Because this was totally not clear before: Rin does have a bit of potty mouth when angry. (Why am I even putting a language warning on when the overall RATING is already M...)

FYI, I probably won't be able to do the next update until end of this week, possibly weekend. :(

Two days after Haru's visit, Rin received a text message from Makoto asking to see him. The message was innocuous enough. If Rin hadn't kissed Makoto the last time they saw each other, or Haru since then, he could have pretended nothing was wrong.

Ah well. At least Makoto would be polite about turning him down. Probably would give him the let-us-be-friends speech, too. That was how Makoto was. Rin chose shirt and jeans he felt were sufficiently dark to express his black humor, and went out to meet Makoto.

Makoto had called him out to the old shore-side walkway with nice benches. Well, the nice benches were new. It seemed the walk had been extensively renovated since he lived there as a kid. When he arrived, Makoto was waiting for him on one of the benches, hands tight on his knees, looking nervous and determined at once. Resigned, Rin walked over to join him.

"Yo."

"Rin. Hi." Makoto rose to greet him. "Sorry to call you out so late," he stammered. "I—wanted to talk to you."

"Clearly." Rin didn't wait for an invitation to sit down. Makoto automatically followed the suit. For the next couple minutes there was a silence, with Makoto looking like he didn't know where to start. "So what did you want to talk about?" Rin prompted when another minute went by without a word.

"About— About what you said last time." Right, then. Rin held back a sigh. "I thought about it. And—"

"You like Haru," Rin interrupted. He just...didn't want to hear Makoto say the words. Knowing and hearing Makoto say them were two different things.

"Y-yeah. How..." Makoto reddened. "Was I that obvious?"

Rin sighed. "Pretty much. Except to Haru, maybe."

A rueful chuckle answered him. "Yeah, probably. When Nagisa dared him to talk about a romantic experience, Haru talked about finding a really nice waterfall."

Sadly, Rin had no trouble believing that. "Well, he does tend to not notice anyone except when they're in the water." An idea occurred to him then. "Was that why you started swimming?"

"No," Makoto answered immediately. "Well, maybe a little bit, but not like that. We both liked swimming since we were little and I was afraid if I stopped we wouldn't have anything in common anymore. I didn't want to stop, anyway. I still like swimming. That wasn't about Haru."

"But it'd be meaningless without him."

Makoto looked taken aback. It took Rin a moment to remember where he'd heard that from, and when he did, he could have kicked himself. "Where did you – did Haru tell you?"

"Er." Rin swallowed. "Yeah." More glumly he added, "For what it's worth, I don't think he got it even with that."

"Rin," Makoto said with unbearable gentleness. "That's how Haru feels about you. That it'd be meaningless without you."

"They're not the same thing!" Rin exclaimed. "I mean, you like him. Haru just likes swimming."

"Rin." Makoto had a look on his face that made it impossible to look away, or refute him in any way. "And to Haru, swimming is the most natural state to be. He said swimming is meaningless without you there. Don't you understand the significance of that?"

"He's confused. Also possibly a hydrophiliac." Makoto looked puzzled at the last, and Rin belatedly recalled he'd used the English word for that. "You know. Water-crazed maniac."

"Well," Makoto said with obvious hints of amusement. "He does try to strip every time he sees a body of water. We nearly got kicked out of the shopping mall the other time because Haru started taking his clothes off at the fountain."

"And here I thought Nagisa was the one who liked to go skinny-dipping."

"To be fair, Nagisa is the only one who does that. Haru always has his swimsuit on underneath."

"Yeah, well, my point is: his unnatural relationship with water aside, Haru's totally confused about what he wants."

Makoto actually had the gall to sigh at him in a long-suffering way. "Rin. While I appreciate your effort to make me feel better, don't you think maybe you shouldn't assume so much about Haru? He's not a child. He knows what he wants."

"Does he?" Rin shot back, the challenge almost a spinal reflex for him now. "So when he stares at you like you're carrying the pool around in your boxer shorts, what's that supposed to mean? Do you think Haru knows?"

"That's—" Makoto paused. "Does he?"

It was Rin's turn to sigh. "Oh for..." He let out a frustrated breath. "Look. You stare at Haru when he's not looking. Haru stares at you just as often but still doesn't know what that means. So don't tell me Haru know what he wants. If he did he'd have his mouth around your dick already, because that would be the only way he could convince you."

"Rin!" Makoto hissed, face on fire. He automatically looked around to see if anyone had overheard, then gave him a deeply reproachful look. Rin returned the look evenly, refusing to back down. Besides which, he was right, he wasn't going to take it back. Once satisfied they didn't have any listeners, Makoto let out a little sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "Okay. So, to recap. I like Haru. Haru likes you. Wait till I finish," Makoto interrupted before Rin could disagree. "And you...like me," Makoto continued, his voice gone uncertain and soft over the words. "So where does that leave us?"

"Fucked?" Rin offered. Although Makoto gave him another reproachful look, he didn't contradict him. "Look, I never said any of this crap works out like we want. But I'm positive the one Haru likes is you. And that way at least two out of the three of us will get what we want."

"What about you?"

Rin shrugged. "Sometimes someone has to lose out." And he was done being bitter about it. Really. When it came to Makoto and Haru, he found it hard hold anything against them anyway.

Makoto looked unexpectedly stubborn. "I don't believe that."

"Makoto—"

"You're special to Haru. That much is obvious. I think Haru is also special to you." Makoto continued briskly. "Whatever else we all feel, I don't think Haru's the only one who doesn't fully understand what he wants. I think we need to talk it over. Together." Bright green eyes speared him. "All three of us."

"You've got to be kidding me." Unfortunately, Rin knew Makoto. If Makoto was set on this, very little could dissuade him. And Haru, what with his awakening hormones, would make a fearsome addition to what already promised to be the most awkward conversation of the century. Great. And here Rin was hoping for some sort of resolution that didn't end with Haru and Makoto never speaking to him again. "Okay, so when this all goes to hell in a reed basket, just remember: I was the voice of reason here."

"That," Makoto said with a glint in his eyes that deeply, deeply worried Rin, "remains to be seen."

Unfortunately for Rin, Makoto wasn't just determined, but pretty fast on his feet. Which was why he found himself dragged over to Haru's house first thing Sunday morning. And by dragged he meant it literally; Makoto had a firm grip on his elbow and was towing him up the steps. Before Rin could compose himself Makoto was ringing the doorbell, and bam! It was right back to that nightmare he had, about meeting Haru and running into his dad and seeing the funeral procession all over again. Haru didn't answer the door – which, if Rin hadn't been feeling so disoriented, he could have used to escape. By the time Rin had collected himself, Makoto was already dragging him to the back door and letting them in with nary a care in the world. Like he did this all the time. Come to think of it, Makoto probably did.

"Look, maybe he's not home. We can do this another day—"

"Nope. Haru's always home around this time on Sundays."

Rin frowned. That sounded like... "Wait a minute. Did you even tell him we're coming?"

"Nope."

Rin stared at him incredulously. "Okay. Who are you and what have you done with Tachibana Makoto?" Because more and more, this sounded like a stunt Nagisa might pull, not the ever-polite, dependable Makoto. Maybe this Makoto was really Nagisa in disguise. Or Makoto's evil clone. He should have known better than to trust it when Makoto suddenly suggested a three-way conversation about who likes whom in their screwy threesome. And he didn't even mean that in a dirty way.

But the look Makoto shot him, at once patient and disapproving, was patently Makoto. "Come on. Haru's probably in the bath."

Rin barely managed a sound of protest when Makoto grabbed him by the arm again and marched toward the bathroom, which was a bad idea for so many reasons—

Before Rin could finish his thought the door slid open. To a breathy moan.

Makoto froze at the doorstep, but didn't let go of him, so Rin had no choice but to stand there and look at Haru's flushed face. Damn, he hadsaid this could only go to hell in a reed basket. Haru stared back at them, wide-eyed and equally speechless.

"Makoto," Haru finally managed, still sounding breathless. "Rin."

Makoto didn't answer. There was a pair of jammers draped over the rim of the bathtub. The flush on Haru's face, Rin was quite sure, wasn't from embarrassment.

Rin cleared his throat twice before he found his voice. "Are we interrupting?"

Haru considered the question, eyes going from Makoto to Rin. "No," Haru decided.

Rin dragged a hand through his hair with a short sigh. "Let me rephrase that: am I interrupting?"

Haru gave him a defiant – or possibly just annoyed – look. "No," he repeated, a touch of impatience in his voice.

Rin made a sound of disgust and gave Makoto a shove forward. "You deal with this. He was your idiot friend before he was mine. I'll wait outside."

The evil clone theory regained life when Makoto stepped forward without releasing his arm, and Rin closed his eyes before realizing that was pointless. Because Makoto was offering Haru a hand, like he was just helping Haru up from the swimming pool. And Haru reached for Makoto's hand like he'd been hanging out in bathtub in his swimsuit and not jerking off a second ago. Hell, when did his friends get so weird?

Teeth gritted, Rin snagged a towel and threw it in Haru's face. "Here."

Haru toweled himself off and meandered away, hopefully to find some clothes, because Haru hadn't bothered to drape the towel around his hip like any decent person would have. And Haru's ass looked even better without the jammers. Rin groaned and resigned himself to a one-way trip to hell on the same reed basket ride since Makoto and Haru clearly didn't intend to offer him a way out.

By the time Haru rejoined them (fully clothed, thank heaven for small favors), Makoto was preparing tea, navigating through Haru's kitchen with a familiarity that made Rin quite uncomfortable. Haru didn't even comment, just came in and took out three mugs and put them on the table. Without missing a beat, Makoto grabbed the teapot and poured the tea, and handed Rin and Haru each a mug. Haru took the seat next to Rin, opposite from Makoto, and the whole scene was frighteningly domestic. The two of them were acting so married.

"We need to talk," Makoto started without preamble. Haru just nodded, wrapping both hands around his mug, and Rin tried very hard not to fidget in his seat. "Okay, to start off – Haru, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about what happened when Rin visited. I needed some time to sort out my thoughts."

"I went to see Rin about that," Haru answered softly. "A few days ago."

Makoto took a deep breath. "Well, the thing is, Rin told me that he likes me." No fanfare, no shock, not even recrimination. This was all becoming distressingly anticlimactic. "And I know you like him, Haru. So I was – at a bit of a loss."

Rin scowled in Haru's direction. "You like Makoto," he challenged.

Haru didn't so much as shrug. "Yeah." Haru then turned to Makoto with a perfectly deadpan expression which was completely incongruous with the fact he'd just confessed his non-platonic feelings for his best friend. Was Rin the only person still awake in this bizarre dream? "I kissed Rin when I visited him," Haru announced, like he was telling Makoto he'd had mackerel for dinner last night.

"Rin's always been special to Haru," Makoto said, and it wasn't clear whom he was addressing this time. "And – unless I'm very mistaken, Haru's always been special to Rin."

The denial was on the tip of Rin's tongue. Why couldn't he just get it out? It would solve all his problems in one fell swoop.

Yes, and leave him alone and cold for the rest of his life. But besides that tiny technical detail it was a sound plan.

"What about you?" Rin hadn't meant to sound so defensive, but it was hard not to when he felt cornered. "You like Haru, don't you?"

To his credit, Makoto didn't try to equivocate. "Yes," he answered softly, but with seriousness that left no doubt he meant it. "So I guess that leaves just one problem."

Rin blinked. Haru had just reached out to grab Makoto by the collar. In one economical move Haru pulled him closer and pressed their lips together. With significantly more skill than when he'd kissed Rin. And a lot more tongue. Fuck his life, what did Haru think Rin was, a practice run? Just when he was about to voice his displeasure in no uncertain terms, Haru pulled back and sat down like nothing happened. "Now we're even," Haru stated like that should make sense.

Makoto was blinking rapidly, like someone trying to reboot his brain. "That's not exactly what I meant, but – getting there, I guess."

"Wait a minute." Rin's brain had checked in at long last. "So – I kissed Makoto, and Haru kissed me, so – now that you two kissed it makes us all even?" Rin glared at both of them. "What the hell. We're talking about relationships, not some fucked up algebra!"

"I thought you liked it when I kissed you," Haru pointed out, and that was just about all Rin could take.

"Welcome to the wonderful world of puberty," Rin snapped viciously. "It's called hormones. And in case you haven't noticed, I'm pretty damned hot. Killer bod, too. So if you think whacking off to my six packs and sweet ass means something, I've got news for you, Haru. You don't particularly need to feel anything permanent for someone you want to fuck."

"Rin!" Makoto's voice was full of disapproval, and Rin twitched before he could help himself. Makoto cleared his throat with the blush still high on his cheeks, and God help him, Rin still couldn't help but feel hopelessly attracted. "Right. So. I guess the remaining issue was how I feel about Rin, and what we're going to do next."

"Leave me out of this," Rin countered automatically. "While we're talking algebra – guess what? You can't just add people up like that and expect it to work. It's feelings, not popsicles. You don't get two plus two in feelings."

"Makoto splits his popsicle with me all the time," Haru said, and Rin let his head fall to the table with a bang.

"I fucking give up," Rin mumbled into the wooden surface. Haru was throwing him on a loop so wild, he didn't have the energy to follow, let alone stay angry.

"If Makoto wants, I can share."

"Fan-fucking-tastic," Rin muttered to the table, in English, but figured the emotion behind it would carry over fine. "I'm trapped in here with crazy people. Send help."

"Rin." Makoto – it had to be Makoto patting his back so gently – soothed. "I'm not entirely sure if something can be worked out, either. And I was fine with not taking anything further. But you sort of – started the ball rolling here when you kissed me, and—"

"Wait wait wait." Rin shot up to glare at Makoto. "Are you saying all this is my fault?"

"You did kiss me back," Haru pointed out.

Rin transferred his glare in Haru's direction. "After you kissed me first!"

Haru blinked at him, considered, then spoke again. "Because you came and kissed Makoto first, and Makoto wouldn't tell me what happened."

"That's it. I'm just going to leave, pretend all this was a bad dream." Rin stood. Or tried to: Haru latched onto his wrist and Makoto grabbed his other elbow.

"And then what?" Makoto asked quietly. "You'll never speak to us again?"

"No." Well, maybe a little. "Not permanently. And besides which – look, it's obvious you two have the hots for each other. You are perfect for each other and all that, so just get together, forget this conversation ever happened, and when we're less awkward we can give the whole friendship thing another shot."

"Sit down, Rin," Makoto said, and it wasn't a request. Startled, Rin sat down automatically. "I need you to listen to me without interrupting. It'll be only a moment." Makoto's tone brooked no argument, and Rin just stared at him mutely. "When you left us that first time to go to Australia, that was one thing. Even when I found out you'd been back and met Haru, and neither of you ever mentioned it to me or Nagisa, I let it be, because I figured you both had your reasons and I didn't want to dig into anyone's painful memories. After you came back, Haru wanted to compete again, and I was happy. Because Haru is most himself when he swims, and you brought that back to him. So you can imagine I was a little bit," Makoto enunciated his words carefully, "upset, when Haru was wandering around looking so lost after you told him you weren't going to swim with him anymore. And then we were in the relay together and everything was okay, until you nearly left us. Again."

"What – I was taken off the relay team—"

"Quiet. That nearly left Haru in pieces again and if it hadn't been for Rei, I don't know if I could have handled that. So understand me, Rin, when I say I'm through letting you two handle things yourselves. If whatever is going on between you two affects both of you so much, can hurt you this deeply, it becomes my business. I can count on one hand the number of people I care about in this world as much as I care about you and Haru. Whether as a friend or something more, in whatever capacity, I am going to be a part of this."

"In other words he's not letting you walk away from this," Haru supplied helpfully, and Rin could have smacked that tiny hint of smirk right off Haru's pretty face.

"Just because you never learned to prioritize. You were always the selfish one." Rin groused, but strangely enough, didn't feel as annoyed as he thought he'd be. "You can't have your cake and eat it too. You don't always get to have everything you want."

Makoto smiled, even if it was a little tight around the edges. "Well, Haru's an only child, unlike us."

"I can't, without Makoto. And I need you. To swim."

Makoto just gave him a look that, if he wasn't Makoto, would have said, "I told you so."

Rin closed his eyes with a sigh. There was something stubbornly innocent in Haru he couldn't help find endearing. He'd blamed Haru – the whole relay business, really – for his failures over the years. But in truth, his relay team had been the very thing that allowed him to go on when he thought he couldn't. He owed Haru and Makoto after all they'd done for him, especially when he had unwittingly taken Haru from the water once before. Trust Makoto to figure out how to guilt-trip him successfully. Even if Rin didn't accept the argument wholesale, he couldn't deny Makoto was right about one thing: there was no way to back out.

"I was still the voice of reason in all this," Rin muttered, resigned to going along with them. For the time being. After all, how long could this insanity possibly last? "So exactly what do you plan to do next?"

Makoto's eyes, predictably, was drawn to Haru. "Well, I was willing to wait it out. But I get the feeling neither you nor Haru can."

What? Just because he hadn't gotten laid in a good long while, it didn't mean he would cave just because of pent up frustration. Sure, he'd caved pretty quickly when Haru sat on him and slipped him some tongue, but that was... Rin swallowed at the look Haru fixed him with, and hastily looked back at Makoto. "If he can, I can," he insisted stubbornly, and the corners of Makoto's mouth lifted for a proper smile this time.

"Rin, you specifically said this is a relationship, so—"

Oh, he had not!

"—That means we can take this slow. Start with regular dating and see where we go."

Which...wait a minute. "Did you date before, Makoto?" Rin demanded, the thought of Makoto with somebody else like a sudden hot flash in the back of his skull.

Makoto darted a guilt-ridden look at Haru, by which Rin assumed Haru hadn't been informed. "Um...a little bit." Haru's frown had gained a scary edge. "It wasn't serious! It was just for a couple months, and—" That wasn't a storm in Haru's blue eyes anymore, it was a veritable typhoon. And for once Rin found himself in a wholehearted agreement with Haru. "We broke up. It was ages ago. Really, I can tell you about it later."

"No."

If words could cut, Haru's icy refusal would have. Rin raised an eyebrow and looked to Makoto in a mute question. "Er. Or not. Anyway I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Haru."

"Did you break up because of Haru?" Rin asked, because he might have lost the war, but that didn't mean he had to be graceful about it. Besides which, it was just too much fun to tease Makoto.

Makoto stayed quiet for a suspiciously long time. "I just...didn't feel right about it," Makoto said finally, and Rin held back a sigh, seeing the evasion for what it was. No doubt Haru hadn't missed it, either. But far from feeling guilty, Haru looked pleased.

"Good God. You haven't dated in ever, have you?" The question was addressed to Haru, who turned to regard Rin with a cold look. "And you're planning to jump into a three-way relationship? I don't know if you're brave or stupid. Actually scratch that. You're just insane."

Haru narrowed his eyes. "How many?"

"Ha?"

"How many people did you date?" Haru repeated, eyes resembling slivers of ice now.

Rin sputtered. "That's none of your damn business!"

"In Australia or here?" Haru leaned forward, peering closely at Rin. "Are you dating that kid? The one that follows you around everywhere?"

"Who?" Rin asked blankly. "Oh, Ai."

"'Ai'?" Makoto questioned, mildly enough, but – was that a glint in his eyes?

"Aichirou's my roommate. Damn it, Haru, that's not – we're not dating. And even if I was, that's none of your business."

Makoto gave a discreet cough. "Actually, it's our business now." He turned a bright smile on Rin, and damn it all, this was why Rin didn't want to talk to Makoto: it was impossible to refuse Makoto when he turned on the puppy eyes and the killer smile. "Right?"

After full thirty seconds on the receiving end of the patented Makoto smile, Rin gritted his teeth and conceded. "Fine. Whatever."

"Okay, now that we're all on the same page. D'you guys want to go out today? Together?"

Rin gave Makoto an incredulous look. "Oh my God, you are an evil schemer and I hate you. You planned this."

Makoto gave him an innocent look that Rin was beginning to trust less and less. "Well, it's a Sunday. I figured we could hang out afterward if everything went okay."

"At home?"

Rin gaped at Haru, who looked back at him with a hint of challenge in his gaze. Right. They'd caught Haru jerking off in the bath not an hour ago. And Rin was totally not thinking about the fact Haru lived alone in a nice, big house, and there was just the three of them. There was a spark of heat in the way Haru looked at him, and the memory of the last time he had a determined Haru in his vicinity slammed into his mind and... Rin swallowed dryly and scowled when Haru's lips quirked in a tiny smirk. They broke their gaze at the same time to turn to Makoto, who'd reddened. "Er..." Rin could have sworn Makoto looked tempted for a brief second there. Just a little bit. "I thought you might want to go swimming together, or something like that. For starters."

Haru nodded as soon as the word swimming was mentioned and that, Rin thought wryly, seemed that. He'd rather stick to normal dates, anyway. Just in case – nay, for when things crashed and burned. If he thought that often enough he could probably convince his hormones the same. Probably.

"Fine. Where?"

Rin's question was met with two pairs of eyes fixed on him like they were surprised he hadn't figured out the answer already. "I have the keys to the swimming pool at Iwatobi," Makoto pointed out patiently while Haru gave him a look that questioned his intelligence. "And it's Sunday, so as long as we're careful..."

"Only we ever use it, anyway." Haru was already standing up. "Come on."

Confession time: after first watching the series, I actually didn't think about Makoto/Rin AT ALL until I read Ad_Astra's This Gentle Heart Will Mess You Up and Denial is Not Just a River in Egypt. Well, I found those after "Your Body is a Map of Sin," so you can guess how my mind progresses in terms of pairings. lol Important point is: my affection for Makoto/Rin side of the pairing is entirely thanks to Ad_Astra's delicious stories. For those lovely stories, please visit Archive of Our Own and search for Ad_Astra!