"You don't know what you're getting yourself into," Haru says even as he can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The light is in Makoto's eyes. "I know you."
In which Haru is a former drug addict selling dope, Makoto's a teacher fresh out of the army, Sousuke's a cop who makes the mistake of helping a rentboy named Rin, Nagisa and Rei run a support group in a church basement, and Nitori's just trying to keep up.
Or, in other words:
Eyes Wide Open All The Time
is a Free! Dark Fic written by Macbetha and published on Archive of Our Own, mainly focusing on the Sosuke/Rin and Makoto/Haru parings.
Eyes Wide Open All The Time provides examples of:
- Cast Full of Gay: There is precisely one pairing that isn't M/M in this fic, and it's exclusively backstory.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Pretty much everyone. Haru's the child of two abusive drug addicts and grew up in poverty, Rin's mother was abusive and knew Gou was being raped and didn't do anything about it. Makoto and Sosuke are Shell-Shocked Veteran, really, just take your pick out of the cast.
- Dark Fic: Free! is a lighthearted sports anime focused on high-school hijinks and the Power of Friendship. Eyes Wide Open All The Time is a police drama that delves into subjects such as PTSD, drug addiction, abuse, and rape.
- Functional Addict: Nao's addicted to prescription pills (it's why he got kicked out of med school) but that doesn't make him any less of a good medic.
- Fair Cop: Sosuke's a police officer, and attractive enough to catch Rin's eye.
- Grief-Induced Split: Aki and Rin's relationship ended after Aki's miscarriage of their son. Nonetheless, they still care about each other.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Pretty much all of the sex worker characters, though resident Team Mom Aki stands out.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Makoto has severe PTSD as a result of being a tortured POW. Sosuke is also confirmed as having PTSD, though his mainly manifests itself as a chronic need for control and addiction to danger rather than any sort of dramatic trauma.
- Slash Fic: The fic's main focus is the romances of Makoto/Haru and Rin/Sosuke, but other pairings do get their time in the spotlight.
- Stoners Are Funny: Asahi smokes pot religiously, and is the main comic relief character in the fic.
- Team Pet: Echo, Sosuke's bomb-sniffing partner/turned police dog.
- Tragic Stillbirth: Aki and Rin's child. Aki had a miscarriage three years ago, devastating both of them and ending their relationship.
- Vice City: Iwatobi. Rather than the idyllic seaside town it is in Free!, this Iwatobi's a dying fishing city, with corrupt cops, a flourishing drug trade, and yakuza and other gangs running rampant.
