Thunder and Lightning

Nitori Aiichiro opened the door, carefully peering into the dorm room he shared with Matsuoka Rin. He had stayed late after practice, trying his best to catch up to his senpai. But, to him, it seemed impossible. Rin was a much better swimmer, and didn't even seem to notice Ai during practice.

When Ai crept into the room, he couldn't keep a small smile from his face. Rin had fallen asleep while doing his homework, his face planted in his math textbook. It was adorable, how innocent and calm he seemed when he was asleep. Ai was tempted to just sit and watch his senpai sleep, but he knew that it would be stalkerish and creepy. Plus, it probably wasn't all that comfortable for Rin, sleeping like that. So he set his bag on the floor next to the door and walked over to Rin, still smiling slightly. Gently, Ai set a hand on his senpai's shoulder, tried to ignore the feeling of the muscle through the older boys shirt, and shook him gently.

"Matsuoka-senpai, wake up,"

Rin groaned sleepily and cracked his red eyes open, looking blearily at his younger roommate. "Wha... Nitori? What's going on?"

Ai laughed softly; a sleepy Rin made him want to cuddle with the sharp-toothed boy. It probably wouldn't be the best idea, though. "You fell asleep while you were doing your homework. It looked uncomfortable, so I thought I'd wake you up and get you to go to bed."

Ai blushed at how that had sounded, but Rin smiled and patted the younger boy's silver-haired head as he sat up. "You're so sweet, Nitori. Thanks."

Ai's blush deepened as he looked up in surprise. Rin stood up, stretched, and walked back over to his bed, flopping down on the bottom bunk and falling asleep almost instantly. Ai giggled and smiled softly, moving over and pulling the blanket over Rin so that his senpai wouldn't get cold. Then, he changed into his pajamas and he too went to sleep.

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Thunder boomed, followed a few seconds later by a flash of lightning. Ai jerked awake, curling up on himself. Damn it! Why now? He had been having such a pleasant dream (totally not about Rin), but his fear of thunderstorms was much stronger than the illusionary happiness of sleep. He laid on the bed, flinching with each thunder clap and lightning strike and listening the the rain pounding down on the roof. He tried to keep his whimpers quiet, to avoid waking Rin up, and it was successful until lightning flashed so brightly that it looked to be right outside the dorm window. Ai screamed as quietly as he could and buried his face in his pillow, tears of terror starting to pool in his eyes. He froze in horror when he heard a groan and creaking from the bunk beneath him. Damn! He had woken Rin up, despite his best efforts.

Ai squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that Rin had been woken up by the lighting, not his terrified scream, but to no avail. He heard the creak of the ladder as his senpai climbed up to the top bunk.

"Nito-" Rin's voice started out full of annoyance, but then was cut off when the redhead saw the tears rolling slowly down Ai's cheeks.

"Nitori? What's wrong?" His voice was soft with concern, and gentler than Ai had ever heard it. The fact that such a tone could come from the older, usually harsh boy was astounding to him.

Before Ai could answer, however, thunder boomed again and he squeaked, pressing his hands over his ears and closing his eyes tightly. He heard Run make a soft 'oh,' then felt the bed sink away from him. As he felt warm, strong arms go around him, he opened his eyes in shock to see Rin laying next to him, holding him in his arms. Ai's cheeks turned red, and the embarrassment made him forget his fear momentarily. Rin was laying in his bed, next to him, with his arms wrapped around him. They were so close... It was like a dream.

"You're afraid of the thunderstorms, aren't you?" Rin's voice kept its gentle, soothing tone, calming Ai down just enough to nod and wipe away some of his tears.

The red-haired boy smiled, though there was no malice or tease to it, just sympathy and kindness. "I might know a trick to get you to be able to sleep. Want to learn?"

Ai nodded again. Rin waited for a moment, until thunder crashed again, then said, "Now, count the seconds until the lightning flash. However many seconds it is between is how many miles away the lightning is."

Ai's eyes widened slightly, then he flinched as lighting flashed brightly. Seeing his fear, Rin gently stroked his long, surprisingly gentle fingers through Ai's hair. The sweetness of the gesture instantly soothed him, despite surprising him. So had never known his roommate to be this kind or this gentle.

As the next thunder clap sounded, Ai and Rin started to count the seconds together. "One... Two... Three... Four... Five..."

The next lightning flash came twenty seconds after the thunder. Ai beamed happily; twenty miles seemed very far away and made the fear lessen.

Enthusiastically, Ai threw his arm around his senpai and hugged him tightly. Rin had helped him with one of his biggest fears, one that even his family hadn't been able to cure him of. "Thank you so much, Matsuoka-senpai!"

Rin laughed softly, making Ai's heart flutter, and tightened his hold on the younger boy. "You can just call me Rin, you know,"

Ai's eyes widened. Be on a first-name basis with his senpai? It was a dream come true.

"Alright! Then, you can call me Ai, if you want." He blushes softly.

"Alright, my Ai,"

The silver-haired boy's blue eyes widened, flicking up to meet Rin's red ones. My Ai? Before he could say a word, however, Rin's lips collided gently with his. Ai squeaked softly in surprise and blushed beet red, but made no move to push the shark-like boy away. Encouraged by this, Rin pressed closer to the other, then pulled away gently. There was a soft blush and a smile on the redhead's face.

"Don't be afraid, Ai. I'll protect you."

Ai buried his face in Rin's chest, breathing in the chlorine and cinnamon scent of the other boy. In that instant, just before he fell asleep, he knew that he would never be afraid of the thunder ever again.