Drowning on Land {RinHaru}

Chapter One

"You know, Sousuke, if you keep not going to the doctor like an idiot, your shoulder won't get better," Rin told his friend in a conversational tone, who absently swatted the redhead with his good arm. "I went to see a doctor," Sousuke replied, bending down to touch his toes. Rin, who was in the middle of doing the same thing, straightened, "Really? When? What did they say?"

Sousuke held his position a moment longer, obviously stalling. "Well, I went to see Gou yesterday, and she's studying medicine, so..." the blue eyed boy trailed off, and Rin let out an irritated sigh. "My sister isn't a certified doctor, Sou. Seriously, I can come with you to the clinic."

Sousuke sighed, turning away. "We should get to practice," he said, and Rin exhaled loudly. "We're going to be talking about this sooner or later, Sousuke," he called after his friend who was busy lacing up his shoelaces. "Later!" the other teen tossed over his shoulder, "Want to race to the track, Rin?"

"If you can catch me!" he replied, giving Sousuke a shark-toothed grin and took off, hurdling over the bicycle Momo had left there last week, sneakers thudding on the hot asphalt. Sousuke wasn't far behind, so Rin put on a burst of speed and sprinted forward- and smacked right into Nitori.

Rin winced when Nitori did, crouching down to look at his friend. "Sorry, Aii, I didn't see where I was going. Are you alright?" He nodded, and Rin stood up and offered him a hand up. "I guess you lost," Sousuke said breezily, jogging up to them, "You okay, Nitori?" The silver haired boy grinned, "Yeah, I'm good. Hey, Rin-senpai, did you see that program last night on the news?" When the other boy shook his head, Aii looked like he was about to explode. "The news guy said that mermaids exist!"

Sousuke, who had paused to listen, cocked one eyebrow in disbelief. "Mermaids? Really?" Rin asked, and Nitori nodded, "Yeah," he said seriously. "Just wait, it'll be a week until everything is a mermaid souvenir."

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Nitori wasn't wrong, Rin mused three weeks later. He was at the grocery store, and at the checkout, all the little trinkets and candy were replaced with mermaids and candy with mermaid wrappers. He gave an exasperated sigh but succumbed enough to buy a chocolate bar with a large, grinning mermaid, topless but with long green hair that covered her chest. Rin crumpled up the wrapper and tossed it into the trash without a second thought.

Though it had been almost a month, the news had yet to cover anything else. Sure, there were reporters on Main Street when Goro's Pizza was robbed, but that story only lasted a day since the robber was caught almost right away.

Rin sighed, kicking a rock on his way home. Gou stayed with him when she wasn't at college, but she and her friends had gone on a trip to Tokyo for a week, so Rin had the apartment to himself.

Once inside, the maroon-haired boy flopped onto his couch and flicked the television on. "...true that you will be filming a mermaid?" the news reporter asked, and Rin paused in changing the channel. The tall man with blue hair and glasses standing next to the reporter looked mildly uncomfortably to have been put on the spot, but nodded, pushing the red-rimmed lenses rather up his nose. "There you have it, folks," the newscaster said, turning to face the camera. "Tune into channel 8 tomorrow night at 6:30 to catch us going to the Iwatobi Lab to see a mermaid. Until next time!" Just as the program was rolling the closing credits, Rin's phone buzzed furiously. Without looking at the caller ID, he picked it up. "Hello?"

Momo's excited voice spilled over the speaker, sounding tinny and far away. "Rin! Did you catch the news? They said they were going to film a mermaid! A real one! Isn't that so cool? I can't wait! Do you think they're dangerous? Is it a boy or a girl? Do mermaids-" there was a small commotion from the other end, and when Rin asked, "Momo? You there?" it was his older brother, Seijuurou, who answered. "Sorry, bro, Momo's a bit crazy right now," he said, sounding a bit tired, and Rin chuckled. "Excited about mermaids, huh? Did he tell Nitori yet?"