{ ☂ } ✑ It was definitely unusual to see that sort of expression on Rin’s face, and maybe that’s the reason why she noticed it so easily.
Rin had never been a particularly difficult person to read or understand, honestly - it was only that time when their relationship was rather strained and awkward Haru couldn’t tell much from his facial features. Now isn’t any different - but … Well. Haru’s not sure if she’s actually seen that sort of expression before, and if he had, it was that one time she fell into the river. She hardly saw his face that time, anyhow, since she couldn’t register anything very well …
Fear. It’s not a look she likes to see on anyone.
She thought she was only seeing things for a moment - he had seem rather normal to begin with, rubbing and scratching his head with a scowl. But then it changed, and Haru’s expression changed too, into one of confusion and hidden concern.
{ What did he just think of … ? Frowns. }
It seems as though she was in thought for too long, as the next time she looks back up at him, the redhead is already up and moving and being moronic again. What does he think he’s doing, goddammit?! She just bandaged him up, don’t open or irritate it again … !
“Stop moving so much. You’ll open your wound.”
Haru appreciates the thought and effort, really, but he could at least move a little bit slower than that. She cares just as much, if not more, about him.
“I can get my own water …” Shedoesn’t bother actually getting up though, because he’s probably going to argue anyways.
{ Please don't hurt yourself. }
– ”I’ll be fine, Haru,“ he reassured from the kitchen when he had finally gotten what he was looking after, coming back to the ravenette with a glass full of fresh water. "I thought you’d never say no to water?” he then added, smirking a bit. Joking around with how much Haru loved water was always something he could do, even if he’d been in a state of dying. Maybe. He didn’t exactly know for sure. Pfsh.
When he had made sure the water had been given to her, he moved back to sit on the couch with a sigh.
“Oi. Make sure you tend to yourself properly now. You’ve helped me enough and I’ll be fine.”
That moment he had just a few seconds ago was gone, but the fear could still easily be spotted in his eyes, his brows furrowing just a tiny bit every now and then when he actually thought about the whole thing.
His wound seemed fine, the moving he had earlier done hadn’t done much but make it sting, so he knew he’d be fine now, but he still felt dizzy, tired, and would probably go to sleep sooner than expected.
“Y‘gonna stay up if I go sleep?” he then asked, for no apparent reason. He just wanted some kind of conversation to be started, since Haru usually remained quiet unless there was something she had to reply to or she had a strong opinion on. Something like that.
Rin was also thinking about getting up early and just.. go. Not to be a douche, and he knew he would probably not be in a state to walk all the way back to the dorms, but he didn’t wan’t to have her bother him. And he didn’t want mackerel for breakfast.
{ ☂ } ✑ Haru noticed his head rubbing and, after decidedly tucking in the end of the wrapping and making sure it’s firm enough to stay on without making it hard to breathe, handed him an aspirin as well. Her own headache remains stubbornly, pounding against the side of her skull, her expression pulled into a scowl when realizing it hadn’t gone away much at all.
No response was given to his mumblings. The raven was content to listening in silence as she usually would, even though her ears still felt like they were stuffed with cotton, and she really needed to wash out this terrible taste in her mouth. And, well, she knows that it isn’t his fault - honestly, it’s more hers than anything. If only she hadn’t been stupid enough to go alone so late at night for some food …
[ Hey, for once, she’s the stupid one. Just this once. ]
She caught sight of the glare on his face, looking at his face and expression for more than a few moments before gazing down at the floor, at her hands. Is he still going on about the stitches?
[ Idiot, moron, doesn’t he realize that he’ll heal faster if he gets the stitches?]
But at this point she didn’t even bother correcting him, deciding in the back of her mind that she’ll definitely force him to a hospital later. Definitely. In her opinion, at this rate, she feels like she’ll end up going through all her wrapping before the bleeding stops completely. There’s a dark tint hidden under the layers of the cloth-like substance, and she thinks that they’ll have to be changed sooner than she likes.
“… Mm."
Yeah, just this once, she can accept being the dumb one. But she’s definitely not going to let him continue talking about things like killing someone, and even though she knows he probably wouldn’t (probably - why isn’t it definitely?), a prickle of worry and irritation creeps up on her.
"Don’t say things like that." {Please don't. } ”You can stay here tonight.”
As if he’s in any position to leave, either. Admittedly, it’s a little because she’s worried that something might happen on the way back - maybe he’ll pass out from blood loss again, or the wrapping was actually really poorly done and he’s still bleeding out too much (which is related to the first one), or something. Anything could really happen, and Haru doesn’t particularly want anything to happen. She’s already given him enough trouble …
"Go rest.”
– Rin never expected any full speech from Haru about anything, so he wasn’t really surprised when she didn’t say much about the whole thing. All he heard was small sentences every now and then, and he did catch them, did hear them, and he was grateful for her help. The aspirin was immediately taken, but his head rubbing didn’t really stop, because he felt like he was itching like hell there, and the more he was thinking about it, the worse it got. Fucking hell.
However, when she told him he could stay there, he blinked a little, wondering if it was really okay for her that he stayed there. Another thing to be grateful for, even if it was a surprise. “.. Hmn.”
Now it was his turn to reply with simple sounds and barely any words at all. He could feel that he needed to sleep, that he needed some rest, but a thought struck him when he was about to do just what she told him to do.
What if he wouldn’t wake up?
Rin Matsuoka was barely scared of anything, nothing had put him in a lot of fear – but death did. Maybe it was because of the traumatic experience he had with his father passing away? He just always feared death, and now that he had a chance of actually not waking up – he felt that fear he should have felt ever since he got the wound.
But of course, this thought was kept to himself as he looked down at himself, frowning. “.. Where am I supposed to rest?” he mumbled. That was a normal question, because he didn’t know if sleeping on the couch was the option, or a room – or with –
Well, as long as he got somewhere comfortable to sleep, he’d be fine.. He just needed to know that Haru was going to be alright too. “Y'sure you don’t need anything? You should tend to yourself now,” he spoke, sincere eyes glued on the ravenette. “And don’t say you’re fine, because even if I am the one bleeding, it doesn’t mean I am top priority.”
And he meant that, because he cared about the ravenette, and expecting her to give him the same ‘it’s okay, don’t worry about me’ reply, Rin got up suddenly, stumbling just a tiny bit before he made his way over to the other swimmer’s kitchen. “You need more water, hydrate..” he mumbled while almost frantically trying to give as much assistance as he could in his current state, even if it meant he would make it worse by moving around like that.
It wasn’t his fault that he cared so much. Tch, idiot..
{ ☂ } ✑ Stupid, stupid. When she manages to find something to wrap his wound with, her face is pulled into a scowl of irritation at his insistence, a hint of worry hidden in those deep blue eyes of hers. Sitting in front of him, the scowl manages to soften ever so slightly as she watches the towel get redder and redder with each passing second, thumb grazing the side of his hip again. God …
“You could have died.”
If those guys hadn’t been drunk, then he really would’ve died. The stab nearly hit some vital organs there - it’s nigh miraculous that they managed to miss. He was so, so close to dying, doesn’t the moron realize this? He’s so fucking stupid …
[ Just let it be and it’ll stop bleeding, is this idiot serious? Is he truly this moronic? ] { Is she the only one of the two that cares about his life? }
Haru sighs her obvious irritation at the male before moving his hand to take off the towel, brows furrowed at the deep red. She’ll have to throw that away later … Right now, it seems as though putting some pressure on the wound has finally allowed it to fucking stop bleeding. At least a little bit - there are still some trickles that she’s frowning at, and, well, at least Rin won’t bleed to death too soon.
”Hold this. And sit up.”
She rests the wrap on his abdomen, waiting for him to put his hand on it, supporting him slightly to make him sit back up. Her hands are still clumsier, shakier than usual, and the normally skillful fingers can’t quite get the wrap on him well enough at first. After just a few failed tries, she manages to wrap it around, and with more confidence, she continues until it’s still pressure enough to hold the wound. More layers go on to try to make the blood not seep through.
[ The red is so, so visible through this thing. ]
A pause to register his attempt at a joke, expression smoothing out as she processes his words. Her hands, which were about to tear off the wrapping from the roll, still completely. B l i n k.
Mumbles. “… That isn’t funny.”
✗【☣】 ➝ The redhead huffed a bit at her oh so dramatic ‘you could have died’, then threw his arms to the side as if presenting himself in some weird way. “I could have died, but I didn’t, and that’s what matters. I’m still breathing and till awake and not dying, so just..” He sighed and rubbed his head a bit. Fucking headache.
He then followed her orders, sitting up slightly when told to and then followed her instructions as much as possible, slowly beginning to be more grateful for her help than being irritated about being taken care of in the first place.
“It’s been a while since I got in a fight,” he mumbled as if he was talking to himself. Of course he had been in some small fights every now and then, both as a child and a teen, but none of them had been like this. The last time he ended up like this - minus the wound - was when he was dealing with some pissed of jerks he accidentally bumped into rather harsh while jogging, and they had found it necessary to start throwing punches. He’d come home with bruises and small wounds here and there, but never a wound like this.
– “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.” He said that as if he was trying to say it wasn’t his fault that this shit happened. It wasn’t like he was going to let it be and not do anything about it…? When thinking back at the scene, he started to feel slightly angered, because he felt like he could kill those guys and still not feel sorry or guilty in any way.
His expression showed the irritation that developed inside of him, but he still didn’t overreact or else it could make the wound worse. For a moment he started to wonder if stitches could help, but quickly pushed that thought away before he looked at the other one.
"I really don’t need any stitches. This is fine as it is. I’ll just stay home and try to not move too much and let it heal before I go swimming again.“
Bummer. But the only thing he could do for now.
"I won’t be able to save you from that again so..” He huffed a little. “So just start being more careful.. or ask me to come along or something. Makoto could easily come too and you’d be safe for once,” he shrugged a bit. After what had happened, he really didn’t want her to go off wandering alone without anyone to accompany her and make sure she’d be okay.
"If I weren’t there.. Those guys..“ And now the anger was getting worse, but he took a deep breath and calmed down. "I’d easily kill them if I could. Fuck it, why didn’t I just do so? I could throw their bodies in the ocean..” He was basically mumbling to himself right now.
{ ☂ } ✑ Haru can’t stop thinking about how stupid he must be.
Sure, he saved her from what was going to be near hell, really, and she’s grateful - but by God, did he really have to do that when he was bleeding to near death? When she checked, there wasn’t a single sign of his own personal care - the gash wasn’t fresh, but it isn’t even close to closing up now, and because he never pressed on it properly to stop the blood, it still won’t stop. Stupid, stupid, stupid, don’t just watch her sleep on the couch or something -
“I said it’d hurt.” Much too late, and after she actually started her amateur treatment, but she said it. It doesn’t count, but for how dumb he was, she gets to say it does. Hmph …
She did her best to clean him up, fingers unnaturally uncoordinated for once, and the frown doesn’t move an inch from her expression when seeing that the blood is still flowing. A moment passes in silence before she gets up to find a small towel for him to press against it, then scouring around for a sort of gauze. Her vision is still kinda fuzzy after blinking, and there’s still an occasional stumble, but it’s clearing rather quickly so it’s fine.
Rin’s gotten way too pale, and she runs a thumb over his side absentmindedly. “You need stitches.”
“Don’t be stupid.” Stupid-er, she should say. "Go to the hospital."
The little white towel she gave him has now become a deep red in the center, some parts a bit lighter and some parts a bit pink, and her brows knit together again. S i g h …
✗【☣】 ➝ Rin did not like that Haru was doing this for him, because he still felt a sting of worry every time she moved in a way that could mean she was still not completely conscious – however, he kept telling himself that it was fine because if she was able to point out that he needed stitches, she was probably conscious enough.
Instead of arguing against her helping him, he focused more on pressing the towel that was given to him against the wound, huffing a bit. It still stung from Haru’s oh so professional cleaning, but at least now it wouldn’t get infected.. Getting used to the pain in the end, Rin seemed a lot more at ease, but there was still some hint of irritation on his features when Haruka decided to keep nagging about stitches and hospital.
”I ain’t dying, Haru. I’m fine, just let it be and it’ll probably stop bleeding in the end,“ he said as he leaned back a bit, gaze turning to the ceiling above him.
”I told you.“ ”I’ve been worse.“
If he knew Haru right though, he expected her to either end up calling an ambulance or force him somehow to go, because when she wanted something, she got it. Well, almost all of the time. Rin was still set on not going anywhere, because he thought he’d be completely fine. Yes, it hurt, yes he was dizzy, but he wasn’t going to die because of a stupid wound.
Deciding that the tension around them was way too.. serious, he reached up to rub between his eyebrows with his thumb and index finger, sighing. "Look on the bright side, though..
I’ll get one hell of a scar.”
The chuckle that followed after that comment was hesitant, nervous, and he could already feel that his little joke wasn’t too funny for anyone else but him, but oh well, it was too late ti pull it back now.
NB!! On a mini hiatus. 
