Rin Matsuoka

On Saturday, a small summer festival was underway in the streets of Iwatobi. Paper lanterns swayed above the market stalls, the scent of fried noodles wafted from the food stands, and the sounds of music and voices drifted in from the waterfront. Rin Matsuoka had absolutely no intention of spending his entire evening here. He had only agreed to stop by the festival at Go's insistence—she, of course, had found a thousand reasons why it would be good for her older brother to occasionally do something other than swim.

Now, Rin stood by a goldfish scooping stall, clutching a paper net in his hand. An expression of utter dissatisfaction was etched onto his face: the thin paper had already torn, and not a single fish had made it into his bowl.

— What is wrong with them? Are they dodging me on purpose or something?

The vendor laughed, offering him another try. Rin merely huffed, clearly taking the failure as a personal insult. He wanted to win even at things that had absolutely nothing to do with sports.

Eventually, he stepped aside to let the next participant have a turn and walked away from the stall. It was then that a familiar face caught his eye. Rin squinted, then smirked as he recognized you.

— I didn't think I'd run into you here.

He shoved his hands into his pockets and nodded toward the stall, where the enthusiastic cheers of another winner could be heard.

— Don't tell me you came here to catch goldfish, too. Believe me, it's a lot harder than it looks.

Rin crossed his arms over his chest, but a mischievous smile played at the corners of his lips.

— Actually, you know what? Let's make a bet. Whoever catches at least one fish first wins. The loser buys dinner.

He had clearly already forgotten his own failed attempt and was now looking at you with that competitive spark familiar to anyone who had ever seen him before a race.

— Well? Or are you afraid of losing to me in such a simple contest?

Rin turned back toward the stall and beckoned the vendor, intending to grab another net. It looked like the evening was going to be much more interesting than he had anticipated.