Written for the "Rin & Haru's Halloween" event on twitter/tumblr.
Canon Compliant|Post-Canon|Rin joins Haru's Elementary School Earlier
treating love, tricking time
Their first shared Halloween had been at a funfair. Perched in his father's embrace like a young sparrow, Haruka would always remember the cracking sounds of walking on a ground coated in crisp tangerine leaves. Garlands of flickering lanterns in the shades of the rainbow were dangling high above his head, as he crinkled his baby nose at the rich scents of candy floss and fried delicacies wafting through the air. Blithesome faces were eagerly flocking the swing carousel and Lilliputian fish kites of bamboo and washi were fluttering on the trail of scampering children. It was in this scenery of lights and mirth when he first heard the words.
"Trick or treat?"
He had cast a diffident glance downwards, there, where a beaming cherub was stealing his attention. Streamers of maroon were framing the boy's sparkling eyes, and as the yellow lanterns above Haruka's head reflected in their wine, his tiny palms reached upwards, waving a sakura-shaped pinwheel.
"Trick or treat?"
Hadn't his father chuckled and placed him down, Haruka would have remained silent and confused by that radiant ball of vermilion. Standing behind the toddler, a slender, young man with a characteristic smile proudly tousled his son's hair.
"He watched a foreign show and hasn't stopped ever since. So, instead of ruining it for him, we decided to bring him to the closest place we could think of."
As if emboldened by his father's orotund voice, the little redhead bravely took a step towards his new yet reluctant companion. Grinning widely at Haruka's fixated gaze, he gently nudged the embroidered dolphin on the boy's chest with his pink paper flower, as if urging him to accept the gift.
"Treat... treat..."
It would take Haruka years to actually make the right choice.
Like a whimsical dream that finally shapes into flesh, Matsuoka Rin had reemerged during their elementary school days. In an instant, he strode into their classroom with pride, cheekily announced his girly name, and slathered Haruka's life with a vibrant red; the colour he was missing. Their understanding of the everflowing water bridged their differences and their passion for swimming bestowed on them common goals. A mesmerised feline chasing after a cardinal butterfly, it wasn't long before Haruka was racing Rin home, and Rin was ringing his bell to challenge him anew. One autumnal day of golden-brown, that bell had sounded more impatiently than before.
"Trick or treat?"
At the Nanase threshold, Rin flaunted his sprouting shark teeth and hoisted a pumpkin-shaped basket. A plastic fin was strapped to his back and dark gills were clumsily sketched on his rosy cheeks. Before him, fledgling Haruka stood utterly baffled, azure eyes too frozen to blink, as the cogwheels of his mind struggled to replicate those three peculiar words.
"Come on, Haru, trick or treat?"
"Triku...tritu..?"
"I guess that will do too. So, choose."
"I don't understand what you're saying. And what's with the smudge on your face?"
"They're my gills, I'm a shark. It's Halloween!"
"Haro... hmph!"
Manifesting his irritation at his unorthodox introduction to this alien celebration, Haruka slammed the door in Rin's face. A situation that had lasted approximately thirty seconds as the Matsuokas were notoriously persistent.
"Listen, I am asking you 'trick or treat', you just choose 'treat' and give me sweets."
"I don't want to."
"Don't be a killjoy, Haru. It's fun"
"What if I want to choose trik... trick?"
"Ugh, you aren't supposed to. We can just share the sweets."
"But you asked me. It means I can say trick."
"Fine. Then I'll have to spook you."
"I don't like this game."
The door had clicked shut a second time. Yet, the ingenious devil that Rin was, he latched on the wooden plant grid, pulling his juvenile weight on the tiled roof and climbing all the way to Haruka's sill. As if his senses had been tingling, the brunet lowered his window as soon as Rin's face surfaced triumphantly.
"It's not a game, Haru. It's Halloween!"
"I don't have any treats."
"Liar. Makoto brings a bunch of chocolates and candies every time he comes over. Come on, trick or treat?"
"Trick!"
An irked puff of air escaped Rin's lips. Closing his eyes, he momentarily concentrated, before his face exploded into the whackiest grimace his callow imagination could master. And his efforts must have worked because he earned a reaction from Haruka; the dolphin boy frowned.
What had started on a whim, Rin was determined to expand into their personal tradition. Hence, when the following year the eerie knocking on his door revealed a giggling redhead in a homemade ghost costume, Haruka had been prepared.
"Trick or treat?"
"Trick."
"You don't learn, do you?"
"You're the only one in the neighbourhood doing this."
"More of a reason for you to take me seriously."
Before the implications dawned on unsuspecting Haruka, Rin pulled a bronze coin from his denim pocket. Deftly flipping it through his fingers, he tossed it once and grabbed it midair. The next second, he was lightly blowing his empty palm, as if a delicate breeze had swept the mysterious doubloon right in front of Haruka's startled pools of aquamarine.
"It's in your sleeve."
"No, it isn't."
"I'm sure it is."
"Why don't you check?"
The inspection had been proven fruitless, and in his way of admitting defeat, Haruka had welcomed Rin to partake in his mother's freshly made, delectable lemon pie. As time marched on, Rin's artistry in uncanny costumes and unforeseen pranks evolved along with the blossoming of their pubescent bodies, always triggered by Haruka's tenacity in opting for "trick".
"Come out, Rin. I can see your tail sticking out from behind the plant pot."
"This werewolf costume still deserves a mochi ice cream, don't you think?"
For a short yet blessed while, it had looked like their Halloween shenanigans would continue unperturbed in the flow of their carefree school years. It was then when Australia was mentioned for the first time. Rin's impending departure must have strummed a chord inside Haruka's chest folds, because when the wraiths roamed again on their last night and Rin concluded his spooky ritual, the brunet wordlessly shoved a creased note into the sharkboy's hand. In the sanctuary of his bedroom, under his cherry blossom duvet and while his knuckles paled around the flashlight of his late father, Rin had anxiously unfolded the ivory paper. A gasp of awe fluttered up his throat. The strokes of airy, magenta hair, the archway of lashes crowning longing eyes, the tiny palms propping the cheeks all those times he stargazed outside the classroom window; a mini portrait of himself was greeting him, immortalised by Haruka's early evidenced talent. In the months to come, Haruka would be followed by Rin's dreamy stare during class, powdering his face in garnet like the chalk they used on the blackboard.
Not long after, their team of tadpoles received their first laurels of success by prevailing in the tournament. They shed tears of ineffable joy, celebrated their teamwork tangled in each other's arms, and swore loyalty over their lustrous trophy. And, yet, Rin still left for the land down under.
It was during those awkward years of treading into the uncharted territories of junior high that Haruka discerned what holding their own private jubilee of Halloween had meant. Rin's surprise visits were now cherished memories coated in dust, until one ordinary day, Yamazaki Sousuke grudgingly passed him that envelope. At the very end of Rin's profound feelings, crippling insecurities, silent fears and feeble hopes, Haruka had very clearly read:
"P.S.: Trick or treat? (Did you really think I would forget?)"
Dazed by his own heart pounding, the brunet had scribbled 'trick' on a hastily torn piece of paper and had meticulously stored his answer away, forever treasured with the redhead's letter. It was a thought of solace that Matsuoka Rin hadn't forsaken his pranks. And in their second year of high school, he pulled the greatest of them all; like a fire whirl that scorches everything in its path, he returned, searing ties and scattering embers in the wind. After his anger was quelled and depression settled as the chronic culprit, Rin loomed at the familiar doorstep on the eve of November. The ruby of his lips had been extended to either side of his mouth, vaguely imitating a clownlike appearance.
"I guess I decided to dress up as happy."
"You look more like a Joker who failed his makeup."
For one whole, sluggish minute, they had held each other's gaze; crimson igniting azure, azure pacifying crimson. And then, Rin's fixed demonic grin had relinquished its place to his real smile.
"Do I even need to ask?"
"You'll have to trick me."
Rin glanced upwards in surrender; old habits died stubbornly hard. Like a resurrection of a scene dissipated in time, long, dexterous fingers manipulated a coin in skillful flourishes.
''Come on, Rin, this is lame even for you. It was always in your... sleeve." Haruka got interrupted by his own chortle; a rare sight to behold.
"Oh? Was stoic Haru just suppressing a giggle?"
Unbeknownst to both, it would be the first of many times. Meanwhile, the impact of Australia on Rin was showcased in various ways. His English accent had been conspicuously improved. His familiarity with the traditions of the creepiest time of the year was now ranging from chilling recounts of popular ghost stories to apple bobbing and tirelessly carving Jack-O'-Lanterns. Any pumpkins chancing upon his hands would end up with shark teeth chiselled on their tough skin. And with this knowledge, his creativity was also mounting. In their senior year, Rin emerged in comfortable sweatpants, a headband of small, pointy horns adorning his head, and two beer bottles loosely hanging from his grasp. Haruka had no time to react, as soon as he answered the door, Rin's musings surged out like a tide.
"Listen, this is the part where I happily ask 'trick or treat'. As always, you'll refuse to hand me some candy, God knows why, so then I'll have no choice but to try and scare you. I'll have an awesome prank prepared, well naturally, you'll stubbornly resist showing your shock, I'll roll my eyes and we'll end up gorging on whatever's left in your fridge. Phew."
Everything had unraveled in one breath.
"Now that we skipped the overture, care to join me at the beach?"
He swiftly pinned a headband identical to his own on Haruka's raven bangs and pressed a bottle against his vest-clad chest.
"We're underage."
"Don't worry, they're alcohol-free."
Rin's guffaw reverberated through the unusually warm night, as his hand pulled Haruka out of his trance, and, together, they sprinted down the half-lit road leading to the crescent-shaped seashore. The next morning, they would return to their respective schools' demanding training regimes, but for now, they were allowed to revel in the tranquility of the slumbering coast and the obsidian-glossy waters. They stripped down to their underwear, tickled by the floury sand under their feet, and did what they knew best; they swam. That night, even the twinkling stars on the sky's canopy resembled merigold-hued lanterns drifting to meet the day of hallows.
A year later, on the verge of adulthood, his teammates had scattered across different places, Rin had embarked on a second life trip to Australia and human contact had succumbed to technology. It almost felt like a rerun of a mediocre show Haruka had once watched during junior high. Only this time, he hadn't been left stranded in the monotony of his country life. Haruka was in Tokyo now. And in Tokyo people disguised in Halloween. They celebrated in bustling streets, taking a break from lives incessant, full of hopes and troubles, goals and dreams. Haruka, too, was sailing on a new trajectory, amassing experiences in pursuit of his own ambitions. He would never sit through a rerun.
At the twilight of an October granite and gloomy, Rin visited Japan.
"Trick or... "
The dilemma floated unfinished in the stagnant air. Pillowy lips undulated against Rin's rudely hushed mouth, and fingers slowly twisted a handful of his shirt. Moisture titillated his skin, his head tilted on its own accord and before Rin registered what was happening, he and Haruka were breathing each other in.
"Treat."
Haruka's faint murmur lingered between them. When the brunet finally took a step back, Rin was but a thunderstruck sunray, a cacophony on the weather's ashen.
"What did you..."
He sealed his lips with his own palm as if muffling himself would somehow reason the myriads of thoughts in congestion at his mind's highways. It didn't help, and in the spur of the moment, he turned around and darted down the stairs of Haruka's apartment block. Befuddled the brunet stood in the company of his solitude. Through his uneventful days, he had been often told that mastering courage ameliorated life instead of encumbering it. He was about to close the door and soak in his bathtub when the red bolt returned to the crime scene.
"Why? Why didn't you pick 'trick'?"
"What?"
"Do you realise how long it took me to prepare these?"
A swish of Rin's open coat revealed rows of Halloween accessories in its inner pockets, along with some rather dubious items stitched to its lining.
"I had the perfect prank lined up!"
"You were the one always telling me we don't follow the tradition and I should be just giving you candies instead."
"Well, yes, but..."
"Rin, if it's another treat you prefer, I made a lemon pie earlier."
"Hey, you can't be serious. Do you honestly believe my problem is what type of 'treat' you are giving me?"
"No...?"
Dramatic by nature, Rin raked both hands through his mussed mane, grazing and pulling fistfuls of red strands. Circumventing his feelings while Haruka refused him treats had been quite convenient. He began pacing again away from Haruka's apartment, but as soon as he sensed the door shutting for a second time, instincts sidestepped all insecurities.
"Oi, Haru", he cleared the saliva knotting his throat, "a lemon pie you said?"
By early morning hours, Haruka was laden with the fragrances of lemon, butter, and sugar, even though he hadn't tasted a single bite of that pie.
Deep-rooted emotions interwoven with swimming aspirations had eventually enmeshed them in a nerve-racking rollercoaster between Tokyo and Sydney. When all the bumps on their shared road had been hurdled, officially dating had materialised into a natural closure for them. Competitive relays, global tournaments, the Olympics; feats rained down upon them, culminating in a destiny whose seeds traced back in the wading pool of a humble, coastal town. Everything around them was changing fast. And, yet, some cherished habits would remain undimmed through time.
"Once I am back, wanna check out the parades at Shibuya?", on his way to the local convenience store, Rin had stalled at the doorstep.
"Asahi texted that he and Kisumi will also be downtown."
"Then, should the bubblegum fiend gets on your nerves, it will be easy to lose them among the partygoers." Reading his lover's mind, Rin pulled Haruka closer. "So?"
"Fine, whatever."
"Good, I'm off then."
"Hey, haven't you..."
Rin dived in, capturing Haruka's inviting lips into a sensuous kiss.
"...forgotten anything? No, I haven't. Trick or treat?"
"This is practically cheating, you already stole your reward. Still... trick."
"Alright, alright" the redhead chuckled knowingly, "who knows, there may be something wicked waiting at Shibuya."
By the time Haruka graduated from Hidaka University, Rin had already wrapped up his obligations abroad and moved in with him. First in Tokyo, and once they both transcended the brink of their thirties, they relocated back to the placid oceanfront of Iwatobi. A private residence in the countryside was exactly what could bolster Rin's Halloween ingenuity to new levels and directions. What made it peak though was a rather interesting development; Rin had now acquired an accomplice, his nephew. And if the redhead had been merely teasing Haruka in his quest for candies, Mikoshiba Toraichi was the very Nightmare of Halloween, transformed into a human bundle of energy and sent to torment everyone with his antics.
"I get Toraichi mimicking bats, but aren't you a little old to be suspended upside down from our roof just to ask me the damn question?"
"Old? Haru, I've tricked time."
The years cascaded like sand dunes migrating over deserted land. And as new lines around their eyes narrated their first journeys, Haruka must have somehow mellowed. Because when Rin appeared with a toy knife stabbed through his heart and rivulets of stage blood branching down his body, Haruka let down his safeguard and, for a moment, believed it.
"Rin... "
The redhead had toppled them on the floor, smearing the fake plasma all over Haruka and exultantly roaring his win.
"I got you, Haru! You're so damn easy lately. I got you! Trick or treat?"
For a week, a moody Haruka would choose the company of his watercolours, over his trickster boyfriend and that fascination with the otherwordly traditions. Even when the cough started, Rin was still planning their Halloween. Even when the virus overlaid his lungs with a web of gossamer and beads of sweat kept drenching the silver of his temples.
"It's chilly tonight, let's just skip this year's trick-or-treating."
"Don't pull a Makoto on me, Haru. Being the mama bear doesn't suit you."
It was true, he hated it.
"I may not have brought a costume this year, but I still have my coin. Maybe next Halloween I'll dress up as a black cat, what do you say?"
Haruka hadn't replied. Like a sponge, he was quietly absorbing minuscule details on Rin's pale face and hands; moles, recent cat scratches, new wrinkles.
"What, you don't believe me? Don't worry, I'll trick time."
Yet, Rin wouldn't keep his promise.
As October takes its leave, the autumnal sun casts weak lances of light through the trees outlining Haruka's yard. A riot of amber and tawny leaves covers the gravel in patches, the early vibrant signs of decay. Fluffy cotton blots the sky here and there, but it's otherwise a lukewarm day of the fall. At his porch, Nanase Haruka leisurely observes the quiet street, as his thumb circles an engraved coin in his palm. Today marks the fifth Halloween without Rin. Around the serene neighbourhood, nothing is reminiscent of the macabre holiday. It is like equilibrium has been restored in this corner of Japan; whatever foreign spectacles there once were, they must have fluttered away after the redhead.
A gentle growl sounds around his ankles. Sitting on his heels, Haruka strokes the alabaster fur of his little feline guest.
"What do you think, Sakura? Would Rin reincarnate as a cat?"
Rin's grimace of distaste could he hear him, delineates a nostalgic smirk on the brunet. Cats had never been fond of the sharkboy. As he stands up, more glimpses of Rin tip-toe before his twins of topaz. All those Halloweens Rin tricked and stalled time until his stubborn self would make the right decision. All those blissful memories that cannot fade away, and remain as vivid as the delicate sea breeze that now pelts his face. It's the perfect day to bask in the departing blaze of the fall, to head down at the shore and catch the last wave. A day Rin would like.
"Alright, Rin." Haruka inhales the world, as he has devoutly been doing for the past five years. "Trick or treat?"
He flips the coin a few times inside his grasp, even though tricks aren't his forte, but then he feels like the breeze has strengthened up because his nostrils flare at the characteristic smell of salt. Carried by a current, something pink flickers in the air. It glides and swirls until its graceful choreography comes to an end on Haruka's laces.
A cherry blossom. And this time it isn't made of paper. Somewhere deep in his memory lockets, Rin's baby voice chirps "treat". Haruka picks the flower up and studies it with borderline academic curiosity.
"How strange, in the heart of autumn."
The shark clock on his kitchen wall ticks ten seconds before he finally nods. Momentarily, he vanishes inside, only to promptly return with a tempting piece of lemon pie neatly arranged on a ceramic plate. He places it on a window's sill and once satisfied, he's followed by Sakura back into the barren, sunlit residence.
Tonight, Nanase Haruka will peacefully fall asleep and dream that once awake, the plate will be waiting there empty.
The End
Thanks for reading, reviews are appreciated.
