Chapter One

Curiosity

Joint practices with Samezuka were always, at the very least, interesting. The swimmers enjoyed competing against one another, and overtime rivalries formed. Haru stood beside one of the diving blocks, watching his redheaded boyfriend tear through the water with all of the ferocity of a great white shark. His strong hands slammed against the wall, two seconds before the second fastest swimmer. Rin howled happily, excited not only about winning, but beating his previous time, apparently. Haru smiled slightly down at him.

"Great swim, RinRin." He said quietly. The redhead flashed him a toothy grin before pulling himself out of the water.

"Thanks, babe." He replied, giving the older boy a light peck on the cheek.

"Oi, Nanase!" a deeper voice called. Haru turned about at his name being called, azure eyes meeting teal.

"Yamazaki?" the shorter blinked up at the taller man.

"Let's have a race." He said coolly, teal eyes challenging. Rin was grinning beside Haru, draping an arm around his boyfriend's shoulders.

"Yeah Haru, you haven't been in the water all day." There was a familiar edge to Rin's voice that made Haru look down a bit. He scanning the pool area briefly, spotting his teammates talking to Ai and Momo. Turning his oceanic gaze back to Sousuke, Haru nodded as an 'alright'. The two stepped up onto their diving blocks, Haru pulling on his cap and goggles while Sousuke adjusting his own goggles. They each took their positions, but a sudden movement from Haru drew Sousuke's attention to him. The Iwatobi swimmer had winced so hard at leaning down into his starting position that he was almost standing upright again. Teal eyes met blue, but Haru quickly turned back to the water and crouched in his ready position. Sousuke eyed Haru's body for a moment, noticing a very faint discoloration of skin peeking above his jammers near his hip.

The buzzer sounded then, and both boys launched themselves with all of their power into the water. Regardless of whether or not Haru was in pain, that little shit was fast! Sousuke struggled a bit with the pain in his shoulder, it searing down his arm and begging for him to stop. He pressed on though, all his might surging forward. The boys hit the first turn at the same time, pushing off fiercely, and driving forward. Sousuke was in the lead for a mere second before he saw Haru speed past him. Haru tore relentlessly through the water, and slammed his hands into the wall a second before Sousuke. As the taller boy stood, he watched Haru pull off his cap and goggles, shaking some of the water from his hair, panting hard.

"Good race." Haru said, looking up slightly to meet the other's eyes. Sousuke hummed in agreement and pulled himself out of the pool, taking off his cap and goggles. He turned his head slightly, watching Haru pull himself more slowly from the water. Something was different with him today.

Maybe he pulled a muscle… Sousuke thought, but shrugged it off. Why did he care? He was about to walk away when he heard Haru and Rin begin talking.

"I'm going to shower." Haru said stiffly, his eyes a bit pained. But Haru's voice wasn't what made Sousuke stop, it was Rin's.

"You'd better make sure no one else is in there." The redhead's voice was low and hushed, holding an edge of threat. Haru hadn't replied, but he walked past Sousuke a bit awkwardly. Whatever had made him flinch earlier was causing him to walk mostly on his left leg, and he had tucked his thumb a bit into his jammers to possibly relieve the irritation of cloth against aggravated skin. The Samezuka swimmer looked back at Rin, who had gone to speak with Ai and the Iwatobi boys. Curiosity shone in Sousuke's teal eyes, and unable to restrain himself, he walked to the locker room. Opening the door quietly, he could hear that one of the showers was on. He moved through an aisle of lockers, standing just behind the last row to see Haru. The younger boy was pulling his jammers down and off, very gingerly stepping out of them and tossing them onto a bench beside the clothes he was planning to wear. With his back to Sousuke, all the watching man could see was a few splotchy bruises on Haru's upper thighs and hips.

I guess Rin must be aggressive in bed… he mused, smiling ever so slightly. The smile dropped immediately upon hearing Haru's gasp of pain as hot water rolled down his body. He had flinched away from the water, shaking slightly with agony and decided to turn so the water would run down his back instead.

Sousuke tried not to stare, tried not to think about how Haru's body looked. So well-defined and beautiful… Heat rose in Sousuke's cheeks, and he felt a small shiver run up his spine. He could see why Rin enjoyed Haru so much.

But something caught Sousuke's attention on Haru. Slightly lower than his right hip, right where his jammers would just barely hid it, was dark red lines of scabbing cuts. Inside his hip, Sousuke could see that something was carved into Haru's skin. From where they were positioned, Sousuke couldn't tell how deep the wounds were, nor could he tell if they were particularly new. All he could see was that Haru was in a lot of pain.

/

Sousuke saw Haru standing beside his teammates, wearing a dark grey pair of sweatpants that hung low enough for the other to be sure Haru was not wearing anything underneath. His team jacket was on as well, but not zipped up.

"So Haru, are you coming over tonight?" Makoto was asking him, smiling his usual smile. Sousuke glanced around, attempting to catch sight of his redheaded best friend. He had some questions.

"I don't think so." Haru answered flatly. Makoto's green eyes dulled at his replied, and Nagisa whined.

"But Haru-chaaan! You never hang out with us anymore!" the blonde whimpered, pouting like a child. Haru looked up at the tallest of the group, something seeming to pass between them silently. The brunette raised his eyebrows at Haru, appearing to Sousuke that whatever Haru had been thinking was confusing.

"What is he saying?" Nagisa shouted, bouncing up and down on his toes while Rei sighed and adjusted his glasses.

"Nagisa-kun, clearly he does not want to share that with you." The blue haired boy answered. All he got was a light punch in the arm and Nagisa sticking his tongue out childishly.

"I'll text you later then, Haru. C'mon guys, let's get going." Makoto smiled at them and quickly ushered Nagisa and Rei from the building, walking side by side with them. Haru stood quietly, looking around slowly to try and spot his boyfriend.

"He left with Ai." Sousuke said, walking up to Haru quietly. The raven haired boy jumped a bit at the older's voice, shying away slightly.

"Okay." He replied and turned to the door, beginning to walk away. Sousuke watched him for a long moment, ultimately deciding against being a nice guy and walking him home. Haru could handle himself.