Work Text:
They have been together for about a month when Rin starts talking about going out on a “real” date. Haru doesn’t see the point. A date is an occasion wherein two people mutually indulge in romantic feelings, and they already do that while having lunch or dinner together in his house. These “dates,” within the comfort of Haru’s four walls, are more convenient. He and Rin eat their food and then start making out directly afterwards. Sometimes they start kissing right over their plates and bowls. Occasionally, Rin follows him into the kitchen while dinner is still simmering on the stove and tries to stick his tongue down Haru’s throat.
“Why a real date?” Haru asks, when Rin brings it up for the third time. It is Sunday afternoon, and Rin is packing his textbooks into his messenger bag, getting ready to go back to Samezuka. This nerd not only brings his homework over when he visits, but he also actually sits at the kotatsu and does his work while Haru is otherwise occupied. Haru has stopped making fun of him for it though because a Rin who is in a good mood can easily be persuaded to do Haru’s math and English homework.
Rin replies, “Why not?”
Haru says, “I’ve started making kimchi for our dates at home because you dislike mackerel so much. Do you know how long it takes to make kimchi? What an ungrateful guy.”
Rin gets flustered at this, protests that Haru’s kimchi is kind of tasty and that Haru’s cooking in general is kind of okay since it hasn’t given him food poisoning yet. “But we haven’t gone anywhere together, just the two of us!” he continues. “It’s always with our teams and always for swimming. Let’s do something new.”
Haru doesn’t have the heart to protest for too long because, one, Rin is wearing a T-shirt that is “fashionably” ripped, hinting at the beautiful skin stretched over beautiful muscles underneath. He really wants to lick Rin’s chest and abs through the holes in the fabric one more time, memorize the taste, use it as fodder for his daydreams during the upcoming school week. And, two, he likes the enthusiasm that has returned in Rin’s manner, the glow in his eyes as he talks about mundane plans. It was painful to look at his defeated eyes last year.
Making up with Rin is singlehandedly the best thing Haru has done in his seventeen years, followed closely by agreeing to their relay in sixth grade. Rin is like a beacon of light in Haru’s otherwise humdrum, bleak life, inviting him to a place where things are unfamiliar, more interesting, throwing into sharp relief other aspects of his world, making him appreciate them more. Haru finds it perturbing, sometimes, his capacity to feel when he is with Rin, all his senses overstimulated, the white noise in his head, his wall of ice melting into the shrinking space between them. However, he wouldn’t trade this burgeoning relationship, this Matsuoka Rin, for the world.
And this is how Haru ends up agreeing to a “real date” for the upcoming Saturday.
***
Rin shows up at Haru’s door on Saturday afternoon in a sweater that is in only a mildly offensive plum color, but he is also wearing two belts. A chain dangles from his waist. His shoes are Converse high tops, the star prominent on each side. Haru wants to make a comment about herd mentality, but he doesn’t want to piss Rin off this early on in their date.
Haru closes the front door, asks, “Where are we going?”
Rin smiles, promises, “You’ll have fun.”
He moves unnecessarily close to Haru as they are walking past Makoto’s house, glances once at the closed door. Rin has been acting jealous during Iwatobi’s joint practice sessions with Samezuka too, looking sulky whenever Makoto stands close to Haru, dragging Haru off to the side to give him “pointers” on improving his time. Haru is not going to broach the topic with Rin though. He dislikes having to explain himself or his feelings for other people, platonic or otherwise, to anyone.
“Makoto’s probably out with his family, huh?” Rin remarks, tone casual, as they step onto the main road. “They always do happy family things together. I think he once said that they go camping and stuff.”
“You ought to ask Makoto about what he does, not me.”
Rin scowls. Haru realizes that he may have sounded harsher than he intended, so he amends, “He’s your friend, right? You guys were close when we were younger. You should visit the Tachibana house sometimes. Tachibana-san is nice, and the twins are cute.”
When Rin responds to this with a shrug, shoving his hands into his pockets, Haru says, “Who would’ve thought you were so interested in camping. Fine. It’s very troublesome, and you’ll hate it as soon as you have to piss in the woods, but you and me can go together. Kou too.”
“I never said I wanted to go camping!” Rin protests, but when they reach Iwatobi Station, he says, “We need to go when summer break starts. For Gou’s sake. I haven’t spent much time with her, and she’s growing up, so.”
They find seats in a corner of their train, and after the train has started moving again, as it is passing over the tracks where they had run into each other in seventh grade, leading to their painful falling out, Rin presses his knee against Haru’s. The date is off to a promising start, Haru decides. He catches a whiff of Rin’s hair and shifts closer. The scent is nicer than usual, a hint of cranberry underneath the clean, soapy notes. The waves look softer too. He rubs his cheek against them, and Rin turns red, splutters, “What-what are you doing?”
“Nothing.”
Haru stays where he is. His shoulder brushes against Rin’s whenever the train stutters and jolts on the rails.
***
Their destination turns out to be a shopping mall. The biggest in the town, yes, but really. A mall.
“You don’t need any more clothes, Rin,” Haru says, coming to a standstill in front of the main doors.
“I need summer clothes, dumbass, but we’re not here for that.”
“Are we here for swimsuits?” Haru wouldn’t mind that. His current ones have become a little loose around the waist ever since he started the gluten-free diet Rin prescribed for him.
“Just follow me.”
They walk into the mall. Rin walks right past the sporting goods store, even though there is a gorgeous male mannequin behind the display window in a pair of black jammers, one hip jutting out, one eye closed in a perpetual wink. Haru wishes he could sculpt figures like that. He made a few more Iwatobi-chan figures this year in an attempt to recruit members to the Iwatobi Swim Club, but the students he tried to give them to were even more horrified than the ones last year had been.
“Oh, look at that!” Rin says, pausing in front of a small ice cream parlor that is lined with very white counters. The walls are filled with colorful photographs of floats, milkshakes, and sumptuous parfaits. “Let’s go check it out.”
“Really?” Haru scoffs. He likes ice cream to an extent - for example, popsicles taste great in the summer, when eaten with Makoto - but eating ice cream on a first date is not romantic at all. He had expected better from Rin.
“What’s with that tone?” Rin frowns. “We’re just getting started.” He digs into his pocket and pulls his wallet out. “Pick something.”
“Is ice cream allowed on a gluten-free diet?”
“We’re not dieting today.”
Haru settles on a chocolate popsicle because he wants to watch Rin getting flustered as he sucks on it. Rin is very fond of Haru’s mouth. “You’re so fucking hot when you do that moue thing with your lips,” he said just last week, while pulling Haru out of the Samezuka pool. Then he told his vice captain to take over practice because he had to escort Haru to the toilet. They started kissing in the hallway, and the best part was when Rin opened his mouth wide over Haru’s lips and bit down.
The train ride back to Iwatobi had been uncomfortable to say the least. Thankfully, Kou wasn’t returning with them. Only Nagisa was able to maintain eye contact. Haru is waiting for the day his friends start dating, so they can also experience the joy that comes with doing silly things together while getting turned on.
He and Rin spend a few minutes outside of the parlor sucking obscenely on their chocolate popsicles until they start getting weird looks from the passerby. “That’s enough,” Haru says, bites through the bar. Rin cringes. “There are kids coming.”
“You have teeth of steel,” Rin marvels, and then murmurs, “let me feel them.”
They find a short empty hallway near a row of bookstores, leading to the janitorial supply closets, and Rin presses Haru up against the wall, feels his teeth with a cold, sweet tongue. Rin hums as he drags his tongue over the roof of Haru’s mouth, as he slides a cool finger into the waistband of Haru’s briefs. Haru shivers, puts his arms around Rin’s broad shoulders.
He has started rubbing himself against Rin’s thigh when he hears a very familiar voice, very close by.
***
Rin jumps back, eyes opening wide in shock. “Shit, shit,” he mutters, before stomping off towards the nearest bookstore. Haru adjusts his pants and then follows.
He finds Rin’s little sister there, standing in front of the bookstore, dressed for a day of shopping it seems. She is accompanied by Rin’s kouhai, the one who always follows Rin around, gets really excited when Rin calls him “Ai,” and has blue eyes that are a few shades lighter than Haru’s. Both Kou and that kid were beaming at Rin, albeit with a nervous look in their eyes, but their jaws drop in shock as soon as they see Haru.
“What are you two doing here?” Rin snaps. His hands are balled into fists. “Are you two on a date?!”
The kid - Nitori, Haru remembers, that’s his family name - turns red, but Kou recovers quickly, says, “We’re just shopping for books and magazines.” Nitori and Kou hold up their bulging shopping bags. She continues, “But you seem to be on a date, Onii-chan! No wonder you took so long in the shower this morning. And that’s why you were rapping an English love song! You used to sing the emo ones.”
Rin starts spluttering incoherently, which bolsters Nitori up enough to ask, “But why is Nanase-san here with you, Rin-senpai? Is he here for moral support? You could’ve asked me to come with you!”
Haru says, “You came anyway. Why is that?” He glances at Kou, who blushes immediately. “Are you spying on Rin? That’s not nice.”
“You’re spying on me?” Rin says. “Why? So annoying. I can’t believe you, Nitori.”
Kou says, putting a hand on her hip, “Don’t blame him! You’re the one who’s been acting suspicious, and Nitori-kun was concerned. He told me that he thought you might have a girlfriend, and when you told me you were coming to this mall today, I suggested that we, um, come too.” She looks down at her shoes. “You know, just to make sure that the girl is good enough for you and everything. That she won’t distract you from your dreams. You’re my big brother, after all.”
“And you’re my senpai!” Nitori adds, giving Rin the kind of lustful glance Nagisa and Rei have yet to aim in Haru’s direction.
Rin has entered a state of quiet bewilderment. This is the precursor to irritation, followed by loud anger. Haru did not get dressed up on a sunny Saturday afternoon, which could have been spent swimming in the ocean, and travel all the way here to have his date ruined.
He says, “Let’s go to a café. I want an iced coffee. You two can tail Rin later.”
“Yeah,” Rin says. “You two go on ahead. What are you looking at me for? Start walking!”
As soon as Kou and Nitori are out of earshot, Rin whispers, “What should we do? Those two are such persistent little brats.”
“You could just tell them,” Haru replies.
“Are you out of your mind? There’s no way I can do that, Stupid.”
Haru doesn’t see what the big deal is; after all, Kou is Rin’s little sister, not a parent. She was the one pushing for Rin to reconcile with Haru last year. And she reads bara manga. Haru saw several volumes in her backpack last Thursday. Of course, there is often a dissonance between what one prefers in an imaginative world versus the real world, but Haru has yet to come across a person who was both homophobic and a bara fan.
There is also a chance that Rin could be hesitating because of Nitori, maybe fearing that word will get out in Samezuka and that the guys there will give him a hard time.
This date has turned a sharp turn for the worse. Haru follows Rin into the overcrowded café, sees Nitori and Kou’s expectant gazes, and wishes he was back in his house, preferably in his bathtub with his little rubber dolphin who bobs in the water in the most adorable way.
“I’ll get the drinks,” Haru says, stepping into line.
“No, let me. You don’t even know what those two like.”
“I’ll get whatever I want. You go to the table and tell those two that your date’s been cancelled.”
Rin inhales sharply, says, “Get me an Earl Grey.” He studies the menu behind the register. “One slice of strawberry cheesecake for Gou. A frappe with whipped cream for Nitori.” He takes a step forward and then turns around, says, “Wait, what? You’re not talking about canceling our date, are you?”
“Well, I’m not in the mood for a double date.”
Rin huffs and clicks his tongue before starting towards the corner table where Kou and Nitori are seated. Haru knows that Rin will find a way to send those two on their separate way. Rin can get many things done, provided he has the right motivation.
However, when Haru reaches the table with the orders, Kou and Nitori are still seated in their chairs, questioning a flustered Rin. He hands out the drinks. He is placing the strawberry cheesecake in front of Kou when she says, “It’s strange to see you out shopping with Onii-chan, Haruka-senpai. Are you here to buy another swimsuit?”
“No,” Haru replies, sitting in the empty chair between Nitori and Rin. “I’m also here to see how Rin treats his date.”
He can feel Rin glaring daggers at him. Kou perks up, launches into a story about how her suspicions first arose. There she was, last Saturday night, texting Hana-chan, when she heard soft footsteps in the hallway, followed by the creaking of their stairs. She positioned herself by the window and hid behind the curtains. Her mother was still snoring like a freight train in the next room. Then, she heard the front door open. A few seconds later, it closed with a soft click. And then there he was, her Onii-chan, walking down the front path towards the main road. He was dressed in really tight pants.
Haru sucks on the straw of his iced coffee to keep himself from smiling. He remembers that night very well. Rin was supposed to visit on Sunday, but he dropped by twelve hours early and started kissing Haru right in the doorway.
Kou continues, “The girl must live somewhere nearby. He returned home around midnight, but then he left early the next morning, before I woke up. Kaa-chan said that he went back to school, but I doubt it. And it was too late to tail him.”
“Oi, Gou, don’t talk about me like I’m not here!” Rin protests. “And quit spying on me!”
She says, “The girl is probably a swimmer, or another kind of athlete, probably tall, with a mysterious smile and a cool attitude. Onii-chan is all about the mystery. He used to go on and on in sixth grade about how he liked you and Makoto-senpai and Nagisa-kun because you guys were hard to figure out.”
“Oh,” Nitori says, sitting up in his chair. “So that’s the way to your … I mean, that’s why you like your old friends so much!”
“Mysterious and cool, huh,” Haru says, glances at Rin.
Rin’s face is an alarming shade of red. His cup of tea is still untouched, cooling in front of him. Haru reaches under the table and twines their fingers together. He hopes that Rin actually does consider him “cool.” It is hard to maintain an aura of Zen around Rin, who pushes all the right buttons, draws out Haru’s emotions with words, with scowls and heartfelt smiles, with his wonderful hands.
Rin takes a deep breath, squeezes Haru’s hand once before releasing it, and then says, “Fine. Fine. Gou.” He leans closer to his sister. “You can’t tell Okaa-san, okay. Not yet. Please. But I am on a date. With this guy.” He tilts his chin in Haru’s direction. “Now, we’re going to go, and you two are going to leave too. Nitori, close your mouth.”
Kou and Nitori have frozen in place, molded into their chairs like two shocked statues. Like a pair of royal parents who have just learned that their daughter wants to marry the stableboy. Haru doesn’t think that it is a good idea to leave them in this state.
He says, “I promise to make Matsuoka Rin happy. Please permit our date.”
“Hey, idiot,” Rin snaps, blushing again, “don’t make it sound like a marriage proposal!”
Kou smiles though, finally, a radiant smile, squeals into her hands, whispers things like “it was so obvious” and “why didn’t I think of it earlier.” Nitori looks confused, but Haru isn’t too worried. The kid has time enough to understand and accept the fact that Rin belonged to Haru long before Nitori came into the picture. There are more sharks out there in the sea. There is another Matsuoka, who has much more in common with Nitori. The kid still has a year and a half of high school left. Life is a learning experience.
To be friendly, Haru hands Kou a wad of yen, says, “Here, you two can get another treat on me. No more spying though. Promise me.”
***
They have just stepped on the escalator when Rin’s phone beeps with the following message: Have fun, Onii-chan! (Also, wow, what a catch! Haruka-senpai is a solid 9.5 on mine and Hana-chan’s Scale of Hotness!)
Rin sighs, stuffs his phone back into his pocket. Haru says, “Why did she take half a point off?”
“She obviously meant just point five. The nine was a mistake.” Rin smiles, the tips of his teeth showing.
“Good, we’re evenly matched then.”
“You wish.” Rin rolls the sleeve of his right arm up, flexes his muscles. “You wish you had these babies.”
The woman standing on the step above Rin hastily pulls her child away from them. Rin apologizes. Haru laughs and then gets an elbow in his ribs.
They go to an arcade next, which is a bad decision on Rin’s part because obviously Haru will beat him in every game. Haru has excellent hand-to-eye coordination, and he is the mayor of a well-populated village in Doubutsu no Mori: Tobidase, Deep Sea Creatures. They both select Pac-Man on adjacent machines and start playing.
Rin is the one who begins the trash-talking, of course. “You suck, Nanase,” he says. “What a slow little shit you are. I’m already on Level 2!”
“That’s nothing to brag about,” Haru replies, as he finishes Level 2 five seconds before Rin. “Any loser can finish Level 1. Only a player with true skill can finish the upper levels quickly!”
Rin says, “I’m going to make you eat your words, Haru-chan!”
“Go ahead and try, Rinrin!”
They have both cleared Level 100, simultaneously, when the store manager walks over to them and tells them to keep it down or get the fuck out. Haru looks around to find a long line of tearful children waiting behind them. He removes his hand from the buttons.
“We weren’t that loud!” Rin protests as the manager is shooing them out. “And why are they waiting to play our game? There are like ten other machines.”
They go to an accessories store next. After fifteen minutes of watching Rin finger various pieces of jewelry and listening to him murmur about getting an ear piercing, Haru asks, “Do you actually have something planned for this date, or are we just wandering around aimlessly?”
Rin straightens up with packs of bracelets in each hand and replies, “Why, aren’t you having fun?”
“Not particularly.”
As soon as the words leave his mouth, Haru wishes he could take them back. The hurt is written as plain as day on Rin’s face, in the space between his eyebrows, sliding into the corners of his mouth. It takes him several tries before he can feign irritation. It must be so troublesome to have such an expressive face.
Putting the bracelets back, Rin says, “Fine. You tell me what you want to do. I just thought you liked things like ice cream and video games. That’s what Makoto and Nagisa said.”
Haru feels worse. It is obvious now that attempting to be more verbose hasn’t resulted in him being more friendly and approachable. He can’t apologize right now either because Rin has already put his barriers up, is pushing his hands into his pockets, starting towards the doors.
“Hey,” Haru says, grabbing the back of Rin’s sweater and tugging him back. “Let’s buy something. Matching bracelets?” He points to the selection of rope bracelets that guys their age have started wearing.
“You barely ever wear bracelets,” Rin snaps. “And that rubber-band thing on your wrist right now doesn’t count as a proper bracelet.”
“I’ll wear one everyday for you.”
Rin stares at Haru for a long moment, his mouth open. Then he shakes his head, sighs, “How can you just say things like that with a straight face. Fine. Come here. What color do you want?”
Haru chooses one that is the color of Rin’s hair. Rin picks out a blue one and pays for both. “Not quite like your eyes though,” he mutters outside the store, holding his bracelet up to Haru’s face. “Oh, well.”
“Here, put mine on for me.” Haru holds his left arm out.
Rin uses his teeth to cut the plastic fastener off both bracelets and then fastens the fuchsia one onto Haru’s wrist. Haru returns the favor and then strokes the raised veins of Rin’s arm and hand. “This is fun,” he says.
“Good,” Rin says, smiling, “but the day’s not over yet. One more stop.”
***
Their last stop is a restaurant overlooking the sea. The waiter seats them at a brown patio table, underneath a large green umbrella. Haru imagines removing the umbrella, climbing onto the table, and diving straight into the sparkling water below.
“Please don’t,” Rin says, tugging him back into the chair.
“Where’s your sense of adventure, Leader?”
“It disappears when the possibility of breaking my damn neck becomes one hundred percent.”
Haru has to settle for watching the waves from afar. They are shimmering with the afternoon sun, calling to him. Later, he promises. He is in a good place right now, the balmy air tousling his hair, Rin’s foot sliding up his thigh, the sumptuous dishes of shrimp fried rice and grilled mackerel in front of him. Rin is here, pushing his hair back as he puts his chopsticks in his mouth, the bracelet bright on his forearm, the grease on his thin lips, the content smile behind his beautiful eyes.
It is almost evening by the time they make it back to the train station. The train to Iwatobi pulls up, and they board, squeeze into the middle because all the seats are filled. After the train pulls out of the station, Rin says, “Hey, Haru.”
“Yeah?”
“I wonder what we’ll be doing this time next year. We’ll be out of school by then.”
Haru leans into Rin’s side. “Whatever it is,” Rin murmurs against Haru’s temple, curving a finger into Haru’s belt loop, “I hope we’re in it together.” He presses his cheek against Haru’s hair.
Haru closes his eyes, replies, “Yeah, me too.”