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When it comes to Haru, Rin's expectations are usually low. Not because Haru is boring, far from it; but after all the years he's known his boyfriend, Rin likes to boast about the almost perfect understanding he has of him, and he knows Haru isn't one to go over the top. In fact, Haru's energy is reserved for swimming only, the rest is second fiddle—except for his friends and Rin himself, of course.
But once in a blue moon—Rin likes to believe it is due to an odd, swift current in the water—Haru manages to surprise him in more ways than one.
And Rin never sees it coming.
“Why are you choosing our costumes?”
“What's better than being completely surprised, Rin-chan? It will be fun! And it challenges my creative mind.”
Rin’s shoulders slump. He can't argue with Nagisa's logic; apart from never getting him anywhere, it's also because of this very small soft spot he has for Nagisa—which actually everyone has—but he will never admit, unless he wants to endure one whole day of Nagisa's teasing, leaving him the same color as his hair.
Haru is sitting silently beside him, seemingly uninterested in the subject, if the lack of reaction is anything to go by. His cerulean eyes are stuck on their aquarium, and Rin wonders if he's jealous of the fish. He isn't going to ask, he can only inwardly thank Haru for his oh so useful collaboration in the conversation.
“My creativity is already flowing! Yes, yes, yes! I'll have the best costumes for you and Haru-chan ready by tomorrow morning!”
“That's good,” Rin says, relieved considering the party starts the same day but at midnight. They'll have plenty of time to make changes to the outfits if they're not satisfied with them, or Haru has his sudden moments of inspiration and gives last-minute add-ons. That reminds him of an old wood decoration on their apartment floor with delicate carvings forming a biblically accurate angel with six wings. That wasn't there before, Haru just woke up one night and got to work.
“Just you wait! I will blow your minds so much you will be thanking me on your knees!” And with that dramatism, Nagisa trots out of the house, leaving the door open.
Rin sighs as he stands up from his place on the sofa to close the door, and it is then when he notices Haru finally moving an inch.
“Oh hey, I thought you had frozen over.”
Raising an eyebrow, Haru looks up at Rin and apparently opts for his unblinking stare to speak for itself. If there was anything running around in Haru's brain before, Rin is too amused to figure it out now.
“You could have said something to Nagisa, you know?”
“Like what?” Haru asks, standing up too to head to the kitchen to prepare a nice dessert for both, which is what they had planned once Nagisa left. Rin follows him, smiling at how Haru moves to the side to give him room.
“I don't know,” Rin starts, taking apples and oranges from the fridge and handing them to Haru, who grabs them without even looking. “Maybe you could have reminded him you don't want him finding us playboy outfits or something?”
Haru rolls his eyes as he chops the fruit with his favorite japanese knife in quick motions and throws the pieces into a red bowl. Rin has the same ability with a knife, but Haru curves his hand like an ocean wave and resembles a michelin chef, hypnotic in the best way possible and Rin loves to watch him. “He's not going to find us something like that, Rin.”
“Haruu,” Rin drawls with a playful grin and cuts some bananas to add to the bowl. “We're talking about Nagisa here, he would totally do it.”
“Then,” Haru pauses to pick a piece of apple and feed it to Rin, making Rin grin while he bites it. “You'll have to wear it if that's what he brings.”
Rin's eyes narrow, grabbing the fruit bowl with a movement fast enough to prevent Haru from taking it himself.
“You fucking wish,” he mumbles to later return to their living room. He manages to hear Haru's chuckle from the kitchen and although it should rile him up, it instead serves to grow a soothing feeling in his stomach.
After sitting back down on the sofa, Rin places the fruit bowl on the coffee table and smiles when Haru sits beside him, using the opportunity to make himself more comfortable and rest his legs on Haru's lap. Haru grumbles but doesn't push him away.
“However,” Rin suddenly says with a teasing tone at the same time Haru chooses a piece of orange and puts it in his mouth. “I wouldn't mind seeing you in a playboy outfit.”
It takes a second for Haru to start coughing due to the juice of the orange, or Rin's words, Rin can't tell. He hopes it is his fault to marvel at the result, though.
“Not in a million years, Rin.”
“You sure?” Rin leans into Haru's personal space, letting out a chortle when Haru flinches away. “You would look adorable with a bunny tail.”
“Never.”
“Oh, of course. But I have to wear one, right?”
Haru shrugs. “I prefer you suffering the humiliation for the both of us.”
Gaping at the audacity, Rin cackles and gives Haru's shoulder a playful shove before tackling him onto the sofa, without a thought of mercy going through his head. Indignant but joyous laughter and unsuccessful attempts to stop the tickling attack fill their apartment floor, and Rin bets whatever he owns that they'll receive complaints from their neighbors later.
The next morning at six o'clock, before his alarm goes off, Rin is woken up by the incessant sound of the doorbell. It's a soft tune with piano notes that was gifted to him and Haru by a special designer and puts other chimes to shame, but now it's turning into the most annoying thing in his day.
“Ugh, why?! This is torture,” Rin groans, putting his pillow over his head.
“Don't complain,” Haru yawns next to him on the bed—since when is he awake? “That's exactly what you used to do when we lived separately.”
“Well, good thing I grew up and matured.”
“It was two months ago, Rin.”
Rin shushes Haru before standing up from the bed and heading to the front door, mentally planning hundreds of ways to take revenge on Nagisa during the short walk there, including in the moment he opens the door.
“When you said tomorrow morning, I didn't expect it to be this early.”
Nagisa, who stands outside carrying a large sports bag on his shoulder, smiles wider than what he already was. “Oh, come on, Rin-chan! I know you're an early riser!”
“We're supposed to be tapering. How is this helping?”
“Heh heh, just like this!”
With an evil giggle, Nagisa drops the sports bag and opens it to reveal several Halloween outfits, starting to rummage through them. Rin isn't surprised that apparently Nagisa promised not just them, but also the rest of the group to find them something to wear. It is like Nagisa to bite more than he can chew but still pull it off somehow. With a fond shake of the head, Rin tries to figure out what the other costumes represent, but they're too folded to be successful. He will know at the party.
“The earlier I get these to you, the more you can rest until training! It's simple logic, Rin-chan.” Nagisa says as he hands Rin two—rather colorful—costumes. Rin's curiosity piques in an instant.
“Thanks, Nagisa. We owe you one.”
“No need! You'll make it up to me by wearing them! The first one is yours!”
“What are they?” Haru asks as he appears behind the corner, making Rin turn to see him and smile at Haru's responding small wave to the enthusiastic one of Nagisa.
“I have no idea, but I recognize our colors,” Rin replies, throwing the second of the costumes to Haru—who catches it with no problem—so he can unfold his.
Once spread out—and in need of some ironing, Rin realizes—it's unmistakingly a jester costume, complete with a red and blue jacket, tight shorts and a white tank top, and there's a hairband sticking out of a pocket too. It's almost sexy, thankfully not to playboy standards, but definitely something he has never imagined himself wearing—He will, though.
And then he sees the suit in Haru's hand: It's all purple except for a green vest and tie, and if he's not mistaken, there's a bag with make-up inside the vest pocket. It's rather comical how vivid he feels a lightbulb turn on above his head.
“Wait,” Rin starts, unable to swallow a chuckle. “You want us to be The Joker and Harley Quinn?”
“Yes!” Nagisa raises his arms in triumph and Rin has never seen him so proud of himself, which is saying a lot. “They're the perfect couples costumes for you both! Don't you think?!”
Rin is blinking now, because what reason exactly makes these outfits perfect for them? He's not going to ask. “But Haru is too serious to be The Joker,” he says instead.
“Oi…” Haru mumbles, furrowing his brow and everything.
Rin lets out another laugh, nearly ignoring his own self-restraint to grab Haru's cheeks and kiss him. But neither of them like PDA, always preferring to be intimate and/or use pet names in private. “Don't pout, you know it's true.”
Haru doesn't reply and clutches onto the suit. It's not like Rin is against the idea of Haru wearing it, or make-up for that matter, but it's impossible for him to picture a Joker without any exaggerated expressions, unending laughter and/or a constant need to make people miserable with obscene pranks.
“It's just a costume, Rin-chan. Haru-chan only has to look good in it!”
Once again, Nagisa's logic is sound, especially when his grin stretches even wider. It would be embarrassing to try to fight him; besides, and this Rin acknowledges, they have that one thing covered: Haru will look splendid in a Joker outfit.
He looks good in everything, his romantic mind provides.
After Nagisa leaves and Rin decides to iron the costumes right away, taking out their sakura-themed ironing board in the living room, Haru stays close on the sofa and observes him from top to bottom in a way that isn't sensual in the slightest. His stare is so intense Rin starts fidgeting, and he thinks the air grows thick, but it's not the fault of the iron.
“Haru, you're gawking…”
Haru remains the same, unblinking and silent. Rin recognizes that look whenever Haru is deep in thought and it has something to do with himself, and any attempts at making Haru admit it are futile. In these kinds of situations, Haru speaks louder with actions than with words, and his insistence for secrecy and sudden decision to leave him alone in the living room tell Rin to be careful.
Mere minutes after their daily training and stepping into their home, Haru puts on his costume and throws Rin's his way, ready and willing to leave immediately to Nagisa's house for the party. But they have one hour to get ready, and Rin doesn't mind taking his time.
Watching Haru paint his face in front of the mirror is an awe-inspiring distraction.
Tracing such a perfect green line from his eyebrow to below his eye with a single stroke of the pencil can only be achieved by a skillful hand like Haru's. The way he fills in the gaps, barely moving his wrist for the bristles to leave just tiny traces of color until the clown triangles have no spot uncovered. It's breathtaking.
Rin still insists The Joker doesn't fit Haru, however.
“You're being a drag,” Haru says as he cleans the pencil and dips it in red paint next.
Rin rolls his eyes, finishing the braid Haru started on his hair. “It's not like you've tried to prove me wrong.”
Haru still doesn't and instead paints the brightest red smile on his skin, from one cheek to the other with a curve at each end, before filling in with more red and nearly dying his teeth. The inexpressiveness of his eyes and the lack of a real grin make the make-up appear not just funny, but incredibly nerve-racking. Maybe it's a combination Haru can pull off, and Rin sighs at the admission.
“Alright, message received.”
Haru simply hums, and it is not the reaction Rin expects. Haru is just as, if not more, competitive than Rin. Rin giving in should increase Haru's ego and start his new habit—that may have rubbed off on him from Rin—of forcing a round of teasing remarks nonstop, not just hum.
“Rin, stop thinking so loud and let's go,” Haru interrupts Rin's thoughts and opens the door, tapping his foot on the floor.
Rin groans. This time what should rile him up, does rile him up.
“Ahh! You're wearing them! You guys look so, so, so amazing!” Nagisa, dressed in a robot costume—more specifically Rosie from The Jetsons—shrieks with infectious enthusiasm and wastes no time to embrace both Rin and Haru like his life depends on it, and Rin will never understand how Nagisa manages to stretch out his arms enough for such a feat.
“I can die happy now,” Nagisa adds, using a feminine robot voice and shaking his shoulders in a manner that the antennas glued to the sides of a headband move up and down. Rin is impressed.
“I mean, we never said we wouldn't wear them. Right, Haru?” Rin pauses for any kind of reply from Haru, but when he turns he realizes Haru is already walking towards the living room, where their friends must be waiting.
Of course. They haven't seen the rest of the group in a while since training has kept them both busy. In fact, instead of feeling offended, Rin follows after Haru, excited to see the outfits that Nagisa chose. He's not disappointed.
Makoto and Sousuke are matching with doctor coats, but the difference is too palpable. Makoto looks angelical with a veterinarian outfit, caressing a furry friend on his lap that keeps purring, while Sousuke looks out of a scary movie with a plague doctor one. How the cat doesn't run away with that creepy mask next to him, Rin will never know.
Rei is wearing a butterfly outfit with stunning wings that move depending on Rei's position, but Rin still has to hold back a laugh. Not necessarily because of the outfit itself; Rei's face on the other hand? Priceless.
Ai and Momo seem to be the heroes to his and Haru's villain costumes. The idea of Momo wearing a Robin outfit isn't as far-fetched, but Ai as Batman? It's ridiculous in the funniest way Rin can imagine.
“Who wants to play a game?!” Nagisa asks into a megaphone once the greetings are done, as if on cue. Everyone except for Haru flinches at the noise.
In fact, what Haru does next, so suddenly and so out of this world, Rin will never be able to unsee.
“If it's a game we're playing, I expect something funny or sinister, or both. A combination may be the best, or else it's safe to say it'll be boring and nonsensical,” Haru says, surprisingly so—Rin has never heard him talk so much in one go—with his head tilted to the side and using a voice so rough it doesn't sound like his own, and a smirk so wide and dangerous and so uncharacteristic of him. Even the flail of his hand as he speaks seems more flexible, mocking, flamboyant; As if Haru is presently in the water and letting himself relax, letting himself go, letting himself change. As if The Joker himself has taken control of his body.
Rin is having trouble believing it's Haru at all.
“Ooh! I approve of such a game, Haru-chan!” Nagisa exclaims with applause, looking unaffected by Haru's attitude, and now Rin doesn't know what astounds him more.
“Wait, that's all? Haru just said that!”
“I heard him, Rin-chan!”
“No, that's not what I meant! I meant that—”
“What's the matter, Rin? I'm excited to know what you mean,” Haru interrupts, his voice reaching a higher, teasing pitch this time and his blue eyes stare into his soul, making Rin believe that Haru will devour him with his gaze. And that's not all: Haru doesn't stay in place, he approaches Rin in quick, short steps and puts a finger below his chin before Rin can even think of flinching. It's not soft or romantic, it's demanding, dominant, forcing his head up. Rin is rendered speechless, and it's apparently what Haru seeks if his new smirk is any indication.
“You've gotten silent, was it something I said? Or—” Haru pauses, taking Rin's hand in his and pulling him closer by the waist with the other. Rin is about to pass out on the spot. “Well, I'm not going to say ‘cat got your tongue’ because—”
And with a gulp, Rin bites his own tongue as Haru moves close to his ear and whispers: “—your tongue is mine to ravish.”
If Rin was shocked before, now he's frozen solid, but still feeling a growing fire burning his body from the inside out. He hears Makoto give a shriek of surprise, but he's too fixated on Haru and his shit-eating grin and his hand sliding from the bottom of Rin's stomach all the way up to his collar, unashamed, unafraid.
“I like you more when you talk, my love.”
And that's what does it. Rin starts coughing as if he'd choked on food and unending steam comes out of his ears. He's never burned up this much, and he has lived quite a lot already. He can't help but pinch himself in case he's asleep and is dreaming about something he didn't know he wished for. His own wince tells him he's awake and as he finally feels his legs, he takes a few steps back, but it seems to amuse Haru and nothing else.
“H-Haru,” Rin finds his voice in a stammer and staggers purely out of nervousness when Haru starts softly pushing him backwards, forcing him to walk with no sense of where he's going. Taking steps back gave him the idea, didn't it? “What are you doing? Everyone is watching.”
And he's not exaggerating. He can sense several pairs of eyes following every single movement from the both of them. He doesn't know if they're judging or if they're enjoying the show, but whatever the case, Rin needs the floor to swallow him whole.
“I know,” Haru shrugs, pushing harder against Rin's chest and Rin can do nothing but obey. “I don't mind giving them a spectacle, but not yet.”
Before Rin can react to such an atrocious revelation, his back hits what he realizes is the wall right next to a closet. Haru wastes no time in opening the door and shoving Rin inside.
“Fuck,” Rin gasps, cursing not only because he nearly drops a skeleton behind him—he has no time to ask himself why that's there—but also because of the harshness of the shove. And of course, because of the shame at the fact that it's Nagisa who closes the closet door for them, leaving them alone inside.
“You look out of breath, everything alright?” Haru asks, his head once again tilted to the side and sounding so teasing Rin swears his face turns a shade darker than dark red.
“What's gotten into you?” Rin asks back, because what else can he do but answer a question with a question? “This isn't like you and it's freaking me out.”
“In a bad way?”
“N-no, but I don't know how to react to this, what do you want me to—”
Haru, apparently turning into an expert in interrupting in incredible ways, raises his hand and holds onto Rin's neck. The eyeless face that Haru drew on his hand is mocking him, almost seeming to want to do Haru the favor of taking a bite of Rin's skin for him. Rin is losing count of how many times he's freezing over and doesn't dare breathe lest Haru tightens his grip on his neck, and finds out just how turned on he has gotten in the last half hour alone.
When Haru smiles, Rin is sure he already knows.
“A certain someone said I'm too serious to be The Joker and I improvised. You can react however you like, Rin.”
Rin blinks.
Keeps blinking.
And continues blinking.
“Wait,” he chokes out. “So you're saying this was your idea of revenge?”
Haru looks away and Rin can't help the sigh of relief to see such a characteristic habit of Haru's. Maybe it's time for him to smirk—which he does.
“Damn, babe,” he says, completely awed, moving Haru's chin with his finger so that he can meet his gaze. “You really proved me wrong, huh?”
Instead of giving a shy reply, Haru actually stretches his grin to the side until he shows Rin his canine, ensuring him that he's not done with that behavior. Rin swallows again, but has no intentions of holding back and grabs Haru's cheeks and kisses him, forcefully and needy and breathless. Haru kisses back, but only for a second before he starts pushing Rin again, this time out of the closet.
Rin walks a few steps before he turns and sees Haru not following, instead he's smirking again and pointing his finger to his face. “Smile, it confuses people.”
Rin's eyes widen, he recognizes the phrase and it makes him grin. He can get used to this.
“Yes, Mr. J,” Rin says with a wink, and starting his own performance, turns to his friends.
“Now guys, who's ready to set their demons free?!”
While Haru and Rin were inside the closet
“So, will this be a thing from now on?” Sousuke asks as he takes off the mask, showing the rest of the group how much he's sweating. Sousuke himself isn't sure if it's the fault of the mask at all. “Because I don't know if I like it.”
Nagisa giggles. “Nah, don't worry, Sou-chan! Haru-chan just asked me if he could prank Rin-chan, so I helped him out a bit! They'll be back to normal soon enough!”
“But you could have warned us first!” Rei whisper-shouts, his face resembling a dying flame.
“Where's the fun in that?”
“Nothing funny in that! I never expected to see Haru acting like this in public! I'm so embarrassed!” Makoto shrieks, hiding his face in his hands.
“Rin-senpai didn't seem like he wasn't enjoying it, though!” Momo speaks up, and regrets it in a jiffy when every other face, except Nagisa's, starts turning red again.
“Momo, next time, please stay silent,” Ai begs him, covering his face with his cape.
Nagisa cackles, his antennas shaking with him.
Mission successful.