Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Sorry for the short responses to everyone, I try not to spam, but I appreciate all your input. Each and every single word, promise. Justjolola, aren't the season two cuties just lovable? Let's both get extensions on our hearts. I know I need it. And yeep, janken. thank you so much! Kinkylittlewolf, it's getting kind of hard for me here since now Haru feeling posessive in the first place is out of character, but I'm really glad you liked it. Anime Fanfics 4 Life (I like your name) I'll try! Cassie, wahh, dedication is something I've given for this. Hours and hours or typing. /sobs. thank you! Nekki. It's moving along- Haru will take action soon, hopefully. And yes, Mako and Rin ARE going to have a confrontation.. kind of. Not as dramatic as it sounds like, but yes. I live in the US, am a Korean citizen, know small amounts of French and Italian, and no, I just copy/paste Japanese lyrics. No, asking silly things is really cute. thank you! Maiden Warrior, I'm glad you appreciate the insanity! It was meant to be funny in a half-serious and half-crack way. I'm good at crack.. not so much at writing patient love stories. And Rin is beau. yuyuyuoi, sorry, I don't understand- Oshawott-kun, I did! LoveKSB,I put that in partly because of you- Haru still being his cat self. Aww. Guest 1, I got the idea from a drama CD where Rin freaked out about Gou having a boyfriend. He was protective. EPISODE NINE MADE ME CRY. And Iknow, Kuroko was such a good ride. BookAddict67, sorry, I got your name now! Sibling sharks.. that's a new one. Momo-chan, yes, and hinted Reigisa, right. I'll try on the HaruRin soon! DragonClaw827, no more than six months.. hopefully. sumocat, I can't see your link, perhaps resend it? SymphonySoldier, that's a lot of reading! Aahh, thank you. L. Monster, ..yes, Makoto does. There are some awkward moments- only you seem to have caught that so far? And I haven't written out the club outline yet, shh. Sharpen your pencils…...BlueKaZeBlack, thanks for reading again! secretparadise. mine I'm glad you like it! 2509su That means a lot to me- and I want to just have them confess but we're really, really close! Guest I'll try! And I'm surprised there are even people who like RinHaru because everyone's defected to MakoHaru in season two (...including me, I've role-played it a few times now) acK. Gayguy55, you cute thing..! Don't worry about it, I'm swamped with school too. Just take your time!
Note: Due to my kanji brackets, the line breaks have never worked for me. Even if I go back and re-insert them 10x, they don't stay, so assume that there's one after every set of brackets, s'il vous plait, mon amours.
Song Credit: Sea Breeze Friendship by Makoto Tachibana. Picked on a whim because I'm currently not reading/getting-into any other series than Free! and Haikyuu! since I need to be able to write. ...Vow of abstinence, pretty much. Dedication.
Enjoy! Jouir, il mio amores.
Make My World Just Explode
By Ko-Sensei
part twenty-nine entails of penguins and butterflies blocking the dolphin-shark romancing. oh, and ridiculous sea-otters using ridiculous lines of logic
Haru's blue eyes widen slightly with the revelation.
Though it really shouldn't, because it's just now that he realizes...
It's been there for a while.
His hand unconsciously moves to play with the black 'bracelet' he has on his left wrist, thumbing the metal dog tag that reads -Iruka- (and all of Rin's contact information) with a clink while turning it around in circles.
It's… it's not something that's just come up because the entire -Iruka- incident occurred. Though it definitely was an eye-opener, Haru will admit, since he'd been able to see a lot of personal sides to Rin he hadn't known about before, it wasn't just the past three weeks that led up to this.
Matsuoka Rin.
Rin, with his exasperated expressions and sleepy complaints. Rin, who has a short temper when woken up abruptly, who sometimes accidentally speaks in English (instead of Japanese) when he's really focused on doing something, and has a general no-nonsense attitude when it comes to studying or exercising. Matsuoka Rin, who likes sports that he's good at, hates sweet things, and has a soft spot for small animals… (which had included him at one point. ...right.)
His childhood friend that has the prettiest shade of red-colored eyes he's ever seen (or will see) in his life, the most unattempted (Rin seriously does not try) but refreshing kind of attractiveness that draws people in, and small and slight but exceptionally warm smiles that he gives whenever he's amused or touched by something.
Mine.
It's almost a little frightening, the way his thoughts are turning, because it should be none of his business if Rin does anything from sleeping with the entire female population to Japan to becoming best friends with Nagisa's mom.
It's not any of his business.
… But then it also is, kind of.
Sitting next to him on the bed still, Rin has now stopped his sassy tirade and is now looking at him with a tinge of curiosity in his voice. "Haru?" Apparently, he's been zoning out for a while.
The blue-haired boy doesn't respond, however, as he's still lost in his thoughts.
"Hello?" Rin simply waves his hand up and down in front of Haru's face, looking like he's trying not to laugh. Jerk. "Is anyone in there? Haruuu."
Not exactly here, Haru thinks blankly, and starts to lean towards Rin, moving forward (not exactly sure what he's going to do), because all he knows is that the sinking feeling in his chest is probably a sign of misplaced jealousy working here and Rin is right there and there's about twelve inches between the two of them, maybe he should just shift forward and-
"HARU-CHAAAN."
As if an enchantment is lifted right then, a certain overly-familiar blond-haired second year jumps into his lap … and simultaneously tackles him off the bed.
What had just happened.
All previous (dangerous) thoughts that had been swirling around his head that have to do with Matsuoka Rin promptly fly out the window as Haruka is jolted back into reality.
"...Nagisa."
"Hee hee…" But even Nagisa seems to be paling a little bit here. "Uhh.. Haru-chan? ..You aren't too mad, right? Why do you look really scary…even more scary than usual, Haru-chan….. wahhh, Rei-chaaan!"
"Don't casually call to me for help when I told you not to do it, Nagisa-kun!"
【見て、私たちの記憶はどこにでも溢れている - !私たちの学校への道と夕日に染まっ海。】
【Look, our memories are overflowing everywhere-! Our way to school and the sea dyed in the setting sun.】
Haru had been knocked down flat onto his back on the floor as a result of Nagisa's tackle hug.
Which was ouch, because the floor was kind of really hard.
… And currently, the perpetrator is either very stupid (check) or is suicidal (very questionable) for not getting off of him this instant, instead deciding to happily sit on top of his legs, beaming positively and bouncing lightly up and down.
Haru doesn't frown or scowl, exactly (that's more of Rin's or Sousuke's thing to do), but he does narrow his eyes ever so slightly in irritation, glaring at Nagisa.
(He's not that annoyed, but it's not really nice to knock someone off a bed either so.)
Nagisa simply responds to the glare with a preppy peace sign he makes with two fingers, blinking his pink eyes innocently while he wriggles his eyebrows suggestively. The shorter blond wriggles against Haru's legs (since he's sitting on top of them) and winks exaggeratedly.
(...Oh God.)
"Ne, ne, Haru-chan," He chirps cheerfully, pointedly ignoring Haru's glowering (the nerve). "You're not paying attention to anyone but Rin-chaan, if we don't separate you two, it's not going to be very fun. Don't worry, I'll let you stare passionately at me all you waaant~"
To which Haru immediately clamps a hand over Nagisa's mouth, stopping him from talking any further.
The blue-eyed boy looks around then (to see if anyone was listening), but it seems to be fine, as in the corner, Makoto, Gou, and the sea-otter kid are still going at it (long story short, seems like Makoto is trying to drag the fanboying sea otter thing away from Gou while all three of them freak out), Nitori has apparently done the same thing to Rin as Nagisa has done to him (so they're both also on the floor now), aand Rei…
...Is watching them with his arms crossed petulantly across his chest.
.
.
.
At least it wasn't Rin or Makoto that heard any of it… the youngest member of their Iwatobi swim team is a better alternative, he decides.
Rei looks over at him then, and … their gazes meet.
Huh?
He seems to be sulking a bit at being left out, but Rei seems to get over it within seconds, and instead give Haru some kind of knowing look.
By the way he adjusts his red-rimmed glasses smartly and offers him a shy 'I-knew-it' kind of hinted smile, Haru is one-hundred percent sure that Rei's caught on to what happened with him mere minutes ago.
Which... is really not good.
It doesn't get any better when Rei's eyes trail back to the bed, then around to where Rin is located (he's arguing with Nitori now), ...and back to Haru slowly.
… Yeahh. Rei had seen everything.
Not only that, but he'd pretty much understood everything that had just transpired.
Rei flashes him another shy, knowing smile, and Haru wants to slam his head against the board.
Why was his life so unfortunate.
【おなじみの風景は、私たちの時間を一緒に過ごし表す。毎日がとても優しく、それが明らかだように渡します。】
【The familiar sceneries represent our time spent together. Everyday passes so gently like it's obvious.】
Haru is also pretty sure that Rei knows that he knows about Rei knowing.
Wow. Ryuugazaki Rei is kind of known to be a dense idiot at times (despite the fact that he's number one in GPA rankings, test score ratings, etc), especially with how much Haru and Makoto have been around to see him and Nagisa act with each other, but.
(How is it that he's so intuitive when Rei is actually the densest one out of them all when it comes to romantic eptitude).
Rei doesn't seem all that surprised, though. Maybe a little wistful and a bit disappointed about the fact that Haru might have just been staring at Rin like he was the sun or something (huh, why would Rei do that), but not all that shocked.
To which Haru has mixed feelings about, he doesn't know whether he should be glad about that (as in, whew, Rei isn't not going to flip out about it here), or feel unfortunate about it (hah?! had it been that obvious before?!).
It turns out that Haru doesn't have to act on his thoughts, however, as the next moment, Rei (with his arms still folded across his chest) goes over to where Haru and Nagisa are on the floor.
Aaand clears his throat loudly.
"I'm sorry about this moron, Haruka-senpai," Rei apologizes smoothly, promptly bending down and grabbing one of Nagisa's wrists to forcefully tug him ("Nooo, Rei-chaaan") off of Haru.
That's rather nice of him. Haru simply nods as a thank you before flashing Rei a moderately wary look (with Nagisa whining and complaining annoyingly all the while).
He needs to find a way to buy Rei's silence, somehow. Not that he actually thinks Rei will pull a Nagisa and do something obnoxious like go around informing everyone about Haru's newfound obsession, or strange-habits-concerning-Rei, but it doesn't hurt to be safe.
But Haru never gets a chance to figure out how to do so, as suddenly Nagisa pouts and throws his arms up, loudly (crap, way too loud, Haru realizes too late) exclaiming for the entire room to hear-
"Just because Haru-chan was your first love doesn't mean you have to be so MEAN, Rei-chan!"
.
.
.
Then all of a sudden, the rest of the room goes quiet.
-The sea-otter kid stopping in his attempts to get to Gou and rant about himself, Makoto (still holding Momotarou back) becomes completely still, surprised, Gou suddenly beams positively, looking absolutely thrilled as shoujo bubbles appear around her (what the…), Nitori and Rin promptly stop in the middle of their argument to look over at them, Rin gawks at Rei and him, Nitori mutters something that sounds suspiciously like stop getting them, Nanase-senpai, …
And... every person in the room slowly turns their head around to look at the trio (Haru still lying down on the floor, Nagisa and Rei standing up) with expressions of disbelief.
… Silence.
【私たちが変わらない関係で滞在することができますので、私たちは、カジュアルeverydaysを蓄積し続けることを願って。】
【Because we can stay in a relationship that doesn't change, I hope we can continue accumulating casual everydays.】
This is simply a misunderstanding, Haru wants to explain out-loud, but someone else beats him to breaking the ice first, unfortunately-
"...As long as you're not chasing after my Gou-san," The red-haired sea-otter thing says slowly, apparently thinking deeply about the words.
This can't end well at all.
….What was going on.
The sea-otter thing makes a pondering kind of hum and holds his chin as if he's humming. He then sagely nods his head, and takes a deep breath as if he's about to announce something really important or drastic to them.
"I… will support it."
Huh? Haru blinks blankly, not understanding. Neither does anyone else apparently, because they all look just as confused as him… other than Rei. Rei, who looks horrified at what's happening, with a look of dawning realization gathering on his face.
"You have all my support," The sea-otter kid thing repeats again, before having (fake) tears of being touched apparently. Being overcome by emotion.. or something like that. He shakes his head and sighs deeply, holding a fist to his chest." So… in other words, GO FOR IT, FOUR-EYES!"
Go for it? All the occupants in the room take in at the same time, all tilting their heads (other than Rei, who's already understood what the sea otter thing means and is currently still looking horrified) to the side simultaneously.
Go for it… as in, Rei and… Haru?!
And then.. Gou stops her about-to-go-into-a-state-of-squealing thing and whips around to the sea-otter thing, going 'Hah?!" Makoto hurries to clamp a hand over the sea-otter thing's mouth, flailing nervously. Whoa, instant reactions. Nitori sighs exasperatedly and slaps his hand to his forehead. "...Momotarou-kun, the way you work things out amazes me. Though you're incredibly dense, you can also be incredibly smart sometimes…" Then Nagisa flails and cries "AaAH! Momo-chan, you betrayed me! Why are YOU supporting Rei-chan and Haru-chan together all of a sudden, I thought you were MY friend?!"
Rei makes an offended noise and goes into a tirade about being called four-eyes and denying everything in general, but.. everyone ignores him.
(Ryuugazaki Rei is also blushing slightly, Haru notices).
When the youngest Iwatobi kouhai looks over at him helplessly, with a do something please look on his face, all Haru has to do t is give him a pointed look that says really, Rei? -
And that sets off Rei into a sputtering fit of nerves and attempted explanations.
Pffft. How cute. Haru lets the traces of a smile touch on his face.
The others are all freaking out around him with Nagisa and Momotarou's exclamations about him and Rei having some special 'backstory' (...with the two perpetrators also flipping out), but Haru simply continues laying on the floor in the middle of the room with his normal no-nonsense face on.
(At least Rei won't be able to focus or bring up any hints about him and Rin now.)
【今、永遠にも上からこの潮風で;私は常に...私はホッとすることができます存在を感じる暖かい結合は、私たちの後成形形状との友情である。】
【In this sea breeze from now and forever on as well; the warm bond I always feel...the existence that lets me feel relieved, is a friendship with a shape molded after us. 】
By the end of everyone's escalated thoughts and theories (funny thing being, for once, Rei wasn't in the middle of calculating all these theories, he was instead trying to squash them all down), Haru was pretty sure they'd already written a full previous backstory for him and Rei.
(A that included a dramatic first meeting, cute dates after school, secret lessons and rendezvous at the school pool by night, evident 'fooling around' instances, and Gou had planned out his and Rei's wedding too, apparently).
While Rin had also (along with Nagisa) been brooding in the corner. Wow.
"I...I think it's true," Makoto had said sadly. "Whenever Haru-chan was struggling with something important, Rei would be the one that would understand him the best and say something really insightful."
At which Rin had gawked at (ungracefully) even more... which was kind of amusing.
(He liked Rin being jealous over him a little too much. Though he didn't let it show on his face, wearing his same bored, indifferent expression, like usual).
-To say that Haruka enjoyed this would be an understatement.
"Right!" Completely undeterred by Rin, Nagisa, and Makoto's sulking and dark-auras, Gou had cheerfully jumped into the conversation, adding cheerfully, "And it was Haruka-senpai's swimming that convinced him to join the swim team, remember? It was truly touching!"
Nitori looked a little miffed about the entire thing, but he too had something to say.
"Ah! Ryuugazaki-san has also been coached by Haruka-senpai, hasn't he? ...Wouldn't that be considered special?"
The question is met with silence, and Haru wants to laugh, but-
"...Oh God," Nagisa, Rin, and Makoto mutter at the same time, looking absolutely crestfallen and defeated. "It is Haru, so… it must be true."
【私たちは、いつものペースで並んで歩いている。私たちの独自の方法でゆっくりと大人に成長しましょう 、私たちはつまずくとき、私たちはお互いを助けることができます。 】
【We're walking side by side at our usual pace. Let's grow into adults slowly in our own way, so we can help each other when we stumble. 】
"Hah?!" That certain Ryuugazaki Rei was looking very worked up (probably regretting that he had come here in the first place, now) and had waved his arms around everywhere, trying to get everyone's attention (though they mainly ignored him, being too absorbed in their self dilemmas).
"I don't know you that well, four-eyes, but don't listen to them," Momotarou had declared proudly with a thumbs-up and a wide smile (that sparkled, holy crap). "Even if the world is against you… I swear on my manliness that I will support any pairing that does not involve Gou-san in it (without me, of course)!"
.
.
.
"THAT ISN'T THE PROBLEM HERE. IN THE FIRST PLACE, YOU HAVE THE WRONG IDEA ABOUT HARUKA-SENPAI AND I, AND MIKOSHIBA-KUN, PLEASE SHUT UP."
【それでは私たちが平和で感じることができる距離に滞在してみましょう。今日も私たちの暗黙の了解を通じて...】
【Let's stay at a distance we can feel at peace. Today again through our tacit understanding... 】
Rin was most definitely sulking about the entire thing.
No doubt about it.
Or so it seemed, since Rin seemed to glare a little at Rei (who looked horrified at the unsaid accusations being pinned on him), then glower some more at Haru, and then he simply sat at the edge of the room by himself and had an intimidating scowl etched on his face.
Huh. Then come and get me, Haru had conveyed half-seriously with a hint of upturned lips and interested eyes, but Rin had simply scoffed at him and turned away.
Which is kind of disappointing, but…
… It's too cute for him to care too much.
【おなじみの風景は、私たちの時間を一緒に過ごし表す。毎日がとても優しく、それが明らかだように渡します。】
【The familiar sceneries represent our time spent together. Everyday passes so gently like it's obvious.】
Sadly, however, Haru had to eventually put an end to the entire thing.
He simply got up and went around the room, picking up a book, and he smacked all the people that had been flipping out (..namely, Nagisa, Rin, Makoto, Momotarou… and even Rei) on the head, telling them to calm down and that there's no way it'd be true.
Fortunately, since they were all idiots, however, they recovered quickly from the whole affair (sheepish laughter from Makoto, beaming Nagisa, and Rin who simply went 'oh'), and went back to being excited and their normal level of ridiculous.
Especially when Gou and Nagisa pulled a lot of crap out from nowhere (...probably all the bags that had been packed).
There were board games, card games, some dress-up costumes (...what the hell, Gou), several movies ("Guys, we're only partying for one night, you know…"), glow sticks, some body paint (..?!), and so on.
Momotarou, Nitori, Gou, Nagisa and Rei quickly got to work spreading all of these various things out on the floor, excitedly chatting about everything, being loud, and making a mess in general.
They're such idiots, Haru thinks, but as the idea comes back to him over and over again, it seems to get a little more fonder each time.
【私はいつものペースであなたの側で歩きたい。 】
【I want to walk by your side at our usual pace. 】
"Ah! Before we forget," Makoto had suddenly called out, motioning for everyone to stop what they were doing (to turn around and pay attention to him). "... Drop the scissors, Nagisa, put down the markers, Momotarou-kun, oh, and thank you for helping, Ai-chan."
(Nagisa sulked but did as requested, Momotarou obeyed because Nitori had taken away his markers, and Nitori simply made 'eeep' sounds at being called 'Ai-chan' and being thanked, flailing and bowing over-exaggeratedly).
"Though we're getting carried away having too much fun at Haru's house…" The green-eyed teenager started, sounding a little stern. Oohh. Makoto was being serious for once. "Let's not forget that the reason why we're here is to celebrate Rin-chan's promotion to being captain, okay?"
At this, everyone settles down and really becomes quiet (since this is a solemn kind of thing, you know).
-Or at least, everyone other than Rin, who simply coughs and shakes his head repeatedly.
"Congratulations, Rin-chan!" Smiling brightly, Makoto claps his hands together once. "We're all really happy for you, this is exciting!"
Everyone else applauds (though Gou adds in a high-pitched 'whoo, nii-san' cheer somewhere) enthusiastically at this. Rei gives a short speech (using a lot of hard-vocabulary that Haru's sure he's never heard normal people say before), Nagisa and Momotarou cheers, and Nitori also shyly claps.
"No, don't you dare say another word," The redhead groans, shaking a finger back and forth loosely. "I had nothing better to do, so I'm here to kill time, I swear. No more of this sappy shit."
(Nagisa and Momotarou both make 'boo'-ing sounds at this, disapproving with Rin's statement. Said person scowls at them, but everyone else simply laughs.)
Lip curling upwards, Haru simply arches an eyebrow at Rin (wow, he's been doing that a lot tonight) with a yeah, right face. When Rin immediately huffs angrily at him after, snapping, Haru thinks that his face breaks out into a smile.
A small one. A really small one, but it's still a smile.
(To which Rin seems to give him a rather surprised expression at.)
"It's better to agree with them and give the idiots their fill of 'sappy' emotional fulfillment now. Otherwise, they'll just bother you forever," Haru says out-loud (from experience with his friends), and surprisingly, Rin grudgingly gives up and listens.
"...Fine. I came here because I wanted to. Happy?"
With that, Nagisa and Momotarou (though the sea-otter thing is probably just copying Nagisa's excited yells) break out into cheers again, drowning out Makoto's 'As the Iwatobi-captain, I'd also like to personally congratulate you..' ("Cut the boring speech, Mako-chan!")
There's a lot of festivity in Haru's small, kind of cramped bedroom. Everyone is laughing or talking excitedly, and though he doesn't like crowds, Haru finds that this kind of once-in-a-chance event isn't too bad. Makoto brings out cake and starts cutting it up, Rei starts distributing ice cream, Nitori works to keep Nagisa and Momotarou's wandering hands away from the food, and it's a rather bright atmosphere.
A little too bright, however. Haru feels like he needs some time to cool off from too much social interaction, so he decides to leave the room for a few minutes. Maybe go outside and walk around for a bit.
Pulling his jacket on, he gets up and walks towards the door.. and coincidentally, Rin is standing against it, looking dubious about him leaving.
"Omedetō," Haru nearly whispers against Rin's ear, brushing against him while going out into the hallway casually, faintly.
"And I'll be back, so try not to miss me, Rinrin."
Needless to say, the reaction he gets is precious- Matsuoka Rin sputters indignantly, sounding like he very much would like to say something (though he's too incoherent to piece together a single word), but Haru only smiles again vaguely and lazily snaps before turning to go out the door.
(Haru is almost preening, feeling very pleased and satisfied with himself for some mysterious reason.)
With a single backwards glance back-
-Haru catches the glimpse of a certain redhead back in the room that's started blushing.
【潮風でオンと永遠に今から... 私はこの町であなたとカジュア を蓄積し続けることを願って。】
【In the sea breeze from now on and forever... I hope I can continue accumulating casual everydays with you in this town.】
Yamazaki Sousuke stares at the ceiling of his barely-illuminated room.
It's really quiet tonight. Really, really quiet.
Rin had simply told him that he would be sleeping at a friend's house today.
Which was kind of unusual for him but it wasn't a big deal at all… until he'd found out where Rin had disappeared to.
(Nitori hadn't been exactly discreet or quiet when he'd loudly argued with Momotarou about going over to a certain Nanase Haruka's house about some celebration for Rin).
Without Momotarou or Nitori barging in here during the night-
-Or even Rin to banter with.
It was too quiet.
【今、永遠にも上からこの潮風で、私はいつも感じて温かい債券、私はrelieved-感じさせてくれます存在- 】
【The warm bond I always feel, the existence that lets me feel relieved..aahh.. 】
.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
^ I had to do this since my line breaks wouldn't work.
The boys are going to play a kissing game maybe.
And a certain elusive dolphin is going to be roped into playing-
Ko-Sensei, out!
