It wasn’t unusual for Sousuke and Rin to exchange emails. That was how they usually communicated. Life got busy post-high school - with Sousuke working a part time job and going to school to be a cop and Rin’s swimming career, emails were the easiest way to stay in touch. They texted each other constantly as well but emails allowed more details. It was like having a diary or a journal but someone else reading it.
Sousuke was grateful that Rin did this because it gave him insight about how Rin was feeling. After Rin opened up about how hard his first trip to Australia once, with the loneliness and the self-doubt, Sousuke vowed to not let it happen again. Even if he wasn’t Rin’s first choice, even if he could never take Haruka’s place, Sousuke wouldn’t let Rin feel alone, he wouldn’t let him feel like he was less than perfect. He would do this without ever confessing his feelings because things didn’t need to get awkward between them.
It didn’t take a genius to notice how Rin’s writing had changed. His emails were shorter and he didn’t seem as happy. Sousuke tried to ask about it but without pushing too hard because Rin had a tendency to be a drama queen and he’d probably just stop replying all together.
When Sousuke got home from work he had three separate emails from Rin. That was weird.
He clicked the first one. A full page about how he was feeling.
He clicked the second one and it was... what!? A one-way ticket to Australia?
The third email was just one word, “Surprise???”
Surprise? Surprised was the understatement of the year. Sou needed his revenge.
He didn’t reply to Rin but he did print out the plane ticket and then went to pack a bag. He’d ask the airline not to give out any information to anyone but he knew Rin would be at the airport waiting, hoping, anyway.