Ripples in still water { Rinharu }~{ Free! }

Chapter 1 ~ Forbidden

"Results have shown that over the next year, water levels should go down at least 0.2mm, meaning the amount of it will be reduced futher..."

Haru's eyes trailed away from the television silently, his finger pressing down on the remote thus turning it off. He proceeded to lazily get up off of the floor, dragging his feet lightly across the floor, his empty house quiet once again from the echos of the television ringing around the house cut off. A knocking filled the silence instead, which Haru ignored, finding himself somewhat annoyed by the news report.

"Haru?... Are you in there? I know you are, C'mon it's time for school!" Called a voice through the thin crack of a letter box.

With a light sigh, he glanced the door, seeing four fingers poking through the gap, waggling about in desperation, as if they were trying to find him. Turning his head away, he wondered into the living room once again, deciding to skip school for today. Sitting down onto the floor, his finger crashed into the button, starting the Tv up again with the small buzz of the static for a moment, before the news flickered in front of him, his screen quality not at its finest.

"...Continuing with our topic, we have reason to believe over the last few weeks there has been trespassing in the water bank of Matsuoka water. We have Haruhi at the scene to speak to Rin Matsuoka himself about this incident. Over to you, haruhi."

Lifting his head slightly at the mention of Rin's name, his blank expression darkened, curious to see if they had found any leads. Swallowing the small concern, he leaned forward, intently listening.

"Mr. Matsuoka, I am Haruhi Yatogami from Japan news, can I ask you some questions about the claimed trespassing?"

"Of course"

As the camera swirled around to face the familiar figure, Haru clenched his teeth at his voice, his fists grabbing onto handfuls of his shirt, clinging onto his chest. The camera focussed on his unnerved expression, his sharp shark like teeth hidden under his thin emotionless lips and his eyes half covered by his smooth lids.

"Thank you. Now, do you have leads on the suspect at all? Or any suspicions?"

He jolted forward, his face tinted with a slight worry, his palms pressing against the floor, pushing himself further more.

"Uhm..at the moment in time, sadly no. However, I do plan to catch who ever is doing this, and I will put a stop to it."

"How are you planning to do that?"

"...I will take no further questions."

"Ah-- Sir! Mr. Matsuoka!"

An average height man was suddenly brought onto camera, his ash purple fringe resting on his dark sunglasses, partially covering a beauty mark. He threw his hands out, shaking them about, signalling they couldn't go any closer. Haru instantly lost interest once Rin was out of view and turned the screen off once it had transferred back to the main news and another story began. In the black reflection of the television stood a tall figure, glancing down at him with a troubled frown.

"Haru..."

"Makoto, I know you don't have to tell me again"

"You need to stop this" He replied to the stubborn comment, his hands making no attempt to reach over and comfort him.

"Why? It's just water"

"Haru! You know I don't care about the water! It's you! I don't want you getting hurt, okay?! I-Its punishable by death! DEATH! D-Dont you understand?!"

"I guess not" He turned his head away, looking over at seemingly nothing. Makoto paused his ranting, his jaw hanging slightly ajar, his eyes shimmering with a coat of tears covering them, some spilling out.

"I can't believe you some times" He waited for a reply, but upon getting none he exhaled slowly, and crouched down next to him, putting his hand firmly down on his shoulder.

"Haruka...you know you can't do this anymore either. You are going to get caught. Security is so tight...i-i mean why do you do this anyway? Just..Ah.. I can't help you anymore."

Still looking away, his eyes widened, holding in that position for a moment before closing back down, ignoring his speech all together.

"It's not that I don't--"

"Leave."

His mouth hung open once again, his lip quivering, overwhelmed by the situation

"H-Haru--"

"Please."

Squinting his eyes together in the urgent desire to not cry, Makoto nodded once, standing up stiffly and shuffling out of his sight, slamming the door loudly. Haru inhaled sharply, momentarily wishing he would never have this breath leave him before letting it escape, resting his head down on the floor as he did so.

"Rin..."