Chapter Text
“Haru! HARU!!” a voice blared over the phone.
Haruka held the cell phone away from his ear, flinching at the sudden influx of sound. He sighed, hearing the commotion behind Makoto’s voice.
“Makoto. Calm down. Gou going into labor isn’t the end of the world.” Rin came down the stairs, resting his head lightly on Haru’s shoulder. “What’s going on?” He mouthed. Haru waved him away, shushing him. Rin nudged his head against Haru’s shoulder more persistently.
The blue-eyed man sighed, holding the phone away from his ear, Makoto still screaming on the other end. “Gou’s going into labor.”
Rin blinked. Once. Twice. And then realization hit him like a tidal wave. “SERIOUSLY?!? I THOUGHT HER DUE DATE WASN’T FOR ANOTHER THREE WEEKS! GIVE ME THE PHONE!” Haru held the device away from Rin, trying to play an absurd-looking game of keep-away with the taller man. “Haru! Give me the phone!” “No. You’re just going to panic with him or worse, start crying.”
“I don’t cry that easily!”
“Yes you do.”
“No I don’t!”
“Yes you do.”
“No I-Haru! Just give me the phone!” Rin gave Haruka his best and most adorable puppy dog eyes. Haru looked away, blowing his fringe out of his eyes. After a pause, he said, “Fine. But if you make Makoto cry I’m taking it back.” Rin grabbed the phone and held it to his ear. “Makoto? You there?”
“RIIIIIN! Gou’s going into labor!!” Makoto wailed. “What do I do?!?! HELP ME!” English turned to Japanese in Makoto’s anxiety. Haru walked away, tying his apron on his waist and picking up his favorite non-stick pan, waiting for the high-stress conversation to be over. He could hear Rin trying (vainly) to inject calm into his panic-stricken voice. It seemed like it was working to soothe Makoto though, as Haru could no longer hear him through the receiver. Even so, frying a little mackerel always helped soothe Haru’s nerves, the familiar process of cooking and scaling the fish easing him into a state of mindlessness.
He had just set the plate down at the table and said a quiet, “Itadakimasu.” when Rin walked in, panting but seemingly happy. He leaned against the doorframe and groaned teasingly.
“Really? Mackerel again?”
“Shut up. How’s Makoto?”
“Oh, he’s fine.” Haru looked up suspiciously at the nonchalant answer. His blue eyes flashed in question.
The redhead grinned his enormous, sharky grin and answered, “We’re going to America.” Haru stared at his husband. “No.” “Oh come on, Haru. Don’t you want to see Makoto?” Haru remained silent, instead opting to glare at Rin, eyes blazing.
“Haruuuu. Come on. It will only be for two weeks and Makoto and Gou really need the support! Gou needs you!” Rin was pushing Haru’s buttons. He knew that Haru loved his sister and pampered her to no end; probably because of his lack of siblings. There was a long silence; Rin staring confidently at Haru and Haru staring back grumpily. Finally, he sighed, sitting back in his chair.
“Two weeks. That’s it. Just enough time to help Makoto and Gou adjust.”
Rin kissed his husband on the cheek. “Thanks, babe.” He turned to exit the kitchen. “Oh, did I mention that Nagisa and Rei were coming, too?”
Haru put down the bite of mackerel he’d just been about to eat and stared at Rin’s receding back. When he was sure that his husband wasn’t watching, he stretched back, rolled his neck, and allowed a small smile to cross his face. Little did he know that behind the partition between the kitchen and the hallway, Rin was listening.
“Reunited again, huh? Sounds good to me.” Haru muttered to the air.
Rin leaned against the wall. “Sounds good to me, too.”
Haru came out of the airport bathroom, looking to anyone who’d known him for long enough as pissed as he could possibly be. “That is the last time you drag me on a twenty hour flight, Rin.”
Rin laughed. “That’s the same thing you said when I dragged you to Australia all those years ago, Haru.” he said, mirroring Haru’s defensive stance. He nuzzled his husband’s neck. “And look what happened because of that.” The annoyance melted away at the memories of that trip.
Haru kissed the top of Rin’s head, looking at Yuzumi and Sakura buying snacks at a vending machine. They were squabbling about something, as usual, but Haru couldn’t help but feel his insides melt at the sight of his children. He felt Rin’s gaze on him and turned to face his husband, who was looking at him with a goofy grin on his face. Haru frowned to cover the unwanted smile he felt coming on and turned away, looking at his watch.
“What time does Nagisa and Rei’s flight land, again?”
“12:00 a.m.”
Haru frowned at his wrist. “It’s 12:15. Where are they?”
Rin chuckled. “Relax, babe. Flights can be late.”
Just then, Haru turned his head to see a blond head bobbing through the thick crowd. “I think I found them.” he muttered, bracing himself for the nuclear bomb that was Hazuki Nagisa.
The blond head began to move faster. “Haru- chan? HARU-CHAN!” A ball of fast- moving yellow slammed into Haru, knocking him into the ground.
“Nagisa!” Haru panted, switching to Japanese. “You’re worse than Yuzumi.”
“Nagisa! Don’t slam into Haruka- senpai like that!” Rei came running after Nagisa, breathing hard and ruffled. Haru smirked a bit. “You can drop the ‘senpai’, Rei.” He was ignored.
“Awwwww Rei! Let me have a little fun!”
“You’re thirty-two! You can’t do this kind of thing anymore!”
“Awwwww Rei-chan…!” Their squabbling continued on and on, Yuzumi and Sakura looking on with wide eyes.
Finally, Rin split the two up, laughing so hard Haru thought his face would split open. “Ok, ok! We get it! You guys haven’t changed at all since we were teenagers.”
Rei looked endearingly at Nagisa and ruffled his hair, the diamond in his wedding ring glittering under the dim airport light.
After the two newcomers had been introduced to Sakura and Yuzumi, Rei, Rin, and Haru sat down at a table outside a small airport café. Nagisa had hit it off with the children immediately (Yuzumi especially) and was now giving them piggybacks around the food court while making airplane noises.
The three men watched, laughing at the antics of the children and Nagisa.
Rin turned to Rei. “So? Makoto and Gou have a kid now. When’s it your turn?”
Rei blushed a deep red. “Well…with me getting a PhD in astrophysics and Nagisa running the swim club, it’s been a little busy. We haven’t had time.” His face softened as he looked at his husband. “Someday. I know Nagisa really loves them.”
“Something tells me they’d love him.” Rin said. Haru blew his bangs out of his eyes, a mischievous twinkle making the blue even brighter. “Well obviously, Rin. Kura-kun and Yu-chan might like him even more than they like you.” “Hey…” Rin grumbled. They were interrupted by Rei throwing his head back and letting out the loudest laugh they’d ever heard from him. “Well, if Nagisa and I haven’t changed, I certainly can’t say the same for you two.”
Rin leaned forward interestedly, squabble forgotten. “What do you mean?”
“Well, for one, Haruka- senpai laughs and smiles a lot more. And he cares about his kids a lot.” Rin chuckled. “I told you that you were a momma bear.” “Shut up.”
“And Rin” Rei continued, “…actually, you haven’t changed much.” Rin looked disappointed before Haru leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Oh well.” Haru muttered softly.
Rei glanced between the two of them before shaking his head lightly. “And that…that definitely didn’t surprise any of us.” Rin and Haru looked up in unison. “You knew?”
Rei snorted. “It honestly wasn’t that hard to guess. Your efforts at hiding your relationship were completely fruitless,” he said, straightening his glasses and looking rather proud of himself.
Rin chuckled. “Well, we were pretty stupid about the whole thing.”
“The only reason we were caught is because you couldn’t keep your mouth shut.” Haru said.
“I was drunk! It slipped!”
“Did you really have to let it slip in front of Nagisa, of all people?” Rin grumbled a response, knowing he’d been beaten. Haru changed the subject with a little side smirk of victory.
“Rei. Have you been taking proper care of the pool.” Rin rolled his eyes and felt the need to smack his face down onto the table. Of course Haru would care about the pool.
“Of course, Haruka senpai. I would never dream of soiling our memories there.”
“Drop the senpai.”
“What Haru-chan means to say is thank you, Rei.” A green-eyed angel materialized behind Haru, clasping his shoulder and making his eyes widen in surprise.
A chorus of voices accompanied Makoto’s arrival at the table. Nagisa almost dropped Yuzumi in order to go tackle him in a bear hug (Haru’s eyes blazed at the blatant disregard for the safety of his baby) and Rin looked like he was about to cry (again). Makoto made the circle complete, and Haruka and Rin were transported back to times when their family of friends wasn’t hemispheres apart, when they could simply walk to each other’s houses and offer a cup of tea and the comfort of familiarity. Makoto and Haru exchanged glances, reading each other’s minds as usual. They smiled at each other, for Haru a (relatively) big, genuine smile that made his friends tear up and laugh and hug him until he felt like he was suffocating.
It was fantastic.
“Mako-ojisan!!” Yuzumi scrambled up behind the adults, struggling to get a hug from her beloved uncle while Sakura walked up and shyly hugged Makoto.
“How are my two favorite godchildren? Does anyone want chocolate?” he asked, green eyes gleaming.
“Can I have it, Oto-chan?” Haru nodded slightly, the green light for Yuzumi to snatch the chocolate and quickly stuff it into her face, which gained her a look of disapproval from Haru.
Yu-chan bounced on top of Mako, stuffing her face with chocolate and loudly asking him to give her a piggy-back ride (which, of course, Makoto did).
“Oto…chan?” Rei asked, looking bemused.
Haru merely sighed while Rin talked for him. “She picked it up from Makoto. He always calls Haru,”—Haruka’s mouth wrinkled in distaste in anticipation for the hated addition to his name—“Haru-chan.”
Makoto chuckled while Haru glared at him. “Sorry, sorry. But it’s honestly kind of cute.”
The others nodded in agreement. Just at that moment, Makoto’s cell phone rang. He answered, Yuzumi in his arms.
“Hello? Ah, Gou. Yes. Yes they’re all here. About twenty minutes. Yes I’ll hurry. Love you.”
He looked up and smiled. “Well, duty calls. Let's go.”