They soon turned around the corner and spotted blinking tram lights in the distance. Without thinking, both began to quicken their pace, gradually breaking into a sluggish run that swung the plastic bags wildly about and smacked them hard against their thighs. Rin was less careful than Haru and all but tossed his purchases on board onto the empty seats across the backdoor, keeping his foot in the doorway until Haru scrambled up the stairs and collapsed on the first clear seat in his path. Rin slammed down next to him and they turned to each other, waves of relief washing over them as the door closed and the tram began to inch towards home. Haruka held the paper bag a little closer to his heart with that small smile still in place. Rin shook his head and grabbed his backpack, scraping the bottom for his phone.

He flicked it open to find two missed calls and one text message. Makoto. Rin speed-dialed him, nestling comfortably into his seat.

"Rin..!" came Makoto's voice, sounding relieved.

"Hey," replied Rin, staring idly into the darkness looming beyond the glass. "We've got everything and are on our way home."

"Ah, great! You got the mackerel then?"

Rin flinched as though he had been struck. His eyes darted to Haru, wide and blank in utter confusion.

"I thought you were getting mackerel," he blurted into the phone, cursing his lack of judgment immediately as Haru's eyes bore into him like spikes.

"The market closed earlier than usual," explained Makoto, his voice panicked. "I called to ask you to buy Haru some mackerel from the store until we could get fresh..!"

As Makoto spoke, Haru's look of alarm gradually hardened into a glare too uncomfortable to ignore. Rin slowly turned to him and lowered the phone, his features tense.

"He couldn't get you mackerel," he said reluctantly, carefully avoiding the other's eyes. Haru's face hardened in disbelief, reaching over to take the phone from Rin's hand and press it to his ear, his fingers clenching around it.

"You promised that if I went shopping with Rin you'd get me fresh-caught mackerel," he spoke, every word a calm but poignant accusation leveled at their reflections in the opposite window.

"I'm sorry Haru, he fishmonger had closed by the time I got there, you see" came Makoto's reply, his tone gentle and soothing, adding insult to injury. "I'm not sure why but there may have been an accident because the sign said—"

Haru did not care what the sign said. He lowered the phone, letting Makoto's clear baritone fade into a low mumble in the palm of his hand and fixed his eyes on the ground in a defiant glare. That continuous murmur soon dissolved into confused silence and pleas of "Haru..? Haru, are you there..?" until Rin lost his patience and snatched his phone back, lifting it quickly to his ear.

"Haru…!"

"We'll see you at home," he muttered and ended the call, flipping his phone shut. His glance shifted to Haruka to catch his eyes but Haru turned his head away from him, his left hand tightening around the paper bag as though its contents didn't matter anymore.

"Don't be stupid," said Rin when he could no longer endure the sudden change from content smile to sore disappointment. "He doesn't control the shop. It's not like he forgot."

Haru refused to acknowledge him, his shoulders stiff and fingers crumpling the bag just a little harder. Rin bared his teeth.

"Then be mad at me, you idiot!" he snapped, not caring that Haru pointedly scooted a bit further away from him and the people around them began to stare. "He tried to reach me twice but I didn't hear him from the goddamn music and I didn't bother to check my phone once. He called me specifically to tell me to get you mackerel from the store. He even, look, he even left me a text message," he continued, flipping his phone open again in a frantic mash of the keys to bring up the message he still hadn't checked. "Please get Haru mackerel at the store, the market's closed. Makoto."

He practically shoved the phone in Haruka's face, forcing him to read, and for one long moment the other seemed to relent, his lips pursed in obvious struggle. Haru sighed and Rin broke into a tentative smile, but the next moment, ever so slowly, Haruka lowered his eyes to the paper bag in his grasp, the chocolate bar still glistening in its nest of groceries. He shifted and the paper bag sank onto the seat next to him, leaving his lap empty except for his now idle hands. Rin's mouth curled into a frown and he slumped back into his seat, letting silence fall between them like heavy snow. The tram inched onward unbearably slowly, as if this was going to last forever.