A/N: So I really, really like Rin in season 2 of Free! He seemed like such a different person from season 1. Anyway, I was inspired to write a Free! Fiction after watching it. I'm still not sure if I should leave it as a one shot or continue it. I hope you guys enjoy this! Enjoy, read, review, follow, favourite! xxx

Disclaimer: I do not own Free!

She truly didn't think she would come to like him. It was like he changed into a different person overnight. Where he was sullen, morose, closed up and looked slightly violent before, he was now actually pretty decent and nice, a word she would never have associated with him months ago. He has gotten calmer as well not prone to violent outburst like he used to. In fact when presented with the 'new' him, she was understandably wary. Everyone else was quick to accept him back into the group like nothing has happened. But she wasn't as forgiving as the rest, he not only hurt her friends but her boyfriend as well. She had started going out with Haru shortly after the school year started. Haru, Makoto, Nagisa and even Rei might have forgotten what a prick he was but she wouldn't forget so easily lest he hurt her friends again. Which was why she was in a bad mood. Everyone had decided to come over to her house including Gou and they were just getting ready to start a movie when the doorbell rang. Being a good host, she got up to answer the door only to be confronted by the one person she wanted to see the least. Matsuoka Rin.

"Hey," he greeted.

She stood there, still not letting him in,"What are you doing here?"

"Ah, I'm sorry I forgot to inform you. I invited Rin along," she heard Makoto said from behind her.

"Fine," she said, opening to the door wider to let him in. If he knew she disliked him, he didn't let it show.

She walked back to the couch and sat next to Haru. He looked up for second and turned away, his hand brushing hers lightly. An imperceptible smile on his face. He was aloof and mostly very quiet, which in most people's opinion, made him a bad boyfriend. She doesn't disagree but she can't help who she fell in love with.

Nagisa started the movie and all of them settled down to watch the movie. She used this time to observe Rin, whom she considered an intruder in her home. He was sitting with Makoto and Gou and he seemed relaxed and genuinely enjoying himself. It wasn't like she hated him, just cautious.

"Are you enjoying the movie? Wanna come up to my bedroom?" she whispered to Haru with a blush on her face. When it comes to Haru, she was constantly forced to be the initiative one. If it was left to him, nothing will change, they might as well be friends.

"It's okay. I quite like the movie," he said, eyes glued to the television. Did she mentioned that Haru is also as thick as a block of wood? She fumed inwardly when she noticed Rin looking at her with a tiny smirk on his face. He must have heard their conversation. She felt her face burned in embarrassment and humiliation at the thought of Rin witnessing her rejection from Haru.

She stood up in huff, making her way to the kitchen. It really was frustrating sometimes when Haru acted all clueless. And then there was that niggling thought that maybe he wasn't clueless, he just couldn't be bothered with her. After all, she was the one who confessed to him first. Maybe he just didn't know how to say no. She sighed, there isn't any point in dwelling on the issue.

"He's just really clueless when it comes to things like that. Doesn't mean he doesn't care."

She jumped slightly, shocked by the sudden intrusion. She turned to see Rin leaning against the table, eyes averted. "Yeah. I know."

"Do you?" he shifted, the full weight of his gaze on her.

She shrugged.

"Well, believe it or not. It's up to you." He walked out, leaving her to stew in what he had just said.

That was probably the first chip on the walls that she'd built against Matsuoka Rin. Little did she know, it would crumbled soon after.

She swore she would be patient. She knew getting into the relationship that water and swimming would always be Haru's number one priority. In fact, she's even contented with letting Makoto and the rest take the number two spot as long as she was in top five. But was it too much to ask that he gets out of the damn pool just once to celebrate her birthday with her? She was going to buy herself a birthday cake and gorged on it to drown her sorrows. She deliberated on buying a pint of chocolate ice cream as well. After all, there's a reason why it's called comfort food.

"Hey." It was Rin.

"Oh, it's you," she said, continuing to grab various other snacks.

"Having a party?" he looked pointedly at the food in her cart.

"Yes, and you're not invited."

He looked confused,"Eh... But I just got a call from Makoto to join them at the pool."

"They're not invited either. I'm throwing a pity party for myself," she said, still not looking at him.

He sighed,"Are you alright? Do you want me to call Haru?" He looked uncomfortable, like he didn't know how he should act.

She gestured no with a wave. "I don't want to see him nor speak to him." She continued on her mission to stuff herself silly with food. After a while, she wasn't sure when, Rin left her alone.

After paying for her things, she lugged the bags out of the mall, surprised to see Rin standing outside. When he saw her, he made his way towards her, throwing her a small plastic bag.

"What's in it?" she peered into the bag cautiously. It was one of those cheap, plastic tiara made for children. "What am I supposed to do with this?" she asked, bemused.

"It's for you to wear to your pity party. You look miserable."

"I am miserable. Don't you know that the whole point of a pity party is to wallow in your own misery?" she said snottily with her nose in the air.

"Pfffttt... Have fun at your party. I'll try getting Haru to see some sense." He paused for a while as if deciding if he should continue,"Happy birthday, princess."

She didn't tell him it was her birthday and he left before she could even formulate a reply.

She felt the walls crumbled further.

It was one of those days when it was too cold to swim and Haru, Rin and her were all huddled in Makoto's room. Rin and Haru were playing video games, Makoto was trying to finish his homework and she was lying on the bed flipping through a magazine. After a while she got restless, looking at the progress of the game Rin and Haru were playing. She noticed that Haru was at a slight disadvantaged, lagging behind Rin slightly. With a glint in her eyes, she leaped unto Rin's back, her arms went around him to wrestle the game console away from him. She laughed as he tried pulling the console away from her.

"Oi, oi, this is cheating!" Rin complained, twisting away from her as she clung to him. With a frustrated sigh he turned around, abandoning his game console and started tickling her.

"O-okay-y... I-I give uppp... Ss-stop it," she laughed while he continued his assault until a light cough from Makoto snapped them out of their game. They jumped apart as if just realizing the compromising position they were in.

"Tch...That will teach you to mess with me," Rin said, picking up his console again, eyes not meeting hers.

She stuck her tongue out at him. She saw Haru looking at her with an inscrutable look on his face before his arm shot out and grabbed her arm to pull her closer to him. "Mine," he said apathetically. She felt herself flushed in embarrassment and wondered why on top of the joy she felt at Haru being possessive, she felt slightly annoyed as well.

Unbeknownst to her, the walls were already almost halfway down.

Her heart was in her throat and she raced down the stands, where she was sitting, to the pool. She felt like her lungs were going to burst out of her chest. The boys were just getting out of the pool and were fooling around and she saw Nagisa accidentally hit Rin and she saw him slipped and she thought she saw him knocked his head on the edge of the pool. By the time she got there Rin was already sitting up, one hand rubbing the side of his head.

"Oh my God, a-are you okay?" she asked, still breathless from her sprint to the poolside.

"I'm fine. I managed to break my fall before any real damage could be done," he looked at her taking in her dishelved appearance.

"Rinnn! I'm sorry," Nagisa wailed.

She visibly relaxed, sagging against the wall. "Kyou-chan! Your hand is bleeding," Gou said, rushing to her side.

"Oh, I must have scratched it against the side of the chairs when I was running down here," she said.

Rin made a move towards her but Haru got there before him ,"Idiot. Look what you've done," he looked at her hand, sighing.

"Ah, Haru, I brought bandages," Makoto said, coming back with the emergency kit.

"It's fine. It's just a small cut," she said

Haru ignored her and proceeded to wrap her left hand up. Rin was looking at her with an unreadable expression on his face and she found that she could not hold his stare.

"Thanks," she said quietly to Haru after he was done with bandaging her hand.

He just nodded in response.

When everyone was heading to the locker room, Rin slowed down to walk next to her. "Thanks."

"For what?" she looked at him confused.

"You were worried weren't you?" he said and made a move to grab her injured hand. He held it gently, inspecting it before looking at her again. "I'm sorry about your hand."

"I-it's not your fault," she stammered. "And it's fine now. Haru did a good job bandaging it."

"Ahh. Still, thanks anyway," he said before hastening his pace to catch up with the rest, leaving her behind.

For the life of her, she couldn't figure out the seemingly sad look in Rin's eyes or why the idea of him being sad made her sad as well.

At that time, the walls were almost completely down to it's last few bricks.

Haru wasn't completely unaware of his surroundings. Contrary to popular beliefs, he doesn't just think about water and swimming all the time. For example, for the past few days he has been thinking about Kyou. He could feel her withdrawing from him little by little. And he's not oblivious to the reason why. He thought that it was partially his fault if not entirely. It was cliched but he should have paid her more attention or at the very least gave her an indication that he loved her as well. It was the thought of losing her that prompt him into being more verbal and less apathetic, although he seemed to be failing at that. He wondered if it was too late though as he looked over to the pool where she was sitting on the edge of. Rin was standing about 3 feet behind her and she had her upper body turned towards him, her head tilted up to look at him as he said something to make her laugh. As if feeling his gaze on her, she turned to him and smiled.

Smile, he told himself. But years of being stoic proved that habits were hard to break. He merely nodded and continued swimming. He didn't fail to notice the crestfallen expression on her face when she thought he was being brusque with her nor did he missed how her expression brightened up again when she turned to Rin.

He wondered if she realized that the walls she had built against Rin were completely demolished.