Sorry for the delay, everyone... I can't promise I'll be able to update immediately, too, because I still have a news article to right...

Chapter 3.

"Nii-chan, are you sure it's okay?"

Haru has been asking the same question repeatedly for a few minutes now while staring at the many clothes Rin had bought for him last night while he was asleep. He and Rin had just finished taking a morning bath, and Rin showed him these clothes so he could choose what to wear immediately.

"Yes, I'm absolutely sure," Rin answered for the nth time now. "I went through the trouble last night of buying those for you, that's why rejecting them will make me really sad. So just accept it and say thank you, `kay?" he added.

With that last statement, Haru became unable to reject especially because Rin emphasized what he'd feel if he did. The little boy just nodded, and picked a long-sleeve top and knee-length shorts to wear. Rin also changed into a casual shirt and jeans, since he had a short appointment to attend to at school even though it was weekend.

"Haru," Rin called after preparing breakfast and setting everything on the table. Haru slowly approached, his steps and movements silent even as he climbed up the chair and sat. The white top and blue shorts matched his form, making Rin even more delighted to see him wear them. "Haru, are you okay with this breakfast?"

On the wooden table were their plates and silverwares, a big bowl of rice, and a large serving of fried boneless fish. There was a pitcher of water at the side, and they had a bowl of soup each. Rin was not much of a cook, but having the head of their famiy die early, his mother was the one who continued working to support him and his younger sister. That meant that he was in charge of the house chores, cooking included. But ever since he started living alone, he never really cooked himself food anymore. So this was technically his first time after a year.

Haru looked at the things in front of him. By the blank look on his face, Rin couldn't tell what he was thinking. So it was a relief when he spoke. "Looks delicious, Nii-chan. Thank you for this breakfast... This is mackerel, right?"

"You could tell?" Rin asked, his tone was of amusement, just as he sat down himself. Haru only nodded.

...

Rin took Haru with him to the university. Even though he was afraid it might cause ruckus, he was more afraid to leave the boy behind that will make him worry all day. So Rin held Haru's small hand in his, and didn't let go even as they entered the gate, the main building, the faculty room. When they entered, they caught the room with the curtains drawn up and the windows open so the sunlight could easily welcome itself inside. All desks were full of papers, some were fixed well and some were in absolute disarray. There was only one other professor present, and he was seated behind his own organized desk, silently scribling Xs and checks on his students' papers.

"Morning, Makoto." Rin was the first one to greet his colleague and friend. The green-eyed man looked up, a smile immediately creeping across his face.

"Good morning, too, Rin," he greeted. He only noticed Haru when he stood up. Haru was beside Rin, holding onto Rin's index finger tightly as if he'd drown if he let go. Makoto caught himself restraining a laugh, and apologized immediately when Rin seemed pissed off. Makoto took a couple of steps forward and leaned down, his hands on his knees to support his weight. "Hey there..."

Haru's brows wrinkled down above his nose and he glared deadly, but him shrinking and moving a bit behind Rin said what was really up. Still, Rin only looked down and just let him be. After all, he was just as amused as Makoto was, even though he tried to hide that fact. He simply let his friend do his thing for now.

"What's your name?" Makoto kept asking, and Haru kept shrinking.

Until Rin already let himself smile and speak. "It's okay, tell him."

So Haru stared warily at the six-footer in front of him, which, in his perspective was already a giant. And answered, "Haru," simply.

Tachibana Makoto smiled even wider. "What a cute name. 'Haru'," he said, standing up to turn to Rin. "I didn't know you have a child, Rin."

Rin's smile turned upsidedown the same moment. His red orbs dug into his friend's greenish ones with the intent of making their owner feel discomfort. Even the tiniest bit would do.

"Not biologically, though," Rin said. Somewhere between the lines, Makoto figured he was wrong to ask that. "Haru's with me from now on. I hope it wouldn't be a bother if I bring him to trainings like this once in a while."

"Not at all," Makoto answered with a smile before he leaned down again to speak to the little boy. "I'm Makoto," he introduced himself. "Let's be good friends, okay?"

Haru looked up to Rin to consult him silently about it. Rin smiled calmly, and nodded. So Haru also nodded at Makoto. "Is Makoto kind, too?"

"Yes, don't worry."

The three went to the pool house after that. Rin and Makoto walked side by side, both using one hand to hold on Haru's. The little boy walked in between them, one hand still held onto Rin's index finger while another held onto Makoto's. They kept themselves like that until they reached where the splashes and the noise and the whistles came from. They entered, and were immediately welcomed by the sight of two adjacent large swimming pools which were currently occupied by what the two professors already knew as their swimming team. The pools were drenched with the morning sunlight which entered through the large windows on the wall. The silence that filled the air outside was pushed away by the echoes, the shouting, and the whistles and the sounds of the movements in the water produced. The sight and music were not new to Rin and Makoto; in fact, they knew it so well that they almost can't get it out of their heads. But all of this was new to Haru. Knowing that, Rin looked down, and so did Makoto a second after.

Only to find Haru's sapphire orbs shining with excitement, something Rin had not thought possible for a very stern child like Haru.

Well, not like he knew the boy well already, anyway.

Makoto let go of Haru's hand the moment he detected the boy's excitement. "Do you want to look around?" he asked before turning to Rin to silently seek his approval.

Rin looked at him as he considered it, before looking down at Haru again. "Well Haru, do you?"

Haru looked up abruptly, maybe too abruptly, and nodded once. His eyes still glimmered, pleading, as if he'd explode if Rin won't let him go soon. To this, Rin smiled and said, "I'll show you around, so stay close. I don't want to see you drown, alright?"

Makoto laughed beside him, but stopped when Rin glared. "I didn't know you have that side, Rin! Really, I didn't!"

"Shut up, Makoto," Rin dismissed and turned back to Haru again. "Haru you'll stay close, okay? And don't go near the pool. It's too deep, whether or not you already know how to swim."

Haru nodded again before Rin let him go. Haru almost ran towards the pool, then he stopped a few feet away to watch. When Rin was already sure Haru would stay there, that's when he turned to Makoto, sensing that his friend has been meaning to say something. "So?"

Makoto's smile faded. His easy and calm expression just a while ago lost its ease and turned tensed and serious. "Who's Haru, if he isn't yours?"

Rin grinned. "He's now mine, technically," he kidded to start, before his own grin disappeared. "But... to put it seriously, do you remember Nanase-senpai? Nanase Hana-senpai?"

Makoto's brows wrinkled briefly in confusion before shooting up in realization as his eyes widened. "Don't tell me..?"

"Well yeah, Haru is senpai's son," Rin said anyway. "But really, it was pure coincidence."

"Coincidence?" Makoto asked. "What do you mean?"

So Rin told him what happened the previous day, starting from the moment he first saw Haru, to lunchtime, to early evening. "I did not know that senpai was his mother until I spoke to her on the phone last night," he ended.

...

Meanwhile, Haru who was clueless of the two adults' conversation watched as the swimmers dived in and became one with the water. He has not noticed that someone was already watching him as well, seated on the bench just beside him.

"Yo!" The voice echoed inside Haru's head. He turned, despite not wanting to remove his eyes from the water. A blond-haired guy was sitting there, and was smiling at him. "What's your name little guy? Whatcha doing here?"

"Haru," the boy answered as he pointed at himself with those tiny fingers of him. Then he turned to where Rin and Makoto was. "Rinnii-chan brought me here."

The blond guy followed Haru's gaze. Instantly, his face lit up as if he's also come into realization. He abruptly stood up, and called, "RIN-CHAN! WHY IN THE WORLD DO YOU HAVE A CUTE CHILD WITH YOU!?"

All noise and movements inside the pool house faded into silence and stillness. All eyes turned to one direction, and that was towards the blond. Then they stared at Haru, then at their coach.

Rin, meanwhile, turned quickly with a shocked expression on his face. That shock slowly turned into rage, as Makoto's own surprise turned to amusement. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT NAGISA!? WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?"

"Eh?"

That was all the guy named Nagisa could say before finding hmself being thrown down by the corner of the pool and creating a big splash. Once he steadied himself in the water, he looked up to find Rin above him, eyeing him with eyes sharp as blade.

"Didn't I tell you not to call me that when we're inside the university, Nagisa? I'm still a professor here, I'm still a coach here, and you are still my student."

"Ehhhhh? But we're still friends, aren't we, Rin-ch- I mean... Matsuoka-sensei?"

Haru slowly approached the pool, watching Nagisa carefully even as he held onto Rin's shirt again. "Nii-chan who is he?"

"I'm Nagisa!" Nagisa gladly answered instead. "I'm your Rinnii-chan's friend, you see..."

Makoto also quickly approached him. "You can't be that careless, Nagisa," he said as he attempted to help, but someone else was already there beside Haru who already had his hand held out. It was the hand that Nagisa took.

"Thank you, Mako-chan," Nagisa said once he was on his two feet. "And thank you, Rei-chan," he said to the guy who helped him, a guy with bluish hair and eyes, and was almost the same height as Makoto.

"It's as Makoto-sensei said, Nagisa-kun. You can't be that careless."

"GET BACK TO TRAINING, YOU AMATEURS!" Rin shouted to everyone else about the same moment before he turned to Rei and Nagisa. "That includes you two."

"Okay, okay," Nagisa said. He left for the pool, but not without whispering a few words to Haru's ears. What those words were, only the two of them would know.

...

The training lasted for only two hours or so. When all of those were finally finished, Rin and Haru headed out. They took a cab to, Haru found out later on, the hospital where his mother was. When they entered, white hallways and white lights and people in white were the first to welcome them. The hospital's lobby was filled with noise of murmuring and of doctors and nurses calling out others, but Rin could not ignore how every sound echoed through. There was the cold silence despite the noise, there was the obvious agony floating around the atmosphere. Death and hopelessness lurked around. Despair rested on everyone's shoulders. Sadness was across people's faces, whether they were trying their best to smile or if they've already given up and just let the frow stain their faces. And somewhere at the end of these hallways, sounds of weeping would be heard. Rin was sure he was hearing one at the moment.

Rin's grip on Haru's small hand tightened. The thought of the boy being too familiar and vulnerable against this environment made his body rigid, his chest tight, his breaths arrhythmic. He looked down. Haru did not look even the tiniest bit affected with any of these. Rin wondered if it was because of the boy's innocence...

With that, Rin moved his heavy feet towards the assistance desk. When the nurse there asked him what he needed, he was almost unable to get his voice out. He had to clear his throat. Then he asked, "Where's Nanase Hana's room?"

"Are you a relative, sir?"

"No, I'm an old friend. I'm here with her son, and I believe Nanase-san has been waiting to see him."

The woman leaned down forward, to find Haru there, whose eyes were cast downward. "I see," she said after turning to Rin. "She's in room 104, just through this hallway."

"Thank you."

Rin walked through the hallway ahead with Haru's hand protected by his. He didn't know why but he felt nervous. He felt afraid. He felt cold.

"RinRin?"

Rin instantly froze before he quickly looked down. His eyes were wide, and his brows met above his nose. "What did you just call me!?"

"RinRin," Haru repeated, clueless of Rin's discomfort with the sudden nickname. "Are you all right? Your hand is cold."

Taken aback, Rin was only able to nod. Then the nickname echoed in his head again, causing pretty much every part of his body to stiffen some. "Haru, who gave you the idea to call me that?"

"Well... Nagisa said, 'You'll see his cute side if you call him RinRin'... I don't get him, but at least you're okay now?"

Rin did not know if he was angry at Nagisa or if he was thankful. After his shock faded away, he realized he was amused of Haru calling him like that.

They reached 104. Rin stared at the door in front, before he cuffed the knob with his free hand. That hand stayed there for a few seconds, before he actually got to convince himself to just twist it and open the door. Click. Creak.

Inside, Nanase Hana was lying on the hospital bed, unmoving, only staring at the ceiling above her. She was attached to wires, to dextrose hoses, and many other hospital contraptions. At the sound of the door creaking open, she turned her head sideward just as slowly. She watched as Rin stepped inside. Her eyes widened with relief at seeing him, and at seeing Haru, and at seeing Haru's hand protected by Rin's. She smiled. Then tears started to stream down her temples to her ears, and to her pillow.

"Haru..."

Nanase Hana's hand slowly reached out, in hopes that she could also touch her son's hand again just as how Rin was doing it now. With a smile, Rin offered the small hand he held to her, and let go as she took it.

Nanase Hana kissed that hand dearly, before carefully pulling Haru close to an embrace, and before kissing his cheek, and before being kissed on the cheek.

"I'm sorry Haru..."

"Senpai," Rin called Nanase Hana's attention, afraid that the mother and child might become a crying mess if this depressing atmosphere continued to surround them. So he made himself a distraction. "How are you doing?"

"I'm much better now than yesterday, for sure," Nanase Hana answered with a lighthearted laugh before she let go of Haru's hand and wiped the tears that stained her face. "Thank you for asking, Matsuoka-kun." It was the first time Rin actually got to see her clearly, and really, she was not at all the same.

Despite having a blanket to cover her, Nanase Hana's body was still obviously thin. Her skin, instead of being a light shade of brown or something alike, was pale all over and bluish-violet almost everywhere. Rin thought that she must have been suffering of internal bleeding for a while now, and her organs were probably damaged beyond repair already. "You didn't undergo chemotherapy, did you, senpai?" Rin asked.

To this, Nanase Hana shook her head. "I've always been too weak for that, even though I could say I used to be a good athlete," she said. "We could've gone for bone marrow transplant, but no one's compatible. As for stem cell therapy, well, I don't have healthy tissues to use anymore. And it's too risky to use other tissues."

Rin nodded, not knowing how else to reply. He paid a glance at Haru, who was just beside his mother, silent, but obviously delighted to be simply being right there. Then Rin spoke again, "So... what's up with Haru's father?"

Nanase Hana's lips curved the slightest bit downward. Her eyes landed on her son, considering him and his presence. Then she said, "Haru, do you want to go to the doctor's office for a moment? You haven't visited him yet... I'm sure he misses you."

Haru immediately stood up from the stool he sat on a moment ago. "I'll go to him and thank him for taking care of Okaa-san," he said before running off out the room.

When he was finally gone, the other two began to talk, Nanase Hana taking the lead. "He understands those kinds of things," she said.

"What 'kinds of things'?" Rin asked. "That he had to be somewhere else while we speak?"

Nanase Hana nodded. "Anyway, about Haru's father..."

"Right."

And so Nanase Hana began telling the story.

"I just graduated college when I met him. I didn't know he already had a family, and he never really intended to let me know. I loved him, and I thought he really loved me back... but I figured out in the end that he was just playing with me. When I told him I was pregnant, he disappeared the day after. I only found out about his whereabouts and his family when a friend found out and told me."

Nanase Hana shifted slowly and stared at the ceiling. A sad smile tainted her face, and tears stained the corners of her eyes. Rin, meanwhile, sat on another stool an listened to her with focus, his hands balled into solid fists he wanted to punch the bastard that was SUPPOSED TO BE Haru's father with.

"I did not want him to have Haru, but my condition worsened just this week," Nanase Hana continued. "I don't have a family to give Haru to anymore... I don't have anyone to trust him to after I die."

"Don't speak like that, senpai," Rin interrupted but the other only shook her head slowly.

"But the doctor said I might die anytime now. I could feel it, too. I'm just waiting for it to happen. That's why I contacted Haru's father because I thought he'd care enough for his own child, if not for me. But looks like it's not like that after all."

"Don't worry, senpai. I'll take care of Haru," Rin said.

"Thank you, Matsuoka-kun," Nanase Hana replied. "But I wanted to ask, why?"

Rin's face burned pink, as he moved uncomfortably in his seat and he scratched the back of his head. A sheepish smile was across his face, and his eyes were directed downward. "Well... you see... I think he cast a spell on me when he looked at me in the eye yesterday..." Then he laughed awkwardly. "I just thought I... I wanted to take care of someone who kept telling me he likes me."

Nanase Hana laughed softly. "I know what you feel, Matsuoka-kun. Well then, if that's the case, I have some documents prepared for you to sign."

To be continued...