Updated immediately coz I can't stop myself! HAHAHA! please enjoy this next chapter...

Chapter 2.

All the way home, an amused grin refused to leave Rin's face. It was glued on him, just like how Haruka's hand never let go of his shirt even as they entered the apartment.

"We're here, Haruka," Rin said as he closed the door. Then he took off his shoes and wore his slippers, which reminded him, "I don't have slippers your size."

Haruka took off Rin's jacket from his back and hung it on his short arm as he took his backpack and opened it, searching through the things inside. Then he brought out a pair of small blue slippers that could cover half of the feet from the toes.

"I brought mine in case I needed them," Haruka said, holding it out to Rin, showing it with a tad hint of pride in his deep blue eyes. Rin, for a while, could not do anything but stare in sheer amusement and surprise. A bubbling laugh escaped the redhead's lips as he returned little Haruka's stare with his own rubies.

"Really now. That's adorable, Haruka," he said as he reached out to ruffle the boy's hair that he realized was very, very smooth. But Haruka frowned, his cheeks tainted pink, as he said, "I don't want to be adorable, Nii-san."

Rin only laughed at it. Even though Haruka said that, there's nothing that can keep Rin from seeing him that way. In the course of one day, Rin has already grown to like the child. If permitted by the mother, he was planning to take care of Haruka for a long time. He suddenly wanted to.

Having reminded with that, Rin stood up and took his phone from his pocket. "Haruka, do you know how to use a phone?"

Little Haruka stared up, brows meeting on top of his nose the tiniest bit to show annoyance. He took a small folded piece of paper out of his jacket's front pocket, and gave it to Rin. Rin unfolded it. Inside, the hospital's name and address was written feebly on top of its landline number.

Rin sighed, looking at the paper, then at Haruka, and back. He quickly dialled the number. "Haruka, I think it's better if the people in the hospital, especially your mother, hear your voice first. Do the doctors there know you?" he said before pushing the call button.

Haruka nodded before taking the phone when it was offered to him. He put the phone against one small ear, and in just a moment a voice came from the other line.

"Iwatobi Hospital, how may I help you?"

Rin saw a split-second panic in the little boy's face. But Haruka was able to answer immediately.

"Can I talk to Okaa-san?"

There was a quick pause on the other line, probably when the attendant realized he was speaking to a child. "Okay. What's her name?"

"Nanase Hana," Haruka quickly answered with excitement obvious in his voice. "Please tell her it's Haru."

Rin was quite surprised to hear Haruka's mother's name. Nanase Hana. Rin knew someone with the same name when he was still in middle school. He referred to her as Nanase-senpai, a senior high school student, and an idolized female swimmer Rin looked up to. He and Hana were not that close, but they knew each other and actually got to enjoy one another's company a few times during merged practices. But the woman this morning did not look like the Nanase-senpai he knew. The one he knew was beautiful and cheerful; she had long silky dark hair and bright chocolate orbs. She had healthy and smooth-looking skin. Her body was perfect...

The woman he saw a while ago was almost the complete opposite with her pale face and weak movements and skinny form.

Was that what sickness can do?

"Okaa-san?"

Rin was able to escape his drowning thoughts before Haruka got to speak with his mother. Though it was probably improper at any circumstance, he found himself listening to whatever he may hear.

"I'm fine, Okaa-san," Haruka spoke gently, probably so the cracking in his voice would not be too obvious. Rin wondered if the boy really knew that. "Father did not come, Okaa-san..."

Rin did no hear much from the other line, but Haruka's responses said it all.

"Please don't worry. I'm safe... Someone from the big school was very kind and he... No, Okaa-san. I was the one who asked him to take me... He's a good person... I just know he is. He even said that he can't take me if we would not contact you... Okay."

Haruka held out the phone for Rin to take, saying, "Okaa-san wants to speak to you, Nii-san." Of course Rin took it.

"Hello? This is Matsuoka Rin speaking."

There was silence on the other line for a few seconds before came a weak voice. "Really? M-Matsuoka... As in... the swimmer... Matsuoka-kun?"

Both probably could not believe that they weren't speaking to strangers after all.

"Nanase-senpai..." Rin started, "is that you?"

"Matsuoka-kun," Haruka's mother mumbled again, this time with obvious relief. "So it was you after all... Who knew." There was a soft laughter on the other line.

"Nanase-senpai..."

"Thank goodness it wasn't a stranger who my Haru found after all... I'm at ease now. I'm sorry for the trouble, but please... can you take care of... him... for now?" Nanase Hana's voice faded to a stop, a pause, before she spoke again while Rin intently listened to her softly-released words. "I don't know why his father did not come. He said he would but... Can I trust you more to take care of him instead? Please? I'm... dying, Matsuoka-kun. No one else... will take care... of my poor Haru."

The plea was desperate. But even if it wasn't, Rin was planning to ask Haruka's mother about it anyway. Now he didn't have to.

"Don't worry senpai. I'll take care of him. We'll just visit you from time to time." Nanase Hana said her thanks. "But senpai, if it's okay, may I ask..."

"What my illness is?" Nanase Hana finished. "Fourth stage leukemia. The doctors said it was already hopeless." Fear was not evident as she answered. She sounded prepared; she sounded as if she was ready to die. But beneath her tone, Rin could also hear her anxiety of leaving her child alone. "If you want to... know more, I'll... I'll let Haru tell you everything. It was terrible that I... I had to open his eyes to... a sad reality at a young age but... I did it so he'd understand why we have to be like this."

FEvery word made sense somehow, but at the same time Rin thought of how horrible for things to be in such a way. He still affirmed and reassured Nanase Hana that everything was fine, before giving the phone to little Haruka who spoke of meeting again soon. The boy did not want the call to end, but his mother probably insisted so, and hung up. A pained expression crossed the boy's face for a second before turning blank again when he thanked Rin and gave him back the phone.

This situation Rin was in, every part of it wrecked his heart.

"I don't know how to call this but... I think you're lucky that I know your mother after all," he said with a desperate attempt to lighten up the aura surrounding them. He went to sit on the long couch, patting the space beside him to invite Haruka to sit there.

Haruka climbed up. He put his backpack beside him, making sure he did it right and it would stay put and would not fall. It was after that when he intently looked up at Rin, focusing on him with a blank stare, confusing Rin for a moment.

"What?" he asked. The stare the little boy was giving him made him uncomfortable, but nonetheless he still found himself unable to break their eye contact. "What?" he repeated, this time more uneasily.

"Thank you... for being so kind, Nii-san." The soft words echoed through the silent room. "Okaa-san is your friend, right?"

"Right," Rin answered calmly but his eyes were still wary.

"That means... I can stay with Nii-san, right?"

All of Rin's discomfort suddenly disappeared as another series of laughter came out of his lips. "Come here," he managed to utter. He enveloped young Haruka's shoulders with his arms and pulled him closer. Even though the two were still technically strangers, it felt nice when Rin felt a small warm body pressed against his. Haruka felt the same way, finding himself comfortable with the warmth against his back.

Rin's laughter faded into a smile as he patted the boy's head and let his hand stay there. "Why do you want to stay with me, Haru?"

Haruka flinched, and Rin noticed it. "Oh wait, could it be that you don't want me to call you that?"

"That's not it," Haruka answered, bowing his head even more. "I like Rinnii-chan because Rinnii-chan is kind... But..." Haruka looked up. And before Rin could realize, two small hands were already on his cheeks, one on each, near his eyes. Haruka was kneeling on the couch so he could reach up like that. "...Nii-chan you're sad, aren't you? Your eyes look sad. Kind people should not be sad. That's why I wanted to stay with you."

Rin instantly froze. There it was again, that jumpy feeling in his chest that somewhat suffocated him, yet, strangely, tickled him somewhere. It felt a bit painful at one point, as he felt his chest constrict again, but it also felt light and comforting. Haruka was a good boy, Rin thought. He was mature and understanding, and kinder than how Rin could ever be. Such innocence and pure heart, Rin was jealous of it all. But he was thankful, too. Because this innocent, pure-hearted boy named Haruka liked him. No one has ever said kind things to Rin like that. No one has ever cared for his loneliness his entire life. Why must it be a five-year-old boy who'd see through him and ask him that?

"If you say so, Haru," Rin dismissed just as he decided to call the boy with that nickname from now on. Haru did not seem to mind; he even called Rin back with something cuter. Rin removed the small hands on his cheeks and patted their owner's head once again. "Do you have a change of clothes by the way?"

"One," Haruka answered while staring at his bag. "Because Father did not come to take me."

"You won't need him anymore." Rin stood up. "You can change clothes in the bedroom if you want to, Haru. I'll check what I can cook for dinner."

Rin and Haruka had dinner together. After that, Rin asked the boy to sleep in his bed, which, though reluctantly, Haruka accepted. "I can sleep here?" he had asked as if it was a strange thing. But Rin had just nodded. "But Nii-chan, where will you sleep?"

"Do you want me to sleep beside you?" Rin grinned when Haruka did not know how to answer. "Look, Haru. You need to sleep comfortably since you're still a little boy. Besides, you probably got so tired standing by the university gate for hours." Haruka nodded.

Rin saw to it that the boy will fall asleep comfortably, and when Haruka has fallen into slumber, Rin carefully went out to buy clothes for him. Thick ones, most especially. He returned not long after, placing the shopping bags on the center table in the living room for now so when Haruka wakes up, he'd see them immediately. When Rin was already going to sleep, he first checked how Haruka was doing. He had planned to sleep on the couch, but the sight he saw changed that plan. He noticed that Haruka was shaking, and, crying. He curled and unconsciously held tight on the blanket. His face was stained with tears that reflected the little light that entered the dim room, and his eyes were tight shut etched with fear and sadness.

Rin moved as if he was dictated by his instincts. He went to the bed and lied down beside Haruka, enveloping the said boy in his arms and pulling him close to a protective embrace. He drew the boy's head close to his chest, supporting it with one hand as the other caged the boy's trembling body.

The trembling calmed somewhat, although the sobbing became more and more audible as moments passed by, until eventually they became mere hiccups. Rin was caught in surprise when a small trembling voice resonated into his ears.

"Rinnii-chan?"

Haruka had waken up. Rin untightened his arms against the boy as he looked down and met a drowsy, tear-stained pair of eyes.

"Did I wake you up?" Rin asked, instinctively wiping Haruka's cold cheeks with his thumb. "You were having a nightmare, weren't you?"

Rin's thumb stayed there on Haruka's right cheek. The boy did not answer, even as tears started flowing down his cheeks again and he began sobbing again. Haruka only nuzzled against Rin's shirt. He hid his face there and grabbed on it tightly. So Rin just embraced him again, protectively, as if the boy's actions were the invitation. Both fell into a peaceful slumber after that, warm and free of fearful nightmares.

...

When Rin opened his eyes th next morning, it was because of his sleep being disrupted by the frequent movements of Haruka's head against his chest. Despite already almost dug into it, Haruka still kept on burying his face deep, even in his sleep. Rin had to restrain himself from laughing, because otherwise he'd wake the boy up. So, since it was weekend anyway, he decided to just let the boy do what he was doing. Both of his arms were caging the boy, but one hand travelled to the boy's hair to stroke it gently. It was unintentional, but that seemed to wake Haruka up anyway.

"Good morning," Rin mumbled softy once he noticed that Haruka was already aware of his hair being stroked. Rin continued doing so. "I hope you slept well?"

He looked down at the boy, catching him nod. Haruka's face looked refreshed after a peaceful sleep, despite his eyes being the tiniest bit swollen. There was still drowsiness obvious all over that face, but he did not seem to mind waking up now, either.

"Nii-chan?" Haruka suddenly mumbled, to which Rin hummed. "Your body's warm."

Rin released his voice, finally, laughing softly after trying so hard to suppress it. Haruka never failed to amuse him. "I can say for sure that you like that."

Haruka honestly nodded. Rin took note that every action he saw was pure and innocent. Which made the boy even more adorable. "Nii-chan, will we... always sleep and wake up like this?"

Can't get any more adorable, really.

To be continued...