"Daddy!" Haru heard an enthusiastic voice call out as the door slammed open. He turned to see his son bounding towards him quickly. As soon as the boy reached his father, he jumped up into his arms. Haru stumbled slightly at the unexpected weight leaping onto him.
"Hey Mako," Haru responded, kissing Makoto's head softly as he hugged him tightly. This was why he couldn't stay in a relationship; this was why he couldn't stay with Rin. What if he missed out on things like this? Moments that he should cherish forever. "Were you good for Sousuke?"
Makoto nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, we had take out after my homework and everything!"
"Take out on a school night? Wow, thanks Yamazaki. This from the P.E teacher?" Haru said sarcastically raising an eyebrow.
Sousuke grinned "What can I say, he's a manipulative kid." Makoto giggled at this as Haru let him down from his arms.
"Why don't you go and change out of your uniform and then I'll sort out dinner." Haru said warmly.
"Not mackerel again though, right?" Haru's eyes went wide at Makoto's request.
"I thought you liked mackerel? Oh no, I've been making it a lot and you don't even like it do you?" Haru panicked slightly.
"No no! I like Mackerel, it's just... Not 3 days in a row." His son said, poking his tongue out at his father.
Haru breathed a sigh of relief. Since he became a single parent, he was always worried that he would mess up. And surprisingly, excusing the one time he forgot to give Makoto his lunch on a school trip and his best friend Kisumi had to share his own with him, he hadn't screwed up yet. And he intended to keep that the same throughout Makoto's life.
"Alright, you little fish stick, I was going to get us a take out, but considering you had one yesterday..." Haru said with a small smile.
Makoto stared at him with wide pleading eyes, the green orbs slowly wearing down Haru's resolve. 'This child, goddamnit...'
"Please can we have take out daddy?" Makoto said, the puppy dog eyes strong on his features.
"Fine, just because you really are a manipulative kid. Pizza okay?" Haru said as he pulled out a menu.
"Mhm," Makoto said "Thank you!" He called as the pitter patter of footsteps told Haru he had made his way upstairs.
"What about you? Wanna stay for dinner?" Haru asked the taller man.
"As much as I would love to stay and watch you get shot down asking for mackerel pizza, again, I'm actually going on a date later, so none for me thanks." He said as he drunk from a water bottle that he had retrieved from his bag while the father and son caught up.
"A date huh? With who?" Haru inquired. "I thought you'd given up on dating for the moment."
Sousuke huffed. "Yeah, it was kind of a spur of the moment thing... I don't even know if it'll even go well. They work at a cafe near here; it's no big deal really." He shrugged. "What is a big deal is how last night went for you?"
Haru felt his face get hot. He was suddenly reminded of the heat, the passion, the sweating, the begging! He turned away from his friend and muttered. "Fine. Nagisa left early with some bartender so I just got a coffee and came home." He lied through gritted teeth.
"Haruka Nanase. I've know you long enough to work out when you're lying. Who was it?" He pestered.
"No one."
"Haru."
"Seriously leave it alone."
"Is it because she was ugly?"
"No."
"Aha! So you admit there was someone?"
"No."
"Haru seriously just tell me if you got to bang a chick last night or not!"
"I didn't bang a chick last night." Haru said, expressionless. His patience was wearing out.
"Your skin looks smooth and silky you did something."
"..."
"Blow job?" Sousuke waited for a reply. "No? Did you eat her out? Finger her?"
Haru's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.
"Titty fuck? Just make out with her? Oh did you-"
"For fuck sake Sousuke- it wasn't a girl!"
The long gap of silence that followed was less than comfortable. Haru was sure his face was bright red, and even though he wasn't looking at Sousuke, he could tell the man was gaping at him.
"Wait… you… with a man?" The teal eyes males' voice was a little higher than usual. "But… I don't understand. You're not attracted to men."
"No, I'm not. I know I'm not. I don't know what happened Sousuke. Fuck, I…" Haru swallowed hard, running his hands through his hair. He knew that Sousuke wouldn't judge him, after all he was bi himself, but Haru really didn't know the right way to say that he'd craved a man's body for the first time. "H-He stopped me from falling over at the club and asked if I wanted coffee, and I agreed and he was just… generally a nice guy. And then I offered to walk him back to his place. God Sousuke, I needed him and I can't work out why."
Sousuke looked at his best friend in worry. It was unusual for the raven haired man to show much emotion in one go, but here he was; looking as though he was about to cry.
Sousuke had never been very good with emotions either and was often thankful that the person he was around most had a calm demeanour. However, now was the time to act and help Haru. So Sousuke pulled him into a bone crushing hug. Softly letting the artist sob into his shoulder.
"I'm pathetic. Crying because I'm probably open to more than one gender. What an asshole I am." He sniffed.
"That's not why you're crying Haru. You're confused. Trust me; I went through this, only I was in my teenage years. It's rare to only realise you liked men at this age, but not impossible." Sousuke tried to comfort him, but Haru only shook his head.
"It doesn't make any sense. I tried things with men before and I got nothing. Even when tired butt stuff with girls it never did much for me." Haru said pulling out of his friends embrace.
"You were the bottom?" The teacher let out without thinking.
After seeing Haru's brow furrow he corrected himself. "N-not that that's a bad thing! I just didn't take you to be a bottom is all…"
"It's not like I had much choice in the matter. It was in the heat of the moment." Haru grumbled. His cheeks still flushed lightly pink.
"So… are you going to see him again?" Sousuke asked
"No. We both agreed it was a onetime thing. He was starting a new job and I have Makoto to care for. I don't have time for a relationship- with a man or a woman." Haru replied.
"You know… it's been about 5 years now. She'd be okay if you moved on, hell she wanted you t-" Sousuke started before Haru's voice interrupted him.
"No. I-I can't move on from her. I felt so bad last night Sousuke. I'm not ready." He replied, his voice cracking.
"I'm just saying Haru; someone else could be good for you right now."
Before Haru could come back with anything as an argument, Sousuke's phone pinged and suddenly he had to go, leaving Haru to stand alone in the empty kitchen. Pondering over Sousuke's words, until he saw his son rushing down the stairs, changed out of his school uniform and into his home clothes.
Haru cleared his throat and he picked up the menu for the pizza shop. "So Makoto," Haru said with a smile. "How does peperoni sound?"
Rin opened the door to 'Mikoshiba and bro', heaving a large sigh and slumping towards the counter. Behind it he saw the man he recognised to be Seijuro Mikoshiba, whom he had spoken to briefly yesterday.
"Afternoon!" The red haired man said cheerily. "Rin, wasn't it? What can I get for you?"
"Do you make coffee to go?" He asked, rubbing his forehead lazily.
"We do indeed. Same as yesterday?" The muscular man said, reaching behind himself to grab a take away cup.
Rin nodded with a yawn. Seijuro laughed in response.
"You look like you need it, no offence of course." The golden eyed man joked.
"None taken, I just had to sit through a lecture about the rules and guidelines of the workplace. Basic shit that I already know anyway like 'No dating other staff members or parents of the students.' And 'No swearing in front of the kids.', so yeah, I really need this coffee. Besides, you make a mean black coffee here." Rin said with a smirk.
"Sounds rough. Well, if I'm telling the truth, Momo is the better one at making drinks, but I'll try to match his skill." Rin chuckled, looking around to see where the orange haired boy was.
"Where is your brother?" Rin asked.
"Ah, he went out on a date. Wouldn't tell me who with, even though I let him have the evening off, cheeky bastard," He grinned. "Not with Haru tonight then? "
Rin's eye's widened. "Ah… no. You see… we're not actually together."
Seijuro cocked his head to the side. "You mean… you… oh." He said in realisation.
Rin blushed lightly. "Heh… that probably doesn't look good. The new guy sleeping with someone on his first week in the town."
"Bro, it's not that, trust me I've had my fair share of one nighters. Can't say that I ever took them out for coffee first though. It's just that I haven't seen Haru out with anyone since Hana."
'Hana?' Rin thought hearing the unfamiliar name. he just assumed it was an old girlfriend of Haru's.
"Your coffee." Mikoshiba said, handing over the warm cup of black coffee, which Rin accepted happily with a nod.
"Thanks. So Haru doesn't get out much?" Rin inquired taking a sip from his cup.
"Not really, he's always so busy with his artwork or looking after that angel of his. Such a well behaved boy. Haru's lucky to be blessed with such a well behaved son."
As soon as that last word was spoken, Rin felt that he had performed a cliché spit take, effectively making him choke on his hot beverage. A large hand slapped him on the back and another handed him a napkin.
"Whoa, you okay there?"
"Yeah," Rin said, whipping his mouth. "Yeah, just went down the wrong way is all. I'm sorry, sis you say son?"
The older Mikoshiba nodded. "Yeah, you didn't know?"
"Not really information that comes up during a one night stand I guess. I should probably be going. Tell your brother I hope his date went well." Rin said, turning and fleeing the store, only just hearing Seijuro's cheerful 'Have a lovely evening!'
'A son! He has a son! Christ, I never thought he'd be a father. What was he doing out last night if he has a son? How old is his son anyway?' Many thoughts floated through Rin's mind as he walked at a fast pace home, the most prominent being 'What if he'd stayed that morning ad wanted something more serious? What if he expected me to be a father to his child?' And even though at the back of his mind he knew he was being ridiculous, he couldn't help but picture what would've happened if they had both been looking for something serious.
Three weeks later in stood in front of his favourite class, 8B, teaching them how to talk about their morning routine.
"Repeat after me- 'I eat breakfast'" The whole class repeated the phrase in sync. Surprisingly, every child had a smile on their face. Rin had never thought that a bunch of 8/9 year olds could like learning the English language, but they all did. And they loved hearing about his stories of being in Australia even more.
"Matsuoka-Sensei!" The teacher heard a familiar voice say. "Can you tell us more about the time you swam with the sharks?"
Rin chuckled. "Kisumi, I'll happily tell you after you've finished problems 1-5 of page 63." The class instantly got down to the work; they always did. 8B was a brilliant class. They always did their work with the correct amount of fun and work.
Rin sat at his smooth brown desk and pulled out his diary to check the meeting he had on tonight. Well… that and he really wanted to catch this new romantic comedy that was showing on the TV tonight.
Only one thing was written:
Meeting with Mr. Nanase- Makoto's Progress.
Smiling to himself he closed his planner. One meeting shouldn't take him long and he could have his first relaxing evening in for a while.
"Makoto, is your father still okay for tonight's meeting?" Rin asked, looking up to where the sandy blonde boy sat.
"Yes Matsuoka-Sensei, although it's okay that I'm not going to be there isn't it? I'm going to Kisumi's for dinner." The green eyed child said grinning.
"That's fine Makoto; I just need to inform your dad of how your English work is going. Have fun at Kisumi's." Rin said with a nod.
Not too long after, the bell went to signal the end of school. The children packed up, happy to go home. Rin waved them off, sitting at his desk marking the books of class 8A as he waited for Makoto's father to show up.
Rin wondered what he would be like. Probably sweet and caring like the child. Quiet, but full of life at the same time. Rin laughed softly to himself, he was acting like this was a first date rather than a first parent teacher meeting, but the nerves were equal. He really wanted the parents to like him; he wanted them to see that he was a good replacement for the old teacher.
Suddenly the receptionist poked her hear around Rin's door. "Afternoon Mr. Matsuoka. A mister Nanase is here to see you?"
"Yes, yes. Thank you, please send him through." The woman nodded as she left to fetch the parent.
Rin straightened a few things that looked out of place on his desk and patiently waited for the male to arrive.
After only about two minutes of waiting, the burgundy haired male heard a soft knock on the door.
"Please come in and take a seat Mr. Nanase. It's a pleasure to meet-" Rin stumbled on his words as he saw just who was standing in the doorway. His breath caught in his throat.
Standing in front of him was none other than the beauty he'd spent one night with not even a month ago. The man who he'd last seen begging and sweaty underneath him on his bed.
Haruka Nanase evidently.
The raven haired male wore the same expression the teacher assumed he was wearing. Holy crap, was this really happening?
"R-Rin?" He heard the attractive man whisper in shock.
So much for no repercussions.