#rinsuke

The baby came in the winter, a month before Sousuke was due to sit his entrance exams. A little girl who took an entire night to birth and when they finally laid the sleeping infant into his arms for him to look at, Sousuke's second thought was to wish Rin was there to see her too. So real now, a wrinkled little face still red from birth, soft and delicate and so, so tiny. He was enamoured.

Pressing his nose to the baby's head, he wondered if he did the right thing. To deny her a father. He wondered if he would ever stop questioning it. But he couldn't go back on that now, he had to stick by it.

He named the baby 'Kei'. A blessing.

~~~

Parenthood was a difficult thing, he soon learned. Harder still to juggle his studies on top of it. He was thankful for his father's help and experience, felt in turns overwhelmed and more focused than he'd ever been in his life, like his whole world had narrowed to revolve around catering to the needs of this helpless creature who needed him for everything, like he'd never been needed by anyone before.

Pregnancy had changed his perception of his own body - he had never really had any particular awareness of what it's capabilities as an Omega were before, just that he was taller and broader and held a power that the other genders didn't. When he'd been younger, it hadn't even meant much that his body would go through Heat - most Omegas started taking suppressants as soon as they hit puberty and never experienced their first heat until they were mated and started trying for a baby. After he'd hurt his shoulder, he'd resented his body immensely - it hadn't been able to take the strain of his training as he grew, had broken under the pressure he'd put it under instead of getting stronger. And then it changed in pregnancy, his broader waist and hips accommodating the baby's growth inside him easily, his broader chest plumping so he could feed it. He'd spent entire afternoons, fascinated by the feeling of it kicking inside him, amazed by his body's capabilities and learning to love it again. Then, after the baby was born, he found his perception of self strengthened, found a resilience in his spirit that he had been digging for for years, that he hadn't quite managed to find for himself, but had managed to find for Kei. It was as if she was a well of strength he could draw on, even as he slowly adjusted to the responsibilities of his new role as a parent.

The first few months felt the most difficult, when all Kei seemed to do was cry and eat and poop and sleep. It was exhausting, to be up at all hours and to fall into fitfull sleep, hair-trigger ready to wake at the slightest indication that Kei might need him. He got a lot better at multi-tasking, learnt to do everything he needed in the times that she was sleeping, and to do it with one eye on her always too.

But slowly, a distinct sort of personality started to make itself known. Kei was a little quick to cry (and of course she would inherit that trait, Sousuke thought with a sigh), but just as quick to cheer up again, to giggle sweetly at her father and grandfather pulling faces and making silly noises at her. By and large, a sweet-natured child, if easily excitable. As her features plumped out he could see they shared the colour of his eyes, but the shape of them was Rin's. Her nose too like her sire's, and something of Gou in her chin. No hair yet, but the soft fuzz covering her head was indeterminably dark.

The start of the academic year was his first day away from her, as exhilarating as it was distressing. Leaving her was like a strange sort of grieving, being apart even worse. His father sympathetically told him that separation anxiety was something a lot of new bearers went through, except most of the time it happened after a period of parental leave longer than the handful of months Sousuke had had. He was thankful that there were only introductory lectures for the first week, because his mind was too occupied by thoughts of Kei at home with her grandfather, missing her, to be able to concentrate on what he was being told or to appreciate fully adult conversation that wasn't interspersed with cooing or didn't revolve around baby needs.

He wasn't so open with the fact that he was a parent, and a single-parent at that. Being unmated and having a child just wasn't the done thing and if he had to tell anyone, he would stick with the lie that the sire was at away at university elsewhere. When he was with Kisumi, people often assumed they were together and then he didn't say anything. Perhaps for his grandparent's generation it would have been more common to have settled with a mate and start having children by his age, but nowadays people tended to leave it later. Mid-twenties at least, certainly not nineteen.

Already being a year behind most of his classmates - people who would have been his juniors up to then - made him feel like he needed to work harder, like he had more to prove. He wasn't behind because he was a dropout or something. And where his classmates would go out to socialise after lectures, all Sousuke wanted to do was go home to his baby, already feeling anxious from being away from her for so long. So he kept mostly to himself - it wasn't hard to stay busy with studies and a newborn to stay on top of. It could be a little lonely, but time would decide which new acquaintances would become friends.

He managed to hear through the grapevine that both Samezuka and Iwatobi had made it to Regionals, then  Nationals; that Nitori had managed to put in a solidly improved performance that had netted him a fourth in the 200m breaststroke (which made Sousuke feel rather proud of him) and had gone on to apply to university in Tottori. Momo had managed a bronze in the 100m backstroke and the Samezuka swimming club was once again under the leadership of a Mikoshiba in his final year, which meant the kid had upped his game and wasn't messing around so much. They hadn't had much contact though - Nitori had invited him  to come and watch the Nationals, which always took place in Tokyo, but Sousuke had been rather obviously pregnant by then and reluctant about it being public knowledge for his former club mates to gossip over and so had declined with an excuse about rehab sessions.

Gou, on the other hand, had managed to get into university in Tokyo - to study something related to sports and management because muscles had apparently transformed from an obsession into a lifestyle choice - though she was on the other side of the city from him. She messaged him fairly regularly - more regularly than Rin nowadays anyway - and was quite tenaciously keeping in touch. Sousuke was grateful for it - Gou was like a sister to him too and he missed her.

~~~

She came over with Kisumi one day, not long after moving to Tokyo, wanting to both meet Kei and tell him off for being bad at keeping in touch, and then tried to make it a point to meet once a month. To that end, she'd taken his phone and programmed it into his calendar with alarms to remind him too. He remembered that first visit though, the way she'd been quiet as she watched him with the baby as if she was having trouble relating the way she knew him to what she was seeing. He could understand that - he'd never been that parental, not like that Tachibana guy from Iwatobi who seemed like the sort of Omega who had been born ready to have kids. It must have been strange for her to see him being so tender, with a baby in his arms.

She'd been absolutely delighted by Kei, who had also taken well to her (possibly partly due to bribery with yoghurt lollies) and play-dates with Aunty Gou became as regular as Uncle Kisumi, rattling colourful toys just out of reach as she told him about all the gossip she was in know about.

That summer, Rin made the rankings that allowed him to compete in the Pan-Pacific Championships that were being held in Canada, in both butterfly and free sprint distances. Both Kisumi and Gou decided to congregate at his house (with snacks!) to watch because Gou had needed to stay at university for an assignment instead of going to Canada with her mother, but fortunately, the aquatic finals fell on the weekend. He managed to feed Kei and while the diving was on, none of them paying too much attention to the graceful lines and arcs the divers made as they fell into the water while they waited for the races in the next hour or so. Gou was talking about the National competitions she had taken Iwatobi to in her final year of high school, critically dissecting various performances with newer insight as he did so.

"You were right to make Nitori-kun focus on the longer distances, of course. If he'd tried to take on Nagisa-kun in the shorter distances, he definitely wouldn't have placed so highly."

Sousuke shrugged, tipping the bottle to a better angle for Kei's mouth, "He always had a lot of stamina, but he got discouraged because his technique and focus were on the sprints. We worked to correct that and it seems like he kept it up."

"And Momo-kun did really well - his style is quite different to Makoto-senpai, but it's also a little lighter."

Well, Tachibana could be surprisingly aggressive in the water, completely at odds with his usual nature. But it was a style that worked for him and made him a ferocious contender to compete against - the few times he'd actually bothered to watch him had showed him that immediately. Sousuke wiped at a little dribble on Kei's chin, then sat her up to burp as Kisumi pulled faces at her.

"It's good Momo didn't have to race him, but I think he could give him a run for his money the way he swims now. Tachibana was good enough to be scouted, just unlucky that he was sharing a pool with Rin and Nanase. You have to be in the right time and place for these things."

"Yeah. But Makoto-senpai didn't want a career in competitive swimming - he loves it, but he doesn't thrive on competition the onii-chan does. He's going to be a great teacher though, it's perfect for him. Hey, you know he and Haruka-senpai are dating now?"

Beside him, Kisumi muttered 'finally' with a roll of his eyes, but Sousuke quirked a brow at her, drawn in despite himself: "Weren't they already?"

"No! It only happened like a month ago! And there was drama!" Sousuke didn't really care - they were more Rin's friends than his - but she carried on anyway. "They're at different universities with different schedules and they've made friend groups that don't really cross over as much, I guess, but apparently Makoto-senpai was under the impression that Haruka-senpai liked my brother."

Well, that was news to Sousuke, though he'd be lying if the thought hadn't crossed his mind. Rin had been fascinated by Nanase from the moment he'd first seen him swim, had moved to Iwatobi to figure out what made it so special. Sousuke had wondered, briefly when they were younger, if Rin liked other Alphas. But he'd also wondered if maybe Rin liked a certain type of Omega, given the way he'd been around Tachibana  - oddly protective and gentle, in the same way he was to Gou, though he was a little like that with Hazuki too. Absent-mindedly, he sniffed Kei's bum, then laid her down in his lap to settle her.

"So, he was trying to move on or something, but Makoto-senpai being how he is -"

She titled her head towards Kisumi, who smiled wryly and added, "That guy doesn't know he's popular, so of course a lot of people like him. I went to his student union for a party last year, you should have seen how many people wanted to get him stuff. A lot of Alphas, but not just them."

"Exactly, so Haru-senpai was getting really jealous -"

"It doesn't actually take that much to get Haru jealous where Makoto is concerned - I used to tease him all the time back in middle school. I tried to do the same to Makoto once, but he just got all sad and I felt like I kicked a puppy, so I didn't do that again."

"-right, and apparently it was disrupting his swimming. But then onii-chan yelled at him - I know because he called me to rant after and said I should yell at them too. He told Haru-senpai: 'you need to take the chance while you have it, otherwise someone else will come along and make Mako happy and you'll have lost your chance from being blind and stupid! You don't have to pick between the water and Mako, so don't!' And it worked! Isn't that great?"

Sousuke watched Kei sleeping and wondered if those words had anything to do with how Rin felt about him, then told himself that they didn't mean anything at all. Gou sighed and put her hand to her cheek, her gaze turned inward.

"It's silly, really - they've never had eyes for anyone but each other. They were just being, ugh, dumb. But…it says something, doesn't it? The things we take for granted, without bothering to do anything to actually make them happen - we just…expect them to. But things don't just magically happen by themselves."

Her eyes shifted to him then, something sad and rueful in them as she looked at him and at Kei. "You know, I used to think that you and onii-chan would get married. I think I even planned your wedding out in my head once." She laughed, softly.

Sousuke shrugged uncomfortably, not knowing how to respond. "…It wasn't the right time or place."

Kisumi managed to change the topic to something lighter then, livening the atmosphere until the races started, freestyle first. Rin stepped into the screen with Nanase behind him, both of them looking in the best physical condition they had ever been in. Sousuke couldn't help but stare as Rin took his position on the starting block, at the chiselled musculature that looked even more defined, at the determined jut of his chin and the cocky grin he sent to the camera. He looked…good. The starting horn blared and they dived, fast-paced commentary accompanying every stroke.

"And it's Australia's Campbell in Lane 3 and Japan's Nanase and Matsuoka in Lane 5 and 6 taking the lead early with smooth entrances there. Some explosive energy from Matsuoka there. These two are up and coming, but they've had solid performances since they've entered the international arena and already the favourites for Japan's Olympic team! But they've quickly become infamous for the way they swim when they're in the pool together, you can see the way they're pushing each other, they've already posted times that are so close to National records and they are nipping on Campbell's heels - a lot of talk on which of these is going to be breaking records first.

"They're bouncing off the walls now, beautifully smooth turn from Nanase - there's no way he could have timed that better - but Campbell's still in the lead. But he can see them, with every turn of his head, they're right there, it's looking incredibly close, they could pip him at the last second - but Campbell's just managed to touch the wall first, Nanase then Matsuoka a fraction of a second behind! It's Australia's gold and Japan take a silver and bronze! They're going to show the replay, it honestly looks so close, there's practically no difference in those times, what a race! Some beautiful swimming there and we'll be seeing more from Matsuoka later in the Butterfly too. What a race!"

None of them had been able to watch without sitting forward, each of them shouting when Rin and Haruka had touched the wall, loud enough to startle Kei awake and then frantically shushing each other though the damage had been done. Gou, who had shot up to pump her fists in the air knelt by her to try and soothe her and stop her startled cries. When Kei finally quieted down, suckling on a soother, Gou giggled and they all followed. After that, there was no getting her back to sleep.

"Ah, Aunty Gou was making a lot of noise while Kei-chan was sleeping! Silly Aunty, very silly, ne? But your Uncle RinRin is swimming and we're all going to cheer for him to win - Kei-chan can cheer too, ne?" she pressed a rattler into her fist and clapped her hands excitedly. When Rin came back onto the screen for the butterfly race, she pointed him out, "Lookie, there's RinRin! Kei-chan, cheer loudly for RinRin, ok?"

And Kei did, waving her chubby little hands and feet and the rattler, caught up in the excitement of the adults around her. The commentator's rapid-fire chatter rang over the crowd's hooting to highlight the swimmers' performances:

"…Men's 100m butterfly, the ones to watch out for in this race are Gonzales, Kaling and Matsuoka. Gonzales really took the World Championships last year and rumour has it that he was making fifty point seven in practice, so if it's a good day for him, we'll see. Kaling can be notoriously inconsistent on his starts, but he's been doing really well in these games and his first fifty is how we'll guage it. Matsuoka, honestly, consistently better every performance - look at that entrance!

" Immediately, Gonzales pulls ahead, but Matsuoka is right there, just a hand-span behind and not letting go. It'll be the turn that judges it - and Kaling is just a little too near on the twist, not a good turn. Matsuoka has fantastic turns, really wrings that extra boost of power out. It's between Gonzales and Matsuoka and you can see Matsuoka has his head down, he's turning it up and Gonzales is feeling the heat. Will he make it? He's getting level, just the last bit - and Gonzales just makes it first! Ohoho, there was a hair's breadth between, honestly, it is so exciting to watch promising newcomers like this - Matsuoka is really going places and I can't wait to see what he'll do - a bronze and a silver on the same day and maybe gold in the future! But there you go, USA, Japan and Singapore on the podium for this one! Wow!"

None of them had managed to stay seated the entire race, all of them on their feet by the first leg and cheering at the touch. Gou was jumping up and down with baby toys in her hands and Sousuke raised Kei up over his head, where the baby spat out the dummy in her mouth and started screaming and laughing in delight.

"RinRin won! RinRin won!" Kisumi started the chant and they all took it up, dancing around the living room together.