Part 1 - The Boy at the Waterfall

Haru was 9 years old when he met the boy by the waterfall.

He had gone out exploring, following the stream behind his house further and further into the bushes. He had lost sight of the house a while ago, but as long as he stayed with the stream, he'd be able to find his way back.

It was a lot quieter here than back at Haru's house and the boy wished he could live out here, near the stream. It'd be fun, he thought, living in the forest, hunting for food, sleeping in the trees and using the stream for water. The boy paused; would he find any mackerel in the stream? If not, Haru seriously needed to reconsider his plan. There was no way he'd be able to live without his mom's mackerel.

The sound of rushing water pulled Haru back from his thoughts and the boy's eyes widened in realisation as he rushed forward. Sure enough, Haru found what he was looking for. The waterfall was huge (or as big as it could be to a 9 year old), water rushing down forming a pool that Haru was sure he'd be able to swim in. He wasted no time, stripping down to his boxers and dove in.

It seemed like he'd only been swimming a few minutes when he heard the voice call, "Hey, you're pretty good!"

Haru blinked, craning his neck to see where the voice had come from.

"I'm up here!"

Looking up, he could see the boy in shorts at the top of the waterfall. The boy flashed him a brilliant grin before climbing the waterfall, gripping the stones jutting out as he ambled down.

"You know, this is my secret place," The boy was saying, still grinning, "But since you're such a good swimmer, I'll let you off. But you have to pinky promise, never, ever to tell anyone,"

Haru found himself nodding, and the boy hooked his pinky around his, "I promise,"

"My name's Rin," The boy puffed out his chest, pointing at himself with his thumb, "I haven't seen you around; are you new?"

"Yeah," He looked down at the water, "I'm Haru,"

"Haru," Rin repeated, "Want to be friends?"

Written for RinHaru Week 2014

Prompt: Canon (Eternal) – Red (Like the thread that ties us)