Rin wandered the beach, forlorn and lonely. Swimming, it wasn’t the same as it had been. All those times with Haru and the others seemed so far away. Here, the sport he once loved was drowning him, and it was all he could do to gasp for air. Kicking a rock he sighed and looked at the sun. Tomorrow he would have to swim again, tomorrow he would fail, again.
“Sorry, did you drop this?”
He turned around, a girl was
looking at him holding out his hat. “I found it on the sand a while back and
you’re the only one out here…” she continued, a bright smile on her face.
He took his hat wordlessly and
placed it on his head, casting his eyes in shadow.
Her grin faltered, “you ok?” she
asked.
He turned away and resumed
walking. He felt sand move around his ankles and saw that she had caught up to
him and was walking beside him, the grin back on her face.
“You’re not from around here are
you? Me neither, where are you from?”
He looked at here angrily, he
wasn’t out here to chat, why was she following him?
“Not a talker huh? That’s ok, I
can talk enough for the both of us. My name’s Annabelle, most people call me
Anna though. What about you? Got a name?”
He ignored her again.
“Whatever Rin, I saw it on the
inside of your hat. That’s a pretty cool name, not many people around here have
the name Rin, so what did you come to Australia for?”
“….”
“Not answering again? You’re a
tough one to crack I’ll give you that! I’m here to work on my diving. The
waters in England were too cold to work in the water all year round, so I
thought, hey, Australia! It’s always warm there! And boy was I right, I can
practice diving whenever I want now! I was just on my way there actually, want
to join me? I can teach you how to dive.”
“I know how to dive!” He snapped
then cursed himself for falling to his pride.
“So you’re a swimmer then?
Perfect! Want to dive with me?”
“Tch, I have better things to
do.”
“If you say so, I’ll see you
later Rin!”
He watched her wave at him and
run away, skirting around a rock bed and then she was out of sight.
The next day
“Well hello Rin, fancy seeing you
again!”
Rin groaned, why did she have to
pick this beach? This was the only good one near where he lived, she could
probably go anywhere in Australia, why this beach?
She plopped down in the sand
beside him and proceeded to bury her feet beneath the hot grains.
“So what are you up to today?”
She asked.
“I’m busy.” He grumbled back.
“Doing what?”
“Minding my own business, you
should try it sometime.”
She laughed, and as her laugh
died down she spoke again. “I bet you’ve got a sibling. A brother or sister,
probably younger than you. Am I right?”
Rin turned his head to her, how
did she know about Gou?
She however, wasn’t looking at
him, but out to the open sea. “I bet they always want to play with you, I bet
they admire you. I’ve got a brother, but he’s older, he’s a high-schooler, and
he’s always busy doing work and projects. I know that he’s busy, but
sometimes…. I just get a bit lonely….” She chuckled and then shook her head,
“Oh well, that’s life I suppose. I’ll see you later Rin!” He was sprayed with
sand as she ran off again, but he didn’t mind as much.
She was lonely too. His swimming
had taken a nosedive, but what he missed most of all was swimming with his
friends back in Japan. He understood her better now, they were the same. She
was a tad more annoying, but down inside, their hearts were the same.
The next day it rained, and the
day after, and the day after that. He wasn’t allowed to go outside, and after
being caught in one attempt he was kept under a watchful gaze. When the rain
finally cleared he ran out to the beach and sat there, waiting.
After a while of her not showing
up he decided to look for her. He followed the path she had taken on their
first meeting and came to a cliff face.
“RIN! HI RIN!” He looked up and
there she was, stood on one of the outcroppings, very high up.
“COME DOWN, IT’S DANGEROUS!” He
called back.
He watched her give him a thumbs
up and then step back, and take a running jump off the ledge.
“NOOOOO!” He yelled, rushing into
the water to get to where she had disappeared. He was almost there when she
popped to the surface, grinning that grin of hers.
“What was that!?” He yelled, “you
could have died!”
She looked at him confused, “I
told you Rin, I’m a diver. Come on, I’ll teach you.”
Exasperated he followed her,
curious, yet determined to never allow her to jump from a cliff again.
One year later
“Sup my brother?”
Rin chuckled, “never say that
again.”
“What? You think I can’t be
gangster? Trust me, I can be gangster.”
He grinned, looking out at the
waves of the ocean. The sun was just about to rise and he had wanted, well, he
didn’t know what he wanted. Today was his birthday, and he wished he could
spend it with Haru and the others back in Japan. In a spurt of loneliness he
had texted Annabelle to join him at the beach, despite the early hour. She had
shown up just as he knew she would, just as she always did.
“Wanna go in?” she asked.
He looked at her questioningly.
“The ocean, you’re staring at it,
just go swimming already.”
He shook his head, “I don’t have
my trunks with me.”
“So?” Her mouth had slid up in a
teasing grin. She leaned closer and whispered in his ear, “live a little.” She
stood and walked slowly towards the water, removing clothing as she went. Rin
couldn’t take his eyes off her, he had seen her in a bikini tons of times, but
something about this being her actual undergarments made the situation take a
whole new turn for him. Her feet were stood in the water and her golden hair
was cascading down her back. She sent him a mischievous look over her shoulder.
“Coming
Rin?” She called. He snapped out of his daze and stood, ripping off his clothes
down to his boxers and rushed in after her. He splashed her and she shrieked,
he laughed, all loneliness forgotten.
3
months later
“You
didn’t dress up!” One of his friends exclaimed. “This is a Halloween party and you
didn’t dress up!”
“Of
course he did, look at him, he’s peter pan!” Another friend piped up.
Hs friends stared at him, and
then shrugged and accepted the idea. He hadn’t meant to be peter pan,
truthfully he hadn’t dressed up at all, but the red hair and green shirt
combination must have been enough. He accepted a beer and sat on a couch,
joining in the conversation. His phone vibrated,
Annabelle: Where is this party again?
Rin: At the academy, where are you? I told you to text me when you were
close.
Annabelle: I am close, really close.
Rin: how close?
Annabelle: Front doors.
Rin: It’s in the dorms, and you don’t have an access code, come around
the side of the building.
Annabelle: …… Coming…….
Annabelle: Alright, I assume it’s the window with the lights and the
music…. And the rope hanging from the window…. Rin do you expect me to climb
that?
Rin: it’s not that far.
Annabelle: it’s three stories.
Rin: it’s not like heights are a big deal to you, you’re a diver.
Annabelle: I’m in a dress.
Rin: you actually dressed up for Halloween?
Annabelle: No, but I am a girl remember? I am allowed to wear dresses.
Rin: Is there anyone standing at the bottom of the ladder?
Annabelle: No.
Rin: Then there’s no one to sneak a peek up your skirt, quit being a
baby and get up here!
He didn’t get another response so
he looked at the rest of his swimming friends and motioned to the window.
“No way!”
“She’s actually climbing?”
“I didn’t think she’d actually do
it!”
“Man Rin, your girl’s got balls,
you should bring her around more often.”
Rin rolled his eyes, “she’s just
a friend.” He held out his hand and his friends grudgingly handed over the
money from their lost bet.
A hand grasped the inside of the
window frame and he saw a blond bun outside the window. He walked over and held
out a hand, helping her inside. She straightened her clothes and looked at him,
“this had better be one hell of a party.”
He chuckled and introduced him to
the rest of the swimmers.
“Are you Tinkerbelle?” a girl
asked.
“Tinkerbelle? No, why would you
think that?” Annabelle responded.
“Well Rin is peter pan right? And
you’re in a dress and you’ve got your hair in a bun, so you must be
Tinkerbelle! That’s so cute that you dressed as a couple!”
Annabelle rolled her eyes, “Do I
have to leave if I’m not in costume?”
“YES!” the girl exclaimed.
Annabelle held her hands up in
surrender, “alright, Tinkerbelle it is.”
Six months later
“Tink? Tink?” Rin whispered.
After that Halloween he had taken to calling Annabelle Tink, for Tinkerbelle.
“Rin?” He heard her whisper back.
He silently swam over to where she was. Today was her birthday, and his friends
had hosted a party for her. They had taken a liking to her after Halloween and
insisted that they do this for her. After quite a few drinks, the notorious game
of truth of dare had ensued, and brought Annabelle and Rin to their current
predicament. Skinny dipping in the private pool of one of the houses in the
wealthy part of town. With a picture to prove it.
“Ready to run?” He whispered.
She nodded, adrenaline was
coursing through both of them. The thing was, it was so dark they would need
flash to take their picture, which would alert the owner of the house that
there were people in his pool. Annabelle collected their pile of clothes on the
ledge behind them and positioned them so that the camera on her phone would
include Rin, herself, and the pile of clothes.
“3, 2, 1.” The camera flashed and
the two of them hoisted themselves out of the pool, grabbed half of the clothes
each, and without pausing to dress launched themselves over the back fence and
into the forest beyond.
“Never, doing that again.” Rin
said laughing.
“Agreed, now let’s get these
clothes sorted out, you have anything of mine? Here’s your shirt.” She threw
his shirt in his general direction. They had absolutely no light so they
couldn’t see a thing. He felt around the pile of clothes he had in his hands,
he felt his boxers and put them on, and the shirt Annabelle had thrown at him,
and then as he felt his jeans his hands brushed across something else,
something silky and… his face exploded in a blush.
“Rin… you don’t happen to have
my-”
He held out his hand, holding her
panties and felt her take them from him.
He heard her place the other
clothes on the ground and heard the skim of silk as she pulled the panties up
her legs. He heard the click as she clipped her bra, and then he put on his
jeans as loudly as he could to stop himself from imagining anything else. Sure
she was just a friend, but he was still a man.
Three months later
He heard banging. His roommate
groaned, “Rin if that’s your girlfriend here for a snog-”
“I told you, she’s not my
girlfriend, and we don’t snog.”
“Whatever.” He pulled his
blankets over his head and turned to face the wall, then as if on second
thought, he got up and left, taking his pillow with him and leaving the parting
words, “not on my half of the room.” Rin went to his window, he was on the
bottom floor so he used it to sneak Annabelle in and out of the academy pretty
often. She was there, but he could tell that something was wrong. Her hair was
a mess, her eyes were puffy and tears were streaming down her face. He opened
it and pulled her inside and held her to his bare chest.
She sobbed, he had never seen her
like this. His Annabelle, his Tink, she was so strong, so bright. She was a
lighthouse, a beacon that could shine through any storm, yet here she was,
broken. He led her to his bed where he sat down and sat her on his lap. He
never realised just how much he cared for her until this moment. His heart was
tearing in two watching her in this much pain. He enveloped her in his arms and
pressed his lips to her temple.
“Shhhh, shhhh.” He soothed,
“what’s wrong?”
“Daniel, Daniel, he, jumped.” She
forced out the words, and even though she didn’t make a complete sentence Rin
understood, and the ice in his veins ran cold. Daniel was Annabelle’s brother,
Rin hadn’t ever met him, only seen him from afar and heard stories from
Annabelle. He was devoted to his studies and never took a break, not even to
notice the little sister trying to reach out to him. He had recently become
even more distant, taking on greater workloads. Annabelle had been worried for
him, he was always stressed, always angry. Now it seemed that Daniel had taken
matters into his own hands.
Rin tightened his arms around
her, and led her down so they were facing each other on his bed. Her sleeping
with him wasn’t a big deal, she had stayed over loads of times and needed a
place to crash, but this was different. This wasn’t for convenience, she needed
him. He was her rock, he was the one who caught her whenever she fell, who
covered for her when she made a mistake, and he was the one who would rebuild
her from these shattered pieces. He held her and rubbed her back, slipping his
hand under her shirt for skin on skin contact. He knew that calmed her more
than anything else. He rubbed slow, calming circles and hummed lightly. He knew
his low voice would soothe her. It wasn’t much, but there was no quick fix for
this, and she deserved to grieve. Later he would rebuild her, but for now, he
would simply hold her as she cried herself to sleep.
Two
months later
She was
healing, slowly, but she was healing. Rin caught her waist and pulled her onto
his couch, throwing a blanket over the two of them. He flicked the remote and
the TV lit up.
“Peter
Pan? We’re watching Peter Pan?” She asked, laughing. She hit his chest, “you’re
such a dork.”
He
laughed, “you love it and you know it.”
The two
of them watched the movie, laughing at the childishness.
“Faith,
trust and pixie dust? If only it were that easy.” Rin commented.
“It’s a
children’s movie! It’s full of love and happy endings! Maybe we just don’t have
enough pixie dust.” Annabelle retorted.
“And
that’s where you come in right Tink? Gonna give us all a bit of your pixie dust
so we all get happy endings?” he teased
Without
taking her eyes off the movie, she spat on her hand and then pressed it into
his shirt. “There ya go, all the pixie dust you need.” She said, grinning.
He
looked back to the movie, “gee, thanks Tink.” He said dryly. She just grinned
even more.
One year later
“Afternoon Tink. Nice to see you
get out of bed sometime today.”
Annabelle chuckled and sat beside
him. They were sat on the roof of his school and it was four o’clock in the
afternoon. Rin’s classes were finished and he didn’t have practice today. He
had the evening off, a rarity in itself, so he always spent it with
Annabelle-the one person who understood him more than anyone else.
“I brought you a sandwich.” She
said, tossing him the wrapped package. “My mother hopes you enjoy it.”
Annabelle’s mother had taken a
shine to Rin. When he met her on that beach all those years ago he had arranged
for her to practice diving in the pool at his school. This stopped her jumping
from cliff faces, and Annabelle’s mother couldn’t be more grateful, especially
since losing Daniel.
He took a bite of the sandwich
and said, “Tink I-”
She looked at him, blinking her
big eyes at him. He always found it easy to get lost in her eyes. Back home
Haruka had blue eyes like a pool. Annabelle’s were also blue, but the pale kind
of blue of the first touches of dawn waking over the ocean, with flecks of gold
as sunlight peeks over the water. It was easy to get lost in those eyes indeed.
“I’m going back to Japan. At the
end of this year.”
Her mouth dropped open in shock,
and had the situation been a different one he would have laughed.
“What about your swimming?”
“I’ve got a swimming school set
up there.”
“What about your school here?”
“They’ll find someone to fill my
spot.”
She paused, then, “Why? After all
this time, why now?”
He looked away from her, “I miss
my family Tink. My little sister is growing up without me.”
She closed her eyes, she would
accept that. He deserved his family, she had no right to keep him from them.
She would not make their parting any more difficult than it had to be.
“Well then,” she said, standing
and dusting herself off. “We’ll just have to make this the best year yet!”
One year later
She stood with him, his suitcase
had gone through already, and now all was left was for him to walk through the
barrier, to go where she could not follow.
“So this is it huh?” she said,
“This is goodbye.”
Rin looked painfully down at her.
She was avoiding his gaze but he could see her blue eyes welling up with tears
and her blinking them back. She was trying to be strong for him, to make it
easier for him to leave her. She was too good for him. He pulled her roughly
against him and hugged her. Her arms tightened around his waist and he felt
that he could stand there forever, forever with her.
He pulled back and brushed a
finger across her cheekbone, “cheer up yeah? Don’t think you’ll be rid of me
this easily.” He took each of her hands in his and squeezed gently.
The corner of her mouth twitched
up in a smile and he had to force down the urge to say more. He had no right to
start that kind of relationship with her now, he was leaving her, he wouldn’t
put that kind of pain on her.
“I’ll miss you.” She said.
“I’ll miss you more.”
She gave him a sad smile as she
let go of his hands.
“Go on Peter Pan, fly safe.”
“Gonna give me some pixie dust
for my journey Tink?”
She leaned up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips
to his cheek, then the other cheek and then she cupped his face in her hands
and looked at him, “remember me?”
“My happy thought are all of you,
so every time I fly through the water, you’ll be with me, my Tinkerbelle.” He
said.
She finally broke. A few stray
tears spilled over her cheeks which he cleared with a swipe of his thumb. He
cupped her face in his hands and whispered, “just remember”, He kissed one
cheek, “faith”, he kissed the other “trust” and then he pressed a kiss to her
forehead and his voice finally cracked as he whispered “and pixie dust.” The he
turned and without a word, walked to the plane.
One year later
He was stood at a barrier in a
park, overlooking the city. He had just finished the relay with Haru and the
others. He finally put that piece of himself back where it belonged.
Originally, that would have healed him, but now there was another hole. Now
there was another wound to heal and he had left the antidote halfway across the
world. He sighed, ignoring the arms of his teammates placed around his
shoulders to try and get him to cheer up.
“Haven’t seen you swim like that
in a long time.”
He whirled around, and there she
was. Blond hair in messy beach waves over her shoulders. Big glassy blue eyes
with splashes of sunlight. Sun-kissed skin dotted with a light dusting of
freckles. He fully turned around and shrugged the arms off from around his
shoulders. She took a step towards him, hesitant, as if awaiting his reaction
to seeing her. He studied her, her shoulders were tense, he could hear her
voice in his head, loosen those
shoulders! If I ever dived with shoulders like those I’d splash like a
goldfish! Her mouth tilted up in the corners, but that wasn’t the smile he
liked to see on her. He opened his arms and she ran into them, squealing when
he lifted her and spun her around.
When he placed her down he saw
the giant grin was back in place, then it faltered as she spoke.
“Are you mad that I came here and
barged in on your big day?” Her eyes met his and he couldn’t stop himself this time.
For years he had been trying to identify exactly what he felt for the blond
diver. And now he knew, and wasn’t about to let it slip away when he had
already left it behind once. His lips came down and captured hers, finally feeling
free to do so. His arms that were already around her tightened, as if to never
let her go. His heart soared as her lips responded to his, and her hands
tightened on his neck. They did nothing to stop his body, but he felt that at
that moment, his soul was tied to those fingers, and he was a marionette for
her to control.
He broke their kiss and placed
his forehead on hers, “are you kidding? I can’t fly without my Tinkerbelle.”
She giggled, “you’re such a
dork.”
“I love you.” He whispered, his
eyes searching hers for any redemption for his outburst. Her face softened and
she gently placed her lips back on his for a sweet, tender kiss, and then she
whispered, “I love you more.”
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