Rin and Haruka were still arguing once they were walking up the stone steps to Makoto's house. Makoto figured that he had to stop them now or never. He felt like he needed to tell them that there were two more living in the house with him as the two were ready for it.
"Excuse me," he said, interrupting Rin in the middle of a sentence.
Haruka turned to look at him with questioning eyes as if silently asking him what he wanted to say.
"I don't know if you heard, but this is actually not my first time adopting," Makoto started. As he spoke to them, he also stopped walking and turned to face the two. "A few years ago I adopted two other boys who are also living in the house."
"Why are you telling us this?" Rin asked.
"Well… I figured it's better if you are prepared. Especially the younger one of them tend to be very energetic and usually comes running up to me when I come home," Makoto explained.
Both Rin and Haruka nodded and the three continued up the stone steps. They stopped at the house about half-way up, which was Makoto's home and headed inside.
"Mako-chan!" Nagisa exclaimed as he heard the door open. As Makoto had predicted, he came running at something close to the speed of light.
"I'm home," Makoto said as he entered. Rin and Haruka followed right behind him.
Before Nagisa could get close enough to hug Makoto, he caught sight of the two new faces and stopped suddenly. "Mako-chan, who are they?" he asked.
Rei came out of the living room and now also stood and stared at the two new boys, whom Makoto had brought home.
Makoto smiled. "These are your new brothers," he said while thinking he could've found a way better way to introduce the two with a bit more time to think. "The red-haired is Matsuoka Rin and the black-haired is Nanase Haruka."
Rei got a thoughtful expression as he watched Rin and Haruka carefully. A hint of recognition could be seen in his eyes. "From Iwatobi Adopting Center, right?" he asked.
Haruka nodded while Rin stubbornly turned his head away. It didn't seem like he was very happy with their adoptive siblings.
"So, who are they, Tachibana-san?" Rin asked.
Makoto smiled. "I forgot to say, but just call me Makoto." He went to introduce the other two. "The one with glasses is Ryugazaki Rei, the small blonde one is Hazuki Nagisa," he said.
"You're that troublesome pair," Rin said.
"You're the troublemakers," Rei answered.
"Excuse me, but as far as I've heard, Hazuki is the troublemaker," Rin answered.
"Rin-Rin's picking fights," Nagisa stated.
"Don't call me that!" Rin yelled.
"You're loud," Haruka said, claiming Rin's attention.
"Well, you're not helping!" Rin snapped.
Makoto sighed. He hadn't expected an all-out war between his children, and certainly not right off the bat. He had to find a way to make them stop fighting, the sooner the better.
"Okay," he said. "Rei, Nagisa, please go to your rooms and calm down. Rin, Haruka, I'll show you to your rooms," he said.
Rei sent Nagisa an irritated look before he headed upstairs as the first one. Nagisa followed him soon after and Rin took off his shoes and walked as he stood at the bottom of the stairs. Haruka was the only one who didn't respond right away.
"Haruka?" Makoto asked.
"Don't call me that," Haruka answered.
"That's your name, so why not?" Makoto asked.
"It's girly, that's why," Rin answered. "Haru doesn't like it very much. Just stick to calling him Haru, like I do," he suggested.
"Haru…" Makoto could go with that. "Is that okay with you?" he asked the nine-years-old.
Haruka thought it over, then nodded. It was either that, or the name his disliked so much, and since Rin had suggested that Makoto called him by Haru, he felt like he had to go along with it. And he also did know that he couldn't expect for his foster father to call him by Nanase forever.
"So… Haru and Rin, I'll show you to your rooms," Makoto said before he took off his shoes and headed inside and up the stairs with Rin in toe. Haruka took off his shoes and followed.
There were two rooms that Makoto didn't use. They were both completely empty and he found that they would be fine, serving as Rin's and Haruka's separate rooms. Once he had shown each of them to one, he went downstairs to call his parents. First off, he had to tell them that he had adopted, again. And the second reason was that he really thought he needed their advice on what to do about all these arguments between his children.
"Hello, this is at the Tachibana family," Makoto's mother said as she picked up.
"Hello mom," Makoto answered. "It's Makoto here,"
"Makoto! It's been too long!" His mother exclaimed.
Makoto smiled awkwardly. "You came by the other day," he reminded her.
"Oh yeah," she laughed. "So… what do you want? Are you just calling to say hello?" she asked.
"Not exactly," Makoto answered. "Mom… I've adopted again," he said.
"Well, at least you remembered to tell us this time," she laughed. "So, what kind of child did you get this time?" she asked.
"At the orphanage they said they were twins. Their names are Rin and Haruka," Makoto answered. "They're nine years old."
"Oh? So it's girls this time?" Makoto's mother asked.
"No," Makoto smiled at the mistake. "They're boys, just like Rei and Nagisa," he answered.
She laughed then. "That's funny. What are the chances that in a family of five male, all five have girly names?" she asked.
"I don't know…" Makoto said. "But… the thing is, that they don't seem to get along too well. Rin and Haruka are always arguing, but when we came home just now they got into a fight with Rei and Nagisa too, and I don't know how to stop it," he said.
"Fights?" his mother asked. "Siblings do tend to fight. Remember how many times Ren and Ran could fight in a day when they were nine years old?"
Makoto smiled. "A lot," he answered. "And half of them involved me one way or another."
His mother laughed. "That's true. And the other problem might simply just be because they need to adjust to one another. Especially Rei and Nagisa who suddenly have to share you with two other boys after almost three years."
"They say about Rin and Haru that you barely manage to stop one of their fights before they pick the next one," Makoto said. "Ren and Ran weren't even that bad. As for the other thing, I just hope you're right,"
"In that case, maybe you should try and split their fights as soon as possible and teach them how to get along with one another and accept their differences. Your father and I are always there to help and so are Ren and Ran if you need it. Remember that, Makoto," she said.
Makoto nodded. "Thank you, mom," he said. "I'll do my best too then."
"I know you will. I look forward to meeting the new addition to your family," she said. "I hope they all learn to get along."
"Believe me, I hope so too," Makoto answered. "Well, bye for now, mom," he said.
"Goodbye Makoto, best of luck," his mother said before they both hung up.
Makoto didn't let either of his children out until it was time for them to have dinner. While they ate, he spent most of the time asking Rin and Haruka questions, as he would get to know them better. Rin was the one answering most of them while Haruka just silently sat and ate.
Nagisa was also not saying anything while they ate, but this seemed to be for a different reason. Where Haruka just seemed to be silent by nature, Nagisa had a bitter aura around him. This also seemed to affect Rei slightly. He too didn't say much, and once they were done eating, Nagisa dragged Rei upstairs and into his room, locking the door behind them. Rin and Haruka also just returned to their separate rooms.