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Ai stood humming in front of his mirror, admiring himself. He had recently acquired a new pair of dark jeans that he had paired with a simple white shirt, ashy cardigan, pigeon feather scarf, and midnight combat boots. His delve into fashion came with the growth spurt that hit before returning from summer break of his third year of high school. With the intense training and the new, more stylish haircut, no one could believe that their sweet little Nitori had become 182 cm, devilishly handsome, and had a jawline so sharp, most people were afraid of cutting themselves on it. Most of the clothing that Ai currently wore had been picked out by various members of the team who were suspiciously enthusiastic about buying their captain new items.
A knock on the door silenced his musings, and he leisurely strode to the entrance of his dorm. Rin was in town for a few weeks and asked his former team member out for lunch to catch up. Ai had readily agreed, having missed his senpai during the months apart. Swinging open the door with a smile, Ai cocked his head in confusion at the odd look on Rin's face.
"Rin? Is…is there something on my face?" nervously questioned the boy, running his hands over his smooth skin.
Rin seemed to snap out of it, looking away with a rosy blush plastered on his face. "N-no, you look fine," the professional swimmer grumbled. He slowly peeked through his hair to get a better view of his kouhai. "It's just… you look kind of different, that's all," Rin stated with an air of nonchalance, his arms crossed in front of him.
"Oh yeah," Ai chuckled nervously, his deeper voice creating a rich, melodious echo around the room that seemed to make Rin blush even harder than he was before. "It's been a while, hasn't it? What do you think?" Ai inquired, standing back and turning from side to side. "How do I look? Does…does it suit me?
Rin looked as if he would combust at any moment. His eyes popped and his face turned the same shade of red as his hair. "What kind of question is that? Of course you look great! I'm surprised you don't have a hoard of admirers clinging to your feet," the mortified shark spat out.
Ai never actually expected a response, and an attractive dusting of soft pink ghosted his cheeks at the redhead's reply. "Oh uh, th-thank you," the taller youth managed to stutter. Looking down towards his feet in a bout of self-consciousness, he managed to mumble out, "Should we go now?"
"Y-yeah," Rin muttered, turning to leave down the hallway before stopping and reversing the action. Shifting slowly closer to Ai with his bangs covering his face, he murmured something incomprehensible to the captain.
"What was that Rin?"
"I SAID maybe we could…um… stay in instead? If no one else is in the dorm," he rushed.
Blushing even harder and averting his gaze, Ai nodded consent, pulling Rin back through the door with him.