I really have no excuse for this. It's just fluff keeps dropping into my head and it demands to be written. And the world needs more Rin/Nitori. I ship them so hard. I ship everything and it's not good for my health. This can be interpreted as friendship or more.

Rin scoffed in irritation as he sat down with his teammates on the floor of the Samezuka Academy rec room. Seijuurou had decided it would be a good idea to hold a special event for "team bonding" and all the members of the swim team would watch a movie together. Rin really wasn't one for socializing or movies but had reluctantly agreed to attend when the captain had criticized him for not being a "team player", whatever that meant.

He sat silently in the edge of the room with his roommate, Nitori Aiichiro, dutifully at his side, shoveling popcorn into his mouth. The kid seemed to follow him around everywhere, which had annoyed Rin to no end at first, but eventually he had grown to tolerate or occasionally even like Nitori's presence.

Rin grunted. "When are they going to start it already? I have to be up early tomorrow."

Nitori, as usual, laughed and ignored Rin's temper. "They're starting it soon. Do you know what its supposed to be about."

Rin shrugged. "Some cheesy horror movie where an entire prom gets murdered or something. Stupid, if you ask me."

Nitori didn't respond and when Rin glanced at him the boy's popcorn had been discarded and his face had turned white. Rin raised an eyebrow in confusion and almost asked his kouhai if something was wrong. Almost. Instead, he rolled his eyes and went back to glaring at the back of Mikoshiba's head.

Once the movie finally started they hadn't even gotten through the dramatic music of the opening before Rin heard a gasp beside him. He looked over to see Nitori visibly shaking, eyes wide as saucers, with his swim jacket pulled up over his nose. Rin resisted the urge to laugh at the kid. He couldn't help but remember when his sister had insisted on watching one of the Halloween movies with him and his friends. She'd only made it through the first twenty minutes, but hadn't been able to go outside alone for a month.

"You okay, Ni?" he whispered. Nitori nearly jumped into the air, but offered Rin an uneasy smile.

"Yes, why would you ask?" Nitori replied. Rin might have believed him if he had been able to keep his voice steady or if his eyes weren't so comically large.

"You don't have to watch the movie if it scares you," Rin hissed back.

Nitori shook his head. "I'm fine. It's just a movie," he reassured.

Despite his words, Nitori clearly was terrified of the movie. He made it through the ten minutes of introduction with relative ease, but when a mysterious hand pulled the love interest's best friend into a bathroom stall he loudly shrieked. Rin tore his eyes away from the copious amount of blood now soaking the bathroom floor to look at his roommate. Nitori had pulled his swim jacket over his eyes and was covering his ears with his hands.

Rin sighed, but gently leaned over and pried Nitori's trembling hands away from his ears. "Nitori, it isn't worth it. You're not proving anything by forcing yourself to sit through this."

"It's okay, Matsuoka-senpai." Rin rolled his eyes at the younger boy. Clearly, he wasn't alright. He had tears forming in his eyes and was trembling like a leaf. Nevertheless, Rin decided to let it go. He shook his head in exasperation and went back to watching the movie.

Nitori made it through the next two brutal murders by covering his ears and his eyes as best he could, but when the mysterious murderer killed two kids by chopping their heads clean off in a moment of suspense he lost it. He screamed into his hands, stood up, and ran out of the room.

Rin watched him go, unsure if he should be concerned or amused. Several of his teammates looked at him in confusion, or to see if Nitori was okay, but Rin could only shrug. With a sigh, he pushed himself onto his feet. "I'll go see if he's alright," he told Mikoshiba as he left, not waiting for an answer. The older brother inside him needed to check to make sure Nitori hadn't injured himself in his panic. Somewhere deep in his subconscious he wondered when he had come to see Nitori at the same level as a sibling, but he ignored the thought and headed for the door. It was already dark when he walked outside and scanned the area for his roommate, unable to find him. Rin crossed his arms, confused. Nitori couldn't really have gotten very far. He considered continuing on when he heard some whimpering from behind a bush.

Rin resisted the urge to roll his eyes and as he pushed past the shrubs. Nitori cowered behind it, his face buried in his knees as he quivered.

"Hey, Ni, are you sure you're okay?" Rin asked, smirking. Nitori tensed and glanced up at him, face red from crying.

"Matsuoka-senpai, you didn't have to- I'm sorry... I just..." he babbled in embarrassment, his face heating up further.

Rin snickered. "Come on, I'll walk you back to our dorm," he responded, as he offered the younger boy a hand.

Nitori shook his head. "No, it's fine. I-I'll walk back by myself."

Rin raised an eyebrow. "You only made it about... ten feet before you resorted to cowering in the bushes," he pointed out.

Nitori scowled. "I-I stop teasing me!" he squeaked.

Rin laughed for real. "I didn't want to watch the stupid movie anyway. Now stop being stubborn and come on." Again he offered a hand, and, this time, Nitori hesitantly accepted it. Rin was a tad surprised when Nitori refused to let go, but didn't argue, instead allowing the boy to squeeze his hand like a lifeline.

They'd only gotten about five feet down the path before something darted by in Nitori's peripheral vision. He squealed and jumped behind Rin, shaking in terror. "It's a bird, Ni," Rin drawled, pointing to the gull standing under the streetlight.

Nitori laughed uneasily. "Oh, right..." he mumbled, but his grip on Rin's hand only tightened.

They hardly seemed to be able to walk at all without Nitori cowering because of something.

A gasp. "It's a car."

A loud squeak. "Are you seriously going to be afraid of a kitten?"

A muffled yelp. "Only a freaking rock."

A strangled cry. "Come on, Nitori, that's the third tree you've jumped at. Will you shut up? It's just a tree!" Rin hissed in frustration, finally losing his patience. Nitori looked shocked for a second and quickly rubbed at his eyes, trying to stop himself for crying. Rin's face softened and he sighed. He'd never been very good at showing... compassion or whatever.

Before Rin could figure out how to calm Nitori down a shadow appeared over his shoulder and Nitori outright screamed before hiding his face in Rin's shirt, holding onto his senpai like his life depended on it. Rin glanced at the path to reveal a very confused second year.

"Is everything okay?" the kid asked uncertainly.

Rin sighed as he tried to pry Nitori off of him. "We're fine," he called back to the poor second year, who looked afraid that Nitori was being assaulted.

Nitori finally seemed to come to his senses and awkwardly let go of Rin. "Um... sorry," he said, a very unconvincing smile on his face.

The second year eyed them warily, but continued on his way.

Once he was out of earshot Rin grabbed Nitori by the shoulders. "You have to calm down."

"S-sorry, Matsuoka-senpai. I don't like horror movies much."

Rin snickered. "I never would have guessed," he drawled. "Look, I promise that if any murderer does show up I'll chase him off so he kills me instead of you. Happy?"

Nitori chuckled lightly. "Uh... thanks," he mumbled, embarrassed. Rin took his hand again and they managed to get all the way back to the dorm without further major incidents.

Nitori was still jumpy while he got ready to sleep. When Rin flipped the lights off for just a second he squeaked. Rin recalled how after the whole Halloween incident Kou had needed to sleep with a nightlight for months. So, while Nitori was in the bathroom, he found an nightlight ap on his phone and set it on the nightstand. It was probably unnecessary, but he could sleep like dead through pretty much anything. When Nitori walked out of bathroom he seemed relieved by the slight source of light, but silently crawled into his bunk.

"Thanks for putting up with me, Matsuoka-senpai," Nitori said softly, after a little while.

"No problem," Rin grumbled into his pillow.

"Sorry I got so afraid. I know it's sort of ridiculous."

Rin snorted. "Nah, I thought it was kind of cute."

Nitori squeaked. "Don't tease me like that!"

Rin rolled his eyes. "Just shut up and go to bed."

However, that appeared to be easier said than done. Nitori spent the next half hour rolling around in panic. Rin listened to his erratic breathing, knowing that even with the night light he was probably still imagining some murderer waiting in every shadow. Eventually, Rin decided it had gone on too long.

"Nitori," he called, his voice louder than intended. He heard the boy jump above him.

"Matsuoka-senpai! I'm sorry, did I keep you up?"

Rin breathed heavily. "Get down here."

"What?"

"Just come on."

Still confused, Nitori obediently climbed out of his bunk to find that Rin had scooted over in his bed.

"What-?" Nitori repeated.

"Lay down," Rin commanded.

"But..."

"It's not like it's actually a big deal. Neither of us is going to get any sleep if you can't just calm down," Rin grunted. It was a bit of a lie. He could sleep through pretty much anything. Nitori didn't need to know that, though. "Maybe you'll feel better knowing any person who came here to murder you would have to take me out first."

Nitori was blushing furiously, but climbed over Rin and laid down beside him. It was a little awkward. The bed was too small for them to sleep without touching. However, Rin didn't seem to mind much. He lay with his back to Nitori, reminded of all the nights during his childhood when he allowed his sister to sleep under his protection after she awoke him in tears over a nightmare.

Nitori spent a few minutes staring at the wall in embarrassment. Eventually though, the sound of Rin's even breathing calmed him. The shadows in the corner of the room didn't seem quite as terrifying when he had someone as intimidating as Rin looking out for him. Semi-conscious, he rolled over and pressed his face into Rin's back, the sound of his friend's steady heartbeat lulling him to sleep.

Shameless fluff. I just love protective older brother Rin so much and I feel like he'd apply his overprotective ways to Nitori too. I'm really nervous for college and so I write countless fluffy oneshots to help myself feel better. Smart. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Does anyone else ship Rin/Nitori too or is it just me?