Blurry

Original Prompt: Write an angst AU with Rin ultimately losing to Haru

Yo. So this was a fun prompt considering this was done for a friend, this is the longest prompt fill I've done up to date. How wicked is that? So Angst. I'm also entering as an official fanfiction writer of the Free! Fandom now. I've been with it for a while now, but I never did anything. So please take my introduction graciously.

Note: Any errors will be edited out tomorrow. I'm seriously tired, but I wanted to get this posted lest I forget.

Another Fic transfer!

DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN FREE!

This had to be what it felt like to drown. Rin thought.

The air in his lungs had been forcibly been shoved out; and no matter how much he gasped for air he couldn't get enough in his lungs. It was as if they were already full to the brim with the despair he was feeling and there was no longer room for air.

He wasn't crying, he refused to cry as Haru had told him that much, but also because his pride wouldn't allow it. He'd been standing evaluating the results, and suddenly the ground beneath him pitched wildly like the sea before a storm, sending him crashing to the ground.

Of course he was aware that the ground hadn't moved at all, that his knees couldn't take the weight of his loss any longer.

He was forced to his knees because of how much his loss weighed on him.

Though he never took his eyes off of score board. He was second, and still fast enough to qualify for the next round, but he was behind the one person he swore he would no longer lose to.

Haru.

Rin was still struggling for air, the despair having grown even more in the few seconds between him standing and kneeing on the concrete.

The sound of the cheering crowd soon became a white noise, and eventually dying out. Almost as if he could only focus on that damned board.

Black started to encroach on his vision, effectively blurring the rest of his vision so that the only thing he could see was the times that he was only behind by seven tenths of a second.

Something stepped in front of him, dully he noted that it was a swimmer, if the swim shorts were anything to go by. Familiar swim shorts.

Rin managed to raise his gaze enough to see the face of who was standing in front of him. He bit back the sound that he wanted to make at who it was.

"Rin…" Haru trailed off as if he wasn't sure what he should say.

Rin's pride finally kicked in, he shoved himself off of the ground, trying to look completely stable, his chest still hurt but at least it was accepting air now, he knew that his legs wanted to give out again, the loss still weighed heavily on him.

He didn't trust his voice well enough to speak. So instead he turned on his heel and walked away from the other teen. He didn't dare look back to see what kind of face the other was making.

It was impressive that he managed to get to the team locker room without falling or running into people that he didn't want to see. But the moment that he reached the bench he slumped down on it, and buried his face into his hands.

How did he lose? He should've been able to win without any issue, but instead he lost.

He didn't make a sound, he wasn't able to. His lungs were filling up with that unknown feeling, which he just labeled as despair, and the weight of his loss pushed heavily on his back making him double into himself.