Ahhhh little kids are fun to write! And you are all going to murder me, I just know it. NEXT CHAPTER SHOULD BE UP SOON?! I THINK. YEAH. SORRY ABOUT THIS.
Chapter 13- Of Shopping and Inklings
He was sleeping in a bed of such a perfect temperature- the likes of which he'd never felt before- that Rin was pretty sure his bones were nothing more than warm jelly. He hummed blissfully and snuggled into Haru's cool, slightly fishy smell.
"We're not getting out of this bed today." He said.
Makoto chuckled tiredly. "Would that we could actually do that."
"What's stopping us?"
"I'm supposed to take the twins shopping. They've grown out of their clothes again."
Rin released some odd, long groan of frustration. "Why can't I have one damn weekend with you to myself?"
Makoto laughed and the redhead was drawn back against a warm, firm chest. "Rinrin," the older hummed into his ear. "Did you forget? School ended for you last week."
Rin perked up- in the haze of half-sleep, he had indeed forgotten- and he yanked Haru into their dual embrace.
"Good. Perfect. We're staying here as long as possible though. I am too happy where I am and that means you two aren't leaving me."
"School ended for us too. Yesterday." Haru muttered.
Rin purred happily and nibbled on the back of the black-haired boy's neck. "Even better."
Haru sighed and turned over, claiming a lingering kiss from the redhead and nuzzling his head under his chin. "I'm okay with staying."
"Then I guess I'm overruled." Makoto said, and his tone was sleepily reproachful. "Staying in bed it is."
"I win!" Rin chuckled, petting Haru where he lay.
"Don't you always?" Haru mumbled.
"I'm just..." The redhead yawned. "That damn good."
They paid for their drowsy negligence- Akiha ripped apart their toilet paper again- but Rin was unapologetic right up until the point Makoto left. Then he and Haru stared each other down and bolted out of the house, inviting themselves to the Tachibana family shopping trip. Rin casually mentioned Makoto's taste- and earned himself a foul look- but the brunette chuckled in the end.
It didn't help that as soon as Makoto opened the door and his siblings caught sight of his lovers they were all over the duo.
"Rin-nii-chan! Haru-nii-chan!" They cried in unison, hugging the pair with wide grins.
"Hey brats," Rin said, easily slipping into the role of older brother.
"Onii-chan!" Ran squealed. "Are Rin-nii-chan and Haru-nii-chan coming with us?!"
The brunette shrugged a shoulder. "They are now."
The twins cheered and their mother came out of the kitchen to see what all the commotion was, beaming at the sight of Ran hanging off of Rin's neck and Ren clinging to Haruka, and laughed when her son whined "I'm losing my little brother and sister to my boyfriends!"
"Nooo!" The female twin squeaked, leaping onto Makoto. Her brother caught her, whining at her about the sudden movement, but he was smiling.
"Don't worry Onii-chan, I'm still going to marry you when I get bigger! Onii-chan will make the best husband!"
It was a familiar pang of regret to the brunette's lovers but Rin powered through it.
He grinned, baring his shark teeth, and purred "Sorry, Ran, but I'll be marrying him and making him my wife."
Haru snapped a glare at the redhead but Ran wailed aloud.
"Whaaaat?! No way! Onii-chan is mine!"
"Mine!" Ren said suddenly, hurrying over to grab onto the tall brunette.
"How is he your wife, anyway? Onii-chan's a boy." Ran said, giving the redhead a dirty look.
"Well I'm not being the girl!" Rin squawked.
"Close enough," Makoto said under his breath.
"Makoto is mine. He'll be my husband." Haru growled suddenly.
Ruby eyes met sapphire and they glared each other down. Emerald widened and Makoto quickly set the twins down.
"Guys, stop, it's not like it even matters! You know we can't get married, so what's the point of fighting over it?!"
Silence descended over the entryway and Makoto sighed with relief.
Then Ren cocked his head and tugged on Haru's hoodie.
When the black-haired teen looked down, Ren cautiously asked, "Why not? Why can't you get married?"
Haru blinked bright azure eyes and crouched next to the youngest Tachibana, ruffling his hair. "It's just not possible for us."
"But you love each other, right?" The threesome nodded. "Then why not? Don't you just have to be in love to get married?"
"No," Makoto said gently. "Sadly, no. There are legal ramifications involved, and because we're a same-sex couple- well, a same-sex threesome, even- it's just not possible for us to ever be actually married."
Ran's bottom lip trembled and she looked close to tears. "But that's... That's horrible! Why not? What's wrong with it? You love each other and lots of people get married who don't!"
"They do?!" Ren yelped.
"Can't Otou-san do anything? He's a really good lawyer!"
The sad smile on the brunette's face was close to heartbreaking. "No, Ran, there's nothing Otou-san can do."
"But it doesn't bother us," Rin spoke up abruptly. "As long as we're together I don't need to be married to them to know I love these two idiots."
"Ehh? Is that really okay?" Ran asked.
With barely a glance between the three of them they all nodded.
"Yes."
They said their farewells shortly afterward and Makoto was laughing freely as his siblings tugged him down the stairs.
Rin and Haru followed a ways after, shoulders brushing, eyes on their lover.
"I wish we could."
Rin flicked a glance at his boyfriend. "So do I. I mean, we'll always know, but..."
Haru took his hand and Rin let him.
"What if we were to buy rings? A symbol, at least?"
Red eyes widened and Rin was staring, open-mouthed, at Haru's serious expression.
The black-haired boy looked perturbed by the scrutiny. "Wh-what?"
But Rin just chuckled and shook his head. "Every day..." He said softly.
Blue eyes snapped back up to take in his boyfriend's expression and he fought down a smile himself.
Every day I fall in love with you more.
At least, Haru was pretty sure that was what that expression meant. And he had to agree, glancing between the warmth in carmine eyes and the laughing brunette.
"No, Ran, definitely the first."
Makoto and Haru had given up trying to match pace with Rin a while ago, instead content to watch him dress the twins with nothing less than pure confidence.
Ran giggled and whirled back into the dressing room while Ren came out, tugging on his new khaki shorts with a lopsided, way-too-pleased grin.
"I do like these," he admitted, a sparkle in his eye that reminded the redhead of the boy's older brother. "Thanks, Rin-nii-chan."
Rin cracked a wide smile. "Don't doubt me."
Ren disappeared back into his stall and Haru spoke up, a quiet note of petulance in his voice. "Hey. Stop trying to steal my twin."
"Not my fault if the brats like Big Brother Rin better."
The boyfriends stared at him, trying to puzzle out his sudden switch to English, and he smirked back. Red eyes dropped to the pair's hands, clasped together and held carefully between their bodies so no one could see.
"Tch. No fair," he grumbled.
"You're taking my twin. No fair."
"Ren isn't your twin, Haru!"
"He likes me best."
"Well now he likes me!"
Makoto hid a laugh in his free hand and his lovers stopped their petty argument to grin at him.
"What's funny?" Rin asked, his tone lowered from its former growl.
"You two," Makoto replied, leaning his head on Haru's shoulder. "Everything a competition. Never change, okay?"
On the way out of the store Ran had seen something she'd squealed over at the top of her lungs and Rin's head had whipped around to follow her line of sight and he grinned.
"That... would go perfectly... with your new dress." He said as he followed the excited girl to the table displaying a bunch of scarves. They both had their eyes set on the royal purple one around the mannequin's neck and Ran ogled it with envious desire.
"Rin-nii-chan..." She whispered, reaching back and floundering for the edge of his jacket, "I love it."
With a good-natured roll of his eyes Makoto wandered over and picked up a deep forest green version. His jaw dropped slightly at the price tag.
¥5300 for a scarf?!
"Ran..." He said, swallowing the unhappy lump in his throat.
She looked up at him, green eyes shining with bright hope, and then that light in her gaze dimmed and went out.
"...we can't afford it, can we?"
He hated letting his siblings down. "...no."
The telltale first sniffle came, the little girl's shoulders jerking upward, and Makoto dropped the bag he was carrying and scooped her up.
She started bawling into his shoulder and he flashed the nearest store clerk (who had a sad but understanding look on her face) an apologetic smile as he left, soothing his younger sister and rubbing her back.
Ren sighed, still holding Haruka's hand, and the black-haired boy leaned down to pick up Makoto's discarded bag. "Come on, Ren."
Makoto couldn't get the girl to calm down no matter what he did. She would stop crying long enough to whine about how perfect the scarf had been and then erupt into fresh tears.
Ren had left Haru (wonder of wonders) to come and try to console his twin, stating that if she wanted they could pool her allowances and buy it together, but that made her sob harder.
"It'll be g-gone by the time we have e-enough!" She'd hiccuped.
"Ren, go sit with Haru-chan."
Even with the distance between them green eyes picked up the sharp glare aimed his way and he almost felt like chuckling.
Lay off the -chan.
"What's taking Rin so long..?" Makoto sighed, shifting positions and resuming his gentle circular motions over the girl's back.
Something the color of the richest plum came down over his eyes and was draped over his shoulders and his sister's.
"What the..?"
Ran's sniffling came to an abrupt halt and she jerked back, stretching the purple scarf out between her neck and her older brother's.
The one she'd wanted.
Makoto would've kissed the secretly delighted redhead senseless if there weren't people around.
Her eyes lit up even brighter than before and she squealed, gathering it to her chest.
"Rin-nii-chan! Y-you got it for m-me?"
The redhead sat heavily on the bench next to the brunette and smiled his carefree shark-toothed grin. "It's basically a crime in man-etiquette for a woman to be crying. Just so you know," he finished, tweaking her nose.
"Thankyouthankyouthankyou Rin-nii!" The girl shrieked, throwing her arms around him next.
Rin just chuckled, simultaneously humbled and proud, and ruffled her hair.
"I have to see you wearing the combo sometime though because it'll be completely amazing. Promise?"
Ran giggled and hugged him. "Yeah! Yes! I promise!"
"Oi, Ren!"
The brown-haired twin had been watching with wide eyes and a grin but now he jumped and focused on the redhead rather than his excited sister. "Y-yeah?"
"Catch."
Ren almost fumbled the bag but managed and he pulled out his own matching scarf- one of the fall-colored ones, a beautiful reddish-brown- and he grinned.
"You got one for me, too?!" He exclaimed.
Rin shrugged. "Isn't it a thing that twins have to dress alike?"
Clearly they didn't, because Ran's little fleece dress and Ren's pants and sweater didn't match each other at all, but neither twin was about to question him.
"Ready to go?" The redhead barked to hide his embarrassed flush.
He did get matching replies, though.
"Okay!"
Once again bright-eyed and gleeful the twins skipped merrily ahead with their clasped hands swinging between them.
Keeping pace a ways behind but following with soft smiles was the threesome.
"How did you do that?" The brunette finally dared to ask.
Rin shrugged a shoulder. "Same way I've bought all of our clothes. Bank card. Okaa-san drops in a set amount every month for me and Gou to use, but Gou hardly ever does, so there's always a lot in there. I splurge. It's not a big deal."
"It is a big deal, Rin." Makoto rebuffed. "At least, it is to me."
"Mako, really-"
"Ran hasn't been so upset about something in a while and now she's just... Thank you, Rin, for making her so happy."
With a furtive look around Rin leaned over and coaxed a kiss from his shy lover.
"I was happy to," he hummed. "Because I seriously hate seeing girls cry, little girls the most of all, and as a big brother I won't stand for it. Not when I can do something about it. And a little money out of my pocket?" He grinned his happy grin again. "Worth every penny for those smiles."
"Careful, Rin, your heart is showing."
The redhead rolled his eyes at the black-haired boy's teasing tone. "Love you too, babe."
Upon hearing- and seeing- the whole incident Tachibana-san insisted that Rin join them for dinner, which he readily agreed to.
"No mackerel for a night? Count me in."
Haru had shot him a dirty look but had gotten a kiss in return, making him flustered and irritable for half the meal. Makoto had just chuckled over their bouts of pettiness and looked forward to sleeping between the two. The twins, while he loved playing with them, did tend to tucker him out.
A few short defused squabbles later- Haru stealing the last of the fish from Rin's plate, Ren determined not to let go of his pickled radish no matter how loudly Ran whined- and Makoto was running on empty and almost considering not following his lovers up to Haru's he was so exhausted.
But with a few prods and pokes and promises of the bed warmed by his boyfriends' body heat he gave in and allowed them to support him all the way up the stairs.
Akiha mewed and squeaked and begged food from her owners and Haru split off to attend to her needs, leaving Makoto with the redhead.
"Almost, Mako," was the sensual purr in his ear.
It galvanized the brunette to move on his own because Rin and Haru had managed to have their way with him when he was half-conscious more than once.
Rin chuckled at his back and called "We'll be there in a minute!" As the brunette muttered a sleepy acknowledgement.
"He's dead on his feet," Rin said as he joined Haru in the dining room where they kept Akiha's food. She was eagerly twining around the black-haired boy's ankles, peeping up at him, ocean-colored eyes begging for the food.
"He has a hard time keeping up with the twins sometimes. You riled Ran up and so it got harder for him."
"Still bitter I'm 'taking Ren away' aren't you?" Rin asked, making the appropriate air quotes.
"Don't be stupid."
"I'm not the one being stupid about it."
The older boy scoffed quietly and set the bowl on the floor. Akiha meowed happily at her arguing owners and dug into her food.
"Look, Haru, really, it's a stupid thing to- what are you doing?"
The black-haired boy had snatched up his sketchbook in passing by his carelessly discarded schoolbag (still resting half against the floor, half against the wall and Rin's eyebrow twitched and he rushed to straighten it) and headed into the living room.
The redhead sighed and followed after. "Haru, Makoto's waiting and now I'm getting tired too."
The older boy settled comfortably on Rin's couch and flipped open the drawing pad. With practiced indifference he ignored the grumbling redhead and began to sketch.
Rin curled up on the couch opposite his lover, perpendicular to Haru, legs drawn up and knees resting against the back of the couch. He watched the methodical strokes of Haru's mechanical pencil and before he knew it he started to drift off to the skritch-skritch-skritch of lead on paper.
The redhead had just started to dream of something involving fish when Haru nudged him with the blunt end of the pad.
"What do you think?"
Rin blinked the sleep from his eyes and reached for it.
The design was simple- a gold band, judging by the short annotation- with two gems, each set in a different color, drawn onto either side of the words (in perfect English) 'For The Team'.
Rin's heart quivered in his chest.
The second drawing just below was of the ring tilted to see the engraving on the inside.
And that one shattered his heart, put it back together, and filled it with love.
'Who I'm swimming for' was all it said, and he lifted watery eyes to meet Haruka's steady blue.
"It's perfect."
Haru calmly took the sketchbook back and folded it shut.
"I know."
They wandered up to bed once Rin had cried a bit to get it out and weren't unsurprised to find Makoto was already passed out (with Akiha curled up against his spine) and the covers turned down in anticipation of their arrival. Rin almost felt bad about making him wait, but the memory of the rings they would be wearing someday soon buoyed him back to joy before depression could drag at him.
They changed and performed the rest of their nightly rituals quickly, desperate to get into the bed and curl up with their lover, and it was only once they were all coiled together that the couple felt completely at ease.
Outside, a drizzle started.
A frenzied banging on what sounded like the front door made Rin jerk awake. Makoto moaned and dragged his pillow over his head. Sapphire eyes glowed in the darkness of the room, telling Rin exactly who was getting out of the bed and getting the door.
Rin snarled and slipped out of the warmth of the covers, muttering foul things under his breath the whole time, and yanked on a pair of sweatpants.
The banging reverberated again.
"I'm coming already! God!" He hollered.
But his words only resulted in more frantic knocking. He yanked the door open with as much force as he dared (Haru would kill him if he broke it) and glared down at the person outside.
"Who the fuck are you and what the fuck do you want?" He snarled.
"M-Matsuoka-senpai..."
For a second, due to the late hour, Rin couldn't put two and two together. Then he blinked and reared back, red eyes widening, and he squawked "Nitori?!"
The silver-haired boy was hunched over, soaked clean through his Samezuka jacket all the way down to the bone, and shivering, gripping the strap of his bulging bookbag with white knuckles.
"Nitori, god, it's past two in the fucking morning, what are you doing here?"
"I'm so sorry," rushed out of the younger boy's mouth. "I- I didn't know where else to go. I can't let Kenji see me like this, Matsuoka-senpai, I can't, Rin, I can't-"
"Whoa whoa whoa," Rin said quietly, gripping both of Nitori's shoulders firmly. "See you like what? Ai, hang on, back up, something! I have no idea what you're talking about."
Sniffling, the silver-haired boy stiffened under the redhead's hands. But he looked up, and Rin found his breath catching in his throat in pure horror.
Nitori's face was largely a mottled blackish purple. His left eye had swollen entirely shut. His lip was split and his nose was still bleeding, though the rain was washing it away. "Dad found out I was gay."
Rin's eyes widened, staring at the constellation of bruises. "Jesus fuck, Ai."
"I didn't know where else to go, I'm so sorry, I'm inconveniencing you, I'll go-"
"Like hell!" Rin snapped and he didn't miss the way the slender body tensed up.
He leaned back into the house and bellowed "Haru! Makoto!"
Don't kill me ._.
Inspired by something I saw on Tumblr about how Nitori flinches away because he thinks Rin is about to hit him... and they were trying to pawn Rin off as being abusive (PSSSH THAT BIG BABY NO WAY) and I got to thinking... what if he is used to trying to defend himself... just not from Rin?