A/N Only a short chapter this time sorry guys, hopefully it's good enough. again sorry for how slow replies are but Uni tends to take priority and cuts into my writing time.


"Rin, you have to get into the water to have a bath!" Haru sighed, shaking his head at the red head who was standing behind his grandmother, hugging her leg and utterly refusing to move.

Haru's grandma was very patient though, patting the catboy's hair in hopes to calm him down. She could have sworn he was trembling…

"Haru, why don't you get into the tub first dear?" She suggested, thinking that maybe when Rin saw it was safe he would get in too.

Haru nodded, stripping and getting into the tub, sinking lower into the water happily. Rin watched him hesitantly. It seemed that despite the catboys apprehension he couldn't help but be curious. "Wet… bad no?" he asked cautiously.

Haru tilted his head at Rin, "No the water is good. Come and see." He invited. He didn't get it, Rin had been having a ball playing with the water from the tap and yet he looked almost afraid to get into the bath. "It's okay Rin."

Rin bravely stepped closer, sniffing at the tub a little as he reached out to hit the water with his hand. After a couple of more hits to the water's surface Rin was willing to let Grandma undress him and help him into the water. As he sat next Haru in the tub he slowly relaxed. The sight of the two youngsters together was incredibly sweet; however there was one detail that soured the sight.

"Rin sweetheart…" Haru's grandmother called, making sure to keep her voice gentle and keep the shock out of her tone. "When did you get these scars?"

The catboy tilted his head in confusion for a moment before trying to look over his shoulder as he seemed to realize what she meant. On the redheads lower back, spanning from his left hip to roughly where his spine was, were three scars. They were somewhat faded but it was still obvious the wound had been serious. Rin looked torn, "Secret." He replied, looking uncomfortable.

Haru, who didn't really understand what a scar was or what caused them but did understand discomfort, splashed his friend a little to distract him, "Then it's okay. Grandma can we mix bubbles in the bath?" he asked, while Haru usually preferred not to have bubbles so he could see the water more clearly he had a feeling Rin would like it.

His grandmother agreed and nodded, getting the bubble mix and mixing it in with a bit more water.

Rin's expression betrayed every emotion he felt, from confusion as he sniffed at the bubbles, to utter excitement and joy when a bubble popped on his nose, making him gasp and his eyes light up.

"Haru! You see?" he asked urgently, pointing at the growing number of bubbles. Haru nodded, finding Rin's reaction a lot better than his discomfort even if he didn't share his excitement.

After that 'bath time' turned into 'hunt the bubbles time', as Haru contently sat in his end of the tub, watched as Rin stalked, leapt, and lunged at the bubbles, any apprehension towards the water long forgotten. Said water was now all over the bathroom floor of course and while Haru wanted the other to respect the water, he couldn't deny that having it everywhere was also quite nice.

Haru's grandmother just chuckled, planning on making Haru's parents dry it.


Despite how hard it was to get Rin into the tub, it was possibly harder to get him out. Especially now that Haru was on his side, both utterly refusing to budge.

Haru's grandmother sighed, her patience being tested, "Do I have to get your father Haruka?" she threatened, usually the fear of getting into trouble with his parents and the use of his full name was enough to get her grandson to behave but tonight he was still being stubborn.

However the threat definitely did the trick with Rin shot sat upright with a jolt and hurried to climb out of the bath, quick to wrap himself up in the fluffy red towel Grandma held at the ready.

"Haru…" he whined at him, "out, quick quick!" he urged, fearfully glancing between the door and Haru.

The sudden change in the catboys attitude caught both Haru and his grandmother off guard and Haru nodded, not wanting to distress Rin anymore. As he climbed out his grandmother tried to pick up Rin to comfort him but it seemed to make it worse as he let out scared meows that made her heart ache. Haru wrapped a towel around himself quickly and as soon as he had it secured Rin hugged him, whimpering softly. It reminded Haru of how he had been after his nightmare and hugged him back, "It's okay Rin, I'm here, you're safe…" he reassured though he was scared himself. He didn't know why Rin was so scared…

Haru's grandmother had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, there was a lot more to this than they knew about.