Sorry for the delay, folks, but I've been kind of unhappy with the upcoming chapters and kept tweaking and poking and getting generally annoyed with them. This one is finally deemed good enough so here you go! Next one is also done and should be up soon after. I'm having some timeline issues... Ah well. I'll get that sorted out soon.

Chapter 16- Of Solitude and Plushies
Rin grumbled and zipped his jacket up to hide the irritable scowl he was fixing on Seijuurou's back. The taller redhead was practically bouncing next to Gou and the pair was chattering animatedly. Next to him Haru sighed and bumped his shoulder.

"Stop pouting."

Rin growled at his boyfriend. "I am not pouting."

The black-haired boy cocked an eyebrow and pointedly regarded his mouth.

"Shut up Haru."

Haru shrugged and Rin knew that was his lover's way of saying 'Sure whatever' with the maximum amount of possible sarcasm.

Without saying a word. How did Haru do that?

Rin had looked up from one of the counters to show Haru something only to realize his boyfriend was gone. He looked wildly back and forth, confused, and it was only after a whisper of shock from the elderly lady next to him in line that he realized where his lover was.

Stripping. To climb into a tropical fish display.

Rin gaped for a second, his mind totally unable to comprehend this turn of events, and then he remembered that if Makoto wasn't on stripping duty Haru'd be out of his pants every ten minutes.

"Fuck..!" Rin yelped, pelting across the store and snatching his black-haired boyfriend just before Haru dipped his foot in the tank.

"The fuck do you think you're doing?!" He growled, struggling with the older boy and wrestling him back.

"I want to feel the water," Haru said dreamily, sparkling sapphire eyes fixed on the play of light against the ripples on the surface.

"Hell no! Not in public you fucking idiot!"

"Can we go to the pool?" Haru asked quietly.

"No! Samezuka's on break, remember? No pools for anyone!"

Haru lifted his gaze and caught Rin's and he looked damn near heartbroken. "But I need the water, Rin. I need to not think..."
Dazed and lost in his boyfriend's unusual open honesty Rin almost forgot they were in a store being gawped at by the patrons.
Someone- Seijuurou- cleared their throat, way too loudly, and Rin flushed.

"Just... put some damn clothes on, Haru."

Morose, sullen, anything but his usual self, Haru redressed.

Twice more Rin had to grab his lover to prevent him from disrobing despite the outside temperature meaning any outdoor water source would be freezing. Once at a fountain, once at the sight of the ocean at the bottom of the stairs. Each time Haru looked like his heart was breaking when he put his clothes back on. Rin felt uncomfortable and not just because of the stripping. It was because Haru looked so...lost. Adrift.
And Rin wasn't Makoto. He didn't know how to fix Haru's mood with just the right words or a touch. He had to go with what he knew but all he knew about Haru in a bad mood was from their middle school days, and all he'd done then was what he did now.
If Nanase was in a bad mood, ignore him right back. Tachibana was always around to repair the damage. Rin just hoped that Makoto would be able to fix their stoic lover when they got home.

"Oh my god Sei! Look at that!"

With a quieter laugh than Rin was used to hearing from his former captain Seijuurou allowed himself to be dragged by the much smaller girl over to one of the stalls.
Rin growled and a hand found his shoulder.

"Rin."

Seijuurou wrapped his arms around his girlfriend from behind, resting his chin on her head, and the stallkeeper started to gush about how cute they were...

Rin growled even louder, trying to tug out of his boyfriend's grasp, desperately wanting to strangle his teammate.

Haru resolutely held him still.
"Rin." He said again with a little firmer a tone. "Leave them alone."

"Why did I agree to this?" The redhead snarled. "I don't want to see him all over my sister and I really can't handle how fucking cutesy they are-"

"You agreed because you want Kou to be happy and you know Seijuurou-kun is leaving soon. So you're trying to be a good big brother." For a second a troubled line furrowed Haru's brow. "I think."

"Yeah, that's..." Rin expelled a hard sigh. "Yeah, that's about right."

Gou giggled and turned whatever her boyfriend had gotten her over and over in her hands, regarding it with sparkling eyes, and not for the first time Rin realized that Seijuurou really cared for his sister and that Gou was happy when he was around. And that he would just have to get used to it.

"D'you ever wish you had siblings, Haru?" He blurted out of the blue.

Sapphire eyes regarded him calmly, a slight tilt of his head reminding the redhead of their missing piece.

"Too much effort." Haru said after a minute.

"The hell kind of answer is that?" Rin snorted. "C'mon. You've seen Makoto with his siblings and me with Gou, you've really never been... I dunno, jealous? Lonely?"

Haru shrugged. "I've known the twins for a long time. They're like my little brother and sister."

Rin rolled his eyes. "Yeah sure. But you didn't know them from the beginning and you didn't help raise them and you see them like, once a week. That's not close enough. For family, anyway."

Haru looked stubbornly away, a frown twisting his normally stoic features, and that was the end of that attempt at conversation.

Rin huffed and focused on the saccharine display his sister and former captain were putting on rather than his irritated boyfriend.
Something had been bothering Haruka for a week or so, Rin could tell that much. He'd noticed it a few days after he spent the night and following day with their brunette boyfriend at his house. Haru was surly and back to being stoically silent.
And it seemed like all Rin could do was push his recalcitrant lover's buttons.
However, for once, even Makoto had been floundering with the black-haired boy's mood.

Last night Makoto had said something off-hand and Haru had slammed his hands onto the table, making the brunette shriek and the redhead jump, glared at Makoto, and stormed upstairs with a slamming door to punctuate his temper tantrum.
Rin remembered that he'd stared after the clearly fuming boy then glanced at his boyfriend.

"What was that about?"

But Makoto would only keep his eyes trained on the table, his expression a gut-churning mix of sadness and anger.

"Mako?"

The brunette shook his head and the threesome didn't speak to one another for the rest of the night.

Which meant, to Rin, that something was wrong and it was a something only Makoto and Haru knew about.
Not for the first time the jealousy choked him with that battery-acid taste.
Makoto and Haruka, Haruka and Makoto. A package deal. Soulmates, Nagisa had said archly one day before he knew the pair was actually a trio.
It bugged him to no end and even thinking about it now he shoved his hands roughly into his jacket to hide the way he was clenching them.
Whatever they had between them they shared; Rin was an outsider to that bond. They felt the same to each other but Rin felt differently for each of his lovers and he wished he knew if it was wrong...

Haru tugged on his sleeve- just a little tug, hardly noticeable- and Rin tilted his head to regard him.
"What is it?

The black-haired boy's gaze was focused on the ground. His sapphire eyes looked almost teary and forlorn. Rin internally panicked- was it because he'd stopped his lover from diving into an inappropriate water source that last time? Had the black-haired boy noticed his foul mood?- but Haru just flicked a careful look up and whispered, "C-can you buy me that? Please?"

The redhead's heart seized on him because holy shit that was adorable. Haru wasn't normally one to pull such a demure act but it was so cute Rin found himself agreeing without seeing what it was the older boy wanted.

"Wh-what is it you want..?" He mumbled, flushing.

Haru's face lit up, azure eyes twinkling brightly, and he took Rin's hand and dragged him to a display of stuffed animals.

Rin knew the second before he pointed which one Haru would want.
"That one, right?" He asked, nudging the giant orca plush with his toe.

Haru blushed. "Y-yeah. Well, or..." He knelt and pulled out the gray shark plush. "Or yours."

"I'd ask when you all decided my animal was a shark, but..." He licked over the sharp points of his teeth with a seductive glint in his eyes. "...I think I already know the answer to that."

Haru smirked at him but for once didn't rise to the challenge. Instead he fingered the killer whale plush with a wistful smile.

"Makoto will be going on his yearly trip soon. And after that you're going back to school. Soon I'll be alone again."

"You know it's not like that-"

"Makoto also was talking about getting a part-time job to help with the twins' expenses and that means we'll see him less and less. So I thought... Maybe something to remind me of him even when he's gone would be good."

And Rin knew in an instant that he'd found the crux of the recent fighting between his lovers.

Haru isn't supposed to live without Makoto, Rin thought. It looks like he's being torn in half at the very idea of not spending all his time with Makoto.

"Give it and the shark one here, I'll go pay for them. And the dolphin, I'm keeping that at Samezuka."

Haru glanced up at him, a surprised yet soft smile on his lips, and helped his boyfriend carry the large plushies to the register.

Rin was quite proud of himself as he followed Haru back to his sister's side. For the first time in nearly a week Haru was wearing a genuine smile as he hugged his new orca plush (half his size) to his chest and Rin carried his own and his dolphin under his arms.
Gou propped her hands on her hips, pouting, but her crimson eyes were glittering with what her older brother knew was amusement.

"Onii-chan now you can't carry anything..." She grumbled with a hint of a smirk on her face.

Rin smirked back. "Have your pack horse do it, he's up to the task I'll bet."

Golden eyes narrowed at him but not angrily; there was an echo of amusement and friendly competition in that gaze instead of irritation.

"Don't talk about my boyfriend like that!" Gou complained, not that Rin apologized or Seijuurou seemed upset.

So Seijuurou just leaned down and kissed the top of his girlfriend's head, taking her bags with a smile.

"Don't get too comfortable," Rin snarled immediately.

The older redhead merely grinned in return.

They said their farewells at the bottom of the shrine stairs, Seijuurou adamant about 'walking the lady home', and as Rin followed Haru up the stairs he was happy to note the more relaxed set of Haruka's shoulders. And it hit him.
Makoto may know Haru's mind, but Rin knew the black-haired boy's body.
He knew every tell in that slender frame. Every twitch and stiffen and jerk was a reaction and a story all its own. So, maybe he did have a different bond than Makoto and Haru did. But he liked his version just fine. It was a satisfying and relaxing insight to their relationship and he didn't know why he hadn't realized it before.

Makoto smiled hesitantly at them as they entered.

"Everything okay?" He asked weakly.

Haru didn't reply, handing Rin his new acquisitions, crossing the floor, dropping to his knees next to the brunette, and pulling Makoto into a hungry kiss.

"Haru, what-"

But the black-haired boy refused to let him speak, pressing for more and more kisses, shoving his lover to the floor. Rin rolled his eyes and snatched their kitten up as Akiha came bounding down the stairs to eagerly greet her missing owners.

"They need some time, Aki-baby," he hummed as he bundled the three plushies under one arm and hanging onto the struggling Bobtail with the other. "Besides, soon enough I'm not going to see you every day."

Akiha went still, blinking those big oceanic eyes up at her redheaded owner, and then she mewled.

He snorted. "Yeah, you're cute."

As discussed with Haru he hid the plushies in the oldest boy's room in the closet. Akiha sniffed around his feet and then rubbed against his leg. Smiling, he picked their tiny kitten up and rubbed noses with her.

As always, she reached out to paw at his face and as always he chuckled and kissed her head. "I think you're getting bigger, little one. Just a little... but bigger nonetheless."

A lusty moan echoed from downstairs and Rin sighed in relief. "Glad they're over their issue. I hated it when they wouldn't talk to each other and worse, not having them both together."
Though perhaps Haru shouldn't go immediately for sex to patch things up...

Akiha rolled onto her back, all four paws upright, and he laughed as he scratched her belly until she attempted to bite and disembowel his forearm, all with her bright eyes focused on his.

"So it's good that they're making up. I mean..." He rolled her onto her back with a soft laugh. "It seems like a stupid thing to fight over, but then again it's them and they operate differently, you know?"

Akiha paused to stare at him, pupils blown wide, then started scratching at his jacket again as he wiggled his fingers into her belly fur.

"Haru and Mako are just... just their own separate thing, and I'm not part-"

"Riiiin~!"

He jumped at the low familiar moan.

Akiha perked up and he rescued his hand from her claws, staring at the door, wondering if Makoto's keening call was a summons or simply a moan.

"Rin! Rin- nnn!- Rin come h-here!"

The redhead scrambled off the bed and tossed Akiha, confused, into their bedroom where she had food and water before rushing down the stairs and stripping as he went.

Oh no, he was more than glad his lovers had made up.