Chapter Text
Rin got off the bus just a little before one in the afternoon, pulling on the visor of his black cap to block his eyes from the blinding sun. He couldn’t believe he was finally here, right on time. He had such a long morning, and the swimming practice had been very intense and all of his muscles already felt sore but he was so excited about his day with Haruka that he didn’t mind the pain he was feeling. He had run out of the pool and took the fastest shower of his life, got dressed in a hurry and headed to the bus stop in a record time. The bus was jam packed since it was the middle of the day and a lot of people had the idea of going to the beach to enjoy the nice weather. Rin readjusted his backpack on his shoulder and walked toward the steps leading to the beach but stopped in his tracks.
Where exactly was he supposed to meet him, again? Rin fished out his phone and looked at his messages and even listened again to Haru’s voicemail but the other boy hadn’t specified a place. Rin lifted his head and looked around in case Haruka was already there but he couldn’t see him anywhere. Maybe he got there first and Rin didn’t need to worry about it. He scanned the area quickly and when he was sure that Haruka wasn’t near, Rin decided to go to the pier quickly and buy something to eat. The last meal he had that day was his breakfast at five thirty before his swim practice, and he was starving . He didn’t want to go too far though, so he could keep an eye on the entrance of the beach in case the black haired boy showed up. Rin found a small food truck that sold a variety of meat skewers and he opted for them over the standard hotdogs stands where there were longer beelines. When he received his meal, he walked back to a strategic area where he was sure he would either see Haruka come, or that Haruka would see him. Rin put down his backpack at his feet and leaned against the seawall to eat his skewer.
When Rin’s food was long gone and there was still no trace of Haruka in sight, Rin started to worry slightly. It was almost twenty past one, and Rin still had no idea of where his soulmate was. He looked at his phone to see if maybe he had sent him a message to let him know he’d be late or something, but there were absolutely no new notifications from the black haired boy he was waiting for. Considering the time, Rin decided it was a decent time to send Haruka a message to see if everything was alright.
Rin : Hi, I’ve been waiting for 30 minutes near the stairs. Where are you?
As the minutes ticked by, Rin started to get more and more anxious. His throat had started hurting again, and even though the sun was burning his skin, Rin felt shivers running through his body from head to toes. He looked again at his phone, wondering if it would be too much if he called him. Maybe he had an emergency and couldn’t come? Or maybe he was on his way and that he was just running late for some reason. Or maybe, just maybe this was some cruel joke from Haruka and that he didn’t want to see Rin? Rin’s thoughts spiraled down as the fever started to wash over him. He felt an uncomfortable pain at the pit of his stomach, and he wondered if it was due to the anxiety or if the food he just ate didn’t sit well. Rin sniffled in annoyance and pressed the green button. Instead of ringing a few times as usual, Rin instantly fell on Haruka’s voicemail. It could only mean two things ; either his phone was dead, or Haruka had blocked him. Rin could feel his heart squeeze in his chest, the sensation crushing.
“Uh, hi. It’s Rin.” He hesitated for a second, thrown off by the immediate voicemail. “Where are you? I hope you’re ok. I’m waiting near the stairs, in front of the red shack. I’ll stay here until you show up, but the beach is already filling really quick, so please hurry up.”
There was only a few hours left before the ultimate two-weeks deadline after their first kiss, and Rin was panicking. What if all of this was a joke? Was Haruka making him wait for so long on purpose? Was he trying to mess up with him? Slowly, the anxiety turned into frustration, and even desperation. What if Haruka didn’t show up? Rin would lose his voice, that he knew. But then what? Would the pain in his throat and the hypersensitivity go away? He would have to go back to his old life, using his hands, notebooks and text messages to communicate with others. After being able to express himself freely for two weeks, Rin didn’t want to go back to being mute. But most importantly, he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life without a partner. The whole purpose of being soulmates was to be together through thick and thin, and Rin wanted to experience this kind of epic love story, especially now that he had found his other half. He was almost sure he dreamt of finding the love of his life more than achieving any other life goals.
Rin waited another full hour, his nerves on edge. His skin was so sensible, as if every inch of him was on fire. His lungs and esophagus were contracting in his chest, making his breathing uneven and wheezing. His head was spinning from all the thoughts running in circles in his mind, and from the rising headache. He clenched one arm around his middle and with his free hand he tried to call Haruka once again. It must’ve been the fifth time he tried to reach him in the last hour.
“Please Haruka, pick up.” Rin pleaded, his voice strangled by the pain and sadness. He looked down at his shoes and tried to swallow back the tears in his eyes. “I don’t know if this is some sort of cruel joke to you or something, but I-I don’t want to lose my voice. I don’t want to lose you. I’ve been searching for you my whole life…”
“Rin!” A voice shouted a few meters away.
The red haired man lifted his head back up in a second, scanning the crowd of people walking by, and he let a small gasp escape his mouth when Haruka ran toward him. Rin hung up and got up to his feet. He made a few steps to meet him halfway, and they both stopped at a respectable distance between them, both of them a little bit out of breath and definitely looking like a mess. Rin desperately wanted to hug the other boy in front of him, just to make sure he was truly there, to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. There was something bigger and stronger than him that pulled him closer to his soulmate, and before he knew it, Rin was engulfing him in arms. Haru tensed up at the sudden proximity, but he let him close his arms around his shoulders and hid his face in the crook of his nose.
He wasn’t hallucinating ; his soulmates truly showed up. Rin’s insides melted and it felt as if a bath plug had just been removed and all of Rin’s mixed emotions from the last two weeks overflowed. All of his pain faded away and Rin let out a shaky, relieved breath.