"I have a proposal I want to make," said Rin to his friends one evening, as they sat in Haru's room.

It was sweltering, despite the time of day. Gou and Nagisa lay sprawled against the fan, and Rei was flapping a newspaper against his face, his blue hair flopping pathetically in the humidity. The lazy hum of crickets and the whir of the fan occupied most of the day, as everyone had deemed today too hot for moving, much less speaking.

The only one who wasn't bothered by the heat was Haru. But she had submerged in her bathtub twice now, and had turned on another fan in the kitchen. Currently she was making dinner for them, which was he others said it was too hot to cook.

The smell of frying fish assaulted Rin's nostrils as Nagisa gasped in surprise.

"What? Who're you getting married to?!"

"NO!" said Rin loudly. Makoto and Rei sniggered. "Not like that! I'm only – what, eighteen?"

"Then what is it?" said Makoto, coughing to cover up his laughter. "And what's that smell?"

"Mackerel," Gou sniffed. "As if Haru-chan needs any more fish scales in her stomach than she already has! Honestly, it's like she actually is a fish herself –!"

"Now, now, settle down." Rin waited until they all were paying attention before saying, "I have a question for all of you guys and I want you to consider it very carefully before answering."

"OH MY GOSH, YES!" squealed Nagisa. "YES, YES, YES, GO ASK HER OUT!"

"Shut up," said Rin. "What I wanted to know was, have any of you guys ever seen Haru blush?"

The question hung still in the air for a few minutes.

"Come to think of it, no," said Makoto slowly, rubbing his chin in thought. He stared into space, trying to remember in all their friendship whether or not Haru had ever showed any kind of expression.

"Me neither," Rei supplied.

"Haru's not the type to blush," Gou said. "She's very…"

"Expressionless," Rin deadpanned.

"I did!" Nagisa said. "It was the day when she got sunburn all over her face!"

Everyone gave her a look.

"That doesn't count."

"How about we find out today?" said Makoto. "I'm kind of curious."

"Yeah!" Nagisa grinned at everybody. "And whoever finds out during dinner gets a prize!"

"How about we go out for ice cream later?" said Gou. "And the person who wins won't have to pay. Everyone else will!"

"Ice cream?"

Nagisa was nearly drooling, and Rin felt his mouth water a little. It was pretty hot, and ice cream would be quite nice…

"Really?" said Makoto.

"Yeah! Remember – those who lose have to pay for all of us!" Gou reminded him.

Haru came into the room, holding two plates. Rin smiled. Haru was wearing her apron, and had an expression of… well, there didn't seem to be any expression. But she seemed to smile briefly at them before setting down the dishes.

Rin, curious, looked at what exactly she had been cooking.

And he should have expected it.

Fish.

"Let me guess," Rin said, eyeing them dryly. "Mackerel."

Gou stifled a giggle.

Haru shook her head, untying her apron.

"That one's mackerel, and this one's trout," she said. "I thought you guys were probably sick of mackerel."

That was probably the longest sentence she'd uttered that day, thought Rin. Haru may not look like it, but she was suffering from the heat as much as they were.

Chuckling, Makoto went to assist Haru with the rice, and Gou grinned.

"Okay, Onii-chan," she said. "The game is on. Get ready to pay for my ice cream!"

.

.

.

Rei didn't think he'd ever eat fish ever in his life ever again.

It turned out that Haru had actually fried no less than six fish for them to eat. It wasn't logical to eat that much fish, he'd argued, but Haru only gave everyone that look that only she knew how to give, and they'd shut up.

And now his stomach hurt from all the fish. Good grief.

There were two more fish, and Rin, Makoto, and Haru were still at it. From what Rei could see, Makoto was genuinely hungry, Haru wanted to keep eating, and Rin was just eating to be polite.

The corners of his mouth lifted as Rin turned a lovely shade of green and pushed his plate away.

"So…" said Nagisa at his ear.

Rei jumped.

"I think it's easy to make Haru laugh," Nagisa whispered. "Let's work together. I have an idea!"

"O-Okay," said Rei. Nagisa's eyes sparkled mischievously and he couldn't help but smile at her.

"But first off, I want to see how fast I can make you blush."

"Uh – Nagisa – "

Suddenly, they were nose-to-nose and Nagisa's amber eyes were mere inches from his own. Rei's mouth went dry as Nagisa put her hands under his face, tilting it upwards and gently putting their foreheads together. Her mouth touched his –

Rei's face turned a vibrant crimson, and Nagisa laughed.

"Rei-chan, it's too easy," she giggled.

Rei suddenly felt the need to hide under a rock for the rest of eternity. Makoto was laughing behind his rice bowl, and Gou snickered so hard she choked. He glared at them, and they giggled even harder.

Peevishly, he adjusted his glasses, tried to make his face go back to normal, and shoveled some fish into his mouth.

Good grief.

.

.

.

The contest had begun, even though Haru was not aware of it.

All she knew was that everyone was trying very, very hard to make her annoyed, Makoto thought with amusement. He put his chopsticks down, trying to ignore the fishy taste in his mouth.

"Haru-chan," said Nagisa, grinning. "Do you remember the time when Gou-chan forced you to wear a bikini to the swimming pool?"

Everyone went so quiet it was scary.

Oh, now you've done it, was the thought that ran simultaneously through everyone's mind.

Haru's head turned slowly to Nagisa, her eyes flashing venomously. Nagisa cowered, pinned under the icy stare. Makoto pitied Nagisa. The poor girl had brought this down on herself.

"What did you just say?" Haru asked quietly.

Makoto did in fact remember that specific incident. And it would have been funny, given Haru's flustered expression back then. But it was definitely a horrible idea to mention it, even if Nagisa had assumed that the mention of that would make Haru blush.

"N-Nothing," Nagisa squeaked.

The rest of their attempts were equally unfruitful.

"Who do you like?" (Rei, surprisingly.)

The response was another death glare from Haru.

"Is it Onii-chan?" (Gou.)

Nagisa comforted the trembling girl as the traumatized Gou sat trembling in her seat after Haru had turned her previous death glare (which had reduced Rei to speechlessness) to the highest notch.

Now he and Rin were the last… well, contestants, if that was what they were to call it.

Considering it carefully, Makoto turned on his phone.

He flipped through the pictures, thinking.

Makoto wasn't one for photography. That was Gou's kind of thing: taking pictures of the swim team together, taking selfies of her and her friends, taking random snapshots of bushes and trees. It was very seldom that he turn on his phone at all, actually, except for answering calls.

When he finally found what he was looking for, he had already attracted everyone's attention.

"Here," he said, showing everyone.

There was a small gasp of horror from Haru.

It was a picture of Haru – slightly blurred, but visible: the result after Makoto's younger sister had used Haru as a victim for her new makeup set (granted, his sister was quite young, but she hadn't realized even then that she had been using permanent markers and chalk in place of mascara and blush).

Rei and Nagisa gaped at the Haru in the picture. Her short hair in curlers and occasional flower clips, and her face painted messily like a clown, she looked…

Ridiculous.

Haru growled, snatched the phone away, and deleted the picture.

Disappointed, Makoto realized she wasn't blushing at all. In fact, she looked fit to kill.

Oops.

.

.

.

It's up to me now, thought Rin. I'm the only one left.

Haru looked seriously irritated.

"What are you trying to do?" she said.

Everyone put on their most innocent expression – even Rei, and that was saying something – Rei would probably think trying to fool Haru by smiling was not 'beautiful' enough for him.

"Noth-ing," everyone chorused simultaneously.

Haru did not look convinced.

"All of you tried to make me angry," she said. "Except for Rin. So tell me. Now."

Gou looked at the ceiling. Rei looked at the floor. Nagisa whimpered. Makoto smiled serenely.

"Oh, all right!" sputtered Gou. "We were just playing a game."

"But… that means… "

Haru looked at Rin.

"You haven't gone yet."

Rin bared his teeth in a smile.

"That's because it's my turn."

What the heck is he going to do? thought everybody, including Haru.

Rin didn't quite know himself. His mind raced, thinking about what could possibly make Haru flustered or embarrassed without hurting her feelings.

A minute or two passed before the answer struck him.

Grinning broadly, he looked at Haru.

Everyone watched with bated breath to see what would happen next.

Rin leaned over the table and looked into Haru's blue eyes. Still smiling, he put his hand behind her head, with his other hand in his pocket, and with one fluid movement –

Kissed her. Right on her mouth.

Gou screamed.

Nagisa screamed.

Rei screamed.

Makoto nearly fainted.

After a long, long moment, Rin released her, sitting back down.

Haru stared at him, her mouth slightly agape.

And slowly, very slowly, her entire face began to redden until even her ears were bright scarlet.

Rin crossed his arms, looking smug.

"I win."