It takes all Rin's willpower not to drop the beer bottles he had just taken out of the fridge, as he spotted the familiar tuft of black hair and mesmerizing blue eyes staring at him from the back of the bar.
He also couldn't help the enormous, predatory smile that began to draw across his face.
Well, hullo there, matey, he thought excitedly, and realized it was not going to be a dull night after all.
It said a lot about Rin's self-taught bartending techniques how he managed to pour at least half a dozen mixers, mix up a Cherry B and uncap about a dozen beers without taking his eyes off the black-haired beauty, who seemed to have taken Rin's gaze as a staring contest, his own eyes not moving off target. The target being Rin.
Haruka Nanase. Stupid, girly name, he couldn't help thinking, chuckling to himself and completely ignoring the irony of having a girly name himself.
It took a few minutes, but once the last orders had been served up, he passed Rei his whiskey glass, hung up his bar rag, and walked around the bar, deciding upon delivering the Cherry B in person.
It was stupid and he knew it, walking out of the bar on a whim, particularly on such a busy night, particularly after recognizing the tingling sensation of having had too much to drink, but he thought he could spare a few minutes just so he could let his intentions be perfectly clear.
"I'm going to get laid tonight. I'm going to get laaaid- ", he hummed under his breath.
Reaching the table at the back was no small feat for one Rin Matsuoka, not if he wanted to keep his eyes on target. Narrowly missing a punch in the face from a gesticulating stranger and nearly slipping on a puddle of spilled drink that he chose to ignore completely, he made it to where Haru was sitting.
"Good sir," he said, and he was sure his face would hurt from the strain of smiling so broadly, "your drink." He laid it in front of him, pulled out a stool and sat down, elbows on the table.
Haru looked at him for a moment, and then his gaze turned to the drink that had been placed in front of him.
The music was loud and the atmosphere was beginning to get raucous, a welcoming sight on any other day, except that now, all Rin wanted was a little bit of silence and yes, why not, a little bit of action. Not allowing himself to even think how long it had been since he had gotten laid, he took in the appearance of the man before him, who seemed to be, once again, ignoring him.
"So, Haruka," he began and smiled broadly at the look Haru threw him. "Or do you prefer Haru? You can call me Rin," and he stretched out a hand. "Rin Matsuoka, a pleasure."
It seemed to take Haru a few seconds to make up his mind, but eventually reached out a hand, and took Rin's in his. It was obvious by the look that Rin gave him, that he was trying to put a lot into that handshake, and Haru quickly withdrew his hand as if it had been burned.
"It's nice to see you again!" Rin ventured once more, slightly irked that his handshake had drawn out such response. He was usually so good with his hands. Pun intended.
"Yes," Haru replied, flatly. He was wearing a plain white shirt and regular, slightly worn out blue jeans. Rin was very pleased to see a sliver of his biceps showing from under the sleeves, nice thick veins adoring the porcelain skin and he was hard pressed to stop himself from licking his lips.
What is wrong with me today? he thought again, wondering if having downed that bottle of Fireball had been a mistake, for he was feeling particularly hot.
Or maybe it was Haru. It had only been the second time he had seen him in person, but he had not been willing to forget him in a hurry. He was, after all, totally his type. Totally and absolutely, his type. No prisoners.
Haru took the glass in his hand, lifted it up to his lips and gave it a small peck. Rin watched him ravenously as the tip of Haru's tongue licked the glossy substance off his lips. He didn't know him, but he could have sworn he had licked his lips intentionally.
"Good, eh?" he asked, and his words came slightly Australian-y.
Haru placed both hands on the table and raised up his gaze to lock eyes with the redhead in front of him. His eyes were so bright and so magnificently blue that Rin had to repress a sigh.
"I want to pay you for that drink, from last time," he said, and it was hard to hear him over the music, but Rin had been reading his lips, as he had been shamelessly staring at his mouth. He chuckled and felt himself relax a notch.
"Don't sweat it," he said nonchalantly, stretching out his arms over his head and locking his hands over the nape of his neck. "I figured what the hell, he might need it more than I do, and besides," he took on a serious tone and propped himself over the table once again. "You came back, didn't you?" he added, loud enough only for Haru to hear him.
Haru frowned, as if he had been trying to decipher what the words had meant.
Or maybe, Rin had the miserable thought that he might not be Haru's type after all. He knew he was on the good-looking side, and he had prided himself, once upon a time, on being what would be considered a total catch. But he also acknowledged he had had a rather unlucky run for a few years. Slightly crestfallen, he gazed around the bar and took in his surroundings.
The birthday party had moved to the opposite side, right by the jukebox, and Kisumi was shamelessly dancing, tie over his forehead. Gou was engaged in conversation with some people at the bar, while Sousuke took on bar duty. He caught Rin's eyes and slowly mouthed fuck you. Rin chuckled and flipped him off.
"Ah, it's nice to see you have properly met each other now," said a voice from behind Rin and he turned to see Rei Ryugazaki placing his glass on the table and taking a seat.
"Hm," mumbled Haru and returned his gaze to the cocktail.
Rin raised an eyebrow and cocked his head slightly to the right. He wasn't sure if he could read Haru properly, and feared he was making him uncomfortable by being too straightforward. Or maybe, he hated to admit the possibility, he really wasn't doing anything for the strangely beautiful success story sitting in front of him. What a shame, he thought to himself.
"Yep," Rin chuckled as he got up, silently admitting defeat, "but I don't wanna kill anyone's buzz." Haru looked slightly affronted by the words and mumbled something Rin couldn't hear. "You guys enjoy your drinks and let me know if you need anything else, alright? I just dropped by to say hello."
"Rin! Rinny! You beautiful bastard!" came loud yell from nearby and as they turned, their gaze was met by none other than the party boy, Kisumi, who wasn't as lucky as Rin and slipped over the puddle of spilled drink that Rin had so narrowly escaped.
"I meant to clean that!" lied Rin, biting on his knuckles to repress his laughter. "Here you go, buddy," he said while helping the man back on his feet. "Good as new!"
"What—what are you doing here!?" Kisumi asked hysterically, having completely forgotten that this was actually Rin's bar.
"Same old, same old, you two-o-clock beauty queen," Rin replied, as he straightened the tie tied around Kisumi's forehead. "Mingling around, providing these gentlemen with superior customer service," he emphasized the word, waving a hand in Haru and Rei's direction.
Kisumi's face crunched up in an exaggerated yet soundless chuckle before he looked around, his eyes landing on Haruka, and at this, his jaw came crashing down to the ground.
"Nooooo," he yelled hoarsely, "if it isn't- is it-" he mumbled a couple of incoherent words while rudely pointing a finger straight at Haru's bewildered face. Rin chuckled loudly and decided to formalize the coming storm by introducing them.
"This- is Haruka Nanase, and er," Rin stopped for a second, staring at Rei. "Sorry buddy, I forgot your name," he added apologetically. Rei stood up and shook off some invisible dirt off his clothes, stretching out a hand to meet Kisumi's.
"Rei Ryugazaki, of Iwatobi Corp," he added professionally. "And this is, indeed, Haruka Nanase."
Haru raised his glass and mouthed the words happy birthday. Rin wasn't sure if he had actually spoken because whatever sound had come out of his mouth, had been absolutely drowned by the hoarse scream of victory that Kisumi had learned to produce after a particularly excellent goal.
"Oh my god, oh my… VIKTOR! Viktor! Get over here!" Kisumi yelled towards the table where his friends were still chugging pints after pints of beer. A large, bearded man poked a shiny bald head from behind the crowd.
Viktor yelled something inaudible back and completely ignored the birthday boy.
Rin took in the exchange with mild amusement, arms crossed over his chest and his gaze switching from Kisumi to Haruka and back to Kisumi as if he had been watching a tennis match.
Poor Haru. You could have been upstairs with me, he thought almost longingly. I could be doing shots off your bellybutton right this instant, he added as an afterthought, savoring the knowledge that the two outsiders were in for an exasperating treat. He knew well enough that Kisumi was not going to let go of the opportunity to have a one-on-one chat with a famous athlete. And this most professional sports commentator was most definitely not as pleasant and restrained now that he was wasted, as he usually was when he was sober.
Rin had given up hope of a one-on-one with Haruka Nanase by this time and was about to excuse himself to return to the bar when his phone began vibrating in his pocket. It was a text from Nitori.
The rat has entered the trash bin. Same url. XS Code: your 100 butterfly best PLUS your 100 free best PLUS number of times you crack your fingers every day, no commas. Use VPN. Recording now.
Rin's smile had faded off his face and he felt a cold chill run down his back.
Tanaka.
The single, hateful word swam before him like black smoke, and all else was forgotten. He slipped away from the growing crowd as Kisumi began reciting all the occasions he had had the absolute pleasure of covering Haruka Nanase's swim meets, mumbled a quick toilet to Sousuke as he passed him, and quickly ran upstairs.
He missed the fact that Haru's eyes did not leave him until he disappeared behind the back door.
As he ran upstairs, he quickly began adding up numbers that he knew by heart, as he and Nitori had been friends for ages and had agreed on using them for these particular occasions.
"Number of times I crack my fingers… good one Ai," he mumbled as he reached the second landing and climbed out the window towards the fire escape, the only way to access the attic space ever since the inside corridor had been used as storage. It had been the perfect way to stop Gou from accidentally going into the attic and discovering how far Rin's obsession with the man he blamed for his father's death really was.
Getting in through the window was almost second nature to Rin, and after entering the small, cramped attic space, he quickly propped himself over his work area, pulled out an old laptop from behind the desk and plugged it in. His movements were quick and efficient, almost automatic. With the added thought that he would soon catch a good glimpse at what that motherfucker had been hiding in his safe, he worked almost feverishly. Fingers flying over the keyboard, he logged in to the VPN server that Nitori had set up for him, typed in the code and let out a suppressed scream once the green words Access Granted appeared on the screen.
A large dialogue box appeared before him, and he clicked on the first link on the list. He found himself salivating and reached out for a beer out of the small mini he had set up by the desk, popping it open with his teeth and spitting out the cap.
The video player popped up and Rin almost choked on his drink, spilling most of it on his shirt. He had to squint to make out the shapes that were starting to sharpen before his eyes.
A heavy, middle-aged man was bending over a table, counting money. Rin couldn't tell the exact value of the bills, but something in his gut told him it was nothing more or less than hundred-dollar bills. If the man hadn't been sitting around in a dark space, evidently trying to get this over with as soon as possible and constantly looking over his shoulder, he wouldn't have been completely out of place in a casino.
The man got up, carefully pushed in the digits of the safe combination, and a heavy clunk was heard over the laptop's shitty speakers. The safe door opened, and Tanaka placed several wads of cash deep inside it.
Rin took on an extremely tense expression, his eyes narrowing into an uncharacteristically ugly grimace, nostrils flaring.
'Scoot over, you hateful motherfucker,' he whispered avidly, eager to get a glimpse of what Tanaka was hiding inside that safe.
As the mobster reached back to the desk to get another wad of cash, Rin could have sworn he glimpsed a stack of letters, carefully pushed to the side of the box, and his blood ran cold. His grip on his beer bottle was so hard that the glass shattered and the liquid spilled all over the floor. In a matter of seconds, the safe door had been once again pushed closed, and the man walked out of the small, cramped office, turning off the lights as he went.
It was him. It had been him all along. Those must be the letters.
Tanaka had been Rin's dad's partner. They had gone into the bar business together. But Tanaka had wanted to expand the business, he had made some unscrupulous friends over the years and he wanted Rin's dad to do business with them.
It didn't take his dad too long to discover that these so-called friends were indeed part of the underground group that controlled organized criminal activities, and basically ran the entire underworld of the city. And he had tried to get out of the deal, with Rin as his witness, he had tried.
Only to die a few months later, burned to ashes during a fire that devoured their first family business, and home. The place that Rin and Gou now ran. Sakura Bar had once been a promising business, with loyal customers and a growing interest amongst entrepreneurs and F&B enthusiasts alike. But that was all in the past. The old golden days were gone, and reality came crashing down on the Matsuoka children as fast as the crumbling bricks of their collapsing childhood home.
The place had been insured, luckily or unluckily for them, as they were forced by piling debts to continue with the family business. It wasn't too long after the incident that Rin and Gou, both still going through their mourning period, re-opened for business. It didn't have the old glorious shine that only their father knew how to add to the place. But they had to live off something, after all, and the clientele had remained consistent, undoubtedly pitying the poor Matsuoka children; and regardless of the fact that most interested parties and investors had decided to take their business elsewhere, Sakura Bar, at least, was safe.
And then, there was Tanaka.
He had opened three new clubs the very same week that Sakura Bar had burned to the ground. Money came flowing in in rivers, girls and boys went in to work for him and were never seen again. Nitori had been one of the few lucky ones who had managed to escape unscathed.
Barely aware of the sticky mess of spilled beer over his jeans and dripping onto the floor, Rin grabbed his phone and dialed Nitori's number.
"Are you watching this?" came the voice on the other side of the line, not even bothering to greet the caller.
"Yes. Ai, tell me you saw the same thing I did. Tell me you saw the stack of letters," Rin almost pleaded, voice hoarse and full of emotion as it hadn't been in many years.
"I-," the youth mumbled and cut himself off. "I don't know what I saw. Rin, please. Don't jump to conclusions here. They could have been bills. Or contracts. It could have been a stack of take-out menus," at this, Rin tsked loudly, quickly losing his temper and running a sticky hand through his hair.
"I can't believe you're defending him!" he yelled at the phone, and it took him a couple of seconds to interpret the silence coming from the other side of the line.
"Defending him? You know nobody wants to see him behind bars more than I do…" whispered Aichirou, his voice sounded hurt, and Rin regretted his words.
"I'm… sorry," he mumbled back, and he meant it. "Ai, it has taken us years getting to where we are now. We almost got him, right? We're almost there!" he added hopefully.
"I wanted you to see this, just so you wouldn't get your hopes up. I told you it would be impossible to properly make out anything sitting inside that box. But-" he added, almost as if he had sensed that Rin was about to retort. "We did manage to get something on tape."
Rin thought hard for a second, and in an instant, the answer came to him fast as lightning.
"The combination,"he whispered almost inaudibly.
"I've got it on tape, I'll make a record of it."
"Ai, you beautiful, brilliant piece of heaven!" Rin yelled, springing to his feet.
"I want to believe that you are alone in the attic, but I also don't really want to walk in on you pleasuring yourself," came a steady voice from outside the window, and Rin flipped his phone shut almost immediately. It took him another second to press a couple keys on the keyboard and switch to a very rowdy, loud and low-budget gay film that he kept open just for emergencies.
Sousuke's head popped up from outside the window and within a second, he had propped himself up against the windowsill, lighting a cigarette as he leveled himself.
"H-hey!" Rin feigned to be pleasantly surprised, although he felt as if he had aged at least 10 years within the last few seconds. "What- whatcha doin' here, huh? Officer Yamazaki? I thought you were bartending tonight!" he added for good measure, pleased to hear his voice sounded steadier by the second.
Sousuke's eyes narrowed slightly as he gazed upon the hardcore gay porn compilation playing inconspicuously on the screen behind his best friend.
"And you're watching porn because…" Sousuke's voice faded out at the end of the open question.
Rin decided his best option was to take on an indignant approach.
"Tsk, well, excuse me for not being able to have the healthy and active sexual life of a police officer," replied Rin, arms crossed over his chest. "But of course, I am not Officer Yamazaki, the man of the hour, the mighty ass wrangler, hob-knob king, ruling hot-daddy of the seven fucking kingdoms and protector of the bootycall realm- "
"Alright, alright," Sousuke admitted defeat, barely able to restrain his laughter. Rin was so transparent it was hard to get angry with him. "Just don't get into too much trouble, alright? Keep your damn nose clean and I won't have to come bail you out of jail and break your sister's heart, is that too much to ask?"
Rin secretly praised himself for his quick-thinking and made his way to the window, shutting his laptop closed as he went. He would get in touch with Nitori the following day. It was in fact, very, very good news. The main reason why they had ventured to set in the camera was precisely just so they could get their hands on the combination.
"Apology accepted," he added cheekily, pushing Sousuke down the fire escape and following suit. "Let's get back to the bar, Gou must be slammed with you irresponsibly leaving her by herself."
Sousuke let out a loud yawn.
"Nah, you'd think so but the party is over. Kisumi's passed out and his co-workers are dragging him back home. He puked on his cake."
Rin laughed heartily picturing the scene.
Suddenly, he remembered something.
"Hey, is Haru still there?"
"Nanase, you mean?" Sousuke asked to clarify. "The most stoic and unnerving person on earth?"
Rin giggled and patted his friend on the back.
"Yo, Sou-sou… are you jealous?" he asked flirtatiously, and Sousuke made puking sounds.
"Not even of all his damn money," responded the cop. "But to answer your question, no. He left pretty much after you oh-so mysteriously disappeared to take care of business."
Rin couldn't help but groan slightly.
"Don't be too hard on yourself Rin-Rin," Sousuke teased. "There are in fact men in this world that are immune to your- shall we say, charm?"
Rin sighed and there was some resignation mingled there.
"Guess so," he said. "But… God. Sousuke, he was like… so my type!" he whined, his hands over his friend's shoulders, as if he were guiding him and hiding behind him at the same had reached the first-floor landing, and as they opened the staff door to walk out the serving area, Sousuke turned around and that shit-eating expression was back on his face.
"Was he, now?" he asked malevolently, leading Rin back into the main area, where a single person was sitting by the bar, sipping on a familiar pink drink.
Rin stopped on his tracks, and Haru's blue eyes met his.
"I'll be outside, Gou is getting cabs for everyone, then we're getting some food," Sousuke said as he walked out of the bar, slapping Rin hard over his butt as he walked past him. "There's cake, if you want," he added, pointing at the trash bin.
After all the emotions that he had gone through during the past few hours, flirting was one of the last things he felt like doing. He took one look at the man sitting at the bar and let out an exhausted sigh. He just couldn't read this guy. Sure, his eyes were like deep stretches of ocean seen from space, and his mouth had a pouty quality to it that was just begging to be sucked, but other than that, what was he? What was so special about him, other than the fact that he had probably been born with a silver spoon. For a second, he considered telling him that the bar was closing down, but then again, there was no reason to be rude.
Haru's eyes were on him and Rin was suddenly very aware of how wet he actually was. Sensing that this was where the conversation was steering to, Rin settled himself behind the bar, snatched down his bar rag and began wiping his clothes.
"Little accident upstairs," he explained half-heartedly. Haru's eyes followed his every movement.
"Rin," said Haru, and Rin stopped on his tracks. He had never heard him say his name before and his attention was absolutely back on the man before him.
"Yes?" Rin couldn't help himself asking politely, wondering what kind of party-pooping thing he was about to hear.
"I want to pay you for that drink," Haru deadpanned, for the second time that night.
Rin let out an exasperated sigh. Really, how hard was it to just, accept that he had been trying to hit on him? Just let it go, he thought miserably. I wanted to chat you up, you were like 'nah', I lost ten bucks. No biggie, life goes on.
"I mean," Haru suddenly added, "I want to pay for that drink and," he downed the remainder of the drink in front of him in a single, swift gulp, "I'd like to buy you one, if that's okay."
Rin's tightly pursed lips relaxed, torn between a giggle and outright laughter. This guy was as impossible as a 6 by 6 Rubik's cube. A very attractive 6 by 6 Rubik's cube that Rin really wanted to scramble to pieces in all sorts of crazy ways. Was this how people flirted nowadays? Had he been out of the scene for that long? Did gay men now walk around ignoring each other, playing hard to get, annoying every good old gay Samaritan they meet and then get into their pants? Was he old-fashioned now?!
"Well, well," Rin turned his entire body to face Haru, happy that he could at least see the humor in all this, and he was even more glad to see that as he got nearer, Haru recoiled slightly. "You are just making me want to rearrange the alphabet, you sweet, sweet talker."
To the almost utter bewilderment of both of them, Haru snorted, gazed up at Rin and smiled. Rin could have punched the air if he hadn't been second-guessing himself about what was in and what was out just a few minutes ago.
Instead, he decided to bring out a couple of shot glasses, took out a bottle of spiced rum and set it on the bar between them.
"What about your buddy-buddy from earlier?" asked Rin, readying himself for what might not be the most disappointing end of the day yet.
Haru shrugged, uninterestedly. Rin took that to mean Idunno n' Iduncare. He poured the shot glasses full of rum and gestured to Haru.
"He'll be alright," Haru added eventually, as Rin downed his shot glass and began busying himself with another order.
"What about you?" asked Rin flirtatiously, placing two glasses in front of them. "Will you be alright, all on your own?" He began picking out bottles from the shelf behind him and hoped to all the heavens that Haru wasn't going to take his straightforward approach as attempted blackmail or a threat of kidnapping.
The black-haired man before him shrugged again, eyes curiously following Rin's every move.
"I can take care of myself," Haru responded calmly, and Rin was sure that Haru had just checked his ass.
The masterful art of mixing cocktails, in Rin's opinion, came hand-in-hand with the art of conversation. A person couldn't call him or herself a true bartender unless he or she was able to chat someone up while making him or herself irresistible through pure mixology. He had to admit that this 'pure mixology' couldn't exactly apply to him, as the bar was lacking on a few costly gadgets that would have made his bar skills really shine, but at least, he liked to think that he was giving Haru a good show. If not by his cocktail-shaking skills, then definitely by his bulging triceps, which he showcased by shaking the shaker over his head.
To his absolute delight, not only was Haru staring at him, there was the ghost of a smile threatening to appear on the edge of his mouth, as if he found Rin the most entertaining thing in this world.
Rin poured out the liquid into the glasses, garnished them with a single spring of thyme and raised his glass as if to toast.
Haru followed suit and asked, "what is this drink called?"
Rin clinked their glasses together and took a swig, savoring the taste in his mouth while twirling the glass in his hand, thoughtfully.
"Let's call this, Le Blue Balls," he responded, and added "It's French."
"That's not French," Haru deadpanned, but there was definitely a hint of laughter in his voice, and Rin thought it sounded like music.
"What about, The Tease," suggested Rin, taking in another sip of the drink and chewing on the ice.
"Why?" Haru asked, positively glaring at him. "Are you trying to tell me something?"
Rin chuckled loudly, set his glass down and placed both hands on the bar's smooth surface, close to Haru's balled up fists.
"Because," he whispered. "I am the biggest tease you'll ever meet, Haruka Nanase," and winked at him, ice still crunching in his mouth.
Haru stared at him for what felt like hours. Something of a storm seemed to resolve itself within him, for he took a deep breath and locked eyes with Rin. He then grabbed his drink, half-downed it in one gulp, set it back down and propped himself over the bar, stretching his neck towards the redhead.
It happened so fast that Rin almost whimpered. Haru gently pulled him in by the shirt, and pressed his mouth to Rin's ear. His breath was hot over Rin's skin and he smelled slightly of pear. Rin's eyes bulked out of his head and he grabbed onto the bar for dear life as he felt himself pulled towards the person in front of him.
"Two can play this game, Matsuoka." Haru positively breathed over Rin's ear, and then let go.
Rin stood frozen on the spot, slightly gaping and breathing heavily.
The smell emanating from Haru was intoxicating. The look he was giving him, as he downed the remainder of his drink was burning holes through his pants. He realized he hadn't been so intrigued by another man in a very, very long time.
The things he did next, he did out of pure reflex. It could have all backfired on him and he would have probably regretted it for the rest of his life. But he took a risk.
Without taking his eyes off Haru, he walked around the bar and past the place where the swimmer had been sitting, running a finger through his back as he walked past. He strutted a bit for good measure, making sure his hips sort of struck out at the right angle with every step he took. Rin made a whole show out of turning off the main lights, unplugging the jukebox, pulling down the blinds and turning the 'open' sign backwards, so it read 'closed' from the outside.
Once he was done, he went to sit next to Haru, on the customer's side of the bar. He reached for the rum bottle and the shot glasses, pouring a healthy measure of rum in each of them and handing one to Haru.
"Cheers," said Rin, clinking their glasses together, and downed it in one gulp. Haru barely kissed the rim of the glass.
They were sitting very close to each other. Haru's body was facing the bar even though his face was turned towards where Rin was sitting. And Rin, resting both feet over the footrest of Haru's bar stool, facing him and twirling the shot glass over his fingers.
They didn't speak for a few seconds, but Haru's eyes were hot on Rin's legs and Rin could feel them like lasers burning through his pants.
"Rin," Haru whispered and Rin almost jumped. He wondered when had he become such a bashful little girl when suddenly Haru placed a hand over his own, making him almost drop his empty shot glass.
With his other hand, Haru pulled up Rin's face by his chin and their eyes met.
Why the fuck am I so nervous?! Thought Rin, trying his best not to wiggle his legs. It felt as though the last couple of hours had both never happened and yet still weighed on him like a collapsing building.
Haru was looking at him as if he had never seen a person before, studying every angle of his face, from his forehead to the tip of his chin. His gaze lingered over his lips and Rin couldn't help but moisten them with a flick of his tongue. Their faces were very close now, their breaths almost caressing each other's faces. Rin closed his eyes, like the ever romantic he never admitted to being, and readied himself for whatever was to come.
"You haven't asked me a single thing about myself, you know," whispered Haru, and Rin's eyes sprang open.
Haru wasn't looking into his eyes anymore, but focused somewhere over Rin's shoulder.
"Euh…" mumbled Rin, but Haru turned his gaze back on him and Rin froze. There was a serene intensity to the man's gaze that mesmerized him, almost like if he was being hypnotized. His eyelashes were so long. He counted seven freckles before Haru spoke again.
"You are so, strange."
And without warning, Haru kissed Rin's slightly parted lips.
Slightly moaning into Haru's mouth, grabbing onto Haru's shirt for dear life, Rin smiled against Haru's lips.
Yeah, I still got it, he thought, leaning further into Haru's embrace, as the latter pulled him closer still.
