Whew! Someone suggested this one on Tumblr (Rei spoiling Akiha and Rin getting jealous over it) and then Himesayuri Phoenix mentioned Detective Rei-chan and this unholy abomination happened XD First, congrats to my kohai, Valeforwings, for finishing her own 30-Day Marinka drabbles! YOU GO KOHAI YOU GO
Second, um, would anyone following me on Tumblr want me to make a quick alert post every time I update this fic? Drop me an ask if so!
Third, this chapter takes place at the same time as the previous, just from Rin's perspective and not MakoHaru's!

Chapter 18- Of Change and Clues
"Okay. Against my better judgment I am leaving you two in charge of this house for the day."

Nagisa grinned, which, to the redhead on a day like this, was nerve-wracking. "You can count on us, Rin-chan!"

Rin rolled his eyes. "I'm counting on Rei to keep Haru's house in one damn piece. I know you, Nagisa. Which is why I'm going to say- and I want you to listen very carefully- only two things. So help me god, Nagisa, if anything is broken or missing you will be found in pieces."

The blonde saluted smartly. "Okay!"

"Stop being a wiseass!" Rin barked. "Second. If anything happens to Akiha there won't be any pieces of you to find."

"Rin-san you're overestimating Nagisa's abilities-"

"Don't even!" The redhead snapped, pointing imperiously at the blue-haired boy. "You should know more than anyone how much of a danger he is. He convinced you to join the swim team even though you didn't own a swimsuit and didn't even know how to swim. You know he is a demon incarnate... when he wants to be."

Nagisa didn't seem to be upset about being called hellspawn, just rocking back and forth on his heels and smiling, but as Rin turned to leave the blonde found a question on his lips.
"Hey, Rin-chan!"

The redhead stopped but didn't bother turning. "What."

"What's going on, anyway? Where are Mako-chan and Haru-chan? Where are you headed?"

"Do you always invade people's privacy like this? Geez..."

"Pleeeeeease Rin-chan? I wanna know!"

"Makoto and Haru went on a date, okay? It was to keep Makoto out of the house while I- while I go get the thing."

Immediately pink eyes lit up with curiosity. "Ooh, what thing what thing?"

Rin finally turned, nailing them both with a hard, irritable glare. "If I tell you, you have to be completely silent about it. Not a peep."

Nagisa grinned and saluted with a wink. "Roger!" He cheered in English.
His pronunciation was shit and made Rin wince, but the redhead shook it off.

"Okay. First off: you can talk to Haru but only to Haru. And since you know the likelihood of Haru calling, that pretty much guarantees your silence. Second: what I am going to get is... Well, it's sort of an anniversary present. We've been together six months as of tomorrow."

Nagisa squealed. "Rin-chan is human!"

The redhead looked puzzled- well, puzzled with a definitively angry edge- and growled "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

Nagisa grinned and bit air twice. "Well with those teeth I always wondered if you were part shark! But maybe you're human after all!"

One red eyebrow twitched violently and that was Rei's cue. He yanked the blonde inside Haru's house to an enraged roar of "Nagisa you little shit-!"

They waited on the other side of the door for a moment but aside from some angry shark noises (as Nagisa stage-whispered to his boyfriend) Rin didn't bother with them and left.

"He's probably getting the thing. I wonder what the thing is?" Nagisa mused, head against the door and staring at the ceiling.

Rei had hung his head some time ago. "It's really none of our business, Nagisa."

Nagisa shrugged. "Well, it's not like we can follow him if he's angry. So I guess we'll find out later."

Rei smirked conspiratorially at his boyfriend. "Shall we begin?"

Pink eyes widened at the suggestion in the blue-haired boy's tone. "Eh? You wanna try that already?"

"Rin-san is gone and Makoto-senpai and Haruka-senpai won't be back for a long time. Logically speaking, now is the time with the highest probability of success."

"W-well if you think so-"

"We have to hurry, Nagisa. We can't be seen by Makoto-senpai or Haruka-senpai while doing it."

"Understood!" Nagisa chirped.

Five minutes later Nagisa sidled into the living room with the scratching post Rei had bought Akiha (because Rei wasn't allowed pets in his building he was intensely jealous of the fact that his teammates had animals) and set it in the corner.

"How's that, Rei-chan?"

The blue-haired boy pushed up his glasses with a satisfied grin, picking up the kitten and urging her toward the new toy.
"It looks beautiful, Nagisa."

Akiha approached the new piece of furniture with extreme caution. Eyes wide and puff of a tail sticking straight up she crept toward the object. Nagisa made to pick her up but Rei stopped him.
"She would likely claw you. Let her examine it at her own pace. In the meantime, perhaps we should find her other toys and let her put the scratching post in the background for a few minutes."

They split up to search for the kitten's toys: the blue-haired boy headed upstairs as his blonde boyfriend scoured the first floor. Akiha had pounced on the first mouse Nagisa tossed her way and though she played with it she seemed distracted.

"Rei-chan..." Nagisa called when he heard the younger boy returning. "Did you find her cellophane ball upstairs?"

"Her..? No, I didn't. Why?"

Nagisa sighed heavily, sitting at the table, chin perched on his palm. "It's missing, huh? That's too bad, it's Aki-chan's favorite..."

"Has she shown any interest in the post?"

"She keeps looking at it but I think she's still nervous. I wonder where her ball went?"

Rei sat next to his boyfriend and watched the small Bobtail approach the new object with ears back. "Call Rin-san."

Nagisa lit up, jerking his chin free of his hand. "Of course!" He crowed.

Akiha bolted from the post at his yell and Rei reflexively frowned at the blonde- he wanted her to like the toy he'd bought!- but Nagisa was already typing in Rin's number.

After a few moments the answer hissed across the line.
"Do I even want to know?"

"Everything's fiiiine, Rin-chan. Don't be such a worrywart, that's Mako-chan's job."

Rin snorted. "So if the house isn't burning down why did you call me?"

"Where's Aki-chan's favorite toy?"

"...eh?"

"Where's Aki-chan's favori-"

"I heard you the first time! Why does it matter?"

Nagisa huffed and propped his free hand on his hip. "Rin-chan! It's her favorite toy. This is a big deal!"

A crackly sigh. "Then I'll buy her another one. It's not a big deal."

"I'll buy another, Rin-san!" Rei broke in hurriedly.

"No!" The redhead shouted. "For shit's sake, Rei, you've bought her enough stuff already! You're spoiling her and Haru does that enough already! Look, it's in the house somewhere, she'll find it eventually. Now I have to go, I'm almost at the je-"

Suddenly the line went dead and Nagisa pouted. "He almost said it..."

"It's still not our business." Rei said gently.

A smirk was slowly blooming on Nagisa's face and Rei had learned a while ago that when Nagisa made that face it was best to run away. Very fast. In the opposite direction.
He didn't have that luxury, however.
"...what?" He asked at length.

The blonde leapt to his feet and pointed to the ceiling. "Time for the return of Detective Rei-chan!" He proclaimed triumphantly.

Rei sighed.

"The missing object is a cat toy, approximately two inches in diameter, made of blue and green cellophane. The amount of potential places for said object to have rolled under, been wedged under, or batted behind is..."
The blue-haired boy looked around and adjusted his glasses with a defeated sigh.
"...tremendous."

"You can do it Detective Rei-chan! Good luck!"

"Now hang on a moment!" Rei squawked and stamped his foot. "Do you mean to tell me you're just going to sit on the table and not help me with this at all?!"

The blonde tilted his head and widened his eyes, painting a false portrait of complete innocence. "I thought that since I would be out of the way it would be okay, so... yeah."

"Well it's not okay! Get down from there and help me! I can't search all these places alone!"

"Boooo Rei-chan! How boring!"

"Then how is it fair I do it alone?!"

The blonde slid off the table with a sprightly giggle and pressed a quick kiss to his boyfriend's cheek. "Okay, okay."

They searched under all the furniture, Rei muttering calculations to himself under his breath as he groped under Rin's couch. Nagisa swept a pilfered ruler under the refrigerator to try and knock the ball out (should it be under there) but got nothing except dust bunnies and a toy mouse.

Akiha was torn between which superbly interesting human to follow around. Rei found her at his feet as often as Nagisa would glance next to him and find the small feline stretched out in the same way he was while he reached under furniture.
The blonde giggled after the third time and scratched behind small ears. Akiha purred and reached out with toes spread wide, clenching them together again as she brought them back to her chest and curled onto her back. Nagisa rubbed her belly and she mewled. She pawed for his face and he kissed her small pink nose.

"You're so cute, Aki-chan."

"Nagisa-kun..."

The blonde squeaked and clutched the kitten to his chest. "Shh, Aki-chan! That's his 'disappointed' voice."

"Nagisa! You're supposed to be helping me look for Akiha's ball!"

Nagisa rolled over, still clutching the Bobtail kitten to his chest. "Maybe we should give up. There's a lot of places it could be, Rei-chan. We'll never find it!"

The blue-haired boy glared at him (Well he tried. Rei had discovered a while ago that he couldn't glare at his boyfriend) and pink eyes sparkled.
Rei looked away and adjusted his glasses. "Not if no one looks we won't."

"Agreed!"

"I didn't mean that we were giving up, Na- you know what? Fine."

The blonde giggled his triumph. "Okay, Aki-chan, now let's see if you like the scratching post yet!"

"Seriously?" Rin groaned twenty minutes later as he walked in the door. "I mean really?"

Rei was grinning proudly with a purring Akiha in his lap, petting the small Bobtail where she lay, and the new addition to the corner of the room didn't go unnoticed.

"What did I tell you about spoiling her, Rei?" The redhead grumbled as he came in.

"As a growing kitten she needs all the stimuli she can get, and the lack of a scratching post would have eventually persuaded her to take her biological need to claw objects to Haruka-senpai's furniture. Therefore I bought an acceptable and appreciated substitute."

"It's loaded with catnip, isn't it?"

Rei flushed slightly and glanced down at the sleeping kitten. "Er- yes. It does contain catnip. I believe."

"Does or doesn't?" Rin asked as he headed into the kitchen.

"...it does."

"Thought so. Any preferences for snacks, you two?"

"Ah, what are you making?"

"Dunno. Nothing big. I have dinner for tomorrow planned, so I have to be careful with what I use."

Nagisa hopped up from the table and bounded into the kitchen. The small space was made uncomfortably smaller with the addition of the bubbly blonde but Rin's death glare proved ineffective as always.

"What."

Nagisa smiled. "Rin-chan's going all out, huh?"

The redhead flushed. "Anniversaries are a big deal, okay? And I'm... I'm really happy to even have one, so- stop laughing, Hazuki."

Nagisa brought his giggles under control slowly, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes at the bright red blush staining Rin's cheeks.

"Rin-chan's so romantic! It's nice, isn't it?"

"Sh-shut up! You don't- you don't know what they mean to me..." He said softly, red eyes staring past the work his hands were doing.

Nagisa's smile edged down from 'sadistic amusement' to an actual warm smile. The blonde put a hand on the redhead's shoulder and said "I do know, Rin. Remember, I'm the other one who knew how you used to be back then and was surprised at how you acted when you came back. Remember you brushed Makoto and I off the very first time we saw you again after four years? That hurt. It did. But I got to watch you become Rinrin again!" Nagisa cheered. "So I know what they mean to you!"

The blonde leaned in and kissed the older boy on the cheek.
"Because you mean a lot to me, too."

In the dining room Rei spluttered a complaint and Rin couldn't think to reply as Nagisa bounced back to his boyfriend's side.

A while later Rin set a plate of mackerel sushi on the table (to Rei's profuse delight) and they sat around the heated table to wait for the remaining members of the Iwatobi team.

Nagisa filled the spaces of silence- left by a brooding Rin and ravenous Rei- with effusive chatter and brilliant giggles.
"We went on a date the other day!" Nagisa chirped. "Just Rei-cha-" A pointed look from the blue-haired boy made Nagisa grin sheepishly and correct to "Just Rei and I."

Noticing the switch, Rin shook his head at the youngest teen and gestured at the blonde with his chopsticks. "Y'know, you might as well stop trying to make him stop with the nickname thing. It's hardwired into his head to add -chan onto everybody's name, no matter who."

Rei looked troubled. "It's just that... We needn't refer to each other with any sort of honorific if we're dating. It denotes a closeness."

Rin rolled his eyes. "So does Rei-chan, Rei-chan. Let him call you a nickname. It's not like it matters much. You still know he loves you."
The blue-haired boy turned lobster-red and tried to push up his glasses, missed and thumbed himself in the nose, and finally pushed them up properly. Except the gesture of trying to hide his face didn't work when his whole head, from forehead to chin to ears, was scarlet, but Rin would give him kudos for trying.

Nagisa laughed and pecked his boyfriend's cheek, purring "My Rei-chan's so cute~" and bursting into giggles when the red began to creep further down the blue-haired boy's neck as Rei spluttered.

A few minutes later Rin mentioned his lovers were likely to be home soon and the blonde knew that was a hint to leave. Akiha changed laps, curling up in the redhead's, and with cheerful farewells the first-year duo left.

"Honestly, those two..." Rin sighed with a smile, rubbing his fingers into soft short fur.

Someone pounded on the door and Rin groaned as he rose. He'd figured Nagisa would be back for the cell phone charger he'd forgotten but honestly he couldn't wait a day for Haru or Makoto (probably Makoto, really) to bring it to him?

"Nagisa, you little shit, I'm coming. Stop hitting the door that har- huh?"

Well. That huge silhouette was definitely not his blonde friend.

"Yo, Matsuoka."

Too surprised to glare Rin just shifted to blink at the taller redhead. "Captain what the hell are you doing here?" He leaned out the door, glancing this way and that, and pulled back to lift a dubious eyebrow. "Where's my sister?"

For once the mention of Gou didn't send Seijuurou into an excited fit. His golden gaze remained just as impassive and narrow as it had been a minute ago.
"Can I talk to you? It's important."

"You're freaking me out." Rin spat.

The older teen rolled his eyes. "Stop being a dick, Rin. I need to talk to you."

Suspicious to a fault, Rin kept shooting uneasy glances at Seijuurou as the older neatly folded his large body to sit at the kotatsu- they really needed to put it away already but Makoto loved to be warm- and waited for Rin to return.
Reluctantly the redhead handed over a bottle of water to the fiery male and sat opposite him.

"...so... what's so important?"

"I'm graduating this year." Seijuurou said immediately, twisting the cap off his water and taking a swig.

"Yeah, and?"

One golden eye peeked open and gave him a pointed look. Finished drinking, Seijuurou sighed. "Would you let me talk? I'm graduating this year and Kenta and I have been trying to decide who'll succeed us as captain and vice-captain."

Red eyes widened. "No. No fucking way. I do not want to be captain-!"

"Good. Because you won't be. You'll be taking over Kenta's position as vice and Nakagawa will be taking over Captain. If that's all right with you."

Rin blinked. "You really... want me to be vice-captain?"

Seijuurou shrugged and set his bottle cap to spinning on the tabletop. "You're good enough in the water that the team respects you and that's what you'll need the most. If they don't respect you, they won't listen to you, and then you have a fuck-up waiting to happen. No, you'll do fine as vice. Nakagawa's got a good head on his shoulders for the regimens and diets, but you have the theory, practice and drive to back him up. You'll be good together."

Rin hummed, watching the cap slow. "One condition."

Red-orange eyebrows rose, gold eyes shrewd but daring.

"Sugimura and Nitori bunk together and I get my own goddamn room."

Seijuurou slammed his hand on the kotatsu, trapping the cap, and reached the other hand across with his signature huge grin.

"Done." He declared as they shook on it.

Rin decided to play the nice host and asked if Seijuurou wanted anything else, but the fiery redhead shook his head.
"Nah. I'll finish this and go. Oi, where's that kitten of yours Kou can't stop talking about?"

Rin muttered something nasty under his breath that lifted Seijuurou's brows. After a moment more of looking venomous Rin growled "Upstairs. Rei bought her a climbing toy. And she loves it about as much as she loves him. I get that he's living the pet life vicariously through us since his apartment building doesn't allow them, but it seriously bugs me how much she likes him."

"...you're jealous of Rei because your cat likes him?"

Rin blushed but his glare held strong. "It's not that!"

Seijuurou chuckled at the younger redhead. "Sure it isn't." He got up and Rin took the empty bottle from him. "Anyway, I'll be going."

Rin nodded, suddenly looking again like the rug had been pulled out from under his feet. "Yeah. Am I going to be seeing you around?"

Golden eyes cut sideways. "For a little while, at least. I signed up for a winter course to give myself some more time."

"With Gou?" Rin asked uncertainly.

Suddenly downcast, Seijuurou nodded.
"Captain. All I ask is you treat her right. And... So far so good. Just be careful or I'll be pissed!"

The older redhead snorted. "Matsuoka, anyone ever tell you you're a tsundere?"

Rin scowled. "Okay, time for your ass to leave."

After the taller redhead left, waving, Rin retreated to the kotatsu and pulled the box containing the three smaller felt boxes from underneath the warm table.
Haru and Makoto would be back before too long and as much as the excitement was killing him- he really really wanted to distribute them tonight- he simply smiled and stowed the box away behind some pans in the kitchen.

He was there to greet them when they walked in the door.

Shh pretend I know how swim stuff works. Also sure, Rin made quick sushi, that's possible. Um. Yeah. Bye guys! Enjoy! GO READ VALEFORWINGS' 30 Day Marinka Drabbles! NOWNOWNOW.