AHAHAHAHA I AM TRASH FOR TAKING SO LONG TO UPLOAD THIS AND I AM SO SORRY SO HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND MERRY NEW YEAR AND WHAT NOT TT^TT

I have been procrastinating on this for sooo long, and I didn't even mean too I just kept getting distracted. But here it is! The new chapter! I swear I will upload the next chapter earlier than this! I am sorry I will try to make sure this doesn't happen again! .

Disclaimer: Free! and it's characters do not belong to me and belong to the respected owners. I only own/made this story.

The days without Rin were long, school seemed to drag on forever. In total, Rin had been away for four days, Haruka only missing out on one of them. If not for Makoto, the grouchy teen would've happily missed out on all of them.

"School's important Haru! What would your parents think if you kept skipping school for no reason?"

Makoto repeated the same sentence for those four days, never failing to make Haruka groan, roll around, and throw the sheets off him before placing his feet on the cold, wooden floor to sloth around the house.

He had promised his parents he would try harder at school, a promise which he intended to keep. Even if Makoto did have to help by pushing, pulling and dragging him out of the house almost every day.

Haruka sat quietly at his desk, Makoto chatting away next to him. Usually he'd reply to the brunette by giving small, simple nods, but today he had to focus on staying awake. Every night had been restless, the only thing on his mind being Rin. He knew Rin had the common flu, it couldn't kill him, but Haruka had given him that flu, so the teen couldn't help but worry and feel guilty.

The bell to signal the end of homeroom wrung like it always did, Haruka looking around before sighing, rubbing the side of his neck and preparing to move to his first class. Today would signal the fifth day of Rin being away, something Haruka couldn't even have imagined.

The redhead was so enthusiastic about school. Well, enthusiastic wasn't exactly the right word. More like he prioritised it over everything, even his own health. He also counted swimming as a school activity instead of a hobby, unlike Haruka. Rin was one of the top ten smartest students in every single one of his classes, so missing five days, almost a whole week, was unheard of for the redhead.

As Haruka was in home economics, chopping up potatoes for a curry he was assigned to make, the classroom door opened. Everyone turned to see a grinning redhead walk into the classroom. Blue eyes were wide as they set on Rin, but before he could say anything the teacher stepped in front of the redhead.

"Why are you in my classroom?" she asked, arms crossed in an angry manner.

Rin didn't say anything, just handed her a note. The teacher quickly snatched it off him, reading it once, twice, then nodding and telling him to get to work. There was a silence as they watched him walk over next to Haruka, the teacher snapping her head around and making everyone get back to their cooking.

There was no greeting as Rin took out a chopping board and began cooking, Haruka attempting to get back to his own work while trying to avoid eye contact. He was completely overjoyed that Rin was here, in his classroom, right next to him, but he couldn't show it. He doubted that even half of the class knew he could show emotion, that and the teacher was a dragon ready to set the room ablaze.

"Haruka-" Rin spoke, making the knife said teen was holding slip and almost chop his finger off.

A loud thump sound occurred when metal slammed against wood, making heads turn in the swimmer's direction. Rin's eyes were wide as he stared at the raven haired teen, realising Haruka looked like a jittery little mouse.

"Are you alright?" the redhead asked, making Haruka tense and quickly get back to chopping.

"I-it was just a surprise for you to turn up out of the blue like that…"

Rin smiled and shrugged "Well, I didn't expect to be moved to your class. They moved me because we have a few new students, so my classroom became packed and someone had to move out. Although when I saw you, I was a bit shocked-"

A pained gasp stopped Rin's sentence short as he was whacked over the head with a clipboard, making every student stifle a giggle, including Haruka.

"I heard you were a good student, Matsuoka." the teacher snarled "Don't push your luck with me just because you're top ten in every class, I'll be watching you closely."

The redhead went straight back to cooking, muttering a silent apology as the teacher slowly walked away from him.

"Jeez, picky teacher." Rin complained, Haruka cracking a small smile.

"I suggest you shut your mouth, unless you want to lose your head."

A light sneer was heard "Yeah, yeah. Anyway I'm glad you're in this class, I wanted to talk to you…"

Blue eyes widened "T-talk to me?" The redhead gave a small nod, Haruka raising a hand to rub the side of his neck "W-what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Well I can't really…" Rin started, turning towards Haruka and freezing on the spot.

"Can't really-" Haruka was about to ask, only to be cut off.

"You're bleeding."

An eyebrow raised "Huh?"

"I said you're bleeding!" Rin repeated, gaining both the teacher's and student's attention "On your finger, there's blood everywhere! How did you not feel that?"

Haruka moved his hand to be in view, inspecting the bloody finger. Now that Rin mentioned it, it did sting a little.

"M-Matsuoka," the teacher stuttered, her face pale white "take Nanase to the office and get him bandaged up."

Rin was about to argue against it but felt a light bulb switch in the last second and responded with a small nod, taking Haruka's arm to lead him out the room. Haruka had a mind to tug against the redhead, but decided there was no need to as he was dragged down the hall.

It was silent while the two of them walked, the only sound being the clacking of shoes on the hard ground. A line of blood dribbled down from Haruka's finger, the cut wasn't big but it was deep, deep enough to gush out endless amounts of blood. However, it didn't need two people to aid it.

"Rin, you can go back to class." Haruka spoke.

The redhead said nothing, instead just tightened his grip on Haruka's arm and continued to drag him down the hallway. Their steps became faster and faster, Haruka now being literally pulled by Rin as the redhead walked at a hurried pace.

"Rin, let go." Haruka demanded, trying to keep up with the other teen's speed. It felt like Rin was about to break into a sprint, and if that did happen then Haruka most definitely wouldn't be able to keep up. That was actually something Haruka was jealous of, Rin's powerful legs. They'd always give him a rocketing speed when pushing off the wall while turning during freestyle.

Wait, now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. Right now Haruka was being physically pulled down the hall with a bloodied, and Rin still hadn't said a word to him.

"Rin, let go! Stop dragging me!" the raven haired teen demanded once more, now trying to get out of the strong grip.

Rin's feet came to a sudden halt, Haruka stopping just in time before crashing into him. The smaller teen turned to see they were standing in front of a door, a door that read Sick Bay.

The redhead opened the door and looked around the room while asking "Anyone here?" before deeming they were the only two in the room. Without a second thought Rin pushed Haruka towards one of the beds, slid the door shut, and turned towards him.

Crimson eyes bored into blue, the two of them staying like this for a while. Haruka's palms began to sweat as he realised they were the only two in the room, the ticking of the clock suddenly becoming incredibly loud.

Finally breaking the silence, Haruka raised a hand to his neck and stuttered "R-Rin, y-you should go back to class. The cut isn't that bad anyway…"

Said teen's eyes finally altered, then blinked. He quickly turned his head and raised his hand to comb fingers through red hair while letting out a long sigh "I said I wanted to talk to you, so I thought now would be a good time. I just…I have to get over it and tell you."

"Tell me…what?" Haruka asked, the redhead now walking towards him.

Rin stopped a few inches short of the smaller teen, blue eyes wide as Haruka was stared at intensely "This is something I've been meaning to tell you for a while, so I can't wait any more."

Haruka began to inwardly panic, wondering what he should do in a situation like this. Whatever Rin was about to say, he had to carefully respond with the right words. If not, then Rin could be hurt, or even offended, and that would lead to more bickers and fights. Something Haruka wouldn't be able to handle.

"R-Rin are you sure now is a good time? Because you should really be getting back to class and-"

"Haru!" Rin cut him off, gripping the smaller teen's shoulders and continuing to stare into him with eyes like fire.

Rin's lips were trembling, his ears a bright red. It looked like the words were there, but they were trapped behind locked lips. The more Rin tried to open them, the tighter the grip on Haruka's shoulders were.

"Haruka, I-I…" the redhead began stuttering out, Haruka now paralysed to the spot. Rin was so nervous that it began affecting the raven haired teen as well, making Haruka wonder what was so important that made both of them freeze.

Haruka could feel Rin shaking "I…I...!" he stuttered once more, repeating the same word over and over like a broken record.

"What? I what?!" Haruka wanted to shout out, his patience wearing thin. Time was ticking, and if Rin didn't hurry this up their teacher would be on both of their backs. Haruka thought maybe he should give the broken record a small kick to set it running again, but before he could, Rin finally blurted something out.

"I've always admired you!"

"Huh?"

"I said I've…I've always admired you!"

Blue eyes were blank, and Rin's face was redder than Haruka had ever seen. Surely that wasn't it, surely there was more, right? But the way Rin was looking at him said otherwise.

"That's…is that all?" Haruka subconsciously asked.

Rin's eyes widened "Sorry?"

"I-I said, is that all?"

There was a pause, Rin's hands now loosening their tight grip on Haruka's shoulders.

"Uh, yeah. I'm pretty sure that's all."

Haruka's face dropped, he felt disappointed for unknown reasons. It felt like Rin was building him up to something, just to have it topple over at the end. However, in truth, the redhead was inwardly slapping himself. That wasn't what he'd planned to say at all, and now Haruka probably thought he was some weirdo.

"Admired, really?" Rin thought bitterly "Come on, you can do better than that! Why not just say it?...but why is it so hard to say?!"

A calming voice suddenly broke the redhead's thoughts "That's nice to know."

"Yeah I know I'm an…wait, huh?"

Crimson eyes shifted to the smaller teen, a smile on his face that looked almost angelic.

"If you seriously mean the always, then I guess even when you were in Australia, you admired me?" Haruka stated, Rin almost taken aback.

"U-uh, yeah, that'd be right…"

"And even when you go back to Australia, will you still admire me?"

Rin's mind was in a daze. He had expected Haruka to brush him off and make him leave after saying such a stupid thing, but instead the teen was giving him a lust filled gaze.

"Y-yeah, of course!"

Haruka let out a light huff, sounding almost like a small laugh "Well that's reassuring to know, because as long as you admire me, it lets me know that you won't forget about me."

The redhead stood still, his eyes fixated on Haruka. His mind was still in a fog, but he had to try and clear it.

"Of course I won't forget you…where did you get that idea from?"

Another small huff "I don't know, I just thought with all the competition around you in Australia, you'll no longer have any time to think about me. I mean, not that I want you to think about me! But just…to remember me I guess…"

As Rin continued to stare at the raven haired teen, the fog in his mind began to clear. Haruka was still completely unsure of Australia, and why wouldn't he be? Rin felt like ripping his hair out, of course he was stupid enough to think Haruka was now completely fine with it. That's why Haruka didn't brush off his stupid comment, because his stupid comment meant something. That stupid comment made Haruka feel just that little bit safer about Rin going to Australia.

So, with slightly watery eyes and an annoyed frown, Rin grabbed Haruka's hands and said "I could never forget about you! Haruka, I guarantee that for the rest of my life I will never forget you! Ever since I met you at that tournament when we were kids I couldn't forget about you! You're the reason I transferred to Iwatobi back then in the first place! You're the reason I'm here now! And the reason I could never forget about you is because I-"

Rin choked, his eyes wide as he tried to let out those words that felt heavier than concrete.

"Because you…?" Haruka questioned, hands still tightly held by Rin.

"Because I've always admired you, and that will never change! I will never stop admiring you!"

Haruka's eyes shone for a split second before going back to their beautiful blue colour "Alright, I believe you. You should probably go back to class as well, or the teacher will start getting suspicious."

The redhead gave Haruka a small nod before turning around, but suddenly stopped as if remembering something and turned back to Haruka.

"Ah, one more thing."

Before Haruka could question it, Rin grabbed the teen's shoulders once more and leaned in, giving Haruka a quick peck on the lips.

"See ya! Make sure you get that finger bandaged." Rin waved, turning around and walking out the door.

Haruka didn't have time to say goodbye, or more like he couldn't say goodbye. He was paralysed on the spot, his lips still tingling after Rin's kiss. What even was that? Where did it come from? He has kissed Rin before, but they were always really passionate. It wasn't anything as chaste or soft as that. It was so gentle that it took him by surprise, making his heart rapidly beat and his face turn blood red.

It was one thing to be flustered by a passionate, sloppy kiss, but it was another thing to be even more flustered by something as small as a peck on the lips. Haruka didn't want to be in love, he really didn't, but the way his heart was racing said otherwise.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Rin was on his knees with his head in his hands, regretting what he had just done.

It felt so natural, and he had the strongest urge to do it, but they'd never done anything like that before. He barely gets away with the long kisses he usually shares with Haruka, let alone stealing small kisses during the day. If he did that then Haruka would definitely realise Rin loves him and doesn't see him as something as absurd as a fuck buddy…although that's what Rin wanted Haruka to realise.

Well whatever, he wasn't ready to confess and there was nothing he could do about that. All Rin knew was he had to confess to Haruka sometime before going to Australia, even if he nailed it down to the last second. While he was in this country, while he was standing on Japanese soil, he would confess to Haruka. Even if he had to choke the words out…he just had to find the right time.

"God, I am such an idiot." Rin mumbled to himself, beginning to stand on his shaky legs "…but I'm an idiot who's hopelessly in love."

…

"What? You had to go to sick bay!"

Haruka winced as Makoto yelled straight into his ear, their usual pleasant walk home feeling louder and more energetic, mostly because Makoto never yelled.

"You could have cut your finger off, you're lucky you didn't! Was it Rin's fault for distracting you?"

"Calm down, Makoto." Haruka sighed, rubbing his neck "It was only a scratch, I didn't cut my finger off, and it wasn't Rin's fault. Also, no, there wasn't much blood, as I know you're going to ask. I even have a bandage around my finger."

To prove his point, Haruka lifted his hand up for Makoto to see. The brunette made a worried expression as he stared at it, eyes shifting from Haruka to his finger.

Eventually, Makoto sighed and hesitantly muttered "…alright" before the two of them began walking again.

This wasn't good, this wasn't good for Makoto at all. Not only did Rin and Haruka plan to spend as much time as possible with each other, but now it seemed even god was pushing them together. However, Makoto didn't believe in petty things like fate, and he planned to make his move incredibly soon. He just needed the time, the place, and no Rin.

"Hey, Haruka," said teen turned around to see the brunette's angelic smile "can I come over to your place next Sunday, for study notes?"

Haruka raised an eyebrow "Do you even have to ask? Of course you can. Although Rin might be coming over that day as well too-"

"NO!" Haruka jumped as Makoto practically screamed, his green eyes looking darker than usual.

Makoto blinked once, then twice, and his normal soft expression appeared "I-I mean…no. I would prefer it if Rin wasn't there…for once."

The raven haired teen stared at his friend for a while, wondering why he was acting so strange. But Haruka decided to shrug it off and agreed with Makoto's conditions.

Makoto had to hold in a relieved sigh, putting a hand to his chest. His mask almost broke there for a second, and Haruka wasn't supposed to see what was under it.

"What do you want to study for anyway?" Haruka asked, taking Makoto by surprise.

"U-uh…science, mostly. There's something I can't get my head around."

The smaller teen nodded and raised a hand to his neck, rubbing it slightly.

Makoto's head tilted as he watched his friend do this "You've been touching your neck all day, do you have a rash or something?"

Haruka flinched, his cheeks going slightly red as he quickly dropped his hand "No…not really."

Green eyes gave the teen a hard stare, trying to read him. But for some reason he seemed unreadable, like he had been for a while now.

Makoto clicked his tongue as he turned away, he really needed to make his move, and soon.

I am really going to enjoy writing these next few chapters...eheheheheh.

Also this story will be ending soon, just a little heads up! So I hope you are enjoying every chapter to the fullest!

Thanks for reading! (and thank you for still sticking with this story)