading for the door, trusting her grandson to do the same. Instead, he lingered for a moment, picking off the scales one by one and then washing them down the drain. He was almost a little nervous about this; sure, he'd had Nagisa and Makoto over a couple times but this was different. Rin was different.

He heard the sounds of the door opening, of polite conversation between the adults, and then - the sound of running feet.

"Haru!"

Someone ran into him hard from behind, slamming him against the sink as arms wrapped around his shoulders and neck as Rin spoke loudly in his ear.

"Hey, what's with the scales? Are you molting or something?"

"We're having mackerel for dinner," Haru said carefully, his opinion of Rin on a delicate balance as he waited for the verdict on his choice of food.

"Mackerel? Cool," Rin puffed into his neck after a moment's deliberation, and Haru relaxed. Hands still held under the water and Rin's body still holding him still, he was almost comfortable. Almost.

Turning off the water, Haru flicked his wet fingers at Rin in imitation of his grandmother. The red-head yelped, tried to dodge and failed; then, in the middle of his rally for retribution, eyes alight with flames like that of candles, his mother called from the next room.

"Rin! Come get your things, please."

"Yes, Mom!"

As quick as he came, Rin sprinted around the corner again, narrowly avoiding running into Haru's grandmother.

"Sorry, Granny Nanase-- Oh! Where should I put my stuff?"

"Haru will take you to his room, and you should leave your things there."

Then Haru's grandmother turned calm grey eyes onto her grandson, still standing by the sink with water on his hands and apprehension in his gaze; and then he knew that tonight, not only was Rin his guest, he was his responsibility.

Haru nodded, and followed Rin into the next room, muttering softly below his breath, "I'm not carrying any of your stuff, Rin."

He thought he'd been out of his grandmother's ear-shot; he'd thought wrong. Rin's laughter only made the mild sting of a pinched ear worse, but his tone was oddly polite.

"Of course not. You're being so kind as to let me stay here for the evening; it'd be so rude for me to ask you to do any more! Bye, Mom," and he leaned up to give his mother a hug, then reached behind her to yank Gou into view and give her a vicious squeeze.

"See ya tomorrow, Gou," he teased, then seemed to settle down as Mrs. Matsuoka smiled down on them both.

"Be a good boy, ok, Rin?"

Rin's expression twitched, as though he would have liked to pout at this, but his smile stayed serene. For Haru, it was downright uncanny. "Of course."

Then the door was closed, and the real Rin came back out to play.

From:

horchata

When they were ten, Coach Sasabe liked to do "Freestyle Fridays." Not freestyle the stroke, but a true, fun-and-games free-for-all with relays, water polo, diving competitions and the general zaniness only kids could create when given toys and free time. It was something Coach felt was important- that no matter how hard they practiced, they should always remember to play.

And Rin and Haruka liked to play hard.

"I bet you can't pick up all ten rings from the bottom without taking a breath," Rin said.

"I bet you I can," Haruka returned.

"Oh yeah?" Rin jeered. "Not if I do it first!"

With a splash, he was off. Indignant, Haruka dove after him. They collided underwater, Rin's teeth taking a chunk out of Haruka's lower lip, and Haruka's forehead giving Rin a nice, juicy black eye. Rin thought it was hysterical, and said as much as they iced their respective play-wounds in Coach's office.

"You know if you wanted to kiss me, you could have just asked," he teased.

"Shut up," Haruka grinned.

****

When they were twelve, they were the best in the league. No other team could touch them. The won race after race, relay after relay, going on to the three-day national meet when they posted the best time in their regional division.

They didn't win nationals, but when Haruka touched in, completely obliterating their club team record, Rin lost his cool and tackled Haruka back into the water as he was pulling himself out. They banged noses, and when they came up, blood running down their chins, Haruka could only sigh.

"You know, if you wanted to kiss me, you could have just asked," he said.

"You're such a jerk," Rin growled, and laughed.

****

When they were fifteen, there was no Rin. Just Haruka and the ocean and the worried Makoto running along the shore, yelling at him that it was still to early in the summer and he needed to get out. Haruka ignored him because as much as he loved Makoto, Makoto wasn't Rin. He wasn't irresponsible and impulsive and quick to laugh or turn the world upside down. He wasn't the one Haruka would secretly sneak into Coach's office with and watch old footage of past Olympics, dreaming out loud about what it would be like to swim at that level. It had always been Rin's dream more than Haruka's, but Haruka had been more than willing to go along for the ride because Rin's enthusiasm was infectious. Rin would make it the Best Time Ever.

"Someday that's going to be us," Rin promised. "You and me. Side by side. Best in the world!"

"I only swim freestyle," Haruka reminded him.

Rin laughed and told him he needed to learn how to try new things.

"Like what?" Haruka asked.

"I dunno. You could kiss me?" Rin's grin was wide and leering and Haruka snickered.

"You're such a pervert," he said, and Rin gave him a noogie.

****
They are seventeen and Haruka doesn't know the person in the water next to him. He's Rin's height, and Rin's build, and he has Rin's name, but he's not Rin. Because Haruka's Rin would never be so angry he'd grab Haruka by the goggles hanging around his neck and pull him up against the lane line.

"That's it? That's all you can say?" he demands.

"What else do you want from me?" Haru asks softly.

Not-Rin pulls him closer. There's something in his expression that makes Haruka feel like he's drowning, and he wants to look away, but not-Rin's grip is too tight and he can't. It fills him with a sudden and inexplicable sadness. An inexplicable need say something to this person just to see if he'll get a Rin-like reaction.

He settles on, "You know, if you wanted to kiss me you could have just..."

The sentence is never finished. Haruka doesn't even have time to take a breath before he's underwater, knees hitting the bottom, Rin's mouth locked on his with all the fiery intensity Haruka remembers he's capable of. It's awkward and desperate, and though Haruka grabs Rin's arms and tries to break free, Rin either doesn't notice or doesn't care, keeping him under the surface long enough to coax Haruka into parting his lips. Haruka can feel Rin's tongue brush tentatively along the bottom one, right along the scar Haruka still has from their very first collision.

Right on a spot only his Rin would know.

Haruka pushes him hard, and kicks to the surface with a gasp. Rin follows, coming up a few feet away, expression blank. They don't speak, though Haruka wants to know what the hell he thinks he's playing at and why now, after all this time, has he taken their childhood teasing ninety steps too far, especially after the way he's been acting. But one look at Rin's face and he can't do it. He can't even find words because there is a pain there that Haruka can't handle. The last time Rin looked like this it was his fault, his doing, and Haruka can't be responsible for hurting someone he loves twice.

So instead he walks away, pulling himself out of the water and disappearing into the changing rooms without a backward glance.

~*~

Rin never follows, or if he does, he knows how to stay where Haruka can't see him. Haruka changes- or, technically, puts on warm-ups over his swimsuit- and doesn't look around. He reminds himself there is nothing to say. Nothing to do. That Rin isn't Rin anymore and that their friendship was over a long time ago, no matter how much Rin's kiss might have said otherwise. It was probably a joke anyway. After all, Rin was the one who started the whole thing, and Haruka has seen Rin flirt with enough girls to know he couldn't be serious. And even if he was, enough girls flirted back that Haruka couldn't compete. Rin is magnetic. Haruka is just Haruka, weird and a little awkward, the quiet moon to the radiant warmth of Rin's sun.

He is so consumed with his own self-depreciation that he doesn't realize Makoto and Nagisa have come in the room and are staring at him.

"What?" he asks, closing his locker. He shoulders his swim bag and meets each of their inquiring gazes in turn. "I'm ready. We can leave."

"Haru-chan..." Nagisa's eyes are so wide he looks like a fish. "Haru-chan, did Rin-chan just..."

"Don't call me Haru-chan," Haruka snaps. "And leave Rin alone. He obviously doesn't want anything to do with us, and we don't belong here, so let's go."

"But Haru." Makoto stands and tries to block him. Haruka just pushes past. "Haru!"

They mean well, but they are so very meddlesome and Haruka doesn't need that right now. What he needs is to be away from Samesuka and Rin and the water and everything that might remind him of a time when things were significantly more fun and significantly less complicated. Besides, he knows if he keeps walking, Makoto and Nagisa will follow eventually because they'll be in as much if not more trouble than Haruka if they get caught.

****
They get caught. They get yelled at and lectured, and Ama-chan throws one of her proverbs at them, which Haruka ignores. There's nothing in it that has any advice on what to do should your best-friend-cum-sworn-rival suddenly kiss you out of the blue, or how to deal with the aftermath. To make matters worse, on the walk home it rains, and he's soaked through by the time Makoto drops him off at his door.

"Make sure you change," Makoto admonishes. "And drink some hot tea."

"I will," Haruka mutters, and he only watches Makoto dash off through the downpour for a moment before closing the door and making his way to the bath.

It doesn't feel as good as usual to get in the tub. Maybe because he's still sulking a little. Maybe because he's already so wet he gets pruney far quicker than he usually would. Either way, he doesn't stay in very long, and gets up to cook himself dinner- in actual pajamas this time- because Makoto was right about the chill.

He's flipping the fish when the phone rings. "Hello?"

The line is connected, but the person on the other end doesn't speak.

"Hello?" he says again.

The line goes dead.

****
Their joint practice is a week or so later, and everything goes about as well as it could considering their fourth member dove in and went straight to the bottom. Haruka pulls him out with Makoto's help, and then carries on with his time trial. He ignores the oohs and ahhs, blandly accepts Rei's compliments, and makes his way to the showers when all is said and done.

He should have known Rin would be waiting. Especially since Rin was the only upperclassman to even come.

"What was that?" Rin asks him.

"What was what?" Haruka turns his back and turns on the water. Rin, still in his warm ups, stands an acceptable distance back.

"Your fourth member..."

"Can't swim, I know. I was there." Haruka eyes him over his shoulder. "Anything else?"

"I..." Rin starts to look angry again, but then it fades into that dull resignation Haruka is becoming all too familiar with. "No," he says. "Just...you look good. And don't get too comfortable because next time I'm going to beat you straight up."

"That's great, Rin," Haru says dully. "I can't wait."

He feels Rin staring at him as he turns his face into the spray. "You haven't changed," Rin says.

"Yeah, well, that makes one of us," Haru returns.

If he was looking for a provocative statement that was, apparently, the one to choose because Rin charges at him and pushes him into the slick shower wall. He doesn't seem to care that his warm ups are getting drenched, or that the water is matting his hair to his forehead. He just seems to need to make his point.

"You should have changed, too, Haru. You should have understood."

"I know," Haruka says quietly. "And I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?"

"If I had known how much winning meant to you, I never would have raced you in the first place."

Rin's anger wavers. He looks at Haruka, and for a fraction of a moment, Haruka can see his childhood friend. The one that trusted him with his hopes and dreams. And then the stranger in Rin's body returns.

"It wasn't winning, you idiot," Rin growls. "It wasn't anything to do with who won or who lost. It was that I couldn't do it without you. Training, racing...none of it meant shit without you there next me."

Haruka blinks. "What?" he questions.

"I said I couldn't do it without you. And I knew it the moment we left the blocks, the moment we touched the water. I was so happy to be there. So happy to be racing along side you again. And when it was over, I felt more lost and alone than ever. Do you have any idea..."

Rin trails off and finally backs up. Haruka doesn't move for a long time.

The water goes from hot to tepid.

"Rin," he says.

"What?" Rin mutters.

"If you needed me, why didn't you just ask?"

He's shivering a little, but he doesn't come out of the spray. Rin's eyebrows raise. He stares at Haruka and Haruka stares right back.

"Why didn't you just ask me?" he repeats. "You know you could have asked me. You could have asked me anything and I would have been there for you!"

"How the hell were you going to get to Australia?" Rin murmurs and Haruka glares.

"You were my best friend in the world. Do you really think I wouldn't have tried? I would have found a way if you had just told me..."

The words disappear again because Rin is on him, kissing him, holding Haru's chin in his hands. The shower water pours down and Haruka can't exactly breathe, but it doesn't matter because this time, his Rin is here.

This time, he understands.

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