Archive of Our Own ^beta

'Hey, Sunarin! Photo?' The blond twin called across the lawn, waving the polaroid camera he spent hours at the store picking out. It was the most boring day of his life, standing next to the twin like an idiot listening to him ramble about colors and patterns. If it were up to him, he'd just use his phone, his photography skills were near perfection with all the fights the Miyas got into.

His parents waved him off, absorbed in conversation with some other adults and comparing pictures.

Halfway there, a hand tugged on his sleeve. Surprised, he looked to his left, a classmate of his still had his arm extended, 'Suna-kun, can we talk a little in private?'

Shiokawa, unlike Osamu's admirer from earlier, was looking straight at him, expression determined, but his fiddling with his blazer button gave everything away.

Rintarou's mouth gaped open, 'I-I'm sorry.' Quickly he turned away, taking purposeful strides towards the waiting twins.

What is wrong with you, Suna Rintarou? Osamu's given his away already, it won't do you any good to keep thinking about him. The least you could have done was heard him out, you didn't have to-

The middle blocker shook his head, cutting off the voice berating him relentlessly.

'Oya, even Sunarin's popular, can't say I'm surprised,' Atsumu smirked, and added 'I still have more fans though' as an afterthought.

'I'm going to break your stupid camera if you don't shut it.'

The blonde squawked, hugging it close to his chest.

Osamu held out his hand for it, 'I'll take the picture.'

Suspiciously, his twin handed it over, 'Don't drop it.'

SNAP! Rintarou barely had time to register before the polaroid was deposited in the silver-haired boy's hand, his surprised face slowly appearing on the white background.

'Perfect,' Osamu tucked it into his gakuran pocket.

'What!? I look ridiculous, gimme that!'

'Ya never look ridiculous, I will treasure this forever.'

'Don't be ridiculous, throw it away!' Rintarou was reduced to a blushing mess at the matter-of-fact tone and his serious face, trying to hide his red cheeks while snatching at the photo.

Atsumu held him back, pinning his arms to his sides, 'Now now, Sunarin, is it that bad for 'Samu to want a single picture of ya? Ya have millions of ours on yer phone.'

'I do, and I will send that picture of you drooling on Kita-san's shoulder from our first year to everyone in school if you don't let me go, Miya Atsumu.' He suddenly stumbled forwards, arms flailing, as his captor immediately stepped away with a very betrayed gasp of 'you wouldn't'.

Osamu caught him, keeping him from face-planting onto the hard ground.

Silence ensued.

Rintarou's face grew a darker scarlet with every passing millisecond, his heart beating several hundred times per minute.

The grey-haired twin set him down, backing away awkwardly and staring straight down at the ground. The blonde twin did not know how to read the atmosphere at all and said, 'Wow, Sunarin, yer-'

'SHUT UP!'

Osamu threw his hands up in surrender when Rintarou turned on him practically growling, 'Okay, okay, I'll give it to ya.' He slowly took it out of his pocket. 'On one condition.'

The brunet froze mid-swipe, 'What.'

'Go on a walk with me.'

'We just did this morning.'

'Another one then.'

'Fine.'

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Osamu giving his brother a glare, while Atsumu gave him thumbs up and a stupid smile. They're planning something.

The two boys made their way to the school courtyard, the scene was rather romantic to be truthful. Rintarou took in the sakura trees lining the sides, the swirling flowers collecting in piles at the foot of the trees, all over the grass, on the benches, in Osamu's hair.

They came to a stop and hesitantly turned towards each other surrounded by the petals.

'I wasn't lyin', ya know, about ya never looking ridiculous.' Osamu held out the photo, the image of Rintarou's crossed eyes and stupid taken-aback expression already clear on its surface, 'Here, I did promise ya this.'

The brunet made a face at it and snatched it back with a thank you and an embarrased huff, 'You don't just say stuff like that.'

His fingers brushed against something cool, smooth and very much not polaroid-y. Turning the photo over, he saw the glint of a familiar trinket. One that had been on his mind for far too long.

A shiny silver gakuran button.

Rintarou picked it up by the slim chain looped through the back, blinking blankly at it.

Osamu waited.

Rintarou stared.

Osamu waited some more.

'Please say somethin',' The grey-haired twin fiddled with his fingers anxiously, pink reaching even the tip of his ears. 'I know this is sudden, and we're graduating, but I've really liked you for some time now, since that night after our second year's Spring Interhigh. Ya don't like needless touching but ya still gave me a hug when I couldn't sleep and listened to me talk for ages. Ya looked so beautiful under the moonlight too, and when ya smiled, like one of those genuine ones- I'm rambling, I should probably have planned this out more, right, should probably stop now.'

When his hopeful, quivering smile was faced with silence, he just sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat, 'I see, just get the rejection over with.'

After a heartbeat's pause, Rintarou flung his arms around Osamu's neck, holding him tight.

'I thought you already gave it away, you asshole.'

Osamu froze, then slowly brought his hands up to rest on Rintarou's back, soft smile returning once more. 'So ya'll go out with me?'

A muffled 'yes' came from his shoulder along with a loud sniff.

'Sunarin, are ya crying? Hey, Sunarin. Rin.'

'No.'

'Please don't cry.'

'You don't get to say anything, you're the one who made me think you liked someone else.'

'I'm sorry.'

'I expect an amazing first date as an apology.'

Both had shining eyes and a new button each, Rintarou's hanging around his neck, Osamu's clenched in his fist, when they got back to Atsumu.

'Geez, finally!' The blonde stuck his tongue out at them, 'Just watching you two for the past year was exhausting, actually, make that a year and a half of your internal pining.'

Ignoring his whines, Rintarou grabbed his polaroid camera, turned it around, smiled, and pressed the shutter. New photo in hand, he flicked it up and down, waiting for the pigment to show. He turned pointedly away from Atsumu, looking at the near identical face of his twin instead.

He frowned at the developed picture, 'Crap, my eyeliner's all smudged. Guess you'll have to wait for that picture until I can clean it up.' He held the two dissatisfactory polaroids up, pouting ever so slightly.

'I'll take both, racoon eyes, silly faces and all.' Osamu plucked them out of his grip, 'Like I said, ya never look ridiculous to me.' Rintarou blushed and whacked his arm lightly.

'Get a room! I'm puking my guts out here.'

The brunet held out the camera with two precarious fingers and let go, 'Whoops.'

It fell twenty centimeters into Osamu's waiting palm, who captured Atsumu's face mid-yell on film. The two cackled like maniacs, drowning out the other twin's passionate declarations of hatred.

The next month was the best month Rintarou had ever had, and was the first of many equally amazing ones. But of course, school and work had to come and ruin things.

Rintarou had missed Tokyo since he moved three years ago, the bustling sounds of the city familiar and comforting. One thing about Hyogo he never got used to was the eerie silence at times, the complete lack of cars honking at ungodly hours, trains rushing past every five minutes, pop music playing from the nearest stores, the occasional drunken laughter from alleyways.

Being the broke high school graduates they were, the two each opted for the respective school- and team-provided dormitories.

'Hiya, Rin, how ya doin' over there far far away in the other side of Tokyo City?'

'Don't be dramatic, Samu, it's barely an hour's train ride away. How was class today?'

Osamu launched into an detailed description of his entire timetable, complete with animated gestures and a bright smile. Rintarou, knowing only the bare minimum about food, was content to just stare shamelessly at his face all day. He was allowed to anyways, now that they were officially boyfriends.

'Rin, hey, Rin, Rintarou, I know I'm pretty and everythin', but please stop gaping at me.'

'Shaddup,' He screwed his face up at the camera, 'I have to make the best of these video call sessions.'

'You look tired, have you eaten yet?'

'I split a sandwich with Shiota-san.'

'That's it?'

'Two grape jelly packets after practice.'

'What did I tell ya?'

'To eat, which I did.'

'No, I toldja jelly isn't a proper meal.'

'You said chuupets weren't a proper meal, not jelly packets.'

'They're the same thing!'

'They're different shapes, one is a square, one is a stick.'

'They're both jelly.'

'Different textures.'

'They are the same, Rin, now go get something else to eat, cook ramen or something. You're eating right here in front of me, then you're going to sleep.'

'But-'

'I see ya yawning, we can talk more tomorrow.' Osamu smiled fondly at the pout on Rintarou's face.

'No, I wanna talk now.'

'Rin.'

'Noooooooooo.'

'I swear, yer worse than Tsumu now.'

'You did not just compare me to your idiotic twin brother. Take that back!'

'Fine, Tsumu is a hundred times worse. Now stop whining and go eat, or I will personally break into yer dorm and force feed you.'

'Okay.'

'Rintarou.'

'I miss you.'

'Yer so cute when yer tired. Why were ya never this adorable back in Inarizaki?'

'Coach never made us play two-on-two practice games for all of training.'

With Osamu's promise to stay on the call until he fell asleep, Rintarou unwillingly forced his sore muscles to get up from the thin mattress. He yelped when his foot hit the metal bedpost.

Washio was in the shared kitchen, tapping away on his phone while leaning on the counter next to the microwave. 'Hey, Suna.'

'Hey.'

'Hi!' A cheerful voice came from Rintarou's own phone, he turned it around so Osamu could see the other middle blocker. 'Washio-kun, what would you recommend Suna-san here eat for dinner? He so rudely ignored my request to have three complete meals a day.' His grumbled complaint fell on deaf ears when Washio opened the near-empty fridge.

'Must be nice to have a boyfriend.' The spiky-haired male commented as he stared wistfully at the heart-warming scene of Osamu screaming instructions through speakerphone and Rintarou shuffling around trying to carry them out.

'I'm the one doing the actual cooking here.'

'SUNARIN, FOCUS! The ramen has to be cooked for exactly one minute and fifty seconds,' He stared intensely at the stopwatch he had magically conjured out of his sleeve, counting down the seconds and breaking everyone's eardrums when it rang.

'It's the thought that counts.'

'Yeah, Rintarou. Listen to yer teammate.' Osamu sang, 'I'll cook fer ya when I come visit during the weekend!'

'You had better.'

True to his word, when Rintarou stumbled out of the gym after saturday morning practice, Osamu was there waiting with a grin and carefully wrapped bento boxes.

'Rin, ya look dead on yer feet.'

Usually half-closed eyes were drooping even further as he fell forward into his boyfriend's embrace, a mumbled 'Thanks' barely heard.

The trip back to the nearby EJP dorms was made in comfortable silence, their hands entwined tightly as both lugged duffel bags down the streets and up stairs.

Rintarou fought off the fatigue and turned his head, a dreamy smile growing as he saw Osamu look around at bustling restaurants and stalls with sparkling eyes. 'Yer taking us out to for dinner tonight, I don't know where the best food around here is.'

'You eat everything, why does it matter where we eat?' He gave in not ten seconds after, when the younger Miya activated his puppy eyes, wide and hopeful. He was too tired to even think about resisting.

Even just three weeks of culinary school had done Osamu good, as Rintarou collapsed onto his bed, a beautifully arranged lunchbox was set in front of him, tantalizing scent making his mouth water. Each mouthful was bursting with flavour, and the box was empty in record time.

'Well? It was good, right?'

'Amazing,' Not bothering to get up, Rintarou held his arms out. With a chuckle, Samu moved his head out of the way to sit on the bed. The brunet immediately shifted so that he was using his boyfriend's lap as a pillow, arms wrapping around his waist. Warm fingers threaded through fluffy brown hair, another hand rested on his shoulder. He leaned down to press a kiss to his temple.

Captain Waya had always had the worst timing, choosing that exact moment to barge into the room.

His eyes grew wide as saucers, he slammed the door shut again. Ten seconds passed, a hesitant knock sounded, 'Can I come in?'

Rintarou didn't move. Osamu poked his cheek. He still didn't move. He let out a whine when Osamu pushed him off to get up and let the poor man in.

'Hi, nice to meet you, uh-'

'Miya Osamu.'

'Nice to meet you, Miya-san. Suna, Coach-'

'DON'T OPEN THE DOOR, CAPTAIN! SUNA HAS A GUEST! CAPTAAIINN~' Washio's scream made all three of them jump, Waya, who was already flustered and red, looked ready to faint. 'Oh, you already did. Hello, Osamu-kun.' He breathed loudly out of his nose, leaning heavily on the wall. Osamu waved.

'Sh-shall I continue?' The spiky-haired male nodded at the platinum-blond-haired captain and setter apologetically, 'Suna-kun, Coach announced another team bonding karaoke for everyone living in dorms. I'll tell him you're uh... busy, if you want to stay here today?'

Rintarou flopped back onto the bed, groaning. 'Yes, thank you Captain, I love you.' An offended cough had him adding 'platonically' to his sentence. Coach had an unhealthy obsession with teamwork and bonding, and his favorite way to make everyone get along is to have twenty athletes embarrass themselves in front of each other by singing (read: screeching) old classics. What made it even worse was his favorite victims were the ones living in the dormitories, also known as him and a few others.

'Rin, ya should go, I wanna meet yer teammates. Nuh-uh, no buts! Listen to yer coach's orders.'

'You want to spend the one day we actually get to see each other locked in a stuffy room with bad music?'

'Yup.'

'Can't you just watch one of the many videos I took of them?'

'Nope, gotta experience it in real life.'

'Remind me to move out of dorms the moment I get my paycheck, will you, Washio-san?'

Two months later, Rintarou was leading his soon-to-be roommate towards an old-looking but well-kept apartment building. The walls were recently repainted with a nice French grey, the balconies overlooked a reasonably busy street.

Having his hands over his eyes, Osamu nearly tripped over his own feet going up the few steps and through the lobby door. He proceeded to complain good-naturedly about having to make the flat a surprise when he already knew what it was.

Wordlessly, Rintarou gave him a little shove, and he staggered into the elevator wall. 'Geez, Rin, yer a professional athlete now, ya can't just go around pushing out-of-shape people around.'

'Out-of-shape my ass. It's just been three months since you were on the volleyball team, and I know for a fact you still work out.'

Before Osamu could reply, he was shoved out of the sliding doors and down a corridor. The telltale clank of keys and the lock turning, and his hands were removed from their blindfold position.

A sparsely decorated apartment whose rent was within Rintarou's pay grade plus the little he had saved up from summer jobs over the years. A couch and coffee table took up most of the living room, a television was mounted on the wall. The kitchen, which was his main concern, was around the same size, with an open counter dividing it from the rest of the apartment. Two doors led to the bathroom and bedroom.

'Rin! Look at ya all grown up, ya have your very own piece of property now!'

'It's a tiny rented flat, and it's yours too since you'll be living with me.'

He was already bustling towards the kitchen. 'I'm just the free-loader, don't expect me to contribute much, or at all. Except maybe with food, chuupets aren't food.'

He paused for a moment, turning back at him, hands flat on the kitchen counter with a sly grin. 'Moving in together already, are we? We've only been dating for three months! How scandalous~'

'Oh, shut up. We can just be roommates then.'

'Nooooooo, Riiiiiiin. I'm soryyyyyyyy.'

Rintarou announced his desire to take a nap, and headed towards the bedroom that was not big enough for the two futons currently residing in it. The mattresses were curled up at the sides where they touched the walls. A forced gap between them barely fit the small drawer with a few picture frames on it.

He didn't mind, it made for a nice bed-room, literally. Especially when he managed to unpack their plushie collection from days and days at the arcade. Part of them actually belonged to Atsumu, but he didn't have to know.

A sharp prod woke him up from his blissful dreamless slumber. He whined, burrowing deeper into his blanket.

The prodding persisted. 'Rin, hey, Rin.'

Rintarou cracked open an eye, Osamu was standing there with his arms crossed and had an indignant look in his eyes.

'What is it?'

'Rintarou, why, may I ask, are there two separate futons here?'

'Cause there're two people living here? Seriously, you woke me up for this?' He rolled over, face in his pillow.

'This room was clearly designed for just one, which means ya brought in the other.'

'Yeah, like I said, two people, two beds.' Osamu didn't reply, Rintarou wondered if his voice was too muffled to be comprehended. He chose to ignore the thumping and creaking going on next to him, until the entire world shifted.

He screamed, flailing around and nearly falling onto the ground. 'What the hell? Samu!'

'Move over.' A warm body climbed onto the bed next to him,

'We're two grown men, Samu, we can't fit on a single futon.'

'Mmhmm.'

'Did you seriously drag out the other one?'

'Mmhmm.'

'You made a big fuss about the beds just so you can hug me?'

'Mmhmm.'

'You're a real drama queen you know.'

'Mmhmm.'

'What did you do to the table then?'

'Mmhmm.'

Smack.

'In the corner. Ya framed yer polaroids, thought ya hated them.'

Smack.

'Stop hitting me. Can't I want to spend more time with my lovely boyfriend?'

Exasperated, Rintarou shifted to press a light kiss to his boyfriend's cheek, a perfect recreation of that third framed photo of their first date. Osamu turned his head and captured his lips full on. The two fell asleep cuddled together.

When Rintarou opened his eyes and sat up later that day, he was right at the very edge of the futon, leg hanging off and touching the floorboards. The other side of the bed was empty. The smell of cooking fish wafted from the slightly ajar door along with a sizzling sound. He groggily stood up and staggered outside.

'Morning, Rin! It's 7 in the evening. Want some food?'

'Yes! Bring out the food!'

Rintarou looked towards the sofa on the left and found a very unwelcome guest lounging around like he owned the place. Rintarou kicked his feet off the coffee table.

'What the hell are you doing here?'

'Samu invited me.' He looked unreasonably pleased with himself.

Rintarou sighed, then he sighed some more. He flopped onto the small couch, collapsing right on top of the uninvited Miya twin who pushed him off onto the floor.

Osamu laid out dishes of vegetables, bonito fish, tofu and bowls of white rice on the kitchen counter, and Atsumu was up in an instant. Rintarou followed after, his stomach screeching for Osamu's cooking. Good food was totally not a major reason why he wanted to get an apartment as early as possible, nope, definitely not, he just wanted more time with his boyfriend.

'So, Sunarin, somebody has been texting me and complaining about you ignoring them, want to say anything about that? I quote, "Rinrin's forsaken me, he's run off to his fancy adult life and left me to suffer."' Atsumu's imitation of the high feminine voice sounded like a dying , he leaned back and laid a hand on his forehead, eyes fluttering, nearly falling off his bar stool as a result.

'Ayato is a complete idiot, and I will not agree to letting her come, like I said, multiple times, in the same phone call, over the course of multiple phone calls.'

'And she understands that. So, we came prepared.' The blonde pulled out a tablet, complete with external microphone and wide-angle lens. He fiddled around with it, pulling up a video call, and soon Suna Ayato's thirteen-year-old face was shown grinning from ear to ear.

'Baka nii-chan! You're a big meanie.'

'You. Have. School. You can't come.'

'Don't be silly, it's the weekend, nobody goes to school on weekends.'

'You can't take the train here and back in a weekend and still have time for school work.'

'Course I can, you just don't want your li'l sister around now that you're all big and fancy and playing professional volleyball.'

'Ayato. No, you can't ditch your soccer practice if you want to make the starting lineup.'

'Oh come on, Sunarin, let her visit!' Atsumu chimed in.

With a withering glare at the two, Rintarou proceeded to tuck into his supper, savoring every bite of wonderful goodness. He could see Ayato's longing eyes and drooling mouth, and it only made the meal all the more enjoyable.

He took care to make a big show out of eating the egg rolls.

'Rintarou, is that you? How are you doing in Tokyo? Are you settling in well? How's your new apartment?' Rintarou's father poked his head into the screen, hugging a basket of dirty laundry that had Ayato leaning away with her hands pressing down her fluffy all-over-the-place hair and holding her nose. Rintarou found that funny, seeing as the shirt on top was her own jersey.

'Great.' The male gave lazy thumbs-ups at the camera.

The twins both scrambled to say hello, years of proper manners drilled into their brains by Mama Miya not forgotten. Soon, Mama Suna was on the call too, smiling her warm smile at her son's friends and giving them a stern look. The Sunas were no strangers to how boisterous the two could be.

'So you're visiting Rintarou huh? Make sure he's feeding himself will you, dearies?'

'Don't worry, Suna-san, I'll cook him breakfast, lunch and dinner, and make sure he eats every last crumb.' Rintarou shied away from the dangerous glint in his eye.

'Oh Osamu-kun, you're such a nice boy, but you couldn't possibly have the time to do all that! Don't trouble yourself on Rintarou's account, we wish you luck with school!'

'No no no, it's completely fine, I plan on cooking everyday anyways, I'll just force Rin to bring a lunchbox out before he leaves the apartment.'

Suna-san sucked in a gasp of air, realization dawning in her eyes, 'Rintarou! You never mentioned Osamu was your roommate! We could've brought over some decorations and threw a housewarming party.'

'It's fine, mom, no big deal. It's not like Samu is some stranger or anything.'

'Do you even know what housewarming parties are for?'

'Wasting money and time.'

'Rin.' 'Rintarou!'

'What?'

'Now now boys, be nice to each other. Don't forget we'll be visiting next next Tuesday on your day off, Rintarou! Yato has to finish her homework now. Take care!'

Ayato's protests were cut short by the 'blip' signifying the connection's termination.

'Funny how just months ago they were completely against my career decisions.'

No one replied, much to Rintarou's confusion.

'Rin.'

Osamu's voice was low, serious, wary, very much unlike his usual tone. It made Rintarou uneasy. 'Yeah?'

'Ya never told yer parents about us, us living together, us being a couple.'

'Yes.' Rintarou's own voice now matched his, quiet and cautious.

'Why? Why not? Do ya not want us to be together? Are ya... ashamed of us? Of me?'

'WHAT? NO!' Rintarou exploded into a gaping mess, gesturing wildly and very un-Rintarou-ly, when the complete utter hurt in his boyfriend's words registered.

'Not cool, Sunarin, not cool.' Atsumu chimed in. Both heads turned, both surprisingly surprised at the extra person in the room. 'I... should probably leave.' For once in his life, he knew how to read the room, the older twin got up and inched towards the door awkwardly, two pairs of eyes tracking his every move.

'Samu, call me later, okay?' The door closed with a click.

'Rin-'

'Let me explain!' Rintarou blurted out. 'Please, Osamu.'

A slow nod.

'I'm sorry I tried to hide our relationship, there should be no excuse, but it's just, my parents... they aren't that, accepting, they're old-fashioned. They don't even try to hide their discomfort when they see two men together, on television, on book covers, in the streets, they call it unnatural, disgusting. I- I don't know how they'll react, and I'm not sure I want to know.'

Water dripped onto the hands Rintarou had clasped tightly on his lap, he looked down only to realize he could barely make out their shapes for the tears swimming in his eyes.

He hiccuped softly, 'I'm sorry, Samu, I'm sorry!'

Strong arms wrapped around his shaking shoulders, pressing him to a warm chest. 'No, Rin, I'm the one who should be sorry, I shouldn't have overreacted. It's okay, please don't cry.'

Rintarou sniffled, 'I'm telling them when they visit next week. You deserve the title of boyfriend with my parents.' He gave a teary grin.

'Thanks Rin.' Osamu whispered into the brown hair tickling his nose, holding him tighter. He was lucky, his own parents were ecstatic when they realized there was an obvious lack of a button on his gakuran. Even immediately insisting Rintarou have supper with them even more than the usual thrice a week, and showering him with as much love as they do the twins, maybe even more. The two original Miyas were little assholes after all.

The two boys sat side by side on the sofa, warmth and dimming light surrounding them as they held on to each other. And like that, they fell asleep.

Loud knocking and calls of 'Rintarou!' jolted him from his sleep at 10 am on Tuesday. He rubbed at his eyes as he made his way to the door, wondering who the heck was disturbing his long-awaited practice-free morning and wanting a steaming mug of coffee to properly wake himself up.

A peek through the peephole erased any trace of that in a millisecond. Nearly screeching out loud, he scrambled to unlatch the door.

'Okaasan! Otousan! Hi, sorry, come in, I couldn't hear you!' Rintarou ushered them into the flat, trying to simultaneously turn the lock, rub the sleep out of his eyes and show them to the sofa, while continuing with his rambling.

His father smiled, 'It's perfectly alright, Rintarou, you're working hard.'

'We were really worried about your career choices, but turns out you're doing fine.' His mother looked rather pleased as she inspected the living room plus kitchen. 'Not bad for your first paycheck. Easier with Osamu-kun paying half of the rent, eh?'

'Nope, all me. But he did say he was in charge of groceries and food in general. He left breakfast in the fridge if you want some.'

Osamu had shaken him awake a few hours earlier, given him a quick kiss, told him about some sort of new recipe he had cooked up, then left, leaving Rintarou to fall asleep again in seconds.

'How sweet of him, such a nice boy when he's not arguing with his brother.' She wasn't unjustified in her half-criticism, many a vase and plate had been broken by their untimely brawls.

Rintarou nearly dropped the tray when his hazy mind suddenly remembered, triggered by his parents' mention of his boyfriend.

'Careful, Rintarou.'

He carried the food over, attempted to clear up part of the stacks of papers littering the coffee table with his foot, only to have his mom cluck disprovingly and reach over to help, and set down three bowls of cold udon. He sat down on the floor, legs tucked neatly under him, and fidgeted throughout the quick meal.

'You're not wearing your makeup things today, that's good, did you finally grow out of that weird phase of yours?'

He smiled weakly back at them.

Silence reigned once more.

His heart was pumping, an erratic drumbeat pounding in his ears. He twisted his fingers underneath the table anxiously, a deft motion had his knuckles crackling loudly.

'Eh, Rintarou, don't crack your knuckles, it's bad for your fingers.'

'Yes, Okaasan.'

'How's your training going?'

'It's tiring, but really fun I guess.' He shifted uncomfortably, finding his barely-touched bowl very interesting. The topping was his favorite, kamaboko, but the normally inviting pink swirls appeared unappetizing.

His parents made small talk, asking about different aspects of his adult life. Rintarou could only offer curt responses as he tried to calm his racing heart.

Deep breath. In. Out.

Rintarou looked up, mouth set in a determined line.

'Hey-'

The seats in front of him were empty. 'Kaasan?'

The bathroom door was wide open 'Don't mind us, we're just looking around. Is the apartment big enough for the both of you?'

'Yeah- No, don't go in-' His father pushed past the second door leading to the bedroom.

It was a completely normal bedroom, albeit a bit small. One wall was covered with volleyball posters, as expected from avid volleyball nerds and slightly less avid volleyball nerds, another was pinned full of recipes and photos of food.

A large calendar hung stood on the windowsill, the current date circled in red, training schedules and classes were scribbled on in green and purple. A pile of colorful stuffed toys sat in a corner along with a bright red beanbag chair. Two stacks of sci-fi books sat in the middle of the cramped mess.

Nothing incriminating at all, except for the fact that there was only one futon. In a flat meant for two six-feet-tall males.

The brunet had jumped to his feet to stop his parents, but to no avail. Both were already staring silently at the room in front of them.

'Rintarou. The place only has one bedroom right?'

'Yes.'

'Does Osamu-kun sleep on the couch?'

The other hesitated. His mind raced. Fear welled up.

'Rintarou?'

Now was as good a time as any, he decided. He tried to quell his racing pulse, attempted to put on a defiant expressions and opened his mouth.

'No.'

'Then-'

'We're dating.'

Four eyes blinked at him, one pair bespectacled, the other near identical to his own, albeit without the black eyeliner.

'Nice joke, dear. But really.' His mother smiled kindly.

'I'm not joking, he's my boyfriend.'

'No he's not, you're both boys.' That smile was unwavering.

'I fail to see how that's a valid reason to not date.'

'Don't be silly- Hmm?' She turned when her husband gently touched her shoulder and handed her a picture frame.

A very familiar one.

One that was among the three sitting on the bedside table.

Her smile slipped.

'Give me that.' Time seemed to slow as the photo slipped through her fingers. His athlete instincts had him lunging for it.

The sharp corner hit his hand, splitting skin, and he snatched his hand back. The fragile glass bounced off and hit the floorboards with a clink, followed by a spattering of crystal shards.

By the time Rintarou returned his gaze to his parents, his mother had disappeared again, her footsteps echoing from the hallway beyond the front door.

His father's face was impassive, blank.

'Otousan?'

He too turned and left the apartment. 'Don't call me that.'

The door clicked shut a second time.

Rintarou said nothing, he felt... nothing, numb. He knew his hand was bleeding, scarlet red dripping down his fingers, he couldn't bring himself to care, staring at the shattered picture frame, cracks splintering over the smiling faces in the photo.

He sat with his legs tucked up, not feeling the passing of time. He sat with his arms wrapped around himself, not feeling the pain in his palm. He sat with his back leaning on the wall, not feeling that growing emptiness inside him. He sat with silent tears running down his face, not feeling them at all.

The door opened.

'Rin? Are ya here? The door's not locked and yer not answering yer tex- Rin!'

Rintarou raised his head at the sudden noise. 'Samu.'

Osamu rushed to the other's side, immediately engulfing him in a hug. 'It's okay, Rin, it's okay.'

'It's okay, I'm okay,' He repeated to himself, voice croaky and disbelieving. Fresh warm tears found their way down his face again, washing away the dried tear tracks. 'Eek, I've been crying so much lately, it's pathetic. I'll be fine in a bit.' He raised a hand to rub them away when he heard a sharp intake of breath from his boyfriend, who caught his hand halfway.

'Yer bleeding.' There was an underlying current of rage in his voice. Others would say it sounded just like how he normally did, bored, lazy, accent thick as ever, but Rintarou could hear it, he could hear that tremor, that gritted teeth, loud and clear.

He blinked at the words. 'Hmm?' He shifted his gaze upwards, his hand was coated in scarlet. 'Oh. That's on me.' He hiccuped. 'Shouldn't have tried to catch a falling picture frame.'

The black-haired Miya tensed, visibly trying to reign in his anger with a long exhale, and huffed, half-still furious, half-worried. 'Ya should take care of yerself better. Come on.' He heaved the other up and deposited the male onto soft, fluffy blankets. 'Keep yer hand off the sheets, I'll go grab the bandages.'

'I can do it mysel-'

'Nuh-uh, stay put.'

Rintarou's wound had started throbbing the moment he remembered it, he hissed through his teeth, wincing at the sharp pain. Training the next day was going to be torture, not to mention that sure-to-be one-hour long lecture from coach. He let his mind wander, bringing him further and further from that morning's events.

Osamu returned with a whole bucket of water in addition to most of the contents of their small first aid kit. Muttering under his breath, he squinted at the instructions on the bottle of alcohol.

'Isn't that a bit too much... I can just run it under the tap or something.'

'Nonsense,' He tutted, while twisting the towel dry and motionijg for his hand, gingerly holding it and trying to remove the flaking blood without scrubbing too hard. Rintarou nearly jerked his hand back when the cloth hit open wound.

'Are ya okay, Rin?' He suddenly asked.

''Course I am, you're helping me with the bandages.'

'Rin.'

'Yeah.'

'Ya don't have to tell me everything if ya don't want to. But...' He tightened his grip ever so slightly as he wound the white cloth around the now-clean but still tense palm.

'Not really.' Rintarou smiled sadly, staring at a crack in the paint on the far wall. What could he say? His mom had just left without a word? His dad refused to be his dad anymore? Did this count as being disowned?

Neither said anything for a while, Osamu focusing on his work.

'Well, I'm done.' He broke the silence, sounding jarringly loud.

'Thanks...' The brunet studied his hand for a second. 'I'll just, grab a broom and clean things up.'

Osamu caught the hem of his shirt, 'I'll do it later. Right now, ya need another hug. C'mere.'

He opened his arms wide and Rintarou fell into them. Tears came streaming down his face again at the warm gesture.

'...'

'I'm sorry, Rin.'

'Not your fault.'

'Do I have to sucker punch someone for ya? I got plenty of practice.'

'Samu.'

'Sorry.'

'...'

'Rin. Hey, Rin? Ya asleep?'

Osamu blinked down at his boyfriend, who was clinging onto his shirt with his eyes closed, mouth gaping and snoring quietly. He chuckled softly. Supper could wait, along with everything else.