Coming Home

Rin stopped short of the front door to the house, training his ears to pick up on any sounds coming from within.

He knew it was already far too late in the evening for Makoto to be hanging around the place, but he was not about to take any unnecessary chances.

He leaned his ear against the door, but was greeted with nothing but silence from the other side. Taking a short deep breath, he knocked on it three times and waited.

Nothing.

Frowning, he tried knocking again.

Still nothing.

This time he practically banged on the hardwood.

"What the hell?"

He quickly checked his wristwatch, wondering if he'd gotten the time mixed up. He was pretty sure he'd told him to expect him around 11pm.

That's when a thought suddenly crossed his mind, making him grunt.

Rin wasn't even remotely surprised when he turned the doorknob and the door swung inwardly without the slightest effort.

"That idiot!"

Hadn't Rin told him a thousand times already to lock the damn door at night? So what if they lived in a small community where everyone knew each other? There were freaks even in small communities and he lived alone, for crying out loud! Had the idiot no sense of danger?

As he took off his shoes and dropped his duffle bag on the floor, Rin made a mental note to scold the hell out of his boyfriend as soon he got the chance.

"Hey, Haru." He called out loud... only to be greeted by silence again.

Rin padded his way into the living and kitchen area, half-expecting to find Haru in front of the stove coocking mackerel, but ended up not finding any signs of him.

"Haru?" He asked, finding the absence unusual.

He tried the bathroom and then the bedroom but still there were no signs of the other young man.

Don't tell him that stupid Makoto dragged Haru to his house to play PlayStation again? That guy had the worst timing ever! Not to mention the fact that he acted as if they were all still teenagers.

It was by sheer luck Rin heard the faint noise coming from the balcony... Something between a sneeze and a snore. He quickly turned around walking towards the source of the alien sound and sure enough ended up finding his boyfriend sprawled over the balcony floorboards and out cold sleeping.

He was also just in time to hear him sneeze again.

"Oi Haru! Don't sleep here, you idiot. You're going to catch a cold."

It was then he noticed the sports' magazine splayed over Haru's stomach. He recognized it immediately. And how could he not? His face was on the damn cover.

Rin crouched down, easily plucking the magazine from the other man's grasp, finding it hard not to smile as he realized Haru had fallen asleep reading the interview he'd given in relation to the upcoming Olympics. Rin had been recently appointed captain of the national Olympic team and the media was going crazy over him.

"I wasn't reading that." He heard a sleepy Haru say defensively.

Rin was still trying hard not to smile, as the other man clumsily sat up on the floorboards, clearly still half asleep.

"Where's Makoto?"

"Went home already. It's late." Haru replied, rubbing his eyes.

Rin shuffled closer to him, trying to steal a kiss, but at the last second Haru escaped by lying back down on the floor.

"What? Let me kiss you." Rin said, confused by his attitude. They hadn't seen each other in over four weeks. What was so wrong about wanting a hello kiss?

Haru was quick to answer, turning on his side so that his back faced Rin. "You said you would only be gone for two weeks..."

His voice would sound neutral to most people who'd hear it, but Rin knew him better than anyone and could tell instantly he was upset.

He placed his hands on the floorboards next to Haru's shoulders bending down so that his lips brushed the back of his boyfriend's neck. "I'm sorry... Boot camp was crazy. Our coach kept pushing our training sessions further and further."

"You could have called more often."

Well, that Rin had to own up to. "I'm sorry." He apologized again, nuzzling the back of Haru's ear.

"What are you doing?"

"You smell like the ocean."

"So?" Haru asked, turning his head so he now faced Rin's, who took the opportunity to cup his chin in his hand.

"...You smell like home." Rin confessed just before he kissed him, making Haru's loneliness disappear in a matter of seconds.

THE END