Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Rin Matsuoka was a former teenage rebel who had become a vocationally educated young man, trying to put his past behind him and doing better for his family. He had gotten a job at a local auto repair shop years back, been building himself up steadily, and gaining a much healthier social circle. He was now 27 and at a very content place in his life, surrounded by friends, family, and other reminders to stay on the right path.

After work on Fridays, Rin and his work buddies usually unwound after the week and kicked off the weekend by going out drinking together. Tonight was no different, as they, after having gone home to change out of their work clothes (with Rin changing into a pair of black ripped jeans and a random band t-shirt), strolled down the streets of inner Tokyo trying to locate a bar that fit all of their moods and needs. They found one, a bit nicer-looking than the places they would usually go to, but they figured they could always move onto another bar or a club if the didn't like it there.

Rin walked through the doors and into a dimly lit room that looked very classy and almost prestigious, with dark color tones, leather and mahogany everywhere across the walls and furniture. The establishment was divided into a main area with a huge bar with stools lined up in front of it, and then, up a few steps, the main room led into another, darker room meant for dancing. When walking up the few steps into the other room, Rin took a look around. There were party lights and a turned-off disco ball hanging from the ceiling, as well an elevated platform with a DJ who seemed simultaneously busy while looking like he was enjoying both the music and the decent sized crowd in the relatively big room.

The atmosphere of the main area itself was a bit more formal than what they were used to, and the guests overall seemed a bit more to the social elite type, even in the second room, but they still had fun nonetheless, and if they looked past the expensive wardrobe of most of the guests, the dance floor was more or less like any other club they could’ve chosen. Strangers bumping into and grinding up against one another, wanted and unwanted attention, loud music, laughter, glances and glimpses and alcohol-infused bad choices.

Rin spent the night drinking and dancing, sometimes by himself in the crowd and other times joined by tipsy and non-tipsy strangers alike. He ended up on a bar stool in the main area, ordering another drink outside of the many he had already had that evening, and taking a break from dancing while his friends carried on.

Rin was checking his phone when someone suddenly sat down beside him, giving off a sense of an authoritarian vibe that made Rin instantly tense up a little bit, before he looked up and was met with quite the sight. It was a beautiful man with raven hair wearing a nice-looking, tight-fitted suit in black and white, black, smooth leather dress shoes and black leather gloves. As Rin looked him up and down, the man glanced over at him and Rin could tell, despite the dimmed lights, that the man had stunningly beautiful and deep blue eyes as well. On top of the leather gloves he wore an antique-looking, broad ring on his finger with what appeared to be a dragon engraved on top, entangled in the letter N.

“Hey there,” Rin found himself saying, entirely, unabashedly flirtatiously. He wasn’t sure if it was just the effects of all the alcohol, but he suddenly felt very drawn to the stranger beside him. The man simply glanced at him shortly again, then looked away, disinterested. “You know… I didn’t think it would be possible for someone to be as beautiful as you are."

That seemed to do the trick, clearly catching the man’s full attention, something tingling at the side of his lips, as if he was holding back a smile. He finally looked properly at Rin, who gave him a flirtatious, wide, sideways, and quite frankly, expectant smile. The man's expression seemed rather cold and emotionless, completely unfazed, except for that small, almost invisible hint of an amused smile.

“What’s your name?” Rin boldly and directly asked.

“Who’s asking?” The man’s voice sounded as cold, collected and disinterested as he appeared.

“Me. I’m asking,” Rin dared, an eyebrow raised. He wasn’t about to give up just because the man seemed a bit arrogant and closed off. He had a feeling there would definitely be more to the stranger than what met the eye.

“And who are you?”

“Rin.”

“Rin,” the man repeated, as if considering it. Judging it. Tasting it. “Hasn’t anyone ever taught you not to talk to strangers?”

“Maybe so,” Rin teased, tilting his head to the side, going all out on his charm. “But I choose to ignore it when the stranger is this attractive.”

“You’re gonna have to do a bit better than that if you really want to know my name, Rin.” The man looked slightly judgemental, though it was obvious by the underlying amusement that he had decided to indulge Rin nonetheless. Rin must have piqued his curiosity, then, he figured.

“Is that a dare?”

“Not really. I’m not here to play games. I'm just here to get a drink.”

“Let me buy you one, then. And take you up on that challenge.”

“It’s not a challenge,” he objected.

“What drink do you want? Wait no, let me guess-” Rin paused, staring directly at him for a moment. “I know just what you need.”

Rin politely raised his hand to get the bartender’s attention. He leaned closer across the table top and tried his best to give her the order without the man hearing it. He ordered one of the fanciest-sounding and coincidentally also one of the strongest things he had seen on the menu, and requested the bartender put some blue coloring into it. The bartender gave him a strange look, and so Rin gave her a sneaky smile, glanced at the man and lifted his eyebrow up and down. The bartender smiled knowingly, as if the two had come up with a plot between them, and then she set to work, probably assuming Rin and the stranger actually knew each other. Once done, she set the drink down in front of the man, and he looked at it closely, as if trying to guess what it was, the color no doubt confusing him a bit.

“It’s not going to bite,” Rin playfully teased. The man didn’t seem to appreciate Rin’s humor, but he did take a small, hesitant sip of the drink. “It’s blue just like your beautiful-”

“What the hell is this?” The man interrupted, looking a bit grossed out.

“Huh?” Rin let out, sounding innocent. Then continued, challengingly: “What? Are you a weak drinker?”

“No,” the man simply stated and downed the whole drink in one go, clearly trying but failing to keep his posture unfazed with the gross and strong taste.

“Not bad,” Rin smiled, impressed.

“The drink certainly was,” the man dryly commented, making Rin laugh. “Is this your attempt at coming on to me? Trying to give me alcohol poisoning?”

“Well if it was that bad, you should have let me have a taste,” Rin suggestively said, voice as boldly charming as he could make it. The man just smiled a little bit, a mixture of amusement and something Rin thought could be shyness, even though he doubted it. The man did not come off as anyone who could feel anything even remotely close to shy. That only made Rin want to push him towards such an emotion even more.

They sat in silence for a bit, Rin watching the man stare first at his piercings, then at his tattoos, particularly the sleeve one he had of a cherry blossom branch. The man’s eyes were curiously trailing along the petals on it.

“Why the tattoo?” He suddenly asked.

“Hm? You don’t like it?”

“I didn’t say that. I asked why.”

“Because I like the symbolism of cherry blossoms. And they’re pretty,” Rin shrugged, then flirtatiously added: “Don’t you think?”

The man looked away - and there it was again, that expression that seemed so much like shyness to Rin. It was cute, Rin thought.

“Hey, do you think I could possibly be so lucky and convince you to dance with me?”

“I doubt it.”

“Aw come on, just one dance? I promise you you won't regret it.”

“Again, I highly doubt that.”

“You won’t know unless you try it,” Rin dared. He got up from his chair and held out his hand towards the man in an offering.

The man looked at him for a moment, clearly contemplating. He sighed in defeat. He didn’t accept Rin’s hand, but he still got up from his chair and followed him into the dancing room, looking skeptically around the main room, as if searching for something, then stepped inside the dancing room, doing it again. Almost as if he was looking for someone or for some type of potential danger, or some other thing. Maybe it was just a shy thing, Rin wondered to himself. Checking if anyone was watching him.

It ended up becoming one of the greatest times of Rin’s life he had ever had with another person like this. The man was hesitant at first, but Rin managed to charm him and swing him around, and after a while and much work, the man gave in completely, allowing Rin to guide him as he seductively followed the beats of the loud music. The man, after a few more drinks, even showed off some moves of his own, some hidden, likely unknowingly-possessed skills, their bodies quickly moving in sync with each other and the music.

By the end of the night, Rin said his goodbyes to his friends, who were still going fairly strong, and then followed the man out of the bar, hoping the night would lead to them taking a step further, if not for sex, then a kiss - which might have been even better, Rin the ever-romantic was quick to conclude. However, as they walked along the streets no more than fifty meters or so away from the bar, they passed an alleyway from which a group of four men stepped out, threateningly. On pure instinct, Rin stepped in front of the man whose name he still hadn’t come to learn, but whose company he had enjoyed all evening long, already ready to fight the potential threat, the alcohol not mixing well with his irrational tendencies, his minor criminal background and his instinctive protectiveness.

“Look who we’ve got here,” one of the men spoke.

"Doesn't even look like he's carrying," another pointed out.

“And with only one guy as backup? It’s almost too good to be true,” yet another one laughed mockingly. "Gin is going to love this."

They moved closer and closer and Rin’s stance turned more defensive. As the men got close enough and moved to throw punches, Rin didn’t hesitate. He skillfully knocked one of them out and dodged every counter-attack until it was just him, the beautiful stranger and the partially unconscious man, the rest of the men running away.

“Man, these streets just seem to get more and more dangerous,” Rin sighed, while pushing his hair back and turning around to look at the man. “Randomly attacking people out of nowhere... Are you hurt?”

The man first looked surprised, then almost amused once Rin’s words settled within him. He had his hand by his lower back, jacket lifted up, as if he was putting something back into the waistband of his pants. He even granted him a small, sideways smile. Then, suddenly, several cars immediately came to an abrupt stop by them and a group of men and women in identical suits came running out and up to them.

“Boss, are you okay?!” One of them called out, as if he wasn’t standing right beside them. Rin might have been watching too many movies, but all those suited people looked very much like bodyguards straight out of a cliché action movie. If he was right, maybe the man was some type of celebrity? Or just very rich.

“I’m okay,” the man smiled, then looked at Rin. He smiled for what felt like the first time, as it finally reached his eyes. It made Rin feel weak in the knees, as if he was experiencing some type of school-girl crush. “Thank you for tonight, Rin.”

With that, the man turned around to walk towards one of the cars.

“Wait, I never got your name!” Rin called out, but to no avail. One of the presumed-bodyguards closed the car door, and Rin was left standing alone on the street, trying to catch a glimpse of a pair of beautiful, blue eyes on the other side of the tinted backseat window, until the cars quickly drove away and disappeared down the street.

Rin searched for the beautiful stranger for a while, but he kept coming up with no leads. The bar refused to give him any potential information about him, suspiciously so, and so there was not much to go from. He regretted so much that he didn’t run after the car, or that he hadn’t pressed on for some information that could lead to him. It had been one of the greatest times he’d had, as surprising as that may have been, considering how different the two seemed to be, even before the revelation that the man must have been rich. There was something so intriguing about him, something that completely captivated Rin. Maybe it was the challenge he posed, the way that he had seemed immune to all of Rin’s little games, schemes and charms, though somehow he still chose to play along. Or maybe it was all the mysteries he seemed to hold that really intrigued him.

As the weeks turned into months, with no trace of the man, despite how many times Rin had dragged his colleagues off to the same bar every Friday, he slowly began to accept that he might never see him again, though he didn’t stop hoping for it. It was dumb to keep wasting time on dwelling on what could have been, after all. He had left a permanent imprint on Rin, and if that was all Rin could get, so be it.

Rin drove around one day in the streets of Tokyo in his recently-fixed-up, 6th generation black Toyota Celica from the 90s, the windows rolled down halfway to let the warm summer air blow like wind through the car and through his hair, not minding the noise that came with it. He passed by the busy streets and onto the outskirts of Tokyo, down empty roads. He drove by an abandoned factory building, then spotted someone having trouble with their black Mercedes, the hood open, so he slowly passed it by to check if they needed some help. That’s when he saw that the person was none other than the man from the bar, looking down into the hood, clearly frustrated. Rin, entirely shocked and in disbelief by the sheer coincidence, came to a sudden stop, then quickly parked in front of the car and stepped out.

“Hey, do you need a hand?” Rin called out, walking towards him with a joyous grin. The man turned around and looked at him in surprise. He clearly recognized him, too.

“What are you doing here?” He accusingly asked.

“I drove by and spotted the car. Surprised to find it belongs to you. You pulled quite a Cinderella on me,” Rin said, stepping beside him while facing him, turning up his charms as best as he could. “So what’s your problem, Cinderella?”

“Don’t call me that,” the man complained, looking annoyed.

“You never gave me your name, so until you do, that’ll be your nickname,” Rin teased. “What’s wrong with your car?”

The man looked suspiciously at Rin, before he let out a frustrated sigh. “I can’t get it to start.”

“Can I take a look?”

The man gave him another suspicious glare, then he shrugged and took a step back. “Sure. Whatever you want.”

Rin took a look at the engine. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at first glance, but then he spotted the culprit.

“Ah, there’s your problem,” Rin noted, pointing with his finger towards the back of the hood. “One of your spark plug wires has been plugged out.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you can’t start the engine,” Rin explained, leaning in closer to take a better look, though it was a bit difficult. “It seems whoever did it knew what they were doing, though. It doesn’t look too damaged or anything. Or maybe that's just your luck,” Rin paused, then checked the wires again, reaching out and gently grabbing it, not caring about getting oil on his bare hands. “It’s clear they were trying to pull the whole thing out. The other end seems loose, too,” Rin continued. He looked up at the man, though gained no response. “This is clearly done on purpose. You seem to have a lot of enemies, huh?”

Rich, mysterious and clearly has enemies? Rin thought to himself. Kinda hot.

“Why do you think it was done on purpose? Can't it just... unplug by itself?”

“No. These don’t just get loose on their own. Nothing in a car should. Figure whoever it was must not have had the time to finish the job. It can cost a fortune to change them if they’re broken or removed,” Rin explained. “But as said, they don’t seem to be damaged. Hold on, let me go grab my light and tools so I can properly check them.”

Rin walked back to his car to get his things, but he stopped in his tracks the second he looked in the reflection of the car's clear coat paint and saw the barrel of a gun pointed directly at him. He quickly spun around and tried to dodge and grab the gun at the same time. The man, surprised, took a step back, though he kept the gun pointed at Rin.

“You better start talking. Who sent you?!” The man accusingly asked, raising his voice.

“What the fuck are you talking about?!” Rin asked back, shocked by the sudden shift in the situation and mood, as well as having a goddamn gun pointed at him. He did look, sound and feel more annoyed than genuinely scared, though. He knew he should be afraid, but a part of him was also even more intrigued as well, by the growing mysteries of the man in front of him.

“Who sent you?!”

“Nobody sent me, what the fuck!”

“You just happened to be at the bar three months ago and then also just happened to be out here right as my car broke down, knowing exactly what was wrong with it?!”

“I’m a mechanic, of course I know what the fuck is wrong with your car! It’s all coincidences, you maniac!”

“What were you doing out here?!”

“That’s none of your business!”

“Answer me!”

“Jesus! I like to take long drives, fucking arrest me!”

“Get down on your knees!” The man ordered, but Rin refused. He wondered if the man was a cop, but somehow he was very much convinced that wasn’t the case. The man moved the gun up from pointing at Rin’s chest onto his head instead, moving his finger closer down the trigger, as if ready to pull it any second.

“Fine, fine! Fuck!” Rin yelled out, slowly crouching down.

The man moved closer, as if he was going to do something to Rin, though with one swift move Rin latched out and grabbed the gun from underneath, pushing and holding it upwards and away from himself, then hit him right in the side with one hand to make him let go of the gun. Rin pointed the gun at the man, who raised his hands in surrender, looking at him with defiance, clearly calculating his next move.

“What are you doing pointing guns at people trying to help you!” Rin yelled out, somewhat desperate to figure out what the hell was going on.

With barely any time for Rin to register what was happening, the man pulled out a second gun that had been stuffed down the waistband at the back of his pants. Rin couldn’t help but notice how smoothly it was done, and wondered how it would have looked from another person’s perspective; anyone whom the gun wasn’t pointed directly at, who might have been able to appreciate the precision and stealth a bit more. Not that he didn't do that himself, but it would have been preferable if the circumstances were just slightly different.

“You have too quick reflexes and too good fighting skills to be a regular mechanic,” the man noted out loud, suspiciously.

“I took judo lessons as a kid, asshole. Is that a crime? Are you going to kill me now?”

The man looked at him skeptically, then at the gun in Rin's hand. He breathed out loudly through his nose and lowered his gun. “You’re holding the gun wrong.”

Rin gave him a confused look.

“You're holding it too close to your body. You’re going to break your shoulder like that.”

“Why are you…”

“I’m choosing to believe you. For now. Don’t make me regret it," he warned, then calmly ordered: "Now, give me back my gun."

“Why would I-?!”

“I’m giving you the option to give it back to me before I take it away from you,” the man interrupted, still calmly, though it was very clearly a threat. Rin considered just trying to shoot the guy, but he didn’t really want to go down for murder, and a part of him was also too curious to find out what the whole situation was actually about. Did he think Rin was some sort of stalker? For a moment the two stared at each other, but when the man took a step closer, Rin quickly relented and held the gun out to hand it to him.

“Who do you think you are, talking to people like this…” Rin wondered out loud, as if offended, while simultaneously trying to ease the tense atmosphere. “And here I thought you were nice.”

“Your thoughts are not my fault. Can you fix the car or not?”

“Wow, you really are something,” Rin said, almost impressed with the complete rude bluntness. “How about an apology first?”

“Sorry?” The man didn’t sound sincere at all, if anything he just sounded confused. Rin narrowed his eyes at him and the two looked at each other for a moment again, before Rin quickly just sighed, figuring arguing with an armed person wasn’t the wisest of choices he could make that day, especially not out in the middle of fucking nowhere with absolutely no one around. Or at least he figured there was no one there. He couldn't be sure. Whoever had unplugged the wire could very well still be around, lurking from a distance. Rin had zero intention of sticking around to figure it out, knowing full well that no one would help him if they got attacked or surrounded, least of all the man before him.

“Fine. I’ll see if I can fix it, even though you did just threaten to kill me,” Rin sarcastically said, and without receiving any comment from the man, he turned towards his car again. He opened the trunk, took his things and went back to the man’s car. He detached the unplugged wire to look at it. “Oh wow, forget what I said about it not being damaged…”

“What?”

“Someone must have really been out to get you. The wire is shredded in the back. You can’t even see it when it was down there, look,” Rin said, holding up the wire for the man to see. “It’s completely useless now. And so is your car. At least right now.”

“So what you’re saying is that you’re a mechanic who can’t fix cars?”

“No. I can fix it, but I don’t just carry around spark plug wires for a Mercedes C43 in my personal car. But yeah, you’re right, that makes me such a shitty mechanic.”

“How do you know the car type?”

“Car model,” Rin corrected. “Again, I'm a mechanic,” he exasperatedly repeated. “Look, I can call my coworker to come tow it back to our repair shop, but even then it would take time to get the right plug wires delivered. And as I said before, they also cost a lot of money.”

The man didn’t respond, just looked away thoughtfully, likely considering his options. The silence turned awkward pretty quickly, and Rin cleared his throat.

“So…” Rin began.

“So?”

“Do you want me to call for help or just give you the number?”

“I don’t have time for that.”

“You’re just gonna stand around here and wait for the car to magically drive itself?”

“No. You drive me back,” the man said, or rather declared.

“I’m not a taxi,” Rin objected. “Call one of those instead.”

“Consider it a favor. I’ll pay you back accordingly,” the man offered, though it sounded more like an order.

“And if I say no?”

“I think you’re forgetting who’s got the guns.”

“I think you’re forgetting who’s got the working car.”

“Nothing a bullet won’t fix.”

“Fuck,” Rin let out, more surprised than anything, but also a bit nervous, unsure as to whether the man meant a bullet at Rin’s car or at Rin himself. “You really lack manners.”

“And you lack respect,” the man countered, and then walked towards the passenger seat of Rin’s car, as if that was the end of their conversation.

Rin wasn’t sure what had gotten into him, but he ended up closing the hood of the man's car, walked over to his own car, got into the driver’s seat, and a few minutes later he drove the two of them back down the same way he had come from.

The entire ride was silent, the only sound filling the air being music playing over the radio, which the man had ordered Rin to turn down in volume the second they started driving. He occasionally gave Rin directions, and Rin eventually stopped complaining and just silently followed the directions, wanting it over with as quickly as possible.

After hours of driving, they came to a stop in front of a large estate with a big stone wall surrounding it, a large antique-looking iron gate and guards standing at various posts, wearing similar (if not identical) suits as the ones the presumed bodyguard had worn back when Rin had first met the man. The estate was in the middle of a mixture of forest, mountain and field area, somewhat secluded and very private. A large Japanese-styled manor was visible from behind the wall, though the wall seemed to stretch much, much further than just the manor. Rin had no idea where they were at, but the last sign he had noticed told him it must have been somewhere in or around the Chiba Prefecture, or in the outskirts of it somewhere, or at the very least bordering it. The mansion was quite isolated, relatively far from the next neighbor. It all confirmed exactly what Rin had assumed. Rich. Very, even.

“I owe you a favor,” the man said, already on his way out of the car, unbuckling his seat belt and moving to open the door.

“I’ve saved you twice now,” Rin began, catching his attention. “Don’t I at least get to know your name now?”

The man looked back at him, scanning his face, before looking looked into his eyes.

“Haru,” the man said, then turned back around, stepped out of the car and closed the door behind him before Rin could say anything further. Rin watched him go, all the guards bowing at him as he went. Rin sat for a few more moments after the man had disappeared through the gates, before he at last turned the engine back on and drove away, struggling to find his way back home, and ending up having to use the GPS in his phone to find his way back home. His GPS told him he was in Tōgane city, but whether the mansion was within the city too, Rin couldn't know. He had already driven quite far, so he honestly had no clue where he had come from, but at least he now knew how to get home.

Again, the man - Haru? - disappeared without a trace. Rin waited around for him, replaying their two encounters in his head over and over several times daily. Why was he so infatuated to him? Why did he still wish to see him, even after having a gun pointed at him? It all felt odd and surreal. Almost like a fever dream. And nothing about it made any sense.

Two weeks passed, and then the mysterious man made another appearance yet again. Rin was at the workshop, lying on a creeper underneath an older Nissan Note model, inspecting the brakes and exhaust system, when the sound of a familiar voice nearly made him bang his head up against the exhaust pipe. He slowly rolled out, then looked up at a pair of familiar, beautiful, blue eyes belonging to the ever-well-dressed Haru.

“Busy?” Haru asked, looking down at him with an expression Rin couldn’t quite read. Either arrogance or amusement.

“What are you doing here?” Rin asked, and he hadn’t meant for it to come out accusatory, but he couldn’t help it. It was simply too unexpected. He sat up on the creeper, so he wasn't lying down, as it was a bit of an awkward angle.

“Came to get my car fixed,” Haru said, as if it was obvious. He gestured somewhere behind him, where a car was visible through the open, broad garage door. It wasn’t the Mercedes from the other day, but what Rin could quickly recognize as a Ferrari. A red Roma, Rin could easily conclude.

“That’s not the same car as the one that needed fixing,” Rin pointed out, skeptically.

“No, it’s not,” Haru confirmed, nonchalant.

“So, you own lots of luxury cars...” Rin noted.

“Yes.”

“More than the two?”

“Yes. I’ve lost count.”

Rin gave him a disapproving look. He wasn’t into the ungrateful rich guy attitude, at all. “Well, what’s wrong with this one?”

“There’s a scratch in the paint.”

“I’m not an auto polisher. You’re gonna want to talk to my boss so he can set you up with either Momo or Ai. They’re our polishers.”

“I want you to take a look at it.”

“Okay? Why?” Rin gave Haru a suspicious look, but got up and followed him nonetheless, as he walked out towards the car. The car was looking brand new, fresh out of some luxury shop. Rin stepped closer, entirely impressed by the car, though trying his best to hide it; to keep up some sense of cool facade, so as to not risk satisfying the guy's ego. But it was rare for any type of luxury cars to enter the workshop, so he would lie if he said he didn’t feel a bit starstruck standing so close to one. He was used to only repairing family cars and the occasional arrogant middle aged man's sports car. A vintage car here and there, but that was about it. “Where’s the damage?”

Haru moved towards the back side of the car, showing Rin large scratches in the paint as if he had hit something on a turn, or another person had hit his car while either driving or parking. Anything was possible, really, but something had obviously happened.

“Oh wow. Did you hit something, Cinderella?” Rin teased, crouching down to let his fingers move across the scratches, feeling a small but broad dent underneath.

“Don’t call me that,” Haru complained again. Rin gave him a playful grin in response.

“It’s gonna need more than a paint job. There’s a dent,” Rin informed him, and then turned his head around to look directly into Haru's deep blue eyes. “How did you find me?”

“I have my methods,” Haru vaguely said.

“So mysterious,” Rin teased. “Did you threaten someone else to get my information, or?”

“No. Nothing like that.”

“Sure,” Rin smiled. “Batting those big blue eyes would definitely be enough. But since you went through the trouble of finding me, I assume it’s not just to get a paint job at an unauthorized repair shop for a car that's worth 50 million yen.”

“Come work for me,” Haru demanded. He spoke calmly, but assertively.

“What?”

“Work for me. As my personal mechanic and chauffeur.”

“Ha! No thanks,” Rin sarcastically said, in complete disbelief. The boldness of that guy was immaculate, the nerves even more so. First he pulled a gun on him, and now he wanted him to work for him? And asked him that while standing in the middle of his current workplace? Mere weeks after aforementioned gun incident? Ridiculous. The whole thing. Entirely ridiculous.

“It wasn’t a question.”

“The answer is still no,” Rin steadfastly said.

The two locked eyes, and there was a tension in the air that Rin couldn't quite put a name on. It wasn't exactly uncomfortable, or even threatening, but rather just felt challenging, which in turn was exhilarating, though also annoying at the same time.

“Well, if you change your mind,” Haru began, as he moved close to Rin, who froze in place. Haru moved with smooth, almost sensual movements, while dragging a small piece of paper in between two fingers down along Rin’s oil-stained, gray work t-shirt, entirely flirtatiously, making Rin wide-eyed in shocked surprise. He then tugged the small piece of paper into the front pocket in Rin’s pants, nearly making Rin flinch, then moved even closer, his mouth by Rin’s ear, as he daringly and suggestively added in a low voice that sent shivers down Rin's spine: “Come find me.”

Haru stepped back from the now-entirely flustered Rin, and gave him a knowing and smug smile. Rin wasn't a virgin, but never before had he felt so much like one. So inexperienced, mouth agape and everything, unable to respond or make a move back. Their roles were suddenly reversed, and it felt as if Haru had pulled a rug from underneath his feet. He didn't like it, but he also loved it at the same time. He didn't mind looking a little pathetic, if he could chase something so unusually and seductively alluring. He was being flirted with. There was no doubt. But it was so, so surreal to have someone so clearly powerful and closed off showcase any sort of interest in him so suddenly. Had Rin become a part of a game? An unintentional (but nonetheless admittedly willingly) chess piece? What could he possible have, that made Haru willing to make a move on him like that? Too many questions were flying around his unresponsive brain, and if his head wound up exploding any second because of it, he honestly wouldn't be surprised.

“Whatever the car needs is up to you,” Haru continued, as he placed the car keys along with a decent sized stack of money, way more than any of the repairs would ever cost, held together with a money clip, on top of the hood of the car. Then, with Rin’s eyes trailing on him, he walked away again, down towards the streets where he got into a black S-class Mercedes that quickly drove off, revealing an identical car behind it that followed along.

Rin had a very bad feeling about him, justifiably so. Not that that kept him from wanting to get into his own car and drive off after him, though, as if he wanted to chase the thrill of the unknown and dangerous. To play such a dangerous game, with someone so obviously powerful. Powerful enough to have a vast amount of money, and powerful enough to need escorting by not one, but two cars, presumably filled with bodyguards like the ones that had appeared during their first encounter and been at the estate at their second encounter. And powerful enough to have Rin almost wrapped around his fingers already, despite not even knowing him, and despite how much Rin wanted to deny it and how much he tried to fight it inside of his head. He had no idea what to make of it, and no idea what to do about it. But one thing was certain: he was already in the game now, too curious to turn around, and far too captivated to be able to look away.

Chapter Text

The thing is, while Rin didn’t want to admit it, he couldn’t deny the fact that he had considered the offer. Constantly, everyday, ever since he last saw the man. Haru. A rich guy coming into your life out of nowhere and demanding you work for him? It certainly didn’t sound like something you would dream of, but Rin did. Oh boy, he did. Was it weird? Yes. He hated rich people. But this guy… he had Rin in a chokehold, and it was confusing and terrifying him to no end.

Each day that passed brought more worries with them which only kept reminding him of the offer and made him more curious about it, especially when he visited his mom. He went there after the family’s bakery closed for the day. It had been struggling for a while; years, actually. Rin knew this fully well, and yet, after he had unlocked the glass door into the bakery, walked around the register, unlocked the door to the office, and walked up the staircase leading up to his former home where his mom still lived, he was still shocked to find his mom crying, hunched over papers scattered across the kitchen table with her back towards the staircase.

“Mom?” Rin worriedly and quietly called out, while carefully approaching her. “What’s wrong?”

He hurried over to her as she looked up, clearly surprised by the sudden presence of her son. He noticed all the papers were finance sheets, and he already knew before she told him.

“At this rate… I’ll have to close down by the end of the year,” his mom cried, and the words pierced through his heart. This was her passion, her big dream. It was all she had left of him - of Rin’s dad.

Rin was 15 when his dad had suddenly died of a heart attack. Rin’s mom used the life insurance to move out of their apartment in the district of Shinjuku and into a bakery in the Kita district. It was something she had always dreamt of, constantly talking about it for as long as Rin could remember. She spent hours in the kitchen whenever she could, baking the tastiest pastries, breads, cakes and a myriad of other desserts. She always dreamt of one day getting to open up her own bakery, and her husband had always encouraged her, always aimed to help her make her dream come true, until the very end.

While Rin was growing up, she worked in several kitchens as a server, an assistant cook, and various other positions. She didn’t make much money, but it “got her into the business”, she always used to say.

His younger sister, Gou, worked part-time at the bakery to help their mom, while working as a middle school teacher as her main job. Gou still lived with their mom in the bakery, both out of convenience and to make sure she wasn’t lonely, but it seemed like she wasn’t home at that moment, judging by the fact that she wasn’t sitting at the table going over the depressing finances with their mom.

Rin lived in Kita as well, though not exactly around the corner he made sure to visit regularly. He still felt guilty, though, for not being around more. For making life more difficult for his mom after his dad died. He wanted nothing more than to make up for it.

He pulled a chair out and sat down beside his mom, pulling her into a hug. She sank into him, and he held her tightly, whispering a mixture of apologies and encouraging words that he knew were useless. Nothing he could say or do could help with this. Even if he moved back home and poured all of his remaining salary into the bakery, it wouldn’t be enough to turn things around.

When the bakery first opened, business was booming. For years, it was a huge success. All the locals loved it, but then competition arrived, and property tax and rent went up, making it impossible to fight with the chain bakeries and other pastry shops, and now the bakery wasn’t just not doing well, but his mom was also in deep debt from trying to keep it alive for the past several years.

He wanted to help. He needed to help. She had paid so much money for lawyers for him, and for education, and for so many things. He had to do something to pay her back, to ensure that she could hold onto the memory of his dad and to keep her dreams alive. But what?

Sure, he could ask for a raise, but that wouldn’t get him far, and no raise could get them out of this either way. No. He knew what he had to do. The answer was right there, in the shape of a small business card carelessly thrown onto his kitchen counter in his apartment with the intent of it eventually ending up in the trash can. Against all logic and common sense, he made up his mind. He was going to try to contact Haru, no matter how powerful and outright dangerous he seemed to be. If that rich asshole wanted him to work for him, he was going to make sure to make it worth it for himself and his family. He was going to request that the bakery be saved - he didn’t want to ask for money or for some big salary for the jobs he didn’t yet know what entailed (but could only assume the worst) - no - he wanted to ensure that money would never get in the way of his mom’s dream ever again.

It would have been preferable for Rin to find this Haru guy himself, to confront him somehow and try to get the upper hand, and to somehow figure out what he was really affiliated with (was it crime? Drugs? Could be anything), but he had no clue where he had actually dropped him off. He didn’t have time to wait around for Haru to make contact again, should that ever happen, and he couldn’t risk Haru finding someone else in the meantime. He needed this job. Though, he was going to do everything in his power to absolutely not let Haru know just how badly.

He did try, before calling him, to find him. He first went to the bar without luck, then to the abandoned factory with no trace of him anywhere either. Then he figured he would try to find the mansion. He liked to drive around anyway, so why not choose to drive around Chiba? Out of pure coincidence, of course. At least that would be what he would claim, should it be a success. It wasn’t, of course, and after driving for hours with no luck, he drove back to his apartment where he proceeded to stare at the card, now held in his hand for quite some time, before he finally typed in the number on his phone.

It rang once, twice, before being picked up. There was complete silence on the other end, and Rin wondered if it had disconnected, but sure enough, the call was ongoing, the seconds going up.

“Hello?” Rin said.

“Rin,” a voice said after a few seconds. It was Haru’s voice, calm and calculating, though with quite a satisfied and arrogant tone to it. Hearing his voice sent a shiver down Rin’s spine, and something like sparks flew around in his stomach. His voice was so enticing and attractive, even more so over the phone; the added mystery of not knowing what he was up to giving Rin's imagination a free pass to run wild. It really wasn’t fair. The arrogance in his voice was all that kept Rin grounded, his annoyance steadying his nerves as he tried to focus on his goal.

“So you were waiting for me? You must be desperate,” Rin sniped.

“You’ve been looking for me,” Haru noted in response, and Rin’s eyes widened as his body tensed up.

“How did-” Rin began, taken aback.

“I knew you would change your mind,” Haru interrupted, knowingly and smug.

Rin steadied himself. He didn’t like this. He really didn’t like it. Had Haru been spying on him? Had he sent some of his bodyguards to stalk him or something?

“Don’t be a prick about it. I’m not going to bend over and lick your feet, I just want to talk,” Rin said defiantly, not wanting to give in to any type of intimidation tactics Haru might have in store for him.

“Then talk.”

“Why do you want me to work for you? And what work are we talking about?” Rin asked, then quickly added: “I won’t deal drugs for you.”

“I’m not going to let you deal drugs. I already told you, I need a personal driver and mechanic.”

“To what? Make drug stash departments in all of your cars and then take you around for your sketchy drug deals?”

“What’s this obsession with drugs?” Haru asked, amusedly, and it sounded as if he was smiling, too. “But no.”

“What, then?” Rin impatiently asked.

“Making sure my cars work, and to be able to drive me anywhere I need, at any time.”

“And what’s in it for me?” Rin skeptically asked, ready to get to the point and make demands for the survival of his mom’s bakery.

“Outside of a weekly salary…” Haru began. “I assume luxuries beyond your current access.”

“How much is the salary?” Rin asked, ignoring Haruka’s slightly belittling comment.

“Depending on how well you do,” Haru began again, and made a short pause before continuing: “Enough for you to not worry about your family’s bakery.”

Rin shut up real quick when he registered those words. How much did Haru know about him? How much leverage did he have over him? How much was Rin willing to be toyed with by him? There was a pause, and he realized he was actively giving Haru the upper hand in their conversation, and he couldn’t stand for that.

“And… I still get my one big wish?” Rin tried to playfully ask in an attempt to cover up his discomfort and shock.

“What do you want?” Haru asked.

That question. That one, simple question. He said it so casually, but Rin knew the seriousness behind it. Anything Rin wanted, Haru could and would give him. That much was clear by now. He was the one that wanted Rin to work for him, not the other way around. He had to try to use that as his own leverage. He had something Haru wanted - his skills, his time and his desperation, and he was going to make sure to use that to his own advantage.

The guy was rich, likely filthy rich, so whatever thing or request that Rin could possibly come up with, no matter how big, wouldn’t be any issue at all. With the prospect of his mom’s bakery saved and secured by some huge weekly salary yet to be disclosed, he could, in addition, request some millions right then and there that would set him and his family up for life, too. He could request diamonds, gold, luxury. He could ask for anything, really.

It was thrilling, scary, and frustrating all at the same time to have so many possible options to choose from. But, since he was already promised financial security, he wanted something different as his wish. Material things likely meant nothing to Haru, and so Rin didn’t want it to be anything like that. He didn’t want something easy. He could ask for a favor or a promise. He wanted this additional wish to be difficult for Haru. To challenge him. Maybe he should get to know Haru better before he could figure that one out? Find out what would be difficult for him to give, before he could make the request? He wanted to hold some sense of power over him, even if it may pale in comparison to the power Haru would in turn have over him. If clinging to this little advantage was all Rin could do to maintain a sense of dignity, he sure as hell would do that.

“You’ll give me whatever I want?”

“Yes. Within the limits of logic, of course.”

“Of course,” Rin repeated back, almost demeaningly. “Then how about this: I try out your little job offer first, and then make my request based on how difficult it is. Can’t sell myself short here, after all.”

“Sure…” Haru agrees, though with a confused tone to his voice, almost as if he had been caught by surprise and had expected something else from Rin.

“I just have a few conditions.”

“Conditions?”

“Yes. Outside of securing the bakery that I have no idea how you know of, I also still get to keep my job at the workshop.”

“Is this your wish?"

“No. They’re the conditions for me to work for you. I’ll still need that big wish someday.”

“You’re quite demanding.”

“I don’t hear a no.”

“Clear your plans for the next month. You’ll need to undergo training before your work can begin. You’ll be picked up on Monday.”

“Wait, what-”

“Oh, and Rin? I’ll advise you to not make any more demands of me or talk to me in that tone again, or I’ll make sure you won’t be able to drive gear again," Haru threatened, voice unusually dark.

“It’s called driving shift or manual,” Rin flippantly corrected, like the punchable smart-ass he could be. Then he hung up the phone without further word.

In hindsight, he should definitely not be talking back to a guy who he knew carried around firearms, and he should also probably have stayed on the phone and asked for more information.

The satisfaction of getting the last word was short-lived. He had no clue how he could possibly clear his schedule, or what the whole training thing was even about and what it entailed. Was it like bodyguard training? Why would he need that? Where would it be? For how long? Was it every day? And if so, could it be outside of his work hours, so he didn’t risk losing his job or causing his coworkers any problems? Too many questions. No way of getting them answered now. All he could do was wait and find out.

A couple of days later, at the unholy hour of 5 am, four suited people were knocking so hard and loudly on his door it sounded like they were trying to break in. With his bedside lamp in hand - the closest things to him that he had been quick to unplug and grab in his partially-still-asleep state, and, in nothing but underwear, he opened the door after making sure the chain door lock was on. He peaked out, saw them, and had nearly smashed the door close again if he hadn’t been so confused and so tired.

“What the fuck?”

“Matsuoka Rin?” One of the people asked, looking attentively and slightly confused at the lamp in Rin’s hand.

“Are you cops or something? It’s fucking five in the morning,” Rin complained.

“We’re here to pick you up,” one of them formally informed him.

“Did that Haru guy send you?”

“We are here on Mrs. Nanase’s behalf, yes,” another confirmed.

“Who the fuck is Nanase?” Rin asked, body and mind too tired for his brain to make the connection. It eventually did, as the three people just looked at him. “Oh, is that his last name?”

“...yes,” the same one confirmed again, though a bit hesitant and confused, as if expecting Rin to know that already.

“I’m supposed to go to work in, like, 3 hours? How long is this going to take?” Rin impatiently asked, rubbing a tired hand across his face, then put the lamp down on the floor.

“I’m afraid we’re only here to transport you,” someone else said, though he didn’t sound afraid or sorry in any way, just stiff as what would be expected of some high ranked military soldier.

“Transport me?" Rin asked, slightly offended by the notion that he was nothing more than cargo.

It was quite weird that four people were needed for the task. He felt a little suspicious about it, if he was honest. The bodyguards just looked at him emotionless, so he let out a sigh.

"Can I at least take a piss first? Put on some clothes?” Rin asked, annoyed.

Surely it must have been some kind of sick joke. Or, he considered, it might have been payback for hanging up on that call the other day. The suits gave him a displeased expression, but nonetheless gestured for him to go. He shut the door, went back to his bedroom with the lamp, and got ready, taking his sweet time, not giving a single fuck if he happened make dear Cinderella wait for him - or his assigned transporting bodyguards either for that matter.

They forced him to leave his phone behind at home, making it even more suspicious, and making him further question whether they were actually Haru’s guys or not, and if not, whether they were going to kill him or not. He argued in his head that if they had come to kill him, they would have probably already done it, and so he left his phone on the small dresser by the entrance and followed them out of the building. They put him in the back of a black Cadillac Escalade with tinted windows and the two middle seats turned around, so that they faced the three back seats and had their backs towards the front seats and front window. Two bodyguards got in before Rin, taking two of the three back seats, and Rin knew it meant he was supposed to sit with his back turned towards the front window, as if he wasn’t allowed to see where they were going. He used the chrome assist steps to get in, and was immediately impressed by the nice interior. Whoever had been in charge of buying the car had chosen the very dark color, not quite black, but close to it. Rin had never been an expert in colors, but the color did have some red undertones to it. The car itself even had a brand new car smell, which Rin wasn’t all too used to, but still very much enjoyed. Despite the fact that he was currently being taken somewhere unknown against his will by four suited strangers (the only thing making it less of a kidnapping being the fact that he was cooperating), at least there was that - a brand new car to appreciate and be impressed by.

It was a long drive and, through the whole thing, it was dead quiet. They weren’t even listening to the radio or talking to each other, and Rin wondered if they had driven in complete dead silence on the way towards him, too. Were these people soulless or something? It was unnerving, and it made him feel restless and tired, his leg bouncing up and down. He wondered if it might be possible to get some sort of reaction out of them, though concluded it was best not to push it; after all he had no clue how long they were going to drive for. It didn’t take more than 10 minutes before he tried to get a casual conversation going, asking them all kinds of questions about their work, cars, Haru, and many other things, but no one was willing to indulge him, not even a little. He tried several times, each time with no luck, so after the many failed attempts he settled on just staring at the overly-tinted window trying his best not to fall asleep and miss anything. After all, he couldn’t be sure where they were actually taking him.

They drove up to and through the large iron gate that Rin recognized, and then up a stone path, coming to a stop in between a large garage and a path leading up to the two-story mansion. One of the bodyguards that had sat in the passenger seat got out, opened the door, and looked directly at Rin.

“Get out,” he ordered, but Rin just sat still in response. He refused to be ordered around by anyone. Either he got out on his own volition, or they would have to force his ass out. "Are you dense? I said get out."

Rin was far too tired for this, far too exhausted to put up a fight, but also far too stubborn to move.

“Isn’t the high prince coming out to get me?”

“Nanase is occupied. We’re escorting you to where you’ll await him.”

“Wait for him?!” Rin repeated in disbelief. “Like hell I’ll sit around and wait for that little shi-”

“Hey, watch your mouth,” one of the bodyguards in front of him warned. Rin looked at him, and he looked right back. The two stared at each other for a moment until the guy outside got impatient and grabbed at Rin, who quickly tried to dodge his hand.

“Fine, fine, I’m going, jeez,” Rin complained, and got out.

They escorted him to a square-looking building opposite of the mansion in an identical japanese style, although way smaller and only one floor. One of the bodyguards slid the door open, and Rin stepped in behind them. It looked like a reception, with chairs and tables and a small disk with tea and coffee. The sliding door on the opposite side of the front door was open, leading into a beautiful courtyard, and revealing a door on the other side leading into a room with a large table in it, which made Rin think of some business meeting room.

It was mid-spring, so it wasn’t too cold, but it was still shit-clock early in the morning; the air was chilly and if this was where Rin was going to wait, he should probably ask for a blanket, even though he assumed the wait would only be a few minutes. If he did ask about the time, they would probably just not respond to him anyway.

Two of the bodyguards left, while the remaining two stayed with Rin, watching him closely, but pretending not to by keeping their glances at points precisely just beside or above him and not directly at him. Rin sat down, but after approximately ten minutes, he grew both cold and restless.

“Can I close the door? It’s cold,” Rin asked, and upon receiving no response, he rolled his eyes, got up and stood in the door frame for a moment or two, admiring the layout of the courtyard.

The garden was filled with bonsai trees, flowers, sculptures, bushes and even a small pond with a few koi fish visible in it and a small, stone waterfall fountain gently circulating the water, with a stone lantern shaped as a pagoda beside the fountain and raked gravel around the pond. Then he promptly closed the door, and proceeded to pace around the room, before curiosity got the better of him and he went to explore the other rooms in the building, the bodyguards quietly following behind him.

The first room on the right led into a small library, with art pieces displayed in glass on top of wood pedestals. The door leading into the next room was locked, so he ventured back into the reception-like room and tried to get into one of the doors on the left, the first one being a decent-sized toilet and the other door was also locked, much to his disappointment. He opened the door into the courtyard again, then walked along the building and into the open door on the other side, and sure enough, the whole thing looked like a meeting room.

The big table expanded through almost the entire room. Big art pieces hung across the walls, looking very expensive in their golden frames. Upon stepping further inside the room, Rin noticed that there was a strange hint of bleach in the air, and it unsettled him a little. None of the other rooms had smelled like that, so it was a bit strange if it was just from some regular house cleaning. He looked across the table, and saw that the chair at the end of it wasn’t like the others, but looked far more… expensive. A seat for a boss, no doubt.

What kind of gang shit is this, Rin thought, and the realization of what he was getting himself into hit him hard.

It was the realization of all the obvious signs that he had been ignoring and shoving so far away in an attempt to convince himself not to turn around, but to focus on what he would gain: getting rid of his mom’s worries. But now, as he looked at that big chair at the end of the big table in a building filled with luxury on a huge, private and isolated estate, with the smell of bleach lingering in the air and the memories of guns pointed at him, his heartbeat quickened as he could no longer deny the obvious. He was stepping right into the world that he had fought so hard to stay out of for so many years, but this time it was different. This time it felt like he had walked right into the lion’s den, blindfolded yet willing, and not for some young, impressionable stupid teenage reasons.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been standing there, but eventually he was pulled back to reality by the sound of a bird chirping out in the courtyard. He managed to pull himself together and walked, with the two bodyguards following behind him, back to the reception room where he sat down and waited for what felt like an eternity, even more so without his phone, with nothing else to do but either get caught up in his worst thoughts or simply repress those thoughts and stare at a wall.

He had gotten so bored he had pretty much memorized each unlocked room in the little building, and skimmed through the few fancy, bland, but no doubt expensive, magazines in the reception area. Couldn't there at least have been some Car Top or Option? At least then he would have actually been entertained for a while instead of this completely unnecessary boredom.

When the front door finally opened, the big antique-looking clock on the wall told Rin it was a little past eight, and the ever-arrogant fucker that stepped inside the room had now officially made him late for work. To make matters worse, this fucker also looked far too attractive for this hour of the day. Like he was ready to nake hearts swoon at some nightclub, if not a red carpet event, and definitely not what would be expected of someone standing in some waiting room on his own property this early.

Rin immediately got up and stepped towards Haru, but was prevented from getting close to him by two hands on either one of his shoulders, belonging to the bodyguards that had been stuck with him this whole time.

“You are so fucking petty. You woke me up early as fuck only to have me wait for hours just because I hung up on you on a fucking phone call?” Rin angrily asked.

“You would have known it was this early if you hadn’t hung up on me,” Haru argued, and Rin knew that was a complete lie by the smug expression plastered all over his face.

"Bullshit!"

"When you're ready to shut up, how about we go somewhere private?"

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Rin refused. As inviting as it sounded to be alone with someone as attractive as Haru, it just screamed danger and Rin wanted none of it, especially not while angry.

"So you're not interested in the job offer after all?" Haru asked, though it was obvious that he already knew the answer. Of course Rin couldn't say no. As much as he wanted to, and as annoyed as he felt, he just grumbled lowly to himself before relenting.

"After you," Rin said, making sure to put as much impatient annoyance into his tone as possible, and Haru led the way further inside the room to the left, unlocking the previously locked door and gesturing to the bodyguards to stay outside.

The mystery room that Rin had been curious about turned out to be an office with a broad, broad mahogany desk, a large office chair behind it and two big armchairs in front of it. Antique art pieces stood throughout the room on various surfaces and old wall-scroll paintings hung across the walls. There were two large windows on one side of the room, overlooking a pretty garden outside with some buildings visible behind it, and on the other side of the room there was a large sliding door that must have led to the small courtyard in the middle of this building. Everything about the room looked expensive and luxurious, and Rin felt hesitant as he stepped inside.

"Now, before we begin, I have to confirm something first," Haru began, as he walked over and sat down on the large leather office chair. "Are you by any chance working on a plan to kill me? Or perhaps you have a death wish? Or, maybe, as impossible as it sounds, are you just that oblivious?"

“What are you talking about?” Rin asked. “If I wanted to kill you, I would have probably tried by now, especially after you kidnapped me in the middle of the-”

"Does the name Nanase mean anything to you?" Haru interrupted, mysteriously.

“Other than your little soldiers calling you that - no? Why, should it?”

“Since you live in Japan, yes, it should,” Haru said, and stared calculatingly at him. Rin didn’t know what to say, so after a moment of silence he just shrugged.

“Sorry, is it about politics or something?” Rin asked. “I don’t follow politics…"

“You should,” Haru calmly advised. "In the public eye, the Nanase family is what most would consider social elites."

“So… rich people?" Rin concluded, faking dramatic surprise. "You're trying to tell me your family is rich? Wow, I would've never-"

“More or less.” Haru gave him an amused smile, and Rin couldn’t quite figure out what was so funny about this vague and confusing conversation. “I am a Nanase. One of the two currently alive.”

“Um… congrats?” Rin hesitantly and ironically said. He had already figured out that Haru was rich. Didn’t take much to figure that out, after all. Then Rin allowed his thoughts to roam across multiple possibilities. There were multiple questions going through his head, but one stood out: Where did the money come from? With the sketchy and defensive behavior, the vague words, the secrets, their second meeting and even the first, the bodyguards, the building Rin was currently in, hell the property as a whole, it all seemed to line up for him once more, and the truth he had worked all morning to ignore suddenly came back into light.

To live such a luxurious life, while being confronted by thugs on the streets and needing protection at all times? Maybe Haru really was affiliated with drugs or some gang? Rin had been associated with gang members before, so he knew the types, and, if he had to be honest, Haru didn’t seem like the usual gang leader, but he could easily be wrong. He didn’t know him that well, after all. Besides, small gangs didn't bring in this much money, but… something else might.

“So you’re like… what? A gang leader?” Rin found himself asking, though he very clearly didn’t mean it seriously. He knew if it was something down that line, it would be something much, much higher than a mere gang leader.

“Not quite,” Haru vaguely answered, and Rin felt his heart beat faster in his chest. He zoned in on Haru as the next words left his lips: “I’m the heir of the Nanase empire. It’s the highest ranked Japanese mafia built by my father, hiding underneath a global corporation and general wealth.”

So, Rin was wrong. He had been heading in the right direction, while having willingly ignored the signs, but now there it was: the truth. Haru wasn’t a gang leader. He was a motherfucking mafia boss.

“No fucking…” Rin trailed off, shocked. His eyes were wide, and he had trouble comprehending the fact that this was reality. In hindsight, he should have known - or rather, acknowledged what he already knew. He couldn’t believe he had refused to put the pieces properly together by himself, not even after their second or third meeting, and definitely not after seeing the goddamn property Haru owned. It all screamed mafia stereotypes. In his defense, though, those stereotypes lined up well with general multi-billionaire stereotypes. Not that that mattered much now.

“As I’ve already established, your job for me will be to fix and maintain my cars,” Haru carried on, as if he hadn’t just dropped a major bomb in the middle of the room. “I assume you know what you’re doing, but if at any time you cannot meet the requirements for your job, the deal is off, and you’ll be sent back with much less than what you came in with.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“Of course I am,” Haru confidently confirmed, then, without missing a beat: “As for your salary, it will be paid in the form of a sponsorship to the bakery.”

Sponsorship? Rin was suddenly very confused. How was a mafia supposed to sponsor a bakery and how would that ever work? It wasn’t like “supported by the mafia” looked good on a business card.

“That way it’s discreet, and the money will go directly where you want it to go,” Haru continued. "Now for the transaction, I'll have a representative make the arrangements with your mother. She should already be working on setting up a meeting. The sponsorship will be from a company called Treats4U and the bakery will be chosen for the sponsorship through randomized city-wide selective taste tests. Of course, this is all a charade. There will be no undercover critic, and there will not be any competition. But don't ruin that for your dear mother. The advertisement has been secured and money will come in, and that’s what matters, right?"

“I… guess.”

“Other than that, you will be given a phone. It’ll contain only two numbers: mine and our operator’s. Mine, not so that you can contact me, but the other way around. I will call you whenever I want, and you will answer.”

“Sorry, but booty calls aren’t really my thing,” Rin found the clarity to sarcastically comment. Haru gave a scathing glare, and the look made Rin feel like he should duck for cover from an incoming bullet. “Sorry.”

“You’ll answer, and you’ll get your ass out to the nearest car and then you will drive me wherever I need or want you to.”

“Goddamn taxi,” Rin mumbled to himself.

“It’s clear that you’re not very good at concentrating, and that you get distracted easily,” Haru pointed out, ignoring Rin’s comment. “But it’s important that you learn to stay focused, even when you have to wait.”

“What makes you- wait, were you watching me this whole time?!”

“What time?” Haru asked, as if he needed clarification.

“While I was waiting for you, were you watching me, you asshole?” Rin rephrased.

“No. I’m basing my assumption on your background, and the fact that you can’t sit still and shut up to save your life.”

“What do you mean about my background? Did you look at my record or something?”

“You still haven’t realized?” Haru asked, clearly amused.

“What?”

“I know everything about you.”

Rin shifted uncomfortably in his seat, mouth threatening to fall open.

“Anyway, back to the job,” Haru nonchalantly said. “I know you haven’t cleared your calendar for the next month, so I took the liberty and had someone do it for you.”

“You did what?”

“Cleared your schedule. Since you didn’t want to.”

“Even if I wanted to, I can’t just waltz up to my boss and demand a whole month off from work with zero notice. I’m not like you, who doesn’t have to worry about getting fired,” Rin hissed, annoyed at him. “Besides, I didn’t realize you actually meant it.”

“Well, you need to stay here for around three weeks, so you won’t be able to go to the repair shop you work at during that. Better to give them an excuse than just disappear, don’t you think?”

“Wha- three weeks?! How do you expect me to explain that to my family and friends?!”

“That’s not a worry anymore. We’ve already secured you an alibi for why you’ll be gone.”

“An alibi?! I’m not going to kill for you!”

“Not an alibi for murder,” Haru amusedly assured him. “Alibi as in an explanation. An alibi for your absence. We just made sure no one will suspect where you are and what you’re up to.”

“And you came up with some excuse that explains weeks of sudden absence from my whole life?”

“Yes. We’ve notified your work and your family. They believe you’re currently sick in the hospital,” Haru informed him.

“I’m what?!”

“Nothing serious, just serious enough for you to land in the ER and then stay in isolation at home for a while, around three weeks or so.”

There was a pause while Rin processed that, then, in completely disbelief: “You did not fucking tell people I got Covid again.”

“I was considering Mono, but that’s rarely serious,” Haru smiled, self-satisfied. “My advisor chose Covid-19 for you. You suddenly woke up and couldn’t breathe and your chest began to hurt, so you ended up in the ER where you’ll be for the next few days or so, receiving treatments and staying in isolation. The nurse -” Haru put pressure onto that last word. “- called your mom, who said she would call your boss. You’ll be able to call her after those few days to update her on your health. Make sure to tell her you forgot your phone at home. She’ll be allowed to bring some stuff to the hospital for you. You won’t be able to accept it personally, though, but a nurse will give it to you. Or so your mother will believe. In reality, it’ll be given to one of my people who can then give it to you.”

Rin was listening, but he didn’t say anything. It felt extremely weird to be told all of this. To be forced to lie and pretend to be sick. He was vaccinated, too, so how would he have gotten that sick? He wasn't that sick the last time, either. There were holes in the story, and he wondered how he would ever be able to play it off as being true. Besides, wouldn't he worry his mom?

“I’m guessing you didn’t pack a bag?” Haru knowingly asked.

“A bag?” Rin gave him a confused look

“Yes. If you hadn’t hung up on me-” Haru began.

“For fucks sake,” Rin interrupted. “Are you serious?!”

“-then you would have known you were going to stay here for the aforementioned three weeks at least in order to receive proper training,” Haru finished.

“Training?”

“Yes. Consider it job training. Other than getting to know some of my closest staff, you'll receive weapons lessons, basic etiquettes, and physical training. Defense, offense, you know? Kind of like those judo lessons you took when you were a kid,” Haru explained. “So that you won’t get killed or have me killed.”

“Is that what this whole kidnapping situation is all about?”

“Yes. The first few weeks are intense, so you’ll need to stay on the grounds with no outside distractions,” Haru elaborated. “It’s all going to be for your own safety.”

“And yours,” Rin sarcastically pointed out.

“And mine,” Haru confirmed.

“How convenient,” Rin bitterly said.

“Very,” Haru agreed, not letting Rin’s sarcasm affect him one bit. “Try to keep up with the others.”

“You know, Haru?” Rin began, catching Haru’s attention. Haru gave him a strangely surprised look at the sound of his name and Rin’s change of tone. “I think I found that wish of mine...”

“Oh, have you now?” Haru looked at him attentively, clearly expecting Rin to say something around the lines of let me go home, and not what actually came out of Rin’s mouth next.

“Suck my dick,” Rin snarkily mocked.

“And risk getting Covid?” Haru was far too quick to respond, a smug smile across his lips and expression as collected as ever. Rin, on the other hand, was gobsmacked. Entirely speechless, even as Haru got up from the chair, and with his usual cool attitude, turned around and said, “I arranged for someone to come here in a moment and show you around the area. Try not to get beaten up during training.”

Haru started to walk towards the door leading back into the reception, when he paused and turned around.

“And Rin?”

Rin nearly flinched at the sound of his name, but he managed to keep his composure, keeping his eyes locked on Haru, trying hard to decode his expression.

“I’m sure I won’t need to tell you what will happen to you if you tell anyone any details about this new job of yours.”

And then he was out the door, leaving Rin by himself, trying to make sense of the last four hours of his life and wondering how the hell he was ever going to be able to survive weeks so close to someone so insufferable. Attractive? Yes. But such a pain in the ass. Annoying, yet fun to banter with? Sure. But an absolutely unbearable nuisance like none other. Had Rin died and went through the iron gates to hell? Likely. At least - he reminded himself - he would get to work with luxury cars he never had the chance to before.

A guy dressed from top to toe in the same black suit as the others introduced himself as Hazuki and showed him around the large estate. He looked far too young and innocent to be anywhere near anything mob-related, his blonde hair quite messily ruffled and face full of nothing but soft features. Even his relatively small body made him appear young. He was quite outgoing and friendly, talking enthusiastically about details of the buildings and various gardens. The big japanese-styled mansion was only for the main family, as Hazuki said, although he pointed out that only Haru lived there and that the big boss - Haru’s father, Rin assumed by the fact that Haru had called himself heir - was rarely in Japan at all. It was a ridiculously huge manor even for just two people, let alone one. It made Rin feel angry inside, if he was honest. Entire families could fit into that big manor, and that rich asshole was holored up in there all by himself.

Other than the mansion, there was a house meant for guests close to it. Hazuki told him there were four suites in there, almost as if it was a small hotel. It was meant for guests who needed to stay close during visits, he vaguely explained.

There was also a building behind the one that Rin had been waiting in, one that was apparently a garage, or more specifically a building where they stored cars and other vehicles. It would be where Rin would spend his time working on the cars (when not driving Haru around, of course). A stable with horses stood down at the edge of the property, with accompanying paddocks in front of it. Close to the first barn was a big modern-looking building with training facilities, including a shooting range and a swimming pool. It was also where most of the on-ground bodyguards lived, since it had separate floors with one-bedroom apartments.

“Don’t tell me I’ll have to stay there too,” Rin said on their way to the building. His feet were tired from walking around the property, especially since Hazuki had insisted on walking despite Rin having seen several bodyguards drive past them in electric golf carts. It had been an amusing sight, though, Rin had to admit. People with expressionless faces, dressed like… well, like mobsters, driving around in golf carts.

“Yes, but only during your training program as far as I know,” Hazuki confirmed thoughtfully.

They went inside, and Hazuki showed him around. He met several other bodyguards, and it was so incredibly awkward. He tried to be friendly and greet them, but most of them just stared at him calculatingly and reserved. Definitely not as cheerful as Hazuki had been so far, Rin noted. Maybe Hazuki was new and his spirits hadn’t been choked out yet, Rin wondered to himself. Then made the stark realization that maybe he himself would end up like those people, too. He quickly shoved that thought away, though, for the sake of his own sanity.

Hazuki showed him to his room and after a moment of talking and Hazuki expressing some positive encouragement, he left with the information that the head bodyguard who was in charge of training him would pick him up in a moment. A dreadful information, Rin had to admit. He was just about ready to collapse on the futon laid out on the floor in the small room he was assigned. Instead, though, he walked around to inspect his room.

It was small, but definitely not the tiniest of places Rin had stayed at. It was admittedly bigger than his first apartment. Other than the futon on the floor, there was also a chair and a desk against the wall to the right side of the room with shelves hanging above it, and a small private bathroom with a shower, sink and toilet to the left side by the entrance. There was a broad window at the end of the room with a view out towards the mansion from it. The room reminded him of a fancy boarding school from some television show; relatively empty and much like a shell, but sufficient enough.

A man in his 30s or 40s with black-dyed hair and strikingly red roots knocked on the door a few moments after Rin had stepped over to look out the window. He seemed rather strict, but also dangerously calm and calculated. A guy who might have a gentle side to him, but who had also no doubt killed several. The head bodyguard, Rin assumed.

“My name is Mikoshiba Seijuro,” the man introduced himself, standing in a position Rin could best describe as military-like.

“Rin,” Rin simply stated, and it was clear that the nonchalance of Rin bothered the man.

“It’s become my task to train you,” the man continued, while narrowing his eyes at Rin. “But first, you need to take that stuff out of your face.”

“What? My piercings?” Rin asked, confused and slightly offended.

“Yes. Anything that makes you stand out in a crowd can result in your death,” Mikoshiba said. “Or cause suspicion when you have to go through metal detectors.”

“Do people here hate piercings so much they’re going to kill me?” Rin ironically asked.

“No, but you still have to go through a metal detector to enter certain rooms here, specifically the swimming pool and any place close to the weaponry room, and the main house, too, though you won’t need to enter there.”

“Then I just won’t go to those places?" Rin bargained, much to Mikoshiba’s dismay. They stared at each other for a while, until Rin let out a frustrated sigh, knowing the man wasn't going to let it go. “Fine.”

Rin stepped into the bathroom to take out his earrings, but knowingly and defiantly left the curved barbell piercing in his left eyebrow and his nipple piercings. The latter ones weren't visible, anyway, so the piercing-hating bodyguards shouldn’t be able to put a target on his back for those. When he stepped out, Mikoshiba gave him an impatient look.

“What?”

“You forgot one.”

“Really?” Rin asked innocently, then touched around his face. “Oh, right, haha. My bad.”

Rin figured it was best not to test the man’s patience any further and took it out, though he hated being forced into doing anything, which had been happening a lot all day, so again: he was about ready to just collapse anywhere at this point. Maybe punch a wall first.

“Why are you so anti-piercing?” Rin asked as he followed the man out of the door. "It's literally just an accessory. A piece of jewelry."

“As I said, it makes you stand out,” Mikoshiba repeated. “And your sole mission in this business is to not stand out.”

“If that was the mission, you wouldn’t all be wearing those matching suits and driving around in mobster cars,” Rin argued. "Plus, your roots are showing."

“Besides,” Mikoshiba said, ignoring Rin completely. “An opponent can grab them and yank them out.”

“People can grab at anything, not just piercings. Do you want to cut off my hair next? Take off my skin? Maybe cut off an arm or ear while you’re at it?” Rin went on. “Piercings don't put me in any more grabbing-risks than if I didn't have them.”

“You know, maybe you’re right,” Mikoshiba said, though his tone didn’t exactly signal agreement. “Want to start with the ear or the arm? Or maybe the skin, since those uncovered tattoos of yours make you stand out a whole lot too?”

Rin shut up, though he still dared to roll his eyes. He had to admit defeat, as there was clearly no way of winning any argument with a guy that stuck-up, but whatever. It had been worth the try, he figured. At least it made him feel less obedient.

Mikoshiba took him around the training facilities, explaining his absolutely dreadful training regime for Rin. Rin barely listened after reaching the conclusion that the guy was probably a tad bit insane. They headed for the indoor shooting range next, where Rin would be forced to spend a lot of time too. Upon entering, he had to go through a metal detector as promised, and of course it activated the instant he stepped through. The two bodyguards standing guard by the metal detector and currently watching him, gave him looks that almost made him feel threatened, but he was too cocky to let it get to him and decided to try to play with them a little.

“Ah, excuse me,” Rin cockily smiled. “Must be these-”

As Rin reached under his shirt, all bodyguards, including Mikoshiba, took out and pointed their guns at him.

“Chill,” Rin quickly called out, only letting some of the shock he felt be audible in his voice. He lifted up his shirt to show off his nipple piercings. “I know you guys hate piercings, but this is a little over-the-top.”

The shock from a sudden hard slap against the back of his head nearly made him stumble forward, and he turned around, sharply and angrily, only to be met with an equally angry expression on Mikoshiba’s face.

“What was that for?!” Rin angrily called out.

“Do you think this is a game?!” Mikoshiba accusingly, impatiently and loudly asked.

“Well, kind of,” Rin shamelessly admitted, making Mikoshiba pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration.

“Just my fucking luck, thanks Nanase,” Mikoshiba mumbled to himself between gritted teeth. ”I’ve got better things to do than babysit some toy.”

“I think tool would be more fitting,” Rin cheekily interjected, listening along just fine despite the mumble. “You know, since I’m a mechanic?”

Mikoshiba gave him one last glare before stepping away. He walked around the metal detector, apparently not needing to be checked first, and then opened the door. After getting padded down several times by the other bodyguards, Rin was eventually let in as well, being allowed to keep his piercings in for now.

To Rin’s surprise, a familiar face was on the other side of the door, the loud noise of a gun being fired only muffled by walls and plexiglass. It was Haru who was standing in one of the open booths, shooting at a target attached to a plate at the back of the long room. Two bodyguards Rin hadn’t seen before stood in the separation room between the exit and the shooting range, switching between watching Haru and glancing at Rin. Once the chamber of the gun was empty, Haru lowered his gun, looked at the target for a moment and then turned around, eyes meeting Rin’s on an instant, almost as if knowing he was going to be there. Haru took off his ear muffs and slowly made his way out into the separated room while the target plate moved down to the booth he had been standing in. He had hit the target perfectly, all shots within the inner circle.

“Impressive as always,” one of the bodyguards complimented. Haru kept his gaze at Rin.

“Looks easy enough,” Rin scoffed.

Haru suddenly and in a quick motion raised his hand with the gun in it and pointed it at Rin, making the two bodyguards behind him visibly tense up ever so slightly, clearly taken by surprise. Rin felt his heart beat faster by the second, and heard it drumming louder and louder in his ears as he stared directly into the barrel of the gun. He tried to stay cool, but inside he felt something creeping up on him, from his stomach and mind to the goosebump across his skin and the hairs on the back of his neck standing upright.

It was fear, undeniable fear. Haru pulled back the slide of the gun so expertly and smoothly, it should be terrifying, but Rin couldn't deny it: it looked hot. So very hot, even when Haru’s finger was on the trigger, and even when the barrel of the gun was still pointed directly at Rin. He would have lied if he said his dick didn't slightly twitch at the mere image of Haru looking so cold and calculated, while clearly amused and clearly having decided to play along with this little bantering game of theirs, though his rules were very much different than Rin's. Rin kept it verbal. Haru clearly did not.

Logically, Rin knew Haru wouldn’t shoot him, or at least not kill him. He didn’t know why, but he was confident in that belief. And as afraid as his instinct told him he should be, the certainty he felt that Haru wouldn’t actually try to kill him did very little to quiet the thoughts of just how far he could push Haru, and just how dominant he may be able to push Haru to act. A dangerous fantasy to be having with a literal mobster, but admittedly still enticing. Rin was fucked, he knew that much.

Haru released the safety lock and turned the handle around, keeping the gun facing downwards as he reached it towards Rin, and while Rin tried not to, he couldn’t help but let out the breath he had been holding.

“If it’s so easy, why don’t you try it yourself?” Haru dared.

“Nah, I’m good,” Rin said, trying to keep calm, though his voice nearly cracked. He felt a little like pissing himself, if he was frank. A strange mix of feelings ran through him and it was uncomfortable to say the least. Lust and fear should not go hand in hand, at least not like that, and definitely not aimed at the person who had technically just become his boss, for lack of any better word.

Haru reached the gun towards him more persistently, and Rin knew he couldn’t back out of it, having run his mouth too far this time, and so he hesitantly took it. He followed Haru into the shooting range itself, where Haru grabbed and put up a new target paper onto the plate and let it slide halfway across the range. To Rin's surprise, all the bodyguards stayed out in the other room.

“Let’s make it easy for you,” Haru condescendingly said, while taking the gun from Rin to reload it before handing it back to him. He put a new target on the plate and with two pushes on some buttons, he let the target plate slide down halfway across the room. He then put on his own earmuffs and gestured for a pair that hung on one side of the booth Rin was standing in. Rin put them on, and with much awkward hesitancy that he tried his best to cover up, he managed to figure out the basics of the gun in his head. He aimed as best as he could at the target, and took a shot, surprised by the powerful force behind it. He felt a hand on his hip and one on his shoulder, and for a moment he flinched, until he realized it was just Haru. Haru said something, but Rin couldn’t hear what it was.

“What?” Rin yelled out. Haru pointed to his own earmuffs, one side slid a little back, allowing some noise in. Rin copied him.

“I said your stance will make you break your shoulder,” Haru repeated. “You’re holding it too loosely and too close to your body. It’s not like in the movies.”

Rin audibly gulped down, as Haru put his hand against Rin’s own, guiding it around as he continued to talk. It was a good thing Rin's brain didn’t short-circuit completely or he might have accidentally fired the gun out of some failed brain-to-nerve connection.

"Hold it with both hands. You're right handed, so put your right hand on first,” Haru guided in a reserved tone, almost sounding annoyed, while moving Rin’s other hand away, then focused on his right hand’s position first. “Your middle finger should be touching the bottom of the guard. Then your other hand,” he let go of Rin’s right hand and guided his left hand up. “Don't place your hand at the back of a semi-automatic like this one, unless you want to lose a finger. Place it just below the thumb of your right hand.”

Rin nodded along, and after Haru was done demonstrating the best and safe way to hold a gun, Rin took another shot. He could definitely feel the improvement, his shoulder didn’t take the same amount of fierce power as before. When he was done emptying it for bullets, Haru pressed a button by the booth and the plate with the target moved back up to them.

Rin had been surprisingly good at it, but definitely not perfect, missing the desired inner point of the target, but still getting close. A few misses, but many had been within the outer red circle.

“Not so easy after all?” Haru smugly asked.

“Sure, but I still got you all hot and bothered, didn’t I?” Rin teased, not allowing himself to feel embarrassed by not living up to his own comment from before, and also refusing to admit defeat because of it.

”You’re unbelievable,” Haru said, annoyed.

“Not so bad yourself,” Rin continued almost flirtatiously, making Haru roll his eyes.

“Thanks,” Haru said, sarcastically. “By the way, why do you have two holes in your eyebrow?”

“Because my piercing isn’t there?” Rin answered, confused.

“Why?” Haru repeated.

“What do you mean why? Did you think it was magnetic or something?”

“No, why did you take it out?” Haru clarified, and Rin didn’t know why his stomach started to flutter at that question. Almost as if it made him happy that Haru noticed and seemed to possibly disapprove, even if his voice was monotone and therefore gave no signal to such a thing.

“Because your tall goon told me to,” Rin said, confused as to why Haru didn’t realize that. Rin couldn’t possibly be the first one there to have piercings.

“Such small metal really sets off the detectors?” Haru then asked, clearly having put two and two together, and almost sounding impressed.

“Apparently so, your other goons groped me before I got in here to make sure I didn’t carry any bombs with me,” Rin said

“Why if you took it out?”

“I still have more,” Rin smugly smiled.

“Wait, you swallowed them?” Haru asked, confusedly and judgmentally.

“Of course not, idiot, I have piercings outside of my face and ears,” Rin clarified, amused.

“Why?”

“‘Cause I like them? Which reminds me, I didn’t think it would be necessary to mention before I left your creepy office, but I want to keep wearing them.”

“Another demand?” Haru asked, raising his eyebrow.

“Kind of.”

“Since you’re new and still untrustworthy, while also surrounded by heavy armor that you’re unable to properly use yet, the answer is no. When you’re done with training, I might consider it. Until then, the bodyguards’ rules and orders apply to you too,” Haru concluded.

“Oh wow, does that mean no more shitty rules when I’m done?” Rin sarcastically asked, annoyed to have to continue to obey other people, and to conform to stupid and boring rules and concepts like that. Haru gave him a blank look, then easily slid the gun out of Rin’s hands, turned around and started walking away.

“If you behave, they might lessen,” Haru dryly said, before exiting the room, leaving Rin behind, staring after him slightly offended and mildly confused.

Rin had received a verbal reprimand from Mikoshiba for talking down to Haru, but since Haru had amused him with it and therefore dealt with it himself more or less, the reprimand wasn’t bad. Still, getting told off by a stranger was annoying.

The remainder of the already far-too-long day was spent in the most boring of environments: a classroom. Yes, a goddamn classroom, for lack of better terms, at least. A small room with a large smartboard hanging on one wall and chairs and desks in front of it. It was a bit fancy, like everything else on the property, but Rin guessed it might be very similar to how a private school classroom might look. And feel, too. It was boring, and it was quiet, and it was rid of any fun and stimulants. There wasn’t even a single window, making it feel suffocating to sit in for long. Rin quickly got distracted, looking around the room, trying to keep himself from falling asleep.

Mikoshiba had left him all alone with a video playing on the smartboard. It was like a recruitment video, similar to those Rin had heard they sometimes showed to people during job training for places like grocery stores. The monotone voice didn’t help to make it any more interesting.

It went over the Nanase family business, and what that entailed. Important information to know, the video said, but Rin highly doubted that. The family had many different businesses and trades, but the main one that the people watching this dumb video should concern themselves with, was within import and export of luxury items including cars, alcohol, yachts, and more. Rin zoned out as the list went on. The family also made a great revenue from their owned hotels, casinos, clubs, bars and restaurants all around the world, and they all had names Rin didn't listen to, but which were apparently important to remember, since the job as a bodyguard for the Nanases required that they should be able to tell them apart and memorize the location and basic information of each nearby establishment. So in conclusion, Rin figured he was correct in his assumption that this whole video and general training was useless to him and his job.

There was absolutely nothing that could possibly be so vital about all of this information to him. He had no use for any of it. It sure didn’t make him a better mechanic or driver. He briefly wondered if the bar the two had met at was one of those owned ones, but he honestly didn’t really care, and he hadn't paid attention enough to catch any familiar names.

By the time the video was done, Rin had already fallen asleep, sprawled across the tiny desk in front of him. He was woken up by a rather irritated Mikoshiba, who proceeded to quiz him on the video, just to further bore and torture him. As if he wasn’t tired enough.

He had eaten lunch in a cafeteria in the bodyguards’ building before the boring lecture, and after the dumb lecture, that was where he was taken to for dinner as well. He had sat with Mikoshiba all alone during lunch, but during dinner, Hazuki came over and sat down beside him, asking him questions about what he thought of everything so far. A stark contrast to the complete silence of lunch. More and more people came over and sat by the table, and Mikoshiba stirred up conversation with the others, two of whom looked unmistakably similar to himself.

“They’re all siblings,” Hazuki whispered into his ears, probably having noticed Rin looking between the three similar faces.

“Figured,” Rin said.

“Seijuro is the oldest, then Isuzu, and then Momotaro, the youngest and newest of them,” Hazuki explained.

“Do you have any siblings here too?” Rin skeptically asked, as if he was trying to figure out just how messed up this whole business was.

“No, all my sisters have other jobs," Hazuki answered honestly. "Do you have any siblings, Rin?”

Slightly taken aback by the first-name casualness as well as the question itself making Rin unsure how much he should share of his private life with these people, Rin took a few seconds to answer, and Hazuki almost repeated himself when Rin finally answered: “Yes. A younger sister.”

“I have three older sisters. They can be such a pain, right?" Hazuki complained, and then carried on into stories of them and of himself, with Rin just nodding along, right until dinner was over and he was allowed by Mikoshiba to rest by himself in his room rather than start training - thank fuck.

His gratitude was short-lived, though, when he came to the depressing realization that he had absolutely nothing to do in his room. Hazuki had guided him along to the place where he could pick up sheets and linens after dinner, along with a training outfit, a toothbrush and toothpaste, towels and some hand soap for his own bathroom. Now he was alone in his room with nothing to do but put the sheets on the linens and then lie down and stare at the ceiling, wondering what the hell he was doing at a place like this.

Rin had eventually drifted off to sleep, and when he awoke the next day, it was abruptly to the sound of knocking at his door. A repetition of the morning prior, though this time much more quietly, though still persistent. He expected it to be Mikoshiba coming to pick him up to start out that harsh training regime he had planned for him, but to his surprise, it wasn’t him that came through the door when Rin groggily called out for the person to come in, after he realized he forgotten to lock the door before going to sleep the evening prior, so he was glad nothing had happened.

Haru stood on the threshold, holding something in his clenched hand and looking down at Rin lying on the futon on the floor, a thin duvet only covering the bottom half of his body as he sat up, exposing his entire torso. The two stared at each other for a moment before Haru cleared his throat.

“Your piercings are back,” Haru pointed out, a little awkwardly. Rin couldn’t tell whether it was a simple observation or if he meant anything by it. Or if he was just trying to stir up conversation.

“Missed them?” Rin asked, voice slightly hoarse but mind not too tired to come up with suggestive remarks.

“My car won’t start,” Haru said rather directly, obviously changing the subject.

“Did you put the keys in the ignition?” Rin teasingly mocked.

“Very funny. Get up and go look at it,” Haru ordered and threw a pair of car keys into Rin’s lap.

“Good morning to you too, sunshine,” Rin sarcastically remarked. “Can’t it wait five fucking minutes?”

“No,” Haru strictly said. “Get up or I’ll have Mikoshiba level up your training.”

Haru kept staring at him, and Rin just stared back, refusing to get up. For starters, some privacy would have been nice. And breakfast too. Maybe even a shower or a quick brushing of his teeth, if he really were to give himself a treat. Secondly, he refused to be bossed around like that. Of course, to Haru, none of that mattered, and he made it pretty clear by the increasingly impatient and annoyed look on his face.

"Fine,” Rin sighed and got up, admittedly self-satisfied by the briefly surprised and shy hint in Haru’s expression at the sight of Rin in nothing but underwear. “Can I at least put some clothes on before you drag me off or do you want me to get oil all over my body?”

“Whatever,” Haru simply said and despite it only being a split second, Rin caught the way Haru’s eyes quickly looked down. It could barely be called scanning, likely not even checking out, just natural curiosity or coincidental eye-moving. Still, though, Rin was not going to let him live that down.

“Ah, so you do want me to do it half naked, huh?” Rin teased. “Oh Haru, I did not expect you to have such kinks, but I guess that’s on me for being assumptious.”

Haru left the room and Rin couldn’t help but let out a laugh, then quickly grabbed his clothes, put his socks on, pulled his pants up and then, not having zipped them up, he put on his shoes, and followed after Haru while zipping his pants up and holding onto his shirt, very purposely making a show out of it despite Haru not even looking. He must have felt it, and that was enough of a victory for Rin.

Haru took him out to a golf cart where two bodyguards waited for him, one of them sitting behind the steering wheel and the other in the backseat. Haru sat in the passenger seat, leaving Rin to take the other backseat spot, naturally resigned to the back, it seemed. They drove to the large garage, where Haru walked in, Rin at his heels by order. Rin was admittedly quite curious to see the place from the inside, having only seen it from the outside so far, with the several cars holding out front, mostly only the ones the bodyguards used.

Inside, Rin was quick to notice how it was, as Hazuki had told him, much more just for storage. It was a big space, with rows of luxury cars mixed in with more practical cars and some sports ones, too. There was a small selection of basic tools hanging on one wall and lying around on a table, with some equipment and wheels and a few spare parts spread around the big room. Nothing much, not even a lift anywhere.

“Say… did you want me to work from here?”

“When working on the cars? Yes," Haru confirmed. "Why? Is that a problem?”

“Yes. There’s like… barely the right equipment here?”

“Well, when or if you finish your training, you can make a list of all the things you’ll need,” Haru nonchalantly said, as if it wouldn’t be extremely expensive, or as if it simply didn’t matter that it would be. “It’s that one.”

“What?”

“The car. This one. The one that won’t start,” Haru clarified, gesturing to a black Mercedes-AMG CLS63 behind one of the garage doors.

And so with only a few more comments said out loud, Rin got to work. He got in the driver’s seat, put the key in the ignition and then turned it. With no sound coming from the car, it was a quick diagnosis. There was just a little bit of clicking sounds when he tried again, but it quickly died out, so he was certain his assumption was correct.

“You probably have a bad starter,” Rin said, as he popped the hood and got out of the car to take a look.

“A what?”

“A starter,” Rin repeated. “A small motor that starts and keeps the engine running?`”

Haru just gave Rin a look of slight disinterest and confusion.

“It’s the part that makes the car go vroom,” Rin mocked, making Haru roll his eyes.

“I know that," Haru said, but the offended and stubborn tone made it even more clear that he definitely didn't know that. "But why is there something wrong with the engine? The car is almost new.”

“Well, while failures and other things do commonly happen more often with older cars, it can still happen with new cars. Factory errors and service mistakes are a real thing,” Rin explained, a bit absentmindedly while rummaging through the car with bare hands. “Besides, it’s not new, this model is from like 2017 or 18,” Rin pointed out. Quite obvious since it didn’t have a push button starter. “Could have happened during the last service maintenance or something else. But hey - good news, pretty boy. It’s an easy fix. One of the cables is just loose,” he added, while working to re-attach it properly. “There we go. Try now.”

Haru looked at him skeptically, almost as if not believing that it could possibly have been that easy, but he still went in and tried, and behold, much to his own surprise, but not to Rin’s, it worked.

“Now you can go make all the sketchy abandoned warehouse visits you need to do today, and I can go continue to sleep,” Rin said, as he lowered the hood again, then stepped over to Haru who remained sitting in the driver's seat. Haru looked up at him and gave him an amused smile, as if that comment had been funny to him. There was a bit of a stretch of just silence, and Rin cleared his throat. “Well, you’re welcome.”

Haru continued to look at Rin for a moment, then closed the door. Rin looked into the tinted window a bit offended, and watched as Haru rolled it down.

“Listen to Mikoshiba,” Haru simply said, before the garage door in front of the car opened, likely from some button Haru had somewhere closeby, and then he drove out. Rin watched the car disappear as it followed the long driveway down to the right, then Rin headed out just as the garage door started to close.

Chapter Text

As much as Rin needed it, he was not given the opportunity and luxury of even just a few more minutes of sleep. Mikoshiba awaited him as he returned to his room, and as if that looming welcome in itself wasn’t enough, he was then dragged off and put through hours of misery and torture. Mikoshiba and some other bodyguards were testing out his stamina, survival skills and defense with combat and martial arts training - the latter one they were surprised by how well he did, though that only meant they upped their game, pushing him beyond limits of exhaustion and having him on the floor of a school-gym-looking room by the fourth or so hour, stubbornly refusing to admit defeat but mentally begging for it all to end already.

Rin was still lying down on the blessedly cold floor with closed eyes, heaving after his breath once he was done with running through a military-like setup of an obstacle course, when Mikoshiba was yelling at him to get back up, but he ignored him. If he had a white flag he just might have raised it. Instead, he raised a middle finger in Mikoshiba's general direction.

To his surprise, the room got all quiet, no response to him flipping off Mikoshiba, not even a disapproved sigh of pent-up annoyance. He was about to hesitantly open his eyes to check what was going on, ready to protect his face should Mikoshiba have finally been pushed over the edge, when he felt someone lightly kick his foot. He opened one eye to give an annoyed yet indifferent look to whoever had kicked him, then immediately opened the other one too.

“Oh hey, pretty boy,” Rin greeted in a flirtatious tone, sounding completely out of breath. If he wasn’t wrong, Haru looked almost shy at that, standing by his feet and looking down at him, though glancing away from him at the bold greeting. “Looking sharp for someone who just got back from those sandy warehouse roads.”

“I see you’re nearing a breaking point,” Haru mocked after looking back down at Rin, and it would have offended Rin, if he hadn’t caught that glimpse of shyness before and figured Haru was just fighting back - again.

“Takes a lot more to break me,” Rin stated. “Though this intense training thing wasn’t part of the deal, you cunning shit.”

“Then I guess I’ll leave you to it,” Haru said, about to turn around.

“Aww, going so soon? You’re not even going to help me up?” Rin added to his pettiness by pouting at him.

“Why would I do that?” Haru asked, with not even a single trace of sympathy.

“Because your bodyguards assaulted me?” Rin suggested.

“Training and assaulting are two different things,” Haru pointed out.

“And yet here I am, on the floor either way.”

“Not their fault that you apparently suck,” Haru said, gaining a snicker and chuckle from the bodyguards in the room.

“How about you try me yourself?” Rin dared, suddenly intrigued by the idea of getting the opportunity to manhandle Haru.

“Pass,” Haru dryly said, turning back around and taking a step forward, about to leave. Rin quickly got up and started to follow him.

“Wait, what were you even doing here? For how long am I supposed to put up with this?” Rin demanded to know, and when Haru didn’t so much as stop, Rin grabbed his wrist to try to stop him, annoyed over being ignored. Haru, though, instinctively twisted his own wrist and yanked his arm away from Rin, then quickly grabbed Rin’s wrist instead and pushed him hard backwards so that he bumped into something and fell down, landing directly onto what he had bumped into, which was luckily a safety crash mattress, with Haru following along, both legs on either side of him, above him but not quite on top of him, while pressing most of his body weight through his own arms against Rin’s arms that were now pressed against Rin's chest.

Rin looked up at him both startled and apologetically, not having meant for the banter to end up gaining that sort of reaction. Their faces were close, Haru still hovering over him while staring daggers into his eyes, and Rin would lie if he said he didn’t feel a little spark in the pit of his stomach as the words that’s hot came before that kinda fucking hurts in his head, only followed by the quick additional note that it was good to know that Haru could absolutely and effortlessly pin him down - an information he was definitely going to store away and save for later.

“Sorry,” Rin hastily apologized, voice strained from his chest getting squeezed. He tried to pull his hurting arms out from underneath Haru's forceful grasp, but Haru just leaned down closer, the pain worsening as a result, their faces mere centimeters from each other, and all Rin could do was stare at his lips, so gorgeous and inviting up close like that. Haru leaned further forward to the side of Rin’s head, so that his mouth was close to Rin’s ear.

“Don’t ever do that again,” Haru ordered with a cold and threatening tone. It sent a shiver down Rin’s spine and made him audibly gulp, but not out of fear; no, it was something different.

“Understood,” Rin breathed out, and after Haru gave Rin one last look, he let go of him and got up in one swift move, then left without further word. The fact that Rin was left feeling an all too familiar rush in the lower part of his abdomen was a little unsettling. However, the fact that he also felt worried - that was even more unsettling.

Rin didn’t see Haru for the remainder of the day. And the next day passed by without any sign of him, either. Outside of the tough training and boring lessons he was put through, Rin spent every hour thinking about him and wondering what sort of button he had pushed to get such a defensive reaction. Had he really overstepped that much? And if so, how badly? Was Haru giving him the silent treatment now? What had he even been there at the gym for to begin with? Was he there to see Rin or was he there for something else entirely? No matter how much he tried not to think about it, his mind kept drifting back to it, and it was annoying him to no end.

When Rin finally did see the nuisance again, he was standing in one of the gardens with Hazuki (who had started to insist that Rin called him by his first name, Nagisa, since - according to him - they were friends now), unwinding during a break from a particularly tough day of training for them both and a large group of bodyguards. It was sort of nice to not be the only one getting put through torture, and to be able to talk about it with Nagisa, which they had been doing right until Nagisa suddenly straightened up as he noticed something behind Rin. Rin turned around and saw Haru approaching them.

“Mr. Nanase,” Nagisa greeted with a respectful bow. Rin straightened his posture too, not out of respect, but out of a sense of tension he refused to acknowledge that he truly felt.

“Hazuki,” Haru said, giving him a friendly smile. Rin hadn’t seen that before - a friendly smile from him, especially not aimed at the bodyguards.

“Did the meeting with Mr. Gin go well?” Nagisa asked. Who’s Gin?

“He’s adamant about the deal, but I’m sure I can change his mind.”

“Who’s Gin?” Rin confusedly asked, a little annoyed to be left out of the conversation. Haru glanced at him, only to look back at Nagisa, and what the fuck was with that attitude, Rin wondered.

“Naigsa, do you mind preparing a car, and wait for me by the gate?” Haru asked, and it confused Rin to see him speak so… casually to Nagisa, even using his first name now, too. Maybe the guy just had that influence on people. Then again, Haru also used Rin’s first name, so he probably just went with whatever he wanted to. Still, the politeness in his request didn’t go unnoticed to Rin, who expected that Haru freely bossed around with everyone else too.

“Are you sure you don’t want someone else? Seijuro is putting us 3rds through brush-up right now. I can find Makoto instead, if you want?” Nagisa offered.

“No, I’d like for it to be you. I’m sure Mikoshiba doesn’t mind,” Haru said. “Unless you actually want to go through the course.”

“No, that’s fine,” Nagisa was quick to say, then giddily hurried off in the direction of the garage, clearly happy to be spared for more hours of training. He only paused to take one last look at Rin, then Haru, then back at Rin, like he was considering something, before he turned around again and disappeared around the corner of a bush. Rin considered asking Haru if he could be spared, too, but he figured it was better to hold onto just a little bit of whatever dignity he had left, and also not risk pushing him any further.

As Rin watched Nagisa disappear out of the garden, he suddenly realized Haru was staring at him. The two looked at each other in awkward and relatively long silence, neither budging to say something first, until Rin finally gave in and cleared his throat, feeling far too uncomfortable.

“Sorry… about the other day,” Rin began, trying to keep looking at Haru but finding it a little embarrassing. “I was just playing around.”

"You’re apologizing?" Haru asked, confused.

"Well, yeah?"

“Why?”

"You seemed genuinely startled. I didn't mean to cause that."

“It’s…” Haru trailed off, suddenly unsure of what to say. Rin couldn’t believe a simple half-assed apology could throw him off like that and make him seemingly speechless. “It did startle me, yes. No one has been able to do that in years.”

“Startle you? How, with your line of work?” Rin asked, surprised. After all, there should be plenty of reasons to get startled when people were literally trying to kill him.

“No, I mean no one has been able to grab me without me knowing or noticing it since I was a child,” Haru elaborated. Rin’s eyes widened at that, then went back to normal as he raised a cocky eyebrow instead.

“Are you saying I’m that stealthy?”

“No, I’m implying that I didn’t consider you a threat,” Haru clarified.

“Well, at least you do now,” Rin smiled, satisfied. Felt good to have the upper hand for a change.

“No,” Haru smiled amusedly, sounding as if he was about to let out a chuckle. “You’re reckless and unpredictable, but definitely not a threat.”

“Hey, that’s not true,” Rin objected, a bit offended.

“A threat to yourself, sure, but not towards anyone else. At least not me,” Haru teased. “Keep listening to Mikoshiba or you’re going to become a threat, but not in the way that you think.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Stop running your mouth and acting recklessly, unless you want to put yourself or others in danger,” Haru advised.

“I don’t run my mouth,” Rin objected again, though he knew that was a lie. “And I’m definitely not reckless.” - again, also a lie, and he knew that too.

Haru gave him a knowing and smug look, and although for a moment Rin got distracted by the way Haru’s eyelashes seemed to briefly flutter, he still felt annoyed at the feeling of having lost this round of their game, though the rules were still unclear to him.

“Here,” Haru said, and reached into his pocket and then handed something to Rin. It was a phone. Rin’s own phone. “Call your mother, reply to your messages, stick to the story and do it well. My advisor, Tachibana, is outside the entrance to the garden, he’ll guide you along beforehand.”

Rin couldn’t believe the utter relief and joy he felt upon holding his phone in his hands again. This little piece of technology was the first familiar thing he had seen in days, and he would lie if he said he didn’t feel a little emotional.

As Haru left without further word, a tall brunette walked into the garden where Rin was still standing and introduced himself as Makoto Tachibana, before going over Rin’s “cover story”. He was a comfortable presence, if Rin was honest. Even though it was creepy to have someone listen and watch along during his emotional call with his mom and sister, it was nice that it was him rather than any of the other people he had met so far. He seemed apologetic about invading Rin’s privacy, too, and even though he continued to do so nonetheless, at least he was as respectful about it as he could be.

Rin called his best friend and coworker Sousuke next and went over the same lie as he had done with his mom and sister, and although the guilt was eating away at him for lying to and worrying them all, it almost faded in comparison to how good it felt to hear their voices again. He replied to all of his messages, explaining to various people that he was finally starting to feel better again, though he was still not well, had no energy and slept a whole lot. The first two things were technically true and the latter he wished was true.

Messages kept pinging in, and he tried to reply to them all in time for Tachibana to give him a sympathetic look, informing him that he should probably head back to training before Mikoshiba got mad at him for returning late. He was surprised to be allowed to keep his phone with him, and as he gave Tachibana a puzzled look, Tachibana gave him an apologetic smile.

“It’s tapped,” Tachibana said, as a clarification more than an apology. That was admittedly a little too uncomfortable for Rin to think about for too long, but he wasn’t surprised at all.

“Figured,” Rin just sighed.

“Oh, and the location feature has been deactivated and negated. You won’t be able to use it again, a bug has been put in to override it, but everything else should work fine,” Tachibana explained.

“Sounds a little extreme,” Rin said with a disapproving tone and look. “Thanks anyway, I guess. Tell shitface he can stick it if he’s been going through my phone without my permission again, though.”

The expression on Tachibana’s face was almost hilariously shocked.

“I- uh- who?”

“Haru.”

“Oh,” Tachibana let out, eyes widened in disbelief. Rin figured he must not have been used to people talking about Haru that way, quite clearly. “Well- uh, actually… I have?”

“What? You told him that?” Rin amusedly asked with a short, disbelieved chuckle.

“No, um, I was the one who… uh… had to go through your phone,” Tachibana clarified. “Or actually our techs did, I just went over the summary. It’s standard procedure, though, we only really look for complications and suspicious things. You passed, though, no worries.”

“Ah, yes, because passing some unknown test was definitely what I was worried about,” Rin snarkily commented. Tachibana looked incredibly tense, like he wasn’t sure what to say or do. “Well, anyway, thanks for the invasion of my privacy. I’ll go back to getting tortured by the redhead now.”

Tachibana nodded, and Rin could feel him watching him as he walked away. To his luck, Mikoshiba seemed to already know why he was late, not even commenting on his return but just carried on with what he was in the middle of. Tachibana must have told him, he figured. Or maybe Haru had. Either way, one less reprimand or scolding was appreciated.

Rin was getting a lot better at combat training and weaponry usage, and as things became easier and he learned to mostly shut up when provoked by Mikoshiba, training eventually became bearable, too. Being able to contact his family and general network was truly what pulled him through it all, though, especially as he was allowed to spend more and more time on his phone, to align with the story of his health improving.

Days turned into a week, and then before he knew it, the end was near. Two near-death experiences (one being almost drowning while tied up in a pool during one particular survival exercise and the other being a fall from a rope where he nearly missed the safety mattress underneath him) and a whole lot of bruises and mild injuries later, Mikoshiba could inform him that he was done, with a snarky comment that Mikoshiba really hadn’t expected him to last. Rin knew it was pure stubbornness that pulled him through it, but now that he was done and could no longer be punished by the guy, he gave him a wide smile and told him exactly where to stick it and fuck off to.

He was brought back to the office building, where Haru awaited him inside of his office. He told him a ride was prepared for him to take him back to his apartment at 2 in the middle of the night, then handed him that phone he was supposed to carry with him everywhere so that Haru could contact him whenever he wanted to.

“What if I’m taking a shower while you call? Are you going to kill me, then?” Rin sarcastically asked.

“If you don’t answer, I might,” Haru said, with zero hesitation or reciprocated sarcasm.

He was picked up by two bodyguards during the night as promised, having stayed up waiting the whole time, then driven all the way to his apartment. To his surprise, he wasn’t escorted out, but was allowed to go back on his own. And the car wasn’t there on the street when he looked out of the window, but had already left. He had expected them to stick around and do some surveillance-slash-stalking on him.

He slept for a few hours, his own lousy bed never having felt so blissfully comfortable before and the sounds of the city being as calming. The first thing he did when he woke up, other than enjoying not having to see someone in a suit hovering over him, was to eat breakfast in peaceful silence, and then he hurried off to go visit his mom.

The reunion with her was heartwarming, and it was just what Rin needed to feel grounded again. She was so incredibly happy to finally see him again, scolding him for getting sick and scaring her like that, and filled a plate up with various danishes and buns, completely set on caring for him in person again, no longer needing to drop by with her small grocery and food packages that she had left outside of his apartment door for the past 3 weeks. Rin knew about those. Nagisa had told him that a bodyguard had been tasked with checking in on his apartment, rearranging things and making it look like someone was still there, and whoever the intruder was had been enjoying most of those packages to themselves, but Rin had been lucky to get to enjoy some of them, including his mom’s home cooking, sending her his gratitude through short texts.

But all of that was over now, and he was so happy to be able to look her in the eyes while he expressed his gratitude once more. He lied and talked about shows that he had watched, trying to keep up his lie, and while it still hurt to lie to her, it was nice to talk about something other than fake sickness. She commented on him having gained some muscle, and he was quick to come up with a lie that that was all due to having so much time to do some weightlifting at home while he was getting better. She didn’t question it, and he quickly changed the subject back onto her.

He left with more food in a bag and a promise to come back later when Gou got off from work. Then he went by the repair shop, greeted by various choruses and joyous calls for how the corpse finally left the casket. Sousuke fistbumped him and asked how he was feeling, though Rin didn’t get a chance to answer, as his boss, Sasabe Goro, ambushed him with a tight hug and complained about how behind they had gotten without him there.

He was allowed a slow transition back, something he was grateful for, but nonetheless felt guilty about, since he didn’t actually need it. He worked alongside Sousuke on a few cars before Sasabe demanded that he should go back home and rest. He tried to argue that he didn’t need to be babied, much to Sousuke’s amusement, but he eventually had to relent.

It was quite strange. Outside of memories and the phone he was forced to carry around with him everywhere, it was like those three weeks had never happened. A call didn’t come, and no bodyguards showed up at his doorstep either. A week passed, and he had gotten back into his daily routines and work hours again, but still no call. No one checked on him, and no one required anything of him. He briefly wondered whether they had all gone underground. Maybe they had been arrested? Or maybe they had just simply forgotten about him? For some reason, that didn’t make him feel relieved, which he thought it should. Instead it just annoyed him how abandoned he almost felt because of it. Offended, too, for apparently not being worth keeping in the loop.

Two weeks passed, and it was starting to creep him out a little. Where were those guys? Where was Haru? Had he found someone else?

Then, as he stepped inside the bakery one day, his mom practically jumped up and down as she announced the joyous news that Toraichi’s was among the few selected by Treats4U, a popular candy company, for a huge sponsorship and advertisement deal for their great dessert innovation and achievement award. Apparently the bakery had won a taste test out of all the privately owned bakeries in the area, and was among the company’s top 3 in the entirety of Tokyo. Rin had to act surprised, which he wasn’t, but the elated joy he felt over seeing his mom this happy for the first time in so many years? That wasn’t fake.

Still, though, even as his mom met up with various corporate people over the next many days, going over the deal and what it entailed, there was no sign of Haru or anyone else that seemed directly linked to him.

Almost three weeks passed before the mystery phone called with the number 1 as the contact name, while Rin was in the middle of his dinner.

“I have your first assignment,” a familiar voice spoke. There was dead silence in the background, only the sound of that voice had broken it briefly.

“You really put yourself down as number one on this phone? How self centered,” Rin said, while obnoxiously taking a bite of his food and audibly chewing on it.

“When you finish your kid’s menu, there’s a car parked down in front of your door.”

“Is it you?” Rin curiously asked.

“No?”

“Aw, I was just looking forward to using your ugly tie as a napkin.”

“Who says I’m wearing a tie?”

“Hmm… That’s true. Meet me at wherever I’m being kidnapped to this time, so I can see for myself,” Rin dared.

“Just get in the car,” Haru ordered before hanging up. It was strict, but something in his tone sounded amused, like he also enjoyed the short-lived banter.

“Rude,” Rin said to himself, then stuffed the phone back in the back pocket of his pants before stuffing his mouth with the rest of his ramen and then walked down to the car parked in front of his building.

Apparently he was kidnapped to no other place than back to the estate. As he went out of the car on his own and looked around, he sensed a strange atmosphere. Like something was wrong. People seemed more tense than usual, and for a moment Rin could feel the hair on his neck stand up, not knowing what it could mean. Then he spotted Nagisa walking towards him, and the familiar sight was admittedly welcoming, although Nagisa also looked a bit off.

“Is something wrong?” Rin asked once Nagisa was within hearing distance. He could feel eyes on him at the question, but ignored it. Nagisa gave him a weak, sideways smile.

“Hi Rin,” Nagisa greeted. “Follow me.”

Rin did as he said, a bit hesitant. They walked towards the garage, and once out of hearing distance of other people, Nagisa slowed down his walking pace.

“There was an incident today. We lost a lot of agents, one of them a personal bodyguard of Nanase’s,” Nagisa explained. “Everyone’s quite affected by it right now.”

“I’m… sorry to hear that,” Rin consoled, not quite sure what the best thing would be to say. He wasn’t that close to anyone there at all, not even Nagisa. He likely didn’t even know who had died, and even if he had met them he probably didn’t remember them much. Though, if it had been Haru’s personal bodyguard, did that mean- “Was he there…?”

“Who?”

“Haru.”

“Oh, yes, he was there, but he got off without a scratch,” Nagisa said reassuringly and Rin nodded.

“Where is he though?” Rin asked, and then realized he might sound like he cared about the guy in a way that he didn’t want anyone to know, so he quickly added: “He said he had some assignment for me.”

“Right,” Nagisa said, and opened the door into the garage, then went in, with an impatient Rin following behind him. “Some of the cars are beyond repair, but some of them he wants you to see if you can fix. But first, he wants you to install bulletproof glass in the cars that don’t have it yet. The death of one of his bodyguards in particular was due to a shot through the windshield, so he wants to make anything like that impossible in the future.”

“Is he aware of how much that can cost? And of the fact that he needs a specialist? I’m not qualified to do it,” Rin objected, while looking around the many Cadillac Escalade cars and various Mercedes-Benz S-class cars from various years. “Besides, there’s so many things to take into consideration, like everything from how thick he wants it or stylistic choices…”

Nagisa shrugged, clearly not getting the big deal. “Well, you’re the mechanic… I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

“That’s very supportive of you, thank you so much,” Rin sarcastically said. “How many cars are we even talking?”

“He didn’t say…”

“Well, can you ask?”

“He doesn’t want to be disturbed right now,” Nagisa said, voice a bit solemn.

“So I’m supposed to guess? When does he expect it to be done?” Rin asked, and Nagisa shrugged again. Rin let out a frustrated groan and dragged a hand across his face before looking back at Nagisa. “Sorry, it’s not your fault he hates me and knows nothing about cars. I’ll see what I can do.”

“I’m sure you’ll make it work,” Nagisa said as he lit up in an encouraging smile. “And besides, he doesn’t hate you.”

“Pretty sure he does, but thank you,” Rin said, and Nagisa’s smile turned eerily amused.

“Good luck,” Nagisa said, before turning around and walking away.

“Thanks,” Rin mumbled, unsure of which part Nagisa wished him luck with - the cars or Haru.

Rin set to work trying to figure out which cars already had bullet proof glass installed and which did not. It wasn’t exactly an easy task with the amount of cars in the garage alone, most of them different from the other, and it was time consuming too, especially since he had to go get a key for each car from the big key rack that hung on the wall by the door every time he was done with one. He had luckily found a notepad on the work table, so he could note down which had and didn’t have bullet proof windows, and hang a page underneath one of the windshield wipers on each car, so at least he had a system that made it easy for him to keep track of everything.

Once he was finally done, he reminded himself those were just the ones inside the garage. There were cars parked outside the garage as well. And cars in other places. It felt never-ending, and he hadn’t even gotten around to measuring the cars that needed their windows changed yet. All because a certain rich kid couldn’t keep track of his own extreme abundance of cars.

He found measuring tape by the workstation as well, then began to measure the cars’ windows. He noticed one of the tires on the third one he was measuring looked uneven compared to the others, and he inspected it and luckily didn’t find any damages, so he figured it might just need a change in pressure, which would take no time and give him a minor break from staring at glass. He opened the door and sat inside, then opened the glove compartment to look for the car’s manual and nearly jumped out when a gun suddenly came into view.

Rin’s heart beat rapidly against his chest as the word fuck was repeated over and over in his head. He quickly shut the glove compartment with a bit of force and looked around himself as if he was afraid to get caught. Then his mind caught up with him as he realized where he was and what type of businesses the people around the place were up to. He took in a deep breath while closing his eyes. He still felt a bit on edge, and it took a full five minutes of thinking and considering before he decided what to do. He hesitantly opened the glove compartment again, and took a picture of it with his work phone.

No Name [me]
21:17 [Image attached]
21:17 Hey can you come get your murder weapon so I can work?

1
21:20 It’s just a glock.
21:21 Are you scared to touch a pistol?

No Name [me]
21:21 Please don’t phrase it like that
21:21 And I’m not scared
21:22 I just don’t want to end up part of some evidence in a criminal case

1
21:24 You have already touched weapons here.
21:25 If you want it moved, move it yourself.

No Name [me]
21:25 You don’t have to be rude about it

1
21:25 Stop texting me.

No Name [me]
21:25 Stop putting guns in your cars

1
21:26 This is a one-line communication from me to you. Do not contact me.

Well that was one way to try to put Rin in his place now, wasn’t it? Too bad it didn’t work, Rin thought, as he opened the camera app once more, held up the phone and took a picture of his other, outstretched hand that was holding up one particular finger, flipping the camera off.

No Name [me]
21:26 [Image attached]

Unsurprisingly, no response came after that, and after waiting for a bit, Rin felt a mixture of victorious and disappointed; happy to have won this round, but kind of wanted it to have continued. Instead, he moved the gun with his thumb and index finger, placed it onto the seat and found the manual that he had been looking for. He could only hope the gun hadn’t been used in some gruesome murder.

Around an hour later, some bodyguard came to pick him up and drive him back home. He was a bit annoyed to leave his work unfinished, but he was also glad to be leaving the estate, and especially glad to leave the boring, never-ending task. Unfortunately, Rin was picked up already the day after and driven back to continue his daunting work.

No Name [me]
20:01 I need a computer

1
20:05 Are you serious? I told you to stop contacting me. I am not giving you a computer unless it is that wish of yours.

No Name [me]
20:06 Well I can’t fix that mafioso carglass you want so badly unless I have a damn computer to find a manufacturer for you with

1
20:07 Just use the phone. It should be connected to the Wi-Fi.

Rin could have flung his work phone against the wall out of frustration at that moment. Sure bantering with Haru could be fun, but this was just infuriating. Did he want his damn bullet proof windows or not? The lack of respect Haru had for him was what got to him the most. He despised not being taken seriously.

No Name [me]
20:07 I swear to fuck
20:08 A phone isn’t as efficient, smartass
20:08 This is insufferable
20:08 Like you
20:08 I need to compare brands and prices and other things. Find the right models for the specific cars. I'm not doing that on a goddamn tiny phone
20:09 Besides, who’s supposed to pay for them?
20:09 I sure won’t
20:09 Do you have any idea how expensive it is??
20:09 Your lack of information about this entire thing makes it near impossible to actually do it
20:12 Are you ignoring me?
20:16 Earth to mafia boss
20:16 I need information or I’m leaving

Rin impatiently fiddled around with some tools for a few minutes, then checked the phone again. The clock on his it told him it was now twenty past eight. He opened up his messages again, and with no response still, he typed out that he was leaving. He didn’t get a chance to finish and send the text though, before the door opened into the garage. Rin looked up and saw none other than Haru himself, standing there with a black laptop under one arm. He wore a nice-looking suit, though without a jacket, vest, tie or anything else, making it look rather casual. His hair was a bit ruffled and much more messy compared to its usual neat style, and Rin was quick to notice dirt along the bottom of the pants. He looked rather rough for his usual standard. But rough in a way that was fit for a magazine front page, Rin thought. He also almost reminded Rin of a main character from an action movie walking away after battle, but only almost.

“Do you have any idea how annoying you are?” Haru calmly asked as he stepped inside.

“Can’t possibly be any worse than you,” Rin said, annoyed, even more so with Haru’s appearance doing things to him that were highly unwanted, not to mention entirely unprofessional.

Haru walked over to him and handed him the laptop. They bickered a bit more back and forth, but eventually Rin ended up with all of his bulletproof-glass-related questions answered and a second contact in his phone creatively named 2, which contained Tachibana’s phone number that he could call whenever he was ready to place the orders. And in regards to him not being a specialist, Haru told him that whatever he needed, he could tell Makoto - Tachibana - and have it arranged with him. If he needed courses to learn how to properly do it, or whatever else, Haru also didn’t care, as long as the job was done, preferably by him only.

Rin had changed windshields countless times before, but never bulletproof ones. He knew the major difference would be the size and weight, but beyond that, if he got the correct measurements done, spoke with a specialist or did some research and had the right tools? Well then he probably should be able to get it done. It would take a while, though. And it would require a lot of precision work and energy from him, but it wasn’t exactly impossible. And while it felt suspicious that Haru only wanted him to do it, he couldn’t help but let it speak to his ego a bit, which in turn made him more willing to comply. Infuriating, truly.

A few days later, the tools needed and the first round of the glass began to arrive, and Rin could begin his work. Every time a new delivery of glass arrived, he set to work, and in between that he was faced with more challenges, among them being anything from tire changes to bullet holes in cars that he was deliberately given no answers or information about.

He slowly came to realize that keeping up maintenance with all of Haruka’s cars required a full-time job position. By more than one person. And since he already had a full-time job, it wasn’t exactly easy to balance it. He overworked himself, no doubt there, but all he could think of was that at least Haru hadn’t put him out on some personal chauffeur job yet, except that time where he just had to drive a car into a parking garage somewhere in inner Tokyo and leave it there. He hadn’t met anyone or been told what it was for, but he had nonetheless just done it anyway and then went down to take the metro home. Easy money, Rin figured.

Rin was at the estate almost daily, including today, on a sacred Saturday. He was pulled back there to install the recent delivery of bulletproof glass on one of the cars. He had complained endlessly about it since he already had plans with his mom and sister, but all of his complaints fell on deaf ears, though. The guy in charge of driving him seemed even less interested in their forced company than Rin himself.

Once he had installed the new glass, he did an oil change on the same car, and afterwards there wasn’t really anything urgent to do, so he washed the oil off of his hands and went outside to enjoy the weather, knowing full well that there was no chance he could make it in time to join his mom and sister. He had called and apologized, but they had let him off easy. He knew he had to pay for the let-down eventually, though, which was entirely fair.

“Hey Rin,” a familiar voice greeted and Rin turned his head to the left in the direction of where Nagisa was walking towards him while waving a hand at him.

“Hi Nagisa,” Rin greeted, still not quite used to Nagisa’s overly friendly behavior. He leaned against the hood of a white car, a Mazda MX-5 Miata sports car, but made space for Nagisa to stand beside him, though Nagisa very deliberately did not accept the silent invitation to slack against his boss’ expensive car and instead stopped and stood in front of him. Rin didn’t comment on it, though he was tempted. Personally he didn’t want to risk scratching it either, knowing its exact price - although not the most expensive on the estate at all, it was still way out of what he could personally afford - the idea of a little accidental payback for having to cancel family plans on Haru’s order was what had made him do it anyway, despite knowing he would be the one forced to fix it if so.

“Are you busy?” Nagisa curiously asked.

“No,” Rin answered, equally curious now. “I just finished for today actually.”

“Want to come to the party?”

“The what?”

“Party. You know, where people drink and have f-”

“I know what a party is,” Rin impatiently interrupted. “But what party?”

“Mr. Nanase is hosting a summer party by the gardens for some clients, and some of us are allowed to go for added security,” Nagisa explained.

“So you’re asking me if I want to go pretend to be a bodyguard?” Rin skeptically asked, very much not interested in that.

“You don’t have a suit and your shirt has oil on it, so no,” Nagisa chuckled. “But I’m sure you’re allowed to enjoy yourself now that you’re done with work for today? Unless you’re not done, of course.”

“Hmm, say, Nagisa, my new friend, are there alcoholic beverages at this party?” Rin overly-curiously asked and Nagisa gave him the most suspicious grin Rin had ever seen in his life, matching his own suggestive tone.

“Plenty,” Nagisa schemingly said, and led the way.

The garden was as pretty as ever. Rin was always amazed when looking at it, and the various other gardens on the property, too, but walking around it was a whole other experience. It was the garden beside the mansion, so he had never been very close to it before. It looked like one meant for a castle, and with the size of the mansion, it wasn’t such an ill-fitting description, either.

The layout for the garden beside the mafia reception room and office was one that was laid out almost like a labyrinth, with bushes of different kinds and tall flowers. That was where Rin used to hide with Nagisa during training breaks. This one’s layout was a lot different, though. There weren’t tall bushes or flowers, but rather flower beds with various flowers, framed by small iron fences. All of it was clearly planted with care and attention to detail. The work of a very passionate and creative gardener, no doubt. In the middle of the garden was a large patio where a big canopy tent had been put up, with tables, chairs, a bar and a buffet underneath it.

What really stood out to him the most, though, was how massively underdressed he was, to put it mildly. The guests all looked like wealthy, important people, trying to dress casually but each dress and suit was more expensive-looking than the one beside it. Meanwhile Rin just wore his usual work clothes, white t-shirt and dark gray cargo work pants. It was a good thing he had washed his hands, but there was no doubt still oil underneath his fingernails and all around his arms and clothes. Nothing to do about that, though, he thought to himself, as he followed Nagisa closer and closer to the tent. He wasn’t ashamed of his work, and he definitely wasn’t interested in impressing rich people anyway.

Still, it was quite intimidating to walk right into the lion’s den, knowing full well how hard he was going to be judged so very soon. But then again, none of these people mattered to him. And their opinions didn’t either, he reminded himself. In fact, a newfound amusement began to arise within him as he pictured the horrified expression on these elites’ faces when they would come to realize they were sharing space with a commoner like himself. It would be hilarious, Rin figured, as he left Nagisa’s side and headed straight for the bar. Nagisa followed after him, but told him he would go find Haru and figure out what post he would be getting for the day, and so Rin was left to his own devices. It kind of sucked to be left alone, but what was the worst thing that could happen, if he was honest? Some rich person trying to lecture him about stocks? That would only be an excuse to drink even more.

He had barely taken a sip of his drink before he was approached by the first person. He could sense stares coming from every direction, and he wondered briefly if he was about to get kicked out, but the posh woman who started talking to him looked and sounded more interested than repulsed. And so Rin kept drinking free champagne and cocktails, and kept talking to rich people he secretly despised.

All the people - women and men - that approached and soon surrounded him, were all intrigued by his soiled clothes and roguish appearance. They made that very clear by being overtly vocal about it. The second very direct and weird sexual advance he was offered had him awkwardly laugh again, though it was beginning to get a bit too uncomfortable. It felt like they viewed him as an object. Which they probably did. Considering he was the only normal looking person around, perhaps they had their fair amount of assumptions about him, too, Rin thought to himself. He didn't consider it unlikely that they probably assumed he had been hired for other services, with the way he was approached.

While awkwardly laughing off the second advance, he caught the eyes of someone familiar standing almost on the opposite side of the big patio. Haru was giving him an annoyed glance that made Rin consider that while these people currently around him clearly wanted him to stay, he might not have been all that welcome in hindsight. The judgemental glares from the other people around them confirmed that pretty well, too. Then again, no one had kicked him out yet, and if Haru wanted him out he should just say so. But Haru had already looked away again right as their eyes met, and put his focus elsewhere, so Rin decided to stay until he was kicked out, if anything then just out of sheer stubbornness.

The unwanted attention from the rich people became a bit much, though, and so he left the bar and found Nagisa to hang around him instead. They stood beside each other and talked for a while, both within view of Haru. Nagisa deliberately, Rin pretending that it wasn’t deliberate. Still, Rin noticed how Haru hadn’t looked at him since the last glance, and he got sort of annoyed by that, for some reason. Perhaps Nagisa and a bunch of strangers’ attention wasn’t enough, he considered, but clearly dismissed that thought.

A few more bodyguards had stepped over to join Nagisa and Rin’s conversation, and Rin eventually convinced the rest to have a drink too, despite the reluctance to drink alcohol while they were still on duty. Rin was very persistent, though, and so he went back up to the bar to order drinks for all of them. He got them all on a tray, with a bit of a confused expression from the bartender - it must have been a bit of an odd thing to request in this type of crowd at such an event, especially since Rin wasn’t a server. Normally rich people like the ones currently around him would just wave a hand until someone eventually put a drink in it.

Rin managed to balance the tray just fine, however, as he turned around and automatically took a small step forward, he walked right into someone. It all happened so fast he barely had time to register it all. First: the drinks all dropped off of the tray and down, spilling onto both Rin and the person he had walked right into. Second: the tray fell out of his hand, too, falling right down onto the stone pavement below. Third: the person he had walked right into was none other than his boss.

Haru stood, drenched from his neck and down in champagne and wine, and if Rin had wanted Haru’s attention, he sure had it now.

Usually Haru was always poised and collected, never showing emotions beyond what he wanted to, but now he was looking at Rin with sincere and unfiltered anger. The hairs on Rin’s neck stood up, his cheek heated up and his palms started to get sweaty, yet at the back of his head he savored that angry expression of Haru’s, even as it was directed at him. There was truly something so exquisite about a composed person finally showing some real, non-calculated emotion, even if that emotion was anger. That being said, as the silence around him became louder and louder as the gasps from the crowd settled and the now-broken pieces of glass were done clinging around against the stone, he realized he should probably start running before a gun was pointed at him, or several for that matter.

But no guns were pointed at him, or even taken out. Instead, Haru pushed his way past Rin, grabbed a napkin from the bar and began to wipe at his shirt to no use. Several people seemed to finally catch up on what was happening, as guards stepped closer and servers tried to help, offering towels and various other things. Several of the people asked Haru various questions of whether he was okay and what to do, but Haru kept his angry glare on Rin.

“Did you do that on purpose or are you just that fucking stupid?” Haru asked, his usual calculated words thrown out of the window by his anger.

“Uh- the latter, I guess,” Rin mumbled, sounding unusually dumb. Now of all moments, of course. He had wanted to apologize, but being called stupid in front of so many people that had already spent an hour or so just judging him, didn’t sit well with him. He pulled himself together and straightened his back, eyebrows knitted together in annoyance. “So sorry for bumping into you, your highness, I’ll be sure to drive you to the dry-cleaners myself.”

“Get out,” Haru ordered angrily, yet quietly, and regained his usual calculated composure.

“I am out,” Rin flippantly remarked, gesturing to the garden around them, though with the instant angry spark in Haru’s eyes he decided it was best to step down from this battle before it truly began. A second more of staring into those darkening blue eyes, he looked around them at all the people staring. “Okay, show’s over,” he bitterly mumbled as he turned around and walked away. There was that good gossip they all probably wished for, personally hand delivered to them by himself.

Rin had contemplated whether he should go home or not, figuring it might be for the better if he did. But he didn’t have his car, and was too tipsy to drive anyway, and the only bodyguard he was friendly enough with to willingly ask to drive him home was Nagisa, who was likely still at the party, and so he hid in the garage instead, waiting for the alcohol to leave his blood enough for him to drive home. Sure, he didn’t have his own car, but he was sure Haru didn’t mind him borrowing one of the cheaper ones if it meant he got out of his face.

Rin kept himself busy by tinkering with one of the cars, and after an hour or two, the door opened and he looked up from the hood to see Haru stepping in, clothes changed and vibe very less angry than when Rin had last seen him.

“You’re still here,” Haru noted out loud from the entrance.

“And you came here,” Rin noted back.

Haru didn’t seem to have anything to say to that, but he still kept an unwavering stare at Rin.

“Am I fired?” Rin asked. He didn’t sound worried, more just objective about it.

“No,” Haru said, but didn’t elaborate in any way. The two kept staring at one another from across the room, then Haru walked towards him. “What are you doing?”

“Playing around with your car’s motor,” Rin answered simply, figuring there was no need getting into the details about it.

Haru reached the car Rin was working on and looked first into the open hood and engine, then at all the parts spread around at the black metal rolling table standing beside the car.

“If you need spare parts for your car, you could have just asked.”

“Are you implying I’m stealing?”

“I’ve seen your car.”

“Gee thanks, not everything has to be luxurious or expensive to be good. Besides, you didn’t answer my question.”

“I know,” Haru said, and not only did he not specify which part of that he was referring to, but it was also like he was actively trying to end the conversation. Rin didn’t know what to say next and he wasn’t even sure whether to let the fact that Haru just somewhat accused him of theft be and not talk about it or not, but he knew there was probably no use arguing about it anyway, and so he began to put the parts back into the car, figuring now was the time he would be sent home.

Haru didn’t say anything, though. Didn’t inform him of a ride arranged to take him back to his apartment or tell him to leave again, just stood there and watched him work. Rin glanced up at him before continuing to re-attach one part after another.

“For what it’s worth, I really am sorry that I spilled all that over you,” Rin casually apologized. “It wasn’t on purpose.”

“I know,” Haru repeated.

Rin hated these types of conversation-killing short answers Haru kept giving him. He couldn’t work with them at all. All they led to were questions and confusion or frustration, not anything actually useful.

“But since you’re apologizing, I should probably apologize too,” Haru continued, much to Rin’s surprise. “For calling you stupid. Not that you can’t be, because you can, very easily and seemingly naturally, but it wasn’t fair at that moment. I got angry and lost my temper.”

“You sure did,” Rin remarked.

“Don’t test me,” Haru warned, a sense of anger audibly still lingering beneath the surface, and Rin shut up really quickly, not looking for a fight. Bantering and arguing was fine, but fighting was too much, he decided. “Go home, Rin. It’s getting late.”

“I don’t have my car or some bodyguard lift arranged for me,” Rin said.

“You’re standing among plenty of cars,” Haru pointed out. “Just pick one and take it.”

Those were the last words Haru said before he turned around and left. Rin stood still for a few moments. He had a strange feeling, but he wasn’t quite sure why.

Had that been Haru silently initiating a truce between them? Holding up a white flag for peace? Even if momentary, it was… strange. Somehow nice, but still strange. Very strange, and unexpected, too, for him to show up and not only not fire him, but smoothing out the anger between them. Also - did Haru just offer him a car? Probably not, but shit - what if, Rin thought to himself, as he reminded himself that Haru had literally just told him he could just ask if he needed anything, and then told him to pick one of his own cars, notably not specifying when to bring it back, if he even did expect it back. He was probably reading way too much into it, though. Haru just didn’t specify it to him due to Haru being… Well, Haru. But the thought was a bit surreal and bizarre still, if not a little entertaining, too. Besides, Haru’s apparent ability to own up to his mistakes did very little to make him less attractive to Rin, which was a tad annoying and inconvenient, if he was honest.

As he looked around, he came to realize how many benefits there actually were to this job. He spilled alcohol all over his mafia boss-boss in front of dozens of important people and not only got to keep his life, but his job as well. And he got to drive away from it in some luxury car? Insane.

He picked the Mazda sports car parked in front of the garage, the one that he had leaned against earlier that day. It was small and since it was parked outside with no car behind it, he could easily back out without trouble. It was also not as eye-catching as most of the other cars. Even if his current neighborhood wasn’t as shitty as his previous ones, he still couldn’t park a Lamborghini outside of his apartment, or even a Mercedes, but a Mazda would probably be fine.

The next day, without getting any orders to do so, Rin took the Mazda and drove back to the property, where he decided to start creating documents on the new laptop Haru had brought him the other day. He wanted to create a document for every car, listing the cars’ basic and important information so he could better keep track of them all. It was probably an impossible mission, especially since he had noticed plates being swapped before, but he figured he should give it a try anyway. Maybe this way he could also figure out how many cars Haru actually had, and be sure servicing and general maintenance was done properly.

No one stopped him when he drove there, rather the opposite. They opened the iron gates for him to drive past, and no one followed him as he went into the garage after parking the car outside. Even with the spill incident the day prior, there was some sort of inexplicable trust among the bodyguards towards him that seemed to just suddenly be there. It hadn’t been before, not like that. Maybe the act of spilling drinks over their boss was the final thing for them to respect him? Kind of odd, but he shrugged it off and just enjoyed not being watched as intensely as he usually was.

He spent two hours doing a full service of one car while writing it all down, and then he figured he should leave and spend the rest of his day off not working but rather visit his mom if she was home.

He didn’t want to take the Mazda again, and he didn’t have any other way to get home, but he also didn’t want to contact Haru and risk getting him angry again so soon, and with no clue as to where Nagisa was and without his contact information, he only had one last option. He clicked on the only other contact in his work phone underneath Haru’s, and didn’t have time to wait and figure out what to say before the call went through and was immediately picked up.

“Matsuoka?” Tachibana asked on the other end of the line, in a curious and confused tone.

“Hey Tachibana, I was kind of wondering if you knew where Nagisa is? I need a lift back home, I don’t have my car with me.”

“I was wondering when you would call,” Tachibana knowingly said. “You’re not set to be working today, why are you here?”

“I just set up a system to make servicing the cars easier,” Rin explained, unsurprised that Tachibana seemed to already know he was on the property and not somewhere else.

“Hazuki isn’t available right now, but I can have someone else drive you back. Would that be fine with you?”

“Sure,” Rin said, though a bit disappointed. He was hoping he could have talked to Nagisa about what had happened the day prior, but now he was stuck with some other bodyguard who likely wasn’t going to say a word the whole way. But it was better than walking, Rin reminded himself.

Soon a bodyguard knocked on the garage while calling and identifying himself and his purpose. Rin came out and followed him, and quickly confirmed that he was right - there would be no talking on the way home. At least not from the bodyguard’s side.

The next day, while Rin was at work, Haru called him. He was in the middle of fixing something underneath a car, so he almost missed the call, much to Haru’s vocal dismay.

“Well, at least I did pick it up, fuck’s sake, you’re so impatient,” Rin complained.

“Watch your tone.”

“Why are you even calling?” Rin asked, ignoring him.

“You returned the car.”

“Yes?” Rin was so confused. Was that a problem? “Was I not supposed to?”

Haru went quiet on the other end for a brief moment.

“You can’t use your own car unless you want to be identified. Swap cars with another one, preferably one that won’t draw too much attention,” Haru ordered, noticeably not answering Rin.

“All of your cars draw attention,” Rin pointed out, annoyed with his questions continuing to not be answered. “Besides, I can’t, I’m at work.”

“You have three hours to drive to and from the estate. I’m sending you the location when I can. I expect you to be parked by the building when I come out,” Haru said, and then hung up the call before Rin could say anything.

What a punchable jerk. Did he just expect he could order Rin around like that? Ignoring him, too? Who did he think he was? Rin was so angry. So, so angry. And yet he quickly wrapped up what he was doing, asked Goro, his boss, if he could leave early, and then drove all the way to the estate where he swapped his own car for one of the black Mercedes, dubbing it one of the lesser attention-grabbers out of all the cars.

By the time he had gotten to the estate, Haru had sent him the address through text, and so as soon as Rin got inside of the Mercedes, he typed the address into the car’s GPS and then headed towards some area in inner Tokyo that he had never been to.

There weren't any available parking spaces in front of the building, so he parked further down the street. He had absolutely no clue how long he was supposed to wait for. Haruka had given him three hours, which were almost all spent, but he hadn’t specified whether he would be coming out of the building then or later. For all Rin knew, he could be stuck waiting for the rest of the day.

He took out his phone and browsed some apps in boredom for some time. Twenty minutes must have passed by the time a knock on the window nearly made Rin shit his pants in shock. He looked wide-eyed and confused at the stranger on the other side. It wasn’t a traffic warden, so he wasn’t parked wrongly. Not a cop either, so he wasn’t in trouble. The stranger gestured for Rin to roll down the window, and Rin gave him a suspicious look. Assuming that the stranger probably just wanted his parking space, Rin annoyedly rolled it down. As soon as the window was rolled halfway down, though, the stranger on the other side pulled a gun out of his pants and pointed it directly at Rin.

Rin didn’t even bat an eye. He just stared right into the barrel of the gun. He could feel every hair on his body sticking up, every nerve screaming danger, and every area of his body beginning to sweat. Yet, he held his composure. He wasn’t sure why the stranger was threatening him like this, but he knew Haru was involved one way or another. Otherwise crime during bright daylight like this, in the middle of Tokyo, must have been a very new thing. Could it be the guy just wanted the car? He didn’t feel like he was in any immediate danger either way, despite the very clear reason as to why he should very much feel scared was currently staring at him in the form of a gun.

“Get out,” the stranger ordered, and for some reason, Rin stayed put. Maybe he was just tired of being ordered around, or maybe he was just too shocked to move. Either way, he didn’t obey. “Get-!”

Suddenly the stranger was pushed forward, his head slamming into the roof of the car, rendering him unconscious immediately. He dropped to the ground, revealing Haru standing behind him as the culprit to the stranger’s sudden demise. The two shared a look, and Rin admittedly felt surprisingly calm for someone who just had a gun pointed at them and then watched someone get knocked out.

“You didn’t even flinch,” Haru observed in a surprised tone, sounding almost impressed. “Even when he threatened you.”

“It’s not the first time someone’s pulled a gun on me,” Rin said, and managed to give him a smirk. There was a sudden, visible spark in Haru’s eyes, and Rin wasn’t exactly sure, but it almost looked like Haru was excited in some way. In the way a predator might be when they see a prey, perhaps. Like he was ready to devour Rin. It made Rin’s stomach flutter.

Rin didn’t get a chance to try to analyze that, as Haru’s expression quickly changed to disgust when he looked down and moved the stranger a little with his foot so that he could open the backdoor of the car and get in.

“You know, just because you treat me like a taxi driver doesn’t mean you have to treat the car like a taxi either, right?” Rin asked.

“What are you talking about?”

“You can sit up here like a normal person, if you want.”

“It’s safer back here,” Haru argued.

“I’m sure that American president will disagree with you,” Rin joked.

“John F. Kennedy? No need to be grotesque,” Haru complained. “It’s statistically more safe for me back here, where the windows are tinted and there won’t be a big window in front of me.”

“Technically it’s still in front of you, just with a seat in between.”

“You really want me to get shot, don’t you?”

“I’m changing all the windows in your cars to bulletproof ones. I’m sure I wouldn’t be doing that if the opposite was my intention,” Rin logically argued with a dash of sarcasm to his voice. When Haru didn’t respond or make a move to sit up front, Rin turned back around and started the engine. “Your loss. Where to, backseat princess?”

“Don’t call me that,” Haru objected, then in a strict tone: “Just drive. Before they realize I knocked out one of them.”

Right. There was a lifeless body still lying beside the car, giving them every reason to get away quickly, Rin realized, and hurried along. It took a bit of effort to make sure he didn’t run the guy lying on the street over, but he managed and then he drove rather quickly down the street and away. He hoped he was heading for the estate, but he couldn’t be sure. Either way, away from there was good enough; they could figure out the destination once they were far enough away.

Rin slowly began to accept his new fate and position as Haru’s mechanic and personal driver with each job and assignment he got. Each pick-up, each tire change, each bump fixed, each time he had to drive him around at any hour of the day. He accepted it, while he also began to take more and more advantage of the sudden riches in the palm of Haru’s hands, some of it now available to himself. There were some luxury perks of being Haru’s mechanic slash driver, including the fact that he could just take any of the highly expensive cars and drive around in them whenever he felt like it. He didn’t do it often, and never brought one home again after the first time, as he realized it could blow his cover if it was noticed by someone who knew him. He didn’t want people to think he was engaged with crime again, and he definitely didn’t want anyone to find out that he was working for the mafia, no matter what innocent job position it was. The alternative to the truth was people thinking he was stealing cars again, or taking clients’ cars home with him, which was technically also theft. Either way, no car was worth the risk, and he could just take the cars for a spin around random highways or rural areas whenever he wanted, so it was fine.

But being entrusted with all the cars and being allowed to play around with them as he pleased weren't the only benefits to the job either. Working at the grounds of such a large estate had quite a lot of perks to it too. He could eat at the bodyguards’ cafeteria whenever he wanted, and eat as much as he pleased. He had free drinks of all kinds at his constant disposal. He even had free access to the bodyguards’ gym, and he was allowed to stroll around the area as he pleased, too. He could go look at the horses whenever he wanted, or sit in the courtyard of the one-story building with the office, reception area and meeting room - only when no one else was there, otherwise at least a couple of bodyguards would be standing outside the front door and tell Rin to leave, either politely or impolitely, depending on who it was. Nagisa, for example, would be friendly and apologetic about it. Mikoshiba, however, would tell him to fuck off and get lost. The rest of the bodyguards would usually just inform him formally and then stare off into the air, watching him in their peripheral vision and making sure he actually did leave.

Today was such a day - it was sunny and far too warm, and he had wanted to go sit in the shade in the courtyard, but alas was sent off, and so he wound up wandering around the area instead. He ended up walking along the mansion underneath the shade from the green cherry blossom trees, stopping when he saw a big pool behind a relatively tall fence that framed a large yard behind the mansion. There was no gate in the fence, and Rin knew that that meant the yard wasn’t just private, it was entirely off limits to anyone who didn’t have access to the mansion, and so was the pool within it. He looked all around himself, and with no one in sight, he decided to go against his common sense and climb over the fence. It wouldn’t hurt anyone to take a brief dive in that gorgeous, clear water. No one would even see him. He would be in and out in no time.

Despite the fence not being spear topped, he still almost tore his pants in the process of climbing it, and yet he also managed to land on his feet nonetheless. He spared a last glance over each shoulder, before he took a small, experimental step. With nothing happening, he slowly stepped closer to the pool, and as nothing continued to happen, he made a run for it, undressing while running, taking off first his shirt, then pausing to take off his shoes and socks, and at last his pants, before he jumped right into the pool. The chill temperature of the water was pure bliss to him, and he had never been more grateful for such a reckless action before.

As he emerged above the surface again, he looked around the big yard. There was a wooden porch leading down to a big stone patio with lots of outdoor furniture and a grill. There was a hot tub further away, flower beds everywhere, flower pots, trees - including lots of cherry blossom trees. There was the large pool Rin was currently swimming in, and some outdoor games, including a badminton net. It really was a shame that it all stood empty during such nice weather, Rin thought. So logically, wasn’t it a good thing that at least one person would now get to enjoy the space?

Concluding that it was definitely fine, especially since no one was around to tell him otherwise anyway, Rin dug his head back under the water and started swimming around. It would have been better if he had worn swimwear instead of underwear, but the nice feeling of getting cooled down made any discomfort fade in comparison.

He hadn’t been swimming for more than 5 minutes until the sound of a voice made him stop dead in his tracks, and he flung his head up to try to locate where the voice came from.

Haru stood at the edge of the pool, two meters away from Rin, looking down at him with his hands casually in the pockets of his gray chino pants. He didn’t look angry, but Rin still felt a chill run down his spine and his heartbeat quickened, if anything then just from getting caught.

“Adding trespassing to your record?” Haru asked, looking and sounding playful in a way that reminded Rin of a cat playing around with its prey.

“No… the gate was open,” Rin obviously lied.

“Mmm,” Haru hummed with a smug smile. “I assume you can find your way out of that gate again?”

Rin nodded hesitantly; obediently. He expected to get scolded and yelled at any second now, for the mask to drop and for Haru to lash out at him for literally jumping over his fence and into his private pool. Instead, though, Haru looked away from him with a sideways, amused smile. Then he raised an eyebrow and looked back at Rin.

“Do you like water, Rin?” Haru asked, and it threw Rin completely off. There was some sort of genuine curiosity to his tone, and Rin had no idea what to make of it.

“I- uh- yes?”

“Interesting,” Haru simply stated, before mysteriously turning around and walking away. Rin watched him head back towards the mansion with wide eyes. He half expected him to go grab a gun to come back out and threaten him with, and the other half of him was too busy staring at and admiring the way his pants shaped his ass to worry about it. The entirety of him, though, was just plain confused.

Haru could have easily and justifyingly given him some sort of reprimand, scolded him in some way, told him to get out, or at the very least tell him to use the bodyguards’ training pool instead of trespassing and using Haru’s own private one, but he didn’t. Instead he had left him to his own devices, and Rin had no clue whether he was supposed to be even more worried about that or not.

One evening, Rin went out with his friends from work to celebrate some of them being lucky enough to get a couple of weeks of vacation time, Rin included. It was going to be great not having to try to balance two jobs at once and a private life on the side. With only his job for Haru to worry about for two whole weeks, he would actually be able to spend some quality time with both family and friends, and not just spare moments here and there during weekend days where he wasn’t busy at the estate.

They ended up at some random club, drinking heavily while discussing vacation plans, much to the dismay of the ones that had to wait for the others’ return in order to get their own vacation.

As the night progressed and Rin’s alcohol intake increased, a girl suddenly came up to him and started talking to him, making all of his friends instantly and highly invested, encouraging them both to go for it. All Rin could think of as he politely declined, though, was clear blue eyes and raven colored hair, an intimidating attitude and a cold wit. He was still far too sober to deal with that whole thing, and so he downed another shot, and another, until his thoughts were eventually drowned out.

As much as Rin tried not to acknowledge and admit it - or do it in the first place - he spent every waking hour thinking of Haru. Even when he wasn’t at the estate, or out picking him up from somewhere, he was on his mind. When he was at work in the repair shop, he was thinking of him. Whenever he was out, he kept checking his work phone for any incoming calls from him. He took up his entire mindspace, and it was becoming increasingly suffocating, and frustrating, too.

He was good at pretending that it wasn’t the case, though. At least he convinced himself he was. He felt like he was still behaving normally around Haru, though it was admittedly starting to get odd, but as long as he refused to acknowledge what the constant thoughts of him meant, he would be fine.

He was ordered to drive Haru to some auction one evening, and so he went to the estate and picked out a car for them and drove out and parked in front of the mansion. His jaw practically dropped to the floor when he saw Haru walk towards him. His hair was styled in a slicked back way, and it almost looked like he had a tiny bit of makeup on, too. He was wearing fitted black chinos with gray stripes, a white dress shirt, a vest that matched his pants, and his usual leather gloves were swapped out for ones that left the top of his hands uncovered and exposed, making them seem almost immodest compared to the usual. With how warm it had been, Rin was surprised he still stuck to his gloves, but this was certainly a daring change.

Haru and two bodyguards got in the car, with one of the bodyguards sitting in the passenger seat beside Rin, and Haru sitting behind Rin, the other bodyguard beside him. It made him feel tense, but he tried his very best to mask it by pulling at his usual wit.

“So, uh- where to, backseat princess?” Rin awkwardly asked and hesitantly glanced up in the rearview mirror to steal a glance at Haru, who rolled his eyes but had an amused smile across his lips nonetheless. The two bodyguards both gave him a look, like they weren’t sure how to react to Rin’s blatant disrespect over their boss.

Haru gave him the address, and off Rin went, hoping the tension in the air would fade and that Haru would stop being so tempting to glance at through that damned tempting mirror. A car with four more bodyguards trailed along behind them, following close. It made Rin feel even more on edge. He wasn’t being tailgated at all, but it somehow felt similar to that.

After about an hour and a half, they arrived in front of a tall skyscraper in inner Tokyo, where the bodyguard beside Rin guided him towards the entrance into the parking garage beneath the building. The entrance and the whole surrounding area was chock full of security and it took several minutes just to get through, but they succeeded and then Rin was further navigated towards an elevator in the parking garage. He stopped the car in front of the elevator, and the two bodyguards waited until the second car came and stopped behind them. Then they checked their surroundings and got out first. One of them opened the door for Haru, who took a step out, but then leaned into the car towards Rin.

“You should probably keep that glock within reach,” Haru advised, and Rin could feel the hair at the back of his neck instantly standing up with how close to him Haru was.

“Why?” Rin asked, and turned around in his seat to look at Haru though the small space between the driver’s seat and the door.

“It’s an auction with a lot of money involved. A lot of money means someone might try something tonight.”

“Do I have to? Use it, I mean.”

“Maybe.”

“Can’t I just… scare them away?” Rin asked, and Haru let out a laugh. “What?”

“Scare them away?” Haru echoed.

“Yes…” Rin knew he sounded dumb, but he really didn’t want to have to use a gun.

“Rin, are you serious?”

“What? I scared away that gang when we first met?” Rin pointed out, getting a bit offended with Haru’s tone.

“No you didn’t,” Haru argued amusedly.

“What are you talking about? You were there, you saw it yourself!” Rin insisted, feeling like Haru was trying to play with him.

“You didn’t scare them off. I did.”

“No, you were standing behind me?”

“I pulled my gun out, Rin,” Haru revealed with an amused smile, clearly finding it entertaining that Rin hadn’t been able to come to that conclusion this entire time.

“Oh…” Rin let out. Then, dumbfounded, he added: “Wait, you had a gun on you?”

“Of course. I always do,” Haru said, nonchalantly. “And no matter what low rated gang those thugs came from, they still knew that I’m an expert.”

“Meaning…?” Rin asked skeptically.

“If they hadn’t run, I would’ve killed them all with fewer bullets than the amount of people they were.”

“Well, then I’ll just let you do that and keep myself out of it,” Rin sarcastically concluded. “I’ll depend on my good looks and charm until then.”

“Suit yourself,” Haru amusedly smiled again, then closed the door and walked towards the elevator with the bodyguards.

Rin rolled down his window, catching the attention of Haru and the others with the sound, and then stuck his head out.

“Oh and by the way, nice suit!” Rin called out with a wink to Haru. Haru’s expression turned surprised, and if Rin wasn’t wrong, it even looked like a little blush began to spread across his cheeks. Haru uncharacteristically hesitantly nodded once, then turned around again and entered the elevator. Had Rin just rendered him speechless with a single compliment? Nice. He should try to do that more often, he thought, enjoying the idea of Haru all flustered a bit too much.

When the elevator door closed shut, Rin drove off to find a parking spot. The other car with the last bodyguard in followed behind him and found a parking spot near and within view of Rin. However, the bodyguard didn’t step out and followed the rest as Rin had assumed he would have, but instead remained seated. Rin then assumed he was just being ready to drive off at any second, and figured he had to do the same, but with nothing better to do and no interest in doing nothing, he pulled out his phone and scrolled various apps on it in the meantime, unlike the bodyguard, who remained focused as he stared in the direction of Rin, making Rin feel watched even though he knew the bodyguard was probably just keeping an eye on the elevator, which was in the same direction.

While scrolling and watching dumb, useless videos, his mind began to wander off. He had to admit he was getting used to this new job. It hadn’t been too bad so far, time consuming for sure, and repetitive with all the damn glass replacement, but not so bad. It was really just taking care of luxury cars and driving a rich guy to rich guy places, essentially. Easy so far. Only pulled a gun at once, and he figured that wasn’t such a big deal either, could’ve been worse.

He was in the middle of watching a YouTube video of an Australian mechanic explaining how to replace the exhaust pipe of an Audi Q7, a search idea he got from the black 2020s model parked in front of him with a dented one, when the door to the passenger seat suddenly opened, scaring the living shit out of him - almost literally. He immediately flung his head up only to see Haru standing there, with no bodyguards in close vicinity to him, except for the one in the other car.

“Fucking shit, I think you just gave me a heart attack!” Rin loudly cussed.

“Not my fault you don’t notice someone walking right up to you,” Haru nonchalantly and sarcastically remarked, clearly amused judging by the look in his eyes. “Or that you won’t even bother to lock the car.”

“Why, when we’re in the middle of a perfectly safe, private parking lot?”

“You really are dense,” Haru said. “It’s a good thing Hagiwara was here to make sure you didn’t get ambushed or killed.”

“Who?”

“The bodyguard over in the other car?” Haruka raised his eyebrows at him in disbelief, then got in the car, sitting in the passenger seat. “Do you not pay attention to any of your surroundings, ever?”

“Yes, but I don’t know the names of all your minions, and I also just thought he was waiting like me…”

“Not really. He’s making sure you don’t get yourself killed with your idiocy.”

“Hey,” Rin complained. “I’m not that easy to kill. Takes more than an unlocked car.”

“You really didn’t learn a thing from your training course,” Haru sarcastically noted.

“Was I supposed to?” Rin joked, and Haru just glanced at him with the tiniest hint of an amused smile.

“What are you waiting for?” Haru asked after a few seconds of silence.

“What?”

“Just drive?”

“What about your bodyguards?” Rin asked, confused. “And aren’t you supposed to sit in the back so no one shoots you?”

“Why? Are you worried about me?” Haru playfully asked.

“Shut up,” Rin muttered.

“You started,” Haru retorted.

Rin wanted to come up with some witty come-back, but instead he just turned the key around in the ignition, drove out of the parking garage, and then drove Haru home while glancing at him an embarrassing amount of times, wondering what was going on in his head to make him go against his principle and sit beside him all of the sudden.

Chapter Text

One late evening while Rin was in the middle of watching a show, two loud knocks sounded against his front door, nearly making him jump from his place on the couch. He narrowed his eyes at the door and considered it very weird for anyone to be knocking on his door at that hour. He wasn’t making any noise, so it probably couldn’t just be a neighbor. He remained seated, hoping whoever was there would assume he wasn’t home or asleep and leave again. Then the realization hit him of who it could be, making his pulse quicken. Some gang member coming to kill him for his association with Haru? It wasn’t exactly unlikely.

He quickly looked around, searching for some type of weapon, and spotted one of his toolboxes lying on the floor, tools spread out from when he had looked for a specific screwdriver the other day. He slowly got up, careful not to make a sound, then grabbed the tool that was closest to him - to his luck, a hammer. Another persistent knock sounded, and Rin’s grip on the hammer tightened as he silently and slowly made his way towards the door.

“Open up or I’ll do it myself,” a familiar voice threatened from the other side. Him. Of course.

For good measure, Rin looked through the door spy and saw him standing there impatiently, holding onto one of those black cases used for suits and dresses. Was Rin supposed to go deliver and pick up his dry-cleaning now, too? He knew he had offered that after spilling drinks on him, but he was just being sarcastic.

“I know you’re there,” Haru said in a strict and impatient tone. Rin opened the door just enough for him to peek out at him.

“What are you- How did you even get in through-?” Rin asked, but Haru caught him off guard by pushing at the front door and making his way into his apartment, clearly not in the mood for waiting even another second more. “Sure, come in- fuck.”

“Close the door,” Haru ordered.

“Oh wow, I don’t think this will go over with HR very well,” Rin sarcastically joked, but closed the door regardless, not really interested in his nosy neighbors getting any whiff of what was going on.

“A hammer? Really?” Haru asked, looking disapprovingly at the tool in Rin’s hand.

“Well,” Rin just shrugged and put the hammer down on the floor. “Why are you here? If you came for a late-night booty call, you should have let me know in advance. I would have lit some candles, maybe found some-”

“This is for you,” Haru announced while handing him the black clothing cover, completely ignoring his comments, seemingly unfazed by them. Disappointing, Rin had to admit. “The measurements used are from before your training, but I assume it will still fit. There’s a car parked outside for you to use.”

“Gee, that’s a lot of gifts,” Rin remarked. “I assume there’s a purpose other than you trying to become my sugar daddy? I’m not selling myself that cheaply, you know…”

Haru rolled his eyes, making Rin smirk. “They’re for tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yes, I’m attending a business meeting tomorrow in Minato.”

“If you’re attending a meeting, why am I supposed to dress up?”

“Because you have to pick me up afterwards, and to do that, you need to look like a bodyguard and not a mechanic for this job. Or even a chauffeur. Otherwise it’ll look unprofessional.”

“What’s wrong with my own clothes?”

“If you want to be taken seriously? Everything.”

“Rude.”

“You asked,” Haru nonchalantly shrugged and turned around towards the door. “Oh, and Rin? There’s a gun underneath the passenger seat of the car, take it out of the holster and keep it on you tomorrow.” And with that, Haru left without sparing a single last glare in his direction, and Rin stood still behind, wondering what the fuck had just happened. The suit he uncovered was nice, though. It was an off-black suit with a white dress shirt underneath, neither looking cheap, only the finest materials, judging by looks of it, and confirmed by the sensations. The fucker had great taste, he had to give him that.

Rin didn’t need to drive Haru to the meeting, but was only supposed to pick him up. He was told the ones dropping him off were meant to be decoys for distraction, and then he was instructed to be on high alert and not wait for too long, so he had to time his pick-up precisely, which he found odd for a business meeting, but whatever.

He drove up to a residential area, which he also found odd. In a big city like Minato, he would assume a business meeting would take place in one of the many skyscraper office buildings around the place. Instead, the address he was given led him to a luxury apartment complex. He was there ten minutes before he should have been, which he figured was just fine, it wasn’t that much waiting time. To not look suspicious, he got out of his car, stood against it with his hands in the brand new suit’s pockets. It was quite tight-fitted, but comfortable enough to move freely.

He soon enough watched Haru come out of the building without any bodyguards around him. Rin gave him a smirk, purposely raising his chest a little to show off the suit (and his body, no less), and Haru proceeded to look down and shake his head in response, a detectable smile barely visible while walking towards Rin and the car.

Suddenly, though, a man came out from behind him, and it only took Rin a split second before he realized the guy was aiming a gun at Haru.

“Haru!” Rin called out, but Haru had already noticed the sound of movements behind him, already turned around and moved just in time to dodge an incoming bullet. Instinctively, Rin reached for the gun he had put in the back of the waistband of his suit after remembering Haru’s instructions to keep it on him during the wait, and pulled it out. Haru was trying to grab for the guy’s arm, to force the gun out of his hands and fight him off, and Rin knew there wasn’t enough time for himself to possibly get up to them and help him, so he aimed, and before he could even realize what he was doing, he pulled the trigger and- and he didn’t miss. The first bullet went through the guy’s shoulder, and Haru calculatedly moved out of the way and the second bullet went right into the left side of the guy’s abdomen, and he hunched over and dropped to the ground from the sheer force of it.

Haru quickly ran towards Rin and the car. Rin almost dropped the gun, and Haru must have noticed how terrified he looked, grabbing the gun from him in one shift move, then grabbed him by the shirt and pushed him backwards towards the car door, making him bump into it.

“Get in,” Haru ordered in an assertive yet calm tone, and then got in as well, in the back seat on the same side, behind the driver’s seat.

Rin’s body felt frozen in place from shock, but it moved on its own, getting into the driver’s seat. He turned on and put the car in gear, then gripped the steering wheel tightly, knuckles turning white.

“Drive!” Haru yelled, and Rin did, adrenaline rapidly running through his body. As soon as Rin’s conscience was back, he felt desperate anger trying to take over all the shock in his body.

“I just… I just killed that guy…” Rin whispered in shock, mostly trying to get all of his thoughts in order so he could better focus on the road ahead of him.

“Likely, yes,” Haru nonchalantly stated.

“Why did you bring me into this kind of shit?!” Rin suddenly yelled in an accusative and angry tone.

“Your aim has gotten better,” Haru simply stated, still far too nonchalantly.

“That’s not the point!”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, that guy was a minor gang leader who has killed a lot of people and would keep doing so until someone else would come around and likely do much worse to him than you,” Haru said, keeping his eye on the passing cityscape and remaining unnaturally calm both in voice and demeanor. “So I guess you can look at it as you having just saved those potential many more people instead?”

“You’re unbelievable!” Rin frustratedly and loudly complained.

“But am I wrong?” Haru knowingly asked, and Rin had to pause for a moment. He wanted to yell and scream some more, but that question seemed to short-circuit his brain somehow. Maybe he had unconsciously expected Haru to scold him for raising his voice, and since he didn’t, but just remained calm and objective, it threw Rin out of it.

“... probably not?” Rin relented after a brief moment of silence, but he wasn’t done letting his adrenaline out through anger. “But it’s not just that! It’s everything!”

“You must’ve forgotten your past. Not like you had much of a moral high ground to begin with.”

“I did- I do! And what do you know about my past?” Rin angrily asked. He was sick of Haru playing that card, acting like he had the upper hand, it was getting old.

“I told you I know everything about you,” Haru reminded him.

“So fucking what if you read all my files and records or whatever. Theft and fraud is very different from literal murder,” Rin argued. Haru didn’t know shit, he was just bluffing, Rin was sure of it and that only made him more angry.

“Technically that wasn’t murder. It was self-defense,” Haru pointed out, clearly not caring about the difference himself.

“Doesn’t matter! He’s still dead!”

“Not yet,” Haru pointed out again, getting increasingly more punch-able to Rin. “Takes a little longer to bleed out from that. You should have aimed higher.”

Rin shot him a glare over his shoulder, and while Haru didn’t appear fazed with it, he did still clear his throat rather uncomfortably. That was obviously new to him; someone confronting him so defiantly like that, or at least when that someone was an employee. Rin was still mostly-unconsciously surprised Haru actually let him do it.

“Well sorry, but I don’t plan on going back and giving him CPR,” Haru sarcastically said.

Rin let out a frustrated groan, but kept driving nonetheless, in angry silence the whole way. Haru gave brief driving instructions to properly get back to his estate, and while Rin followed the instructions due to not wanting to waste time on getting lost, he didn’t vocally respond to or comment on any of them.

“You must be really fucking annoying to everyone else too, for so many people to want to constantly kill you like this,” Rin muttered once they got close enough for him to recognize his surroundings. Haru let out a quiet and somehow smug snort.

“Too?” Haru echoed in an amused tone. ”Do you mean you find me annoying as well?”

“Obviously. Who the fuck wouldn’t?”

“Not like you’re so tolerable, either,” Haru argued.

“Great, we both dislike each other then.”

Rin looked at Haru through the rear-view mirror and watched as he just looked away, an amused smile on his lips, much to Rin’s frustration. He reached the estate, drove through the gate before it had fully opened, then stopped in front of the mansion. Haru didn’t get out right away, though. Instead, he let out a sigh.

“Murdering evil people in self defense shouldn’t keep you up at night,” Haru advised, sounding almost wise and patient about it. “If it does, you should have never come to find me in the first place.”

“Do you not feel any remorse at all?” Rin asked.

“No,” Haru simply said, and that one simple word expressed without any trace of hesitation sent a shock wave through Rin. “I had to learn not to.”

“There’s no had to,” Rin argued in disturbed judgement and disbelief. “You decided to emotionally shut out the guilt of killing people. I refuse to do that.”

“I'm a prodigy killer, Rin,” Haru argued in a tired tone. “I can’t even remember a time where bodies didn’t line up in the hallway. I don’t know how young I was when I witnessed a guy get shot for the first time, it’s always just been a part of my life. I’ve been conditioned to accept death and murder since I was born. I didn’t choose that, and it’s not something I can just unlearn. You can’t make me care for lives that aren’t worth caring about either way. And you definitely shouldn’t care about them either.”

“Would you care if I died?” Rin asked, though he wasn’t sure why.

“Of course I would,” Haru said, and seemed to realize it sounded a bit too heavy, so he quickly added: “I would care if any of my employees or staff members died. But I don’t care about killing people who try to kill me. In this business it’s either kill or get killed. It’s all about survival. You should know that already.”

“Why do you think your life is worth more than theirs?”

“Are you saying you really do want me dead?”

“No, I'm just trying to see if you have any sense of morality left in you.”

“Well I’m sorry that my moral stance ends with gang members and contract killers.”

“You’re a gang member.”

“I'm from a mafia family. There’s a difference,” Haru rationalized. “And I never said I was more deserving of life than others. While it may be hard for you to understand, I don’t exactly enjoy my life. But we all seek survival. It’s our most natural, primal instinct. If someone pointed a gun at you, you would reach for your own as well, no matter who it was.”

“I didn’t when it was you,” Rin argued.

"You didn't have a gun back then, and you did reach for mine instead. You may have failed, but you still tried."

“I didn’t do anything to that guy that threatened me either, the one you knocked out.”

“You didn’t have any other option. If you did, you would have taken it.”

Rin went silent and looked away from the mirror and out through the window instead, trying to consider those words, but finding it difficult to accept them for what they were: the bitter truth. With no further response from Rin, Haru opened the door, waited a couple of seconds, and then got out of the car.

The next day, despite all reason and logic arguing against it, Rin showed up at the estate once more. He went directly to the garage, trying his best to avoid other people as much as possible. Luckily for him, there were only a few people standing guard who simply kept a discreet eye on him, no one to engage in any type of conversation. He hid inside of the garage for hours, working on repairing several dents and damages on a couple of cars, when his luck eventually ran out, as Haru suddenly entered the garage.

Rin glanced up at him when he came through the door, but quickly looked down and continued his work, making it obvious that he was ignoring him. Haru didn’t seem affected by that reaction of his, and instead proceeded to just walk over to him with his usual casual yet calculated steps. He stood behind him and watched him in silence for a while, making Rin increasingly uneasy and annoyed. He wasn’t sure why Haru was doing it, if he was watching to ensure he did his work properly (unlikely, in Rin’s opinion), or if this was another strange apology moment.

“You don’t like talking about your past,” Haru noted out loud out of the blue. It wasn’t a question, but wasn’t a direct statement either. He was definitely trying to figure something out; that something being Rin.

“No,” Rin simply confirmed, making it very clear he was not interested in having that conversation.

“Your greatest opposition to working for me wasn’t any of the risks involved, but rather the assumption that you were to be affiliated with drugs,” Haru continued, and Rin briefly let his guard down, visibly tensing up, and he knew that Haru knew.

“If you already know, why are you trying to get it out of me anyway?” Rin asked, getting rid of his shocked expression before turning around to give Haru an impatient and annoyed look.

“Consider it me trying to have a conversation with you,” Haru said in a quite mysterious way, the way he always spoke when he was hiding something, or at the very least knew that he had the upper hand in the conversation. His usual way of talking, really. Arrogant asshole.

“How did you find out?” Rin asked suspiciously. “I was never caught.”

“I already told you, several times,” Haru reminded him again. “I know everything about you. You don’t think your former contacts were a part of that? Besides, it’s good that I know all the details despite you not telling me, considering you used to work for one of our rival gangs.”

“Rival gangs?”

“Yes. The Deliverers are rivals to my father,” Haru clarified. “You helped them steal cars and sell stolen and fake parts to various clients when you still lived in Shinjuku. But that’s not all, is it?”

Rin looked away. Why was he pushing it, pushing him, like that? To arrogantly show off his own power? To scare him? To threaten him?

“You were never charged for it, but you helped smuggle drugs for them too, right?”

“I didn’t have a choice,” Rin muttered. He hated this. He hated it so much. He felt so exposed, and if he was honest, he did feel a little scared, too, which only made him angry. Was this blackmailing? It had to be.

“You made the conscious decision to seek out your old network after moving. You gave away your choices,” Haru argued. “And you were even dumb enough to do it after you could be charged as an adult. Or maybe that was on purpose? An easy way out of the gang?”

”What are you trying to do? Blackmail me? Some weird fear bonding? I know that you think you know everything about me,” Rin began, staring directly into those indifferent yet beautiful blue eyes. “But you can’t do that based on some research and pulling up all of my files and documents or finding intel from who-the-fuck-knows-where. You might know the facts, but you won’t know the truth. I did a bunch of shit, yes, but why did I do it?” Rin asked, paused, then continued: “You know the when, you know the how, maybe even the whose and where or whatever, but you don’t know the why. The why is essential to know me as a person. Otherwise I’m reduced to a criminal.”

"Like you’re doing to me,” Haru casually pointed out, though he wasn’t being lecturing or arrogant. If anything, he just sounded patient.

Rin’s lips parted as he looked at Haru in shock. He hadn’t expected that at all. For Haru to do that; for Haru to, in a strange way, confront Rin like that. To make all the pieces connect, to allow for Rin to suddenly see Haru in a whole new, different way, or at least have the door opened for that. To be urged to see past the exterior and into the person behind it all was surprising, but for the person to be Haru himself was shocking. It felt like he had walked right into a trap, but for some reason, he didn’t mind it. Haru wasn’t blackmailing him - he was trying to make Rin understand him; to relate to him.

“I know the why," Haru claimed in a more indifferent tone, though the calm and patience was still there. "Your father died. It happened right before you got into crime. It doesn't take a genius to make the connection. You didn't do it for money, either. Your mom received a big sum of life insurance that she later used to move you and your little sister, and open up her bakery, which did very well at the time you were caught. I'm guessing you did it for rebellious or emotional reasons."

As Haru finally stopped talking, Rin forcefully put down the tools he had had in his hands onto a portable tool chest, and then, without looking at Haru, he walked past him and headed for the door, leaving the garage. He didn't want to talk about any of it, anything related to his past, especially not his dad. To bring him up was over the line, and for him to be used as some plot in a theory of Haru’s, no matter how true it may have been, was too much, even by Haru’s usual standards.

While the opportunity to view Haru in a new light had been overwhelming and potentially nice after some reflection, he absolutely despised feeling analyzed like he did after those last few punches of Haru’s, and for Haru to do it so directly and unfiltered felt beyond invasive. What even was Haru? A damn crime lord-to-be or some shrink? Whatever he was, Rin didn’t want to be part of his little game anymore.

The next couple of days, there was no correspondence between Rin and Haru, or anyone associated with him for that matter. Which, as always, was odd. Even more so since Rin knew Haru had an event to attend, and so he had expected to be rudely called up at any hour of that day, but he wasn’t. Not even the next day, either. Three days passed before his phone rang, and he was a bit surprised to see the contact 2 rather than 1 displayed on the screen. He picked it up regardless.

“Hi Rin,” Tachibana greeted on the other end. “How are you?”

“Uh… Hi?” Rin said, confused by the casual tone. “I’m… fine. How are you?”

“I’m okay, thank you. Do you have time to come in right now? I can send a car for you?”

“Why?” Rin asked rather directly.

“One of our agents damaged a car earlier and we’d like for it to be fixed so we won’t be down one car for too long,” Tachibana patiently explained, sounding completely sincere and honest, like he had nothing to hide from him.

“Okay,” Rin found himself confusedly agreeing. He had had plans to clean up his apartment, so maybe he was really just looking for a way to procrastinate, though. “No need to send a car. I’ll be there in- I don’t know, 30 minutes, maybe?”

“Alright. Drive safely,” Tachibana urged, and Rin could hear the friendly smile in his voice.

“Right,” Rin awkwardly said. There was silence, making it even more awkward. “Bye?”

“Bye,” Tachibana responded, and then Rin quickly hung up the phone to rid himself of the torment. He got ready, headed down to his car and then made his way to the estate, already regretting it.

The car that Tachibana had been talking about was in a rough state, to say the least. Rin wasn’t sure about the car’s worth and he was no insurance consultant, but it was still pretty clear that the entire front was more or less totaled. It was parked out in front of the garage, its bumper hanging down against the ground beneath. He stood still for a whole minute just staring at all the damages done to it, and thus also calculating all the repairs he would have to do.

“Fuck me,” Rin sighed to himself, then pulled out his phone to call Tachibana and let him know the car wouldn’t be usable for at least a couple of weeks. Tachibana sounded completely understanding about it, likely having seen the damages himself, but Rin could still detect some sort of disappointment in his voice too, as if he had hoped Rin could magically fix it within a few hours regardless.

He took a bunch of pictures of the specific damages with his work phone, and some measurements and notes about what needed to be bought anew. It was an increasingly long list. Even the entire motor would have to be replaced. With Haru’s money, it didn’t make sense as to why they didn’t just buy a new one, but Rin was admittedly glad, in complete favor of fixing instead of replacing, so he didn’t ask any questions.

He then went inside the garage, turned on the laptop and looked for various retailers that sold the different parts that he needed. In the midst of browsing and calling around, he heard the door open behind him. He turned around to see a familiar man make his way inside, clearly not considering the possibility that he could be disturbing him, or not caring if so. Rin just turned back around again and continued to talk with a retailer about headlights for the car.

“I know you can do it cheaper than that,” Rin cheekily said, though he hadn‘t properly heard the amount. He still figured it was too much, though. It always was. The retailer gave in and came up with a new price, and Rin agreed to it. He could feel and hear someone walking closer and coming up to stand beside him. “I appreciate that so much sir, yes.”

“You sound like you work in customer service,” Haru bluntly remarked, rather loudly, likely audible on the other end of the line of Rin’s call. Rin turned his head to shoot him a glare of disapproval and annoyance. Most people would consider it impolite to interrupt someone talking on the phone, especially if the purpose of that call was to find and make bargains for pieces for the other person’s car, but apparently Haru didn’t, or just didn’t care. Rin kept trying to ignore him and continued his call while looking and clicking around on the laptop placed on top of the workbench in front of him.

“Thank you, Fukomoto-san, I’ve forwarded the invoice to my coworker, he’ll pay it as soon as possible,” Rin said, and after some last pleasantries, he ended the call.

“You consider Makoto a coworker?” Haru curiously asked.

“I don’t want to talk to you,” Rin stated, making a show out of not looking at him.

“Show me,” Haru demanded, sounding interested rather than strict.

“Show you what?” Rin asked, already failing at the not talking part. “Your new headlights?”

“How you stole cars,” Haru clarified.

“What?” Rin turned his head to the side and looked up at him, then he furrowed his brows in realization. “Wait, is this the real reason you hired me? To steal cars for you?”

“No. I have no use stealing what I can just buy.”

Rin narrowed his eyes at him. “So… why do I have to show you?”

“I’m curious.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes.”

“Just complete innocent curiosity?” Rin raised a skeptical eyebrow at him.

“Yes,” Haru insistently repeated. Rin considered it for a moment.

“Can I keep the car I choose to steal, then?” Rin asked with a daring tone.

“Sure,” Haru shrugged.

“Stop lying."

“I’m not lying. Whatever car you want, it’s yours if you can get into it.”

“There’s no if,” Rin arrogantly remarked with the beginnings of a small, amused smile. Then he looked around the garage, though he didn’t need to. He already knew which car to choose. “Fine, rich boy, say goodbye to your Mazda.”

Haru smiled, looking entertained. “I thought Mercedes were your expertise?”

Rin shot him another glare, this one a confused and shocked rather than annoyed. How much did this jerk really know about him? It was honestly getting more and more scary.

“Do you have a clothing hanger?” Rin asked while gesturing in the air, ignoring his comment and trying to stay calm. “One of the thin metal ones?”

“Personally? No. But there’s probably plenty in the agents’ building.”

Rin huffed out an annoyed breath, then proceeded to find and grab the car keys off the wall, locked the car, handed Haru the keys, and went to search for alternative tools to use. He quickly found a wedge, and with the lack of a proper poker or even a clothing hanger, he found a thin metal rod as an alternative to the original alternative, and went back to the car. He had stolen lots of different cars before, and while he did have a preference for Mercedes, this wasn’t his first Mazda either. Besides, he had worked on this car before, so he knew approximately where everything was located in terms of the mechanics itself, though that wasn’t why he picked it, of course.

He went over to the passenger’s side and carefully used the wedge and the rod, making sure not to make any tears in the trim, and within less than half a minute, he heard the unmistakable sound of the door unlocking.

“Without a car alarm, it’s far too easy,” Rin arrogantly remarked, and opened up the glove compartment, grabbed the driver’s manual and quickly found the small pocket with the spare key in it. “Also, one of the number one mistakes car owners make: leaving spare keys in their manuals for people to take.”

Haru gave him a surprised expression. He definitely hadn’t expected it to be that easy for Rin, that much was clear. Rin thought he even looked a bit impressed, but that might have just been his imagination giving his ego a boost.

“That’s it?” Haru asked.

“What? You expected that I had to hot-wire it or something?” Rin playfully asked, knowing that was most people’s belief. Haru just shrugged in response. “That’s a difficult thing to do to cars made after the nineties. Most cables are hidden way better today than back then. Plus, too much risk playing around with the wrong cables. Not to me of course, I usually know my shit, but it’s not always easy. This trick is definitely the easiest.”

“Did you know there would be a key there?”

“Yes, because unlike you, I actually looked at the manual.”

“That’s cheating,” Haru argued.

“Not really. Even if I didn’t know, I would have still figured it was there. It’s quite typical for rich car owners, especially those who don’t really care about their cars,” Rin smiled smugly. “Besides, out there,” he continued, pointing in no particular direction. “I would’ve staked out the driver and through very few observations it becomes clear whether, in this case, if they’re the type to leave the extra key in the manual or not. And to learn their general routines to figure out how much time I have. And if all else fails, I’ll just leave it.”

“So… stalking is a part of car theft?” Haru observed.

“Kind of,” Rin awkwardly admitted. Not his proudest thing to have done. He used to be so objective about it, but even back then he often caught himself feeling creepy about it.

“Interesting,” Haru concluded, while curiously tipping his head slightly to one side.

“Are you mocking me?” Rin asked, annoyed.

“No,” Haru calmly refuted. “There’s apparently a lot of thoughts to have and considerations to do prior to stealing a car.”

“Yes, obviously. If you just go do whatever, you’ll definitely not succeed.”

“I guess so,” Haru agreed. “So… why did you pick this car?”

“It doesn’t have an alarm system installed,” Rin stated. “That alone makes it an obvious target, since most of your other cars do. Plus, it doesn’t have a keyless ignition system, and it has lock buttons on the doors that are fairly easy to reach, so getting the door open was no issue.”

“What if it did have the keyless system? Or if the buttons weren’t easy to reach?”

“If the buttons weren’t easy to reach, I would have just needed to get creative. But if it had a keyless ignition system, then I wouldn’t have picked it. I don’t have my equipment to do it properly.”

“What equipment?”

“There’s a specific gadget that can subvert the system. If you have that, it can be as easy as just standing close to the owner or driver of the car, and then you literally just have to open the door. The gadget does it all for you. That’s why I’m not a fan of keyless ignitions, the cars are far too easy to steal. You can do it by just using a computer too,” Rin explained. It was kind of weird talking about these things again, it was such a huge part of his past, but he had put that past behind him a long time ago. Bringing it back wasn’t just weird, it was quite uncomfortable, too. It felt like a natural thing to talk about, and that alone made it even more uncomfortable. Rin felt like it shouldn’t still be this easy to recall, explain and do, but it apparently and evidently was. Maybe his discomfort came from acknowledging how close he still was to the things he tried to put behind. “Having to do it manually for cars that aren’t keyless is easy too, if you know how to do it, but it does require a bit more skill, especially the ones with car alarms.”

“So if there was an alarm, what would you do?” Haru surprisingly continued to ask. It was weird for Rin to talk about it, but it was even weirder for Haru to be this genuinely interested. He would never have figured Haru would ever care about something like this, at least not like that.

“Depends on the model and what tools you’ve got.”

“Enlighten me,” Haru encouraged.

“Well…” Rin trailed off. He had already talked too much, already given away so much of his expertise, how could Haru still want to know more? “Ideally, I would use something that wouldn’t damage the car too much, which would be to hack and override the system,” Rin continued to explain. Without any judgement from Haru still, it started to feel less uncomfortable to talk about, and more like just a niche interest that Haru didn’t mind hearing him talk about. Like a parent allowing their kid to rant off about something irrelevant, almost. “But if that wasn’t possible, I would go underneath the hood, find the hood latch, and use a thin pry bar to move and release it.” Rin gestured in the air while talking, though he knew Haru probably didn’t know what he was talking about either way. “Once the hood is open, I can find and disconnect the fuse box. Now, that only works if it’s in the engine bay and not under the steering wheel.”

“What if it is?”

“Well, if it’s under the steering wheel, I would leave and come back with the proper tools. I wouldn’t want to get caught,” Rin shrugged, getting increasingly more confused, and letting that confusion be audible in his tone, then quickly and almost proudly added: “If it’s a Mercedes, though, I know how to silence the stock alarm for most of those with and without needing to hack it. If it’s an old car, you can use a slim jim like they do in movies,” he wasn’t sure if Haru even knew what a slim jim was, but he was sure even a mafia son would have watched it in a movie or a tv show at some point in their life. “You also need to consider if the car has a tracking system built into it and figure out beforehand if you’re able to disable it. If not, then you might as well call the police on yourself.”

“Guess so.”

“Did all of that satisfy your curiosity?” Rin asked, and he realized then that the angry and annoyed tone he had had just moments ago was completely gone in his voice; and from his emotions as well. He felt strangely relaxed.

“Yes.”

“Was it worth losing a car over?”

Haru let out a quiet, amused breath through his nose, as he smiled sideways. “Yes. Thank you for indulging me.”

The two looked at each other in silence for a while, longer than what Rin would consider normal between… well, them? Or anyone, really.

“Good luck on the project out front,” Haru then said, as he was clearly about to walk out again. Rin had a strange desire to try to stop and keep him there, but he ignored it and nodded in response instead.

“Right. I hope whoever did that will learn how to put it in reverse next time,” Rin joked.

“That damage was done during a collision caused by someone who thought I was in the car as well,” Haru casually informed him, no changes in his demeanor whatsoever, the lingering smile even still there. Rin stared at him in disbelief. He didn’t get a chance to say or ask anything though, before Haru excused himself and made his way out of the garage.

“Come with me,” Haru suddenly said a few days later, waltzing unprompted over to Rin while Rin was in the midst of attaching a front bumper to the damaged car outside of the garage. It was an order, but it sounded more like a casual request.

“A little busy right now,” Rin said, frustration clear in his tone as he had gotten interrupted while trying to concentrate on not getting his fingers squeezed in between the car and the bumper.

“Forget the car.”

“Are you serious? Can’t it wait for 5 minutes?” Rin asked, annoyed. Then he shot Haru a quick glare over his shoulder, looked away, only to glance right back a split second later, noticing what he was wearing. He was dressed formally from top to toe, a nice, deep royal blue suit and black dress shoes, looking like someone coming directly from a photo-shoot for a magazine, his well-styled hair making for a nice finishing touch.

“Good work ethics, but no,” Haru declined, not sounding one bit sorry. Rin sighed frustratedly, being so close to get the front bumper attached properly, and now having to start all over.

He removed it again and placed it down on the ground, then followed behind Haru towards the agents’ building. If Haru was about to make him work out or shoot a gun, he might just start a riot in retaliation.

Rin wasn’t brought to any gym, though, but instead ended up in some tailor or suit department. He looked around in confusion. It had an extremely formal and expensive interior, and the suits hanging around on hangers in the room looked to be quite expensive as well. The way Haru was standing and the determined look on his face made it clear they were in the right place. He formally greeted an elderly man who came out into the room from one of the doors.

“Mr. Nanase,” the man greeted back with a gentle smile, then he looked at Rin with a friendly expression. “I assume this is the man you spoke of?”

“Yes,” Haru confirmed.

“What?” Rin asked, looking between the two.

“I was thinking burgundy, maybe,” Haru thought out loud, ignoring Rin.

“Mahogany red might be an option too,” the man suggested. “I will find some samples for you.”

Haru thanked the man, and then the man left through another door, leaving Haru and a puzzled Rin to - Rin assumed - wait for his return.

“What’s happening? Did you bring me here to watch you buy suits out of your own building?”

“No. You’re here to get your own tailored suit,” Haru finally clarified, then sarcastically added: “So you won’t walk around in those rags.”

“Hey, stop hating on my clothes,” Rin protested in an offended tone. Once was nothing, but twice was the start a pattern that Rin already didn’t enjoy. He didn’t object much to it, though. Not even when Haru had him try on countless suits in fits and styles so similar Rin could barely tell them apart after a while, or when he had to stand still for several minutes in strange silence while Haru decided which shade of dark red was 'the one'. After all, getting suits more expensive than his total monthly salary for free was not a thing to willingly object to, nor take lightly. If Haru wasn’t rich, he would have objected to it, but the guy threw money around like his very piss was made of it, so Rin didn’t see any issue with it. He already had one bodyguard-looking suit given to him, and he had a car thrown at him just the other day, too, so why not a more expensive suit to go with that? It was kind of a big deal when Rin thought about it, so he tried not to.

However, getting stabbed with needles more than once as the otherwise kind tailor fit his suit for him, though? That in itself wasn’t a big deal. But the barely-visible-yet-detectable smirk on Haru’s lips each time Rin winched in a natural reaction to the pricks annoyed him to no end. His objections to that were met with deaf ears, though. And an annoying snicker from Haru.

Once Haru was done teaching Rin the difference between various formal clothing items (god forbid Rin didn’t know the difference between Haru’s precious oxfords and the brogues that Rin was given with the suit - it’s really only the fact that the latter is decorated, which, in Rin’s opinion, Haru hadn’t needed to use fifteen whole minutes to explain), he made him follow him to the weaponry by the shooting range, where he was given a gun. This, though, he refused, but Haru persistently insisted.

“Why do I need all of this? A suit and a gun? Do I have to pick you up from an even bigger mafia boss than you or something?”

“No, you’re coming to a meeting with me. And I’m not a mafia boss,” Haru argued, while browsing a selection of leather belts, straps, holsters and various other gear clearly meant for carrying guns of various shapes and sizes.

“Not yet, at least," Rin argued back while rolling his eyes. "And what meeting?”

“A business meeting.”

"Okay…? And I need to be there, because…?” Rin asked, standing a couple of meters behind Haru and watching him as he very meticulously picked first a belt and then a holster.

“You just do,” Haru shrugged, then stepped closer to Rin.

“Why can’t I just wait in the car like I usually do?” Rin asked in a complaining tone, not wanting to be bothered sitting in a room full of… who knows what. Probably criminals.

“It’s an important business meeting,” Haru explained, as if that answered the question. He helped Rin fit the holster correctly into his belt, which was a bit unnecessary in Rin’s opinion, since he had worked with tool belts for the past many years and knew perfectly well how to navigate something like that. Didn’t take a genius to know, either. It was quite easy-forward, after all. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to argue logically about Haru doing it for him, not with Haru standing so close, leather-glove-covered hands even closer.

“Did your dad order me there or something?” Rin nervously asked. Not because he was nervous about Haru’s father. Haru’s hands, on the contrary…

“No. My father won’t be there,” Haru stated and buckled the belt, then stood upright and took a step back, scanning Rin.

“But it’s dangerous enough that I need a gun?”

“Anything about this job requires you to carry a gun. At least when you’re outside the gates. You’re just very stubborn and idiotic.”

“You’re not answering my questions,” Rin pointed out, getting a bit impatient, ignoring the insults. He knew Haru was trying to hide something, even putting in those light offenses at the end there to try to steer him off the conversation.

“I am,” Haru argued. “You’re coming with me to a business meeting, one that my father arranged but won’t attend, and one that’s not any more or any less dangerous than the usual.”

“But why do I have to be there? Why can’t I just wait outside?” Rin insisted. There had to be some underlying reasoning or logic.

“Because I want you there,” Haru nonchalantly said, like it was no big deal. But unlike the quick prick of a needle to his shins and the side of his belly, it very much was a big deal. A huge fucking deal, actually.

Rin’s mouth fell agape, as Haru turned around to grab the gun he had picked before, then he turned back around and handed it to Rin, who had to mentally slap himself out of his newfound trance and physically shake his head lightly in order to register that Haru had even moved in the first place. He looked at the gun in Haru’s outstretched hand, then back up at him, completely dumbfounded by Haru’s sudden honesty. Or perhaps - he considered - it could have just been an excuse meant to shut him up and throw him off guard. If so, it worked.

“Rin,” Haru said and gave him a strange look, resulting in Rin’s brain finally catching up with him. Rin reached forward and grabbed the gun from him, then hesitantly placed it in the holster. “It’s loaded, so don’t wave it around when you leave.”

“Thanks,” Rin awkwardly said, making it obvious that his brain had a bit more catching-up to do.

“You’ll be standing by me the whole meeting, by the way. Your role is strictly to stay behind me with some other bodyguards, nothing more than that.”

“So I’m just there as… decoration? Part of an intimidating tactic?” Rin confusedly asked.

“Not really, but kind of,” Haru vaguely said, doing very little to make Rin any less confused. He started walking towards the door, only to turn around to look at Rin. “Oh, and you will need to be ready to drive off with me at any second. That’s the only thing you should be focusing on.”

“How do I know when that is?” Rin asked, and slowly took a step closer to Haru, getting ready to follow him out of the room.

“When I get up,” Haru simply said, turned back around and started walking, with Rin following along behind him. Haru led him all the way back to the car outside of the garage, then left with the last words being which time he had to be at the estate the following day.

Rin arrived early the next day and was handed his suit along with his shoes as soon as he drove through the gates in his old car - the Mazda he had won the other day was still parked in the garage. He had left the gun at the garage too, after Haru had left. He figured that it was best to keep all the traces of this job at the job, and not bring too many unnecessary things home.

He was there early, so he went to the garage to work on a few non-greasy things, not wanting to risk Haru scolding him for getting himself dirty. As time passed by rather quickly, he decided to just stay and change clothes in the garage rather than go find another place to do it. No one was there anyway. The lack of a proper mirror made it a bit difficult, but with a last look in the side mirror of a random convertible, he deemed that his hair sat right and figured his clothes probably did too. Apparently they didn’t, as Haru broke into an attractive-looking, amused side-ways smile upon seeing him once he entered the garage, clearly looking for him.

“What?” Rin asked in a mirroring amused tone, making it clear that he took no offense whatsoever. Not even a hint of annoyance either.

“Your dress shirt isn’t tucked in properly,” Haru informed him, still with that partial smile. Rin blushed slightly despite not feeling embarrassed by it.

“Well…” Rin trailed off, not sure what to say. He tried to stuff his shirt more properly into his pants, doing it a bit slow and exasperatedly as if to tease or annoy Haru.

“Did you change in here?”

“Yes? Why? Am I not allowed to?”

“I mean, I suppose you are, but you do realize there’s a lot of cameras, right?” Haru skeptically asked, vaguely gesturing around the big room with cameras hanging around the ceiling.

“Well, then I guess I hope someone out there enjoyed the show?” Rin shrugged with a smirk, not really caring. Besides, if some stranger was watching all the cameras at once, he figured they must have seen worse and stranger things than a mechanic changing clothes. “It’s not like I changed underwear or anything."

Haru cleared his throat so quietly and briefly that Rin almost didn’t notice it, especially not with Haru still standing a few meters away. Maybe it was just a gulp? Whatever it was, it intrigued and amused Rin to no end, and he decided to make that very clear.

“Though maybe they would have preferred that?” Rin playfully suggested, not really referring to this particular they as much as to Haru.

“Highly doubt it,” Haru simply stated, avoiding eye contact more intently than he usually did.

“Hey, do you ever look at the footage from all those cameras?” Rin teasingly and still rather suggestively asked, receiving an eye roll in response.

The two, much to Rin’s surprise, drove in separate cars to the meeting. When Rin had asked why that was, Haru had just called it procedure, but something about it made Rin feel a bit on edge. He wasn’t even allowed to drive, either. Instead he sat on the backseat of a car with 3 bodyguards in it. The bodyguards weren’t exactly talkative, but they did explain to him how to act and what to do at the meeting, which was essentially just stand still and shut up, then drive Haru off afterwards. Not much different from what Haru had told him, or what he was somewhat used to already.

They drove for a long time, hours probably, before finally heading through a gated residential area with a long driveway leading to a mansion. Rin followed the bodyguards and together with three more bodyguards and Haru from the other car and four more from a third car, they all went up to the large mansion front doors and were escorted down several halls before coming to a stop inside of a room with a big, oval mahogany table and various expensive-looking art pieces and taxidermied animals meant not to intrigue but to intimidate.

An older man sat at one side of the table, with a couple more men along each side of the table, all of them appearing to be past the age of fifty, making Haru stand out quite easily among them. Several men stood around the room, clearly working as some type of guards, scanning the room and doing that same watching-without-looking-directly that all of Haru’s bodyguards also did. Haru shared greetings and respectable light bows for the men around the table. The one at the end of the table, Rin came to learn was called Mr. Gin, and he felt like the name sounded familiar, though he wasn’t sure when he had heard it. It was clear that they had been waiting specifically for Haru, as they immediately began to talk business right when Haru had taken the seat on the opposite end of the table to Gin.

They were talking for quite a while, and Rin started to grow bored. He had kept busy looking at all the artifacts in the room and not-so-subtly studied all the people in the room, too, but that stopped being interesting quickly. He glanced between all the people over and over, until he suddenly noticed a slight, almost invisible twitch in the eye of Gin. That wasn’t what threw him off, though. Rather, it was the accompanying very subtle movement of a hand hidden underneath the table that caught his immediate attention.

Without thinking twice, Rin pulled the gun out from its holster and pointed it at him, determined expression across his face and eyes unyielding. Everything happened so quickly, Rin could barely register it all, eyes stuck to Gin like his life depended on it. As soon as he had moved to reach for his gun, all the people in the room drew their own guns as well and pointed them at someone; anyone who they may lay eyes on first, until they all ended up pointed at Rin. There was a certain tension before, the whole time during the stiff business talk and silent intimidation games, but now the tension became extreme, palpable and impossible to ignore. All talk had stopped and the whole room went quiet, safe for the sound of guns still clicking in the surprised aftermath and turmoil. The only ones not pointing guns were all the men around the table, including Haru and Gin.

“What’s this?” Gin asked in a deeply offended tone, looking at Haru as if he thought he was behind some coup. Haru slowly turned his head to the side and glanced up at Rin, but Rin didn’t take his eyes off of Gin. Haru’s expression and body language was as composed as ever, but there was a certain surprise underneath, visible even in the corners of Rin’s eyes.

“Agent?” Haru asked in a stern voice, and Rin knew he was referring to him, despite him not being an agent. “Why are you pointing a gun at Mr. Gin?”

“He’s got something under the table,” Rin explained.

“Mr. Gin, forgive him, he’s new,” Haru apologized, though there was something about the overly-politeness of his voice that, at least to Rin, gave away his suspicion.

“All is forgiven,” Gin said, voice forcefully friendly. He held a hand up for his own men to back down, and Haru did the same.

After a few more formal apologies, unpleasant pleasantries and forced laughter, they agreed to continue the meeting, though Gin kept glancing up at Rin whenever he wasn’t talking.

“It seems the delay in the shipment in May was due to a manufacturer problem of the ship,” one of the other men around the table said while browsing something on his tablet.

“A manufacturer problem? Is that the claim?” Haru asked, and if Rin wasn’t wrong, it almost sounded like he was politely mocking him.

“Well, it says here-” the man continued, turning his tablet around as if he wanted to show Haru.

“I believe there is another explanation,” Haru dismissed him, refusing to look at the tablet, but instead kept his eyes glued to Gin. “Right, Mr. Gin?”

There it was, the atmosphere changed again, a brand new tension even stronger than the one from before, but this time the explanation wasn’t as clear to Rin as it had been before. What was happening?

“I don’t appreciate that tone, Mr. Nanase,” Gin said, and there was something threatening in his voice. “Do not try to disrespect me in my own home.”

“Well, forgive me, I didn’t mean to be disrespectful,” Haru said, a faint smile across his lips. In the game of intimidation, it was clear who was already winning. Haru was unfazed, and if Rin had to be honest, hearing him talk like that did things to his body and mind that almost drowned out his nerves from the general situation he was in.

“I have worked with your father for-”

“For thirteen years, yes. I am aware,” Haru interrupted, voice as smooth as silk. “One year, thirty years…” Haru continued, pausing to place his elbows on the table in front of him, folding his black leather-gloved hands with his two index fingers upwards, which he leaned his head forward and placed his lips against. “Years do not negate betrayal, Mr. Gin. Nor does it forgive it.”

The two stared at each other. Haru, arrogantly aware that he was right, and Gin, arrogantly refusing to give into that fact quite yet. He let out a disbelieved laugh, and it almost appeared as if he was going to argue further, even as Haru made a move to get up from his chair, clearly having said what he needed to say, but a split second was all it took for Gin to prove that Rin had also been right: he did have something under the table, and as Rin had expected, it really was a gun; a gun that he quickly and swiftly pulled out and pointed directly ahead of himself.

With zero hesitation, Rin pushed Haru out of the way and accidentally made him fall to the ground onto his back in the process, himself unintentionally tumbling down on top of him in the attempt to try to catch him. Rin fell down with an arm on each side just in time to catch himself before landing directly down into him. His new position also resulted in Rin looking more like he was trying to shield him, which he honestly preferred over the clumsy truth.

Haru stared at him wide-eyed, clearly not having expected that to happen. Gunshots were fired, so loudly it rang piercing loud in Rin’s ears. Haru’s bodyguards all stepped forward and thereby created a wall between Haru and the other people in the room. Rin could feel Haru’s breathing against himself, and see even the smallest details of his eyes, how there were different shades of deep blue in his irises and how-

Haru didn’t tell him to get up, but he certainly gestured for him to do so, pushing him off of himself, clearly not in the mood to let Rin continue to stare into his eyes like the idiot with no situational awareness that he was. Rin quickly got up and with two bodyguards guiding and following them, they hurriedly made their way out of the room, down the halls, out of the mansion, and then Rin and Haru got into the car alone, the two other bodyguards running towards the two other cars. Rin fired up the engine and began driving before he could even think about putting his seatbelt on. He pressed the accelerator all the way down, the car quickly started beeping, telling him to put on the seatbelt, and he fumbled rather aggressively to grab a hold of it and then proceeded to struggle to plug it in.

“Are you okay?” Haru asked, watching as Rin continued to frustratingly fumble with his seatbelt. Haru reached out, pressed his gloved hand against Rin’s and plugged the seatbelt in, then quickly withdrew his hand. “Did you get hit anywhere?”

“No, I think I’m fine,” Rin guessed, quickly looking down at himself and concluding, with relief, that there was no visible blood anywhere, then he quickly looked up at the road again, driving way too fast to not keep his eyes on the road. “You?”

“I’m fine,” Haru quickly said, not even checking himself first either. “Thanks to you.”

“Is that gratitude I hear?” Rin skeptically asked.

“Probably,” Haru shrugged, then after a brief moment of silence, he squinted ever so slightly at him. “Your loyalty is admirable."

“And your arrogance is irritating,” Rin was quick to remark.

“What? I’m not arrogant,” Haru argued.

“You so are,” Rin argued back. “Can you believe me next time?”

“Sure.”

“Thanks,” Rin sarcastically said.

“For the record, though, I did believe you,” Haru admitted. “I was trying to de-escalate the situation so it wouldn’t get to the point that it did. Every one of these types of meetings are like games. You have to know when to draw, when to keep your posture and when to strike.”

“Strange games you play,” Rin noted out loud.

“Likewise,” Haru ominously said. He obviously tried to appear unusually calm, but something about his demeanor made Rin feel like the opposite was true; he looked troubled underneath the thick layers of several facades.

“What’s wrong?” Rin asked rather directly. Haru glanced at him.

“What do you mean?”

“You seem off,” Rin shrugged, trying to sound casual. It’s not like he truly cared, or he tried not to. Too much, at least.

“Well, we were just in a shoot-out? Besides-”

“It’s not just that. You’ve tried that before,” Rin argued. He should probably hold back a little on talking that way towards Haru, but he quite frankly didn’t care much about the potential consequences. He was tired of Haru shutting him out and acting all strange and secretive about everything, especially in moments where he felt that he deserved to know the truth, even more so compared to how Haru himself had no qualms digging into Rin’s life.

Haru gave him a contemplating look, but stayed silent. Then he sighed. “My father might try to kill me.”

“What? Why?”

“Because that was one of his biggest clients.”

“So what? He just tried to kill you,” Rin confusedly argued.

“That won’t matter to him. It was my responsibility and I didn’t live up to it.”

“Didn’t the man betray you or something?”

“Yes. He betrayed my father before he made me take over, too.”

“Isn’t it good, then?”

“He won’t see it like that. Losing a client is still losing a client.”

“Your father is awful,” Rin concluded.

“He probably won’t win any father of the year award, no,” Haru vaguely agreed. Rin let out a snicker of surprise at the wording - and the unexpected agreement, less of all.

“Yeah, definitely not,” Rin concurred.

“But…” Haru began, but stopped himself.

“Yes?”

“I really do think he wants me dead. Either that, or he’s testing me,” Haru confessed.

“What? Why would he want you dead?”

“If I knew about the betrayal, so did he. And if he knew about it, he didn’t mind the risks involved with arranging that meeting,” Haru clarified. It was strange for Rin to hear Haru talk so openly, but in a good way. It felt like a drug, like he was slowly getting high from it, and most of all, it felt like he needed more. He wanted Haru’s trust, he wanted Haru to be open with him, to discuss these things, to talk to him like this. It was strange. He tried to tell himself he was just being naturally curious, but it wasn’t just that. He genuinely wanted to get to know him, to hear his thoughts and to feel like he was taking part - no matter how passive - in Haru's current analysis.

“So he wanted you to confront him?”

“I don’t know. I hope so, I guess,” Haru shrugged, and Rin could practically hear Haru closing back in on himself as he slowly composed himself.

“Will your agents kill him?”

“My father? No.”

“No, Gin,” Rin clarified.

“Probably not. He’ll likely manage to escape.”

“Should we be worried?” Rin asked, and looked over at Haru, who was looking directly ahead of himself and then clearly contemplating how to answer that question.

“I don’t know yet,” Haru simply said. “I think you should focus on driving for now.”

Rin knew what that meant. It was a yes packed up in a lot of things that Haru likely couldn’t - or wouldn’t - explain, not yet at least. The walls had been rebuilt and Rin would simply have to wait for the next opportunity to momentarily knock them down again, brick by brick.

“Should I be worried?” Rin paraphrased, needing to know whether or not he had to be cautious about something.

“No,” Haru said, and while Rin wasn’t entirely convinced, it was enough for him to focus better on the road and not let his mind wander off too much.

A week had passed by since the incident. Haru hadn’t told him anything about what had gone down after they had left, and he hadn’t answered when Rin had asked either, just dismissed it with a strange it’s taken care of. Rin was told not to worry, but that didn’t stop him. Should he watch out wherever he went? Was he in any danger? Was his family in any danger?

The worries faded as the days passed and no one seemed to show any signs that it had even happened. Rin felt slightly gaslighted, but he also knew that if there was any actual imminent danger, Haru wouldn’t be wandering around without a single bodyguard by his side, and said bodyguards wouldn’t look as not-on-edge and almost relaxed as they did.

And Haru definitely wouldn’t step inside the garage on a hot Saturday and invite Rin to use his private pool to cool off when he was done with whatever he was up to. Not the offer from someone worried to get killed off, that much Rin was sure of.

To Rin’s confusion, Haru wasn’t the one opening the front door to the mansion when he arrived at the doorstep, but instead a housekeeper, who handed him a pair of swim trunks, instructions on how to find the bathroom, which was absolutely luxurious, and then showed him to the backdoor by the massive kitchen leading out into the familiar backyard with the pool. It was nice to see it without having to climb a fence this time.

Strangely and confusedly, no one seemed to be there at all. Only the housekeeper and himself, and soon he was left alone with drinks and the freedom to swim around for as long as he wanted, and then even lounge around afterwards. Only the housekeeper and another servant checked up on him, kept his needs met and made sure he knew he could get anything he needed or wanted. It was unusual, a taste of luxury so foreign and new to him, but admittedly… very cool. He knew Haru’s staff was well taken care of, and they were all really friendly, so he had no qualms in terms of that, or in terms of politely asking them for things.

What was strange, though, was the way they dismissed his requests to speak to Haru, and even avoided answering him when he asked where he was. It was a bit ominous, if he was being honest.

Hours passed before Haru finally showed up, walking up behind him in casual chino shorts, a comfortable-looking, thin polo shirt, thin, white cotton gloves and expensive sunglasses.

“Are you really refusing to leave until you get to see me?” Haru asked, a mixture of skepticism and amusement. Rin nearly jumped at the suddenness of his presence, not having heard him, too busy sipping from his cocktail and looking out at the landscape behind the fence, completely unaware that Haru had finally decided to join him.

“What if I am?” Rin dared to ask, pretending that he didn’t just nearly get a heart attack.

“There’s no if,” Haru countered. “Mrs. Kitigawa has been bugging me for the past few hours to come out here.”

“Out?” Rin asked, confused. “Wait, have you been inside the whole time?”

“Yes,” Haru confirmed with an almost sneaky-looking sideways smile. He sat down on the outdoor lounging chair beside the one Rin was lying in, while Rin shook the confusion and surprise off and played along in their little back-and-forth game.

“Is my company not good enough for you or something?” Rin asked in a pretend-offended tone.

“Hmm… not really, no,” Haru teased, his sideways smile growing bigger.

“Hey, no one’s forcing you,” Rin argued.

“Actually, you are, for acting like a squatter in my yard,” Haru argued back.

“I’m here on invitation, though.”

“That’s true, I suppose,” Haru had to admit.

A comfortable silence spread between them, and the housekeeper - Mrs. Kitigawa? - came out with an identical cocktail for Haru, then quickly left again with an appreciative thanks from Haru. Rin glanced over at him, waiting a bit before he finally spoke up again.

“Do I really not have to worry?” Rin asked.

“That’s a complicated question.”

“Until now you said I shouldn’t.”

“Yes, but the answer isn’t a definitive no. It’s not a definitive yes, either. No, you shouldn’t walk around worried, that won’t do you or anyone else any good. But as I’ve said before, this job does come with certain risks.”

“So… Gin is going to kill me, but it’s better for me and everyone around me if I pretend that’s not what’s happening?”

“Kind of. Except Mr. Gin isn’t a threat to you.”

“So he’s dead?”

“Not yet.”

“But then I’m in danger, right? I mean, I-”

“You didn’t reveal anything that I didn’t already know. I know that, and he does too. As I said before, I believed you. Of course he had a gun, and of course he reached for it on several occasions that day. That’s just a part of these meetings. Whether you called him out for it or not doesn’t change that. Everyone just acts as if it’s not happening, so situations don’t always end the way that it did that day. The stakes are high, and so is the tension.”

“That’s a fucked up thing to normalize,” Rin said. He wasn’t sure why, but while it was slightly relieving to have all of it explained and put into perspective, it bothered him to know that Gin wasn’t dead and also to know that this was apparently the standard procedure for Haru’s business meetings. Really not an ideal work environment, to put it lightly.

“Probably, yes,” Haru agreed. “But either way he betrayed my family, and because of that, any lashing out he does right now is just an attempt to try to stay alive a little longer. You don’t have to worry about that. You’re not a threat to him, so he’s not a threat to you. He and his men are not after you, only me.”

“That’s not exactly comforting, though,” Rin argued.

Haru’s sideways smile came back. “You don’t have to worry about me, either. I have bodyguards.”

“Well… still,” Rin continued, only to realize he could come off as caring in a way he probably shouldn’t, so he quickly added: “I do work for you, after all…”

“He won’t strike me at my property, he knows better than that,” Haru said, taking a sip from his cocktail before lowering the glass again. “He may be a traitor, but he’s not a complete idiot. And I doubt we won’t be able to de-escalate or neutralize the situation by the time you have to be my chauffeur again.”

“And by neutralize you mean…” Rin trailed off.

“Yes.”

“So… there’s really nothing for me to worry about?” Rin asked again.

“No,” Haru confirmed once more. “Nothing else but getting sunburnt at this point.”

“What?” Rin asked, confused.

“Did you even apply sunscreen?”

Rin groaned loudly in realization.

“I take that as a no.”

“Is it bad?” Rin asked, feeling hesitant to look down at himself and almost nervous to hear the answer.

“Not yet,” Haru reassured, then not so reassuringly added: “But it probably will be.”

“Well, that’s your fault for taking so long to come out of your dungeon,” Rin complained while taking off his sunglasses to check for himself. Not so bad, no. For now.

“I don’t see how me staying indoors in my own home while you’re being stubborn is somehow my fault.”

“Pretty sure you’re the stubborn one,” Rin half-assedly argued.

They bickered back and forth some more until they finished their drinks and a plate of fruit each, and then they were interrupted by Mrs. Kitigawa, who informed Haru of several things he needed to do. They were being mysterious about it, and Haru didn’t say much else, just excused himself and left.

It was Friday, the end of a long work week, and Rin had spent hours rummaging around in an American classic sports car at the repair shop to pass time in between fixing other cars and having fun with a couple of his coworkers. When his shift ended, ten out of fourteen employees, including all three of the auto painters, went out to a bar to drink and socialize.

It wasn’t easy to get all the employees on board, with the broad spectrum of age, ranging anywhere from twenty to fifty. The young people wanted to party and the older people had wives and kids to come home to, or organs to be mindful of. But ten was great, and they had a lot of fun, then some of the older people of the group went home and Rin went off with the rest to other bars, and then to a dance club.

Rin wasn’t sure why, but he really went off, accepting any drink the other guys or even strangers offered him. He usually had more common sense and had grown up enough to be able to take it easy - and to actually handle what he drank. But tonight was different somehow. He completely disregarded Sousuke’s warnings that he should slow down; instead he swayed between the dance floor and the bar, letting go of all of his senses and surrendering to the atmosphere and the lack of thoughts no longer swirling around in his mind.

It had been a while since he had drank that much. He drank a lot to escape reality after his dad passed, but tonight wasn’t like that. He wasn’t drinking because he was miserable, and Sousuke must have realized this too, with his audible concerns not as persistent anymore. No, it seemed as if Rin was really just getting caught up in the energy and wanting a good time, while trying so hard to drown out the feeling that he was chasing after something; as if something was missing.

It was a good thing that he went out drinking with his coworkers on a regular basis, or else he wouldn’t have been able to hold the alcohol down, that much he knew (and was grateful of). Yet, he felt himself slipping and losing control of himself, and while he didn’t throw up, he could actually feel himself getting overpowered by the buzz and the weightlessness drink after drink.

He wound up outside of the club, far into the night, clinging onto a phone in his hand, and he was somewhat aware that it wasn’t his private phone, but another one. Sousuke had already left, and so had most of his other coworkers, the rest there with him equally as drunk as himself and still inside the club dancing around with strangers. It wasn’t any of his coworkers he felt like searching for, though, but someone else; something else. A presence, perhaps. Or a pair of ocean-like, deep blue eyes.

Haru had had trouble sleeping ever since he was a small child. The eyebags came with his line of work, he had assumed already before he became a teenager. It was difficult for him to fall asleep, and once he did, he often woke up again after a few hours. Some days were worse than others, and he knew it was the paranoia of constantly having to be on guard that set him off each time, when it wasn’t nightmares. When he had mentioned it to his father as a child, his father had simply judged him for it, and so, not wanting to be viewed as any more weak than he already was, he kept quiet about it and settled for roaming the big and lifeless mansion by himself, which slowly became every single night.

Tonight was no different. He woke up and looked to the clock on his nightstand to check the time. 2:43, not that bad. He looked around the dark room, and then back to the nightstand where his phone laid with the screen facing down. He usually never looked at it after going to bed, or even much before that, if he was being honest with himself, but for some reason he found himself reaching for it, only to end up instantly feeling quite confused at the missed calls and voice message notifications on his lockscreen, both from the same person. He sat up in his bed, opened his voice messages and put his phone to his ear, listening along to the automatic you have one new message. Received today at 2:05.

“Where are you?” The sound of Rin’s voice asked in a whiny, complaining tone. Haru’s eyes widened in surprise and his pulse began to quicken. Rin didn’t sound like himself at all, his words all stretched out and slightly slurred. He definitely sounded drunk. There was a lot of background noise of traffic, people talking, and muffled music. “I wanna… dance with you again, but I can’t find you…”

There was the sound of Rin chuckling innocently to himself, the sound of him breathing for a few seconds, then some rustling against the phone, and then a distant sound of Rin groaning that got cut off quickly by the call being hung up and the automatic and robotic voicemail speaking up again. Haru sat in the quiet darkness of his bedroom for a few confused seconds, before getting out of bed.

In the process of getting dressed, he called up a sleeping Makoto and had him track down the location of Rin’s work phone and send it to an agent, who would be driving a car up to the mansion and type the address into the car’s GPS so that everything was ready for him when he stepped outside. It was, and so he thanked the agent, got into the car and drove off.

The GPS led him to a random dance club in Kita called Music & Bar Enab. There weren't any parking spaces, so he ended up just parking in the middle of the street, not really considering or caring about any potential consequences from that.

Rin was nowhere to be seen in front of the bar, so Haru ventured into the noisy club with various degrees of drunk people grouped together by the entrance, both inside and outside, paid the entrance fee and then went further inside. Rin was easy to spot by the bar. Even the back of his head seemed to stand out in a crowd to Haru.

Haru stood still for a while in the loud and annoying music, just looking at Rin and trying to figure out the whole situation. Why had Rin called him? And more importantly: why had he been so quick to go find him?

Someone Haru had never seen before sat down on one of the stools beside Rin, and so Haru pulled himself out of his trance, went up to the bar and sat down on the other stool beside Rin. Rin was talking to the other person and didn’t notice him, and Haru listened to Rin’s slurred words loudly rambling off about some drink and the song and his night in general. The stranger appeared just as drunk as Rin, talking to him as well, but it was clear that the two didn’t exactly hear what the other said, so the whole conversation was double one-sided.

“I thought someone like you would be able to handle your liquor better,” Haru spoke up, raising his voice over the loud music. With sluggish movements, Rin turned around in his seat, and Haru watched him with a strange mixture of amusement and… something else.

“I can handle my alcohol just- Hey, oh, hi Haru! Hey, look, it’s Haru!” Rin yelled out, likely talking to the stranger still, but the stranger clearly didn’t hear him, but just stared down into an empty glass on the counter, mind completely gone to somewhere else. Rin moved too quickly, and he nearly tumbled forward into Haru, but managed to catch his balance, then chuckled at himself. “You came!”

“Yes.”

“Time to dance!” Rin announced and tried to take a step forward to get off the bar stool, only to drop back down onto it again, nearly falling off of it in the process.

“I don’t think you’re in any condition to dance,” Haru noted, watching him closely.

“Scared?” Rin teased with a smug grin.

“Of what?”

“Of my skills… of me... me seducing you?” Rin clarified, eyelids having trouble staying completely open. “...again.”

“No.”

“No need to lie, Haru-chan…”

“Don’t call me that,” Haru quickly ordered, then got down from the stool. “Come on, It’s time for you to go home.”

“But I don’t wanna,” Rin complained, and avoided Haru’s offer of support in the form of a hand ready to help him get out of his seat without falling.

“Too bad,” Haru simply said, but he didn’t sound impatient; in fact he sounded more like a parent trying to guide their kid, which he himself thought was odd. Shouldn’t he be beyond annoyed in a moment like this?

“Just one dance?” Rin pressed on.

“You can’t even stand on your feet,” Haru argued. Stubbornly, Rin tried to prove him wrong, but he truly was quite wobbly, and so, with a bit more mild complaining, he eventually allowed Haru to drag him out of the club with him and then he proceeded to drop down into the passenger seat of the car. Haru leaned into the car to plug in his seatbelt for him.

“Wow, going a little fast!” Rin let out relatively loudly in a surprised tone, making Haru roll his eyes, then he slowly spread his legs and more suggestively added in a lowered voice: “Not that I’m complaining, or anything...”

Haru quickly pulled back again, paused so that he was still lingering over Rin, and put a finger on each side of Rin’s nose, then pinched hard, making Rin loudly yelp.

“Whatever fantasy your drunk brain is fabricating right now, kill it,” Haru ordered, not wanting to bother with someone both overly drunk and unreasonably horny. One thing was enough.

“Yes, boss, whatever you say,” Rin obediently yet somehow still flippantly agreed, while rubbing his sore nose, then he seemed to realize something, staring at Haru’s hand with its fingers still close to Rin’s nose, ready to strike him again. “Hey, you’re not wearing your gloves?”

Haru hadn’t realized it until Rin pointed it out, so he looked equally surprised down at his own hand, turned it around as if that solved the mystery of how he could have been that careless. He didn’t say a word, just leaned all the way back, shut Rin’s door, walked around the car and got into the driver’s seat, then headed for Rin’s apartment.

The entire drive, Rin just stared at Haru’s bare hands on the steering wheel, and while it was admittedly quite amusing for Rin to look as amazed as a child , it was also unnerving. It was strange that he hadn’t even noticed the sudden amplified sensations before he had even stepped outside of his front door - he was so used to wearing them all the time, but apparently he must have just been too tired to notice their sudden absence.

Once they reached the apartment, it took a lot of time, but Haru eventually managed to guide Rin all the way up the stairs. When they reached his floor, though, Rin’s legs began to give in. He stumbled a bit and fell up against a wall, so Haru made a quick decision, took his keys from him, went over to unlock the door, stepped back over in front of him and tried to pick him up, a hand underneath each thigh. Rin let out a surprised gasp, but his body was too slow and tired to react or struggle in Haru’s grasp, so Haru continued. It was a bit awkward to be carrying a man slightly taller and bigger than himself, especially in a way one would carry a child, but Rin just slumped against him, so Haru in turn just tried to get it over with quickly. With only relatively minimal struggle he carried him through the door, and then with actual struggle to keep carrying Rin’s almost-dead-weight, he walked through the apartment and into his bedroom, finding it with ease as the apartment was quite small.

He didn’t want to just throw him onto the bed, as tempting as it was, but his arms were close to giving in, so he stepped backwards and sat down on Rin’s bed with Rin on top of him, but he quickly realized that was so much worse. Throwing him on the bed would have been far less intimate, and far, far less awkward. He just wanted to get him into bed and sleep it off, but now he was face-to-face with him, very closely so, and Rin must have realized this, too, lifting his head from Haru’s shoulder at the sudden change in position. Haru could smell the alcohol from Rin’s heavy breaths even more now than before. Their eyes met, and suddenly Rin’s tired expression changed entirely, along with the atmosphere in the room. A sudden tension spread between them, and it felt… suffocating. Nauseating, almost.

“You’re not going to throw up now, are you?” Haru nervously and awkwardly asked, wanting to nudge Rin off of his lap, but Rin just seemed to sink down onto him further and further, or maybe that was just Haru getting increasingly more conscious about the fact that Rin was literally sitting on him.

“No…” Rin sleepily mumbled.

They looked at each other for some more time, until Rin suddenly lifted his otherwise limp arms and lunged forward to hug Haru tightly, pushing all of his tired death-weight against him, making Haru fall down backwards in surprise, with his back against the bed and Rin even more on top of him, their groins directly against one another's. Haru’s hands against Rin’s sides previously meant for support to keep him from falling onto the floor slid upwards and lifted Rin’s shirt up in the process, too.

Haru stared wide-eyed up into Rin’s eyes, and Rin looked back, an unreadable expression on his face. Haru quickly removed his hands from Rin’s side, almost panically so. Rin’s head then dropped down onto Haru’s shoulder, his face hidden away at the nape of his neck.

“You smell good…” Rin mumbled before audibly breathing in through his nose. He moved a bit, hands roaming around Haru’s sides, and Haru froze. He had just meant to get him to bed, but it seemed like his choice of how to get him into bed had given Rin other and entirely different plans. When Rin planted a sloppy kiss against Haru's neck, Haru tensed up and was about to forcefully push him away, but then Rin mumbled something incoherently against Haru’s skin, before his body grew heavier and he started to drift off, hands and arms and whole body going limp, and all Haru could do was lie completely still. He soon began to feel the beginning of a slowly increasing erection from the very clear sensation of Rin's dick lying flat against his own, with only some fabric in between them. He furiously blushed and couldn’t find sense or meaning in the situation at all. He was trapped, and that was both unusual and slightly scary. He tried not to overthink everything, and instead focused on getting out, but it was difficult, and for a while he just lied still, listening to his loud heartbeat beating in his chest and echoing in his ears, and the sound of Rin’s slow breathing and quiet snoring.

He eventually managed to free himself and flee, and when Rin woke up the next morning, he only vaguely remembered how he got home, though he thought Haru being a part of that was just some dream getting mixed up with reality.

During the weekend, Rin worked at the estate on a couple of cars, and he sensed a change in Haru’s behavior whenever they met, which had been far less than usual, too. He wasn’t sure why Haru acted differently around him all of the sudden, but he definitely did. The slightly authoritative or arrogant attitude he usually had wasn’t really there anymore, instead he seemed apprehensive somehow, even as they sat beside each other during the evening of Monday on the way towards the estate after Rin had picked him up from a meeting.

“Hey, did something happen? You’ve been acting strange all weekend,” Rin asked. Haru gave him an odd look that was visible even in Rin’s peripheral vision, which only confused Rin further.

There were some long-stretched seconds of silence before Haru, rather coldly, answered: “No.”

Rin briefly glanced at him, skeptically. A no shouldn’t require that much thinking. “Have I done something?”

More seconds of silence. Rin glanced at Haru again, but Haru had turned his face to the side, staring out at the passing surroundings along the road.

“Haru?”

“No,” Haru quietly stated, and it was clear to Rin that he was lying, but he couldn’t for the life of him figure out why, or - since he was sure he was lying about him not having done anything - what the hell he so clearly had done.

The rest of the car ride was awkward and silent, with Haru stubbornly refusing to talk to him or tell him what he had done, or even just give him a clue, and once Rin parked in front of the mansion, Haru got out before Rin managed to say another word.

Rin sat in the garage with his work laptop in front of him, browsing through a website while continuously trying to get a hold of Haru, each time to no avail. All he needed to know was which color he preferred the new rims to be for his Mercedes-AMG, since he didn’t want to do the same job twice in case he picked the wrong ones. After three calls and several messages he frustratedly tried to occupy himself with things to do while time passed and he eventually tried to call again, then again a while after that, and then he got fed up waiting around and looking unnecessarily desperate for so many hours just to get an answer to such a simple question, so he walked out of the garage and headed for the mansion to go find the jerk instead.

To his surprise, the housekeeper whose name Rin had already forgotten opened the door and let him in without questioning his motives, just a simple greeting and that was that. The few bodyguards also barely even looked at him either. But since they were there, Rin knew Haru was definitely also somewhere there too. He called out to him, and he had to admit that he was quite surprised that no one was stopping him. He hadn’t even expected to be let past the threshold, let alone be allowed to just wander around yelling.

It was the first time he had properly seen the mansion inside - the first time he was inside, he had been reluctant to snoop around with the housekeeper watching him. The whole interior was beautiful, stunning even. A mixture of traditional Japanese with some western influence, both antique and modern. It was elegant and somewhat simple, but definitely expensive, with art, collectibles and various plants everywhere, and while it looked like it could definitely be on the cover of a magazine, it didn’t feel as empty and soulless as other magazine-houses.

Then, for the first time ever, he walked up the stairs, then passed an expensive console table at the top of the stairs, and walked down a relatively narrow hall while continuing to call out for Haru. He finally showed up, opening a door in the hall and stepping out, looking quite annoyed.

“What do you want?” Haru asked impatiently, looking directly and disapprovingly at Rin.

“I’ve tried to call you, but you won’t pick up,” Rin explained. “I need to know what rim you prefer for the Mercedes.”

“Are you serious?” Haru asked, and he almost sounded mad.

“Yes?”

‘You’ve called me five times just to ask about some car?”

“About the rims, yes? It’s my job.”

“And Makoto couldn’t help you, because…?”

“Because I didn’t ask him,” Rin said, not liking the angry and slightly condescending tone in Haru’s voice. “I’m asking you.”

“Well, then you should know better. Go ask him, not me.”

“Why are you so angry?”

“I’m not angry, I’m busy,” Haru argued, sounding very much angry and not so busy, then turned around and stepped back into the room, but Rin followed after him. As Haru was about to shut the door behind him, it got caught on Rin’s foot.

“Well, fine, I’ll go ask Makoto about your preferences, but can you at least talk to me?” Rin asked, pressing onto the door to let himself in. Apparently the room Haru had come from, and was currently back in again, was a study filled with bookshelves, chaise lounge chairs, an antique desk with a matching chair, and a painting aisle in front of large glass sliding doors leading out to a balcony overlooking what appeared to be the backyard beneath, or at least that’s what Rin assumed.

“What part of busy don’t you get?” Haru asked, annoyed, turning around to face him again, standing only a meter or two away from him. “Anything you need from me you can get from Makoto. Go bother him instead.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you? Last week you were fine and now you’re acting as if I-”

“Nothing is wrong. Just go do your job,” Haru ordered.

“Do you want me to quit or something? Is that it? Because if you want me to quit just fucking say so instead of pulling some power play on me,” Rin angrily demanded. He didn’t know what was wrong, and he definitely couldn’t read Haru’s mind, and if he was going to continue acting like this, there was absolutely no reason for Rin to stick around and just take it, especially not without knowing why Haru thought he suddenly deserved such treatment.

“Why would I want you to quit? I literally told you to go do your job.”

“Well, I don’t know, maybe it’s the acting cold and more insufferable than ever before part?”

“If it’s that insufferable for you to work for me then-”

“That’s not what I said,” Rin interrupted, annoyed at having words put in his mouth like that, completely unreasonably.

“It’s what you meant.”

“It’s not,” Rin angrily refuted. “You know, just because you think you’re superior doesn’t mean that you can just treat people like shit all the time.”

“All the time? Really?”

“Obviously,” Rin said, though he didn’t mean it, he was just getting more and more angry.

“Well, if you think I’m that shitty of a superior-acting person, maybe don’t call me the next time you need a lift home after getting black-out drunk,” Haru bitterly argued with his voice raised.

“What?” Rin asked, confused. The two stared at each other in silence, Rin confused and dumbfounded, Haru angry and... hurt?

“You really don’t remember any of it?” Haru asked in a bitter, hostile tone.

Hazy memories were coming back in the form of puzzle pieces inside of Rin’s brain, ones he slowly started to connect to each other, but so much didn’t make sense, so many pieces missing, it was truly confusing him to no end.

“Wait… you were really there?” Rin asked in disbelief.

“Yes, I was there,” Haru confirmed, keeping the hostile tone.

“I called you…” Rin trailed backwards through his blurry, drunken memories, recollecting everything he was convinced hadn’t happened.

“Yes.”

“You came.”

“I shouldn’t have.”

“But you did.”

“...yes.”

“You drove me home?”

There was a few seconds of silence, and Rin could see how tense Haru had become. “Yes.”

More silence, and Rin’s eyes widened as the memories came back of Haru helping him inside, of him on top of Haru, of them in bed; in Rin’s bed.

“Do you… do things like that for all your… employees?” Rin asked, trying to figure out if he was misunderstanding something or not, if those feelings Rin had ignored might be mutual or if they were just one-sided. He hadn’t meant for it to sound offensive in any way, but Haru certainly took offense, clearly believing Rin was implying something he certainly wasn’t.

“Get out,” Haru furiously ordered, but Rin only stepped closer. Haru wouldn’t do that for anyone, right? His reactions only seemed to confirm Rin’s slowly-turning-believable theory that maybe the feelings he had refused to acknowledge weren't as one-sided as he had otherwise assumed and fully believed. “Get the fuck out!”

In one swift, quick movement, Rin grabbed Haru by the face and forcefully pulled him closer while simultaneously leaning forward, then planted a kiss directly on his mouth, a heated, intense one.

Haru’s eyes instantly widened in shock, and he instinctively pushed Rin away, hard, making him tumble and nearly fall. The two stared at each other. There was that all too familiar tension in the air between them again, but it was so much stronger now than ever before. It made them both feel dry-mouthed and hungry for something cardinal and primal within themselves, something they had suppressed for longer than they wanted to admit or even had realized. There was still anger in Haru’s eyes, though, and Rin’s shocked expression from getting pushed began to turn scared, as he became increasingly more afraid that he might have misread the situation entirely, as well as every signal and everything else that led up to it.

Not more than a couple of seconds later, though, Haru grabbed Rin by the collar and pushed him backwards and up against the wall, then leaned in and kissed him right back, almost forcefully so, his hands moving up on either side of his face, keeping him in place. His tongue was almost instantly at Rin’s lips, parting them and making its way inside. Rin’s shock at the sudden change and the action itself instantly got overpowered by boiling desire from the pit of his stomach that bubbled through his veins, activating his brain and body at once.

All of his senses drowned in Haru; the fresh flowery-detergent scent of his clothes mixed with a lovely perfume smell from his skin, the almost grotesque sound of his lips against Rin’s own, the feeling of his leather gloved hands all over him, and if their eyes weren’t closed, he bet he would also be drowning in the sight of Haru’s all too beautiful eyes, as he so often found himself to do.

Their hands clumsily but intently fumbled along the other’s body, Rin’s hands making their way up Haru’s shirt, leaving a trace of prickling sparks along Haru’s bare skin, and Haru’s hands eagerly fondling Rin’s ass, simultaneously pushing Rin’s upper body further against the wall while also pulling his lower body away from the wall and against himself.

They felt each other up and made out against the wall for quite some time, until Haru did some quick work on Rin’s belt and unzipped his pants, making him moan into Haru’s mouth at the sensation alone. Haru broke their kiss and instead left a wet kiss on his jaw, his throat, and his clothed chest.

Nothing in the world could possibly have prepared Rin for the sight of Haru lowering himself even further, down onto his knees, lifting Rin’s shirt up to trail kisses down his abdomen, and then - fuck, Rin wasn’t even sure if he was hallucinating or not, but his heartbeat drumming in his ears kept him grounded from the sheer volume alone, and surely there was no way even his wildest imagination and fantasies could make any of this up - Haru grabbed Rin by the waist with both hands and pulled him closer, his groin directly in front of Haru’s face.

Haru moved his hands downwards, tugging Rin’s pants down as he went, and the light breeze Rin felt now that there was only one fabric separating himself from the air was pure bliss, but before Haru started tugging on his underwear, he looked up, and his eyes alone, especially from that angle, made Rin’s legs weak, threatening to give out and buckling underneath him at any given second, but - fuck - the look in them; Rin’s own lust mirrored so gracefully, it was almost obscene, if it wasn’t so absolutely hot.

While Haru’s other hand held a tight grip around Rin’s hip, keeping him firmly in place, he finally dragged his underwear down with a single index finger, pulling them down by the waistband teasingly slow, until finally he was freed and exposed to the blissfully cold air, only to be slowly engulfed completely with the warmth of the inside of Haru’s mouth, and then soon his throat. Rin had wanted to watch it all unfold as it happened, but it was simply physically impossible, his head thrown back while trying and failing to hold his moans back, or at least quiet them a bit, but he simply didn’t have enough self control anymore. His fingers dug deep into Haru’s smooth hair, and with every single one of Haru’s movements, he tugged on those same strands like a lifeline, which only seemed to encourage Haru even more.

Haru was skilled, amazingly so. Not the most skilled, logically speaking, though in the moment it certainly felt like it, but the whole experience itself was still the best Rin had ever tried, there was absolutely no doubt about that. And for a very spontaneous first time between them, it was almost sick how much potential there was to it. He could still feel a faint sensation of his own leg spasms while partially lying down on a chaise lounge chair afterwards. He felt the post-ejaculation bliss simmering through his whole body and mind, but the biggest bliss of all was to realize what it all meant; the underlying meaning this whole thing had. The suppressed emotions were finally out there, and for those emotions to have come out in this incredible way was beyond unbelievable.

Haru was partially lying down on another chaise lounge chair beside the other one. They weren’t really looking at each other or speaking, both just quietly letting the reality sink in. What would happen now? Would things change between them or would they just pretend it didn’t happen? Would something like this happen again? Fuck, how Rin hoped it would happen again. That, other things - he was very open to anything, honestly. He could definitely get used to the feeling of slick leather against his skin, not to mention around his cock - absolutely. There was nothing his imagination couldn’t come up with of possible scenarios with Haru, and now that he might actually get the chance to try some of those scenarios out? He really couldn’t believe it. His body filled up with giddy hope and it was difficult to keep himself from smiling. He thought about where they had begun months ago, and it made him feel a little crazy to think back to that with the knowledge now that it had led to… well, this. This very moment. Him in messy clothes, having just received arguably the best blowjob of his life, and Haru with ruffled hair and a self-satisfied glow to him. Rin wondered how he would look if - or rather when - Rin would return the favor. He wondered how he tasted, and the sounds he might make, but most of all, he wondered how the fuck he ended up this twirled around the finger of a mafia heir of all people. He definitely hadn’t expected this outcome when he had accepted the job offer, that was for sure.

“You know, just so we’re clear…” Rin suddenly began, catching Haru’s attention and making him look at him. “I was only joking when I said my big wish was for you to suck my dick,” Rin then joked with a broad smirk across his lips. “I’m still gonna need that big wish someday.”

Haru began to laugh, and it was such a surprising and delightfully heartfelt sound that it completely threw Rin off guard, his smile vanishing as he instead could do very little but just stare in amazement at Haru, already far too gone in him to even try to go back to pretending anything else than that.

Chapter Text

The thing about suddenly having your boss - a mafia heir no less - blow you after many months of bickering, was that (while it was great; so great) Rin had absolutely no one to talk to about it. And while Haru hadn’t said anything, he still assumed they should keep it a secret, so he couldn’t even allow himself to act as if it had happened or try to talk to Nagisa or anyone else about it. Besides, he couldn’t exactly tell Sousuke or any of his other friends that he was having the hots for someone like Haru, let alone try to explain how he knew him. So quiet he kept, which wasn’t too bad, he was good at keeping secrets, but it was challenging to act normal.

He tried to stay clear of Sousuke the next day, which worked somewhat fine. Sousuke didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary, which was both odd and a relief. Then he drove to the estate, an unprompted little visit under the guise of needing measurements for something. He really did need that, though, in his defense.

He slowly drove past the gates and towards the garage, hoping to catch a glimpse of Haru on his way, but wasn’t that lucky. He was a bit nervous that things would get awkward between them, but he figured that as long as he didn’t act differently, it should probably be fine. Right?

When he was done measuring, Haru still hadn’t paid him a surprise visit, so he decided to be the one to do that instead, and walked over to the mansion. To his surprise still, he was let in without questioning by the staff, and was once again allowed to roam around looking for Haru free as could be, without anyone trailing along or intensely watching him. He didn’t find him, and while he hadn’t searched every room yet, he figured asking was the only way forward, and probably way more appropriate than looking like someone snooping around without purpose or any explanation.

“Hey, have you seen Haru?” Rin asked his housekeeper once he had gotten downstairs again and found her.

“Mr. Nanase is in his office,” the housekeeper smiled politely. Rin should really try to remember her name, she always seemed very friendly.

“Thank you so much,” Rin gratefully thanked her, and bowed quickly and politely to her. He clearly seemed to have surprised her with that gesture though, judging by her stunned expression. He wondered briefly if he had come off as rude somehow, for her to be that surprised, but he decided not to ask about it. Then he was out the door and headed for the other building. The estate was so big. Huge, actually. He understood why the guards usually used golf carts to get around the area. Even just walking from the mansion to the office was relatively long.

When he finally reached it, the guards only glanced at him, and let him pass without any issue or comment, barely even a glance. Rin was about to just waltz into the office, but for some reason he stopped in his tracks with his hand hovering over the door handle. He considered for a moment to knock and wait to be allowed entry, but his usual smugness quickly resurfaced, as he settled for knocking once and then instantly pressed the handle down and waltzed in regardless of his otherwise general polite nature.

Haru sat behind his big mahogany desk with a laptop in front of him and a phone in his hand held up to his ear. He looked up at Rin with a surprised expression, before the surprise and curiosity settled into its usual somewhat annoyed state whenever he was in his work mode, as Rin dubbed it.

“I don’t care about that,” Haru said into the phone. “Phones exist. You were scheduled for tonight, as should be written in your calendar. If you can’t be there, you’re fired.”

Haru hung up the phone, and placed it on the table in front of him meticulously. Then he looked up at Rin, an expression on his face that Rin couldn’t quite read. It was annoyance for sure, but contained somehow, almost as if he was trying not to appear annoyed towards Rin.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your rude entrance and slight interruption?” Haru asked him with such a smooth voice, one that made Rin want to pin him down right then and there. Or perhaps be pinned down, whatever was optional. The jab in Haru’s words fell off of him instantly, shielded by his own sudden thirst for him. And also the knowledge that Haru probably didn’t actually mind, but that was only a minor detail.

“That phone call sounded serious,” Rin casually noted, actively avoiding answering Haru’s question. He forgot the excuse he had come up with and he was definitely not brave enough to admit that he just wanted to see him. Despite the butterflies present and his sudden awareness of the way he spoke and moved, he managed pretty well to act cool, if he had to say so himself.

“My translator is standing me up for a meeting later,” Haru told Rin, surprising him by actually letting him know and not just giving him some dismissing remark. That wasn’t usually like him.

“What do you need a translator for?”

“To translate?” Haru responded with a raised eyebrow, like he was an idiot for even asking.

“What language? Are you doing drug business with-”

“English, and no,” Haru interrupted.

“Wait, why English?”

“Because my client speaks it?”

“Why do you need a translator for English? Don’t you speak English yourself?”

“Obviously not, no. Otherwise I wouldn’t hire a translator.”

“But… how? Why not?”

“I never bothered to properly learn it. I’ve been using translators for foreign meetings up until now without any issue and figured I could just keep doing that, but apparently not. At least not when they suddenly decide to become unreliable.”

“I speak English,” Rin pointed out. “I studied it for some time before I chose to become a mechanic.”

“I know,” Haru simply replied. He might as well have just said good for you, and thrown him out with that attitude.

“So…?”

“So, what?”

“Do you want me to help you or not?”

Haru gave him a skeptical look. “Are you seriously offering to help me?”

“Well, not if you’re going to be a dick about it, no,” Rin remarked. “Also not if it ends like the last meeting.”

“I’m not,” Haru refuted, though he didn’t explain himself, just stared at Rin rather intensely. “And it won’t.”

“Okay…” Rin said, suddenly confused about Haru’s arguably strange and secretive behavior.

“I’m not sure I can let you do it, though.”

“Why not?” Rin asked, and Haru went quiet. There was a considerably long stretch of silence where they just stared at each other, and Rin swore if Haru kept looking at him, he might forget to breathe any second now. His eyes truly were beautiful, even if he wasn’t in the best of moods. Still clear, blue and beautiful.

“Pick me up at six,” Haru then finally said, though it didn’t sound like his usual demanding tone, but rather a bit… confused by the situation. Hesitant, even. “Wear a suit.”

“What color, your highness?” Rin cheekily asked.

“I’m assuming you’re a grown adult capable of dressing yourself,” Haru remarked, and Rin could tell he was absolutely teasing him, even before he noticed the slight smile creeping in across his lips.

“Orange suit and green tie it is,” Rin joked, and then left shortly after.

It wasn’t until he got back to the garage that Rin realized what emotion Haru might have been hiding beneath the strange behavior. He had been surprised, no doubt about that. But he had also seemed somewhat apprehensive. Maybe he didn’t like Rin helping him out? Or maybe it was just unusual for him to be offered help without any strings attached? Not that there weren’t strings between them, because there definitely were, just not really in that case. Or maybe Haru just didn't like the idea of Rin being a part of this meeting? No matter the reason behind the reaction, Rin just hoped he would be useful so he didn’t risk getting on Haru’s bad side.

“Is that a gun?” Haru asked as he walked up to Rin, who stood leaning against the car, waiting for Haru, at exactly a quarter till six, obedient as ever. His eyes were looking unimpressed down at the strange bulge in the front pocket of Rin’s pants.

“No, I’m just happy to see you,” Rin suggestively and flirtatiously joked, making Haru roll his eyes at him. Rin laughed. To be fair, how could he not have made that joke? Haru basically hand delivered it to him on a silver plate. And he had even given him the gun, too. It was too perfect. “No, no, it’s a gun.”

“Irresponsible way to carry a gun,” Haru humorlessly pointed out. “You’ll shoot your own dick off.”

“Can’t have that,” Rin smirked. “Not now that you actually like it.”

Haru might as well have actually shot him with a real gun rather than the glare he shot his way instead, the murderous intent so very clear in them. Rin had put himself on thin ice, and he wouldn’t have it any other way, as he laughed loudly while Haru got into the passenger seat of the car without further words. Rin followed suit, intending on trying to annoy him the rest of the day with those priceless reactions he could give.

A car with bodyguards drove behind them and another one in front of them, leading the way, but Rin was, surprisingly enough, all alone with Haru in the car. While Rin couldn’t help but wonder about that, it also gave far too many opportunities to throw out even more dirty jokes and annoyingly witty comments during the entire drive. No matter how annoyed Haru acted, Rin could tell he enjoyed it. He even found space to explain to Rin how to properly carry his gun, which Rin found to be nice. Considerate. It was like Haru actually cared that he didn’t shoot his own dick off, which was strangely touching.

After the meeting with what turned out to be some type of foreign investors for an alcohol company, Rin returned the favor from the night prior, giving Haru the blowjob of a lifetime, if his reactions were of any indication. Or two, once Haru had regained energy. As he completely broke - or blew? - Haru down to a panting mess on the floor of the entrance into his large mansion (because they were both too impatient to make it up the stairs, thank fuck the staff had all left for the night), he knew he was forgiven for all of the evening’s purposeful annoyance. Though that might have worked to his advantage, Rin thought, seeing how worked up Haru had gotten. Annoyance as foreplay? Rin could definitely commit to that bit. Once Haru was brought back to reality and Rin decided he was probably physically able to make his way up the staircase on his own, Rin left with a far too casual and smug see you tomorrow, boss.

Rin had never really been a big fan of blowing people. He had done it a handful of times, and each had either been awkward or boring, and one time kind of gross. With Haru it was different, though. He was too busy focusing on Haru’s reactions to care about his own feelings, and now that he was getting used to doing it again (among other things), he actually quite liked it, jaw pains, sensations and tastes included. Maybe it was the unacknowledged but obvious power difference that made it all the more enticing whenever they did anything even remotely sexual. The fact that Rin suddenly held the power over Haru when he had his dick in his hand (or mouth, for that matter), or that Haru was so eager to please him when he decided it was his turn to give, even though he often pretended the opposite was the case. Besides, Haru was just so easy to please. All the composure and indifference with which he carried himself with all the time went out the window at a single, brief and lightest touch. Rin knew, or at least figured, that he was so used to the walls around him and the distance that he had put between himself and other people, so that the second someone like Rin himself went and made cracks at that surface, it came crumbling down if he just allowed it to, like he did when his mind was too fogged up and clouded with lust. It was incredibly satisfying. And it did wonders to Rin’s ego, and motivated him a whole great deal to keep pushing on. Finally allowing himself to be touched, to be desired and to desire in return was no doubt not a frequent thing Haru had committed to before, but now Rin had the honor and pleasure of doing just that, and it was absolutely incredible.

There were still moments where the walls came back up, and where he acted like an impenetrable force. Not like he wanted boundaries, which would have been fine, but rather that he wasn’t quite yet willing to trust Rin, not fully. Not with his thoughts, his body, and especially not with his vulnerability. Rin didn’t blame him, though, as he could often find himself feeling the same. As much fun as they could have, and as much pleasure as they had given each other for the past two weeks that had gone by, Rin couldn’t help but feel unnerved by the aforementioned power imbalance between them. As thrilling as it could feel, as aggravating could it be with how stubbornly and unruly ungovernable Rin was. It was a constant battle of push and pull between them, and Rin knew, as much as he tried not to think too much about it, that it would take time for both of them to finally allow the other in, to trust each other fully and wholly. But to think about that - to consider that - meant to consider the potential for a future between them, and Rin wasn’t ready for that. It didn’t feel real, or seemed realistic. The present barely felt real, and so Rin decided to just enjoy the fun and hang on for whatever insane ride he had managed to put himself on. The rest was his future self’s problem to deal with.

One warm Thursday afternoon, Rin went into the reception area of Haru’s office building still clad in his sweaty, oil-stained work clothes, needing to drive him to a meeting in inner Tokyo, but Haru wasn’t waiting in there as they had agreed. There was a guy waiting in the room, though. A young man, likely a little younger than Rin, with short hair and a polite smile across his lips. He didn’t look as stuck up as the usual people sitting in that room did. Rin gave him a polite smile back, before he took out his work phone and noticed a message he hadn’t heard coming from Haru twenty minutes ago, telling him he still had two meetings left before he was ready and that he would go to the garage when he was done. Too late now, Rin thought to himself.

“You don’t look like you belong here,” the stranger curiously pointed out while Rin put his phone back into his pocket. He didn’t sound demeaning in any way, and he didn’t come off that way either, despite the suit and tie and general look of wealth that he carried. He just sounded and looked curious. He was probably bored out of his mind from waiting, Rin figured, so that the smallest oddity seemed like the highlight of his day.

“I don’t exactly either,” Rin said with a smile, figuring that indulging the man didn’t hurt. If he was going to wait for Haru for who knew how long, maybe engaging in light conversation would make the time pass quicker. It was either that or walk all the way back to the garage to pass time there and end up having to scrub his hands and arms all over again since he could never not start fiddling with things.

“I take it you work here?” The man asked. “Either that or you climbed the fence, which seems unlikely since you’re still breathing.”

Rin let out a light snicker at that. “The first, yes. I’m the mechanic.”

“Nice to meet you, mechanic,” the stranger smiled and nodded in greeting.

“What are you here for?”

“The usual,” the stranger mysteriously said. Then, noticing Rin’s skeptical narrowing of his eyes, elaborated: “Investments.”

“Ah,” Rin let out. “Have you waited a long time?”

“Hmm… not longer than expected,” the stranger said, clearly considering his choice of words. Rin in turn considered whether to sit down beside him or not, but he figured he might as well get comfortable while he also continued to wait, especially if this guy also needed a full meeting before Haru was ready to leave. He didn’t sit right beside him though, as there were several chairs in the room. He left a polite chair in between them, so it wasn’t awkward when he turned towards him.

“Important people require a lot of waiting,” Rin mused.

“You must know all too well if you work here permanently,” the guy noted with a questioning tone.

“I sure do,” Rin smiled.

“You were a mechanic, right? Do you like it?”

“Being a mechanic? Yes,” Rin said. “It’s a very interesting job, especially here, working on luxury cars. They come with their own challenges.”

The guy started to talk about the cars he himself owned, and the models he had considered buying before the Maserati and Audi he ended up getting instead. It was a little strange for Rin to be talking so casually about cars, particularly ones so expensive. He spoke with car enthusiasts a lot, but the conversation usually was about much more affordable models. When it came to overly luxurious cars, he had only ever touched Haru’s expensive ones, or the ones he had stolen when he was younger. Haru had no interest in cars himself, so it was weird to talk to a luxury car owner who did seem interested in them, at least on the surface, rather than one who got them almost out of obligation, with no consideration before the purchase. Probably because he didn’t purchase them himself, Rin had come to figure.

They must have talked for a good ten minutes before the door opened and an older man stepped out with excessively polite farewells, followed by Haru coming into view in the doorway. He paused his movements when his eyes met with Rin and the stranger beside Rin. Some sort of unusual annoyance crept through the surface of his features, before his polite demeanor instantly drowned it out, as he said his goodbyes to the older man.

He calmly invited the guy, whose name was apparently Kōji, into his office. Kōji got up from the chair, but turned to Rin.

“Nice to meet you, mr. mechanic,” Kōji smiled and held out his hand. Rin glanced at Haru, who looked displeased to say the least. He looked like someone ready to kill, and Rin didn’t understand why. Was it the meetings? Was he just tired after getting his whole day delayed by something? Was it the “something” that caused it? Whatever it was, he was definitely angry. Rin took one more glance at Haru before he accepted the handshake and gave the guy a smile.

“You too, Kōji,” he said. Haru stared daggers at him and Kōji, and even glanced over his shoulder to give Rin one last look of disapproval before disappearing through the door with the guy. Was Rin not allowed to talk to other people? Was there anything particularly about that guy that made him off-limits for any conversation? In hindsight he could be a dangerous and powerful person that Haru wanted Rin to stay away from, but it didn’t seem like that. Haru had a far more powerful energy himself, after all. Maybe he just shouldn’t have been there?

After less than fifteen minutes of waiting, the door opened again and the guy walked out looking quite annoyed. He turned around in the doorway.

“You have my number if you change your mind,” Kōji said, in a polite but also somewhat irritated tone, clearly trying to mask his own bothered emotions. A stark opposite to the older man’s exit before him.

“Thank you,” Haru simply said, clearly not wanting to waste another second of his time judging by the tone in his voice alone. Kōji was about to close the door when Haru added: “You can leave it open.”

Kōji nodded, and then walked away towards the exit of the building, walking past Rin. He looked at him and he clearly wanted to say something, perhaps a comment about Haru’s odd mood, but he held it in and simply gave him a small smile instead.

“Bye,” he politely said.

“Bye,” Rin echoed, confused by the situation, but figuring it was all just business and he wasn’t supposed to understand anyway. He wished he met more polite people like Kōji, rather than all the snobs and intimidating people Haru usually met with, though.

A few minutes after Kōji left, Haru came out of the door and looked at Rin with an expression that was difficult for him to read. If Rin wasn’t wrong, he almost looked mad. Maybe he was supposed to make some business deal with the guy, but couldn’t?

“Is everything alright?” Rin asked.

“Yes,” Haru bitterly said, clearly lying.

Haru looked ready to leave, so Rin got up from the chair and the two walked in silence outside and towards the garage. There was a strange, negative atmosphere between them, Rin thought. Haru usually didn’t let work affect him that much, unless it was serious.

“Is the BMW fine?” Rin asked, and gestured towards the car parked in the front row, ready to be driven without any hassle of moving the other cars first.

“Yes,” Haru said in the same biting tone as before.

Rin didn’t want Haru to take his anger out on him for whatever presumably-work related issue he had going on, but he chose to just ignore it. Besides, there was no use trying to pry the issue out of him while he was still in that mood anyway.

They got in the car and Rin drove out of the estate. The negative energy from Haru was emitting from him the entire time. It was becoming increasingly annoying, mostly because Rin didn’t know why he was so pissed, so not only was there the negativity hanging in the air, the utter confusion did as well.

Haru had been far quieter than usual, and his demeanor was off-putting to say the least. He didn’t just act like he was extremely angry, but it actually seemed like he was specifically angry at Rin, and Rin couldn’t tell what he had done wrong. The only thing that seemed to be the cause of this pissed-off behavior was his interactions with the guy, but why didn’t Haru just tell him that? Was he supposed to guess? Was Haru really that immature and unable to communicate?

They hit a traffic jam, and Rin let out an annoyed groan. Haru simply stayed silent in his pit - or rather, black hole - of bitterness. Rin glanced at him and then let out an annoyed sigh.

“Seems like we’re stuck here for a while,” Rin noted out loud. Haru ignored him. “Maybe you want to… you know… use the time to tell me why you’re so angry?”

“I’m not angry,” Haru refuted, angrily, clearly refusing to look at him. Obviously not, Rin thought to himself, well aware that he shouldn’t comment that out loud unless he wanted to get thrown out of the car.

“Did I do something?” Rin hesitantly asked, not wanting to poke the bear while the bear was still very much fuming with anger.

“No,” Haru said, in that specific tone that meant he was definitely lying.

“Okay, so… what exactly did I do?”

“I just said-”

“If you want to stay angry, be my guest, but at least tell me what I did,” Rin interrupted.

“No,” Haru refused, that absolute wall of a person.

“Fucking- Fine, let’s see… between your normal-you-sounding text and your current mood, all that’s happened is that I waited for you. Is that the problem? That I was nice enough to go to your office? Was I distracting you from your precious work? Are you blaming me for some business deal going down the drain or something?”

“I’m not, and you weren’t just waiting,” Haru spat, no longer sounding just bitter, but full-on angry now.

“What are you-” Rin began, and then it finally clicked for him. “Wait, is this about me talking to Kōji?”

“You even remember his name,” Haru remarked, mostly to himself.

“Are you serious? Is there something wrong with him? Or with me being polite enough to talk to him?” Rin asked defensively. Haru finally looked at him and his eyes were all darkened, his expression cold and angry. Not in a good way. Not in the way that made Rin want to keep pushing him to make him crack beneath his own shell, but a new kind that made Rin want to bow down obediently and take whatever punishment might come his way, maybe even put his non-existing tail between his legs while he was at it. It was intimidating to say the least, and while he didn’t feel like he was in any actual, real danger, he suddenly understood how people might feel threatened or even scared by him, and not just because of his general immense wealth and power. Haru was absolutely terrifying when he wanted to be.

"Don't sleep around,” Haru demanded out of nowhere, almost threateningly. “If you do, this is over. All of it."

“What the fuck, Haru?” Rin breathed out in disbelief. He felt accused, and it was absolutely angering, but also just plain confusing, as he had given zero interest or attention to others the entire time and didn’t have any intention at all of doing so either. He was not into fucking or seeing several people at the same time. He had never ever considered it and never would, he knew that much, and he felt absolutely offended that Haru clearly thought, or assumed, that the opposite was true about him. “Is that what this is about? You’re jealous because I talked to another guy?”

“No.”

"Sure,” Rin sarcastically said, feeling the anger bubbling up to the surface now. “And what about you? Are you sleeping around?"

"What position do you think you are in to ask me that?“ Haru asked, demeaningly, and Rin swore he could lash out and hit him square in the face for speaking to him like that. Like Rin was beneath him. No amount of terrifying aura could ever stand between Rin and his own, hard-earned self worth.

"On the floor sucking your dick, which i won't be doing if you fuck other people," Rin said, a few breaths away from telling him to go fuck himself.

“That’s none of your business.”

“Yes it fucking is,” Rin almost yelled. “So you’re allowed to imply that I’m doing it with others, but I can’t even ask you the same? Is that a yes? Because if so, I swear-”

“I’m not,” Haru denied, clearly offended by the notion that he would be. “And you can’t either.”

“God, you are such a hypocritical, spoiled only-child!”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You want everything to yourself and you have no idea how to share or communicate or not assume the absolute worst in people, so the second you see me just talking to someone, I must need to be fucking them too!” Rin angrily elaborated. “And you act so incredibly entitled, too, it’s so… it’s aggravating! I’m not an object, and you can’t just treat me like one or take your anger out on me whenever I do something you don’t agree with!”

“Are you done?”

“Am I-” Rin echoed in angry disbelief at the actual audacity of this guy. If Rin himself and everything he loved wouldn’t get destroyed as a result, he would reach out and choke Haru right then and there.

“The queue is moving and the other cars are honking at you to move. It’s distracting,” Haru calmly explained, pulling Rin out of his murderous anger and instead into pure confusion. He turned his head around and looked at the road ahead of him, then put the car in first gear and drove forward a little. As he followed the slowly moving queue, the anger came crawling back up to the surface and he gripped the steering wheel and gear shift with barely restrained strength. “I’m sorry.”

Rin’s head practically flung in the direction of Haru once his brain registered that the words truly did come out of his mouth and that he wasn’t just hearing things.

“What?”

“You’re right. I’m sorry,” Haru repeated. He sounded sincere. He really did. Not emotional, but definitely still sincere. “I shouldn’t have talked to you like that or taken my anger out on you.”

Rin went quiet and stared at him for a while. Then he switched his attention between him and the road, making sure he didn’t rear-end someone in his confused state.

“It’s… okay. Or, I forgive you, I guess,” Rin finally said while keeping his eyes on the road, though glancing at him right after to watch for his reaction.

“I’m glad,” Haru stated, closing his eyes for a moment, then slowly turning his head to look at him, almost sheepishly.

“Don’t do it again, though,” Rin added, still quite angry.

“I’ll try,” Haru calmly obeyed, much to Rin’s surprise. There was no bite left in Haru’s voice, no bitterness, and completely no fight left in his general demeanor. Just pure willingness to listen and learn. To do right. It was strange and it felt… odd. It was unexpected, to say the least. But it was also incredibly interesting. And now that Rin had a moment to think, he fully let the reality sink in of the whole situation. Of the whole reason why they even fought to begin with.

Haru was… jealous? Because of him? Because of some stranger he simply talked to? He became possessive over… Rin? And not just that, because that part alone punched the air out of Rin’s lungs and stomach and wherever else his air might be, but he was also owning up to it? Shit. Rin fully realized at that moment that this whole thing was going to haunt his mind for days - no, weeks or years even - to come. The implication that Haru wanted Rin to himself further implied (or, rather, confirmed) that Haru wanted Rin. And while, yes, it could just be a sign of him being spoiled, it definitely didn’t seem or feel like that was the case. Haru wanted him. Haru didn’t want others to want him. Haru was potentially, evidently, ready to fight people off (Including Rin, too) just to make sure he had him to himself. It was unusual, it was new, it should be annoying, but the more Rin thought about it, the more it made his throat dry, his palms sweaty, his stomach bubbling and his mind spinning.

He started replaying the whole interaction between them, from start to finish. Haru was terrifying because he was jealous. Haru looked angry, but for some reason, Rin no longer felt off-put by it. Rather, he felt the complete opposite now, being able to look back at it.

“Good,” Rin managed to say. Then he swallowed thickly before hesitantly adding: “Even though it was quite… hot.”

“What?”

“In hindsight… only…” Rin tried - and failed - to explain.

“What…?” Haru repeated.

Rin didn’t want to say anything, didn’t want to speak any further, but his lips moved on their own despite him fighting a hard and brave battle to stop them.

“It’s just… when I thought you were angry it was annoying, but knowing now that you were jealous…”

“You found it ‘hot’?" Haru asked confusedly.

“No,” Rin lied.

“But you just said-”

“Leave me alone,” Rin quickly and rather pathetically interrupted. His own mouth had left him exposed to all sorts of teasing, and all he was left with was hoping the traffic jam would come to an end already. That was, of course, until Haru’s playful teasing turned into a sudden and playful kiss on the cheek, which turned into Rin blushing, which turned into Haru getting more encouraged to up the ante, which all ended up at a very risky handjob during a standstill in the middle of the expressway. As much as Rin tried to stop him and argue, because holy fuck everyone around them could see, he definitely didn’t have any actual complaints. And more importantly, Haru was definitely forgiven, even before the familiar, enticing feeling of chill leather around his cock sent him to heaven.

A few days later, Rin was working on one of the Mercedes that had gotten a huge dent in the left side when his work phone suddenly rang, displaying the usual and expected number 1. He picked it up immediately.

“Hey boss,” Rin cheekily greeted.

“Do you know how to boil an egg?” Haru asked, and to say that Rin was confused by that would be an understatement.

“Uh… yes? Why?” Rin confusedly asked back. There was a considerable silence on the other end and it made Rin almost feel a bit unnerved by it. “Haru, why?”

“My housekeeper is off work for her kid’s birthday, and both of the chefs are taking a course in Tokyo right now,” Haru explained. “I didn’t realize it was the same day…”

“And…?”

“And I want a boiled egg for the ramen she left me.”

“So… why don’t you make one?” Rin asked, still confused as to why Haru was telling him all of this. Surely telling each other about their dinners wasn't the new next step for them? They weren’t even dating yet…

There was a long stretch of silence, and Rin considered whether Haru had hung up, but as he was about to look at his phone to check, Haru spoke up: “I don’t know how.”

“Wait, what?” Rin looked blankly ahead of himself. Surely Haru was joking. “Really?”

“Yes,” Haru quietly confirmed.

“You don’t know how to cook? Like, at all?”

Haru went quiet again, and Rin couldn’t help but imagine how he must look right now. Would he look all shy? Man, what Rin wouldn’t have given to see that.

"Didn't they teach you anything at fancy assassin school?" Rin then cheekily asked, and he was a bit nervous to overstep with that comment, but when Haru spoke up again, it almost sounded like he was smiling, so he knew it was fine.

"Not related to cooking, no,” Haru admitted. “Unless you want to get grotesque."

Rin got a strange look on his face at that, but decided he didn’t want to know. "Do you really not know how to cook anything? Like, nothing at all?"

"Does mackerel count?"

"Depends how you cook it, I guess? Is it like a frozen meal?"

"No, it’s not frozen and I... fry it?"

"Do you just put an unseasoned mackerel on a pan?"

"...yes?"

"Then I’d say no," Rin chuckled. Well, this was an unexpectedly amusing call. “Give me a few minutes, I’ll be there.”

“Thank you,” Haru said, sounding both embarrassed and strangely relieved.

When Rin arrived through the doors of the large mansion, he was met with quite a chaotic sight in the kitchen. Haru was standing, fancy clothes all ruffled like he had gone off-the-rails mad, looking down at a bowl on the marble countertop in front of him, biting at his un-gloved thumb.

“Wow, you look like a mess,” Rin said, surprised. It was odd to see Haru in such a state, especially if it was just over something like food. On another note, seeing Haru without any gloves on was even more strange, but also felt… oddly too intimate a sight. He felt like he had walked in on Haru naked and panicking.

“Thanks,” Haru sarcastically said, and let his hand fall down to his side. “Please do something, I’m hungry.”

“Okay,” Rin said and he couldn’t help but chuckle as he made his way further into the kitchen. Upon one quick look, he saw that the ramen had come from a nice-looking, white plastic container with some blue flowers pictured along the sides. Haru had poured the ramen from the container into a bowl, a few drops spilled on the counter, but that was about as far as he had gotten. What stood out to Rin, though, was that there was no steam coming from the ramen. Confused, he took a step forward towards the bowl, inspecting it. “Haru, did you even-”

“What are you-?” Haru began, watching as Rin put the bottom knuckle of his little finger into the bowl.

“It’s cold?” Rin confusedly noted and turned back around to look at Haru, who just gave him a puzzled look in return, as if he didn’t understand what was wrong with that. Okay, it was too much. Rin let out a disbelieved laugh. “You’re like… hopeless, Haru.”

“Forget it, I’ll just call Makoto-” Haru said, clearly trying to hide how embarrassed he was, turning around and starting to walk away. Rin grabbed his wrist, but immediately let go so Haru couldn’t instinctively commit any violence against his poor hand.

“Don’t get mad, I’m just surprised you don’t know,” Rin explained with an endearing smile. “Here, I’ll show you. Where do you keep your eggs and your pots?”

Haru was just as clueless as to where things were as Rin was, but they found the things they needed together, and then Rin patiently, and still lightly amusedly, instructed Haru on how to heat up his ramen and hard boil an egg. He was even lucky enough to get a taste of Haru’s housekeeper’s tasty hard work. The ramen was truly delicious.

“If you come by my place sometime, I can show you how to cook ramen, too,” Rin suggested while watching Haru finish up eating. They sat beside each other on two barstools, Haru’s bowl on the marble island countertop in front of them.

“You know how to cook?” Haru asked in surprise.

“Well enough,” Rin said. He considered himself average; not bad but not a master either. Then, playfully: “I thought you said you knew everything about me?”

“Some details are left out if they seem irrelevant,” Haru shrugged.

“Turns out it’s not as irrelevant as you thought, hmm?” Rin cheekily and gloatingly joked.

“Only because I didn’t plan accordingly,” Haru argued. “Besides, your purchase history and bills could have indicated it, but I didn’t think much of it.”

“So you made two mistakes?” Rin kept teasing, happy to finally see mr. Perfect slip up.

“Be careful or I’ll do a second and more intense background check on you,” Haru warned.

“Or you could just ask?” Rin suggested, amusedly. “You know, like a normal person.”

“Sounds like too much work,” Haru argued with a smile.

Rin let out a snicker, then watched as Haru finished the last of his ramen. Once he was done, they talked some more, and Rin jokingly asked if Haru knew how to wash the bowl or if he needed help with that too, before he returned to the garage to finish what he had been doing prior to coming to Haru’s aid, after a slap to the back of his head for his witty remark, of course.

Two days later, after Rin had been working at the repair shop, he picked Haru up from the estate, drove him around for some errands, then brought him back with him to his apartment. He had spent the previous day cleaning as much as possible after working in the repair shop, glad that Haru hadn’t called him in for any additional work so he had time for it. But even with the cleaning, he still had a strange feeling that it wasn’t enough. He knew it was caused by the knowledge that Haru was used to finer things, but he tried to tell himself not to assume the worst. If Haru judged him for his humble, small, non-luxurious home, that was on him, not Rin. Or at least that was what Rin tried to convince himself.

They had bought groceries on their way back, and surprisingly enough, Rin didn’t have to carry them all upstairs. Haru’s bossy and authoritative persona had been decreasing by the minute ever since Haru was first on his knees for him, but it was completely gone by the time they had entered the grocery store, amplified by the way that Haru was clearly in unfamiliar terrain, even more so when he stepped into Rin’s apartment, this time not to demand anything of of him, but to learn from him. It made them feel like equals, like the power dynamic was briefly gone. It was quite nice. It meant Rin was able to get to know him better; the real him.

The atmosphere between them was strange, but Rin was doing his best at lightening up the mood, and Haru indulged him in pretending things weren’t awkward and that neither were nervous about this new situation they were in.

Once Rin had put on some music on his bluetooth speaker, placed it on the countertop in his tiny kitchen and then started to take the groceries out of the bags one by one as well as locating all the things he already had in his cupboards, the tension began to fade. He took a pot, filled it with water, put it over on the stove and turned the heat all the way up, explaining things as he went, down to the smallest detail, just like he had done when they had been to the grocery store prior (which had also been a seemingly new experience for Haru, hilariously so). Then he washed the vegetables and began to chop them up with Haru hovering over his shoulder, listening along to Rin, who tried to make sure he understood the seriousness about never using the same cutting board for vegetables if any raw meat had been near it, unless washed and cleaned thoroughly first.

“Can you open the noodles and pour them into the water?” Rin asked, continuing to chop while Haru walked over to find the package of ramen noodles. “Then just turn the heat down a little, like halfway.”

"Haven't these expired?" Haru asked, holding the package in his hands.

"I’m surprised you know what an expiration date is,” Rin was quick to joke, looking over his shoulder at him and receiving a deadpanned and disapproving look from Haru in response. “But no. The expiration date is just there for stores to know when they can last sell it.”

“I’m pretty sure food that has gone past its expiration date means it has expired,” Haru skeptically argued. “As in the definition of the word.”

“Open up, look at it, smell it, have a taste. Let your senses guide you instead of a dumb regulation guideline," Rin argued back.

"Are you sure that’s even safe?"

"Yes, rich kid. You'll know if milk is spoiled, vegetables have gone bad or meat is rotten,” Rin continued. “Use your senses. Most importantly the common one.”

“What if I don’t know… how?”

“Trust me, you’ll know,” Rin patiently and knowingly reassured him. “Oh, but just don't eat anything from cans or packages that are like... bulging. That'll definitely make you sick."

“You learned that the hard way?” Haru guessed.

“Not really. Usually things in packages that are bulging smells so revolting you don’t want to be near it, but as far as I’ve been told, opening the packages alone can risk making you sick, too, so just avoid those,” Rin explained and adviced.

“Noted,” Haru stated. ”What was I supposed to do with these again?”

Rin let out a humored chuckle. “Open the package and pour them into the boiling water. Then turn down the heat halfway.”

“Okay,” Haru said, and did as instructed. “They don’t fit?”

“They will when stirring them around as they get soft quickly,” Rin explained, not able to hide the amusement in his voice.

Haru watched and listened along as Rin continued on with his cooking, right until it was done, which didn’t take long. They ate while talking, and Rin got to learn more about Haru than he ever thought was possible.

After dinner, Rin began to clear the table, and Haru did his best to help along, clearly still unsure of what to do, not used to not having a crowd around him ready to cater to his every need. Rin figured doing the dishes now would save him the trouble of doing it later or another day, plus it gave him something to do while talking. To his surprise, Haru took off his gloves, placed them meticulously down on the table and grabbed a dishtowel, ready to dry off whatever Rin washed up next. It was quite endearing to watch him fumble with it, and quite fascinating to watch him do it bare-handed.

Having gotten this close to him so far, Rin bravely asked while looking at Haru’s ungloved hands: “Is it impolite of me to ask what the deal with the gloves are?”

“Fingerprints, mostly,” Haru answered honestly. “And yes, a little."

“Sorry to be rude, then,” Rin apologized.

“It’s fine,” Haru reassured, and dried another plate. When the last thing was cleaned and dried, Rin expected Haru to put his gloves back on, but he didn’t. Instead he followed Rin out of the kitchen and into the living room, not even looking back at them.

Rin suggested watching a movie, and Haru indulged him, although he admitted to never really watching them. They sat beside each other on the couch, and at first it was back to being a bit awkward now that they weren’t talking, but after a few minutes Rin tried to focus on the movie instead. It was a good thing Rin hadn’t chosen to show him any of his favorites, though, or he might have gotten annoyed when Haru, roughly twenty minutes into the movie, suddenly began to slide his hand across Rin’s thigh. His eyes were still on the screen, but it was very clear that he wasn’t paying attention to it, but just tried to look casual and smooth. Rin on the other hand, was far from smooth, as he almost choked on his own spit when he first felt the touch. Then, realizing Haru’s intentions, he couldn’t help but smile broadly and smugly.

“Is the movie boring to you?”

“No,” Haru clearly lied.

“Your hand says otherwise.”

“Then entertain it,” Haru dared, and while his face was still turned towards the screen in front of them, Rin could tell just from one side of his face that he was raising his eyebrow, and trying hard not to smile.

“Intriguing offer,” Rin had to admit. “But what if I’m enjoying the movie?”

“Who says you can’t do both?” Haru playfully suggested, and turned his head to finally look at him. Their eyes met and Rin already knew the word no wasn’t an option for him no matter what. He was pretty sure it didn’t even exist for him at that moment. He moved closer, put a hand on the couch, continued to move closer and ended up making Haru lay down on the couch with himself hovering over him on all fours. His hair and bangs hang loosely down, down onto Haru’s face, but Haru didn’t seem bothered one bit, especially not when he grabbed at Rin’s shirt and pulled him closer, a clear and silent order for him to start kissing him already, which Rin gladly did.

With the movie completely abandoned and forgotten, they made out on the couch for a while, until Haru’s back started to arch, and Rin knew he wanted more. Rin reached blindly across the coffee table, then felt what he was searching for; the remote, which he used to turn the TV off without looking, before pulling his lips away from Haru’s, who briefly tried to follow them. He sat upright and looked down at Haru, whose clothes were already ruffled, cheeks flushed and lips already slightly swollen.

“Want to take this to the-”

“Yes,” Haru breathed out, and Rin helped him up from the couch and guided him, in a hurried manner, into his bedroom. Haru took him by surprise by grabbing him and pushing him down onto the bed as soon as they made it through the door. Then, before Rin could protest or try to get up (although he wouldn’t), Haru had already taken off his pants and was on top of him, straddling and pressing down on him. He kissed him briefly, sloppily, then pulled back. “Do you have-?”

“Top drawer,” Rin interrupted, already knowing what he wanted. Haru sat upright on top of Rin, reached for the nightstand, had to lift himself slightly off of Rin to reach it, then opened the top drawer and grabbed condoms and what he assumed was lube. In the meantime, Rin took the opportunity to surprise Haru back by sitting upright as well, then putting his arms around him while tilting his head backwards and kissing him first on the jaw, then his mouth, before letting go of him again, grabbing the bottom of his shirt and pulling it off of him, Haru gladly letting him.

Haru placed a palm against Rin’s chest, and Rin only had a second to register the feeling before Haru pushed him back down against the mattress, taking full control of the situation again. Intrigued and very turned on, Rin watched him intensely as he made quite the show of slowly taking off his underwear, the last piece of clothing, exposing himself completely, erection standing tall and proud in the air. Rin wanted to reach out and touch him, but Haru instantly grabbed his wrists with the intense, mostly-hidden strength that he had, and pressed them down against the mattress. Then he let go and grabbed the small bottle he had fetched before, and the thought of how Haru was going to continue this with Rin still fully clothes only just passed his mind, when Haru squirted some lube into his palm and - to Rin’s shock and absolutely amazement - began to lube himself up.

He really hadn’t expected that. For Haru to take control was admittedly expected, but for him to do that was… wow. It’s not like Rin had outright assumed anything, but for Haru to decide on his own that he was going to be the one to bottom, especially the first time, that had to mean something - right? That he trusted Rin more than Rin thought, maybe? They had been pretty ambiguous in their sex life so far, but they had never actually discussed things. Maybe they should have? Then again, Rin honestly didn’t care who did what as long as they did something. God, he wanted things to speed up already, but he also wanted to take in everything as much as he could, but shit, his clothes felt disgustingly tight and damp and he wanted out of them and inside of Haru already, but Haru was still keeping him in place, still pushing down on his chest.

An instinctive (and also a bit animalistic, if he was honest) part of Rin didn’t want to let go of his control so willingly and easily. He couldn’t help it, of course, especially not when Haru started to undress him rather rapidly. The feeling of Haru’s bare and slender fingers all over his body was so very interesting, and so very exhilarating. And he definitely couldn’t help it when Haru put a condom on him, began to slowly take him in and then ride him, first excruciatingly slow, adjusting to the feeling, then faster. All control Rin had let go of was instead pushed into trying not to cum within the first few seconds, because holy fuck. Once he had control of that whole aspect, he could finally take back more control, to reach out and grab Haru, to pull him down and to kiss him, to lick and bite wherever he could reach.

To yet another surprise, Haru came first, and quite quickly, too, in a messy and captivating spectacle. And Rin had the absolute best position to view it from. He couldn’t believe that he had been this lucky to experience something like that during their very first time of actual intercourse. That was an image - no, a whole show - that was surely imprinted into Rin’s mind for the rest of his life. Did Haru do that on purpose? Did he realize how incredible he looked doing something like that? From start to finish, Rin’s eyes had been glued to Haru, and for Haru to so shamelessly continue despite that, was just… wow. Maybe he wanted Rin to watch him? Surely that had to be it, even if it didn’t seem real.

He allowed Haru to catch his breath and his body to recover from its almost violent spasms from the orgasm, before he caught him off guard completely by rolling them around so that he was on top of Haru, ready to pamper him post-bliss, while also aiming to take care of himself, too. He started off by moving and lowering his face so his lips were by Haru’s ear.

“Let me know if you want me to stop,” Rin whispered into his ear, before he adorned him with kisses down his throat, not caring if he left any hickeys behind. Wanting, in fact, to do just that. Haru’s body was more sensitive now than before, and he practically withered beneath Rin at each touch. Rin even thought he heard him whine, but he wasn’t sure if that was real or just wishful thinking. One thing he was sure about, though, was that Haru’s body begged for more, and Rin wanted to give it all to him.

He hadn’t fully thought it through, but Rin suddenly turned Haru around onto his stomach, receiving a surprised gasp.

“Is this okay?” Rin asked in a low voice, face by the back of Haru’s head now, lips by his ear, and Haru responded by lifting his ass upwards ever so slightly, a silent confirmation that everything was definitely okay. If Rin was any more of an animal, he would probably have growled at that out of pure lust. He nibbled at Haru’s earlobe, then let go and began to trail kisses down Haru’s neck, then back, until his eye suddenly caught sight of something. He pulled back ever so slightly, only to see a large tattoo on Haru’s right shoulder blade. It was some type of symbol, one that looked strangely familiar. The tattoo itself looked odd on Haru’s skin, like it wasn’t really meant to be there. Not that it wasn’t well made, because it was, but it just looked out of place on him, somehow. “What’s this?”

“A tattoo,” Haru said, obviously and sarcastically.

“I didn’t know you had one,” Rin said. He knew what a tattoo was, thank you very much. He had many himself, after all. There was no reason for Haru to be snarky, but Rin decided to look past it. He had put him in quite a vulnerable position, so he really couldn’t blame Haru for reacting how he saw fit, or for not wanting it to interrupt what Rin was doing. “What is it?”

“It’s my family’s emblem. Same as my father’s,” Haru briefly explained, turning his head to the side and lying one side of his face down against the sheets, clearly saving some energy while Rin was feeling chatty.

“It looks familiar…”

“Because it’s all over my estate, including the gates. And it’s on the bodyguard’s suits, and my ring.”

“The ring that you’re not wearing right now?” Rin asked, realizing just now that he hadn’t worn it the whole day, just like he hadn’t worn gloves since they did the dishes.

“Yes.”

“So this…” Rin began, not knowing how to finish it. He suddenly regretted having turned Haru around, mostly just because it felt awkward to talk about something so presumably personal while not facing him.

“Ties me to my heritage. My fate, so to speak,” Haru confirmed, sounding almost impatient, like he didn’t want to talk anymore. It was also obvious that he wasn’t a fan of it, speaking with a certain type of disapproval. The atmosphere had changed and so had Haru’s body language.

Rin paused for a moment, then, against his better judgement, he silently leaned down and kissed the tattoo. With Haru not protesting it or even commenting on it, his only reaction being a barely detectable shudder, Rin continued to kiss Haru’s body, while silently studying it as well. There were barely any scars, but there were some, minor ones, though there was also a big one by the left side of his lower back, one that unmistakably looked like a scar from a gunshot wound, round and prominent.

“When did this happen?” Rin couldn’t help but curiously ask.

“When I was 14,” Haru said, surprisingly honest, voice pleasantly a pitch higher than usual, no doubt enjoying what Rin was doing. Rin was shocked by how young that was, and he wanted to ask, but he couldn’t bring himself to dig so deep, scared that he would overwhelm Haru and that Haru would push him away. Haru lifted his face off of the bed and looked behind as best as he could, eyes meeting Rin’s. “It was from an ambush on the estate before there was as much security as there is today.”

Rin blinked in surprise. Guess he didn’t have to ask, or push. Haru was apparently in a mood to share despite the impatience in his voice just before.

“That sounds really scary,” Rin said, sympathetically.

“It was,” Haru absentmindedly admitted, then his eyes trailed downwards. “Are you going to continue, or…?”

“Right,” Rin said, realizing full well that their position probably wasn’t the most comfortable one for Haru to be vulnerable in; he was already vulnerable enough as it were. Besides, if the roles had been reversed, Rin might not have found it great if Haru suddenly became chatty in the middle of Haru arousing him.

Rin doted on him some more, leaving an abundance of kisses, licks and nibs, before riling and stirring him up again by teasing and touching him, and then, after some time, slowly sliding back into him, thrusting into him deeply and slowly, relishing in the moans and other sounds Haru made into the air and into the sheets, which was occasionally forced between his teeth in a failed attempt at controlling himself. Rin couldn’t believe any of it was all real, it all felt like a fever dream, seeing and hearing him like that. Feeling him like that.

It was kind of odd, but Rin was admittedly quite glad that they ended up having their first time doing that at his place. He couldn’t believe himself for even dwelling on it - because for fuck’s sake, they were just fucking, not getting married - but, still, it somehow made it feel more real; more earnest. He was truly such a sappy romantic, huh?

All of their other sexual adventures had been fun, incredible, unbelievable and far more wonderful adjectives Rin’s clouded and spent mind couldn’t come up with at the moment, but there was just something about this that felt more… well, yes; real, somehow. Rin wasn’t delusional, he knew they weren’t really dating, but for a moment, he really couldn’t help but feel like they were, or believe that they could. Did he even want that? To date Haru? He couldn’t believe himself for even considering that, or for trying to pretend he didn’t already know the obvious answer.

The next morning, Rin woke up alone, and he hated how disappointed he felt by that. He had just gotten to accept feeling let down, when he noticed a grocery store receipt lying on the nightstand with something written on it.

Had to go to a meeting. I’ll call you later.

One odd-slash-fun-fact that Rin had come to learn about Haru was that he really enjoyed water. An unusual amount. He could often be found by his own pool or his jacuzzi whenever he wasn’t busy with work and meetings. He even had a huge bathtub, and spa as well. And a shower that was bigger than Rin’s entire bathroom, and kitchen. Combined. The huge shower and bathtub were in Haru’s own private bathroom. He came to know it well one day, when Haru had urged him to use it to wash off all the oil from himself after he had done an unusually troublesome oil change and then proceeded to drop the container to the floor which made even more oil splash up at him, staining him black almost from top to toe; his hands, clothes, face, even his hair.

To his shock, he had barely undressed and gotten into the shower before the door opened and Haru came in.

“No need to cover yourself,” Haru smiled amusedly, looking directly at Rin. He closed the door behind him and started to walk closer to the shower and Rin while slowly undressing himself one clothing item after another. Rin audibly gulped and watched him with great fascination and bafflement. It had been several days since their exciting night at Rin’s place, and they hadn’t touched each other since, mostly due to both of them being too busy with work and responsibilities, so this was… well, yes, unexpected. Rin let his hands fall to his sides, fully baring himself for Haru’s eager eyes to see.

“This is unexpecting,” Rin said, sounding close to choking on his own words.

“Do you want me to stop?”

“No,” Rin answered at a greater speed than what was probably considered normal.

“Good,” Haru smiled and stepped into the shower.

After Haru had helped scrub all the oil off of Rin’s body, they made out in that huge, open shower for a very long time, callused hands against soft skin, slender fingers against muscles, until neither of them could withstand it any longer and Haru dragged Rin off to the big bathtub, turned on the water while finding lube, and then dragged him down into it while it was still getting filled up.

It the first time Rin had ever had sex in or surrounded by water. It was at first a little troublesome, then just strange, but in what he ended up concluding to be a good way. It was the first time, but he knew it wouldn’t be the last time, especially with how unusually comfortable Haru seemed to be.

They laid in the bathtub for a while after, catching their breaths, until they dried up in towels and carried off to Haru’s bed. Rin definitely had to call in sick the next morning, that much was sure already before they went for round two. There was no way he was going to go home now, and no way he could leave early enough in time to get to work. And quite frankly, he didn’t want to either.

“Well this sure brings new light to oil change getting called a ‘lube appointment’ by some people…” Rin said to himself the next morning, lying in bed with Haru by side. At first, Haru had been hesitant to sleep with Rin. He still didn’t fully trust him, it seemed, but after a while he had ended up cuddling against him and sleeping soundly through the whole night.

“What?” Haru asked confusedly and groggily, clearly not fully awake yet.

“Some people call an oil change a lube appointment,” Rin repeated. “Because an oil change is to lubricate the car’s-”

Rin got cut off by the sound of a cute giggle coming from Haru. How the fuck was a mafia future-boss, capable of literally killing in cold blood, able to be cute? Rin was so far gone already, it was insane, nauseating, even.

“That’s pretty funny,” Haru said with a smile audible in his voice.

“Yeah,” Rin agreed, dumbfounded.

A silence spread between them, as they both enjoyed the quiet of the early morning, the distant sound of birds chirping away and the close sound of each other’s breathing. Sunshine came through small cracks in the darkening curtains, alerting them both of a new day creeping in.

“You have a really nice shower, by the way,” Rin suddenly complimented rather cheekily. “Really liked the… uh… water pressure.”

“Thank you,” Haru said with a broad, sideways smile, probably already knowing this was Rin’s way of thanking him for last night. “It’s too bad you spilled those drinks all over me and not yourself months ago. I might have offered you to use it back then.”

“Right,” Rin chuckled. “Sorry about that.”

“No, it’s fine. Given the situation, it was actually kind of funny,” Haru smiled. Rin let out a snicker in surprise.

“Never thought you would consider that whole thing funny,” Rin said.

“People change. Or circumstances do, at least,” Haru said. “In the moment, I certainly didn’t, but in hindsight I do.”

“That’s good,” Rin said and looked up into the ceiling.

Another round of peaceful silence spread between them, before Rin once more decided to let his thoughts become audible and break it.

“Hey, by the way, that reminds me…” Rin began after a brief moment, thoughtfully. “Why were you even standing right behind me in the first place? Back then? Were you there to kick me out? You had looked at me all angry the whole time. I never got around to ask.”

“No, I was there to hit on you,” Haru admitted without a single trace of hesitation or shame.

“You were what?!” Rin practically yelled out loud in absolute shock, abruptly sitting upright. Haru, whose face had gotten slightly hit by Rin’s chest during his sudden movement, let out a chuckle, as he propped himself up on his elbows to partially level with Rin.

“I had one too many glasses of wine to drink, and had watched women and men hit on you the whole day, so naturally I-”

“What?!” Rin interrupted, brain short circuiting with this brand new information, looking down at Haru with widened eyes. “I thought you hated me then!”

“That wasn’t my intention,” Haru said apologetically. “I’m sorry. I’m not very easy for others to read…”

“No, no, I know that, and I know why, I just-” Rin tried to gather all of his thoughts. “How long have you had a thing for me?”

“Your breath smells,” Haru suddenly said, purposely changing the topic very obviously and drastically, while lying back down again.

“Hey, now, don’t change-” Rin began, leaning closer.

“Please go brush your teeth, this is too much, even for me,” Haru complained pitifully and reached both of his hands up to cover Rin’s mouth.

“You’re such a little shit,” Rin said and tried to sound disapproving and angry, unfortunately with an unconvincing smile across his lips.

“Please, I can barely breathe,” Haru continued to dramatically complain and started obnoxiously tapping and waving his hands against Rin’s face.

Rin gave in and dropped the conversation in favor of abruptly moving on top of Haru and trying to grab his wrists to pin him down with. Wholly miscalculated action though, as it ended with Haru, who was still much more agile than Rin (much too agile than what should have been humanly possible), straddling him in place and being the one to pin him down instead, while threatening to “use force”, if Rin didn’t immediately go brush his teeth. Rin was almost tempted to see what this “force” entailed, but he still obeyed him nonetheless and went to brush his teeth using a brand new one that Haru found for him.

The next day, as if last night hadn’t been enough to stifle or dwindle their needs, Rin came into Haru’s office just to, innocently enough, pick him up to drive him to a meeting and act in as a translator again, but that innocence was quickly thrown out the window the moment he saw him standing in front of his large desk.

He wore a white dress shirt and a black vest, hair tucked back and tie loosely undone, as if the summer heat had gotten to him and he couldn’t resist it. The fantasized images alone that that appearance gave Rin’s brain were simply too good, too filthy, too much for Rin to handle. He was quick to imagine what a blush across Haru’s cheeks could do, what a little bit of sweat might add, a pair of parted, maybe even panting lips and blissfully sluggish eyes. And the euphorically lewd sounds he knew he could make, oh, what wonders they could work up. It was all too much for Rin, and he couldn’t restrain himself, couldn’t contain it inside, couldn’t stop himself from closing the door rather hastefully, locking it and hurrying over to Haru, who just gave him a confused, questioning look, clearly unsure of how to react.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Rin demanded as he stepped up right in front of him, practically already panting, and what the fuck was going on with him? Did Haru turn him into some type of overly-sexually-crazed animal? Give him something to send his sex drive off the roof? It was insane, almost disturbing.

“What are you doing?” Haru asked, letting out a gasp when Rin suddenly and rather roughly grabbed his ass and pulled him close to himself. Haru instinctively pushed Rin away from himself in a surprised reflex, looking at him with widened, confused eyes. Rin slowly came to his senses, at the same time as Haru realized what was going on, seeing the lust and wanton so evidently in Rin’s eyes, face, whole entire body and energy. His own surprised expression turned into something devious. He closed the gap he had created between them, and put an arm on either one of Rin’s shoulders. “Can’t get enough of me?”

Rin could try to deny it, he could make some half-assed, lame attempt at an excuse or explanation or anything else, but he didn’t. He didn’t even come up with a snarky or witty remark. Instead, all his horny brain could muster was a simple: “No.”

“Too bad,” Haru smiled, teasingly. “I’m already late for the meeting.”

“I’ll be quick,” Rin promised.

Haru caught him off guard by leaning in and kissing him, biting his lower lip lightly and tugging at it before letting go and leaning back, with a simple, cheeky: “Later.”

He really shouldn’t have done that. He really shouldn’t. Rin might have been able to let logic speak up and possibly even win if he hadn’t done that. But he did do that, and now Rin’s brain had caught up and he stepped forward against Haru, pushing him up against the desk, forcefully so, making a few things fall over and off the desk. Haru let out a surprised sound, but he didn’t resist it when Rin wrapped his arms around him and leaned in to kiss him, or when he slid his tongue inside, or even when he pressed himself impossibly closer, no doubt hurting either Haru’s ass or his thighs against the edge of the table, if not both.

Rin unbuttoned the vest, but left it on, and Haru grabbed and tucked at Rin’s hair while Rin trailed kisses down his jaw, throat, collarbones, the skin there exposed with Rin tugging down at Haru’s dress shirt. He moved down Haru’s thinly-clothed chest, still not bothering to unbutton the dress shirt, but receiving his desired reactions nonetheless. Haru’s grip tightened as Rin slowly kneeled down as he made his way down over his shirt-covered stomach. Then he lifted Haru’s shirt up to continue kissing down the trail of hair on his abdomen. He moved further and further down, persistently tucking at Haru’s pants to get them out of his way. He kept his face by Haru’s abdomen, while he slowly dragged Haru’s pants and underwear down to the lower part of his thighs, right above his knees. Haru let out a moan of relief once he was freed from the increasingly tightening fabric against his groin and exposed to the chill air, but only for a brief moment until the warmth of Rin’s mouth sent shivers down his spine and another, different type of moan escaped his lips while his hips thrusted slightly forward on reflex.

As per usual, Haru tried his best to hold himself back, not intending for Rin to choke, even if Rin didn’t seem bothered one bit by the motion. If anything, he usually seemed encouraged by it. Right now, though, he seemed more amused by it, a crooked smile forming on his lips, even with his mouth full.

Rin proceeded to expertly push Haru towards the edge, only to pull him right back the second Haru’s body betrayed him and started to tremble. Rin knew him too well already, could tell any micromovement of his, seeing all the signs before Haru was even aware he was giving any. And he definitely used that to his advantage, driving Haru absolutely insane with it.

”Rin,” Haru quietly called out, breath hitched and voice strained. He received a hum from Rin in response. A signal that Rin was listening, but that he clearly didn’t have any intention of stopping what he was doing. Haru didn’t want to interrupt him; didn’t want to listen to his own rational logic, but he couldn’t help it, not after his eyes had accidentally noticed the clock on the wall while they had drifted backwards in pleasure and he could easily tell, despite his clouded mind, that they were now definitely going to be late, more so than before. “We have to go...”

Rin stopped and pulled back with a loud and incredibly lewd pop-sound, only to look up at Haru with a smirk across his lips, a teasing and daring tone in his voice, his words slipping over his tongue as smooth as silk, leaving Haru to feel absolutely weak in his knees: “Let me finish you off first.”

“We should really go-” Haru tried, though not persistently so. Again - it’s not like he wanted Rin to stop, after all.

“Give me five minutes tops,” Rin continued, smugly. Then he lowered his head again.

Haru’s eyes followed him as he skillfully took his cock in his mouth once more, and when he went back to work, now with the purpose of getting Haru to and across that edge quickly (as opposed to before, where he had made it almost tauntingly long-lasting and even a little dragged-out, frustratingly but pleasantly so), both hands working almost forcefully around him as well, fondling and groping his ass with one hand and caressing his chest underneath his shirt with another, Haru could barely restrain his hips as they rolled forward and upwards while a loud moan escaped his lips and his back started to arch.

Rin had kept true to his words. He didn’t need more than five minutes. He didn’t even need one, before Haru’s grip in his hair tightened. He desperately tugged at the strands before his toes curled, his body started to lightly spasm and he quickly, loudly and blissfully called out Rin’s name as he came with as much force as his worn-out body could muster.

With minimal aftercare and some new clothes quickly thrown on before Haru had even gotten the chance to properly stop panting yet (all while Rin took quick care of his own erection), they were on their way, fashionably late to the meeting and with Haru barely able to stand up.

They played it relatively cool, though. Haru sat down by the table where two older men were already seated and obviously impatiently waiting for him. Bodyguards crowded up the room, including Haru’s bodyguards as well, five men that had also been driving behind them on their way there, with none of them having mentioned Haru and Rin’s bewildered state before they had left. None of the other men in the room mentioned their state right away either, so Rin figured it wasn’t so bad, though he could personally tell very easily by the flush in Haru’s cheeks and the slight change in his posture. He appeared more relaxed. Rin did him good, he knew that much.

Haru apologized to the men for his delay, and Rin stood behind him, ready to be at his service. A different kind, this time.

“Who’s your new guy? I haven’t seen him before,” one of the men asked in Japanese.

"He's just a translator stepping in for my usual one," Haru informed him.

"You're usually not one for trusting anyone other than mr. Morikawa," the man pointed out.

“Desperate times,” Haru shrugged, and there was a smugness to his tone that made Rin wish he could grab him by the collar and demand him to repeat that, knowing full well he said it just to tease him.

Haru had been apprehensive about allowing Rin to help him this time. He hadn’t mentioned the meeting intentionally, had even tried to backtrack on the information and had argued for quite a while to try to convince him he would be fine without him, but Rin hadn’t listened, not even when Haru had warned him that it was a meeting his dad made him go to, with two of his dad’s clients. Rin should have known what that meant, and maybe a part of him did but chose to ignore it, but it was difficult to ignore when it became apparent quite quickly that Haru was sitting down with a Japanese major gang leader and an American drug lord. Not the kind of crowd he expected to be in. Not the kind of crowd he wanted to be in. And definitely not the kind of crowd he ever wanted to be late for, especially not for the reason that they were. But it was too late now, and all he could do was try to act as natural as he possibly could, but it wasn’t easy, and Haru must have sensed it, probably the whole time, ending the meeting early and trying to comfort him in his own, kind of awkward way during the drive back to the estate.

More than a week after the meeting, Rin and Haru stood outside of the office building, talking. Rin was supposed to go pick something up for Haru in inner Tokyo, so Rin finally had a valid excuse to go bother him before that. Once they were done talking about completely unrelated-to-work things, Haru gave him an address and instructions. He needed to pick up a specific Seiko watch from the Gucci Building in Chuo City. Not exactly the task Rin had expected, and he couldn’t help but glance down at himself. He had figured the task wouldn’t include something valuable, but apparently he was very wrong.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?”

“You want me to enter a Gucci store… wearing this?” Rin skeptically asked, and gestured to his own oil-stained work clothes. Haru just shrugged. “You do understand they’re probably not going to even let me anywhere near the store, right?”

“Well,” Haru began. “If you’re more comfortable with a suit, I had another one made for you. Do you remember where my tailor is?”

“Wait, why another suit?”

“I wasn’t fully sure if I had picked the right color, so I had both made,” Haru explained. “I do still prefer the one that you got, though.”

“I’m not sure I can accept all of these gifts…” Rin admitted after a few seconds.

“You can donate this one when you’re done with it, if you want. Burgundy suits you better anyway.”

“Does it, now? Is that why you had it made in the first place?” Rin teasingly asked, making Haru smile.

“It didn’t take a lot to improve your wardrobe. I still need to find you better work clothes,” Haru said, avoiding answering him.

“Insulting my clothes won’t change the fact that you like-” Rin began, but was interrupted by the distant sound of a motorcycle (that Rin had otherwise not really picked up on while being too busy talking to Haru) coming closer and growing louder, followed by the sudden sound of the gates to the estate opening. Rin looked in the direction of the increasingly loud noises. Motorcycles weren’t a common thing at the estate, after all, so it was a bit unusual.

The motorcycle drove through the gate, up the stone road and then stopped right in front of Haru and Rin. They had stopped talking and watched as whoever it was turned off the engine and got off. A dramatic entrance, Rin thought to himself, but Haru seemed unfazed, so Rin figured he might know the person and that this wasn’t something he had to necessarily react to. The person took off their helmet, revealing them to be a relatively attractive young man around their age, black hair and sharp features.

“Am I interrupting something, Nanase?” He asked in a very playful tone while stepping closer with a broad smile. His hair was styled purposefully a little messy, his clothes looked expensive and fashionable, and his whole energy seemed so very different from Haru’s. He spoke like they were close, but Haru didn’t look like he was all too pleased with the new company, though hiding that quite well.

“Not at all. I take it you still prefer whiskey?”

“Yes, at any hour of the day,” The man confirmed, then looked directly at Rin. “Who’s your little friend here?”

Haru looked at the guy like he was studying him, not out of interest, but out of necessity. Like the guy was unpredictable or maybe even dangerous. The guy looked at Rin curiously.

“This is my mechanic, Rin,” Haru informed him.

“Mechanic, huh?” The guy repeated, intrigued. If Haru told the guy the truth so unhesitatingly like that, he must at least not have been dangerous, Rin noted to himself.

“Yes,” Haru confirmed, a bit impatiently.

“Does he fix bikes, too?” The guy continued, sounding almost flirtatious. What was their relationship for him to sound like that when speaking to Haru? Did he have any intentions with him? Rin couldn’t help but feel anger rising in the pit of his stomach.

“No. Only cars,” Haru said, sounding like he was growing increasingly irritated already. Maybe he didn’t like the way he was talking, either. He didn’t appear uncomfortable by it, though. Just irritated.

“What a shame. No use, then,” the guy smiled while looking directly at Rin again. What the fuck? Who did that guy think he was? Rin had plenty of use, and he was a great mechanic if he had to say so himself. This guy didn’t even know him, how could he say something like that, and then to his face, too? With a devilish grin, the guy added: “Not on that front, at least.”

“Rin, you remembered where the tailor was, correct?” Haru suddenly asked.

“Uh- I guess?” Rin said, confused by the unprompted question. Then he realized Haru was very clearly trying to get rid of him. Did he want to be alone with this guy? If so, why?

“It’s been a while since you were there, I’ll find someone to help you. Yoshino, you can go on in, my receptionist will pour you a drink while you wait,” Haru formally instructed.

“Won’t your mechanic friend join us?”

“No,” Haru answered far too quickly.

“That’s too bad. Even if he can’t fix a bike, he looks like he knows how to fix up a drink for us,” the guy - Yoshino - suggestively said.

“He has more important things to do,” Haru said, dryly, clearly not appreciating the guy’s persistent comments. Then he looked at Rin and made an outstretched hand motion to gesture for him to start walking, which he did. Haru told the guy it wouldn’t take long, and then he followed behind Rin.

“Sorry about that,” Haru apologized, clearly annoyed.

“What a dick,” Rin found himself complaining. He glanced back and saw the guy disappear into the office building and out of sight.

“Yeah,” Haru agreed.

“Why did he insult my work?” Rin asked. Haru gave him a confused look. “I don’t even know him.”

“He didn’t?”

“Yes he did? He said it’s a shame I only work on cars?”

“Yes, because he wanted you to fix his bikes,” Haru clarified. “And fuck you afterwards, to be blunt.”

“Wait, what?”

“Not like he was being subtle about it either,” Haru added. “He kept flirting with you.”

“He did?”

“Yes? Didn’t you notice?”

“No?” Rin questioningly and confusedly confirmed. Haru looked at him with skeptical disbelief, and then Rin realized something. "Wait, so… like you?"

“What?”

“You want me to fix your cars and fuck you too,” Rin pointed out, smugness back into his voice and expression once again.

"Well, I'll hope you don't think I treat you like a prostitute, which he would."

"How are you so sure he would do that?"

"Doesn't take much to be able to figure that out with a perverted asshole like him."

"Are you jealous?"

"No."

"You definitely are," Rin snickered.

"No, he just shouldn't look at you or talk to you like that."

"And why's that? Because you're jealous?" Rin teased.

“I’m not jealous.”

“You’ve been jealous before, though.”

"Yes, but not anymore."

“I don’t believe you,” Rin dared, wanting to break through that hardened wall of Haru's.

“You should.”

“And why is that? It’s not that long ago that you-”

“I’m not jealous,” Haru impatiently and persistently refuted, as he stopped walking and instead stepped directly in front of Rin.

“And why not?” Rin playfully repeated, intrigued to hear whatever excuse or explanation Haru could come up with. Haru suddenly reached out, put his gloved index and middle finger underneath his chin, close to his throat, and lifted his head upwards, making his eyes widen and pulse quicken in response. He kept his gaze directly at those deep blue eyes of Haru's, the shade a bit darker than usual, though that might have just been Rin's imagination. His imagination which was about to go off.

“Because you’re mine now,” Haru declared. “And you already said it yourself: I don’t like to share.”

Under normal circumstances, Rin would hate feeling objectified by such a statement. He wasn’t a thing to be owned. He would absolutely hate for someone like Haru to view him as a possession, but in that moment, he didn't even consider that. All he wanted to do was fuck him senseless, or to be fucked senseless. It was the finger underneath his chin, and the confidence in his words and in his stance, and it was the serious tone and the truth he put into his words. Haru wasn’t actually jealous, not really, not mainly. He was angry. The possessive kind. The kind that clearly made him want to keep Rin all to himself, and probably even go to great lengths to ensure that. Even walk out of his own meeting before it had even started, just to get Rin away from some guy that flirted with his oblivious ass. That’s right, Rin thought, as he realized that Haru hadn’t wanted him to leave just moments before, but rather wanted to get him away. Had he done that before? Would he do it again? Rin kind of hoped he would do it again...

He audibly gulped and had to use every ounce of power within him to not get a raging boner, while Haru walked away, strutting confidently, no doubt being fully and well aware of the mess he had left Rin inside Rin's mind and body. He really should chase him down and make him pay for that, but he was glued to the ground beneath him, conscious of the fact that he should probably stay still for a little while to catch his breath and regain his composure. Besides, Haru had left him to go find the tailor on his own, and to do that he really needed his mind to be a bit more clear from the type of thoughts currently racing through his brain, unless he wanted all the bodyguards to know exactly what type of control and power Haru held over him.

When Rin came back from his errand, the guy had left and so the watch ended up discarded in its unopened box along with Haru’s gloves, his clothes and Rin's brand new suit on the floor of Haru’s office, as it became the aforementioned latter desire of Rin’s: getting fucked senseless by Haru.

While it started out relatively mild, with Haru somewhat careful not to hurt him and getting him adjusted to everything, it certainly didn't end that way. Despite never really having done it up until now, Haru suddenly began to leave one hickey and bite mark after another all over Rin’s body, not holding back like Rin realized he apparently must usually do, while thrusting into him with increasing pace and depth, as if trying to leave some sort of bruise inside of him as well. One might say he was trying to not just claim, but also mark him as his own, and that one who might say that was Rin, barely able to talk, but not letting go of the opportunity to tease him, especially not for this very clear exhibit of possessive behavior (and, let’s be honest: complete jealousy). Said possessiveness (and jealousy) came to his advantage too, after all. He knew that much even way before he was lying naked on the big mahogany desk (all the things previously on top of it scattered around on the floor in a haste, Haru’s laptop luckily already out of the way before Rin had entered the room), with his body bruised and deliciously fucked, heaving after his breath and trying to grasp at and make his way back to reality, Haru leaning against and over the table, lying all worn out, sweaty and spent on top of him, equally struggling to catch his breath.

Rin really didn’t mind turning into a possession if that was the outcome of it.

Chapter Text

One day, Rin was driving Haru back to the estate after yet another meeting. It felt like Haru’s entire job and purpose in life was just to go to meetings, which wasn’t exactly what Rin had imagined when he thought about the whole organized crime business. Not that he had all that much experience with the mafia, but still. It was almost a bit boring, and there was a small part of Rin that searched for some excitement, though nothing like getting chased or shot at, just… something a bit more interesting than standing around, listening to people in suits just talking.

He drove through the gates and parked the car inside the garage, waiting for the garage door to slide back down, before he looked directly at Haru. Haru didn’t look at him, but was instead turned away, about to open the car door and step out. Rin reached for his arm, and he sensed only a slight tension at the touch, which faded quickly as Haru turned around to face him, clearly expecting him to say something. Rin leaned closer and Haru gave him a confused look, but then Rin leaned all the way forward and kissed him. Haru’s confusion turned into surprise, but he was nonetheless quick to welcome Rin’s lips on his own, and kissed him right back.

The kiss was brief, but then Haru placed a black leather-gloved hand to the back of Rin’s head, keeping him in place and chased his lips again in another brief, but deeper kiss. Rin placed a hand against the center console for support, while reaching for Haru’s face with the other hand as he very quickly turned the kiss heated by easily parting Haru’s lips and slipping his tongue inside his mouth.

Rin ended up crawling over the center console and gear stick, careful not to break anything along his way, and crawled on top of Haru’s lap in the passenger seat. They continued to make out while Rin began to slowly grind down against him, soon feeling the reciprocated lust in the shape of an increasing bulge in Haru’s pants.

“Can we go to your room?” Rin asked in between three quick pants after pulling back ever so slightly, just enough to break the kiss, but still close enough to get right back to it.

“Is it the car again?” Haru groaned in annoyed disapproval.

“No…” Rin sheepishly lied and leaned backwards a little more, their lips getting further away.

“It’ll be fine. If it gets damaged you can fix it,” Haru stated, sounding annoyed and a little out of breath. “Isn’t that your job?”

“I don’t want to damage-“

“You instigated this,” Haru sternly pointed out, urging him to continue by pulling lightly at the collar of his shirt while leaning closer, their faces mere centimeters away from one another’s again. He looked directly into Rin’s eyes with both lust and strict disapproval, and Rin couldn’t deny how hot that mixture was.

“Maybe I just wanted to make you suffer?” Rin suggested, trying not to make a big deal out of it. What if he just wanted a comfortable, soft bed to do it on for once? That wouldn’t be so bad now, would it?

“You’re just as hard as I am,” Haru argued.

“Still…”

“You really want to show all of my staff just how-“

“No…” Rin interrupted, getting slightly embarrassed. He turned his head and looked out of the window and ended up looking at the concrete floor of the garage. He considered for a moment how uncomfortable it would be to-

“Absolutely not,” Haru said, as if reading his mind, but really just following his gaze. In one swift move he put an arm around Rin’s back and pulled his body even closer against himself, demanding his full attention. “Guess I’ll just have to make you forget where you are.”

With absolutely zero warning outside of that statement (or rather threat), he put the hand previously at Rin's back up, into his hair, gloved fingers intertwined with thick locks, then yanked down hard, causing a surprised moan to escape Rin’s lips. His other hand slid down the hem of Rin’s pants, struggling a bit with the limited space available to do so. He didn’t make any effort to unhook the belt and rid Rin of the pressure, but rather purposefully kept his hand just above the bulge in his underwear, figuring the pressure his hand caused against his abdomen was sufficient enough. And it was. It reminded Rin perfectly well of what could be if he just didn’t care, but he did. It was an expensive Mercedes and their previous time doing it in another one of Haru’s cars they had left several scratches in the fine leather of the backseat and he had had to scrub-

“Look at me,” Haru demanded in a dangerously low voice.

“I am,” Rin objected defensively, blinking his way out of his own thoughts.

“No you’re not,” Haru said, and yanked Rin’s hair once more, pulling his head backwards again so he was face-to-face with the ceiling right above him. Rin moaned again, loudly this time, and he grasped at Haru with his hands to prevent himself from falling backwards into the dashboard with the sudden, unexpected and forceful motion. He had ended up grabbing onto his face, he realized, with the sensation of Haru’s soft cheeks in his hands. Haru eased his grip on Rin’s hair, allowing his head back down so that their eyes could meet once more.

“You’re going to give me a headache,” Rin mildly complained while squeezing Haru’s cheeks slightly, giving him a cute and funnily rounded face. Or, he didn't complain as much as just pointed out, really. It hurt to be manhandled, but a part of him kind of wanted Haru to do it again. And again. And again. Harder and more rough with each time. Headache or no headache, the pain was good. But if they could just do it outside of-

“You’ve already given me one,” Haru remarked, as he let go of Rin’s hair and moved his other hand out of Rin’s pants, only to roughly pull Rin’s shirt up and over his head, leaving his chest exposed for him to admire. He looked at Rin’s chest, the nipple piercings adorning it, then, with a low tone and a demand of: “Stop thinking and focus only on me,” he leaned forward and first put his mouth around Rin’s nipple, persistently sucking on it for a few seconds, then, while his hands roamed around his sides, he took the piercing between his teeth and pulled at it, sending new sparks of pleasurable pain through Rin’s body.

“Are you jealous of the car now too?” Rin managed to tease, but it didn’t come out as snarky and playful as he had intended. He ended up sounding more pathetic than anything. With a throbbing cock and a hot mouth on his chest there was little he could do to try to keep up any resemblance of an attitude, which otherwise always came effortlessly to him.

“Shut up,” Haru grumpily ordered, as he bit and pulled again while unhooking Rin’s belt. Rin feared he had given Haru a mission to actively try to damage the car now, but once Haru’s gloved hand was finally around his cock, slick and skillful, while his tongue was working wonders inside of his moaning, breathless mouth and his other hand was fondling Rin’s chest, then ass, and sides, and hair - well, he truly couldn’t care less about anything else than the sensations he was currently getting completely overwhelmed and overstimulated with. If he had to do some cleaning or even some repairs, so be it. If Haru would just keep doing what he so expertly was doing, he would change a million seat covers, do a million paint and lacquer repairs, and even change a million more windows and front bumpers. With only mild complaining, of course. Though when he came in a fit of body spasms and loud moans, took some time to catch his breath before he pushed the seat all the way back, moved down to the floor, moved Haru’s pants out of the way and took his whole length into his mouth and throat while Haru tugged away at his hair and sensitive scalp again with no restraint (and didn’t even hold back on his god-sent, enticing and absolutely encouraging moans), he wasn’t so sure he would actually complain after all. What was it even he was going to complain about anyway? He must have forgotten.

A few days later, while in the middle of working on a car, Rin had been called out of the garage by a bodyguard to meet with Haru in front of his office. A car was parked there, a blue Lamborghini Sian, and Rin couldn’t help but let out a disbelieved chuckle at the sight.

“Holy shit,” Rin almost giggled, as he hurried over to the car. It felt entirely surreal to see a car like that in real life. Haru had expensive cars, yes, and during Rin’s time there he had seen and worked on so many luxury cars he had lost count, but nothing like this had been so close to him before, not even during the social gathering Haru hosted for all the rich people some time ago, even though some came very close. There were expensive cars, there were luxury cars, hell there were even great sports cars, but then there was this.

“Like it?” A voice behind Rin suddenly and casually asked, and he flung his head around to look at Haru with wide eyes. He could have tried to keep his cool and not freak out in front of him, but he was quite frankly too busy losing his mind.

“How the fuck- whose car is this?” Rin asked, still in complete disbelief, he turned around to keep staring at the car, and he wanted so badly to step closer, reach out and touch it, but somehow it felt like he shouldn’t.

“Mine. It’s a gift. It just got here.”

“A gift?!” Rin exclaimed. “Who the fuck would-”

“A client,” Haru shrugged, as if he couldn’t care any less. “Are you ready?”

“What type of client would-“

“Rin,” Haru interrupted, impatiently. “Are you ready or not?”

“Ready for what?” Rin confusedly asked, despite wanting to insist on figuring out who the hell would buy Haru a car like that, and more importantly, what could have possibly made that a valid present option. He looked between Haru and the car, then suddenly realized: “Wait, am I going to drive-?!”

“No, we’re going to keep a low profile today.”

“Low profile, how?”

“My dad is forcing me on a mission, and I’d rather not attract too much attention. The more we blend in, the better.”

“Good luck with that,” Rin sarcastically remarked, taking his eyes off of the car to look Haru up and down to silently imply that not even he, no matter the car he would be driving in, would be able to blend in anywhere. And he meant it. Haru’s whole appearance and vibe would make him stand out in any crowd, no matter how small or big. “But seriously, what kind of client could possibly want to give a nearly 550 million yen car as a gift?”

“The type of clients I often deal with. Come on, I need to grab something from my office,” Haru said, before he started to walk towards the office building. Rin hesitantly followed after him, sparing several last glances at the marvelous car on his way, as if it might disappear the second he stopped looking at it. He wanted to stay behind and look longingly at it for a bit more time, but Haru clearly had other plans, and if Rin had any chance of one day sitting inside of that car, he should probably stay on Haru’s good side.

“Why do you want to blend in, though? Are you hiding from someone or something?” Rin asked as they walked through the reception area and further into the office.

“Yes.”

“Who? Other criminals?” Rin kept asking. Haru turned his head and glanced at him for the use of the word other.

“No. The cops,” Haru clarified. Rin gave him a puzzled look.

”Well… that won’t be easy.”

“And why not?”

“Well, you’re drawing a lot of unnecessary attention with your look, and, well, any of your cars. They’re practically screaming you’re a criminal,” Rin pointed out.

“I meant it when I said we won’t be taking the car out front, if that’s what you’re thinking. And I can go change my clothes if you think my outfit is a problem.”

“It’s not just your clothes, and I know we won’t be taking that car, but I meant your other cars too. The Mercedes and all the others,” Rin explained. Haru seemed to think about that as he quietly sat down behind his desk.

“Don’t they just signal money?” Haru finally asked, before he began to look through some paper files on his desk.

“It’s the same thing,” Rin argued. “Most rich people are criminals anyway. If not all.”

“That’s quite a statement to make,” Haru said, unimpressed, with a raised eyebrow and a glance up at Rin.

“Am I wrong though?” Rin rhetorically asked. Haru had no right to object to that, after all. Was he that protective of his rich friends? “They might not be criminals on paper, but they certainly are in praxis. Human rights violations, drug abuse, drug distribution, money laundering, tax evasion, fraud, bribing, lobbying. Want me to continue?”

“No, I’ve got your point,” Haru smiled amusedly, and he placed the files back down on the desk, clearly giving Rin his full attention now. Rin couldn’t really see what was so funny about any of it, but instead of putting up a fight, he just rolled his eyes and looked away.

“What?” Haru asked.

“You.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you’re so arrogant about your own position of power it’s frustrating,” Rin explained, wanting to look away from him to not get too confrontational about it, but also not wanting to back down, because he knew it was true, and he knew he had to say it out loud eventually, standing his ground while doing so.

“I’m not. I’m well aware of my position,” Haru argued. “And for your information, I don’t do any of the things you so passively aggressively accuse me of.”

“There’s absolutely no rich person that became rich without harming other people in one way or another, specifically desperate working and lower class people,” Rin kept arguing. He knew fully well that he was right, and had no qualms to stand by that, not even towards his own very rich boss, even despite currently sleeping with him. So much for staying on his good side, though.

“I’m not my father,” Haru simply stated.

“So that makes you perfect?”

“Where does all this come from? But no, I’m not perfect,” Haru admitted, sounding almost a bit frustrated. “But my personal agenda isn’t against working class people like you assume it is. It’s against corrupt politicians, overly rich people and gang leaders, the exact same category of people you try so hard to force me to be a part of.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I trade with both, but I pay my workers fairly and care about their rights and wellbeing, meanwhile I mess with people who are rich, whether more or less than myself,” Haru explained.

“Oh, so you mess with them?” Rin mocked with raised eyebrows, clearly not believing him.

“Yes. Not sexually, of course,” Haru clarified.

“No of course not,” Rin said, unimpressed with Haru’s attempt of making light jokes. “You prefer low-class sewer rats like me.”

“You’re not a sewer rat. Low-class? In manners, yes.”

“Oh, fuck you.”

“No, fuck you for thinking you know who I am, when you don’t, and won’t even try to look beyond your own fucking ideals and stereotypical perception to try,” Haru bit back, sounding fully angry now. Rin stood shocked for a bit. He hadn’t seen such emotions on Haru’s face before. He seemed so real for a moment, so… normal. Frustrated and hurt, even, yes, but also so… relatable?

Haru quickly regained his pose and stoic expression, though, and Rin knew the mafia persona had taken over the otherwise possible vulnerability that had been seeping through the cracks. Rin wanted to see more of that. The real Haru. The Haru who had stood in the kitchen, unable to cook for himself, pathetically asking for help, or the Haru that helped him home when he was drunk out of his mind, or the Haru who had gotten so comfortable around him that he took off his gloves, the Haru who laughed and who opened up to him, slowly, but progressively still.

Rin had grown quite attached to Haru, in more ways than one, he couldn’t and wouldn’t deny that. He had grown to enjoy his company, and even to trust him. But there was something unspoken between them that Rin had always been unconsciously aware of, something which made this thing between them so incredibly fragile. The inequality. It wasn’t the superior and employee label as an outward appearance that made their relationship an issue. And if Rin was honest, if he really thought about it, it wasn’t about the crime, or really about the money either. It was the privilege. The privileges that Haru just shrugged off; that he just took as a natural part of life. It was the privileges, and it was the indifference Haru held towards it all that really divided the two. Rin had never had much privilege in his life, and he had never taken anything for granted.

Rin hadn’t expected they would ever discuss it properly, least of all now, and least of all like this. He surprised himself with his sudden confrontational state, but for some reason he couldn’t help it. He was angry, really angry, and he didn’t know why exactly. It felt like he was watching himself from afar, spitting angry accusations, ones that he had otherwise done a fine job repressing until now. Maybe he just needed to get it off of his chest, all of these barely withheld frustrations. He had made it clear from the beginning that he didn’t like Haru being rich or a criminal, but not as clear as this.

“You lost your calm there, pretty boy,” Rin mockingly noted out loud, and his brain told him he was going too far, but his mouth kept moving on its own. ”Finally some real fucking emotion came through. So tell me: who are you really?”

Haru sighed. “Like you would ever understand.”

“Try me. Better yet: make me understand,” Rin dared. Haru looked at Rin for several moments, but Rin didn't back down. He couldn’t now, not after all he had already said. If he retreated all of the sudden, possibly even apologized for speaking out of turn or for going at it the way that he did, he would set the stage for their relationship henceforth; show that it was okay for them not to communicate properly, and signal that it wasn’t okay for Rin to be confrontational, which would be to silence and muzzle him, and he absolutely despised that thought. Haru closed his eyes, got up from his position on his desk chair and sat over on one of the armchairs in front of the couch that stood against the window. “What are you doing?”

“Sit down and get comfortable. It’s going to take a while.”

“Okay?” Rin said, confused, and hesitantly sat down on the couch opposite of Haru. “So?”

“So,” Haru repeated. “You want me to tell you who I am?”

“Sure.”

“If you tell anyone anything, I’ll kill you. I want you to know that. I want you to remember that.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m so scared,” Rin sarcastically said, rolling his eyes for emphasis.

“I'm serious. I won’t tell you shit if that’s the attitude you’re sticking to.”

“Fine,” Rin relented. “You’re really going to let me in on your deep dark past?”

“I’ll likely regret it, but yes.”

"Intriguing. Go on,” Rin urged. “I promise I won’t spill your daddy issues to anyone.”

Haru rolled his eyes. “You just lost your chance.”

Haru got up, but Rin reached out, almost leaping out of his seat in the process, and grabbed Haru’s wrist. Haru instinctively twisted his own wrist and yanked his arm away from Rin, then quickly grabbed Rin’s wrist instead and pushed him down against the back of the couch, pressing most of his body weight against Rin’s arm that was now pressed against his chest. Rin looked at him both startled and apologetically. Their faces were close, and Haru intimidatingly stared daggers into his eyes, and Rin recognized this position immediately, and felt just the same amount of shameless spark in the pit of his stomach as the first time he had ended up underneath Haru’s harsh and unyielding grab.

“Okay, okay, sorry,” Rin quickly apologized, earnestly. “I’m sorry, okay? I promise I’ll be quiet. I want to understand whatever makes you think you’re relatable in any way. Can you please just let go of me?”

Haru sighed and let go and got off of him. He readjusted his clothes and then gave him a dry look, before sitting down, formally putting one leg over his knee. He sat in silence for a while, and Rin looked at him impatiently while rubbing at his aching chest.

“I highly doubt your ability to stay quiet,” Haru finally said. “But let’s test it. You know when you were a kid and you went to that shitty F-rank elementary school in Shinjuku?”

“How do you know about that?”

“You’re not very good at the staying-quiet part,” Haru blankly observed.

“Fine, you want me to shut up that badly? Go ahead. But for your information: yes, I remember it. I was there.”

“You forget quite easily that I read your files,” Haru added, then quickly continued: “But back to the point… when you grew up there, you had a lot to worry about and a lot of things keeping you up at night. The gangs filled the streets and you weren’t safe. Correct? Nod if so,” Haru said and Rin nodded, unsure of where this was going. “While you were busy worrying for your safety at six years old, my own father brought me along with him to witness him murdering a man for the first time. When you were seven, and saw some of your older peers in middle school join gangs and turn to violence at a very young age, my father was testing how much I had learned through the years of intense training where I was taught how to kill. I was 7 when I shot someone for the first time, purely for my father’s own amusement, and my childish horror.”

Rin wanted to comment on how absolutely fucked up that was, but he respected Haru’s request (or rather, demand), and stayed quiet, settling on only looking at Haru with an increasingly horrified expression.

“I was taught not to feel anything as I heard people begging for mercy and watched life go out of their eyes when they weren’t given that,” Haru continued, and it was difficult for Rin to hold onto the intense eye contact they held. Haru paused for a brief moment, looked away from Rin and out at the window instead, then back at him “But I wasn’t him. I couldn’t shut it out. My father’s biggest mistake was that he put me in the care of regular people. My nannies were all normal people, just as normal and regular as well… your mother, for example. They showed me care and I latched onto that. That’s where I differ from my father. First of: I’m not a sadist, even if you may think that of me. And second of: I know regular people and I was taught care by them. I was taught not to care about human lives by him, but I didn’t learn it. I still value human life. I don’t play around with them like chess pieces, as he does. I don’t just shoot people whenever I please or employ young kids to some street army to fight imaginative battles for the sake of laughs. I invested shares in luxury and now overcharge rich people. Hotels, casinos, cars. That’s where I get my money from. My father deals in drugs, weapons, war and violence, but I don’t. I’m the heir of my father’s so-called business, which is essentially just our name, but I would never run it the way that he does. I am obligated to still follow his orders, and as long as I do that, he leaves me alone, no matter how much of a disappointment to him that I am. I never wanted this life. I never wanted to be part of the mafia, less so than you. But I have no choice. I tried to escape it once when I was 14 and I nearly died as a result. For now I just try to do what little good I can by only going after actual bad people. He may use that to his own benefit and I may still be forced to work for him, but it’s better this way.”

“How is it better?” Rin couldn’t help but confusedly ask. He couldn’t see why working under a man like that could in any way be better than any alternative.

“My current role is collecting debt, but I only do it from gang leaders,” Haru clarified. “And I won’t care to dismantle gangs by killing the cruel leaders among them either, with or without his orders. And I’m his watchdog, too. I observe what’s going on and have to report to him. That’s it.”

“And that’s good… how?” Rin asked again.

“He originally wanted me to become a personal assassin for him. That meant killing anyone he wanted me to,” Haru revealed, and that tiny piece of context made all the difference to Rin. “At least this way, I get to choose who gets a bullet and who doesn’t. And I only have to talk to him once a month.”

Rin didn’t know what to say. It was a lot of information at once, and he couldn’t help but feel bad. Not just for Haru’s whole upbringing, because holy fuck, what even was that?

From a logical standpoint, he knew Haru probably hadn’t had the lightest childhood with the line of work he was in, but he never considered the possibility that it could have been this bad. He wondered if he had been too blind by all the privileges and all the riches to even consider the dark realities beneath them. He had been so focused on the crimes committed against other people, strangers to Rin, who had had to suffer for the riches to be possible, that he hadn’t even considered the crimes and cruelty Haru had had to endure, too.

He realized now, all of the sudden, that Haru wasn’t the issue. It was Rin himself that was the issue. Haru may have had some natural prejudices against Rin, but to his excuse, most of them had been, to some extent, true. Rin was a convicted felon. Rin had done things he wasn’t proud of, and some of them weren’t forced on him the way that Haru’s had been. And while it didn’t reflect who he was today, it was still a part of him, and Haru wasn’t exactly to blame for getting the wrong picture of him at first.

Rin on the other hand had had so many prejudices about Haru, so many false assumptions of who he was and why. Yes, Haru was privileged. Yes, he sometimes took it for granted. And yes, he could be possessive and arrogant as a result. Very arrogant, even. But he didn’t choose it. He didn’t choose his life, and he seemed to genuinely try to be different from the assholes around him. And maybe, just maybe, Rin could start to acknowledge and accept the fact that Haru didn’t want him around because he saw him as lesser than himself and wanted to use or control him, but because he genuinely liked him, however odd that might be. Maybe he liked that Rin saw beyond the money and power and spoke to him like a normal person; giving him the chance to behave like one, too, which he hadn’t been given much in his life, Rin began to realize.

After the heavy talk, they ended up skipping the mission, as Haru said it could wait until Rin taught him how to blend in better, so that the mission wasn’t doomed to fail before it even began. Rin was hesitant to leave when Haru said he would call his father and let him know, but Rin knew he couldn’t fight it, not now, at least. It wasn’t his place to do so. Yet.

An hour of waiting around in the garage later, and Haru finally came to meet Rin. They found use for Haru’s newfound freetime. With a pair of keys in his hand and a smug smile hiding the dread beneath Haru’s exterior, he invited Rin to try out his client’s gift. Rin couldn’t reject such an intriguing offer, and, feeling entirely like a child, he practically hopped up and down while accepting the key into his hand.

The distinct smell of brand new car hit his nose the instant he got within close enough range. He opened the door to the driver’s seat upwards slowly, revealing the luxurious interior of the car and the smell growing stronger and stronger. It was like porn to Rin, and with how much he began to blush and his mouth practically watered and body almost trembled, he knew that Haru could tell. He wasn’t embarrassed by it, though, not one bit. How could he not react? I mean, look at it!

He took some time to appreciate the exterior of the car a little more; the copper rims, the sharp edges, the fresh and beautifully done paint job, the lowered front with all its curves, and the Y-shaped headlights. Then he excitedly got into the car and marveled at all the details inside. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever think he would be able to sit inside a car this expensive and this stunning. It was entirely unbelievable.

Haru got into the passenger seat with much less excitement, and much more focus on Rin than the car itself. Rin was tempted to step out again and go take a look at the car’s incredible motor, but he also didn’t want to step out again and leave the extremely comfortable seat. Instead, he took a long moment to let all the impressions sink in, looked for where everything was and tried to figure the car out, then he found the ignition button and pressed it. He felt his heart skip a beat as, while the noises were slightly less than what one would usually expect of a sports car of this magnitude, due to it being a hybrid car, the noise still vibrated through him. No matter if it was a little different from other cars with the same massive motor, the sound was still absolutely amazing.

And the power - holy shit, the power was insane. From what Rin could remember it had an acceleration of less than 3 seconds, and he could feel that, even as they drove slowly through the gates. Rin had an almost childish wonder across his whole expression, as he looked over at Haru who was smiling softly at him.

“Where to, prince?” Rin excitedly asked.

“Wherever you want,” Haru said, and Rin could tell that he meant it.

Rin thought for a little bit, then he realized exactly where he wanted to go, as he turned left and headed for Route 245. The adrenaline filled his body as the landscape passed them by in a rush he’d never experienced before. Not even during car chases; not even in the most expensive (stolen) cars he had raced in down abandoned roads. This was on a whole new scale. It felt like he was flying. The area around Haru’s estate was mostly forest for a long while and the road almost always empty, so Rin had no qualms of speeding along the relatively long stretch of road until they reached the nearest village. And he was so glad for that.

Almost everyone in the cities and villages they drove through stopped and turned their heads, and when they eventually reached Route 245, Rin could tell everyone on the highway was looking twice their way as well, as he passed by them all in the overtaking lane. If Rin wasn’t wrong, the car could drive up to 300 or 350 kilometers per hour, and he had to literally physically restrain himself from testing and figuring it out. He kept laughing and giggling and woo-ing and making all sorts of excited noises and proclamations. He felt like he was living out a childhood dream, and it was great. He felt truly great. He dared a glance at Haru, suddenly considering the possibility that he might not be as comfortable with the high speeds, but he seemed unaffected. Instead of looking uncomfortable, he just looked at Rin, continuing to smile at him. Rin had to remind himself of the very dangerous speed in which he was driving, so he could pull his eyes away from Haru’s soft look and back onto the road in front of them.

One and a half hour later, they exited the highway and Rin headed down the familiar roads, hoping he could still remember the way, especially now that it was getting dark, then he saw road signs directing him towards the destination he had in mind. They soon arrived at Kawajiri Beach, and Rin parked the car, but sat and listened to the engine for a moment more before turning it off and turning towards Haru.

“A beach?” Haru confusedly questioned, looking around them and taking in their surroundings fully. No one was around, it seemed. It was dark, only lit by the street lamps around the small parking lot. The beach itself was covered in darkness, but the moonlight reflected in the water, as well as the visible sand and smell of the ocean, all added to the obvious conclusion.

“Yes,” Rin confirmed. “My family used to visit this place often during summer. My dad’s brother lives closeby, so it was an ideal spot for when days were too hot.”

“Why did you pick this spot?” Haru curiously asked, sounding genuinely interested.

“I haven’t been here for a while, I thought it might be nice to revisit,” Rin answered earnestly. “Plus, it’s a long stretch of highway for me to take your gift out for a spin on.”

“You can always take any of my cars, though, so what’s so special about this one?”

“Seriously Haru, just look at it,” Rin said in disbelief. There was no way Haru wasn’t even slightly impressed by any of it.

“It’s just a car?” Haru pointed out. Rin’s eyes widened in shock.

“Just a car? Just a car. Haru come on, even someone who give as little a fuck about cars as you, have to admit it’s an impressive model,” Rin almost desperately argued, but Haru just shrugged.

“I mean, the seats are nice? And it did go quite fast,” Haru tried. Rin shook his head in disbelief.

“Unbelievable,” Rin sighed in defeat. “I give up.”

“Sorry,” Haru said, but he couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Should we head back, though? Sorry that I took you out on such a long drive without even asking first,” Rin apologized, though more out of polite consideration. He knew if Haru had wanted to go back sometime during the drive, he would have just said so.

“We can stay for a while if you want. I don’t have any other responsibilities for tonight.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Want to go down to the water?” Rin asked, then quickly remembered where he was sitting. “Or maybe we shouldn’t leave the car unsuper-”

“Rin, it’s fine,” Haru said, before turning around and attempting to open the door, though struggling a bit. He was clearly not used to these types of doors, and while Rin wasn’t either, it was easier for him to get the hang of it and so he opened his own, went to Haru’s side and opened it for him. Rin’s legs were shaking from adrenaline going through his body, but he managed to walk normally despite it.

They went down to the water and talked for a while with the sound of the waves washing ashore in the background. Rin asked Haru about his call with his father, and Haru was honest and told him his father had gotten mad, but in a way where it was clear that he could agree with Haru’s logical arguments. Not that he did, though, he had still just been mad, but Haru still took the small victory. Rin opened up about his own dad, how he looked, how he talked, the jokes he made, small and big memories with him. Haru patiently listened to every word.

The conversation led back to cars and Rin and his dad’s shared interest and passion for them, and they eventually walked back to the car, where Rin opened the hood and, using the flashlight on his phone, got to admire all the big, small and tiny mechanics behind it. It was nothing less than a stunning motor, an impressive craftsmanship through and through. Haru watched him intensely from beside the hood, listening to Rin rambling off mostly to himself, but not fully listening.

Rin ended up getting interrupted by Haru slowly walking behind him and placing a hand on his waist. Rin turned towards him with a curious look, but was only met with the sight of Haru leaning forward with his eyes closed and placing his lips to Rin’s own.

“Haru-?” Rin asked in surprise.

“Close the hood,” Haru said in a silky smooth voice, before slowly walking away, back into the sand. Rin, flustered by the sudden change of atmosphere, obediently did as told, before trailing right after Haru like a curious puppy. An intrigued one, too.

“Where are we going?” Rin asked when Haru didn’t walk back towards the ocean, but turned left, seemingly heading for the bottom of a cliff. He reached for Haru to make him pause and explain, but Haru somehow must have sensed it, as he avoided Rin’s grasp and instead managed to grab him, and started pulling him along with him. Surprised, Rin stared at Haru’s hand now suddenly around his own wrist, but his body moved on its own as it kept following him regardless.

They ended up against the bottom of the cliff, the waves almost reaching them, and Rin pushed up against the rocky surface, while Haru expertly gave him a handjob, his moans barely drowned by the sound of the waves crashing ashore.

“Have any more left in you?” Haru asked, amusedly, while watching Rin try to catch his breath and steady himself, having taken a step back from him to give him some space to do so.

“Yes,” Rin said without hesitation, looking right up at him between already-slightly-sweaty bangs.

“Then fuck me,” Haru said, and it wasn’t a suggestion.

“Here? We don’t even have-”

“Just do it,” Haru demanded in a low, sultry voice, and Rin obeyed him by gaining full footing again, almost as if he had been rebooted on the spot, and closed the small gap between them.

“If you say so,” Rin agreed, smiling from ear to ear, always willing to obey an order like that from him.

A few days off from the estate later, and Rin was back. Haru requested that Rin come to his office, and like the good, loyal employee he was, he left the garage immediately. To his disappointment, Haru wasn’t lying seductively and bare across the desk, ready for Rin to take him, but instead sat neatly behind his computer, and asked Rin to grab a chair.

“What am I here for?”

“You said I had to buy a normal car so that I didn’t attract as much attention as I do right now,” Haru explained.

Haru had a web browser open with a search for “normal car for sale”, and Rin couldn’t help but snort when he read it.

“Well this is probably going to be a challenge,” Rin remarked, and watched Haru click to the image option and scroll down. So... not the most ideal way to search for a car, but Rin decided not to argue about it and just silently watch instead. Whenever Rin came up with a suggestion for a brand, Haru more or less ignored him, and every time Haru pointed to a car, it felt to Rin as if he was actively trying to annoy him. Expensive cars, big cars, straight up just ugly cars that would still attract too much attention, not to mention a goddamn van. When Haru pointed at a Tesla, Rin let out a sigh in defeat, too tired for this.

”Don’t buy a Tesla. There have been so many critical bugs in their OTA software and they’re overly expensive to repair, if not impossible outside of an authorized shop,” Rin explained. “I personally won’t have access to all its parts, no matter what model. And that’s not even to mention there’s some models that have rear view mirror cameras that can be accessed by not only the company, but others as well. And given your… occupation-" Rin emphasized the last word with an air-quote gesture, "- you’d probably not want that. Plus, most of them are really ugly and unsafely built. And to top it all off, not a very well-disguised, normal car. Especially not here.”

“What about this?” Haru asked instead of responding, gesturing to a black Cadillac on the screen.

“I’m giving up,” Rin just said, moving as if he wanted to get up from his chair.

“What? Why?” Haru asked, genuinely confused.

“Well, first of: Cadillac is the worst car brand. They’re terribly made. Sure they look nice, but that’s all they have going for them. They’re decorational at best. At worst it’ll break down while you’re in the middle of escaping from some big bad villain worse than yourself.”

“You think I’m a villain?”

“If the clog in the glove compartment fits,” Rin remarked, only partially joking. Sure, Haru wasn’t a villain in his eyes much anymore, but he was still in a bad business with bad habits. Haru couldn’t help but smile. “Second of: it screams drug emperor and mob gangster more than your current Mercedes and other expensive cars. I suggested blending in, to avoid getting caught. Expensive cars like these or Audis, BMWs, Teslas or even other Mercedes won't do that for you. They'll attract attention. Get like… a Honda or a Mazda or something else usually reliable, and most importantly: actually discreet.”

“Discreet? I thought we were just going for normal.”

“Yes, normal and discreet. So that you can go on your little mission, and so that the cops won’t take one look at your car and pull you over, like with that goddamn Cadillac.”

“What about this one?”

“A Kia Picanto? Really?”

“Sure, whatever,” Haru said, clearly not expecting to get much else than a good laugh at this point.

“You know what? Sure. Kia is a reliable brand, low maintenance, quite safe, and if you want a tiny car like that, it’ll be easy to navigate the inner city. It’s the best option you’ve come up with so far. Congrats,” Rin sarcastically but truthfully said. “But unless you want a new personal chauffeur, can you please find a bigger Kia than their Picanto? Like a Forte or a Rio or something.”

“I have no idea what a forté or a Rio is, but I’ll leave the option to you. Pick whichever you like the most. As long as it gets me where I need to go, I really don’t care.”

“How can you not care? It would be your car? Paid with your money?” Rin frustratedly asked, only for Haru to shrug in response. “You’re such a rich kid.”

“You’re such a car freak.”

“I’m a mechanic, what did you expect? That I wouldn’t have an opinion on cars? Come on.”

“Priss.”

“Oligarch.”

“Big words for an uneducated person.”

“For the last time, I am educated, asshole.”

“What formal education do you have? Because there’s nothing in your files about that.”

“Why don’t you take my file,” Rin began, annoyed, looking directly into Haru’s eyes. ”And shove it?”

“Feisty.”

“Get your shitty Kia and call me when you need those drug departments. I’m off,” Rin said, getting up from the chair.

“I thought you said Kia was a good brand?” Haru sarcastically remarked, clearly very amused. Rin gave him the finger and walked away, then stopped in the doorway and turned his head around to look at Haru.

“Suzuki is better,” Rin then said, before turning back around and exiting the room, leaving the door open behind him on purpose. If Haru wanted it closed, he would have to get his rich, royal, annoying ass up and close it himself.

A couple of days later, Rin went with Haru and some bodyguards on a new translation task. It wasn’t on Haru’s request, but rather his own insistence, again. He had noticed Haru looking for a car, clearly about to leave the premises, surrounded by four bodyguards, and Rin had asked where he was going. Haru had seemed hesitant to tell the truth, and even more apprehensive to accept Rin’s offer to help out, so much that he had pointed out that Rin had stuff to do in the garage, which only made Rin more curious. He hadn’t reminded Rin of work in quite a while. In fact, he had a habit of pulling him away from work whenever he had the chance. Even when he had inspected the car for damages after their last session of car sex the day prior and found a small scratch in the passenger door, Haru had interrupted him in the middle of him using a magic spot removal sponge to try to get it off, having something else in mind for him to get off instead (or rather someone). So for Haru to insist Rin stayed back, and to work of all things too, just made Rin more stubbornly persistent.

He soon found out about Haru’s apprehension, as the things he translated quickly led him to realize the meeting was undoubtedly about drugs, specifically cocaine and how it would be transported and distributed. Haru was keeping up quite a facade, and so Rin tried to keep calm, but it was difficult, and he realized even more why he shouldn’t have been there, when the meeting turned sour an hour into it, and they ended up having to make a very quick exit out of the private mansion they were in. Rin wasn’t sure what went wrong, and he couldn’t help but blame himself. He had translated some sidecomments the other men made about Haru, which had put Haru off, and he made some comments back that Rin automatically translated as well, which he, in hindsight, definitely shouldn’t have.

The bodyguards with them all had their guns in their hands, guiding both Haru and Rin out of the building and towards the cars while keeping a close watch for any possible dangers.

They had almost reached the car, when a loud, familiar noise sounded from behind them and Rin instinctively and instantly took a step forward while pushing Haru slightly to the side and forward, almost pushing him up against the car. It all happened so fast, he barely even registered what was going on. His brain tried to catch up to him, as Haru quickly turned around, eyes wide and meeting with Rin’s for a second, until they were forced into an unreadable expression, as Haru expertly pulled out his own gun from the line of his waistband, loaded it and made his shot, all within a second or two, the bodyguards around them trying to get into position, surrounding Haru and Rin, while pointing and shooting their guns in the same direction as he had, and other directions as well, all of them completely taken by surprise.

Haru must have hit his target, as he turned back around, opened the door and roughly grabbed Rin, pulled and then pushed him inside the backseat of the car, following behind him, a bodyguard following behind Haru, closing the door after them. Two more bodyguards got in the front with the last one rushing to the other car. The car was put into reverse and the bodyguard quickly made a backwards u-turn, then carelessly floored the accelerator, making Rin simultaneously put on his seatbelt and cringe at the thought of all the car’s components slamming against each other, potentially damaging it. He had to remind himself they had just gotten shot at and had to get away, and that it-

Someone grabbed his arm, and Rin couldn’t help but flinch, only to realize it was just Haru. Haru sat with a leg against his, but he was leaning back a little to the other side, his back against the bodyguard on the other side of him. With narrowed eyes he held a tight grip around the lower part of Rin’s left arm, while quickly using his other hand to unbutton the dress shirt Rin had changed into for the meeting, then he tugged the shirt down at one side, exposing Rin’s bicep.

“Wha-?” Rin began, only to realize there was blood running down his arm, already soaking the sleeve of his shirt. His pulse quickened as he stared wide-eyed, not even having felt it or noticed it until now, despite the red blood being a very clear contrast to his white shirt.

“It’s just a graze,” Haru observed, and sounded almost cold and angry, which put Rin off entirely. He let go of Rin’s arm and focused his attention on the road ahead of them. Rin was too shocked to take offense, but as he examined his own minor wound and applied pressure to it using the already-blood-stained shirt, he discovered that Haru was right. It wasn’t so bad. It slowly stopped bleeding, and while the shock was still there, Rin slowly began to take offense at Haru’s lack of care. He nearly just took a bullet for him and now Haru wouldn’t even look at him?

He didn’t have much time to ponder on his own bitter feelings about the situation, as the atmosphere in the car seemed to change. It had been tense and silent, but now it seemed to just get more and more tense, as if everyone else besides Rin were focused on something.

“Mr. Nanase-” The bodyguard driving the car began, but was cut off by Haru.

“I know. Black car, second lane,” Haru noted while glancing between the rear view mirror and the side view mirrors, though not turning around. Rin didn’t have to use much movie-originated logic to know it could only mean they were being followed.

Rin wasn’t proud to admit it, but the only car chase of any kind he had ever been involved with was with the police, and while they may have been trigger happy in other countries, Japan wasn’t one of them, so he hadn’t been worried about dying at any moment during that. This, though? This was different. He felt paralyzed with fear, as he tried to spot the car Haru had mentioned. The rear windshield was luckily very tinted, so no one should be able to see them, but that didn’t mean they were safe. Rin turned around and spotted the car through the darkened glass. It was moving at a dangerous speed in between various cars, clearly and obviously trying to get to them.

The bodyguard in the passenger seat communicated with the bodyguard in the other car, and a plan was set into motion. The two cars made their way through the mass of cars, driving faster than the following car, making Rin feel dizzy despite him not being prone to motion sickness, especially not in a car. He blamed it on his righteous fear and inability to properly breathe at that moment, and possibly - likely - shock as well.

He counted the seconds, closed his eyes and held on with a tight deathgrip to the handle in the ceiling and the door while the car quickly moved from side to side. Haru just sat back like he had tried it countless times before, not even advising the bodyguards or meddling in any way, just letting them discuss and focus while he just quietly observed, sitting as if it was all routine to him. It was concerning, to say the least.

To Rin’s surprise, they managed to shake off the car that followed them relatively quickly. Surprise and extreme relief, too. But the bodyguards still drove insanely fast, likely a precaution, but it made Rin feel unnerved. Even as they entered through the gates into the estate, Rin still felt shocked to his very core. The car stopped in the middle of the road in front of the mansion, and the bodyguards and Haru got out, though Rin remained seated.

“I need to go call Harris,” Haru said to his bodyguard, then left without as much as a single word to Rin, or even a last spared glance.

Rin slowly got out of the car, catching one of the bodyguard’s attention.

“Are you alright?” The bodyguard asked, politely and professionally, but also a little kindly. He was an older guy, probably in his 50s, but extremely fit and slightly intimidating. He made Rin think of an asian James Bond when he looked at him. He wasn’t an arrogant ass like the oldest Mikoshiba, but not as friendly as Nagisa, though in the entirety of Rin’s stay around the estate, no one even came close to Nagisa’s friendliness, so he supposed it wasn’t fair to compare anyone to him, or his kindness.

“I’m fine,” Rin mumbled, glad at least someone acknowledged him. Two of the bodyguards left together, heading for their main building, and the last one drove the car to the garage, parking it in front of it. Rin walked to and inside of the garage, grabbing the first aid kit off the wall before he continued to head for one of the work tables and chairs at the back wall. He looked for and found bandaids, put a big one on his still-sieving arm and then changed back into the oil-stained t-shirt he had worn before the now-ruined dress shirt. He sat down on the concrete floor against the cold wall and tried to catch his breath properly, replaying in his head everything that had just happened, and while he did realize how serious it was that he had gotten literally shot, he couldn’t help but get drawn back to Haru’s strange behavior.

The last time Haru had given Rin the silent treatment or acted like that was- oh wow. It was when he had been jealous - what the shit? Surely he couldn’t be jealous of a fucking bullet. The word penetration came to Rin’s mind, as childish as that was, but he shoved it away and tried to be logical (and mature), because certainly there was no way Haru was jealous. Angry, though? Yes, definitely angry. But even in an angry state, one would still show just a tiny bit of compassion and care for the guy who nearly sacrificed himself for them, right? It didn’t make sense. Sure, Rin fucked up, but that didn’t justify getting treated like that after literally getting shot. But Haru wasn’t normal, and maybe his anger was just deep rooted. Either way, he was tired of Haru’s silent games. If Rin had fucked up, he would rather get scolded than treated as if he wasn’t even there.

After a while he decided to just go home, and got up from his place on the cold concrete floor. His upper arm was beginning to grow warm and painful as the adrenaline slowly left his body, and he did not want to stick around to figure out how much worse it might get. Against his better judgement, and for reasons mostly out of petty, he decided to go to Haru’s office and let him know he was leaving. He tried to tell himself it was the only polite and professional thing to do, but he knew very well that he just wanted to confront Haru.

For a second he considered barging in, but he knew starting off on the wrong foot wouldn’t do him any good, so he knocked twice and waited for Haru to ask who it was.

“It’s Rin,” Rin informed, and didn’t wait before opening the door, deeming that good enough. Haru looked right at him, with an unreadable expression. Surprised and annoyed at the same time, and something else Rin couldn’t decipher. Haru didn’t tell him to fuck off in the two seconds of silent staring, so Rin quickly continued: “I’m going home.”

“Okay…?” Haru gave him a somewhat confused look. Rin didn’t know how to respond to that. Haru’s expression and voice turned impatient. “You came all the way here just to tell me that?”

“Yes? Obviously."

“Okay,” Haru simply said, and looked down again at the laptop screen in front of him, as if Rin didn’t matter.

“Are you mad at me or something?” Rin asked in a monotone voice, very forwardly and almost angrily, not accepting any bullshitting around.

“No.”

“You sound kind of mad…” Rin noted, feeling a bit regretful for coming in hot, especially with the glance Haru gave him. He was the one who had made a mistake after all, translating the wrong things, but still, Haru’s reaction to it was frustrating.

“I’m not mad,” Haru objected, voice irritated.

“Are you sure-”

“Yes. I’m worried, okay?” Haru interrupted, closing his eyes before finally looking right up at Rin, properly this time. “Have you had the doctors check it out yet?”

“No?” Now it was Rin’s time to look confused.

“Did you at least disinfect it?” Haru asked skeptically.

“No…”

“Here, let me help you, then,” Haru said, and got up from his chair, abandoning whatever work he was in the middle of.

“It’s okay, it stopped bleeding,” Rin was quick to say.

“It can still get infected whether it bleeds or not,” Haru pointed out, as he quickly walked past Rin and into the reception area, then quickly came back in with a first aid kit in his hands. Rin briefly wondered how many of those there were around the whole estate, but he figured it made sense to have as many of them as possible. Haru gestured for him to sit down in one of the chairs while placing the first aid kit down on his desk, and Rin hesitantly did so.

“It’s really not necessary, Haru,” Rin tried to argue.

“Can you shut up?” Haru asked, though it came out more of a demand. He took off his gloves, placed them beside the first aid kit on his desk, found a small bottle of hand sanitizer inside of the kit, wiped some into his hands, then he took out a bottle of wound wash and a small, sterile cotton ball and dabbed some of the wound wash on the cotton ball. “Can you take off your shirt?”

“Oh- right, yeah,” Rin mumbled, suddenly feeling a bit shy. He slowly took off his shirt, feeling his shoulder and upper arm ache a bit from the movement. It didn’t actually hurt all that much, if he was honest. He had gotten so many much worse injuries at work before. This was barely a scratch, but still he couldn’t help but just let Haru do what he wanted to. Not after Rin had realized Haru’s entire reaction didn’t come from anger, but seemingly from worry. That changed it all for him, and the more he thought about it and heard the words ring through his head, the more weak in the knees he felt. Rin caught Haru trailing his movements, glancing at his upper body for a bit longer than necessary, before looking up at his wound, and Rin felt a whole new level of intimacy that he wasn’t sure he had felt before. So many conflicting emotions at once, with so much genuine care in them.

Haru used his foot to drag the other chair over to Rin’s, then sat down, facing the wound. He slowly began to dab the cotton ball over the wound, cleaning off the dried blood in the process. Rin winched and grit his teeth at first but got used to it quite quickly. Haru was being very gentle and considerate, and it was entirely surreal for Rin to think that he had assumed that Haru was pissed at him when he had first entered through the door. To his defense, though, Haru really didn’t make it easy for him to assume anything else.

“You were hesitant to accept my translating offer,” Rin suddenly began, but paused.

“Yes,” Haru said, likely knowing where Rin was going with that.

“Was this why?”

“Yes,” Haru confirmed. “I didn’t want to put you in unnecessary danger. I don’t want you to get too close to this business. Or the people involved with it.”

“But you’re involved with it,” Rin pointed out. Haru didn’t comment on that, just silently changed the cotton ball for a new one, before continuing to dab the fresh new one against Rin’s increasingly cleaned wound.

“Yes,” Haru finally said after some silence. A dissatisfactory short answer, in Rin’s opinion.

“So…” Rin tried to encourage Haru to say more, but Haru just kept his eyes on the wound on Rin’s arm while still slowly dabbing at and around it. “Haru.”

Haru looked up into Rin’s eyes, paused his movements, and held eye contact with him for a moment. Two stubborn expressions mirroring one another. He let out a sigh and looked back down at the wound.

“I never said it was wise for you to associate yourself with me, let alone do what we’re doing,” Haru pointed out, then lightly dabbed the wound a final time, before turning away, placing the cotton ball on the table and reaching out to grab a large gauze pad and a roll of bandage from the box.

“And what is it that we’re doing?” Rin asked in a low voice, eyes trailing along every one of Haru’s movements, lips starting to feel a little dry. Haru paused mid-movement of opening the plastic wrapper around the gauze pad, and looked up at Rin. They sat silently and stared at each other again, Haru looking surprised and Rin looking determined, yet also slightly nervous. He hadn’t meant to ask such a serious question all of the sudden. He hadn’t even thought about if, if he was honest. It just came to him naturally, and as per usual, his mouth ran off before he could stop it.

Comically, Haru blinked at him twice in a row, all blankly taken aback. Like a cartoon character.

“Uhm-” Haru began, and Rin almost felt bad for having put him in that situation, and was about to rescue him by changing the subject, but Haru briefly cleared his throat. “Whatever we want.”

Rin didn’t really know what answer he had hoped for, but he wasn’t disappointed with that one at all. He was quite happy that Haru didn’t call them fuckbuddies, or scoffed at him for even thinking they were anymore beyond that. Because they were beyond that. And the answer Haru gave just confirmed that. They’re doing what they want, and within that statement was the implication that what they wanted were each other. They didn’t fuck around out of necessity or some carnal desire (though the latter definitely was a part), they did it because they wanted to. They didn’t get to know each other for reasons like gaining intel or out of politeness, but because they wanted to get closer to one another. And Rin certainly did not catch a bullet for Haru out of obligation or some professional agreement between a boss and an employee, but because he had wanted to, instinctually. Rin audibly gulped.

“Was that answer satisfying enough?” Haru asked, deep blue eyes piercing into Rin’s red ones, and Rin knew he was teasing him, just a little; he was probably able to tell Rin’s pleased surprise by Rin’s expression as he connected all of his thoughts.

“Yes,” Rin admitted.

“Good,” Haru said, a smirk creeping across his lips as he resumed his previous task of opening the gauze pad, then placed it on Rin’s wound, opened the bandage and wrapped his upper arm in it, just for good measure. The wound wasn’t too deep, but Rin figured Haru just wanted the gauze pad to stay in place, or to make sure Rin didn’t ruin another shirt should the wound open up again. He finished up, and then took a hold of his arm, a bit roughly and slowly squeezing it, catching Rin off guard and making him wince again and inhale sharply at the sudden pain. He looked at Haru questioningly and almost offended, because what the fuck.

“Hey! Why-?!” Rin began, while trying to move his arm back and out of Haru’s sudden grasp.

“Don’t ever do that again,” Haru demanded in a low voice while leaning closer. Rin could feel his breath as his eyes darkened, and he knew just how serious he was even before he saw it on his face.

“Ow- do what?”

“Sacrifice yourself, you absolute moron,” Haru clarified, but he didn’t exactly sound angry. He looked serious, yes, but he almost sounded affectionate. Annoyed, yes, but affectionate.

“You mean saving you?” Rin corrected, annoyed at the sudden lack of gratitude once more.

“You didn’t save me, you just got yourself injured,” Haru argued, and finally let go of Rin’s arm.

“Can’t you just be thankful?” Rin annoyedly asked, and held a hand around his own arm defensively while rubbing soothing circles above the gauze pad with his thumb, almost demonstratively so.

“No,” Haru dryly said, and grabbed Rin’s arm again, below the wound this time. Rin was about to defend his poor arm, when Haru suddenly pulled him forward into a kiss. Once Rin registered what was going on, he kissed him back and then quickly began to smile into the kiss.

“I’ll take that as a sign of gratitude,” Rin teased.

“It’s not,” Haru objected, but Rin just placed a hand to the back of his head and pulled him into another kiss.

After breaking apart, Haru got up and cleaned up, closed the first aid kit and went out to put it back to its rightful place somewhere out in the reception area. When he came back inside, he walked back towards Rin.

“I’m sorry for translating the stuff they said, by the way,” Rin apologized as Haru sat back down in the chair beside him. Haru gave him a surprised look. “I should have waited until after so that the situation didn’t escalate like it did. You already told me before to not do things like that.”

“No, you were right to do it. I had my suspicions already,” Haru dismissed him, clearly done and over with the whole topic of the meeting already. “I was just surprised that they would carry on talking like that in front of someone as brand new as you. I kind of expected more from them than that.”

“You thought they were badmouthing you to your former translator?”

“Yes, definitely. But he never translated those parts. My bodyguards must have known too, but just figured I could tell. I thought they would at least wait for you to show whether you were trustworthy to them or not before they would say stuff like that.”

“I would never be on their side, though,” Rin pointed out.

“Yes, but they’re idiots who treat their employees shitty and assume I do the same. Seeing you more than once would make them assume I treated you badly and that you wouldn’t be loyal to me because of that,” Haru explained. “But I’m glad you don’t think you would side with them.”

“Definitely not,” Rin agreed, emphasizing by shaking his head a couple of times. Haru nodded once and gave him a small smile.

They talked for a little bit about the situation, going through the meeting from start to finish, almost as if to analyze every step, although Rin could tell that Haru must have already done that to several people before Rin had entered his office. It was nice to talk it through, though, and Rin figured it might also help to prevent a repetition of it in the future. They ended up talking about the car chase, and Haru confirmed to Rin that he went through those on a regular basis, by people trying to intimidate, threaten, rob, kidnap or kill him. He usually never knew which one of those was the end goal, though, but he had a fair good idea that this particular instance was the last one.

“After today I definitely think you should buy a smaller and more average car for these meetings,” Rin thought out loud. “Maybe not a Kia, though. But maybe like a Suzuki Swift or something else that’s got a fast enough acceleration to get away quickly? And is small enough to navigate between cars more easily. Not to mention blend in better with the surrounding cars.”

“That can be arranged,” Haru smiled, and if Rin wasn’t wrong, the expression on Haru’s face and in his eyes looked almost affectionate. He sounded like he hadn’t heard a word of what Rin had said, but just accepted whatever Rin asked of him. It was almost tempting to test that theory.

Haru requested that Rin stayed the night, arguing that he shouldn’t be driving all the way home with an injured arm, and Rin accepted the offer that was hidden underneath the requesting tone. Haru encouraged him to just go ahead and go to the mansion and get something to eat or some rest while he finished up the last things he needed to do before he could join him, and Rin nodded and complied with that, then was about to leave Haru’s office when Haru spoke up again.

“Are you okay?” Haru asked, and Rin turned around and looked at him. He could hear and see the genuine worry now, so unconcealed and obvious that it would be clear to anyone, even a complete stranger.

“Yes,” Rin said, and he meant it, and he could tell by the slight exhale of breath Haru let out and the barely visible lift of his lips on one side, that his answer was reassuring to him.

As expected, Haru found a new translator and had Rin stay back at the estate for the next many meetings. Rin was growing a bit restless with just hanging around the garage all day for weeks. He loved cars, and could stay there for hours, even despite a long day at work at the repair shop, but he had already grown used to the thrill and excitement of going out with Haru and meeting evil bad guys with him. Not that it was pleasant, at all, just exciting somehow.

Nagisa had kept him company some days when Haru was off, and Rin speculated that Haru had put Nagisa (and probably others, too) in charge of watching him while he was gone. It kind of annoyed him. A lot. He was a grown man, he didn’t need babysitting. Then again, he probably did, considering he had a tendency to wander around aimlessly when not kept occupied. And Nagisa wasn’t too much of a bother, so he couldn’t complain, not even with the abundance of relentless questions about his life and interests, and the tales about Nagisa’s own.

He visited his mom and Gou a couple of times in those weeks, and went out drinking with his coworkers once. His sudden withdrawal from pastime activities (which, to be fair, consisted mostly of drinking) with them made them all extremely suspicious, and the rumor that he had gotten a romantic partner of sorts quickly spread, even more so when he declined several offers while out. Sou confronted him once when he was about to go home unusually early into the night, and while he didn’t like lying or keeping things from him, he had to. He couldn’t confess to seeing Haru, but he also knew Sou wouldn’t have let him off the hook until he confessed to something, so he had ended up admitting he took extra work, though lied about all the details, and explained that he was just a bit tired from lack of sleep, which technically hadn’t been a lie. He knew Sou wasn’t entirely convinced by it, but he had been allowed to go home, so it was enough for now.

His wound had healed really well, especially with Haru insisting on helping him clean it and apply antibacterial cream to it every night that he slept over, or remind him every night where he didn’t. He hadn’t expected Haru to be able to show such a caring and tender side of himself, especially not for something as minor as a mere scrape, but he really liked it. He couldn’t help but wonder what his reaction would have been had the injury not been as minor as it was. Like, if the bullet truly had penetrated him, even if it wasn’t severe, would Haru have insisted on him being in a hospital until it was fully healed? Would he have his own people look after him all day and all night? Or would he do it himself? The butterflies suddenly appearing in Rin’s stomach made him quickly shook his head as he tried to mentally throw away those thoughts, because what the fuck. It felt like some absurd fantasy, and he had no idea how to feel about that.

With his mind so easily wandering off while growing increasingly restless just tinkering with one of the cars in the garage, it was only a matter of time before he eventually started to wander off as well. He had no clue where Haru was, but considering the lack of any bodyguard following him around, he figured he must be somewhere on the estate, or maybe getting ready to leave again. Or perhaps the bodyguard in charge of him that day was off to take a piss somewhere, Rin amusedly considered. He decided not to look for Haru, as he figured he might just get disappointed, and ended up walking all the way to the bodyguards’ building. At first he wasn’t sure why, but then he remembered there was an indoor pool there that he hadn’t used in a while, and wondered if his body might have moved towards it on its own, which probably wasn’t the case, but it was an entertaining enough thought.

The building was relatively quiet. There weren't as many people around as usual, and for a second Rin wondered if he should leave again and find out if something was going on, but when he got to the pool and the room was all empty, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to enjoy it all on his own, no matter what was happening.

He took off his clothes and dumped it on one of the white plastic chairs, then jumped right into the still pool water. He swam around for quite awhile, from one end to the other, down onto the pool floor and up again, then more slow and relaxing lapses before the loud echoing sound of the door opening into the large open room and then closing again interrupted his relaxation. He stopped swimming and turned around, only to see Haru walking towards the edge of the pool with his arms folded in front of his chest. Rin smiled and swam towards him.

“Having fun?” Haru asked rhetorically while looking down at him.

“No one was using it…” Rin pointed out, as if that was enough explanation.

“Come out of there and dry off, we’ve got places to be.”

“Wait, what?”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to go buy a new car?” Haru reminded him.

“I didn’t know you wanted to do it today, or even at all. Let alone go somewhere to do it.”

“Are you saying it’s fine that I don’t buy a small, basic car?”

“Jeez, it was never a command, just an advice,” Rin pointed out, taken aback by Haru’s impatience.

“I know,” Haru clarified. “Now get up, I’m not putting Makoto in charge of finding one.”

“Sure,” Rin relented, before lifting himself out of the pool right in front of Haru. Haru took a few steps back to not get water on himself from Rin dripping all over the floor. Rin noticed, smirked and raised an eyebrow at him. “Afraid of water, Nanase?”

“I’m not changing clothes again,” Haru simply stated, eyeing Rin up and down. ”Are those regular boxers?” Haru then asked, while looking directly at his lower body. Rin might have felt a hint of self consciousness at his boss staring directly at his barely clad groin, if the situation between them was much more different than what it was. Instead, playful and near pride were the only feelings flowing through him.

“Well, they’re not panties, if that’s what you’re into,” Rin joked.

“Did you even shower before going into the pool?” Haru asked, judgementally and almost disgusted.

“I did not, no.”

“That’s unhygienic and disgusting, Rin.”

“That’s not usually what you say when you see me in my underwear,” Rin playfully pointed out, letting Haru’s disapproval fall right off of him. Haru’s obsession with water was truly out of this world for him to worry about the state of a pool he wasn’t even using himself. Though he did have a point, Rin had to admit.

“Usually you’re not in a communal pool,” Haru argued, and took another step back as Rin shifted his weight to one foot, the movement alone apparently setting his instincts off. Noticing that, Rin instantly got an idea, his smirk coming back ten folds, and before Haru had a chance to object or flee, Rin took three quick steps towards him, grabbed him and despite him protesting and trying to yank his arm out of Rin’s grasp, Rin still managed pull him closer to himself, then made him quit fighting back when he quickly leaned in and pressed his lips against his. He knew there were cameras and very large windows, and it almost made him panic and retreat, but then he reminded himself that there were cameras in the garage too, and they had done a lot more explicit things in there, so this was nothing, really. Besides, Haru didn’t push him off, so he figured it was fine.

“You’re getting my suit wet,” Haru complained after breaking the kiss.

“Just your suit?” Rin flirtatiously joked, receiving an eye roll in response. The joke was on Haru, though, since he seemed to have absolutely no idea just how much Rin loved it when he could push him to react like that. Without warning, Rin wrapped his dripping wet arms around Haru once more, and while ignoring all the very loud protests from Haru again and the very real risk of getting body slammed into the cold, hard tile floor by him, he managed to pull him along until the floor beneath them stopped, where they lost balance and fell sideways right down into the water. They both quickly came up with their heads above the surface, seeking air, and Haru angrily shoved Rin, but Rin just grabbed his wrists to not get pushed too far away from him while laughing heartily. Haru gave him an angry look through his hair that clung to his face, making him look a bit pathetic.

“What was that for?!” Haru asked loudly, clearly angry.

“Fun,” Rin just smiled. He should probably be scared by the potential consequences to his actions, but noticing the slight beginning of a blush along Haru’s cheeks, he felt perfectly safe from any possible reprimands that might come his way.

“You’re so insufferable,” Haru loudly complained, but there was no real edge to it. “Such a pain in the ass, how do you even-”

“Yeah, yeah, come here,” Rin chuckled, and pulled Haru closer, pleasantly surprised by the lack of any resistance and objection, then planted a wet kiss on his cheek. Haru put his whole palm across Rin’s face and pushed him off of himself, only to look at him and his still-smug face for a second or two, then dragged them together again, bodies flush against one another, legs bumping into each other while keeping themselves afloat, as he locked their lips together.

On their way to the Suzuki dealership that Rin had found on his Maps app, they drove past a KIA dealership. Haru glanced at and pointed in the moving direction of it.

“What about one of those?” Haru suggested.

“No, the acceleration isn’t good,” Rin said, not even needing to stop and take a look at the information cards on any of them to know.

“You don’t even know that.”

“Trust me, I do,” Rin reassured, not sounding arrogant or like a know-it-all, at least not on purpose.

“But didn’t you suggest one of them?”

“No, you did, from a picture.”

“But didn’t you say-”

“Out of all the cars you pointed to, it was the most normal-looking one,” Rin impatiently interrupted. “You'll find more horsepower and better acceleration in a Suzuki.”

“Meaning…?”

“God, you’re- seriously? You really need to start learning the most basic things about cars,” Rin complained, and Haru just smiled and shrugged, making Rin roll his eyes. “I’m saying that KIA cars are usually not that fast.”

“Can’t you just make it faster?” Haru asked, clearly barely listening to Rin’s words. Rin looked away from the road ahead of him and turned his head to look at Haru instead.

“You want me to fine-tune a KIA?” Rin raised an eyebrow at him, very much not interested in doing that.

“Yes?”

“Why would you give me more work and spend so much more money, when you can just… buy another and better car?” Rin asked, refusing to turn around and stop at the dealership even if to just indulge Haru.

“So I can watch you struggle with another project, like with the windows,” Haru joked.

“Oh, you thought that was funny, huh?” Rin sassed.

“Very, yes,” Haru agreed, amused.

Rin didn’t budge and continued the short distance left to the Suzuki dealership. Once there, they parked and walked around for a little while outside, talking and looking at various cars, until a car dealer came out and offered to help them.

“Watch this,” Rin bemusedly whispered to Haru, before turning his attention to the dealer. “Hi, I’m Inoue, I’m a mechanic,” Rin introduced himself, shaking the hand of the dealer. “And this is- uh- my boss, Yamashita,” Rin continued, with a bit of a smirk, gesturing to Haru, who looked at him confused, though trying to play along. “We’re looking for a car for his girlfriend. One that’s not too expensive, but still very fast. A good acceleration, so it feels more expensive, you know?”

“Oh, I think I know what you mean,” the dealer laughed along with Rin, and Haru just watched the two with increased confusion, though he didn’t show it much, but Rin could tell he was trying to figure out which expression to wear.

They were there for a good half an hour, with Rin chatting up the dealer, and Haru just trying to keep up, and succeeding quite alright so far. When they had settled on a newer Suzuki Swift model, which was both relatively fast and very normal-looking, the dealer invited Haru into his office to sign the papers and seal the deal.

“Can I leave you alone without you stealing one of the cars?” Haru quietly teased Rin, while the dealer walked ahead to prepare the papers.

“None of these are really my specialty,” Rin playfully remarked back. “Besides, you’ve always left me alone with cars. Your cars, specifically. Your expensive luxury car collection with all the keys at hand.”

“Mm, I have,” Haru hummed. “But I’m sure you wouldn’t steal from a dealer.”

”No, I wouldn’t. But how could you be so sure I wouldn’t steal your cars?” Rin playfully but also curiously asked. “Like now, sure, but back then when you didn’t even know me.”

“Because, for starters, I knew you hadn’t done it in years,” Haru explained. “And I also tried to make sure you knew I would give them to you for free if you asked. I still would. And why steal or take what you can easily just get? Other than for the thrill of the risks, of course. But I know other ways to bring you that sort of thrill.”

Rin let out an amused, disbelieved snicker and the two smiled at each other. When Haru was about to turn around and leave to follow after the dealer, Rin’s smile faded as he grabbed his wrist to stop him.

“Why did you want to give me so much, though?” Rin asked.

“You’ve always intrigued me,” Haru bluntly admitted. “A car or two is well worth the price of getting to know you a bit more, and it worked.”

“Was sucking my dick worth it too?” Rin couldn’t help but quietly and almost provokingly joke, making it Haru’s turn to snicker.

“That was a reward for me as much as you,” Haru flirted, indulging Rin in his change of tone and seductively perverse mindset.

“How romantic,” Rin smiled broadly.

“You’re the one that asked,” Haru smirkingly pointed out, and Rin couldn’t argue with that, as he allowed Haru to follow after the dealer. If the whole store wouldn’t hear him, he might have called out a silly I hate to see you go, but I love to see you walk away. He didn’t though, instead he just stood back and watched him intensely with that cheeky grin across his lips, trying and failing to hide it.

The day after their car dealership adventure, Rin went to work at the repair shop, and after a long day there, drove to Haru’s estate where he proceeded to start to check out one of the Mercedes. He was about to do an oil change on it, when the bottle slipped out of his hands as he was leaning over the motor, and he dropped it down onto the motor itself, making the yellow liquid get all over it and himself.

“Well, fuck me,” Rin angrily cursed, already knowing just how much scrubbing he would have to do to get it properly off of himself, and the extensive cleaning job he would have to do on the motor, too, to make sure nothing would break or get overly dirty from it.

“Here? Seems a little unsanitary,” a familiar voice oh-so-smugly remarked. Rin quickly looked up at him, surprised to not having even heard him enter the garage, let alone walk almost all the way up to him. He was about to tell him he wasn’t in the mood, but he looked far too amused with himself and both looked and sounded far too attractive, so Rin just took in a deep breath, let it out in a sigh, then smiled.

“Well, they don’t call it a lube appointment for nothing,” Rin joked back. Haru let out another chuckle, remembering the pun from a while ago.

“So is that why you’ve got oil all over you?”

“Oh yes, I definitely knew you were coming so I figured I would just go ahead and make it easy for you,” Rin ironically continued to joke, and Haru smiled broadly with a glint in his eyes. Rin loved how easily they could joke around. He grabbed a rag to start wiping the oil off of himself, then he looked up at Haru while doing it, and he could tell he was checking him out, no matter how hard he may have tried to not make it obvious. “But really, why are you here?”

“I’m going to an auction,” Haru informed him. “I want you there beside me."

“Are you asking me out on a date, Nanase?”

“Not quite. I want you there as one of my personal bodyguards.”

“That's not part of my job description, but it sounds sexy."

“Neither is fucking your boss, but you don't seem to mind that," Haru argued.

"Oh yeah, I definitely don't," Rin smirked. "This auction thing might also be interesting, though."

"Don’t get all excited, it's quite boring. I'm only going due to my father’s need to expand his collection.”

“Bet I can still make you cum by the end of it,” Rin provokingly flirted.

“You've got such a filthy mouth, do you know that?"

"I am well aware, yes. I try very… hard,” Rin cleverly continued. “It's all thanks to you."

"Are you comfortable going with me, though?" Haru asked with a deadpan expression and voice, clearly trying to ignore him and his brilliant pun.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"It's as you said, not part of your official work. And it's definitely not a date either."

"It's fine," Rin reassured him. "But why do you want me to pretend to be your bodyguard, though?“

"I don't. I just don't want to put you in any spotlight."

"You want me all to yourself, huh?"

"Something like that," Haru mysteriously, partially agreed. Rin took off his tool belt and shirt, then continued to rub the oil off of himself, amused by the way Haru kept unabashedly watching him.

“Okay, sure, sounds fun,” Rin agreed with a broad smirk. “What do you want me to wear?”

“Not that,” Haru dryly said while gesturing to his dirty work clothes, making Rin laugh.

Rin picked him up in the evening of that same day, from some office building in the middle of Tokyo. As soon as Haru got into the car, he took off his gloves and let out a sigh.

“Rough meeting?” Rin asked.

“Just boring,” Haru explained.

Rin looked at Haru’s bare hands and he realized he saw them more and more now, and came to the heartwarming but surreal conclusion that Haru must have grown very comfortable around him, with how often he took them off. In fact, Rin thought Haru had begun to do it whenever they were alone. Not just when they were going at it in his bedroom or office, which could be brushed off as him wanting to feel things more intense, but also often, like now, when he got into the car where it was only the two of them, or in the kitchen when staff had left or garage when he came to talk to Rin. He was comfortable with Rin. He trusted Rin.

“Hey, can I paint your nails?” Rin curiously asked, sounding almost a bit cheeky.

“No,” Haru nonchalantly answered, not even one bit curious as to why Rin was asking such a question out of nowhere.

“Aw, come on,” Rin insisted.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Sounds way too inconvenient.”

“How would it be inconvenient?”

“It’ll draw unnecessary attention,” Haru explained.

“And your cars and clothes don’t? Even your presence alone is sure to catch attention,” Rin pointed out. “We’ve already been over that already.”

Haru looked out of the front window, a bit impatient and tired, not having much energy left to indulge Rin in his ridiculous ideas, apparently.

“Besides, it’s not like anyone will see, with how you always wear those leather gloves. No one except for me, of course,” Rin added, with a smug smile. “Please? I can paint them black like mine.”

“You’re not wearing any nail polish,” Haru confusedly pointed out.

“Yes, but I will for this fancy auction you want me to attend,” Rin clarified. He normally didn’t wear nail polish, not because he didn’t want to, just because it was annoying with his work, since it always got scratched off and ruined the second he stepped foot into the repair shop or garage. He wished he could wear it more often though.

“You’re going to attract attention,” Haru simply argued.

“It’ll go with my piercings,” Rin argued back.

“You’re so impractical.”

“You’re so boring.”

“You’re so annoying. Now, drive me home,” Haru ordered, impatient with just sitting still in a parked car, heading nowhere.

“Not until you let me paint your nails,” Rin playfully dared. Haru let out a groan.

“You’re insufferable,” Haru complained.

“You love it,” Rin smiled, before turning the key in the ignition. “Then it’s a deal.”

The next evening, Rin parked in front of the mansion in an expensive, electric blue Audi RS7, and waited for Haru to come out, which he did soon after, wearing a well-fitted suit, and black-painted nails hidden underneath black leather gloves. Rin himself wore a regular black suit, same as the ones the other bodyguards who would attend it as well wore, but unlike them, his hair was neatly styled, his body covered in piercings and his nails painted the same black color as Haru’s secretively were.

Haru explained what Rin could expect of the evening on their way to the auction, which didn’t take long to drive to, but still plenty of time to go over all the details and talk for a while afterwards. Two cars with two bodyguards in them each trailed behind them the whole way.

During the auction, there was an obscene amount of money being spent on various ridiculous things. Mostly diamonds in all shapes and sizes - and prices, too. Haru also managed to purchase a few items here and there, though it was pretty clear he was mostly just there for appearance’s sake. And for a specific watch his father had wanted him to get for him, which Haru ended up paying an amount of money so far from Rin’s ability to apprehend, that he had to just pretend he hadn’t heard correctly, unless he should risk his brain exploding.

Two hours into the auction, several courses of small meals, lots of expensive champagne and wine later, with several rounds of people coming to talk to Haru and leaving again, and Rin was growing a bit bored. It was all a bit too fancy for his taste, but he had to admit it was also quite fascinating to get a taste of a life he had never thought was possible before.

He had sat beside Haru in a designated booth through the whole evening, and Haru had made sure he had everything he needed, from refilled glasses to plates of overly fancy food, much to the occasional eyebrow-raise from several people in the room, especially since the four “other” (actual) bodyguards all stood up the whole evening, either standing by the booth or walking around observing the surroundings and making sure Haru was safe and that nothing was happening outside of the ordinary.

The people who would come and sit for a bit to chat with Haru were all mostly stuck-up rich people, but then, as the night carried on, a familiar face sat down. But not beside Haru. Haru sat mostly in the middle of the booth, with a direct view of the scene where the auctioned items were being showcased, and Rin sat beside him in the left corner. The man for some reason decided to sit right beside Rin, and Rin gave him a questioning look and a raised eyebrow.

“Yoshino,” Haru said, as if in a greeting, though it wasn’t friendly, and Rin couldn’t help but wonder if that was due to the man’s decision to sit beside him and not Haru. “Nice to see you here.”

“Why is your mechanic dressed as a bodyguard?” The man - Yoshino - asked, and Rin slowly began to realize why he looked familiar. He recognized him as the same guy who had rode that motorbike to the estate a while ago. The guy he had assumed had offended him, but Haru had assumed was flirting with him.

“Not that it’s any of your concern,” Haru sternly said. “But he has never been to an auction and wanted to see what it was like. I figured his usual work clothes would draw too much attention in a setting such as this.”

“It certainly would,” Yoshino agreed, and looked at Rin, clearly checking him out. “Not that this outfit isn’t drawing attention.”

“Uh-” Rin began, confused and a bit thrown off.

“I suppose not,” Haru figured.

“Especially not with him sitting next to you,” Yoshino continued, and strangely enough reached a hand out to take a light hold of the edge of Rin’s open suit jacket, adjusting it before letting go, though his hand lingered a bit. “People are talking…”

“I don’t care,” Haru quickly dismissed, sounding annoyed, and Rin knew he must have been very angry for his annoyance to freely slip out like that.

“You should,” Yoshino argued. “You know how it is in this crowd. Anything that attracts attention, also attracts… competition.”

“Too bad it isn’t reciprocated,” Haru simply stated.

“As if that has ever stopped anyone in here,” Yoshino chuckled, and put a hand on Rin’s shoulder. Rin looked down at the hand, feeling his discomfort growing and wanting to punch the guy or push him out of the booth, but not wanting to make a scene or put Haru in a bad light in any way, so he endured it. It quickly turned out he didn’t have to, though, as from one second to another, Haru suddenly moved closer and literally sat down in his lap.

Yoshino’s expression turned hilariously confused, and Rin’s eyes widened as he stared at the side of Haru’s face, while Haru looked directly down at Yoshino, unabashed about his whole show of dominance against him, despite Rin being pretty sure he heard gasps around the room.

And in that moment, surprisingly enough with how Rin’s brain seemed to short-circuit, Rin fully realized Haru wasn’t jealous as much as just possessive. As expected of a rich kid, to be fair, except it was different. It seemed more deep-rooted. He wasn’t insecure as far as Rin knew, though everyone had their insecurities. It was not exactly that he wasn’t used to or willing to share either; he shared things with Rin all the time. It was more as if it was rooted in a need to protect Rin, at least right now. He wanted Rin all to himself, yes, he had made that very clear before, but he also didn’t want Rin to get hurt or used in any way. It was endearing the more Rin thought about it.

It was also attractive as hell. Funny display, sure, but kind of hot of Haru, an otherwise extremely logical and calculated individual, to choose to do this in the middle of a room full of a lot of people of high status. Literally sit on him, of all things. Mark him as his in the most ridiculous way imaginable. He could have just asked Yoshino to leave, or at most swat his hand off of Rin, but no, he just had to be dramatic about it (and let’s be honest - a little childish, too).

“What’s…?” Yoshino asked, completely baffled and confused.

“Repeat what you just said,” Haru warned, expression nonchalant and smile charming, but tone scarily threatening. He was putting up the most perfect facade to any onlookers, appearing as if the three of them were having a laugh or an uncharacteristically joking conversation. “Right to my face. I dare you.”

Rin would lie if he said Haru’s voice and words didn’t have any effect on him. Because they did. Despite the live instrumental music playing nearby and the sound of talking from the other booths around them, Rin could still hear Yoshino audibly gulp. When Yoshino didn’t respond, Haru leaned closer.

“Don’t ever harass any of my employees again, or you will regret it,” he whispered to Yoshino, though Rin could hear it clear as day.

“I never knew you could act this way,” Yoshino noted with a smile, clearly intrigued. “You’ve changed.”

“Leave,” Haru demanded with a forced polite smile and a reached-out hand, keeping up appearances.

“Whatever you say, Nanase,” Yoshino teased, accepting Haru’s hand in his, clearly receiving a more firm handshake than presumed. Then he left, and Haru got off of Rin’s lap to sit beside him on the other side of him, the seat that Yoshino had just left.

“Well, that was something,” Rin said in a surprised tone.

“He really pisses me off,” Haru sighed.

“I can see that,” Rin remarked. “Wanna go get a drink to cool you off?”

Haru clearly didn’t think he needed it, and for a moment Rin believed him. He pointed out that they could just order while seated, but still accepted the offer either way, and the two got up and walked to the bar by the entrance. One of Haru’s bodyguards trailed after them from a respectful distance.

While they waited for their drinks they stood beside each other, and Rin glanced at Haru. His demeanor was still off, though he hid it well. Up close like this, though, it was not hard to notice. He remembered the last time Haru had been jealous, or possessive, and how glorious a result it had had for Rin.

Rin considered something, and despite all logic screaming for him not to, he couldn’t help but want to test it out anyway. He tried not to make it too obvious, as he took off his jacket, folded it over his arm, opened a button on his shirt and rolled up his shirt sleeves, revealing teasingly little of his chest as well as the tattoos on his arms. He knew fully well what he was doing, but he tried to disguise it as nothing more than him just feeling a bit too hot. Which wasn’t really the case. Yet, at least.

He could feel Haru watching him from the corner of his eyes, but no matter if he could tell what he was doing or not, he didn’t comment on it. Rin did also feel it when the bartender noticed and glanced his way, which Haru clearly also noticed, by the way his jaw seemed to tense ever so slightly.

Rin actively trying to get Haru jealous because he wanted to get dicked down again? He never ever thought he would be the type, but apparently so. Was it fair to use Haru’s possessiveness against him? No. Did Rin do it anyway? Hell yes. And was only a little shameful about it, too.

After the auction was finally over, and Haru had to go through many exchanges of farewells and brief, light conversations, Rin escorted Haru down to the car. Haru told the other bodyguards to drive ahead of them and clock out for the night, figuratively speaking. Rin figured it must have just been because he wasn't feel threatened in any way, which was comforting, if Rin was honest. But Rin was quickly proven wrong in that assumption, when suddenly during the drive down the expressway, he felt Haru’s gloved hand on his thigh. Unlike the last time Haru had done that, there was absolutely no traffic now, so Rin was speeding and going very fast.

“You know that’s quite dangerous, right?” Rin asked in a curious and intrigued tone, but also quite nervously.

“How so?” Haru asked, clearly not caring about the answer.

“I might just end up crashing the car,” Rin explained, voice getting a bit high with the adrenaline running through his body and the blood all currently moving in one direction.

“Are you saying you’re a bad driver?”

“No, I’m saying that doing that to someone with their foot on the speeder of a car with 740 horsepower isn’t a good idea,” Rin clarified, clinging to statistics for dear life to try to keep his mind occupied. Think of car facts, think of car facts - quick! Haru’s hand moved upwards, towards Rin’s groin, and Rin gripped at the steering wheel while lifting his foot off of the speeder. “Haru."

“Mmm?”

“This is dangerous…” Rin insisted, though he felt himself growing pathetic underneath Haru’s touch, even with clothes still in between.

“So am I,” Haru said, speaking with a deep, husky voice, while unbuckling Rin’s belt and sliding an ungloved hand down into his pants.

“Haru!” Rin loudly gasped, and did everything in his power to keep in control of the steering wheel. The slightest move at the speed they were going at, and they were certain to crash. "Do you want to die?!"

"Aren't you a professional driver?"

"No, I'm a mechanic!" Rin objected, rather dramatically.

"It's the same," Haru said, very clearly not caring.

"It's definitely not the same!" Rin argued. Haru moved his hands out of Rin’s pants again, but only allowed Rin a second worth of relief, before he undid the button of his pants, humming in response, clearly not hearing a no. In his defense, Rin didn't exactly say no either, even though he logically knew he should. He should say no, or stop, or even just wait, but he didn’t say that. “We’re seriously going to crash if you keep going…”

“Then pay better attention to the road,” Haru smirked, and zipped down his pants.

“Fuck- Haru!” Rin exclaimed, foot slowly lowering on the brake to slow down the car, while looking for a ramp off the expressway, hoping to get off of it and find a much safer place to be before Haru moved too far. He even considered parking in the emergency lane, because even the risk of getting caught with his pants down by a police officer and getting fined was much more preferable than crashing the car and dying in the flames.

Chapter Text

Rin’s babysitters finally eased off of his back, and he could roam around freely without being trailed or feeling constantly watched. Which was probably for their best, since Rin had grown increasingly annoyed at them. And not for watching him, no, but for something a whole lot more frustrating.

With fall came worse weather conditions, and apparently also the exponential inability for the bodyguards to keep their cars clean. When the fourth muddy and dirty Mercedes entered the garage just in one day alone, this one with a dent in the front, Rin had had enough. During summer, he didn’t mind the occasional dirty car, because it was warm and it gave him a chance to stand outside and wash it for a little while, but this was extreme. It was raining a lot more, it was getting colder, and for some reason, the bodyguards seemed to drive around for a lot longer, in all types of terrains.

At the repair shop, they had a cleaning service, and he had the option to just hand over the cars there first, but now he was alone with taking care of that part as well, and nobody seemed to give two shits about that; neither about him nor the cars.

Entirely pissed off, he stormed into Haru’s office, barging in through the door without knocking and barely even hearing the receptionist at the front desk call out for him to stop and the few bodyguards in the room very clearly contemplating whether to stop him or not, somehow stuck mid-movement, clearly wanting to but for some reason very hesitant about actually doing it.

“Can you for fuck sake teach-” Rin began, frustrated and angry, but pausing upon realizing Haru wasn’t alone. Haru looked up and at him, their eyes meeting, Haru’s eyebrow raised in disapproval at him, but also a very obvious curiosity beneath his stern, professional expression.

“What’s the meaning of this-?” One of the two much older men sitting across from Haru asked.

“I’d like to know that as well,” Haru agreed, calm and deep voice sending a shiver down Rin’s spine.

“I- uh-” Rin embarrassingly fumbled. He realized several of the people standing up around the men sitting down held their hands near their hips, likely grabbing onto hidden weapons. One of them, clearly with the quickest reflexes, already had a gun in his hand, which he slowly lowered again.

“Yes?” Haru said, and there was a teasing tone to it, hidden, but Rin could hear it. Haru’s hair was slicked back, styled neatly, and he wore a very nice and very expensive-looking suit. With him being in work-mode, his voice was deeper than when it was just the two of them, and his demeanor was the same calculated and composed as it always were when others were around, or as it had been before the two got close. Rin realized at once that it wasn’t the surprise of the many people present that had pulled the rug out from underneath him and made him feel like he had lost track of where he was and why, as he had known the risk of that before he had entered, and he had experienced such a surprise before, but rather the feeling came from Haru. He wasn’t sure why, because he had seen him and heard him work countless times before - most days since he had met him, in fact - yet, somehow he still felt as if he understood the appeal of role-play all of the sudden. At that thought, he quickly cleared his throat and composed himself.

“Your bodyguards are making a mess out of the cars,” Rin more calmly complained, though doing everything to get the annoyance across.

“So?” Haru asked, clearly not understanding what the big deal was.

“So? It’s annoying and it’s keeping me from doing my job.”

“Who is this?” The man from before suddenly interjected, looking at Rin almost with contempt, then at Haru with a more confused expression.

“Just my new mechanic,” Haru casually shrugged, and Rin resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Who clearly hasn’t been checking the weather forecast lately.”

The two men chuckled demeaningly, and Haru gave them a stiff smile, clearly seeking to diffuse the situation, but Rin could tell the demeaning effect it had likely didn’t sit well with him (or at least he hoped so), but that didn’t make it any less annoying.

“Can we have the very urgent discussion of dirty cars when I’m not in the middle of an important meeting?” Haru then asked, though it was very much nothing but a rhetorical question; a statement that Rin could only agree to and not argue with.

“Sure, your royal highness,” Rin sarcastically said, and was about to turn around when the man let out a scoff.

“Are you just going to let him speak to you like that?” He asked, thoroughly offended on Haru’s behalf.

Rin was expecting Haru to play into their game and scold him or maybe excuse it off with Rin just being an uneducated brat. He was getting ready to get even more angry than he had been before he had entered, and prepared for another fight with Haru for belittling him, even if he wouldn’t have outright meant it. He was so ready he could feel his hands slowly clenching into fists.

“It’s difficult to find people as skilled as him,” Haru explained instead, surprising Rin entirely, and there was a slight emphasis on the word skilled that almost made Rin blush. The other men seemed surprised as well. “It’s not so much about disrespect, but rather knowing his worth. For someone who can do what he can, it is arguably beneath him to wash cars all day, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Surely he still shouldn’t talk to you like that…”

“He’s got a bit of an attitude problem, I agree with you on that, but I am partly to blame for keeping him under-stimulated with boring tasks far beneath his capabilities,” Haru kept explaining, voice sounding superior and almost dominating, making it clear he didn’t want any more arguments about it. “We all seek challenges after all, don’t we?”

The man let out a disapproving grunt, but the man beside him let out a chuckle.

“You are very right about that,” the latter agreed.

“You’re excused for now, but don’t let today repeat itself,” Haru warned after his eyes met with Rin’s once more. Rin could see in the slight sideways smile on Haru’s lips that, while he was probably quite annoyed with him; likely more so than he led on, he wasn’t actually angry. Rin played into it, half-bowing to him in respect and then left out of the door, feeling quite strange as he walked back towards the garage.

He still felt a tinge of annoyance from not being taken as seriously with his complaints as he had wanted, but also… had Haru just defended him? He wasn’t sure how to feel about that, if that was the case.

Maybe… nice? If he was completely honest with himself. Which he, of course, wasn’t, so he pushed it away and tried to re-channel his annoyance while he set to scrub yet another car. Once Haru was done with his meeting, he surprised Rin yet again by coming to him this time and not just waiting for him to show up again, and with no trace of anger in him either.

“You know you risked making quite a fool out of me today, right?” Haru asked from right behind Rin, making him flinch and nearly jump in surprise, not having heard him walk in and up to him. He flung his head around and was met with Haru’s deep blue eyes, full of… not anger, but amusement?

“I guess?” Rin shrugged, slightly on edge.

“I don’t see any dirty cars anywhere either, so were you just putting on a show for me?”

“I cleaned them already,” Rin explained, only slightly annoyed, mouth getting a little dry with the hungry eyes looking at him and the alluring, deep tone in Haru’s voice.

“Is that so? That’s too bad. Guess you don’t have anything to complain about anymore, then?” Haru teased, then turned around and started to walk away. Rin quickly hurried up behind him, making him turn his head to the side to look at him, then he grabbed his face, turning it upwards, and quickly leaned forward to kiss him from behind, deeply, reciprocating through his lips that same hunger he had noticed in Haru’s eyes just seconds before.

The next day, it was Saturday, so while Rin was a little tired from a long week of work, he still didn’t leave the estate to go home, as he had no plans for the next day and thus no reason or need to get up early, so rather than going home and being alone, he ended up in the mansion, listening to Haru complain about how dependent he often felt of other people, since he couldn’t even cook on his own, prompted by the fact that he had already sent the chefs home, not knowing that Rin was going to stay for dinner and was left with no way to give him any proper food, at least not by his own standards.

While rummaging through the fridge for something Haru could serve Rin, Rin suggested helping him out by at least teaching him some basic cooking skills (again) and make some food for the two in the process, to which Haru suggested helping him out with something else, as he suddenly grabbed him by the nape of his neck and pulled him in for a kiss, clearly not in the mood for another session of frustrated cooking failures.

Rin gladly reciprocated the kiss, hoisted him up on the kitchen counter and made out with him for a bit, then abruptly and suddenly stopped to instead walk away without a single word. He grabbed things out of the fridge while Haru stared at him, completely confused.

Rin started to prepare some vegetables, and Haru grew more and more visibly and audibly angry at him, likely contemplating in his head whether to let Rin do his thing so they could eat, or demand him to come back and fuck him against the counter already. He ended up remaining seated on the counter in his barely contained, dissatisfied bitterness, waiting impatiently for Rin to be done being a tease and an asshole, until his competitive side got the better of him and he put on a show for Rin that he simply couldn’t ignore, nor resist.

The food ended up a little burnt in the bottom of the pot and had gotten quite cold once Haru was done having his way, but not even Rin’s complaints about the quality of the food he had tried to make could diminish Haru’s stubbornly and almost childishly self-satisfied smirk from across the stupidly large dinner table.

Spoiled brat, Rin couldn’t help but think to himself upon looking at him, but there was no real bite to it, not even in his head. Rather, there was an unspoken my at the beginning of it, which he tried his best to not acknowledge.

As Rin entered a new week of working 8 hours at the repair shop and a couple of hours or so at the estate (plus transportation time on top of it), he started to notice that, while his workload was the same at the repair shop, his work had gotten easier at the estate since the cars no longer showed up drenched in mud and dirt. In fact, they were often returned looking sparkly clean, fresh from the car wash, which meant he could use those few post-work hours doing actual repairs and maintenance rather than constant, non-stop cleaning.

“You don’t happen to have anything to do with all the cars suddenly being clean, do you?” Rin asked once it was Friday and he could no longer brush it off as mere coincidences, not with there not being a single dirty car all week.

“I’m pretty sure everyone would have heard about your outburst by now anyway, but as a matter of fact, yes, I do,” Haru revealed, with quite a hint of sarcasm. They were standing in the garage, with Rin leaning up against a car he had been tinkering with, and Haru still making his way all the way over to him.

“Guess it helps to barge in on meetings then?” Rin playfully suggested.

“Evidently,” Haru remarked. Stepping up to Rin and right into his personal space. “Don’t do that again.”

“I probably will,” Rin simply shrugged. Haru took a fist-full of the collar of Rin’s shirt, then forcefully yanked him forward into a kiss, before letting go and leaning back, but remaining in his personal space, unnecessarily close.

“I figured as much. Just know I would have to punish you for speaking out of turn or it would give people the wrong idea,” Haru relatively casually informed him. “Once could be excused, twice-”

“Understood,” Rin interrupted with a smirk, clearly not giving a fuck. “Did you come all the way out here to casually threaten me?”

“No,” Haru said, letting out a puff of air through his nose in amusement of Rin’s blatant lack of respect and manners. “I have something for you.”

“For me?” Rin asked, surprised. “If it’s more work, I-”

“No, it’s not work,” Haru chuckled. “The jeweler said it would take longer, but they arrived just now.”

“Jeweler?” Rin echoed, confused.

“Yes, someone who makes jewelry,” Haru sarcastically explained. Rin rolled his eyes at him but abruptly widened them as soon as he noticed the box Haru held out towards him.

“What’s this?” Rin asked, hesitant, almost sounding skeptical.

“Open it,” Haru urged, and handed Rin the small, square and red jewelry box. Rin accepted it into his hands and slowly opened it, revealing two diamond earrings and a gold piercing with a diamond in each end, similar to the curved barbell one he had in his eyebrow in shape, though the one he had was just a simple, cheap, silver one.

“It’s one of the diamonds from the auction, I had it cut up and made into this instead,” Haru explained.

“I can’t accept this, it’s too-“

“If it’s because of the price, don’t worry about it. It’s no more expensive than the cars you’re driving around in without a care anyway,”

“Oh, trust me, I do care,” Rin insisted, voice giving away his general shock and surprise.

“Do you like them?”

“They’re pretty, but it really is too much…”

“Put them on,” Haru simply said, ignoring Rin’s protests. Rin did as he was told, turning around to face the side-view mirrors of the car, took out his own stud earrings and the eyebrow piercing, and replaced them with the three diamond ones. “If you don’t want them that’s fine, but I can’t return them since they’re custom, just so you know.”

“Well, when you put it that way…” Rin tried to shyly argue, though only with himself, looking at the glinting piercings in the mirror. He never thought he would ever get to wear something this expensive. Ever. He felt like they were a bit too over the top for him, and that they didn’t fit him and his general style, but he couldn’t deny that they truly were pretty.

“They suit you,” Haru casually pointed out, trying to sneak a glance through the small mirror. Rin turned to face him as he remembered something.

“I thought I couldn’t stand out?” Rin teasingly cited, though it didn’t sound as cocky as he had intended it to.

“You’ll always stand out,” Haru argued, knowing exactly what Rin was referring to. “Piercings or no piercings.”

“Is that a compliment I hear?” Rin playfully asked, feeling a blush spreading along his cheeks and down his throat from the words.

“Yes, idiot,” Haru smiled.

Rin very carefully fumbled with one of the earrings and felt himself growing almost a little shy. “I’m still not sure if I can accept them, though…”

“Consider it a thanks for all your hard work,” Haru suggested, though the sarcasm wasn’t well hidden.

“Does that mean you give diamonds to all your mechanics?”

“Only the ones who do a satisfying job outside of the garage as well,” Haru suggestively said, a small puff of air escaping through his nose in a quiet snort.

“So… many?”

“Don’t push your luck,” Haru warned, knowing Rin was only joking but clearly not wanting the indication of him being loose to be repeated. “I still have a gun.”

“I am aware,” Rin flirtatiously stated with a smirk, stepping closer to plant a peck on Haru’s lips. He slid his free hand - the one not holding onto the jewelry box - through the hairs on the back of Haru’s head, then kissed him again, deeper. He moved forward, pressing their bodies flush against each other and felt something hard against his thigh, but not in a shape that he thought it might be. He pulled back a little in confusion, breaking the kiss and losing his grip on the back of Haru’s head, then tried to look down at whatever was poking him, noticing a small bump in one of the front pockets of Haru’s pants. “What’s this?”

“Why don’t you find out,” Haru dared. Rin raised a questioning eyebrow at him, but, intrigued, he put the jewelry box still in his hand into one of the many pockets on his tool-belt, then slid his hand into Haru’s pocket, only to grab hold of something similar. He took it out and sure enough; it was another jewelry box. He gave Haru a puzzled look. “Open it.”

“Another one?” Rin asked, confused, but opened it anyway, revealing what appeared to be a pair of matching nipple piercings. It was two golden barbell ones, with what Rin thought unmistakably looked like diamond encrusted cherry blossom flowers on each end of them.

“Want me to help you put them on?” Haru was quick to suggestively offer before Rin had a chance to insist once again that he couldn’t accept them. Surprisingly enough, though, Rin didn’t mind accepting these without any, or at least much, resistance.

Maybe it was because they had already established that the tiny bit of guilt Rin was feeling wasn’t necessary, or perhaps it was the way that Haru looked at him, those sultry eyes and that deepened voice, the hunger not hidden well beneath the surface of his ever-calculated expression, or the adoration in his expression that Rin tried hard not to acknowledge. Maybe it was the intimacy of the way Rin slowly pulled his shirt over his head and proceeded to show Haru how to take out the first piercing and change it for one of the new ones, and allow Haru, uncharacteristically slightly clumsy, to change the other one. Maybe he just thought they were pretty and he genuinely wanted them. Maybe it was nice to be catered to, to feel loved like this; with expensive gifts and thoughtful ideas. The piercings’ flowers were no doubt inspired by Rin’s large cherry blossom sleeve tattoo, and maybe it was that - the thought behind the idea; the connection between the gift and Rin - that made it impossible for Rin to even consider trying to decline it. None of the piercings were random ways for Haru to spend money. They weren’t over-the-counter jewelry purchased as an afterthought or from a feeling of obligation. These were customized piercings made for him, for no reason other than Haru wanting to give them.

A few days later, Rin was called right as he got off from work to go pick Haru up from some building in inner Tokyo. He didn’t know what Haru was doing there, or who had driven him there to begin with, though he assumed it was the car filled with bodyguards trailing behind them. There was an awkward silence between them, with Haru not talking and Rin not fully wanting to know why he had been asked to pick him up and from what exactly.

“You’re not wearing the piercings I gave you,” Haru observed. He didn’t sound judgemental or disapproving; it was just a mere observation disguising the question as to why.

“I just got off work,” Rin pointed out, figuring that was an explanation enough on its own. Though to Haru’s credit, he did wear his usual jewelry, so he could understand where the question was coming from.

“I know,” Haru said.

“Expensive jewelry like that isn’t meant to be worn by a mechanic…” Rin further explained, not wanting Haru to assume he was being ungrateful, but rather just careful with his gifts.

“It would be, if you worked for me full time,” Haru suggested. It wasn’t the first time Haru had brought that up, and Rin was sure it wouldn’t be the last.

“I already told you I’m not quitting my job,” Rin was quick to refuse, much to Haru’s quiet dismay, then he glanced up in the rear-view mirror again, looking at the familiar car behind them. “Also why didn’t you drive back with the others? I can see they’re going the same way as us.”

“Are you saying you don’t want to drive me?” Haru asked. Rin was sure that if Haru was any less shameless, he might have fake-pouted at him.

“No, I was just curious…” Rin denied rather simply. He could play along and try to piss Haru off, sure, but he was kind of too tired to deal with any potential consequences from that. Which was rare, he noted to himself. He usually never gave up any opportunity to press Haru’s buttons, but for some reason he didn’t want to at that moment. “What are you doing in the city anyway?”

“I had a business meeting,” Haru said, and Rin already knew what that meant, even without the slightly and suspiciously secretive tone in Haru’s voice; the hesitancy to reveal too much.

A silence spread between them once more, and Rin wasn’t sure why there was such a tension all of the sudden, but he couldn’t help but search his brain for things to say and ask to try to get rid of it. It was choking him. It was like the air was different between them, and he couldn’t quite put a reason to it, but he tried to just brush it off as being a result of them both being tired after a long day of work, though Haru’s work had no doubt been less stressful and physically draining compared to his own, yet likely much more dangerous regardless.

“So…” Rin awkwardly yet a little playfully began, glancing at Haru briefly before he turned his focus back onto the road and traffic ahead of him. “Did you always plan on following in your father’s footsteps and becoming a criminal?”

“Rin…” Haru disapprovingly sighed.

“What? It’s a genuine question.” Rin innocently defended himself.

“One that you could have phrased a lot differently,” Haru lightly scolded him. Like a patient teacher, or even a tired parent. “But if you must know, that was never my plan at all. You should already know this.”

“Right…” Rin sheepishly agreed. “So do you have any dreams? Anything you want to do instead?”

“I used to,” Haru admitted honestly. “But not anymore, no.”

“That’s pretty sad,” Rin said, and Haru just shrugged his shoulders in response. “What about when you were a kid? Anything you wanted to be?”

Haru gave him a strange, skeptical look, as if to check if he was being serious or not. He let out another sigh, this one in defeat, his shoulders falling a little with it.

“When I was younger I wanted to be a fisherman,” Haru admitted. He was very clearly and very surprisingly honest all of the sudden.

“What?” Rin turned his head to look at him, studying his features for a few seconds to try to read his expression for any signs of a lie, but finding none, and turned his head back to face the road again.

“Yeah… I wanted to live by a beach somewhere, catch fish and live off of that. Sitting by the ocean for hours was a big dream of mine,” Haru continued. “I would be living quite roughly, I’m sure, but at least I would be free.”

“That’s… unexpected,” Rin noted. “I mean, it sounds nice,” he quickly added, and then after a few seconds: “What… type of fish did you-?”

“Mackerel,” Haru was quick to answer before Rin had a chance to finish his sentence.

“That was quick,” Rin bemusedly pointed out in a chuckle. “You’ve really thought about it a lot, haven’t you?”

“Yes,” Haru confirmed. “It’s a useless thing to think of though. But what about you? Did you always plan on fixing cars and committing grand auto theft?”

“Not really no,” Rin admitted. “And definitely not the last part.”

“Really? With your fetish for cars, I would assume it had always been a dream of yours.”

“I actually wanted to be a singer when I was a kid,” Rin recalled with a smile. “I have a good singing voice, too. Bet I could have gone far if I tried. My mom always said so, at least. But there was never an opportunity for it.”

“You can always try now,” Haru suggested.

“How many Japanese music artists do you know who have a criminal record like mine?” Rin argued. Haru looked ahead of himself, likely trying to think of someone he could mention. He stayed quiet though, which was an answer enough on its own. “I did also want to study language and become an English teacher for some time, but it seemed impossible even then, and now it officially is impossible. But my dad was a mechanic, and I’ve always looked up to him and liked cars, so it seemed like a good choice. Reliable work, plenty of opportunities, all of that.”

“So you’re happy with it?”

“Sure,” Rin shrugged. “It’s challenging and interesting. It’s hard work, but I now can’t really imagine doing anything else.”

“I see,” Haru just said, while tilting his head down slightly to look at his hands.

The rest of the drive back to the estate was mostly quiet, but the tension was luckily gone, so it was fine. It gave Rin the opportunity to replay their conversation, and he was left dwelling a bit on the emphasis that Haru had put onto his own aspiration for freedom and the hopelessness with which he had talked of it, which hadn’t seemed as clear to him while the conversation was happening, but which seemed obvious now that Rin thought about it. He didn’t want to impose on it, though, and for now he was just glad that Haru had opened up to him more, even if it was only a little bit.

Fisherman, huh? He couldn’t help but smile at the idea.

One evening, Rin went with Haru to a dinner meeting with several other men - gang leaders, Rin presumed, or clients, as Haru had called them. Rin recognized one of the men. He couldn’t quite place him or figure out where he had seen him before, but he was certain it wasn’t the first time he saw him. He was the only other man around the table besides Rin and Haru who could speak Japanese. A handful of servants and a lot of bodyguards were gathered around the room as well, and Rin figured at least some of those might also speak Japanese, too, but the conversations held were still in English, so Rin proceeded to do what he was officially there to do; translate for Haru. The more formal parts of the conversations were about transporting certain “goods”, which was a difficult conversation for Rin to decode and translate, but he hoped he managed regardless. By the way the conversation flowed, he wasn’t too worried about fucking it up, at least not too badly. Haru was mostly an observer, so Rin didn’t have to speak up much to translate for the others, and instead kept to just quietly translate to Haru what the others were saying.

Once dinner was over, they moved to a separate room for - unexpectedly enough to Rin - a game of poker. He would have never assumed Haru could even play card games, if he was honest, and it felt a bit odd watching him play with the other men. Now that he witnessed it, it seemed obvious; it fit the character of any oligarch, after all. He came to realize just how magnificent of a poker face Haru had. Rin knew very little of the game, but judging by the other men’s groans and Haru’s occasional trace of a smug smirk while pulling stacks of tokens towards himself, Rin figured Haru wasn’t all too bad at it.

As a translator and not an actual guest, Rin didn’t play, but just stood a little behind Haru, ready to translate should the need arise, which it occasionally did, with a curious question or a comment here and there. Otherwise, he was allowed to just stand and observe.

The atmosphere was surprisingly calm despite the undoubtedly powerful men in the room. It was all a facade, Rin knew this, but it was nice to not feel the need to watch out for guns or feel the need to escape the whole time. He could even relax some of the tension in his shoulders as the night went on.

Once the group had played a few games of poker, one guest after the other started to leave, and then it was Haru’s turn. He stood up, excused himself and thanked the men still left for the evening in his best English, then bowed to them, and without looking, touched Rin’s arm as a gesture for him to follow him. Rin was a bit surprised at first, and thought for a second that the touch had been accidental, since Rin had moved a step back and Haru hadn’t looked at him to see where he was first, but then Haru glanced at him briefly, and Rin knew it wasn’t an accident. He formally bowed to the men and followed out of the room along with 3 bodyguards, while his thoughts began to wander upon the many similar times lately in which Haru had touched, grabbed, or reached for him without looking first, as if he knew where he was at all times. Then he came to realize the same was the case for himself. As if they had become tuned into each other; so drawn to one another that they didn’t need to see to know.

He tried to shift his attention elsewhere, to pay attention to the way Haru put on his coat, or the way his hair flowed slightly in the breeze outside before they got in the car with a bodyguard taking the front seat, leaving Rin to sit in the backseat of the car with Haru beside him. He paid a lot of attention to Haru then, staring at his face, appreciating the way the street lights reflected in his dark blue eyes, the way his jaw seemed to slowly ease its tension from the evening, the alert gaze he held on the passing traffic, and the way his chest heaved with every breath he took.

“Rin, you’re staring,” Haru quietly said without looking at him.

“Sorry,” Rin apologized, blushing at getting caught, mostly due to the look he received through the rear-view mirror from the bodyguard sitting in front of Haru. He looked away, but stole one last glance, happy to have done so when he noticed the small smirk on Haru’s lips.

The bodyguard drove Rin home to his apartment, parking in front of it. Haru leaned forward in his seat and told the driver to take the car home and have the rest of the evening off, thanking him for his work. The bodyguard dutifully nodded, and then Haru followed after Rin, who already knew exactly what Haru wanted from him.

They made their way upstairs, quietly, but as soon as Rin closed the door behind them while Haru took off his own coat, he stepped forward and grabbed Haru’s throat from behind, pressing his body flush against his. Haru let out a quiet gasp in surprise and dropped his coat to the floor, but made no attempts to try to stop him. Rin’s hand on Haru’s throat slowly moved upwards and, in a both gentle and rough manner, he moved Haru’s head backwards with the motion, exposing his throat in the process for him to claim as his own with a few rather sloppy kisses from behind, before gently scraping his teeth along the skin there, receiving an encouraging moan in response. It felt almost animalistic, as Rin continued to nibble and even bite at Haru’s neck while pressing a thigh in between Haru’s legs, spreading them apart slowly.

They managed to get out of their shoes and into Rin’s bedroom, and while Rin took off his jacket, Haru grabbed him and shoved him onto the bed, standing before him. Rin looked up at him with a surprised but intrigued expression, eyes focused only on him. He sat upright, and Haru slowly moved forward, put a hand on Rin’s thigh and began to lean over him, adding weight onto Rin’s thigh in the process while making him lie down with his back against the bed.

Rin reached out and grabbed at any clothing item he could get his hands on, undressing Haru rather hurriedly and haphazardly, then turned their positions around so that he was on top of him instead. He took off his own shirt, then, giddy and turned on at the way Haru watched him so attentively, he managed to surprise him by turning him around onto his stomach to trail kisses down his back; the large tattoo of the Nanase family emblem staring him right in the face. It was the same symbol as on his family ring that he wore less and less after Rin had met him, the same symbol scattered around the estate, and the same symbol tying him to his family, and ultimately to the mafia. His eyes wandered to look at the scars across Haru’s body, too, including the gunshot wound, and he bravely leaned down and kissed each one, not wanting to kill the mood by dwelling on all the stories he wanted so much to hear more of.

He had a task at hand he needed to get to before he dared asking any questions and risk getting distracted, and sure enough, ever the hard worker, he set to work right away and soon had Haru hissing and whimpering underneath him, coming undone beneath his touch and then again with the way he seemed to fill him up just right.

The next morning Haru had turned Rin into the embodiment of the word ‘pathetic’. Rin woke up into a loud moan, his body already close to the edge as his brain slowly began to recognize the sensation of a familiar tongue, lips and throat around his cock, sending overstimulating waves of pleasure through his body. Well this is unexpected, he barely-coherently thought to himself, as he quickly moved his hand underneath the duvet and grabbed a hold of Haru’s hair, hidden beneath the duvet as well. A lewd sound was audible even through the duvet, as Haru pulled back.

“Sorry, did I wake you?” Was the smug question he decided to ask, slowly creeping out from underneath the duvet to look up at him. His cheeks were slightly flushed red from the heat of the duvet, and his hair was severely ruffled from it as well.

“Holy fuck, Haru-” Rin began, completely flustered and taken aback. Haru looked at him with an amused expression, clearly getting the exact reaction he had hoped for. He felt himself throbbing against Haru’s bare chest, his body begging for release. He could cry.

“Like it?” Haru smirked.

“Don’t stop-” Rin practically whimpered at him; begged. If he wasn’t lying on his back in bed, he would be on his knees for sure. Haru just smugly smiled again, a spark in his eyes lit up by Rin’s own words, then slowly lowered himself back underneath the duvet to continue.

Not more than a minute or so after, in between loud pants and moans, Rin felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise, and he opened his eyes just in time to hear noise by the entrance, the unmistakable sound of a lock being turned, followed by the quiet sound of rapid footsteps coming closer. His body stiffened, but it all happened so incredibly fast, and before he had time to react or even properly process what he was hearing, he saw a bunch of armed, disheveled-looking men suddenly entering the open door into his bedroom, guns pointed directly at him. His wide eyes met with the amused but serious ones of the guy who had walked in first, not looking much older than himself, maybe even younger.

“Looks like we interrupted something?” The man asked, smug. Rin felt a mixture of fear and flusteration, while his body and mind was clouded with pleasure from Haru still continuing sucking him off - what the fuck?! Certainly he must have heard that - right?

“There’s… people…” Rin tried to quietly warn Haru in a whisper, to get him to stop and react, but his voice came out all pathetic, and Haru still continued his work, though Rin could tell by his slowed movements that he was very much aware of what was going on, and no doubt alert, but he still continued regardless, making Rin question his sanity ten folds. Was he dreaming? Was this a nightmare? His heart beat so quickly and loudly he felt like passing out. The tingling across his skin and his clouded mind from pleasure didn’t help fuck all with that either.

“Sorry, but you and your little lady will have to continue some other time,” the man joked, still smug, but there was a sense of impatience to it. “If you cooperate, that is.”

”They have… guns…” Rin tried again to quietly get through to Haru, and he felt himself being about to explode but there was absolutely no way he would ever cum in a situation like that, and he couldn’t help but wonder what the fuck Haru was even thinking.

“As Nanase’s new guy, seemingly so very close, we’ve gotta take you with us to ask you a few curious questions,” the man continued, still smug, the hint of impatience growing stronger, likely from the sight of the continued movements of the duvet. With how surreally unphased Haru seemed by the noise, they must have thought he was a prostitute, Rin assumed, while he was also impressed he was given the courtesy of an explanation as to what the hell the commotion was for, even though he had already guessed it. His whole body tensed in fear even more, as the guys moved closer to the bed and towards them.

“H-Haru,” Rin panickingly said, pulling at Haru’s hair to make him come out from underneath the damn duvet and fucking do something; preferably something other than sucking him off while a bunch of guys held him - them - at gunpoint. Haru dramatically slowly uncovered himself from the duvet and turned around to stare at guys, no doubt giving them a death glare. His body language was as indifferent as if it had just been an employee interrupting a meeting, but somehow it surprisingly enough seemed to do the trick, the men all stopping in their tracks immediately.

“Nanase?!” Several people asked in disbelief and terror.

“If you were any wiser you would probably start running now,” Haru advised, voice monotone and indifferent. There was no way this was happening, Rin concluded, even more so when the men nearly ran out of the apartment as if they had just seen a ghost.

“What the fuck-” Rin began, in shock, staring at the open door.

“Shh,” Haru shushed him, then lowered himself and fucking licked his cock, holding direct eye contact with Rin while doing so. Seeing the shocked expression on Rin’s face turn into disbelief over him, he let out a quick sigh. “I recognized one of them. They’re from a minor gang. They’re not going to kill you, and they won’t kill me either.”

“What the fuck where they doing in my apartment then?!” Rin yelled, but it wasn’t as forceful as he had wanted it to, his body still betraying him through his voice, pleasure and fear mixed into quite a pathetic cocktail.

“They tried to get to you to get to me. They were likely hoping and aiming for some intel from you about me or my businesses, as they said themselves,” Haru shrugged. “They definitely didn’t expect a confrontation like that right away. Whimps.”

Haru let out a quiet snort after the last word, and Rin blankly blinked at him.

“So… they just… left?”

“I can be pretty convincing,” Haru smiled deviously, and Rin gave him a disapproving look. “Intimidating, then... Now, can I finish what I started so I can go make sure they didn’t break your lock?”

Fucking hell, how was Rin supposed to cum after that experience?! He barely got to finish that skeptical thought, when, with a few expert movements from Haru’s hands and mouth, his body quickly gave in and his hips buckled as he finally came. Haru allowed him some time to ride it out, then he used the sheet around the duvet to dab some cum off of Rin’s abdomen, before sitting upright in between his legs and looking down at him rather intensely.

"Come home with me," Haru said, and it definitely wasn’t a question. It wasn’t exactly an order, but it was clear that he wasn’t going to accept any arguments against it either way.

"Home with you?" Rin asked in confusion.

"Yes. As a precaution. They might show up here again, and I don't want that to happen while you're alone,” Haru patiently explained, his voice uncharacteristically soft, instead of the usual stern tone to it. Serious, but somehow still soft. “So come with me to the estate."

"And stay in those training quarters again? I'd rather just stay here and get shot," Rin said, only partially joking. He sounded tired, and he was. He felt it deep into his bones. His body was worn out, his brain all fogged and his mind too full of hectic thoughts and fears.

"No,” Haru said, rolling his eyes at Rin’s dramatic comment. “In my room."

“Oh my, what will the servants say?” Rin dramatically asked, knowing fully well he was using sarcasm and humor to cope with what had just happened.

“Nothing worse than what has already been said,” Haru shrugged, definitely not caring. “After today I doubt the rumors won’t reach my father, if they haven't already. Knowing him, he probably already knows by now.”

“I thought you were scared of him?” Rin asked in confusion, receiving a sudden glare from Haru, letting him know he should have definitely phrased that question differently.

“I’m not. He will probably shoot me again when he sees me, though, knowing now that I won’t give him an heir,” Haru simply stated. “But I’m not-”

“What do you mean ‘again’?” Rin quickly interrupted him, certain that he must have heard wrong. Haru gave him a strange, distant look and didn’t say anything for what Rin was sure was a whole minute, then he let out a sigh and looked down at himself. Rin followed his gaze down to the scars decorating his body, particularly the gunshot one by his abdomen.

“I told you about the ambush many years ago, right?”

“Yes?” Rin questionably confirmed.

“That left this one,” Haru told him, while turning partially around and pointing to the scar shaped like a line on his lower back. “It was a knife.”

“I thought the ambush left the… other one?” Rin wondered out loud.

“No, that happened before,” Haru clarified. “I tried to run away before the ambush, but my father found out and shot me.”

Rin’s eyes widened as he stared at the scar. There was a moment of silence between them as the words settled into Rin’s brain. He slowly reached forward and hesitantly grazed a thumb across it. His jaw tensed. He had been to prison, and albeit relatively briefly, he learned a thing or two from his time there. The scar felt slightly hollowed, not much, but it was detectable, opposite of the one on his back, which bulged a little. The scar on his front was from an entrance wound. He had been shot from the front. Haru’s father had looked at him when he had shot him - his own child - in cold blood.

“It was a clean shot, of course,” Haru a little awkwardly continued, yet sounding far too casual for such a statement. “It was just meant to scare me. When the ambush happened a month later, I was weakened and still sought a means to escape this life, so when a man showed up with a knife, I sort of just let it happen. So that whole escape fantasy cost me two painful wounds, but it did teach me to accept my fate, which I have.”

“And you’re… okay with that?” Rin asked, unsure what else to say. He wasn’t even sure how to react, if he was honest. What would be a normal reaction, honestly? But it was a dumb question. He knew Haru wasn’t okay with his fate, he had said so many times by now. It was stupid, and Rin regretted asking, but he was just too dumbfounded to think of anything else in that moment.

“No, but I endured and adapted, and I’m surviving. It’s not perfect, but it’s not all bad,” Haru shrugged.

“That’s a strange thing to say after such a… revelation,” Rin pointed out. Not all bad? The fuck.

“I’m not 14 anymore. I know how the world works, and I know my place in it.”

“So he put you in your place by shooting you?” Rin skeptically asked. Surely Haru hadn’t just given up like that? That didn’t sound like him. Not the version of him that Rin knew, at least.

“If I wasn’t his heir, I would be dead,” Haru clarified.

“And… that means you should be grateful?”

“In his eyes, probably. But no, that’s not what I meant. I meant it gave me leverage.”

“What?” Rin asked in confusion. With each new sentence he thought he couldn’t get more confused, and yet… Haru managed to prove that wrong quite easily. “How?”

“I learned what value I hold, and why. He shot me, not to kill me, but to scare me. I survived the ambush, too, despite being stabbed. He needs me alive because I’m his heir. That’s all I am and ever will be to him.”

“I fail to see the leverage in that…”

“I learned how to make demands. I had nothing to lose, so he had nothing to use against me, but he had something to lose,” Haru argued. “He needs me more than I need him.”

Rin sat in silence for a bit, taking in all the new and extremely disturbing information. He had to detangle all of this; find ways to fit it into his own version of reality, if that was even possible. He could picture it vividly. A 14 year old kid - a 14 year old Haru - scared, afraid, desperate. Raw fear in his eyes, followed by disbelief at the unimaginable action of someone who was supposed to protect him, but likely never had and certainly never would.

“Not to be cruel, but why hasn’t your father just…” Rin trailed off, unsure of how to ask such a question, given the circumstances and all the things he had just been told. “Gotten… like… another child?”

“Well…” Haru began, letting out a chuckle, and Rin looked at him in disbelief at the sound and the amusement creeping into Haru’s expression. “That’s the ironic part. I wondered that same thing for many years myself. I dug it up. Took me a long time, but I eventually found a reliable source... Less than a year after my birth, he got diagnosed with testicular cancer. Had both of them removed, apparently. Ironic, right?”

“Right…” Rin hesitantly agreed, still in general disbelief and shock by all the things Haru had just revealed, and by the near-casualness with which he delivered most of it. He couldn’t decide what was more disturbing to him: the gang trying to attack him, or the new details of Haru’s past. He could try to argue that only one of the two had something directly to do with him, but that didn’t seem fair nor really true.

There was a part of Rin, always a bit skeptical, that wondered if Haru had only bared himself like that to gain Rin’s sympathy and make him unable to argue about going with him to the estate. Yet, no matter if that was the case or not, it worked, as he packed a bag and trailed behind Haru while they made their way out of his apartment, after making sure his lock had only been picked, not ruined. Haru reassured him he would send over a bodyguard to secure his door a bit better, though, but Rin knew that no matter how many locks were put on his door, no matter how secure his apartment would become, he would likely never be able to feel completely safe again, and he knew - deep down he knew - that this incident was nothing compared to what could have happened. If Haru hadn’t decided to stay at his apartment, or if the gang had chosen any other evening. It shook him to the core just thinking about it.

Chapter Text

The following week, Rin was staying at the estate with Haru. He refused to risk his job for the whole ordeal, which meant he had to get up far too early each morning to spend time commuting to his work place - a car following along behind him each time, with at least two random, high-ranked bodyguards in it, always following him around, always watching him, down to his every step and every move. If Rin thought he had been under surveillance before, it was nothing compared to what was going on now. The babysitting from before turned into flat-out stalking. The few bodyguards selected to watch over him stayed out of sight, but Rin knew they were there. He could feel their eyes on him constantly, and it was bugging him to no end. He felt like he couldn’t do anything at all without being heavily watched under the guise of his own safety. It was incredibly frustrating, and it took away all sense of privacy he had left.

He had been given a guest room, to give him a place for his things and a place he could hide away whenever he felt the need to (though he preferred to hide away in the garage, if so), and for formalities, to try to calm down the flames of gossip around the estate. It was silly, really, but Rin understood. A part of Rin also assumed that the reason might also have something to do with the fact that him living in the same room as Haru ultimately made them live together, however temporary, and that made their whole relationship so much more official. Surely they weren’t quite ready for that yet.

Being that official would only escalate the situation, too. Even if they had just been caught in the act by that gang - something that was certain to circulate among other gangs and put an even greater target on Rin’s back, whether people believed it or not - trying to contain the rumors would only be for the better. Even if the stunt at the auction had done very little to divert people’s attention away from them, or minimize the chatter among Haru’s staff. The whole situation wasn’t ideal, and Rin was just trying to accept the circumstances, even if it seemed impossible to do so.

Rin knew that Haru didn’t care what people thought of him, and that it had nothing to do with people’s perception of the two of them, but he also knew, logically, that Haru didn’t want to put him in harm’s way. Not like that, at least. It wasn’t for Haru’s own sake that he was careful, it was for Rin’s, and Rin knew this. Rin’s life had probably never been in more danger than it was now, and that was the sole reason why he tried his best to accept whatever frustrating circumstances he was put through, including the stalking, despite the situation itself being fucked.Still, no matter if he could accept it or not, he tried to just go about with his life; tried so hard to act normal and pretend that there weren’t tall, jacked guys capable of murder trailing behind him at all times.

When it was finally Saturday, and Rin could briefly put the three hour or so daily commute on hold, even just for a couple of days, he woke up to an empty bed, a bit confused by that. He checked his work phone to see Haru informing him rather formally that he was in his office, and that Rin could go down and get breakfast by himself whenever he desired to. Quite displeased by that, he simply sent him a thumbs-up emoji and then let out a loud, long sigh. He checked the time, got up, got dressed, put both his work phone and his private phone in his pockets, then went downstairs to eat some food, expecting nothing more than a piece of bread but being fed an eight-course varied, healthy and tasty meal by Haru’s chef. It was heavenly.

After he finished eating and thanking the chef, he wandered around the estate for some time, making his way towards the garage, when his private phone suddenly rang. It was one of his friends, Natsuya, that he had met at a party a few years ago. He asked if Rin had a chance to look at his car since it wouldn’t start and, not having any other plans for the day, neither thinking much of it, he agreed, grabbed his Toyota Celic that was parked outside of the garage and drove into the city, throwing the prospect of avoiding the three hour commute right out of the window..

Natsuya was confused about the time it took to get there, but Rin lied and told him he had another errand to run first. He got right to work and propped the hood open on Natusya’s car, a relatively small, purple Daihatsu Tanto SA.

“You’re an idiot, do you know that?” Rin sarcastically asked while sitting in the front seat, after having made sure his assumption was very probable. Natusya was leaning in through the window and watching him.

“What?”

“I told you to get your stuck fuel pump fixed,” Rin reminded him with undisguised annoyance.

“I thought it could wait,” Natsuya shamelessly shrugged.

“Of course it can’t!” Rin scolded him. “When your car can’t properly shut off, the battery’s gonna die! Did you seriously think you could just drive around with a dead battery?!”

“Well, no,” Natsuya awkwardly smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. “I just hoped it could wait a little longer…”

“You’re almost as hopeless as-” Rin began, quickly catching himself before he finished that sentence. He awkwardly let out a fake cough and tried to hide the beginning stages of a blush on his cheeks. “...as Gou,” Rin ended up settling for, trying his best to sound nonchalant about it.

“That’s because neither of us needs to learn since we’ve got you,” Natsuya tried to butter him up; tried to ease his rightful annoyance. “Our hero, our very own car wikipedia, our knight in shining armor, our-”

“That’s not going to help you, I’m still angry,” Rin said, glancing up at him with a raised, disapproving eyebrow. “Now, move. I’m going to try to revive your poor, abused battery.”

Natsuya moved out of the way so Rin could exit the car, then trailed behind him as he went to his own car, grabbed a multimeter, a large, heavy battery and some cables, then went back to Natsuya’s car, where he began to test the battery, just to make sure he was correct.

“Yep, just as I thought,” Rin concluded. “You are indeed an idiot.”

“Oi, be nice,” Natsuya laughed, not offended in the least.

“No, you don’t deserve that,” Rin sassed. “I’m going to jump-start it, but only if you promise me to call and get an appointment to have it fixed as soon as you wake up on Monday. And to not fucking use it for anything other than drive it to the mechanic until then.”

“But-”

“No. Not even to go to your brother’s whatever. You do not touch this car unless it’s to get it to a mechanic, otherwise I won’t do anything. Understood?”

Natsuya promised not to use it, and so Rin set to work and had the car up and running shortly after, making sure to shut it off properly afterwards. The two talked for a bit afterwards, catching up on each other’s lives - or some of it, since Rin couldn’t reveal too much of what was currently going on in his life - then they said their goodbyes and parted ways.

Rin got into his car, the sense of being watched now detectable again after having been distracted from it for a while. He checked his rearview mirror, but it didn’t seem like he was being tracked, surprisingly enough. He looked around outside, and didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary either. He considered for a moment whether to just hurry back to the estate before his babysitters caught a whiff of his disappearance, or if he should use the opportunity and go somewhere else now that he was out and free. He ended up deciding on the latter, as he put the car in reverse, drove out of its paralleled parked spot and headed for his apartment closeby.

He drove past the building and found an empty parking spot down the street. It was intimidating to be there, he couldn’t deny that. Rather, it was scary, if he was completely honest. He had to sit in the car for a couple of minutes, psyching himself up to get out and step up to the building, this time all on his own. After five minutes he finally managed to build up enough courage and stepped out of the car, only to pause abruptly on his way down the street. On the other side of the street from where Rin was standing, further down, right in front of his building, stood none other than Haru, watching him with an expression Rin could only categorize as angry, except that made it sound far too soft compared to his actual look. He looked livid.

Rin stood still for a few seconds before looking around himself, then headed towards Haru with quicker steps than he would have otherwise taken. He felt confusion arise inside, but he also felt something else, similar to the feeling one would get after being caught doing something bad as a child, but he wasn’t sure why he suddenly felt that way, and could only attribute it to Haru’s cold and dark glare set firmly on him, the tensed jaw and stiff body language adding onto the whole pissed-off energy he was sporting. The fuck was up his ass? He wondered, and could only assume it was himself.

“What are you-?” Rin confusedly began, once he was within earshot of the angry maniac, only to be interrupted by Haru.

“Get in the car,” Haru just ordered without any explanation, while turning around and walking towards a familiar Mercedes. Had he been following him?

“I’m just-” Rin tried, wanting to argue and make him listen, because what the fuck? He had wanted to go grab some things, certainly whatever was wrong with Haru could wait a few minutes.

“Get in the car,” Haru repeated without looking back, clearly not going to repeat it again. Rin obeyed, suddenly worried that there was some sort of nearby danger that Haru was simply trying to get Rin away from, something Rin might have missed. If he had missed Haru potentially following him, it wasn’t unlikely that he could have missed something else. Because of that, Rin hurried towards the car, feeling extremely awkward about taking up the passenger seat, since Haru had already taken up the driver’s seat.

“What about my-” Rin began while buckling his seatbelt.

“Where the fuck have you been?!” Haru demanded to know, shooting him a glare so dark and cold that Rin felt a shiver run down his spine.

“I was with a friend, why?” Rin confusedly asked, not understanding a single thing about the whole situation. Haru wasn’t making any indication to drive, so certainly they weren’t in any immediate danger?

“What friend?!” Haru continued to demand, his tone full of anger.

“Just a friend?” Rin repeated, eyebrows knitted together. “I was helping him out with his car.”

“Helping him out with his car?” Haru repeated in disbelief.

“Yes?”

“You just… help people with their cars?” Haru continued, this time more mockingly.

“It’s literally my job?” Rin deadpanned, annoyed now at the sudden show of distrust, and the whole situation that he still couldn’t make sense of.

“And he knows that too?”

“What the fuck, yes?!” Rin asked in shock. “What are you implying? Are you being fucking jealous again? Seriously?!”

“What are you talking about? I’m not jealous,” Haru denied, but looked just about ready to pull out his gun and go look for intel on Natsuya, if not all of Rin’s friends.

“Then what the fuck is this about?!”

"If you fix other people's cars, it's at your shop, that was the deal. Not random house visits," Haru angrily reminded him as he finally turned on the car, got out from the parking spot without checking for incoming cars, then made his way down the street, definitely driving above the speed limit.

Rin couldn’t remember ever agreeing to only fixing cars at his workplace. It might have been written in the long-ass contract he had signed, though, but he hadn’t read most of that, so he couldn’t quite argue against it, logically speaking. Though in his defense, Haru should have known him enough by now to not hold him to the same standard of someone reading through terms of agreements.

"So, what? I'm not allowed to see my friends anymore?"

"I want you to quit and work full time for me," Haru said, either purposefully avoiding Rin’s question or just jumping right to the point.

"I already told you: no thanks."

"It wasn't a question."

“So you're ordering me around again? Am I just an employee to you? A servant for you to control?" Rin demanded to know, as his hand moved to hold onto the door while Haru kept driving faster and faster through traffic. Rin was surprised a cop hadn’t pulled them over already, increasingly so by every second that passed.

"No!" Haru quickly denied.

"Then stop acting like it! You don't just get whatever you want. I'm not going to quit my job just because you tell me to, and I'm not going to stop seeing my friends just because you're jealous - again," Rin refused. "And you drive like a maniac!"

"You're right," Haru relented after a brief moment of thought, probably having given himself the chance to let go of his anger and instead think more logically.

"Of course I'm fucking right, can you at least stay in your lane before you hit something, or someone?! Fuck," Rin loudly complained.

"No, you're right about the other things," Haru impatiently clarified.

"Well yes, but I'm definitely also right about your awful driving! What the fuck,” Rin continued to complain.

"I hate driving, why do you think I have a personal driver?" Haru defended himself.

"Clearly to not get yourself killed," Rin dramatically said. Haru went silent, as he slowed the car down and pulled over, parking the car by a public park. They sat in silence for several moments, with Haru just looking out of the windows, observing their surroundings, and Rin briefly glancing at him multiple times, waiting for him to say something. "What are you doing?"

"I was trying to apologize," Haru explained.

"By… parking at a handicap spot?"

"No, I- before. I was trying to apologize before. I said you were right."

"That's not an apology, that's just pointing out the obvious."

"You're making this so difficult."

"Good. So are you."

"I'm sorry, okay? You're right. I only think about what I want, not what you want. But what I want is to keep you safe, and right now you're not, and I'm sorry, but I'm worried all the time, and when you were gone earlier and no one knew where you were, I thought something had happened to you, and then I tracked your car and I see you there, smiling and laughing with some other guy, and I just…" Haru stopped, took in a deep breath, clenched and unclenched his jaw, looked at Rin, then looked away again and finally continued: "I got angry. Jealous. Again."

Rin looked at him in surprise. No way had he ever expected something like that to come out of Haru's mouth. A stream of words; him essentially rambling off like a normal person? A confession? An honest confession about his own flaws? Rin wasn’t sure what to say to that, but he suddenly felt the anger within himself start to disappear, if anything then just from the surprise alone. That didn’t stop him from relishing in the clear torment of Haru, though, as Haru looked at him, obviously waiting for a response. Rin didn’t give him any, just purposefully dragged it out and simply stared back at him. He wanted to give in, but it was just too damn entertaining to make him curl in on himself. He argued with himself and tried to excuse it off as just an attempt to make Haru reflect to lessen the risk of it happening again, but if he was completely honest with himself, in that moment it was purely for petty reasons; just to be a jerk for once.

"Apology accepted." Rin finally said, and he could visibly see the tension leave Haru’s; even the excess tension created by Rin’s long pause. "But I'm still not going to quit my job. They're the first ones that ever believed in me outside of my family. They are family to me. I’m not going to let that go just because you want me to.”

Now it was Haru’s turn to not respond, but he was clearly thinking about it, contemplating the importance it seemed to have for Rin, or trying to come up with a response.

“Now get out and switch seats with me, I'm not letting you get us into an accident," Rin ordered.

Haru did as he was told, and the two both got out and switched seats. Rin sat down and adjusted the seat to himself, finally feeling comfortable again now that he was in control of the driving. He would never let Haru live down just how horrible he was at driving, he made a mental note to himself to make sure of that. He had no clue that that was why Haru wasn’t driving, he always assumed he was just spoiled like that.

“Did you really abandon everything and drove this long way by yourself just because you were jealous?” Rin skeptically asked after a few moments of driving in silence and mentally navigating the way back to the estate in his head.

“No. My men had lost track of you, and I didn’t know where you were either. The location of your car’s tracker was unfamiliar to me,” Haru explained. “So I was… worried.”

Rin couldn’t control his lip from moving up into a sideways smirk. They were at a standstill in front of a red light, so Rin looked over at him.

“What?” Haru confusedly asked, not getting why Rin was suddenly looking at him the way that he did.

“Move forward,” Rin said, and Haru’s eyebrows quickly knitted together in confusion at him, but he slowly did what he was told. Rin quickly leaned in as well, happily surprised that Haru didn’t instinctively pull back like he used to, then planted his lips on Haru’s lips, kissing him briefly but sweetly, pulling back and turning around just in time for the light to turn green and traffic to start moving again.

“What was that for?” Haru asked, confused still, but not as strictly-sounding as before.

“You worry too much,” Rin said, in conclusion, though it didn’t answer Haru’s question.

“You don’t worry nearly enough,” Haru argued, giving him a skeptical look as if he couldn’t understand what was going through Rin’s head, but ultimately trying to accept Rin’s kiss as a truce and not wanting to risk another fight in an attempt to reach that understanding.

In the evening, they ended up drinking together in Haru’s study in the mansion. Haru had expensive taste, or so it seemed from his massive collection of very exquisite, various alcohol. Haru confessed it was just what he was used to, and that most of it were gifts anyway, but Rin could see in the way he sipped, then downed his glass of a specific brand of Single Malt whisky that cost more than Rin’s yearly rent, that while he may be used to it, he would definitely still favour it over the watered-down stuff Rin and his friends usually dabbled with. Rin had never cared much for anything else other than the percentages, but he felt extremely bad all of the sudden, with the way they were drinking so freely from expensive bottles, as if they were mere corner store bought ones. He was sipping very slowly on a glass of Zankyo “Super 7” sake, trying to hold on to his affections for cheap alcohol, but unable to deny how much better luxury stuff tasted. He was glad they weren’t doing this on a regular basis or he would have definitely turned into an alcoholic, and not even regretting it. The rush and warmth from it was different too, and he knew a potential hangover would definitely hit differently with this stuff compared to cheap liquor.

They ended up sitting on the chaise lounge chairs, then lounging in them, talking about everything and nothing in particular. Rin looked at the painting aisle in front of the large glass sliding doors that he knew led out to a balcony. He curiously got up and looked at what Haru had been working on, and Haru quietly let him. It was nothing more than some background brush strokes so far, but it looked like it was going to turn into a landscape painting eventually. Rin was impressed Haru even found time to paint. He was usually always so busy with other things, so it was pleasing to see that even he had hobbies, beyond shooting and commanding people around. Oh, and submerging himself in bodies of water, that weirdo.

Rin turned around and looked out through the large sliding doors, then found the handle, looked back over his shoulder at Haru to search for any potential objection, but upon not finding anything else than curious, watchful eyes, he slid open one of the doors and let himself out, stepping onto the cold marble floor, lit up from the lights inside. The air was cold from the late night fall weather, but Rin didn’t mind. It felt fresh against his skin.

There were a couple of wood lounging chairs, arranged like they were taken out from a magazine; staged and probably unused, at least appeared to be. There was also an outdoor chess table with two chairs on either side, which also didn’t appear to be used often, if ever. Rin stepped closer to the railing and looked down onto the backyard beneath, the covered swimming pool perfectly visible, as well as the patio and tennis court. It was too dark to see most of the slowly dying flowers and bushes, though.

Rin felt Haru’s presence before he saw him out of the corner of his eyes, standing beside him, following his line of vision onto the fenced garden. It was creepy how quiet Haru was. Even with his brown leather slippers with their hard soles against marble, his steps were still silent. They stood like that in silence for a bit, Rin with his arms resting on the railing, Haru standing still beside him, both looking out over the darkened backyard, deep in thought, but not uncomfortably so.

“So… your father…” Rin began, hesitantly, but went quiet again. He didn’t look at Haru, but he assumed he might have given him a weird look in response.

“What about him?” Haru asked, quite confused at the sudden mention of him.

“What is his obsession with having an heir?” Rin asked, rather straightforwardly, and turned his head to look at Haru.

“Who knows,” Haru shrugged. “I don’t know the reasoning, I just know he is.”

“Why can’t he just adopt or something?”

“A fascist obsession with bloodline,” Haru casually stated. “I suppose.”

“That’s… disturbing.”

“Everything is with him.”

“I’m starting to realize that, yes,” Rin awkwardly agreed. A silence spread between them again, and Rin wasn’t sure why he had to bring such a topic up. Really, what was wrong with him? There was no need for him to bring that man into their otherwise so-far nice conversations. Grasping at a quick change of topic, Rin spoke up again: “Did you find those men?”

“What men?”

“Those men,” Rin emphasized. “The ones from my apartment.”

“Ah…” Haru sounded, clearly considering his next words. “Why do you ask?”

“I want to know what happened to them,” Rin admitted.

“What would you like to have happened to them?” Haru rather mysteriously asked, sounding somehow as if it was a challenge; like he genuinely wanted to know what Rin might imagine.

“I don’t know…”

“Nothing as of right now,” Haru revealed.

“What? Nothing?” Rin asked, surprised by that.

“Yes, nothing. Did you expect them all to be dead?”

“I guess I did, yes…”

“Would it make you feel safer?” Haru asked, and Rin looked at him blankly, unsure of whether the question was sincere or not. If Rin didn’t know him well enough by now, he might have thought it was demeaning somehow, but he knew it wasn’t. It was a genuine question. Haru really did want to know, as he genuinely did care about Rin and his feelings.

“I’m not sure,” Rin admitted, deciding not to take Haru’s question at face value, but instead as genuine as he had imagined it should have been.

“They’re being watched,” Haru told him. “There’s some uproar between some minor gangs right now. They seek advantage over one another. They thought they could get that by trying to get to me through you, likely assuming you were just a random person to me. They found out the hard way that they were reaching for power beyond their abilities. It’ll pass.”

Rin gave him a sceptical look.

“It always does,” Haru reassured him. “They wouldn’t be able to get valuable intel from any of my employees, let alone you. At least not something valuable to them. I’m guessing now that that specific gang knows you’re more than an employee to me, they won’t dare to get near you again. At least if they know what’s good for them.”

“Okay…” Rin said, not really seeing how his relationship to Haru wouldn’t make him more valuable to them, argumentatively.

“Don’t worry,” Haru added. “You’ll be back to your small apartment before long.”

“Are you throwing me out? After begging me to stay?” Rin sarcastically asked, making the edge of Haru’s mouth creep up in a small smile.

“I hardly begged, but no, I just know you’re eager to go back to the slump,” Haru argued, smugly.

“Don’t be a dick, you weren’t complaining last time you were there,” Rin objected.

“I wasn’t there for the apartment,” Haru pointed out, making Rin’s own smug smile widen.

It was getting too cold to keep standing outside, especially without any jackets, so they quickly made their way back inside after that. They ended up inside Haru’s bedroom, sitting on top of his bed, continuing drinking and talking, and getting warmth back into their bodies. The talking slowed down, and Rin looked over at Haru, pretty sure he was almost done with the whole bottle of whiskey and getting a bit worried that he was going to hit a wall from it soon. Rin had only drank a little bit more of the sake, before he had found something a bit lighter. Haru wasn’t looking back at Rin, but kept his gaze at the ceiling. He eventually placed his empty whiskey glass on his nightstand, then lay down on the bed, Rin mimicking him by laying down beside him. They didn’t share a word, but Rin could see the racing thoughts going through Haru’s head just by looking at him.

“Sometimes I can’t figure out if like…” Haru suddenly started to think out loud, but paused halfway, clearly surprised at himself for speaking at all.

“What?” Rin urged him to continue, hoping Haru wouldn’t shut him out, but indulge him instead, hoping the alcohol in his blood might help that along.

“I can’t figure out whether I’m the hunter, or the prey?” Haru continued, and Rin was fairly certain it was only thanks to the alcohol that he did. His speech wasn’t slurred yet, but there was something different in his body language - relaxed and not as collected or calculated as usual. His voice was quieter, too - much less strong and dominant. Not the usual posture or attitude of a mafia heir, in short, but also not the usual way he acted when it was just the two of them in a private moment. This was a new side, and Rin wasn’t sure if he liked it or not. It felt evading somehow, for Rin to witness it, and he slowly realized why he was so perplexed about it; Haru appeared vulnerable. Not in the way that he was usually vulnerable with him, which felt far more intimate, but rather a more exposed and fragile type of vulnerable, one that made him appear almost… weak?

“What do you mean?” Rin hesitantly asked.

“I’m capable of doing things I don’t think you’re quite ready to fully comprehend yet,” Haru admitted, and breathed in slowly and deeply. “But there’s also an infinite amount of targets on my back. People who want me out of the way. Dead. Whether for money, revenge or for power, or even just for amusement. You already know that. I'm not scared or anything, but being constantly aware of it is exhausting.”

When Haru didn’t continue, but just seemed lost in thought again, Rin quietly spoke up: "I can imagine."

“But it’s not even that that's the worst part anymore…” Haru began, then turned his head to the side and looked directly at Rin. “I pulled you into this world. I knowingly and selfishly put a target on your back.”

“I was the one who came to you,” Rin argued, not liking the pain so visible and almost tangible in Haru’s eyes. He hadn’t seen that so clearly before, and he really did not like it one bit.

“I lured you in,” Haru argued back, sounding guilty.

"I took the bait," Rin insisted. "We ended up like this because we both wanted to, and with full consent. Don't take the whole blame for something that you're not alone in. Don't take the blame at all, actually. It's not you who's aiming for that target, after all."

"I know, but-"

"I forgive you," Rin said. "For whatever you blame yourself for, I forgive you."

Haru let out a breath of air he had unknowingly held in, and Rin was sure he saw his eyes getting a blank hue as if he was getting teary-eyed, but Haru quickly turned his head and looked up again, blinking a few times. Rin wasn’t sure how much of this was earnest and how much was just the alcohol speaking, but something told him it was more real than he could ever allow himself to believe.

In a moment of bravery, Rin reached out for Haru’s hand, and at the first graze, Rin could feel Haru instinctively tensed, then he let go of the tension and opened his hand, allowing Rin to slowly intertwine their fingers. Rin looked at him with a stunned expression on his face, and then looked surprised as Rin carefully scooted closer and leaned in. Haru closed his eyes as Rin got closer, and so Rin closed his as well, right before he pressed his lips against Haru’s.

He kissed him, but it felt different. Even with the warmth from the alcohol flowing through his body and the heat in his cheeks, the kiss wasn’t sexual. There was something almost desperate about it, about that delicate, nearly innocent and brief touch. They had kissed countless times before, under much more preferable circumstances, too, but somehow Rin knew he would never forget this moment. It was vulnerable, it felt bare, it felt more real than anything else, even if it seemed surreal at the same time.

He pulled away and rested his forehead against Haru’s, smelling the whiskey on his breath, feeling the heat beneath his skin. He opened his eyes, but Haru kept his closed. At the risk of losing balance on the bed, Rin moved the hand he had used to press down against the mattress to keep himself from falling into Haru, and placed it against Haru’s cheek, making him open his eyes. They looked into each other’s eyes, both searching for answers to questions they didn’t dare ask. Rin closed his eyes again, kissed him briefly once more, then let go of his hand to move his arms around him instead, pulling him into a hug, pleased that Haru made no attempts to protest it. It was a little uncomfortable for his back, since they were sitting beside each other, but he didn’t mind. He knew that Haru would never admit to it, but Rin could actively feel just how much Haru had needed this. His whole body language changed, and if Rin was honest, it felt like hugging a scared animal; a scared, feral animal that had never known love before. Rin didn’t want to ever let go of him.

He knew how hard it was for Haru to trust him, and he knew he had every right not to. But he also knew how desperately he needed it; how desperate he was to finally allow himself to trust another person; to trust Rin. If this was the only moment Rin could make Haru feel fully trusting of him, to feel loved, sincerely and earnestly, he would try to make it last for as long as possible, and when it would inevitably come to an end, and Haru’s walls would be rebuilt anew, he would do anything to try to recreate it, to burst through those same walls like he had done so often already.

Chapter Text

The next Friday, Haru was supposed to stay at one of his luxury hotels in Tokyo overnight for an early meeting the next day, and Rin had somehow convinced him to bring him along, arguing very playfully that it would be much safer for him, but they both knew he was just curious and didn’t want to be excluded from the opportunity to stay in a luxury penthouse hotel suite for free.

As per agreement, Haru came to pick Rin up after work so they could drive directly to the hotel. Rin never really took his car to work, he always took his bike or public transportation, but since he had been living with Haru, he had been pretending his bike was broken and that he only used his car temporarily. Today he had faked having used public transportation, though no one asked or cared, but he knew it was important to keep up appearance and a solid story, even if Haru didn’t constantly remind him of that. The public transportation excuse meant he could walk around the corner and get in Haru’s car without anyone batting an eye, except, of course, if someone were to follow after him, and of course someone did. Sousuke insisted on following him to the station, but Rin lightly rejected the offer, and before Sousuke could get any suspicious ideas in any way, Rin was quick to ask if he was free the next day so they could hang out and have a lot more time instead. Sousuke still gave him a skeptical look, but agreed nonetheless, letting Rin walk off with hurried steps, feigning a need to catch the next subway train.

Rin looked up and saw Haru standing further down the street, though their eyes didn’t meet. Haru was looking intensely somewhere behind Rin, and Rin turned around to check he wasn’t being followed, only to see Sousuke walking away, back into the repair shop. Rin hurried down the street to Haru, curious as to why he kept looking away from Rin and towards the repair shop. He half expected it to be another jealousy episode, but when he reached him it wasn’t jealousy or anger he saw on his face. Rather, it seemed like there was recognition in his eyes, and his furrowed brows didn’t appear to be from anger, but much more from confusion.

“What is it?” Rin asked, confused by Haru’s odd behavior.

“The background check on your work wasn’t sufficient enough,” Haru mysteriously said, only confusing Rin further.

“What are you talking about?”

“Nothing,” Haru dismissed, and finally looked at Rin. “Are you ready? I asked the hotel chef to make you your favorite.”

“Steak?”

“Yes. They might arrange it more fancily than you’d prefer, but I’m sure you’ll still like it,” Haru teased, then turned around and started walking towards his car.

“I didn’t see that on their menu,” Rin pointed out, following along beside him.

“You checked their menu?”

“Well, yeah, I knew we would eat there, so I figured it was good to be prepared for once,” Rin admitted.

“Were you just checking if you had to order out?” Haru asked, and while he was definitely still teasing him, Rin knew he couldn’t take too much offense, as that was exactly the reason. He had a lot of stereotypes about rich people, okay? One of them in particular being that, while rich people’s alcohol was heavenly, their food wasn’t always the greatest, especially not their portions. He figured having a back-up plan might come in handy if he was to eat nothing but caviar and two pieces of heavily overpriced sushi for the night. Of course that wasn’t the case, the menu actually had several tempting dishes, though the price tags on them had definitely been deterring.

“Maybe,” Rin said, feeling his cheeks blush a bit from Haru’s ability to clock him so easily like that.

Rin had gotten a tour of some of the key features of the hotel by the hotel manager, a nice but highly stressed woman. He was impressed by the place, but also hated himself for being as impressed as he was, reminding himself they were just things. Marble, gold, high tech, luxury things. Huge open rooms, red carpets, valuable art, sport and spa facilities, several gyms, and much more. It was all so unnecessary, but he definitely couldn’t deny the appeal. Haru just followed along, not caring one bit about anything other than, apparently, Rin, whom he watched the entire time. Way to stick it to the rumors, Rin thought to himself, but didn’t complain about the attention.

The tour ended up on the top floor, in the penthouse suite that was theirs for the night (or, it was Haru’s any other night that he wished, but tonight - this night - it was theirs). The manager briefly listed things about the hotel room to Haru, details meant as a mere update or reminder, then she bowed, told him to call if they needed anything and left them to themselves.

Haru let Rin explore the room, after he was done marveling at the view from the floor-to-ceiling windows covering the whole wall. Against the opposite wall stood a very large bed, much bigger than a regular double bed, with white sheets and covers. The place was very spacey, and also quite empty-looking, or rather minimalistic, Rin reminded himself. There were two large lounging chairs and a coffee table, a large wooden desk with a black leather desk chair, a closet, and two doors, one leading into a full-sized kitchen, and another leading into a large bathroom with both a big shower and a jacuzzi, and another door leading into a walk-in closet. Upon further exploration, Rin found out everything was controllable with remotes. There was one with various buttons for all the lights and one for the large curtains that Rin found especially interesting, along with mounted control panels in each room. It was like being at a technological playground for a moment. Not even Haru’s mansion was this fancy. Haru’s mansion was a lot more antique in decor and function, rather than high-tech and luxurious like the hotel was.

They ended up taking a joint shower, then got dressed in suits that Haru had had someone bring to the hotel for them. He had picked the burgundy colored one for Rin, and a regular black one with embroidery details on the shirt underneath for himself.

They ate their dinner in the restaurant; Haru some fancy mackerel dish, and Rin a special-made steak that was grilled to perfection. The fact that Haru had gone out of his way to order something off the menu just for him was a bit surreal, but also extremely endearing, and - if Rin was honest - incredibly attractive. Haru paid attention to him enough to know his food preferences, and he cared enough about him to try to accommodate him, even when he shouldn’t or needed to. It was nice too, to have something familiar, a tangible and possible luxury for him in such an unfamiliar place full of luxuries that were normally so far out of reach for him.

Later in the evening, when they got back to their hotel room, it didn’t take long before Rin’s rough and permanently oil-stained hands were on Haru, and Haru’s gloved hands were clinging to the back of his suit by his broad upper arms, no doubt in the process of ruffling it like the near-constant state his regular clothes were usually in. They ended up in Haru’s natural gravitational point: the jacuzzi. A source of water - of course. Foreplay with bubbles and water pressure massage all around him was definitely a new thing to Rin, but he had no complaints, not even when Haru insisted on keeping it on while he lowered himself on Rin, taking him in slowly. The heat from the jacuzzi was absolutely insufferable, but Rin endured it. A sudden irrational fear of the condom melting from the heat entered his brain, but he quickly shook it off as dumb and illogical, and also not his fault if so, nor would it be his mess to clean. Or, technically it would, but it wasn’t him that had insisted on this, after all. He just went along. Willingly, of course. Very willingly. But not his idea nonetheless.

Early the next morning, Haru’s alarm went off, waking them rather abruptly. They hadn’t been awake for too long, though, making out with gross morning breath, before Rin ended up lying on his stomach, a leg pulled upwards, both hands on either side of his own face, gripping on tightly around the sheet beneath him while Haru was on top of him, hands on either side of Rin’s body, right below his upper arms, thrusting slowly and forcefully - but so deliciously - into him from behind, making them both move slightly and rhythmically up and down in the far-too-big and far-too-luxuriously soft bed. Neither of them seemed to remember why Haru’s alarm had gone off, or even that it had rang at all.

Haru was grunting ever so quietly, while Rin was struggling to keep his moans quiet with each thrust intentionally hitting directly against his prostate, making him see stars around his tightly closed-together eyelids and making him feel about ready to explode. He bit onto the sheet to keep himself quiet, and he knew Haru fully enjoyed seeing him like that, all wrecked by his own volition and skill. The curtains weren’t covering the large panorama windows, which meant that if Rin opened his eyes and turned his head just slightly to the side, he could get a perfect view of the city before him, stretching out for kilometers into the distance, now covered in early morning sun rather than early-evening lights.

A couple of knocks sounded at the door and Rin’s entire body stiffened, ass literally clenching around Haru in panic, and his eyes shot open while his mouth let go of the sheet he’d been biting into.

He did not want anyone to discover them like this; to see him getting pounded by the one person who not only was essentially everyone in the building’s boss, but also his own boss, too, and not just… whatever the two were. He quickly turned his head to glance backwards at Haru in between his sweaty and fallen bangs. Haru, whose whole body was glistening from sweat and his hair all ruffled, just smiled devilishly down at him. Rin felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up at the sight of that menacing smile.

“Don’t you dare,” Rin warned, completely out of breath, making it sound less like a threat than he had intended it to.

“Don’t tempt me,” Haru smirked.

“Mr. Nanase?” A voice from the door called. “They’re ready for you in the meeting room.”

“Tell them to wait,” Haru called out, while he leaned forward to trail kisses down Rin’s back, almost as if to calm him and make his body less tense, or maybe just to make him ease up and less clenched around himself.

“Are you sure? They’re-”

“I’m busy. I’ll be down when I’m done,” Haru called again, impatient. From the door, there was a considerable silence for a few seconds.

“O-okay, I’ll let them know,” the voice called back, this time more hesitant and quiet.

With that, Haru pulled out slowly before practically ramming all the way into Rin, hitting directly against the right spot at just the right angle and catching him so off-guard he moaned out loud, so loudly it nearly sounded like a pained scream, especially bouncing off the walls in that huge, open room.

“Nanase, are you okay?!” The voice called out in a sudden panic.

“Yes,” Haru called back, entirely self-satisfied. “I just fell. Nothing to worry about.”

“Are you sure? Do you want me to-“

“Yes, I’m perfectly fine, don’t worry. Offer them all some food. I’ll be down in half an hour,” Haru reassuringly called out, but Rin could hear the impatience in his voice, and that tone which signaled how he would accept no further arguments. Haru wanted the person gone, that much was clear.

In the meantime, Rin was seeing stars, the moon, the sun. His eyes had shot open but the entire room was spinning for a moment until his brain adjusted and he was able to focus his eyes on a specific point on the white sheet below him without feeling like he was about to pass out. He panted and tried to hold himself steady on the bed by clenching his fists in the sheets even more, meanwhile Haru just stayed still, allowing him to get a bit grounded again before making any attempts to move again.

“Just fell, my ass,” Rin grumbled angrily and embarrassedly, while trying to catch his breath, and winched a bit from the sharp pain caused by the sudden and almost violent pressure. He slowly and carefully turned his head to look back at Haru with an angry expression.

“My bad,” Haru smiled innocently, that smug, entitled bastard.

"I hate you so much," Rin said with gritted teeth.

"Don't talk with your ass full,” Haru playfully teased.

"I am so going to kill you,” Rin threatened in a deep voice, though it was still strained, taking off the edge yet again. “I swear, I’ll make you pay.”

“Mm? How do you plan on doing that?” Haru mused, as if it was a game to him; yet another one.

“You’ll see,” Rin settled, already coming up with a thousand different ideas in his head. “Now will you finish up so you can go to your meeting?”

“It can wait,” Haru stated, voice determined and cocky. “I have something more important to do first.”

Jesus christ. Rin wasn’t sure how he could handle it. Any and all of it. One thing he was sure of, though, was that it was very clear that Haru wasn’t satisfied with only one round. Maybe he just wanted to get out of that meeting, Rin theorized. And maybe Rin didn’t have any objections to that, even if he was already getting increasingly more and more sore and bruised by the second.

Haru did eventually make it to the meeting, though far later than promised, since they took a quick shower together after Haru was finally done. He almost tried to initiate a fourth round in the shower, but Rin was able to stop him, good grief. Haru’s stamina was way too much for him sometimes, it was insane. 

To Rin’s strong dismay, he was dragged off to the meeting as well. He had hoped to lay around and tend to his sore ass until he eventually had to leave the hotel, but no. Haru insisted he should go, arguing that it would have otherwise raised suspicion for him to have been there at all, but Rin knew it was a lie and that Haru just wanted a distraction now that he couldn’t avoid it.

And a distraction, Rin would give him. They were seated beside each other at the long mahogany meeting table, lined up with a bunch of older people, an extra chair brought up to Rin, who no one knew would be there. He had been presented as Haru’s translator, but most of the meeting was in Japanese, so there was truly no reason for him to be there.

Despite the constant discomfort from sitting down, Rin got an idea, and simply waited for the perfect timing to execute it, letting his hands rest down in his own lap, ready for action. Once Haru began to talk, he slowly moved and placed his hands down on Haru’s thigh, doing it so calculatedly and slowly that it wasn’t visible to anyone else, unless they bent down and looked underneath the table. Haru’s voice had a brief shake in it, but, as expected of Haru, he kept his posture and didn’t let it show, though Rin could sense the brief tension in his body at first. Rin only gave him a second or two to registre what was going on and that it was Rin’s hand touching him, before he slid his hand up and placed it directly against Haru’s already-sensitive groin, pressing down and forcing him to let out a relatively quiet, strangled moan that sounded more painful than anything. Still, his cheeks instantly began to heat up, though it only showed in a very controlled, light pink hue, much to Rin’s disappointment.

The entire room had already been looking at him, paying attention to whatever he was going to say, but now they were definitely looking and paying attention.

“Sorry-” Haru was quick to apologize. “My stomach suddenly cramped. I think skipping breakfast was a bad idea.”

Haru was quick, and he was good. He was a skilled liar, and it only took a couple of seconds before he had diverted the attention back onto the topic at hand, after accepting an offer for some food to be delivered to him.

Once the attention was off of him and onto someone else, Haru shot Rin a glare, and Rin, who pretended not to notice it, smiled broadly, intentionally looking away. Payback was so good.

In the afternoon, Haru very begrudgingly allowed Rin to return to his apartment alone so he could hang out with Sousuke. Somehow, the mention of his name seemed to make Haru even more reluctant and disapproving, but Rin insisted he didn’t just only want to hang out with him, but also needed to, since he had already made the plans for it and he had no excuse to cancel it so last minute, nor did he want to come up with any.

And so Haru had a bodyguard drive them both to Rin’s apartment, before Haru returned to the estate. Rin was glad that he still had his car parked by his apartment from yesterday so he had a means to get back on his own without needing some bodyguard to come pick him up, like a child after a playdate.

It was nice to hang out with Sousuke for a change. It had been weeks since they had last been able to do it, and he felt a sense of relief to be able to just… chill in his own apartment again. Talking, drinking beers, eating junk and playing video games until late in the evening.

Once Sousuke had left, it didn’t take long before nerves began to fill Rin’s body upon being alone. At first, when he had closed the door after saying goodbye, he hadn’t thought much of it, but when he turned around to walk back into the living room, the hairs on his neck suddenly stood up, and he knew he had to be quick with cleaning up after them and getting the hell out. He really hated this integrated fear in him, and hadn’t expected it to hit him so hard like this, but he also knew that it was slightly unnecessary, too, since Haru had reassured him that things were fine. Then again, that was the same Haru who dropped everything he was doing to go track him down out of worry just the other day, so Rin wasn’t really sure what to believe.

When he was done cleaning up and enough time had passed for it to be impossible to accidentally meet Sousuke and having to come up with a lie as to why he was out on the streets, Rin left his apartment and drove back to the estate. He checked his rearview mirror an embarrassing amount of times, but didn’t notice anyone following after him, much to his relief. Once he got off the expressway and closer towards the estate, though, he noticed a car obviously trailing behind him, and at first his blood ran cold, but then he noticed the specific model and the slightly familiar faces behind the glass, lit up by his own tail lights, and he realized it was just Haru’s men in one of the Mercedes. Of course. But he hadn’t noticed them until now, so he considered the option that they had been somewhere else and that it was pure coincidence that they happened to drive up at the same time as him. That was probably just because the alternative was too unsettling; that he hadn’t noticed them following him this entire time until now.

The long drive back meant that it was past midnight by the time he drove through the gate and parked the car in front of the mansion, contemplating whether to leave the keys inside in case anyone had to move it, but deciding on not, since he didn’t want any of the bodyguard goons to drive his precious baby. He felt guilty for potentially keeping Haru awake so late, so he didn’t want to waste time driving it to the garage and walking back from there, even if it wasn’t that long. He also sort of wanted to avoid meeting the bodyguards in the car behind him, which slowed down while driving past him towards the garage after he had gotten out of the car. He knew it wasn't a coincidence, but he didn’t want to have it confirmed, not yet, at least.

To his surprise, Haru didn’t seem annoyed at the late entry. The lights were still on inside the mansion, but only in the entrance, up the stairs, down the hallway and inside Haru’s study, into which the door was uncharacteristically left open. Rin stepped in and their eyes instantly met from where Haru was lying on one of the chaiselongs, a book in his hands.

“Sorry I’m late,” Rin apologized.

“That’s okay,” Haru said, clearly surprised at the apology.

“You don’t seem bothered,” Rin pointed out.

“Why should I be?”

“Because I was gone for so long? Something could have happened? All of that?”

“Don’t tell me you didn’t notice that you were being trailed,” Haru skeptically asked, an unimpressed eyebrow raised at him.

“So they were following me?”

“Of course they were?” Haru confirmed, giving him a strange look. Then he seemed to realize the continued stalking might - just might - be a potential issue to Rin. He put away his book and looked up at Rin with an attentive expression. “Does that bother you?”

Now it was Rin’s turn to give him a surprised look. Again, Haru sounded earnest. Like he genuinely didn’t want to risk bothering him.

“Sort of…”

“After our talk, I thought you were still worried about the gang. I wanted to make sure you were okay, and that you knew you would be okay, too,” Haru explained, and oh. Rin went quiet for a moment, and Haru’s attentive expression slowly grew a bit uneasy.

“You could have just told me they were there…” Rin pointed out, not argued, as he was too stunned for that.

“Sorry,” Haru apologized, sincerely.

“It’s okay,” Rin said, and he couldn’t believe himself for genuinely meaning it.

“Are you sure? It didn’t sound like you thought it was okay,” Haru argued, and watched as Rin walked closer to him.

Haru looked really nice, Rin observed. Attractive as hell, resting so comfortably against the chaiselong, wearing a casual brown sweater, black slacks and his brown slippers. He looked comfortable, and there was something so domestic about that; the content and comfort. Rin almost felt like he was in a movie scene, coming home late from work or a night out with friends to be met by a faithful, patient husband who had waited up for him, and that was… surprisingly appealing.

“I was just surprised,” Rin insisted, before leaning down and kissing him. Haru reciprocated the kiss and shortly after allowed Rin to slide a leg down on either side of him so he could sit down in his lap, deepening the kiss before leaving light, affectionate bites down his chin and neck. He slowly pulled back and looked into Haru’s darkened, hazy eyes. “What were you reading?”

“Who cares,” Haru simply said, slightly out of breath, before grabbing Rin by the collar and pulling him close again.

Rin wound up dragging Haru off to Haru’s own bedroom by his sweater, pushing him down onto the bed, and getting some more sweet, sweet revenge by eventually and absolutely plowing Haru from behind. Haru was on his knees on the bed, holding onto the headboard for dear life while Rin was towering him from behind, buried deep inside of him and moving rapidly back and forth while holding a hand against Haru's throat and an arm around his chest, keeping them both in place. Reciprocated embarrassment and a mutual sore ass, all accomplished within one day? Rin may be a lot of things, but an underachiever was not one of them. He worked quickly when he wanted to, apparently. The biggest surprise of all was that they both had energy left for it - especially Rin, since Haru usually had a lot more stamina than him, and generally needed a lot less sleep and general relaxation - but evidently they did, to Rin’s advantage and both of their pleasure.

The next morning, Rin woke up first, listening to Haru’s quiet breathing before Haru himself woke up no more than ten minutes or so after. They lay in silence for a while, after acknowledging each other being awake. Rin half expected Haru to scold him for the payback yesterday, but he didn’t. Instead he just looked at him all contently, before facing the ceiling again and slowly closing his eyes.

“I was quite scared,” Rin admitted after a while of them just resting and waking up more properly. Haru opened his eyes and looked over at him, patiently waiting for him to elaborate. Rin swallowed thickly. “When I was at the apartment. I thought I was alone, and it was scary.”

Haru didn’t respond. He looked up at the ceiling again, staring at it in silence. Rin wasn’t sure he had wanted a specific response, but he knew he had expected Haru to say something. Anything, really. I understand. I told you so. You shouldn’t be scared. You should be scared. You should have known you weren’t alone. Of course you thought you were alone, they’re trained for that.

“I drowned once,” Haru suddenly said, completely out of context, and Rin looked at him in confusion, but Haru still kept his eyes on the ceiling above them. He briefly glanced at Rin to see the confusion on his face, though. “When I was a kid,” he elaborated, then looked back to the ceiling. “I went to the pool alone. No one was paying attention to me, and the housekeeper hadn’t heard me go outside. After a while I ended up in the deep end. I couldn’t find my footing and my body started to panic, completely forgetting how to swim. I went under quite quickly, and couldn’t get back up. It was pure luck that some gartner noticed the struggle and got me out.”

“I’m… sorry,” Rin said, sincerely, though he couldn’t hide the fact that he was still a bit confused as to where this was coming from.

“Don’t be. I survived, and I gained a new respect for the water.”

“Weren’t you afraid of swimming after that?” Rin asked in surprise. “I mean, most people-”

“No. It wasn’t the water’s fault that I was careless,” Haru argued, though to Rin it sounded pretty illogic. “However, the feeling stuck. I feel it right now.”

“What feeling?”

”Like I’m slipping into the deep end of a pool. Like I’m about to drown,” Haru explained. Rin looked at him, trying to understand what he meant, as if the answer would come to him the more intensely he looked. What he said made sense, somewhat, but Rin couldn’t understand why he said it. “I understand why you’re scared. You should be. You’re safe, of course, and there’s no need for you to be scared, but you should be. You would be reckless not to. I’m trying my best, and I have a very skilled and professional team looking after you, but I still feel like I’m in over my head; like I’m going to drown in this at any moment. I know I’m not, but… the feeling is still there.”

“I promise to get you out,” Rin heard himself swear, after a brief moment of silence, not expecting himself to say that out loud, or anything for that matter. He felt too speechless, but apparently he wasn’t. “I won’t let you drown.”

Haru looked at him like he still wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not, and Rin wanted to reach out and stroke his cheek, pull him closer and hug him again. Tell him he was okay, tell him he knew he was trying his best and that no one could expect anything more. It was such a strange feeling to have towards someone who he knew could reach back and easily kill him should he want to. But he knew he didn’t want to. He knew he wouldn’t ever want to.

“Not alone, at least,” Rin added with an encouraging smile, and the two continued to stare intensely into each other’s eyes, until Haru’s housemaid eventually knocked on his door to inform him he had an urgent phone call.

Despite it being Sunday, Haru had been in his office for hours after he was first informed about the phone call. Rin had waited for him to return to bed for over half an hour, but eventually got out of bed. He looked for him in the study, then went downstairs, where he asked one of the maids if she had seen him. She said he had gone to his office, and nothing else, so Rin just went to the kitchen and got himself some breakfast by himself. Even the chef was gone, no doubt busy at the bodyguards’ building, off from work or hiding elsewhere, not that Rin cared, though he did feel slightly abandoned and left to himself. It was strange, he had wanted that for a while - some time alone, but now that he had it, it just felt strange. The mansion was huge, so when it was empty, it was hard not to feel the effect.

He went upstairs to the guest room where he had a few bags worth of his things, then laid down on the neatly-made and completely untouched bed. He pulled out his phone and started randomly scrolling through apps, realizing suddenly that he hadn’t done that in a long time. He was always busy these days. Regular work, work at Haru’s, spending more and more time with Haru, and the excessive amount of time he spent commuting between the estate and inner Tokyo. It left very little time to himself, and he suddenly felt the heavy weight of it. To some extent, he didn’t mind it. He had always preferred keeping himself busy, and he enjoyed working on and driving cars, and he enjoyed spending time with Haru, too, but it did still take up a lot of time, leaving none for all the small things he previously had in his life. He was way behind on his TV shows, he couldn’t remember the last time he had picked up a game controller by himself, the layer of dust in his apartment must have been record thick, and he honestly needed a haircut badly. He hadn’t stepped foot inside a tattoo parlor since he had met Haru, either, and while that could be attributed to the fact that his bodily canvas was running thin, he knew it was simply a thing that had been pushed to the back of his mind. He didn’t go out drinking as much anymore, or saw his family as often. He still saw them regularly, of course, nothing could stop him from that, but it wasn’t as often as he would have liked. Even his friends hadn’t been as prioritized lately.

He knew he wanted to change that, but he wasn’t sure how. He wasn’t unhappy or anything, either. It was just the way his life was right now. Maybe everything would be easier to manage once he returned to his own apartment. Maybe he could work less at the estate. Everything was more or less up to date there at that point anyway, so he only really needed to come in for regular oil and tire changes, and then the regular damages that needed fixing.

That would, however, mean less time with Haru. He wasn’t a fan of that aspect of it, admittedly. Sometimes he actually felt like he wanted more time with the jerk. Not that he would ever tell him that, though, of course.

He laid there on the bed and mindlessly scrolled apps for a long time on his private phone, when his work phone suddenly pinged from where he had placed it on the bedside table, nearly giving him a heart attack. He stared at it wide-eyed, then reached out for it to check.

1
12:33 Where are you?

No Name [me]
12:34 I thought you could track my phones

1
12:34 Only your work phone, and I don’t want to bother Makoto unless necessary.

No Name [me]
12:35 You prefer to bother me? That’s cute

1
12:35 Something like that.
12:35 Meet me by the indoor shooting range.

No Name [me]
12:35 I’m busy

1
12:35 With what?

Rin sat and looked at the text for a few seconds, contemplating his options for a response. Should he give in and say he would be there in the 15 minutes it took to walk all the way there? Or have a little fun and play around with him first? The latter was always the most preferable option to him, so naturally he went with that.

No Name [me]
12:36 Touching myself

There was a considerable silence on the other end of the line, with no response for what felt like an hour. Rin sat upright, watching the screen and waiting in anticipation for so long he felt his patience leaving his body.

1
12:39 Sounds excessive after last night.

No Name [me]
12:39 Worth it if for making you blush just now

1
12:39 Shut up.

No Name [me]
12:40 Make me
12:40 I’ll be there in 15

1
12:40 You’re that quick with it?

No Name [me]
12:41 Anything for you, boss

Haru didn’t respond to that, so Rin got up from the bed, a smirk on his lips, and made his way towards the bodyguards’ building. Haru was already waiting for him once he got there, standing in full suit, looking professional and hot as hell. Rin was sure he was just imagining things, but he thought he could see the remains of a blush, though he probably just wanted there to be that.

“Hey,” Rin casually greeted while walking towards Haru, who was standing in the room between the hallway and the shooting range, surprisingly enough not sitting in one of the lounging chairs, but instead browsing on a touchscreen computer behind the counter, not looking up but clearly having noticed him coming before he had even opened the door.

“Took you long enough,” Haru remarked.

“Takes a while to walk between your buildings,” Rin pointed out.

“Thought you were too busy with other things,” Haru said, finally looking up at him, an eyebrow raised. Rin wasn’t sure what expression he was wearing, but it certainly looked suggestive.

“Sad you missed out on the action?” Rin flirtatiously asked, making Haru quietly snort and give him a sideways smile. Then, at the expense of potentially killing the mood he had set up, but not wanting Haru to view him as a horny teenager with zero manners, he added: “I wasn’t actually doing anything.”

“Disappointing,” Haru simply said, making Rin wide-eyed in shock, then rather quickly added: “I already got us guns and gear.”

Haru gestured to the gear on the counter; ear protection, glasses and three different guns.

“Why are we here?” Rin asked, after gulping down audibly to shake off the surprise of Haru’s previous, suggestive comment.

“Why do you think?”

“Yeah, but why?” Rin insisted.

“To practice. Your aim still sucked the last time I saw you shoot.”

“And why do I need to practice that? I’m not one of your thugs,” Rin pointed out. “I technically don’t need to know.”

“Yes, you do,” Haru insisted, patiently, but something in his voice also gave away a bit of discomfort underneath. Rin looked at him in silence for a moment, as realization hit of what Haru was trying to imply, but clearly didn’t want to say out loud.

“Fine,” Rin quickly relented, hating the sudden thickness in the air. He stepped closer and took one of the earmuffs and the ridiculous-looking safety glasses. “But only if you go first.”

Haru smiled at him, a small and almost playful one, but it was there. They went inside the shooting range, and Haru briefly explained each gun, the brand, the model and the difference between each of them, but Rin wasn’t really listening; too busy watching his eyes and the way his gloved fingers stroked across the individual guns while explaining their functions. Rin had heard him explain how certain guns worked before, and he was certain he was going to hear it again, but each time he wasn’t actively listening to the facts, but rather got lost in Haru’s voice and the knowledge so clearly seeping out through it, as well as the smoothness of his movements and the casualness with which he held onto a gun, like they were made to be held by him; like he knew that to be a fact.

As agreed, Haru went first, effortlessly and quickly shooting his rounds with one of the three guns. The precision with which Haru shot was terrifying to Rin. He couldn’t deny that, not one bit. Haru didn’t need to pull the target forward to know he had hit it exactly where he wanted, and Rin didn’t need to see it up close to be able to tell either. Haru didn’t appear arrogant or smug about it, and if Rin was honest, that almost made it more scary. It was just natural to Haru, a matter of course, just another activity to him, no different from the stroke of a brush across a canvas; no less calculated, but no less ordinary.

Haru reloaded the gun with a fresh new round of bullets, then instructed Rin on how to stand, how to hold the gun, how to properly aim at the target, and so forth. It was intimate, standing so close, Rin with a murder weapon in his hands, and Haru trusting him completely not to use it against him; Rin trusting Haru to guide him correctly and Haru sincerely wanting him to improve his very lacking skills. He didn’t improve that much, not hitting the target even remotely close to the exact points where Haru had hit it 10 times in a row, but Haru seemed satisfied nonetheless; glad to see that Rin at least kept within the target this time around. It still wasn’t as easy as Rin hoped. It could never be as easy as Haru made it look.

After some time with the second gun, a small group of bodyguards had walked in, clearly unaware anyone was there, but all got stiff as a board and looked like soldiers about to salute once they realized someone was there, and who that someone was. Haru had dismissed their apologies for barging in, saying it was fine, but they had nonetheless quickly left the room. Once Rin and Haru were done with the third gun and walked out of the room, they saw the same bodyguards sitting in the other room, waiting patiently and nervously for Haru to come out, clearly expecting a reprimand, but getting none. There was also someone else there, an older man standing in a suit behind the counter, clicking around on the computer in front of him.

Haru walked over and handed the man all the guns once they had exchanged formal greetings and pleasantries, and the man opened the door behind him leading into a huge armory, and Rin pretended not to look as the man went inside, seeing just a glimpse of how many weapons were inside, feeling intimidated by that immediately, as he mirrored Haru and placed all the protective gear they had used down on the counter. It reminded him of returning shoes after a game of bowling, which he felt was quite disturbing. The man came out again, and Haru thanked him, while the man politely bowed. The bodyguards bowed to Haru as well, as the two left the room and walked out into the long hallway.

It was strange to be walking beside someone who was so highly respected, while knowing how easily he could wrap him around his fingertip, though only recently having made that discovery himself. It made him feel a bit uncomfortable, and it made him feel a bit out of place. He knew authority, and had been faced with both common and forced respect for authority before, but to be among the few - if not only? - who didn’t need to show that respect was strange. It was new. It was odd. When it was just the two of them, he didn’t need to think about it, and he often didn’t, but when they were around other people, he couldn’t deny it; couldn’t dismiss it when he was faced with it so directly, and a part of him didn’t like it, while the other part felt a strange sense of privilege for it.

They were walking outside when Haru spotted Mikoshiba - the guy that had previously spent a month torturing Rin - and excused himself to go talk to him. Rin stood behind, not wanting to eavesdrop on whatever they were talking about, which seemed pretty serious from afar.

Rin eventually spotted Nagisa, who saw him, too, and the two walked towards each other and quickly fell into easy conversation. Nagisa somehow knew what was going on with him and the gang that had gone after him in his own home, and Rin figured everyone around them must know, too. He wasn’t really surprised by that, but it was still a bit weird. Nagisa was nice about it, though, and seemed genuinely worried for him and sorry about the whole event and situation. He did make a lot of suggestive comments about the benefits of the situation, glancing over Rin’s shoulder to his boss and superior, as if scared that they might hear him, clearly not wanting to disrespect Haru but finding it amusing to tease Rin. The two continued to talk, and Rin had to admit it was odd how comfortable he felt around the guy.

They ended up talking about going clubbing, and as Rin was about to show him a spin dance move he had seen, he accidentally got caught in the earthy terrain underneath, not having taken it into account before beginning, and fell down backwards, luckily landing ass-first right onto the grass beneath him. Slightly embarrassed, his eyes immediately glanced Haru’s way, who, of course, was looking directly at him. Rin had clearly caught his attention, and it would have been nice if it wasn’t so embarrassing, least of all from Nagisa’s worried reaction. Rin was quick to laugh it off and say it looked better on the dance floor than on grass, and then they finished their conversation before Nagisa ran off, and Haru eventually ended his talk with Mikoshiba and walked towards him, not missing a second before he started teasing him about the fall, as if any amount of time that passed without him making fun of him for it was a waste.

Rin went to work the next morning, bright and early monday. Work had been slow that day, likely in preparation for the shop closing the next day, since their boss, Sasabe, had to go to a conference, which came with the opportunity for Rin and his coworkers to talk about going out to drink after work. They were planning on going to a bar near Sousuke’s place, so Rin saw his chance to make it work for himself. Rin could sleep his potential hangover off at Sousuke’s place, something which the two had done multiple times before at each other’s places, whichever was closest. Sousuke didn’t get suspicious about it for that same reason, which meant it felt like a foolproof plan to Rin. He told everyone he was just going to go out and call his sister, Gou, quickly, then be back inside. Again no raised suspicion for that.

He stepped out and called Haru instead, to tell him he was going out with his coworkers to drink and that he shouldn’t wait up for him; that he won’t drive home drunk and instead sleep it off at Sousuke’s.

“I can pick you up when you’re done,” Haru offered.

“No, it’s okay, I would feel bad if you did that. Plus, I already discussed it with Sousuke,” Rin dismissed the ofer, half expecting it, though surprised the offer wasn’t to send someone else to pick him up.

“Does it have to be with him?”

“What?”

“Do you have to go with him?” Haru repeated.

“Sousuke? What’s wrong with him?” Rin asked, confused. Then, quickly realizing: “Is this another jealousy thing?”

“Absolutely not,” Haru denied, sounding extremely offended at the notion of that. It’s not like it was an impossible, far-fetched suggestion, in Rin’s opinion, and Rin knew that Haru had come to admit that, too, so it was a strange reaction for him to have.

“Are you hiding something?” Rin asked then.

“No,” Haru said, after a few suspicious seconds. “Can’t you just stay with someone else?”

“If you don’t want to tell me why, the answer is also no,” Rin stubbornly said, irritated by the fact that Haru was so obviously hiding something, and by the clear and irrational disapproval of his close friend.

And so, with Rin still slightly annoyed, the two ended the call, and Rin went out to get dinner with his coworkers after work, then out to drink. Rin had to go to his apartment to change clothes before going out, which came with quite a lot of nerves. He knew he was being trailed by a familiar Mercedes parked by his apartment, which calmed him a bit, but he had still never been that quick with a shower before as he was then, nor as quick to get dressed up for going out. He usually took his sweet time picking an outfit and accessories and generally getting ready, but now everything was done with haste. To everyone’s surprise, he was the first one there, and he had had to hear a lot of teasing for that during the first few hours, but as people got more and more drunk, the teasing died out and people’s focus went elsewhere.

Rin himself got so drunk he had wandered off outside to an alley to piss since there had been a line down by the bathroom - or maybe there wasn’t, maybe he had wanted to get some air and the need had arised? He couldn’t quite remember now. For whatever reason that led him there, it nearly got him arrested, but he was rescued just in time by some fistfight further down the street that pulled the cop’s attention away from himself and the reprimand he had been about to receive. He stumbled backwards and slid down the wall to sit and catch his breath, though the stench of piss - undoubtedly not just his own - wasn’t quite pleasant.

He realized he had left his work phone in the pocket of his jacket down in the wardrobe, and the absence of it rang loudly in his ears, almost as loudly as the music playing nearby. He was tempted to go get it. Tempted to call Haru and ask if the offer still stood to come and get him. He was even tempted to beg for it, despite having a vague idea of how late into the night it was, judging by how cold the air felt against his boiling-hot skin and how drunk he knew he had gotten. He wanted to see him, to touch him and even taste him; getting rid of the lingering aftertaste of alcohol in his mouth and replacing it with the taste of Haru. In retrospect, it was fortunate that he didn’t have his work phone or Haru’s number in his regular phone, otherwise he no doubt would have sent him some quite pathetic messages, voicemails or phone calls. Again.

He eventually made his way back inside the club, where he found Sousuke getting it on with a third person that evening, dancing against and making out with them. Rin knew he would forget about it the day after, and hoped he himself would remember so he could make fun of him for it. He was only mildly jealous of him, imagining quietly in his own head the only person he wanted to do it with - dance and makeout - who inconveniently wasn’t there. He quickly got distracted by some tourists wanting his attention and wanting to dance with him, giving in to their requests and the fun from it. Not as fun and intimate as the pictures in his head, but fun nonetheless.

He spent most of Tuesday sleeping off the remains of a mild hangover with Sousuke, who had it way worse than him, the night leaving him a groaning, sprawled-out mess on his bed. Rin had taken the couch, happy about that since he didn’t have to worry about waking Sousuke up, and could instead just play games on mute by himself and order take-away for a late lunch.

In the evening, once Sousuke gave signs of life again, Rin went to visit his mom at the bakery. He usually always visited his family once a week, but he hadn’t been good at sticking to that lately, for obvious reasons, though not obvious to them.

The bakery was closed when he got there, which it always was after 5pm. Rin found his key, opened the door, went inside and upstairs, got the usual hearty welcome by his mom and Gou, then he helped them clean up after their dinner while Gou was grilling him for not visiting them as much.

“Be careful or someone might think you miss having me around,” Rin teased, hoping she would drop the subject.

“I’m just a bit worried,” Gou admitted, earnest, completely ignoring the teasing comment, and it hit Rin right in the chest, puncturing his heart. He knew what she meant. He knew what she was referring to, and he knew his mom was worried about the same thing. She didn’t say anything, but her expression gave it away; a silent agreement to her daughter’s honest confession and concern.

“I-” Rin began, suddenly speechless. He didn’t know what he should say, he just knew he never ever wanted to bring them back to those days ever again. He never wanted them to think that way about him, not even back when it had been true, and he definitely didn’t want them to worry that he was getting into trouble again. Then he realized he was. He was in so much shit over his head he was honestly surprised he hadn’t choked in it already. He couldn’t lie. He could deny being around drugs again, because that was true. But it would only be a half-truth if he said he wasn’t affiliated with gangs again. That wouldn’t be true. It would also be a lie to tell them they shouldn’t worry about him, or to imply that he wasn’t in danger. To even open up that conversation would only lead to lies and deceit or half-truths, and Rin couldn’t do that to them; not again. “I’m seeing someone.”

“I knew it!” Gou loudly proclaimed. “Didn’t I tell you?!”

“Gou!” Miyako tried to shush her, though sounding way too surprised by the revelation herself, as surprised as Rin felt for saying it.

“I knew you were acting weird,” Gou continued, and Rin wasn’t sure if her joy was just from being right or if she was happy for him. “I told her you probably saw someone, but she told me not to ask.”

“I wanted you to tell us when you were ready,” Miyako clarified, smiling now.

“So who is it?” Gou asked curiously.

“That’s a secret for now,” Rin secretively smiled back at both of them.

“Not fair,” Gou complained, though teasingly and with a reciprocating smile.

“I hope you can meet him soon,” Rin tried to comfort her, surprising himself by meaning it wholeheartedly. The two knew about his sexuality, so he wasn’t hiding that aspect of his relationship. He also genuinely wanted them to know what was going on, at least the positive parts of it, but he couldn’t risk them figuring out the more negative parts. He couldn’t risk saying Haru’s name, and suddenly it would lead directly to the mafia and all the trouble going on somehow.

Haru was a big figure, a rich young man often on the front page of tabloid news, for better or worse. He kept mostly to himself and never stirred up drama, so it wasn’t scandals that were spread around about him, but more just mentions and articles about his life, his looks, his style, his riches, his participations in large and exclusive events, his hotels and various other businesses, but never the most important, most intriguing, most dangerous part of him and his life. Most importantly, he was from the mafia. A dangerous rich man, born into crime, often involved in the crime showed on the news, whether directly or indirectly, but never mentioned or associated with that. Not even his father had ever been mentioned in a negative light, other than being referred to as a very strict, secretive and reclusive man. Not from what Rin could remember or had gathered, at least. But again, Rin knew the truth, and knew that even Haru’s family was dangerous as well, maybe even more than himself.

Haru, in conclusion, was everything Rin knew his family probably didn’t want for him, and while that hurt to recognize; to recognize the disappointment he might bring onto them, the joy and happiness on their faces on his behalf shining so clearly through their expressions and words and smiles, made it a little easier for Rin to keep all of that information from them.

Chapter Text

A week passed by, and Rin was growing bored. There wasn’t much in his life beyond work at the repair shop and commuting back and forth that week, and he grew a bit restless from it. There wasn’t much to do at the garage either, and it generally seemed quiet; there were much more cars just parked in the garage than there had ever been, only a handful of them were really being used that week, and they all returned without as much as a scratch or a crumb on the floor, much to Rin’s surprise. He had a sudden suspicion one day that they were being taken care of by someone else before, but he knew they really just weren’t used the same. Rin should feel relieved by that, as it meant less work for him and likely also less dangerous missions for everyone else, but something about it made him feel uneasy, though he tried to convince himself it was just from the unusualness of it.

Haru had been a lot busier than before, always off somewhere for meetings, training and even some big event which he didn’t want Rin to attend with him, since it would put him in too big a spotlight, at least that was the excuse he had run with. Rin still wasn’t allowed to return to his apartment, and with the knowledge of the gang members still roaming around freely, he himself wasn’t quite drawn to the idea of returning, and so he spent most of his days just walking around the estate by himself, naturally followed around by some bodyguard, or several of them, despite the whole area being filled with bodyguards and agents as well. Not like he would suddenly get attacked at the estate with that much surveillance and security, he always thought to himself in annoyance. He would never understand why Haru had given them such ridiculous orders. Outside the gates, sure, he had come to accept that, but inside? Ridiculous.

He had taken a liking to visiting the stables, watching the horses run around and noticing the care the people there clearly showed for them. He had never really thought much about horses, not beyond the context of horsepower, but he got to fully appreciate them just after his first proper visit that week. He had been before, of course, but he had never stuck along for long until now. Beautiful and powerful animals, indeed. He hoped one day he would learn to ride them, and realized he was closer to having the opportunity for it now than ever before. On the fifth day, he voiced that desire to Haru, who was quite surprised by it, but told him he would keep it in mind when he had more time. Haru did suggest that Rin could ask one of the workers and caretakers there, but knowing that Haru could ride horses meant Rin was far more intrigued by the idea of learning from him specifically. Still, as more days passed by, Rin eventually did ask someone else there, a woman not much older than himself, whether she had time to introduce him to some of the horses, which she said she had and proceeded to do. That was the highlight of his week, one he shared with an otherwise complete stranger.

As it was past mid fall, most of the nature around the area was dead, so there wasn’t much else to walk around and appreciate. He considered hanging out with friends, but the two first ones he had asked were too busy, including Sousuke, so he ended up just giving up and giving into the sense of abandonment and isolation he was feeling. He hadn’t even stumbled into Nagisa anywhere on the estate for almost two weeks now, which was strange. The only people he could count on being around him at that point was the agent following him around, and even that was a different person each day.

He had a sense that things were off, and he didn’t like it. Even during Saturday, on another one of Rin’s days off, Haru was too busy to pay much attention to or spend time with him, and so Rin tried to keep himself and his mind busy with the stables, the gym and exploring the mansion a bit more. In the evening he even went to bed alone, contemplating whether he should sleep in the guest room or not, not knowing whether Haru was going to join him that evening anyway. He ended up settling for the lingering scent of Haru in Haru’s bed, falling asleep partially on his side of it, too.

Late into the night, he woke up from rustling sounds, and he immediately bolted awake, instinctively feeling the need to grab a weapon, and reached out towards Haru’s pillow, knowing he usually had a gun underneath it, though not taking into account he normally placed it there after lying down, to not risk any accidents.

“It’s me,” Rin heard Haru’s voice quietly but quickly say, reassuring him upon seeing his sudden and abrupt reaction. The room was dark, but Rin hadn’t closed the curtains, so some light from the moon was shining through the windows, and as Rin’s eyes adjusted, he could see Haru’s silhouette, then more and more of him, noticing how he had began to undress himself, which had likely been the source of the noises from before.

“Fuck,” Rin breathed out. “I think I’m having a heart attack.”

“Sorry,” Haru apologized, moving closer towards the bed.

“What time is it?”

“A little past three,” Haru informed him, and finished taking off his clothes, leaving only his underwear. “Can you move a bit?”

Rin looked up at him, confused for a second or two, then realized he was now lying nearly all over Haru’s side of the bed, either having moved there in his search for a weapon, or during his sleep, unsure which was the case.

“Ah, sorry-” Rin began, then scooted over to his own side, allowing Haru to crawl into bed. Rin could smell the remains of gun powder before Haru had even lied down properly next to him.

“It’s okay,” Haru quietly reassured him.

“Where have you been?”

“Don’t worry about that,” Haru whispered. “Just go back to sleep. Sorry I woke you up.”

Rin wanted to insist on Haru telling him what was going on, but he was both too tired and he had also noticed the similarly tired tone in Haru’s voice, which filled him with a sense of guilt. No matter what had kept Haru out all night, it couldn’t have been anything good, and he shouldn’t force him to talk about it while likely exhausted.

“Are you okay?” Rin carefully and hesitantly asked.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Haru asked, and Rin knew that Haru was intentionally trying to deter him from asking any more questions; trying to pretend things were fine. He didn’t want to talk about it, for whatever reason. Whether to shelter Rin, or from distrust, Rin couldn’t be sure, but he knew it was no use arguing about it, and just tried to play along, allowing Haru to rest for now instead.

The next morning, Haru was awake before Rin, as per usual, despite having gotten to bed as late as he had. The surprising part, though, was that he was still in bed. For almost two weeks, Rin had woken up to an empty bed, so this felt brand new.

“I’ve been quite negligent of you lately,” Haru noted out loud once he had given Rin some time to wake up. “Sorry about that.”

“What’s going on?” Rin asked, risking the argument, but figuring Haru wouldn’t blame him.

“Just the usual,” Haru lightly shrugged off, then quickly changed the subject back to his original course: “I want to spend some time with you today, if you don’t have any other plans?”

“Are you going to teach me how to ride a horse?” Rin asked, propped up on one elbow to look at Haru more properly.

“I was actually thinking something else…” Haru mysteriously trailed off, pigueing Rin’s interest.

“Oh?”

“Something car related,” Haru continued.

“Like?”

“I should receive a new car today, a borrowed one. Some type of race car, I think. I figured you might want to take it out for a spin?” Haru suggested.

“What car is it?” Rin asked, suddenly very interested.

“I don’t know,” Haru shrugged, not surprising Rin the least bit.

“Hopeless as always,” Rin sighed in disappointment, making Haru give him a small smile in response.

They ate breakfast together, and Rin told Haru what he had been up to, hoping to find out what Haru himself had been up to, too, but Haru was not sharing much beyond a few more details about the event he had attended, and while it was funny to hear stories about famous people, it wasn’t what Rin had hoped Haru would tell him about.

After that, a couple of hours passed before the car did eventually arrive, revealing itself to not just be some type of race car, but a fucking McLaren F1. He thought nothing could ever top the Lamborghini Sian, but this - this absolute legend of a car was suddenly in front of him, and he felt about ready to pass out. Rin watched with bated breath and a fast heart beat, as a large group of men unloaded the white car from a large truck, taking time and care to make sure the car wouldn’t suffer the tiniest bit of damage.

Haru and some other staff members talked with a couple of the loading guys, meanwhile Rin just stood frozen in place, the exact same spot as he had stood before the trailer had opened up to reveal the car. Once the car was properly and fully unloaded, and the moving guys had all left, Haru stepped over to him again.

“What do you think?” Haru curiously asked, though he could find the answer to that question right on Rin’s shocked face.

“What the fuck, Haru?” Rin asked in disbelief. “Is this another far too grand gift from some client of yours?”

“No. I borrowed it from a business partner who bought it at an auction some time ago,” Haru explained.

“How? Why? Is this-? How?” Rin asked, stumbling over his words to try to get a grasp on reality.

“I thought you might like it,” Haru shrugged. “He was bragging so much about it, I figured there must have been something to it.”

“Do you even realize how legendary this car is?” Rin asked, already knowing that the answer to that question was a definite no. Fuck, only around a hundred of these were made back then, and now one of those was right in front of him? How was this real?

“I guess not,” Haru said, clearly not caring about the car, but very entertained by Rin’s reaction to it. To him, it was clearly just another object, nothing special. He wouldn’t be able to point it out in a crowd of cars, or even out of two cars. He wouldn’t care, even if Rin explained just how legendary the car was, and had been for so long now. Rin knew this, and it was frustrating to stand beside someone who had such little respect for cars, and yet - in the midst of that frustration and disbelief - he came to the realization that Haru hadn’t borrowed it for himself. As Haru himself had just very explicitly said, this was for him. For Rin. He had borrowed this car for Rin. Because no matter how little he cared about cars, he recognized their meaning and importance to Rin, and he sincerely wanted to indulge him in that, no matter how little he himself cared about it. Was this what it was like to feel seen? Recognized? Maybe even loved?

Rin was hesitant to even get close to the car, and if it wasn’t for his own curiosity to actually see the iconic three-seat interior up close for himself, he would have probably refused to get near it, as if he was somehow unworthy. Which, truthfully, he certainly felt. Haru had to physically push him towards the car before he dared to sit inside, right there in the middle seat.

“The seating’s strange,” Haru commented while getting in himself, in the seat to Rin’s right side.

“Do not go there,” Rin warned, not about to listen to any disrespect of this car. “It was a genius and timeless design choice, nothing you say is going to change that.”

Haru let out a chuckle at him, and Rin rolled his eyes, though he couldn’t help but smile, enjoying the sound of Haru’s quiet but soft laugh. It was too cute and innocent of a laugh for a mafia heir, and he still, even after all this time, sometimes needed to remind himself that it was real, while other times it just felt like… Haru.

Rin spent a long time getting adjusted to the seat, the steering wheel and overall the whole car. Haru had to repeatedly encourage and convince him to get moving already, slowly losing his patience. By Haru’s suggestion, they headed for the expressway, and ended up driving off it and then after some time, onto a long stretch of empty road, going on for many kilometers heading towards some mountains in the far, far distance. No cars were behind or in front of them, and it had been a while since they passed by any signs of life in general. It meant Rin had free range to test out the car’s speed and control as much as he wanted to. He got it up to almost full speed, before slowing down again, having the absolute time of his life. After a while, Haru asked him to pull over, and Rin did, needing a break from the adrenaline rush that had been pumping through his veins ever since he had first laid eyes on the car, though he would never admit to that.

“So what do you think?” Haru curiously asked, and Rin thought it was a little strange for him to have them come to a full stop just to ask that, though he didn’t let it affect him.

“It’s fucking incredible,” Rin breathed out, excitedly. “I can’t believe this is real!“

“Want to do it against the car?” Haru suddenly and very straightforwardly asked. If Rin had been drinking, he would have surely choked on it or spit it out everywhere from the shock alone. Instead he stared at him with wide eyes and confusion, unsure now whether he had heard him correctly or not, because surely, surely Haru didn’t mean that.

“What?”

“You know… have sex? Against the car,” Haru clarified, talking as if spelling it out for him while pointing at the door in a gesture for them to get out.

“Is that the only reason you borrowed this?” Rin asked in sheer disbelief.

“No,” Haru smiled, clearly amused by the idea of that. “But?”

“Why would we even...? First of, it might scratch the paint or-” Rin began to point out, ready with a list of all things that could go wrong, to the surprise of absolutely no one, but Haru quickly interrupted him.

“That’s not what I asked.”

“I don’t want to risk scratching the paint,” Rin rephrased, and he was absolutely serious. There was no way in hell he would ever want to risk damaging a car like this. Not only due to its price tag, but also due to its level of symbolic importance to Rin, and to the general car community, too. “Or dent it, or damage it, or disrespect it, or get caught, or-”

“So that’s a no?” Haru figured, but he knew Rin was dancing around saying no because no wouldn’t be the full truth to Haru’s original question.

“I-” Rin began, but paused when Haru suddenly got out of the car, and began to undress while making his way towards the front of the car. “What are you doing?!”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Haru simply and rhetorically asked, but kept walking slowly, discarding one piece of clothing after another on the ground. Rin furiously blushed as he looked all around them, checking for any kind of passerbys, like a total idiot.

“Haru!” Rin called out, and hurried out of the car and towards him, meeting him halfway. “Haru, someone might drive by and see-”

“No one’s around for miles,” Haru pointed out, as he turned sideways to Rin and slowly leaned his naked ass down against the hood of the car.

Rin’s heart almost stood still as a breath got caught in his throat, and not just from the sudden desire filling him up, but from increasingly stirring nerves for the car. Haru wasn’t wearing clothes, nothing at all, not even shoes or socks. Nothing that could scratch the paint, and Rin slowly realized this. He had nothing to be worried about, other than stains and marks that could be cleaned and polished off relatively easily. Still, though, there were risks of dents and it still felt almost disrespectful to even consider doing this. Haru’s naked ass against the car, albeit a lovely sight, also somehow felt wrong. But then Haru reached out a hand, and with his index finger motioned for Rin to come closer, alluring eyes set right on him and front teeth biting down on his lower lip before his lips purposefully parted, and all rational thought went out of Rin’s head at the speed of a bullet, as he quickly discarded his clothes and was on him as fast as he could possibly be. The car was only a little above a meter in height, which was great for blowing him off at first, but not quite as practical for much else, yet they somehow made do anyway.

Between this, the moment at the beach months ago and the night and morning in the hotel with its full view of the city and its incident with the poor, concerned employee, Rin was beginning to consider whether Haru had some sort of exhibition fetish, or if he just really liked the rush that came with the risk of getting caught or seen, or if he simply just enjoyed stirring Rin up from Rin’s fear of those same risks. Rin was admittedly terrified, but he was hopeless against Haru’s charms and wit, so what else could he do but give in to it, each and every time? After all, nothing could compare to having him twitching, squirming and bucking his hips beneath - or on top of - him, drawing out moans and whining words, begging for him or getting him to beg, no matter where they were, and no matter what risk there may be.

A couple of days later, Rin witnessed once more the consequences of criminal activities; the risks of being a bodyguard or agent underneath someone like Haru, or any employee, really. During some job or mission, several bodyguards had died during the night. Rin wasn’t sure from what - he had heard about explosions and gunshots and car crashes, but he wasn’t sure which one was true. All he knew was that several agents had been killed, and that he was once more faced with the dark reality of the life he had entered; the life of someone working for, or even just associated with Haru.

Rin had seen this before, for what felt like a long time ago. The energy on the estate made it so clear that something was wrong, just like back then. Rin knew about only a couple of more cases in between this one and the one prior, but those had happened during days where he hadn’t been at the estate to experience the aftermath of it. He wasn’t sure what to do or say, and he mostly just wanted to hide away somewhere until it was over. He wasn’t good with death, and definitely not with mourning.

He hadn’t known any of the ones who had died or gotten killed before, but this time he did. This time one of the nine people who had died was one of the guys he had gone through training with. He had forgotten his name until that point, but he had recognized his picture. He had met him during brief moments since the training phase, and had even had conversations with him several times. It was strange, and it suddenly felt like it got too close. It was easier to brush it off when he couldn’t put a face or name to the deceased. It was easier to ignore the potential that it could have been him, when there was no relation or even recognition. Now that there were, it wasn’t as easy.

Rin had asked Haru about it, and how it had happened. Apparently it was during some job Haru didn’t want to get into the details of. Some of them had died during a shoot-out, others died in an explosion in the building where the shoot-out had taken place. Only two managed to get out and survive, though one of them was put in the ICU for severe burns, and the other had broken several bones.

Rin could tell Haru was affected by it, despite how much Haru kept his usual posture and tone. There wasn’t a crack in the surface, but he could still tell it wasn’t easy for him to talk about it, and that made it obvious to Rin that he cared. He knew a part of him wanted him to care, wanted to know Haru wasn’t that indifferent towards death and life, and so he could just as easily have imagined things, but he was somehow sure that wasn’t the case.

“It feels so unnecessary,” Rin said. He knew he didn’t know the full context behind their deaths, but no matter the context, lives were lost and he was pretty sure it hadn’t been for good reasons.

“Yeah…” Haru quietly and absentmindedly agreed.

“Most of them were so young,” Rin continued, and seemed to finally get Haru’s full attention.

“I know where you’re going,” Haru observed. “Don’t.”

“What?”

“You sound like you’re about to blame me for this,” Haru noted. He didn’t sound angry, but there was definitely disapproval behind his words.

“I wasn’t,” Rin argued, then thought for a few seconds before adding: “Not you specifically, at least. I guess…”

“All of the agents and bodyguards working for me have all chosen this life for one reason or another,” Haru explained, clearly not in the mood for a fight, but also not wanting any implication that he or his work was at fault for any of their deaths. He went on to explain how some of them had a well-functioning life outside of their work there, with family and friends, but that most were essentially orphans rescued off the streets from much worse fates, at least according to Haru’s own opinion. Fates that would lead to lives of petty or severe crime, drugs and prostitution. Here they had safety, money, clothes, food, and to some extent freedom, an identity and a place where they could feel like they belonged. He insisted this wasn’t his own observation, but their words.

All of them chose willingly to be there. That was where they - Haru and his people - differed from other gangs, where people were often, if not always, forced to be a part of. Many working for Haru found the job to be outright fun and daring, and liked that in a job. Some just did it for the money. Some for the community and camaraderie. No one did it out of active force. Rin had heard this before, he knew this. Not just from Haru, but specifically from a small handful of agents he was close enough with to ask. Nagisa specifically, who had a loving family, said he enjoyed the adrenaline rushes, the social structure and ranking of the agents, and the feeling of - in his own words - being a badass, shooting guns and doing combat training without being forced to leave his home and family behind. Rin had been shocked then, but had slowly had to change his perspective of things after that. However, no matter what the agents themselves felt, it didn’t change the fact that the job was dangerous and that Haru knowingly put people’s lives in danger every day for the sake of… what, exactly?

“It may sound odd to you, but it’s not much different from the men who willingly join the military,” Haru argued. “They kill people too. Often innocent people. People here have written rights, something they often won’t find in similar work places.”

“But their work still involves drugs,” Rin found himself arguing, even if he hadn’t wanted to get into it. Whatever moral standpoint Haru had, no matter how admittedly interesting, Rin couldn’t help but always feel Haru was in the wrong, that he was biased in his view of the world and that he could never understand what it was like to be exploited. Despite all of their conversations, it was difficult to leave that perception behind.

“Some of the jobs, yes, but very far from all of them,” Haru was quick to argue back. “And how are drugs any different from oil? I’m not saying it’s okay, I’m just trying to get you to understand things aren’t always black and white. There are always more than two sides, and always more than two arguments.”

“I guess that’s true, but-”

“Rin, not today,” Haru interrupted him, and Rin was admittedly surprised by the exhaustion suddenly evident on Haru’s whole expression as well as in his voice.

“Sorry,” Rin found himself apologizing, shyly, feeling very much like he had overstepped, which he probably had. It wasn’t the time to have this sort of conversation, he reminded himself. Not now. He should have known better, and even if Haru seemed to have let go of it, it still left a sour taste in Rin’s mouth. He hadn’t meant to push him away from himself, but for some reason, he couldn’t just shut his mouth about it, or even done the considerate thing of waiting for better timing at the very least.

In the early afternoon, Haru left the estate with a long row of cars full of agents and bodyguards. Before he had left, he had explained that the employees with families he could never attend the funerals of, since he couldn’t risk getting recognized. For those, people made sure their family or friends were never left in the unknown about the passing of their loved ones, though the cause of those deaths were often changed on official papers, so as to not reveal their involvement with the mafia; to protect everyone, including the deceased’s own reputations.

The ones who didn’t have anything outside of the job and the people there, though? Haru always tried to be able to be there for those funerals, alongside employees who also wanted and had the opportunity to attend as well.

There was a memorial wall in the bodyguards’ building, a modernized shrine where people could go to pay their respect or pray for their coworkers, friends, comrades, or the strangers who were there before them. Rin didn’t attend the joint funeral. He felt intruding somehow at the idea of asking, and he wasn’t asked in return, either. So instead, he went to that wall and saw the new, framed pictures hanging there. There were a lot of pictures, all of them small, and still it took up almost the whole broad and two-story tall wall. There must have been around two hundred, if not more. Other people were gathered there as well, looking over familiar and unfamiliar faces, and Rin stood in the background, quietly, until he snuck out and returned to the mansion, trying to ignore memories of his own dad’s death, his family’s mourning and his own inability - back then, and still to this day - to exist in and with that.

Things went back to normal as the days passed and people were getting back into their regular routines. Rin had been close to going home just to escape the heavy air that clung to the grounds of the estate, and would have done so if he didn’t know how bad that would have looked, but as the fog cleared up after a couple of days, it became easier for him to be there again.

Haru was going to another one of his meetings in inner Tokyo some time after Rin got off from work, so they had made arrangement for him to pick up Rin afterwards so they could go together, since Haru needed a translator - a job which Rin had otherwise not been utilized for for quite some time now, except for that unnecessary time back at the hotel. When Rin clocked out and was about to walk down the street, he noticed an all-to-familiar person in full suit and tie, looking absolutely marvelous.

“Hi,” Rin greeted Haru as he walked closer to him.

“Hey,” Haru greeted back with a small smile.

“You picked one of the Mercedes? Again?” Rin asked in open disappointment.

“What else should I have ‘picked’?” Haru asked, putting emphasis on the word picked, making it clear that he hadn’t even considered choosing anything to begin with, and had likely just picked whatever was closest or whatever key he could find first, and thus hadn’t actually, actively picked anything at all.

“Well, you have literally dozens of cars outside of Mercedes, including-”

“Rin!” A familiar voice suddenly called out, and Rin only had a split second to recognize it as Sousuke, before a large hand grabbed his arm and pulled him backwards and away from Haru.

“Oi-!” Rin loudly complained, instinctively trying to pull his arm out of Sousuke’s grip, but to no avail, as Sousuke pulled him further away and almost behind himself.

“Is this guy bothering you?” Sousuke asked, but something about the way he phrased it made it sound less like a question and more like a statement. As if there was no way the answer could be anything but a yes. Sousuke looked ready to throw punches, and while Rin had seen him defend others before, he had never seen him like that, and he certainly wasn’t one to just get aggressive out of nowhere and completely unprompted like that. It was incredibly surreal for Rin to see and hear.

“No, he’s-” Rin tried, but realized suddenly the extreme tension in the air, and the fact that Haru had a gun in his hand, in the middle of the street, in broad daylight, the only thing saving him from getting noticed was people’s general hasty business as they passed by them, and definitely not any attempts at being discreet about it from Haru’s side at all. “Haru!” Rin hissed in shock, but got no response. “What the fuck- put that away! This is Sousuke - my friend! Remember?!”

“Yes,” Haru just said, not even sparing him a glance, but keeping his eyes on - and gun pointed directly at - Sousuke. Rin reached out the hand that wasn’t still being held back by Sousuke, and forced Haru’s gun-holding arm down, knowing fully well that if he had been anyone else, Haru wouldn’t have tolerated such a gesture.

“What the fuck are you doing?! Look around you!” Rin panickingly and confusedly demanded, as he successfully made Haru lower his gun.

“It’s been a long time,” Sousuke suddenly said, mysteriously, and Rin flung his head backwards in his direction, ready to apologize, trying to figure out how to possibly come up with some lie that could get him - them - out of this, but instead, Sousuke’s words only made that even more impossible.

“Not long enough,” Haru remarked, rather simply, as he begrudgingly placed his gun back in its holster by the hem of his pants at his lower back, though keeping his hand there, clearly ready to take it out again in a second.

“I’d prefer you took your hand out of your pants when you’re talking to me,” Sousuke rather flippantly said.

“Tough shit.”

“Haru!” Rin disapprovingly scolded, but Haru didn’t listen to him. Then, in a second attempt, he hissed: “Haru, what is wrong with you?!”

“Do you want to tell him or should I?” Haru deadpanned while staring daggers at Sousuke. Sousuke’s grip on Rin’s arm painfully tightened before he quickly let go, as if realizing he couldn’t keep holding on without hurting him; too angry to control it.

“Tell me what? What the fuck is going on?!” Rin demanded to know, looking between Haru and Sousuke.

“Your friend here is the third-in-line heir to The Deliverers, also known as the Yamazaki-gumi,” Haru said, not lessening Rin’s confusion one bit.

“Former heir,” Sousuke angrily corrected him. “I left my family’s business a long time ago.”

“Doesn’t mean you’re out,” Haru argued.

“As out as I can be,” Sousuke argued.

“Can someone explain what the fuck is happening?!” Rin demanded again, full on angry now from the level of absolute confusion he was feeling, and the sense that he was being ignored in favor of… whatever was currently happening between those two.

“He’s the youngest son of the Yamazaki-gumi’s leader, making him an heir to a rival gang of the Nanase family,” Haru finally explained.

“I’m not an heir anymore, and never was, not properly, at least,” Sousuke was quick to defend himself. “I left that life behind to pursue a normal one instead, and you know that..”

“Fixing beat up cars while taking blood money is not a normal life,” Haru scoffed.

“I don’t take shit from my family beyond occasional dinners,” Sousuke argued in a raised voice, fully offended and angry. “I earn my own money, I have my own independence, unlike you.”

“Pretending to be normal isn’t going to make you normal,” Haru objected.

“Says the little shit who would never understand, because he can’t ever try to even pretend, nor learn basic sympathy to help him along,” Sousuke provokingly spat.

“I have sympathy, just not for people like you, or the rest of your-”

“Enough!” Rin angrily yelled out, making several people around them stop and stare before continuing on with their lives. He placed himself in between Sousuke and Haru, and they both paused their bickering, but didn’t stop their intimidating glares at one another. “Will both of you just shut the fuck up! What the fuck is this?! What’s happening?”

“You’re overthinking,” Haru observantly pointed out, making Sousuke take a step forward, stepping completely into Rin’s space, which in turn very clearly made Haru’s hand around his gun tense.

“Don’t talk to him like he’s a child,” Sousuke snapped.

“Don’t fucking tell me-”

“Enough! Both of you!” Rin yelled again, louder this time. More people stopped now, for longer, clearly expecting a fight to break out any moment, and if Rin was honest, so did he. “I can’t deal with this, this is… I can’t-”

“Let’s go home,” Haru quickly said, reaching out for him, that familiar feeling of his leather glove touching his wrist briefly, before Rin flinched away, making a tiny crack in Haru’s cold, stoic demeanor, and Rin knew. He knew the crack was from him hurting Haru, but he couldn’t help it. He was too confused, too perplexed, and all he wanted was to be alone, or to wake up from whatever nightmarish scenario this was. He must have come with this whole situation in some fever dream. But he couldn’t wake up, or be alone. So instead, he found himself nodding. He wanted to get away, to cling onto something familiar right now; something that could ground him, hopefully make his heartbeat slow down and his whirlwind of thoughts stop. Maybe just a moment in peace, away from this extreme tension, could potentially help make sense of everything that had just happened.

“Rin, don’t-! Do you not know how dangerous this guy is?!” Sousuke desperately pleaded, and Rin could tell he wanted to pull him away again.

“I do,” Rin said, voice full of a surprising amount of regret and sorrow. It was true, he knew how dangerous Haru was. He couldn’t lie to Sousuke and pretend he didn’t know Haru’s occupation, his history or his life. That would be an insult to Haru, an insult to their whole relationship, and an insult to Sousuke, too. “But not to me…”

“Are you serious?” Sousuke asked in disbelief and utter confusion. He sounded appalled, too, like the mere idea of Rin being in any type of relationship with Haru, whether platonic, professional, romantic or something else entirely, was outright disgusting and repulsive to him. Rin usually wasn’t one to seek approval for his choices in partners or friends, but that hurt. It hurt a lot more than Rin had ever expected.

“I have… I need a moment to think, okay?” Rin said, this time being the one to sound desperate. He needed Sousuke to not hold a grudge if he left now. He needed him to be patient and understanding. He needed to find his footing first before he could talk to Sousuke; ask him questions and make sense of what had just happened. But Sousuke didn’t respond, and the look of disapproval made Rin increasingly uncomfortable. “I’ll… I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

Sousuke kept that disbelieved and disapproving look at Rin as he and Haru made their way towards the car parked further down the street. Rin was glad they were going the other way, as he wasn’t sure he could drive past Sousuke without stopping the car. He sent him a last apologetic look before he got into the driver’s seat, ignoring Haru’s offer to drive, and Haru’s suggestion that Rin might not be able to drive in the state he was in. Even if he was near death, he would still drive better than Haru, which, in another moment than this, would have been an amusing thought to him, but now the thought just passed by him, like he was standing on a platform, watching trains drive by, waiting for his turn to finally get out, to finally get away from the mess that was his brain right now.

It was silent between them for a long time, with Haru only checking up on him once before going quiet again. Haru kept his eyes on him the whole time, though, and only took them off of him to quickly type something out on his phone. Only once they got off the expressway and reached the long stretch of empty road through the forest, heading towards the estate, did Rin speak up, asking Haru to clarify that what just happened, had in fact happened.

Haru explained everything again, creating and untangling a string out of Rin’s thoughts, and then added even more information on top of it, stuff that Rin didn’t want to know.

Sousuke was the son of a major gangster. The Yamazaki-gumi had around 500 members spreading across the country and even a few members in America, and they had been at war with Haru’s father several times in the past, and were always at odds with every other organization and family. They always tried to get in the way of other gangs’ and the mafia’s weapon export, and were huge within the drug market, trying to get a hold of the main market of the biggest districts in Japan, and now some American cities as well, ones that Haru’s father currently controlled and had done so for decades. Their main method was theft; they always tried to get to their competitors’ products and steal them to sell it themselves.

Sousuke was the youngest brother of three, so he never had that many, if any, responsibilities within the organization, which allowed him to pursue his interest, including becoming a mechanic. Haru had met them a couple of times when he was a kid. Their fathers sometimes held meetings with each other, which were mostly full of threats; Sousuke’s father trying to cut a deal with Haru’s father, and Haru’s father refusing. Haru had been brought along so his father could teach him his ways. The same went for Sousuke, his brothers and his father. It was very customary, Haru noted.

Rin had met Sousuke’s two big brothers and had found them both to appear completely normal. They had even worn completely regular, casual clothes, but maybe that was on purpose, so that Rin would have never even imagined anything like this. Sousuke did often buy them rounds when they were out, and he rarely ever spoke of his family, but Rin never in a million years would’ve guessed it was because he was from a gangster family, a minor mafia family, even. Rin had never met his dad, but he had seen him in pictures around Sousuke’s apartment, standing proudly and well-dressed, but never once giving Rin the impression of a literal mobster.

“Wait, what about your meeting?” Rin suddenly realized once they parked in front of the garage.

“I cancelled it,” Haru quickly reassured him. “It doesn’t matter. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“No,” Rin admitted. ”I think I’m going to go lie down for a while…”

“Want me to go with you?” Haru asked, and Rin knew he would have gone with him, if he had said yes. But Rin didn’t. Instead he just looked at him, not sure how to respond, but Haru must have seen something in his expression regardless, his lips turning into a straight line as he nodded. “I’ll be in the office, then… I won’t come to bed late.”

“I think I’ll sleep in the guest room tonight,” Rin said, and looked away, to avoid seeing any potential hurt in Haru’s expression or eyes. He began walking towards the estate, and he didn’t hear Haru walking after him, and while Haru was quiet, Rin didn’t feel him either, and he wasn’t behind him when he closed the door to the mansion after getting inside, nor did Rin hear the door open or close again. The only sign of Haru there had been for the rest of the evening was in the gesture of the housemaid knocking on the door to bring some dinner up for him. Rin lay awake in the evening, thinking about everything that had happened, and mostly unknowingly listening for the sound of Haru’s bedroom door, but he fell asleep before hearing it, and right before he drifted off, he wondered whether Haru had fallen asleep in his study or if he had even come to the mansion at all.

The next day, Rin managed to get up and get ready to go to work, as if nothing had happened. Thought something had happened. A big something. He was sitting in the kitchen, eating breakfast before leaving, when Haru came down the stairs and quietly sat down next to him. For a brief moment, Rin wondered where he had come from. His room, his study or some other room? Did he get home late? Or was he there the whole time last night? Rin wanted to ask, but he didn’t.

“Now you know why I didn’t want you to see him,” Haru quietly said. Rin looked at him, a sudden rush of annoyance hitting him, and he put down his chopsticks. Really? This early in the morning? Not even a greeting first?

“What? Because he’s apparently from a family of criminals?” Rin asked, sounding as annoyed as he was starting to feel. “That’s rich coming from you.”

“No, because he’s from a rival gang,” Haru argued. “His father has-”

“I’ve known him longer than you. He’s like a brother to me,” Rin interrupted. “I’m not going to stop seeing him because your families have some sort of quarrel going on, especially not since he’s not a part of it.”

“I’m not asking, Rin,” Haru stated, coldly, and that was enough for Rin to look at him in complete anger rather than just mere annoyance. He immediately got up from his chair, discarded his food, and left without further word. He didn’t even react when Haru called out for him.

That workday was tense. Rin avoided Sousuke most of the day, and tried to ignore the feeling of being watched by him. It pissed him off even more, and made him feel guilty at the same time. He didn’t sit down with the others during breaktime to avoid him too, which only confused the others further and had them continuously ask him whether he was fine or not. Shortly after their lunch break, though, Rin’s phone rang, and Rin picked it up when he saw it was Gou calling.

It was with a clenched fist that he listened to his little sister crying on the other end, telling him that a group of men had come in and looked for him, threatening her and their mom as well as the two employees working there. Rin instantly drew the connection in his head. It was the men from his apartment. It had to be. As soon as the call ended, he went and talked to Sasabe, told him what had happened without too many details, sprinkling in a lie that he wasn’t actually sure what had happened, but that it was probably an attempted robbery. Sasabe allowed him to leave early, and so he went to his family to comfort them and reassure them that everything was fine, that it was probably an angry customer of his trying to intimidate him about some repair bill, or something.

In the evening, he went to his own apartment. He wasn’t sure how he managed to be able to do it, but he was certain anger played a huge part in it. He also knew he had left the first gun Haru had given him behind, stashed away underneath a magazine in his nightstand, glad that it was still there when he went to look for it first thing after walking through the front door. He kept it on him as he prepared dinner - which was just instant noodles, since he didn’t have anything else from not living there for so many weeks (was it over a month already? Rin couldn’t keep track of time, but he figured it didn’t matter much now anyway), and the non-canned, non-instant-stuff he did have was mostly things that had grown stale or rotten.

He sat in silence in his living room for a while, listening to every sound around him while the TV was playing on mute, showing some random show Rin didn’t care about, but which he kept on to try to fill out the emptiness, a vague attempt at easing his nerves.

It was around eight when a couple of knocks sounded against his door. All the hairs on Rin’s body stood up, and it took the very last grip on his anger for him to get up and walk with very slow steps towards his door, gun in hand, pointed in the direction of the door. He hadn’t made it into his entrance, though, but kept standing right before it, around the corner into his living room, too afraid that a round of bullets was going to come through at any moment.

“It’s me,” a familiar voice quietly called out behind the door. Rin didn’t lower his gun as he slowly stepped forward to open the door, keeping the chain lock in. Haru was about to take a step forward, but was clearly surprised by Rin not opening it fully. It was only a split second though, before realization passed by him and he instead looked at Rin in that analyzing way, contemplating his options and what to say or do next. “Rin, open the door.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean ‘why’?” Haru asked in confusion.

“I don’t want to see you right now,” Rin said, honestly, and only seemed to confuse Haru further, or make him more impatient with him.

“Rin, open the door unless you want me to kick it in, or for your neighbors to hear me yell at you,” Haru demanded, sounding angry all of the sudden. Definitely more impatient. Rin rolled his eyes and opened the door, and Haru stepped inside, closing it behind him while looking down at the gun in Rin’s hand. “I clearly don’t need to remind you why you shouldn’t be here alone.”

“I want to be alone.”

“Here? Seriously? I know you’re angry about Sousuke, but-”

“It’s not about him!” Rin found himself yelling, and while Haru’s posture didn’t change, his expression clearly revealed his surprise.

“If you’re angry at me, that’s fine, but you don’t have to-”

“My family got threatened today!” Rin interrupted, still yelling, more angrily this time. Haru looked at him in silence for a few seconds, taking in the clearly-new-to-him information.

“I’m sorry to hear that, but why are you angry at me? I didn’t threaten them,” Haru confusedly argued, only angering Rin even more.

“Of course I’m fucking angry at you!”

“It’s-”

“I should have never helped you!” Rin shouted, catching Haru off guard so much that his eyes slightly widened, briefly, before he managed to regain his composure again. “I wish I had never met you!”

“I warned you about this before you said yes,” Haru reasoned.

“Fuck you! This is all your fault!” Rin angrily accused, meanwhile Haru just stood still, far too calm and composed for the situation, and it was entirely infuriating, only fueling his anger more and more.

“Can you calm down for one minute so we can have a proper conversation about this?”

“Can I- Are you fucking serious?!” Rin mocked. “My mom and sister got threatened today! At their work! Their home!”

“Yes, but-”

“Leave,” Rin angrily demanded. “Just fucking leave! Leave me alone!”

“You’re kicking me out?”

“What the fuck else does it sound like I’m doing?!”

“I’m still your boss,” Haru tried to reason, grasping at straws that could appeal to Rin’s logic, and it was clear by his expression that he knew as much as Rin that he should not have said that. Saying that was cowardice, and wrong. It was true, sure, to some extent, but it was wrong. Saying that meant that the fight was already over before it even properly began, leaving absolutely no winners behind. Saying that diminished every aspect of their whole relationship. Saying that was the single worst thing to possibly come out of Haru’s mouth at that moment, and the look they briefly shared showed they both knew that.

“You did not fucking pull that rank shit, I swear to god,” Rin cursed in disbelieved anger, then turned around to leave, heading somewhere - anywhere that wasn’t that fucking entrance.

“Where are you going?” Haru asked, clearly about to follow after him.

“Somewhere where you’re not!” Rin shouted.

“Rin!” Haru called out, uncharacteristically raw, and Rin stopped in the middle of his living room and turned around to look at him. He saw a plea in Haru’s eyes; regret, guilt, but his lips were as stiff as ever, unbelievably collected and composure seemingly unaffected. No more words came out of Haru’s mouth, and Rin just continued to stare at him, waiting for him to say something, but nothing more was said.

“I’m not even worth a fucking apology, am I?” Rin asked, unable to hide his own hurt. An apology was all it would take, Rin knew that. He was too far gone to withstand the power of something as silly as the simple word sorry coming from Haru’s lips, even in a moment like that. He would still be angry, but he would give in, he would allow him to exist within his own space, he would be able to forgive him. The act of admitting he was wrong; the implication that Rin meant more to him than Haru’s own pride and status, that was all it would take. But nothing came, and after staring into those all-too-familiar dark blue eyes, searching for whatever was going on behind them in that mind of Haru’s, he turned back around and left through his bedroom door, slamming it behind him and waiting for the sound of the front door to open and close. He was pretty sure at least ten minutes passed before the sound did eventually reach his ears, and surprisingly enough, he found that some sense of hope he hadn’t realized he had been holding onto, shattered right there in the palms of his hands the instant he registered the sound.

The next day was a haze. He had to get up for work with barely any sleep, trying to pretend nothing had happened, again, but being unable to. Luckily for him it correlated with the day prior, making everyone assume it was just the lie of an attempted robbery that was putting him off. Sousuke’s knowing look made his blood boil, though. He wasn’t sure if Sousuke was trying to convey to him that he knew Rin’s cover-up story was bullshit or if he knew about his fight with Haru. Whatever it was, it was unsettling, and aggravating.

During his lunch break, Rin got a call from an unknown, hidden number. At first he ignored it, assuming it was something irrelevant, but then it kept calling, so he hesitantly left the break room to pick it up. He walked through the door and was about to walk through the loading bay area, when he stopped mid-movement at the sound of an all-too-familiar voice.

“Can we talk?” Haru asked on the other end of the line. Rin had purposefully left his work phone in the corner of his bedroom where he had thrown it the previous night. He never in a million years would have thought Haru would ever go against his own safety protocols to contact him on his private phone, even in a situation like this. He had half expected him to show up at his work, demanding to talk, but not this. Not Haru reaching out to him like this, and not the hesitancy in his voice, as if he was nervous about the response he was about to get.

“I don’t have anything to say,” Rin said, and continued to walk, trying to get out of earshot of any and everyone.

“There’s an agent outside waiting for you to get off work.”

“Then tell him to fuck off,” Rin was quick to say.

“No,” Haru refused. Rin was surprised by the tone in Haru’s voice. He sounded annoyed, sure, but also persisting in a way Rin hadn’t heard before. Rin didn’t want to let go of his own pride and just give in, so instead he simply hung up the phone, but he already knew that at the end of his shift, he would be sitting in a Mercedes with some random, silent agent, heading for the one place he didn’t want to be at right now, if anything then just out of curiosity for why Haru had called him. He also still had all of his things there, he pointed out to himself.

When the car parked by the garage and Rin got out, he was only a little disappointed by the fact that Haru wasn’t there to greet him. Instead, the agent bowed politely to him, and he was left to himself. He decided to walk towards the mansion. If Haru wasn’t going to come talk to him, he might as well just pack his shit and leave. But Haru did meet him, only halfway, walking towards him, coming from the direction of the mansion. Rin had to take a moment to steady himself after noticing him, before he was able to continue to walk. They ended up beneath a tree, its few brown and yellow leaves left blowing past them with the fall wind. They were standing in front of each other, two metres or more of physical space between them. Mentally, it felt like far more than that.

“You came,” Haru finally said.

“I’m just getting my things,” Rin dismissed, though he knew that wasn’t true. That wasn’t the reason why he had gotten into that car. That wasn’t the reason why he was there. It wasn’t.

Haru took a step to the side, as if to gesture for Rin to go on, which Rin did after a couple of seconds of just looking at him. Haru followed behind him, though keeping his distance. Rin went up first to Haru's room and bathroom, grabbing whatever items he had spread around - anything from the contents of the dresser Haru had cleared for him and discarded, stained clothes on the floor, to soap bottles and even his toothbrush, then went into the guest room and meticulously began to pack his bags with his back turned to the door where he could sense Haru lingering. When he couldn’t close the zipper on the last bag, the frustration from that was the last straw, and he bent forward a bit, trying to steady himself. He could feel Haru watching him, and he wanted him to leave him alone, and he wanted anything but for him to leave him alone.

“I wish I had just left,” Rin said, voice a bit shaky from the breath he took in another attempt to steady himself. “That first time I even got here I should’ve just left.”

“You’re still here,” Haruka commented, voice almost sounding detached; foreign to Rin. It was more indifferent than the voice he talked to clients with. “So I doubt you’ve hated it as much as you try to pretend to.”

“It’s not like I had a choice,” Rin said, and turned halfway around to look at Haru, hurt to see the amount of indifference not just audible, but apparently also visible from him.

“We all have choices. I’m not holding you back. I’m not forcing you to do anything. I never have,” Haru kept arguing. “Sure I gave you orders, but you still have free will as to whether you’re going to follow them or not.”

“But I can’t leave. You’ve said that before,” Rin argued. He didn’t like this version of Haru. He didn’t like it at all. He would much rather have a shouting match with him than this. Hell, he would even take a fistfight, which he knew he would lose, over this lack of passion and emotions.

“Not fully, no,” Haru confirmed. “You know too much, unfortunately. It would be unwise of me to just… set you free.”

“What if I want to be free?”

“We all want to be free,” Haru said, and Rin remembered all the times Haru had expressed that very desire - to leave his life and start a new one somewhere else. To get away from his father, to take off the target from his back that was so attached to him, to get away from everything and everyone. “But we can’t.”

“So you’re going to keep me… like a pet?” Rin said, turning around fully. It wasn’t a question. Just an observation, or perhaps a realization.

“I’ll allow you a week off from any and all of your duties. The cars can wait until you return,” Haru stated. “Again, I won’t force you to do anything. If you don’t want to be near me, that’s fine. I promise when you get back, I’ll let you fix the cars in peace and find someone else to drive me.”

But Rin didn’t want that. He didn’t. It wasn’t reassuring and it didn’t help ease the pain that was slowly drowning out his anger, not at all.

“Did I ever mean anything at all to you?” Rin asked, voice not hiding much of that pain, nor the betrayal and hurt he was feeling as well.

“Yes,” Haru whispered, and it sounded different, and there was a tiny glint in his eyes, a glimpse of hurt, but Rin couldn’t be sure he wasn’t just imagining things that could lessen his own growing despair.

“Just not enough,” Rin mumbled and turned away. He didn’t hear a no, so he assumed he guessed correctly. He didn’t hear a no, but he also didn’t notice the horror in Haru’s eyes as he picked up his bags and walked past him out of the door.

Rin went back to his apartment, asking a random agent to drive him back. The agent left after dropping him off, but he knew he was being watched, although he could tell it was from afar. Haru made sure to keep his promise of leaving him alone, but without compromising his safety. He couldn’t help but feel a little comforted by the thought, though he was still nauseous by the extreme emotional turmoil he was going through. Anger, hurt, regret, betrayal, stubbornness, and so many other feelings that all left him a curled-up mess on his bed, cursing everything and everyone, above all himself.

The next day, he went to work, body aching and eyes still showing the remnants of crying. He didn’t want to be there, and the only thing that even got him through the day was to try to disconnect himself from reality. A part of him had expected Haru to be there, to show up or contact him somehow, but he didn’t. Not even during the weekend did Rin hear anything from him, or when he got back to work on Monday, continuing to pretend he wasn’t going through a horrible time, and pretend that he wasn’t coming down from one of the worst and most depressing weekends in so long he couldn’t even properly remember when he had last felt that bad.

Surprisingly and horrible enough, a whole week passed with still no word from Haru or any of his men. Not even the sight of a Mercedes or some suited-up bodyguard. Nothing. Haru kept his word. Still, that first week passed by and then a day, and then another day. Rin found himself waiting, expecting to get picked up or called for any second, but he wasn’t. Even the sensation of being watched, although unfading, stopped being comforting to him, and started to make him annoyed again. Haru had given him a week, and that week was up. What was he waiting for? Did he expect Rin to be the first to reach out? Fuck no.

Two weeks passed with no sign of Haru, and Rin was growing more and more on edge by that. He didn’t like it. This much time hadn’t passed between them seeing each other since the very beginning. For half a year they had been glued together as much as possible, and for it to suddenly just stop made Rin feel empty, but not just the usual heartbreak way - no, it felt like he had been hooked on a drug that was suddenly taken from him and he craved it so badly. He had his pride, sure, but what did it matter? He wanted to see Haru. He wanted to touch him or yell at him or cry on his shoulder or tell him to go fuck himself. He wanted to punch him and he wanted to be held by him. He wanted to throw out his work phone, break it apart so Haru couldn’t contact him, and he wanted to call him, text him, or go to him.

He didn’t do that, though. He just tried to keep on living and pretend like his life didn’t feel as if it was falling apart. He didn’t want to hang out with his friends. He didn’t want to go out with his coworkers, and he could tell they all thought he and Sousuke had fought; he had heard them whispering along the corners, hopeful comments about they’ll probably make up soon again. Sousuke had likely been pestered about it so much at that point that he likely assumed that was why Rin continued to avoid him, too. But that wasn’t it. He genuinely wanted to talk to him about that day and make sense of it all, but now he couldn’t because it would mean talking about Haru.

He wasn’t visiting his family either. He wanted to. He knew he needed to. He briefly stopped by regularly, but never properly visited. Nothing more than brief drop-ins during the bakery’s opening hours. He didn’t want them to ask about his relationship, which he had been an idiot for ever revealing to them. He didn’t want to tell them it wasn’t working out. Shit, he couldn’t even admit it to himself. He could barely even believe it. They had fought before, many times, but this time was different and Rin couldn’t understand why, he just knew that it was.

He didn’t go out drinking, but he still drank. A lot. Especially during the third weekend. Friday ended with him drunk, clinging to his duvet while sobbing. Saturday was different - Saturday he ended up absolutely wasted, purposefully having dried out his phone’s battery beforehand, to try to prevent himself from doing something stupid. He luckily just woke up with a heavy hangover, headache piercing through his skull. It was nice though. For once, his head was quiet, too focused on the pain to send him down its usual spiral.

The hangover didn’t pass by Monday morning, and so he called in sick, pretending to have a cold, but he knew the sickness and symptoms he felt was probably the sake bottle or two he had downed the day before to keep himself in his sedated state. To call in sick made him realize he couldn’t continue like that. He owed it to Sasabe to get a grip. And so after wallowing in sorrow for the whole day, he got up, took a dreadful shower, then headed out of his apartment and down towards the nearest corner store, with his hoodie covering his head and heavy footsteps, letting the late-evening nightlife pass him by.

As he had gotten out of the store, with various medicine, water bottles and a few more quick meals to stock up with, and walked barely ten meters, passing a corner, his vision suddenly turned dark. He instinctively dropped the plastic bags in his hands and tried to remove whatever had been pulled over his head, but he barely had time to make any attempts, before he felt a sudden, sharp pain by his temple, then lost consciousness.

He woke up again, unsure of how much time had passed. Nothing was covering his vision, except for the beginning of tears, as if his eyes were dry or tired, so he blinked a few times, un-blurrying his vision, and he slowly tried to take in his surroundings, realizing at the very same time that he couldn’t move. He felt something touching him - someone, a hand, and another one. Someone was grabbing his legs.

“No,” he mumbled, feeling exhausted and in pain. He wanted to yell, but he simply had no energy to do so.

What little he managed to register of the room, gave him the impression of something taken out of a crime show. It looked like a warehouse. Was he going to die in a warehouse? He looked down and saw a tall, broad man above him, grabbing his legs.

“Stop,” he tried to yell, but it only came out in a desperate whisper. He gained more and more consciousness, and tried to fight back, but his body was so heavy, he couldn’t. It felt worse than exhaustion, worse than being hungover. The room was spinning a bit, and his head was throbbing with pain. He noticed more men in the room. They were talking and laughing, but Rin couldn’t make out their words. He realized then that his hands were tied. Was it handcuffs? Duck tape? He couldn’t tell. He couldn’t move his head enough to check. The man on top of him grabbed him roughly, and pulled at him, and Rin realized he was getting dragged across the concrete floor. The sensations through his body were too much, too strange, and he finally figured out the cause of his current disorientation and lack of control of his own body. He had been drugged, hadn’t he? He tried to remember what had happened, how he had gotten there, but he couldn’t. Did he get hit? He wasn’t sure, but it felt like it. He couldn’t even remember what he had been doing prior to being where he was - where was he? How much time has passed? What was happening? Why him?

A storage facility. It seemed. A warehouse. Big, it felt big. He was facing the ceiling, he knew this, but it was so far away he could barely tell. Everything was spinning around, worse and worse. He turned his head, and the spinning only got worse. White square packages the size of bricks. Tools. Concrete floor. One man. Two men. A metallic smell, gunpowder hanging in the air and - chemicals? Four. Six. Weapons, he definitely saw glimpses of weapons - guns and knives, maybe something else. It was cold, he didn’t feel this, but he somehow still knew. Maybe his teeth were chattering without him realizing, but his brain had managed to pick it up regardless? Maybe it was just an idea in his head. Maybe it just felt fitting to the situation. Ten men. More, probably, maybe less, it was hard to count when everything was spinning and everyone seemed to be moving. He couldn’t make out any of their faces, only silhouettes and fragments of ragged-looking clothes. Noise. His head had hurt a lot, but now the back of his head also hurt. Not as much, but the feeling was there. Actually, the back of his arms hurt, too. Was it from being dragged? Or was it just his imagination?

He was being forcefully lifted off from the floor and thrown down onto a chair. He barely felt the impact, but he felt the brief moment of levitation and big hands grabbing on tightly around his arms. Too big, and too tight. What chair? He didn’t know. Could be any chair. Could even just be a pile of boxes for all he knew. But he sat against something, and he was pretty sure he was in the process of being tied to it, as he felt himself slip out of consciousness again. The last thing he felt was the sudden panic at the sensation of his pants being removed.

Chapter Text

As usual, Haru woke up before the sun. And as usual, there was a part of him, usually not that strong anymore, but still lingering, that wished he hadn’t. Though the past half a year or more, it had faded so much that he barely felt it at all. But for the past two days, the feeling came back. Worse than it had been in so long. He laid in bed for a while, listening as the world outside slowly woke up, birds chirping and distant sounds of people roaming around, cars driving in and out of the gate. It was quiet, so quiet in fact, that Haru was almost sure he could hear the old antique clock ticking all the way from his study further down the hall.

He was supposed to go over some documents to approve or reject them by ten for a big shipment deal across several companies, but by nine he was still in bed, lying there and ignoring phone calls he knew were coming in, but he didn’t hear or see. One of the housemaids had come by to check on him, once to check if he was okay, then again to ask if he wanted breakfast brought up. Both were a definite no, but he only replied honestly the second time.

He wanted to stay still and rot away, and he wanted to get up and go scream into the mountains until he would lose his voice. He had never had a sick day in his life - at the rare occurrence that he did get sick, he would always perform his duties until he was ready to pass out. More than once he had had to throw up during a meeting or a job, then carry on as usual, pretending like he had just eaten something bad. It was the number one rule he had to follow: never show your weaknesses. Never.

Somehow, that mantra ran through his head over and over again, choking him and taunting him until he couldn’t bear it anymore. It was the irony of it, and the tragic acknowledgement that he should have known.

A little before ten, he finally got up. Not because he wanted to, but simply because if he stayed any longer, he would have pissed himself, to be frank. He walked with heavy steps, his body feeling a mixture of exhaust and filling up with an emotion he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

He peed, then went to wash his hands, letting his body run on autopilot. Like he had done since two nights ago. The less he lived through himself and simply just existed, the easier it was. The more passive, the less impact things would have on him. The less he allowed himself to feel, the less things hurt. He had always known this.

He stood still and watched the water run as he replayed the past few days in his head. He hadn’t allowed himself to think much about it; had managed to suppress it so intensely, he was surprised how easy it had almost been. Until now. Now it overflowed, probably worse than if he hadn’t pushed it down to begin with. It exploded. He exploded. Like putting a balloon underneath a running tap and keeping it there until it broke, or placing a bucket underneath a hole in the roof. It’s eventually going to spill and leave a mess.

First it was a wave of hurt. His eyes widened as realization came through. It wasn’t just any fight. It was final. It was the final one, the one you can’t come back from. They had come back from it so many times before - Haru had somehow been able to lure him back each time they had a disagreement of any kind. But this was so much worse than that. He had tried to brush it off; tried to pretend that it would all be solved and pass by. A good night’s rest and sleep was all they needed, then everything would go back to normal. But that night - that terrible night’s unrest and lack of sleep - hadn’t done shit. He had woken up alone. No texts, no call, nothing, not from the only person he had wanted it from, anyway. Another night and still the same nothingness.

He felt despair. It came crumbling in, as he shut off the water and put both hands on the sink, holding on tightly, as if bracing himself for the impact he knew was coming. He had let his guard down, and the feelings were coming in. He had let his guard down, and Rin had come into his life, with much the same intensity. He knew better than to let his guard down. He knew better than this.

He heard those words again.

I wish I had never met you. I wish I had just left.

As you should have, Haru thought to himself, his vision getting blurred. This was new. He felt his eyes and cheeks heating up slowly, and it was such a foreign, unwanted sensation.

Did I ever mean anything at all to you?

Everything. You meant everything. Mean. Haru looked up into the mirror above the sink. He saw the tear slowly creep down his cheek before he felt it. He couldn’t remember the last time he had shed a tear from anything beyond dust and damage, anything practical and not emotional. He must have been a kid. He felt confusion arising, then shame. His jaw began to shake, then tense up.

This is all your fault.

What have I done? Haru thought, as he clenched his fist and looked down into the sink, drops of water slowly making their way down towards the drain. The severity of the situation hit all at once, he felt it, it was getting increasingly hard to breathe. At first he wondered whether Rin might have overreacted, but he quickly shot that thought down. He hadn’t. Haru had pushed him away. He had been for a while now, he realized. Maybe from the beginning.

If he had only done more, said the right thing, given Rin what he needed, been better, been more, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. Maybe he would have woken up to that endearing light snore, the ruffled bed hair, the horrible morning breath and those attractive, sleepy eyes and the even more attractive, raspy morning voice. Maybe the bed wouldn’t have been empty, for all the wrong reasons.

Maybe Rin’s toothbrush would have still been there, placed in the cup by the sink. Maybe he would have had someone to wait for. Someone to live for. If he had just been a better man, a different man, everything would be different too, everything would have been better. Maybe if his life was different, more normal. He would have been more deserving, more grateful, more open, more loving, more devoted. More willing to show the extent of his devotion, less hesitant to let people in, to feel his emotions and to do and act like he wanted to.

Maybe if he had never met him, as Rin so clearly wished, things would have been different too. He wouldn’t have to go through this, wouldn’t be this useless wreck, wouldn’t feel these feelings, this despair, these horrible empty feelings. If he had only let Rin be. Rin wouldn’t be targeted, he wouldn’t have been stained with Haru’s ill fate, his life and himself. Rin would have been better, he would have continued to be free, to be loved, to be him. Instead Haru had taken it all away. Like a child, playing too roughly with their toy until it breaks. A toy that can’t be fixed. Maybe Haru was the toy? Maybe he’s the one that can’t be fixed. Maybe he was the one who got played, after all?

If only he hadn’t opened up. If only he hadn’t allowed Rin inside. If only he hadn’t been vulnerable with him, if only he hadn’t loved him.

But he did. He loved him so much it hurt.

It hurt before, and it hurt even more now, standing there, holding onto the sink as if it was his sole and only lifeline. Like he had held onto Rin for months. He couldn’t do that anymore.

A part of him hoped it would pass, that things could be mended between him, but he knew that was only wistful hope. Rin couldn’t love him the way he loved Rin. Maybe Rin truly had wanted to love him, but what was there to love, really? A shell, Haru thought. A mere shell of a man, who had lived out a whole life that wasn’t his own, followed a path drawn up by someone else, followed rules he hadn’t agreed upon, done things he didn’t want to do, lived by words that weren’t his own. He wasn’t a man at all. He was just a puppet, and no one can love a puppet. Haru was something unloveable. Unworthy. Incomplete. Now, even more so than before.

He had truly, wholly, fucked things up. He was truly, and wholly fucked up. Good riddance Rin got away, but if only he had done so sooner. It would have been best for both of them if, indeed, they hadn’t even met. Maybe then, Haru wouldn’t feel this much pain inside. If only-

A broken sob escaped Haru’s mouth, and it was so completely unexpected that he raised his head, and was met by the sight of his reflection staring wide-eyed back at him, eyes red, face flushed and stained with wet lines down his cheeks. He gritted his teeth. Who was that person? It couldn’t be him. It couldn’t. He had never looked like that before.

A whirlwind of memories filled his head, all the good times shared with Rin, all Haru’s personal, favorite highlights. They slowly became stained with Haru’s self depreciation trying to convince him none of it was real; that he had been looking at things with rose tinted glasses, biased, in love too deeply to be able to grasp reality. Lies. Liar. But it wasn’t true, none of it was a lie. He had loved Rin, he loved Rin, that was all that mattered, wasn’t it? More memories, more thoughts, he could barely keep a hold of himself, and before he realized it, he snapped, clenched fist meeting his own unrecognizable self-reflection in the mirror, breaking it, long cracks coming out from the point of impact and tiny shards dripping down from that same point, right where Haru’s fist was still placed.

He blinked once. It felt much needed, his thoughts quieting down for a brief moment before inevitably continuing. He slowly moved his fist out of the mirror, a few of the shards indebbed in his knuckles, the skin torn several places, even where there wasn’t glass remains. Lines of his own blood were dripping down the mirror from where his hand had been. It didn’t hurt, but he knew logically that it was just adrenaline keeping him from feeling it for a while, but as he took out one shard after another, the pain didn’t arise, not even a little bit. It was like he was numb, in more ways than one.

Ogawa - Yuna Ogawa, Haru’s oldest-lasting housemaid that had stuck around since he was a small kid - came rushing upstairs, having likely hurt the loud noises. She called for Haru, demanding to know what was going on, and let herself in when Haru didn’t respond.

Haru kept looking at the broken mirror. His hand was bruised and still bleeding. Ogawa wanted him to go to the on-ground doctor, but he refused, and so, stubborn and motherly as ever, she quickly found the first-aid kit in the cabinets underneath the sink, dragged him away from the mirror and bandaged his hand, after making sure there was no more glass left in the wounds and washing it thoroughly. He didn’t want the bandage, but she insisted. He didn’t even want her to clean the wound, or do anything at all. He didn’t want her care. She wanted him to talk to her, but when he refused, she sighed, knowing him too well. She gave up. Just like Rin had given up. He was a lost cause, anyone would eventually realize this.

The pain slowly began to arrive, but it wasn’t intense and it was easy for Haru’s internal pain to overshadow it. Ogawa kept a watchful eye on him, and kept checking in on him. All his attempts at pushing her away only made her push back harder. She was too used to him. He almost felt bad for her, if he wasn’t so busy feeling bad for himself.

The following weeks were horrible. As good as he was at keeping up appearances, as bad he ended up being at keeping it together by the end of each day, when he was all alone. He would busy himself with work, drown himself in one job after another, one task after another, one meeting after another. He found things to do he normally wouldn’t, performed workloads that were often given to others to save himself time. He worked from when he woke up until he eventually had to go to sleep. Sometimes he slept on the couch in his office just to lessen the time between keeping his mind occupied and having to give into sleep. The less time his mind had to wander, the better.

His employees became more and more concerned, he could tell. He could hide it from outsiders, but the ones within the walls could tell he was losing it, especially compared to how he was acting mere days ago. He appeared fine, but his behavior and habits were still off enough for them to notice. With Rin no longer being around, it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out something had happened, even without the rumors Haru was well-aware was spreading around.

His overly busy daily routine was just a mask covering up the real issue. Everything he did were mere distractions. It didn’t matter what he was doing. Every person he met or talked to was there to distract him, unknowingly to them, but Haru became increasingly aware of it himself. Every spreadsheet he looked at, every document, every file, every plan, every idea, every number he read, every phone conversation he had, every sound he listened to - it was all just distractions from his own thoughts; a futile and desperate attempt to drown out his sorrow with numbness.

He started smoking. He hadn’t done that since before his father had moved to America. It was a bad habit that his father had created for him; pressed him into doing many, many years ago. Once his father had left, the forced habit went away with him and he hadn’t touched a single cigarette since. He wasn’t even sure where he had gotten the package from, he just knew he needed it to ease his nerves. It started out with one, but as the first week passed by, it got worse. He drank coffee despite not liking it much. It was too bitter for him. But he needed to stay awake and alert for the files, the meetings and the jobs, despite the lack of sleep he was getting. It usually wasn’t much anyway, but it had increased after he began to not sleep alone, when someone was there with him. Now that he didn’t have anyone by his side, he was lucky if he got more than three hours. Usually he got a few more hours when he slept in the office, as the emptiness and loneliness wasn’t as loud there. Or maybe it just fit the room more; he was more used to it there.

He was falling apart. He was very aware of this. He couldn’t believe himself for allowing it to get this far. Not their relationship, but definitely not his reaction to the ending of it. It felt like it would be his downfall. He had only known Rin for, what? Nine months, maybe? Nine perfectly imperfect months with ups and downs, fun, annoyance, new and more positive habits, and company. Nine months with love - though not strong at the beginning, it had still very much been there, at least from Haru.

Now it was gone and he was coming down hard from it. He could only hope it would pass soon, but he knew it wouldn’t. This was his first heartbreak. He would rather get shot or stabbed again. He had been abandoned before, and the acknowledgement of that made it confusing as to why this was any different, until he realized it was different because he hadn’t expected it this time. He should have, he knew this, but he truly hadn’t.

After another miserable week that Haru would much rather forget about already, his phone rang. It was Makoto. Makoto checked in with him daily, and while he was awful at hiding his worry-stemming intentions, it didn’t take him being obvious about it for Haru to know anyway. Makoto always came with bad excuses as to why he called, but Haru already knew each time that he was just checking in to make sure he hadn’t killed himself or done something entirely reckless yet - out of the ordinary, at least. He still went headfirst into jobs, and the security around him for meetings also decreased by his own request. Of course he was going to cause worry for Makoto, who was normally the one most concerned for his well being anyway.

This call was different though. It didn’t start out with the usual overly-chirper greeting followed by a shitty excuse. In fact, it was quiet for a few seconds after Haru had picked it up. Then he realized Makoto had already called with his check-up earlier that day. What time was it even? He looked up at the clock. It was almost eight. He waited for Makoto to speak, but he couldn’t help but wonder what was going on at the other end of the line in those considerable seconds.

“Haru?” Makoto asked, as if to check he was there. How strange. Makoto could see he had picked it up, so of course he was there?

“Yes?” Haru asked, confused but also impatient. Get to the point already, he thought. He would rather have this second uncomfortable check-up routine of the day done and over with so he could go back to pretending he was fine (and failing miserably at that).

“Have you- um… Have you heard from Rin?” Immediately, time seemed to stand still, and his heart felt like it had stopped beating. What was this? Makoto hadn’t mentioned his name in over a week, not since Haru lashed out at him for it. The mere mention of it felt like a stab. A physical, real stab, piercing through his body and heart, twisting and turning. “Do you know where he is?”

A cold suddenly ran down his spine. Why this? Why now? Why did he suddenly feel like this? Why was it like his body was frozen in place? Like he couldn’t move? Like he couldn’t blink? Couldn’t breathe? What was happening to him?

Fear. What he felt was fear. He didn’t realize this until after the call had already ended, but it was still paralyzing in the moment. He tried to talk himself down, regardless, knowing he was properly losing it, although not currently acknowledging why. This could be anything. Maybe Rin was still in his apartment, he had to be. Maybe he was sick. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Thousand different explanations, none of them completely believable.

“I… haven’t heard from him since…” Haru trailed off. Since what? Their fight? Their… breakup? Was it a breakup? “...the last time he was here.”

“I thought so… Um,” Makoto was nervous. Haru could hear this in his voice. Makoto usually was easy to make a bit on edge. It was part of his job, after all. He was the one keeping track of everything, and Haru knew he himself often didn’t make that job easy for him. But this was different. Haru half expected the next words to come out of Makoto’s mouth, yet each word felt like bullets going right through him. “Ikeda was assigned to him for today’s shift. He had spent the whole weekend inside his apartment - Rin, that is, not Ikeda, of course - so there wasn’t much to report. Except, of course, Ikeda could hear him call in sick to work in the morning, and-”

“Makoto, get to the point,” Haru found himself impatiently demanding. He could tell Makoto was beating around the bush, not wanting to say whatever he was going to say, but Haru knew it was serious and he could feel himself getting more and more unnerved by the second.

“He went out around 18:30, heading east, but didn’t return, and now we can’t find him,” Makoto finally said.

“No one thought to follow him?” Haru asked in disbelieved, angry shock.

“Yes, but-”

“But what?!”

“You strictly ordered all of them to keep their distance. Remember?” Makoto reminded him.

“They can’t fucking think for themselves?!”

“Haru, he did follow him. Rin went into a corner store, Ikeda was out of his sight. He kept looking around himself, so it wasn’t easy for Ikeda to not be noticed. He went against your orders and kept a close distance anyway, but Rin just disappeared,” Makoto explained with haste, trying to get every word in before Haru was bound to interrupt him.

“He can’t just fucking disappear, what are you talking about?”

“Ikeda heard tires. He saw a van drive away, but only managed to get parts of the license plate before another car got in the way. He ran through the shop, couldn’t find Rin, then ran back towards the car, searching for Rin on his way and called it in, then drove after the van, but it had already gotten away,” Makoto continued to explain. Haru didn’t respond, and after a moment of silence, Makoto spoke up again, worried: “Haru?”

“Shut up.”

“Haru, don’t-”

“Shut up,” Haru repeated.

“Are you sure you haven’t-?”

“Yes,” Haru interrupted, though unsure what Makoto was actually going to ask. “I’m calling him.”

“Oka-” Makoto said, about to say something more, when Haru ended the call to try to get in touch with Rin instead, calling several times and texting him while pacing around the room. He hadn’t even noticed he had gotten up from his chair. After the third call, he quickly began walking, then running, as he continued to try to get a hold of both Rin’s work phone and private phone.

His body, as it had been doing for the past two weeks, ran on autopilot, and all he could do was watch as he ran from his office to the garage, took the closest car, then sped out of the estate, with confused agents watching him leave through the gates. He sped all the way to Rin’s apartment, unsure yet what was happening, feeling like everything was surreal. The long, silent car ride did very little to calm his nerves. He kept trying to call Rin, not giving a single shit about how reckless that was to do while driving way above the speed limit down the expressway. One wrong move and he would crash. He knew this, he just didn’t care.

Luckily he made it. However, when he got up to the floor and managed to break through the closed door, no doubt making Rin’s neighbors very startled, he found the apartment empty. There were no signs of struggle, no signs of anything out of the ordinary, except there was a bad smell in the air. As he walked around it had almost looked like Rin had held some sort of party, empty alcohol bottles scattered around and empty take-away containers stacked on top of one another in the kitchen. The apartment was a mess, and sure, Rin could occasionally be a bit messy, but not like this. Maybe he really had been sick?

Haru had made a few calls to other people than Rin during his drive there. He had agents searching for Rin everywhere - the repair shop, his mom’s bakery, even Sousuke’s place was checked. Every location that had been encrypted from Rin’s work phone that Haru’s chief technician, Rei Ryuugazaki, had decrypted and sent out was checked, but as Haru searched Rin’s apartment, his phone rang with the message that all locations came up empty, with no signs of him.

Haru had found the work phone in Rin’s bedroom, feeling pained by the discovery, and not just for the lack of hope he got from that, as it meant there truly was no way for them to track his current location, but it also was a bit sad to see how it had clearly been thrown there, having left a dent in the wall right above where it laid.

With that and the general state of the apartment, it all pained him. He tightened his grip around the phone and made his way out of the apartment. He knew something was horribly wrong. He knew this already at Makoto’s call a little more than an hour ago. Rin wouldn’t just disappear. He wasn’t the type to hurt himself, so Haru wasn’t considering checking bridges or rooftops or other places, even if the apartment had very clearly given him the impression of someone struggling.

No, Haru wasn’t worried about that. The increasing feeling that something was terribly wrong became more and more prominent. Something had happened to him, and there were only a handful of options, all of them leading back to Haru himself. This is all your fault, Rin’s voice reminded him. Which was true. It was his fault. It had always been his fault.

With nothing else left to do in the apartment, no answers to find despite having searched every crook and cranny, Haru went outside, unsure of what to do now, but refusing to wait around to figure it out. If he had to drive around the entirety of Japan, he would do it. To his surprise, though, a familiar face met him as he exited the building. The youngest Yamazaki son was walking with angry, hurried steps towards him, right there on the street in front of Rin’s apartment building.

“I saw your fucking men by my place,” Sousuke began, livid, but Haru knew he must have failed to hide the horror he felt inside, by the look of realization on Sousuke’s face followed by the change in his tone, suddenly sounding concerned, though still angry. “What’s happening?”

“I-” Haru began, wanting to throw him a threatening glare, wanting to tell him to stick it where the sun didn’t shine, but he couldn’t. He had no bite in him. Not right now. He just needed a moment, just one moment, to get a grip on himself, to let Rin’s sudden disappearance settle in before he could possibly act accordingly. He hadn’t even properly acknowledged it yet, and now he was forced to say it out loud. “We… we can’t find him.”

Sousuke glared at him for a long moment, clearly thinking. Probably coming up with ways to hurt Haru, or trying to figure out if Haru was lying or not.

“The thing at his family bakery. It wasn’t a robbery, was it?” Sousuke asked, rhetorically, already knowing the answer. He was definitely still angry, though, Haru observed. At first, Haru was a bit confused, but quickly realized Rin must have had to lie about it. He had never been a good liar, Haru noted to himself.

“No,” Haru confirmed, surprising himself by indulging Sousuke at all. Under normal circumstances, he would never give a member of the Yamazaki clan any information. But this - Rin - was far more important than some code of conduct. If Sousuke knew something, anything, Haru had to take the risk of seeming inferior. He had to take the risk of giving him an advance against him. He had to. For Rin. After all, the two were friends, so there was a chance Sousuke knew something that his own agents hadn’t figured out.

“So he’s-?” Sousuke began, but went silent at the sight of Haru trying so hard not to flinch. Don’t say it, Haru thought. Don’t say hurt. Don’t say taken. Don’t confirm what I already know. Haru quickly gathered himself, though. He pushed away every desperate emotion aside, to instead glare at Sousuke in disapproval and anger. Sousuke was wasting his time. He was ruining what little headstart he had at doing… something, anything other than be part of this useless confrontation. Sousuke only glared right back with reciprocated feelings of hatred. “You did this. You forced him into this world and look what happened to him!”

“So did you,” Haru argued, voice far less loud than Sousuke’s had been.

“I didn’t do shit. I left my family before I met him!” Sousuke angrily argued back. “And I definitely didn’t force him to come work for me either!”

“You think you can leave? You think there’s a way out?” Haru mocked. “There’s no way out of this. And unless you’re completely stupid, you know that too. There’s no peace for people like us. No safety. No matter who we cross paths with, we’re going to stain their life with ours, even if we try to avoid it.”

“Fucking great attempt of avoidance you made by floundering your relationship with him,” Sousuke angrily remarked. “Everyone fucking knows now.”

“I didn’t flounder anything. I didn’t even plan on getting together with him, and I tried my best to keep him safe as soon as he went along with working for me,” Haru tried to defend himself, but he felt stupid; felt ridiculous for trying to excuse it, but it was true - he had to hold onto the knowledge that it was true. No matter how selfishly delusional it was, he really, truly had tried to keep Rin safe, despite knowing with every fiber of his body that it wasn’t possible. Still, still he could never acknowledge the full extent of the risks he had - knowingly, less - taken. He was blinded and had been purposefully ignorant, all in an attempt to hold onto Rin and to the newfound feelings of devotion and love, something he had never thought was possible before. “I failed at that when I let him go as he wished. I should’ve trailed him more. He would have hated me for it, but he would’ve been safe and this wouldn’t have happened…”

“You’re right. You failed him,” Sousuke agreed, with a cold, unsympathetic voice and expression. He turned around and began to walk away, but Haru suddenly made him stop.

“So you’re not going to help find him?” Haru called out, surprising even himself. Sousuke quickly walked back, and stepped right into Haru’s personal space, towering threateningly over him.

“I would never help you,” Sousuke bitterly spat. “But I am going to find him. I doubt you can, but my dad might. I’ll seek his help, and I will never fucking forget you were the one who forced me back into involvement with his business.”

Haru stood frozen for a while after he had watched Sousuke hurry off. The words he had said, the acknowledgement of the severity of the situation; it hit him all at once, as he had just admitted it out loud for the first time. This was bad. This was really fucking bad, and he had no clue what to do.

Haru managed to drag his paralyzed body, still so frozen up in uncharacteristic shock, all the way back to his car. As he got into the driver’s seat, he realized three hours had already passed since the alleged time of Rin’s disappearance. Half of that time Haru had known, and he had gotten no closer to finding him or even figuring out where he could possibly find him.

He sat there, uneasy and increasingly panicked, trying to come up with something but only imagining the worst possible scenarios instead. It didn’t take long after he had gotten into the car, before his phone pinged with a message. It was a video. His phone rang after that. It was Makoto.

The video was a CCTV clip. Makoto explained with quick words that it hadn’t taken long for the tech team to gather all the CCTV footage from the nearby area, and that it had confirmed their suspicions of Rin’s alleged kidnapping. Within an hour, his team had scanned through hours of video material from the entire area, gathering all possible details and drawn up the brief timeline.

Haru pressed play on the video as Makoto kept talking. His voice was quiet since Haru no longer had his phone to his ear, but even if he had been on speaker at full volume, or sat beside him and yelled, Haru wouldn’t have heard him. He watched the ambush happening right there on his own phone, first a clip from a camera that showed the outside of the corner store, Rin going in, then coming out, then another angle, from around a corner, where Rin was walking with bags in his hands, probably just having gotten down to get groceries, then a van came up, and eight guys jumped out, one guy pulling a bag over his head, two in the midst of grabbing him as a fourth one smacked his closed fist against Rin’s head, and Rin’s body went slack, almost hitting the hard pavement beneath, before the two guys grabbed him more properly and with the help of the guy who had bagged his head, they roughly threw him into the van, then drove off before the door had even closed properly. Several people around the streets were looking on in horror, but Haru didn’t notice them. He just kept staring at Rin, feeling his blood run cold, then warm with rage. It took everything in him not to crush the phone he held in his hand.

“I think it’s best if you come back,” Haru suddenly heard Makoto say.

“No,” Haru angrily refused, driving all of the sudden, but unsure where he was heading. He hadn’t noticed he had even started the car, or placed the phone back to his ear. He had no clue what he was doing, or why. He just allowed instincts to take over.

“The van is lost after it enters the expressway. We’re in the process of trying to find it elsewhere, scanning through all CCTV cameras around each off-ramp, but it’s going to take a while,” Makoto explained. His voice was overly sympathetic, and Haru knew he was concerned, though he knew the concern likely had more to do with Haru himself than with Rin, a thought that only seemed to anger him more.

“Then put more people on the team, tell them to get it fucking done!”

“Haru, come back so we can come up with a plan,” Makoto said, still sounding understanding but very persistent at the same time.

Haru hung up the call, threw his phone on the passenger seat and took a right turn, heading for the expressway and towards the estate.

Once there, he parked the car in front of the bodyguards’ building, then got out and hurried into the building, took the elevator up to the second floor, then went into the tech team’s section, which had a big conference room. He knew everyone would be there. It was part of protocol. He barged in through the door, and sure enough, it was full of people. Everyone looked at him with various stages of surprise. He must have looked like a mess. Not that he cared.

They were in the midst of briefing, Haru realized. Makoto and Mikoshiba were at the end stages of going over the footage with the agents present, and Ryuugazaki took over shortly after with a brief summary of what his team had discovered. Everyone looked to Haru expectantly, but he had nothing to say. He wanted everyone to stop talking and go look for Rin already, but he knew the importance of this step. If they were to be successful, they had to have a plan, and people needed to know what they were supposed to do and what to look for. Even if Haru felt like biting his skin as he anxiously paced back and forth, counting the seconds and waiting for everyone to shut the fuck up already. Several people occasionally looked or glanced at him, clearly not used to the sight of him not in complete control of himself. Visible anxiety of any kind from him was not a sight any of them had seen before.

Makoto had a map pulled out and spread across the table. He and several agents were looking at it, pointing and theorizing, drawing up an area, then another, trying to encircle potential areas Rin could have been taking to, while discussing the likely culprits.

The gang that had broken into Rin’s apartment around two months ago now had been the small Kizuna-gumi gang, but the Kinoshita-kai gang was the one rumored to have been in the area at the time of Rin’s abduction. The ones behind the confrontation at the bakery with Rin's family were still unidentified, but it seemed to have been a couple of new, masked gang members, and it seemed to have fit well with either gang - still, nearly 3 weeks after it had happened, they hadn't gotten much closer to figure out who had been behind it. It was like those members had vanished.

The van and general method that had been used during the kidnapping fit to Kinoshita-kai's usual memo of human trafficking and torture-based extortion. There were only around 30 or 50 members of Kizuna-gumi and one headquarter, and they mostly did petty crimes, and while it would have fit their unrighteous arrogance and head-on attitude, it would still seem too organized for them to be behind it. They went into things without much planning ahead. This whole thing would have required a plan. However, there were over 300 members of Kinoshita-kai, they had several headquarters, and even more secret properties and other locations around Japan. They usually always went into things with a plan, whether they followed it or not. It fit them a lot better.

But to find which specific internal group within that organization could have been in the area at the time of Rin’s abduction? That would require a lot of time, not to mention trying to get intel on those secret locations of theirs. Even more so, since they had a very strict and secretive code of conduct, and very few in the closer inner circle who actually knew of any useful information. If they - the kinoshita-kai - were the ones responsible, this was bad. It was really fucking bad. Haru had seen footage of the things they were capable of.

The Kizuna-gumi gang were child’s play, mere amateurs, absolutely nothing but headstrong, irrational and useless kids. Kinoshita-kai had caused trouble in the past, even for someone like Haru. They feared nothing, they were cockroaches spreading fear, doing whatever horrible thing needed to get what they wanted. They were the types to kill their own just for fun or out of boredom. They had no limits, knew nothing but violence. In comparison, the Kizuna-gumi were nothing, while Kinoshita-kai were definitely something. 

“So no one has any fucking clue where he is?” Haru interrupted the ongoing discussion. “Where’s the one who was responsible for watching over him?”

“Haru, you gave the orders to pull back and only keep a distant watch, remember?” Mikoshiba reminded him, just like Makoto had just done. Useless. What did it matter?

“That wasn’t what I asked!” Haru angrily yelled.

“I was-” Ikeda began, but shut up immediately as Haru took out his gun and pointed it directly at him.

“Haru!” Makoto loudly called out. His patience had clearly run thin with Haru’s nervous outbursts. “That is not helping anyone! If you want to find him, get over here and help instead of threatening your own people.”

“He’s right,” Mikoshiba agreed. “You’re going to need people on your side right now.”

“Are you saying people aren’t on my side?” Haru angrily asked.

“Look, I know you’re scared, but-”

“I’m not!” Haru instinctively refused.

“I’m really sorry I-” Ikeda began, but shut right up as Haru cocked his gun. Makoto rushed in front of him in an instant, standing in between Ikeda and Haru, looking incredibly disapproving at him.

“Move,” Haru ordered, his voice at the calmest and most determined it had been for the past four hours.

“Go. Now,” Makoto said. “If you want to help Rin, let us do our job. Right now you’re disrupting our job, putting his life in danger.”

“I’m not,” Haru stubbornly refused.

“Haru, look at you,” Makoto whispered quietly, trying to make it inaudible to the others in the room. “Go get some air. Clear your head. This isn’t doing anyone anything good.”

Haru stared at him, angry, but eventually lowered his gun. Makoto searched around the room, spotted Nagisa, and nodded towards the door, a signal for him to follow Haru out. Nagisa was clearly nervous, not used to this level of panic and outrage from Haru. Nagisa stepped forward, also in between Ikeda and Haru, and hesitantly began trying to pull him out of the room. Once he succeeded and they were out in the hallway, he made a few attempts at comforting him, telling him he knew Rin was strong and that Rin didn’t have any useful information any gang would want anyway. That last part wasn’t helping, and Nagisa knew that. If Rin wasn’t useful, he was as good as dead. If it wasn’t the Kizuna-gumi gang, there was a slight chance they didn’t know the importance Rin held to Haru. If they only thought he was an employee, they wouldn’t hesitate to hurt and kill him. Even if they did know, with the level of violence they operated with, there was still a huge risk of that. They could use him to get to Haru. If that was their aim, they wouldn’t care what state he was in. The more hurt, the more entertaining it was for them. As long as he was breathing, they could still weaponize him to get what they wanted.

Nagisa continued to talk to him, and Haru knew he was only there to try to distract him while the others worked. Still, he could tell by the hesitancy behind Nagisa’s words and the nerves he was trying to hide, that he was truly concerned for Rin. He knew the two had grown fond of each other, and for a brief moment, that reminder gave him the first distraction, a brief glimpse of positivity. It quickly returned to despair again, though.

“Maybe you should go,” Nagisa suggested, and it broke Haru right out of his thoughts. “I know I’m out of bounds saying this, but you look-”

“Yes. You are out of bounds,” Haru interrupted, coldly, which made Nagisa look surprised for a brief moment, before regret took over his features.

Makoto came out alone from the briefing shortly after and suggested the exact same thing, and it made Haru’s body boil with anger once more. He refused to leave. He refused to take a single step away from this. He refused to waste anymore time. It felt to him like people at this point were actively trying to prevent him from getting things done; as if they didn’t actually want to find Rin. Maybe his father had a hand at play with this? Maybe he had ordered everyone to stay back? Maybe he was the one who had actually taken Rin?

He pushed his way past Makoto and Nagisa and stormed into the tech team’s offices, trying to work with them instead, but only ending up lashing out at them too, including Ryuugazaki, who had hurried inside to try to get Haru out, only to be the next target of Haru’s desperation-fueled anger. Haru yelled at him for not being able to track Rin’s private phone, despite knowing, from the part of the briefing he had listened to before, that it had been found at the corner of the street, where it had been thrown off to and left behind. Ryuugazaki reminded him they had had to disable the location feature, so even if the phone was still with Rin and not in their possession, it wouldn’t have been possible to track it. That only angered Haru more, but this time he didn’t lash out. He couldn’t. He knew he had no right to. Ryuugazaki was right, they were all right.

He mentally took a step back and realized just how bad a shape he was in. He couldn’t change it, or help it, but the acknowledgement meant that he stopped shouting. None of his guys worked for his father, they worked for him. Some, sure, but most of the people in that briefing room had sworn loyalty to him, not his father. While they had technically sworn to the Nanase name, and thus also worked for his father by association, their loyalty was with him, he knew this. But he couldn’t help the continuously growing suspicion. He was desperate.

He pulled out all possible manpower that he could, and sent them all off to find Rin, putting them out on the streets, emptying the garage for cars. He put his own property and his businesses at risk in the process, not to mention all his business relations by the work he had abandoned and he risked his father’s anger as a result, too. He didn’t care. He couldn’t care less, really. Not right now.

He allowed Ryuugazaki to get back to his team, and for the team to continue to look over all CCTV footage they could gather without him hovering over them or yelling at them unprompted. He even put a few agents onto the team, just to try to expand it and make things go faster. He allowed Makoto and Mikoshiba to continue to lead the mission and mobilize people, and he extracted himself, finally recognizing and acknowledging that his emotional involvement made him a hindrance; an obstacle on the path to find Rin.

It was past one by the time he entered his mansion. He didn’t want to leave the bodyguards’ building or take a step away, but everyone said he couldn’t help anymore, and they argued that there was no use in him just watching, so they encouraged him to get some sleep instead, so he had energy for whatever was potentially to come. They sent him off with a promise to wake him up if anything happened. He didn’t want to be woken up, he wanted to stay there and, since he clearly couldn’t help at his state, at the very least then just watch. He wanted to follow the development. But he knew the more they argued, the less they worked, and so he had relented.

He hadn’t eaten anything since lunch, and had barely drank anything either, only when he was forced to, mostly by Makoto who almost had to physically pour it down his throat some time after he had stormed the tech room. Only then had he realized his body needed it. He didn’t rest, nor took a single minute to himself. He almost pissed himself from refusing to risk missing out on something, too. It was that dire. Any second he missed out on updates felt wrong. Naturally, he couldn’t fall asleep either.

After he and Rin’s split, or breakup - if that was what it was - Haru had gone off on a rough patch. It had been tough. He had held up his facade relatively well, at least when he wasn’t alone, but beneath it he had had a complete breakdown, finding consolation in things he hated and in depriving himself of basic needs. He had been lying in bed for as long as possible, sulked whenever no one was around and cried once or twice, or more. It was pathetic. It hadn’t been great. It had been awful. But this breakdown he was currently going through? It was different. Lashing out on whoever was near seemed more a rule than an exception. He was not just feeling, but acting rapid, anxious, terrified and angry. Angry like he had never been angry before. That anger seemed to fuel him, and it kept him going, it kept him from curling into a ball of despair. It made him slowly plan out a solo mission in his head as he lay there in his bed, which still, after weeks, felt so empty, the emptiness only seeming louder now on this night.

Three hours after he had entered the mansion, at four in the morning, Haru accepted that he was never going to fall asleep, an acceptance that went hand in hand with the determination to go through with his plan of the solo mission. And so, he got up, got dressed in an outfit fit for his mission, something easy to move in, then went back to the bodyguards’ building where everyone was still working tirelessly. He managed to convince them to fill him in, lying by telling them he needed to know before he could fall asleep.

They had come up with a long list of plausible locations, working out from the assumption that it would have been the Kinoshita-kai gang. Many of the plausible locations were based on mere rumors, yet Haru noted them all down in his head. He nodded and, much to the others’ confusion, left the room without further words.

As soon as he got out of the room, to make sure he didn’t forget addresses, he pulled out a small notepad from the back pocket of his pants, then scribbled all the locations down, before heading for the armory to stock up. Before long, he was in the garage, looking for his electric motorcycle. He hadn’t driven it in a while, but he still remembered how to use it. It was better and faster than a car, and with it being an electric model, it was quiet as well. It was perfect. He was far more skilled at driving motorcycles than cars, too, which was another perk of choosing it.

It had a compartment underneath the seat, where he placed his phone, in case Makoto or anyone else had any updates for him, a few extra rounds of ammunition, a silencer for his main gun, the notepad, an extra gun other than the three ones he carried on himself, as well as some night vision glasses, handcuffs, duck tape, two different knives and a pair of shears. The bare necessities.

He changed into black riding gear from top to toe, which were luckily still stored in the many open lockers inside the garage. Then he quietly made his way out of the estate, only spotted by the agents at the gate and a couple on his way there, but none of them said anything to him, only watched him leave with perplexed expressions. Fuck protocol, and fuck whoever would dare to cross his way - they must have known or sensed this. He couldn't be stopped, he wouldn't listen to anything or anyone, and he certainly wasn't going to waste time explaining himself either.

He pushed the motorcycle to its full speed limit towards the expressway,  which was fairly empty with it only being around 5 in the morning, then continued at his high speed along it. It was easy to swerve in between the few cars that were there, while following the GPS on the small display underneath the speedometer to the first address on his list.

It led him to an abandoned-looking, worn down, small industrial building by a dirt road. A perfectly stereotypical location for gangs. He parked the bike off the road, carefully lowering it so it lay hidden in the tall grass, took off his helmet, put on his night vision glasses, made sure his gun was loaded and attached the silencer, then headed with quiet, hurried steps towards the building, gun in hand.

A guy was lurking by the building close to a broken window at the ground level. Had it not been for the night vision glasses, he wouldn’t have had a chance of spotting him. He shot him point blank without hesitation, right underneath the top of his head that had been the only part visible from where he was. He immediately heard ruckus from within the building. Someone else was there, alerting everyone in the building. Show start.

Haru snuck forward, heading for the guy he had just shot, figuring that was the quickest way into the building. The noises had, sure enough, been someone else there. A mere child, probably not more than 16 years old, who began shouting and yelling in panic upon seeing Haru’s shadow approaching. He was pointing a gun at Haru, but he held it so inexperienced in his hands that Haru almost felt bad for putting a hole between his eyebrows.

He continued further into the building, shooting people left and right. After eight corpses, he started to ask questions, but no one could give him anything useful. He left the building barely ten minutes later, leaving no one within it alive and the building itself mere minutes from succumbing to flames. He lifted his motorcycle up from the grass, checked off the location on his notepad, typed in the address of the next one, and then drove off.

It was a farmhouse in the middle of tons of rice fields stretching on for kilometers. Again, another perfect hideout. They had seen him coming despite his lights being off. With nothing but rice marks, it was a given that he would stick out like a sore thumb. Someone was shooting at his bike, and so he drove in zigzag movements, before driving right into a bush, pretending to crash. The shots stopped briefly, and it gave him leverage to grab a few things from the compartment of his bike and hide slightly inside of the bush. With no time to spare, he threw a stone out onto the road, then watched from where the shot was coming from, promptly shooting the shooter.

He hurried towards the farmhouse, careful to not be seen, though without thinking about it, it was just muscle memory and instincts. He shot another one. One more. A fourth one before he managed to get inside the house. Another one, more and more. He started to lose count. There were drugs everywhere, several types. Many of the people he shot weren’t armed, but he didn’t care. He didn’t have any questions for them. He must have shot over twenty people by then. When he had managed to get through most of the farmhouse with no signs of Rin, he figured he should give it a shot to try to get some information out of them instead of just killing.

So far he had been lucky that these locations were correct and real. The next few could might as well be mere rumors. If no one here knew about Rin, which was very likely, maybe they at least knew about potential locations he could have been brought to.

The next person, he didn’t shoot, but managed to knock out quickly. He was good at combat fighting, skilled at most martial arts and general fighting styles, but even he was slightly surprised by how easy it was, considering how violent the gang was known to be, though he didn’t spend time contemplating it. Then, another one under the age of twenty, who looked clueless and scared more than anything. The fight was already over before it began. The next one was older and skilled, but not as skilled as Haru, and definitely not as determined. The one after that was easy too, with a quick hand to his throat, choking him, then Haru’s gun against his head, the hit from that knocking him out. He only had one pair of handcuffs, which he had used on the first guy, so after that he used whatever he could find around; cords and duck tape. His own duck tape he had left behind in his bike, but luckily it was quite the common item in most gangs’ properties, buildings and hideouts. Especially at drug huts like this one.

Two out of the four were in the same room, the third one in another, and the forth one further away. There was a big open door between the two rooms, so three of them were visible at the same time. He started with the first two, waking up one of them, the first one he had knocked out. He asked if he had heard of anything that had to do with the Nanase family, or of any high profile abductions led by his gang. He claimed he hadn’t, so Haru took out his shears and cut off his finger. When Haru asked for other locations, and he continued to claim he didn’t know anything, Haru broke his knee by smashing his foot down on it, barely feeling the impact of it with his heavy, secure motorcycle boots. The guy’s scream woke up the second guy, so Haru shot him to make him shut up. He clearly had no use anyway. The second guy was of no use either, not even after he had gutted him. He was starting to suspect they simply just didn’t have a clue what was going on beyond their own little drug operation out there in the farmlands.

He went on to the third, waking him up by digging a knife beneath his collarbone, watching the blood run down his shirt.

“Good, you’re awake,” Haru said. The man stared at him with fear, but then that fear turned more stubborn, like he was planning on actively working against Haru. This was new. The two before hadn’t had that look; that look that let Haru know that he had found a source. Only someone knowing and hiding something would have that look. “I’m going to cut you a bit more, slowly. Nod if you understand,” Haru said, coolly. “Good. After that I’m going to cut slices off of you, before I’ll take a spoon, carve out your eyes, smash in one tooth after another, maybe stick the shaft of the spoon into your ears and ruin your hearing.”

The man’s eyes gave away the horror he felt beneath his stoic facade. He was definitely hiding something good. Maybe he doubted Haru’s words. Maybe he thought he was just playing around. He certainly would prove that idea wrong.

“I’ll cut off your fingers bit by bit, right below each knuckle. And with a knife like this, who knows how slow that’s going to be? Your friend over there was lucky enough that I used shears for his fingers,” Haru said, gesturing towards the dead guy in the other room. If the man before him turned his head just a little, the corpse before him would definitely be within view. The man did turn his head, and Haru could tell he was looking at him. The parting of his lips, the widening of his eyes. “You, though? I think I’ll take my time with you. But you see, even if you don’t speak, I still have one more left of you. Want to bet his luck over yours?”

Haru committed to every single threat. Not in the exact order, of course, one had to remember the element of surprise in this. He began with the cuts, sure, a few more here and there, innocent child’s play, nothing he expected would make any difference, and it didn’t. But you had to start small and increase it, otherwise it wouldn’t have the same effect. The more he stretched it out, the more he would push the man beyond his limits. He then proceeded to use his knife, as promised, to slowly cut down into the man’s fingers. With how much he fought back, Haru was surprised the cords he was tied up with held. He was tied up good, but still.

By the third finger, the man finally budged. Haru was beginning to think he wouldn’t give in before his eyes or various body parts were carved out, but luckily he didn’t need to waste time on that.

The man admitted he had heard talks of some plans a long time ago. He gave him the location of where he figured they must have been at. Then he begged for Haru to spare him, and Haru did as asked, leaving him there, tied up, to eventually bleed out. The fourth guy he shot, figuring it would be a waste of time to try to get anything additional out of him.

He got outside again, and quickly found his motorcycle. He typed in the new address before he risked forgetting it. It wasn’t on the list on his notepad. He scratched out the address of the farmhouse, then put the notepad back into the compartment, before checking his phone. Several calls and messages from Makoto, demanding to know where he was and what he was doing, then, obviously having received the tracking data off of Haru’s phone or motorcycle from Ryuugazaki, demanding him to wait for them. Wait for them… to do what, exactly? Hide the trail of bodies for him? Haru felt like he almost had to laugh at that. Of course he wouldn’t fucking wait for anyone, especially not after he noticed the time up in the corner of his phone. It was nearly nine in the morning. Too much time had already passed, and he knew with each second, every single risk grew stronger in possibility. His GPS said the next location was two hours away. He could make it in one if he drove twice the speed limit.

He managed to push and pull his bike out from the bush, before heading towards this new address, hoping, needing, for it to not be some sort of trap or a desperate lie from the cowardry lips of a dying man.

Chapter Text

Bright white light. A chemical smell. Dust. Faint gunpowder. Noise, so much noise. A beeping, the digital type, from some type of machinery. Rin opened his eyes, slowly, hazely, barely. Where was he? What was happening?

He blinked once.

He blinked twice, hard, stubborn.

His head hung forward, he saw his bare legs before him, and from this angle, the lower part of his bare stomach, too. He had no recollection of ever having taken off his clothes. He tried to raise his head, but his neck hurt, a sharp pain upon the attempt. The blood had rushed to his head too, giving him a light spinning sensation and a major headache. He must have had his head hung forward like that for a while, making his neck all cramped up. He was wearing underwear still, he could see them, but they offered little sense of relief. He couldn’t move his arms, and he slowly realized his hands were tied somewhere behind his back, his shoulders turned backwards in a way that hurt. A lot. He had been tied tightly, his wrists burning with pain.

It was cold. He didn’t feel the cold, but he could see the goosebumps across his thighs, and realized he was shaking. His memory was slowly returning, and he wondered whether the shaking was from cold, from fear, or from the drugs slowly leaving his system. He had no memory of getting drugged, but he remembered the last time he was awake - was it the last time, or just the last time he remembered? - that he certainly had been at some point. Maybe several points.

He barely had time to consider other options, or to manage to lift his head up, before he felt himself slowly losing consciousness again. He tried so hard to fight it, to stay awake and to take in as much of his surroundings as possible, but it was hopeless. His eyelids were getting heavy and his mind went blank in a way that felt all too familiar.

Later - was it later? It could have been a second after, for all Rin knew - he woke abruptly, this time having no chance of registering much of anything, then slowly realizing he was dripping wet, his hair clinging to his head, droplets falling down his bangs. It was cold. This cold, he could definitely feel. It was bone-chilling. He had raised his head despite the ache, and was looking directly up at someone, a muscular yet quite slim man looking not much older than Rin, who stood with an empty, wet bucket in his hands. The motherfucker had thrown a bucket of water at him.

“What the-?!“ Rin instinctively and angrily began, not having had the opportunity to remember his fear just yet, but stopped himself upon realization hitting him. His faint memories came back, and with it also came the acknowledgement that he was much more awake now than he had been before. If he truly had been drugged, he likely wasn’t anymore. Or maybe the water had just kick-started his brain. He still felt exhausted beneath the shock, though he didn’t have time to pay it mind.

Rin saw everything clearer now, heard and felt everything clearer as well. He was in a warehouse, with high ceilings. There were lights from above, but the brightness from before had been the spotlights placed randomly around the room, likely on purpose to disorient him further. There were weapons everywhere, and tools. Boxes, white powdered bricks of presumably drugs. There were many men in the room, Rin could count fifteen just within his line of sight, standing in a half circle around him, including one on either side of him. He wouldn’t be surprised if there were people behind him as well, forming a circle. He could register movement in the background of the room, too, in several directions. There were likely a lot more people, far more than he could see or had time to count.

He was sitting almost naked on a rough wooden chair, his hands tied tightly behind his back with itchy, painful robe (or at least it felt like robe), his feet tied with a heavy layer of duct tape to the chair, his chest taped just the same to the back of the chair, making it impossible for him to move.

“Nanase,” the man stated, and Rin felt a different type of cold run down his spine, one not just from the coldness of the water and his lack of clothes mixed with the low late-fall temperature and lack of heating of the warehouse. “You’re his bitch, right?”

“Fuck you,” Rin bitterly spat, but no sooner had the words escaped his mouth, before one of the men standing beside him leaned in and punched him right in the stomach, forcing all the air out of his body for a moment.

“That’s quite a cocky attitude from someone in your current situation,” the man humored. “Now, I’ll ask again: you’re his little bitch, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rin said, each word hurting. He sounded pained; pathetic. The on-going shaking didn’t help him or any remains of dignity much either.

“This is going to go a lot easier for you if you’re honest with us,” the man said, and gave a nod with his head, a clear signal to the guy on Rin’s other side to hit him as well, considering that was what he immediately did. “So, let’s try again: are you or are you not his-?”

“I’m not,” Rin said, honestly. After all, it was true. He wasn’t anything to Haru right now. It was true. It hurt to say, and not just physically, but it was true regardless. He held onto that. He wasn’t his bitch, or partner or barely even associate. He hadn’t seen him in so long. He wasn’t sure if he even worked for him anymore. So by any means, no, he was not his bitch.

“Are you sure?” The man asked, amused for some reason.

“Yes,” Rin said, then, to try to be more convincing, he added: “I just work for him sometimes…”

“Hmm, is that so? I guess the rumors are just gossip, then? The evidence of you taking up residency at his lot fabricated?” The man said, clearly unconvinced. “Nonetheless, you guys are close, right? You’ve been to several meetings with quite high-profiled people, after all. Unless those meetings didn’t take place either?”

Rin didn’t respond. Everything felt so surreal. He had no idea what to say, no idea fully what was going on, no matter how obvious it was. When he didn’t answer, though, the man gave his signaling nod again and Rin received a punch directly to his chest from one side, and a punch to the side of his torso from the other.

“Speak,” the man impatiently ordered.

“I’ve studied… English,” Rin partially choked out in pain. It was so difficult to breathe. “So I… I just… translated for him. That’s all. I was never… informed… about anything…”

“We have confirmation that you met Michael Harris Sanders not long ago,” the man stated.

“Who?” Rin asked, fully confused all of the sudden. Another nod from the man, and he received not one, not two, but many more fists to his face, his chest, his arms, his stomach. His whole body was on fire with pain, a stinging and throbbing feeling spreading across the surface of and beneath his skin.

“What do you know about Sanders?” the man continued, making Rin even more confused. He didn’t know anything. “What do you know about his deal with Nanase?”

“What-” Rin began, receiving a punch to the nose, this time without any signal.

“I’ll ask again: what do you know about Michael Harris Sanders?”

“I don’t know who that is!” Rin insisted, honestly, desperately. He had never heard that name before, and if he had, he had forgotten all about it. Whoever this man before him was looking for, Rin couldn’t help him. He really couldn’t. He had met countless people during his time with Haru, but he never cared about them. He never even tried to remember their names, or faces, or anything else. He didn’t care. He had never cared. All he had ever cared about was Haru. That had been the only and sole reason he had ever even been to those meetings, or been to anything related to Haru’s deals and business.

“Tell us everything you know and we just might let you live,” the man threatened, voice more cold and low than before, face up in Rin’s own face, hovering. Until now, the man had sounded and seemed casual, like he was having a normal, casual conversation and not this. The man stepped back again, nodding. Another punch to his face, this time a fast and hard uppercut right beneath his chin. Blood began to slowly spread into his saliva, the rusty taste growing stronger and stronger. He made a show of spitting out the blood onto the concrete floor in front of him, a spot in between him and the man.

“I don’t know shit,” Rin said, this time with a bit more attitude, a little less pathetic than his previous words. Everything hurt, and he was genuinely scared, but he began to feel a little less pain now, his brain spreading a sense of numbness to try to protect himself, like an adrenaline rush.

They continued to beat him in their attempts to get intel on Haru and whatever business he had with this Sanders guy. He continued not to know anything, genuinely. He continued to try to convince them he couldn’t tell them anything he didn’t know - he was just fixing cars and occasionally translated, for fuck’s sake - but they either didn’t believe him or didn’t care. After what felt like forever, he finally lost consciousness from another blow to his head. This time the loss of consciousness was welcoming.

The next time he awoke, the beating turned into torture. A toe nail pulled out. Another. More beating. Kicks. He drifted in and out of consciousness. When he lost consciousness, they stopped, that much was clear, but when he woke up again, it quickly continued. It happened so often he was able to notice the pattern. They probably just wanted him to feel it all, to see it all, as it was happening and not just the aftermath of it.

His shirt had been cut or ripped off of his body before the first time he awoke, and a man, yet another one, stuffed the broken remains of it into his mouth before proceeding to give him electrical shocks, sending him in and out of consciousness once more and making him disoriented and completely drained. It made him miss his drugged stage.

He had no clue how long he had been there for. Weeks, months, maybe. It felt like at least a month had passed already. It felt like so much time in between the moments where he was out. His body was heavy, numb, but in excruciating pain at the same time. He could feel it all at the same time, but he also felt his body trying hard to allow him to focus on one point instead, but there were simply too many points to pick from; too many parts of his body that hurt too much to ignore.

“You know he’s looking for you, right?” The man from before asked, amused, just like before, but also very demeaningly, like he was actively taunting him. The shirt in Rin’s mouth was being removed, and Rin could see in his peripheral vision that it was darkened, stained by blood. “We’ve been told that he apparently cares so much about you that he’s put every man he has out in an attempt to find you. He’s got no backup himself. No protection. Which means three things. One: you’ve not been honest with us. Two: you are probably worth more to him than we expected. And three: he’ll likely get killed in his attempts to find you - isn’t that just great?”

Rin’s eyes would have widened if they didn’t hurt as much as they did. He was almost certain he had a black eye. Maybe two. They were throbbing with pain as the rest of his body was, and he was certain they were in the process of swelling up, his vision a little less than normal.

“Maybe we should go pay him a visit at his little castle?” The man teasingly suggested, making the many men around them laugh along. Rin felt like he was clenching his fists, but he knew he had no energy or strength left to do that. “Maybe we should even bring you along. I’m sure he’ll be very happy about that.”

Rin wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. He wanted to curl up and die already. This was all too much, the pain, the active taunting, the threat of going after Haru, it was all too much. He felt so much despair, so much pain, but also, beneath it all, he felt the growing anger within himself. That stubborn part of him, the one that had likely been the cause of his survival through his past hardships; the one part that made him as snarky as he was, the one part that had likely been attracting Haru’s attention from the beginning, too. It was urging him on, keeping him from breaking down and begging for a release or an end. It kept his heart racing, and his mind somewhat in check.

“Seeing you like this would probably really push him over the edge,” the man continued. “He won’t be rational and he’ll definitely make mistakes. The perfect predator, now with a weil over his head. Without any protection or backup, he’s already dead before he can make a single move.”

“Fuck you,” Rin managed to hissingly spit out between his beaten, cracked lips, drops of blood coming out with the words. The shirt was stuffed into his mouth again, and another round of torture ensued.

He woke up again. If he was honest, he was starting to wonder when he wouldn’t. It shouldn’t be long until then, now. He had given them absolutely nothing, because what they wanted he simply and genuinely couldn’t give them. They wanted information on some deal, Rin had managed to gather. A huge shipment of drugs from America by an American drug lord. The gang wanted to know the location of the transaction and expected Rin to know, since he and Haru were so close, but all Rin had admitted to, after several rounds of torture, was that he and Haru had been in a relationship, but wasn’t anymore. He hadn’t admitted to much else, as anything else wasn’t relevant. It wasn’t what they wanted. He still couldn’t give them what they wanted. He didn’t have even the faintest idea of any potential drop-off locations, or when, or how or with who. He had no clue what Haru was up to when he was in his office. He barely had any idea what he was up to during his meetings, even the ones he himself had attended. He barely paid attention to much else other than Haru himself. He couldn’t remember the names of anyone. Not even the ones that had shot at or threatened them. He couldn’t even remember the name of the guy who had flirted with him and triggered Haru’s jealousy and possessiveness on more than one occasion. He remembered the moments, he remembered vaguely the time of when things had happened, but he could probably not point out the people in a row of others, or even confirm them individually. He would make a horrible bodyguard, in hindsight. But he apparently made for an excellent associate, too focused on one thing to be able to become an informant of any kind.

He had woken up again, but he wished he hadn’t. The man still stood in front of him, ready to taunt him, ready to give his signals. He didn’t give any, though. He just stared at Rin, a smug smile across his long-shaped face. He had a split eyebrow, a scar running down across it, reaching from his forehead down to the top of his eyelid. His ears stuck out slightly, several of his teeth were visibly cracked. In another life, he might have been handsome. In this life, though, he was menacing. He stood tall, but he wasn’t broadly built like the others, not as muscular as them, but definitely far more sinister and far more cunning. Rin figured he was the brain, not the body, which had been evident for the past- he still had no clue how long he had been there, suffering at the hands of others by the man’s orders.

His smug widened, and his face lowered, eyes still pointed directly at him, looking like he was about to challenge him. Instead, he gave another small nod, and Rin felt his body panic as he braced himself for another punch, another kick, another shock, but instead, his face was grabbed by several big hands, and something was roughly shoved into his mouth, some sort of metal device, keeping his mouth open, while they forced something small and hard down his throat. A pill, it had to be a pill. He almost got it stuck in his throat, but he was forced to swallow it, forced to keep his mouth open. Water was poured down his throat and onto his face as well, to ensure he got it down. They removed the device, and Rin could feel his heartbeat race, his head spin and his skin prickle with panic, not knowing what that was or what was going to happen to him now. He had barely fought back, he had wanted to, he had needed to, but he couldn’t. His body was growing increasingly limp and it horrified him. He wanted to yell and demand to know what he had just been forced to consume, but he couldn’t. He used all of his energy to look at the man, to try to find the answer on his face or through his words.

“I’ve tried to get you to speak for a while now, but I’m growing a bit bored by it,” the man stated. “I’ve decided the others can have their share of trying, before we kill you.”

Rin was sure he couldn’t hide the horror which he felt. The man waved a hand, then turned around and walked away, several others following after him, still within view but looking at what Rin assumed were laptop screens, some of the others set to work various other places. All of them were still facing Rin, either to hide what they were up to, or to keep watching him. Only two or three were left behind nearby, coming up in front of Rin. One went behind him, cutting up the duct tape from around his chest and feet.

“Guess you won’t be needing this anymore,” the man behind him mocked, and for a moment Rin was confused, but then he realized that he meant the restraints; being tied up, as he felt his body growing more and more slack, as if gravity was pulling him down now that the duct tape around his chest no longer held him up. This wasn’t just the exhaustion, this was something else. The man began to rip the duct tape off of his bare chest, and Rin was surprised he was still able to feel the extent of the pain from that. After what he had already gone through, ripping some tape off of his skin shouldn’t have bothered him, but it did.

His hands were still bound behind his back with the robe as they threw him to the ground, which he was fully certain had gnawed through several layers of skin at that point. He realized then, what the man had fully meant when he had said what he had said. Rin couldn’t move his legs, or his feet, or fight back in any way. A new sense of despair came over him, as he realized now that he was finally able to try to fight back or escape, he literally couldn’t even try. Rin wished they had re-tied him. He wished they had hurried up with it and done quick work at restraining his entire body. At least then he wouldn’t be faced with this extreme amount of pathetic state of mind he was rendered to; this absolute defeat of not just the situation itself, but of himself, too. He couldn’t fight back, he couldn’t move. It was as if he was completely paralyzed, and with that, he was as good as dead given the situation he was in. He couldn’t escape, he couldn’t fight. He had no chance anymore, nor even the faintest of hope left.

One of the three men sat down heavily on top of him, making him feel squeezed down more than he already felt from all of his injuries. He figured he could still scream despite everything, but he held it in, not wanting to give them the satisfaction of a reaction, not even just to try to test if he really could do it or not. The man hovered over him, face getting close, the gross smell of his breath hitting Rin in the face, making him want to gag. He tried to fight back, but still, he couldn’t. He couldn’t even turn his head around at his own volition.

“I wonder which of you two is the actual bitch,” the man perversely thought out loud. And Rin looked at him, confused for a moment, then horror filled him up as the man continued to speak: “While it’s fun to imagine you taking him from behind, I doubt he would ever allow that, so that must mean you’re the one taking it right? You do have long hair like a girl, too.”

The man moved in between Rin’s tied legs and Rin quickly felt the beginning of a bulge press against his thigh. A new type of fear and complete appallment flowed through his body. His head was spinning with it, and he felt like throwing up. His heart beat faster, the hairs on the back of his neck; no, all over his body, rose again. He would rather get electrocuted again, over and over, than this. Even the threat, even the mere thought, was far more horrific than anything he had endured so far. This. This moment, this very act that hadn’t yet happened, was what felt final to Rin. The man had a hand on either side of Rin’s torso, and slowly lifted one of his hands up to caress Rin’s abdomen, and Rin tried to squirm, tried to get away, but there was nothing he could do.

“How about we see what it’s all about? If it’s worth that much trouble. I mean, putting his own life on the line just to find you. Dead or alive, too,” The man threateningly and amusedly said. Increased panic kept rushing through Rin’s entire body, though he tried his absolute best to stay stoic, not wanting to look fazed, not wanting to give him or any of them the satisfaction, not wanting the man on top of him to know just how absolutely horrified and scared he truly was.

As the man started to pull at Rin’s underwear, just as Rin thought he would rather be dead - and fully believing that his end really was near now; that this was the last bit of torture they had to offer him - he heard the quiet but unmistakable whoos-sound of a gun being fired with a silencer attached to it. He remembered the sound from the demonstrations Haru had made of that once or twice at the shooting range, and having heard it a couple of times outside, as well. It was a scary sound, so quiet and quick, but held so much power. For a moment he figured it was himself that got shot, that he was relieved from the horrors of the situation he was in before it had even properly begun, but then he started to notice the action around the room. People were yelling, running, grabbing and pointing weapons in several directions. In another word: chaos. Complete and utter chaos in every direction Rin could see.

Several loud gunshots were being fired from all around him, torturing his eardrums. People were dropping like flies around him. He watched as the man above him dropped dead, lying heavy on Rin’s far-too-heavily bruised and injured body, making it even more difficult for him to breathe. He was shot through the head, Rin could see the exit wound pop out in the back of his head, even from this angle.

What was going on?

The other two men around him dropped to the ground as well, though luckily didn’t land on him like the first one, thank fuck. Out of all the very potential ways to die, getting squished to death wasn’t what he had expected. He tried to follow the action, tried to see where the shots were coming from, what was happening, as one after another dropped dead, most of them shot through the head, some through other body parts, all perfectly aimed at the right and most lethal points in their bodies, only really needing one bullet each. He finally saw a familiar silhouette make its way through the corpses that laid spread out all around the ground.

It was Haru.

Haru skillfully took out every last guy in the room with a vengeance he had probably never felt before, one that Rin had never seen, not from Haru, and not even depicted in the most graphic of action movies. He was composed, he was suited up in black motorcycle riding gear, with no helmet, and he was unstoppable; a black shadowy force - or rather just a breeze - sweeping through the massive warehouse. He held two guns steady in his hands until the very last shot. He looked in Rin’s general direction, but not directly at him. He looked around then, as if making sure he hadn’t missed anyone. He stood still, clearly listening and watching, and finally, finally he looked at him, but Rin wished he hadn’t.

The composure went away. The shock and horror on his face was raw, so raw that Rin would have rather endured another round of whatever, anything, than seeing that expression directed at himself. He looked away, he couldn’t turn his head much, if at all, but he could luckily still control his eyes, and so he looked up at the ceiling, while Haru rushed to his side, threw himself to the ground, quickly shoved the man above Rin out of the way, with unnecessary force, as if trying to harm the man further, like he wasn’t already dead. Then he touched Rin, and Rin flinched, trying to get away. His tied hands behind his back were placed to one side, as Rin was actively trying to get away with what barely existing last energy he had, and so Haru made quick work on cutting through the layers of robes, the blue plastic kind, Rin noticed then.

One of Rin’s weak arms came up to try to fight off whoever was grabbing him, but he could barely lift it. His mind went blank, his body numb, not just the way it had been so far, but now in sheer panic. Haru either didn’t notice that that was what Rin was trying to do, or didn’t blame him, only reaching out more persistently, trying to wrap an arm underneath him instead to pull him closer. Rin flinched again, but this time he made eye contact with Haru again and his body finally seemed to realize it was him, as it began to sink into his touch.

“I’m so sorry,” Rin heard Haru mumble. “I’m so-”

“Everything hurts,” Rin pathetically complained, finally able to let his walls crumble now that someone familiar was with him. He flinched again, but this time in pain, as Haru lifted his upper body up and close to himself, as if to cradle him. “Everything… everything hurts.”

“I know, Rin, I know… I’m going to get you out of here okay?” Haru reassured him, and the pain in his voice was clear. There was something so caring, soft and affectionate to it, that for a brief moment it reminded Rin of his mom. “I need to carry you, it’s going to hurt, but I need you to try not to move too much… you’re bleeding a lot.”

“Am I going to die?” Rin asked, and he truly believed the answer to that was an obvious yes. How could he not? Maybe he already was. Haru shook his head, stubbornly.

“No. No, no, you’re okay. It’s going to be okay,” Haru repeated, almost as if he was saying it to himself, too. “Are you ready?” Haru asked, stroking his cheeks very carefully and gently, clearly afraid of hurting him further, wiping away tears without applying any pressure.

Was he ready? Ready for what? Die? He had been ready for that for a while now, he thought to himself. What about now, though? He hadn’t really gained any hope, if he was honest, yet he found himself hesitantly nodding once.

“Okay. Here we go…” Haru quietly said, then began to lift him up, and Rin couldn’t keep in the almost roaring scream of pain as his chest got squeezed in the process. All the noise he had kept in seemed to seep out through him. All the pain he had tried to ignore and not feel; everything hit him all at once. “I’m so sorry,” Haru apologized, over and over, mumbling words that were incoherent to Rin, and Rin couldn’t understand why he suddenly mumbled like that, until he realized it was probably all in his head, as he could feel himself falling out of consciousness once more, to the sound of Haru’s panicked voice urging him to stay awake, but he couldn’t. All he felt was pain, he could barely even feel Haru’s arms around him. It got bright, really bright, then everything turned black and he was out, that familiar sinking feeling that he was far too accustomed to by now swallowing him whole.

Rin felt himself slowly waking up, as if he had fallen asleep. Or just passed out again. Had he been drugged again? He didn’t want to open his eyes, he tried to hold his breath, tried to stay still, not ready for another round of torture or beating. He couldn’t bear it anymore. He couldn’t take it. He just wanted it to end, he couldn’t wake up again, didn’t want to see that evil face, couldn’t go through more of what was ordered to be done to him.

He felt every hair on his body rise, he couldn’t keep himself from stirring, couldn’t hold the fear at bay. He wanted to flee, he knew he couldn’t, but if only he could try. Maybe the robe had loosened a little, maybe he could just finally manage to break his wrist so he could free his hands. Maybe his legs could carry him. Maybe adrenaline could get the work done. Maybe he had a chance, maybe he could fight back, maybe-

“Rin? Rin, can you hear me?” Haru quietly asked, his voice a little hoarse, as if he hadn’t spoken or drank anything in a while. His voice was close to him, Rin could tell. He could sense him, almost feel him by his side.

Rin tried to open his eyes, shocked to hear that familiar voice. He was probably imagining things, but he didn’t care, he wanted to see his face again, hear his voice, even if it was a mere delusion. He blinked his eyes open and slowly realized, despite his slightly blurry vision, that he was in a hospital room. Something was in front of him, some plastic right in front of his face. Behind that he could see Haru, right there with him, sitting at the edge of a chair pulled up close next to the hospital bed that Rin was lying in. Haru tried to stand up, to lean in, but was clearly careful not to overwhelm Rin by getting too close too soon and too fast.

Rin took one look at him, and although the surrealness hit him like a truck, and he actively struggled to accept the possibility that this could really be real, he also noticed how tired Haru appeared beneath the surprised expression. Certainly his imagination wouldn’t be so cruel as to picture him like that? The strain was so clear on him. He looked like he hadn’t slept in a month. And while Rin had come to know that Haru didn’t sleep a whole lot in general, this was different. He never appeared tired, he had only looked even vaguely tired a couple of times, but Rin had certainly never seen him looking this outright exhausted before. How long had he been gone? Could his disappearance have anything to do with this exhausted look? Or had he just been working too much?

The plastic in front of him moved when he tried to turn his head. Then he felt it, slowly; every sensation was hitting him. He felt like he was being choked, like he had something stuck in his throat. He tried to cough, tried to speak, and he must have looked frantic, must have panicked, because Haru quickly hovered over him, placing two gentle, ungloved hands on either side of his face, clearly careful to not pull at anything, trying to get him to look at him and focus on him. A rapid beeping noise in the background felt deafening to Rin, and there were several degrees and types of pain arising all across his body, a type of tingling as well, while he also felt paralyzed at the same time, like that state after a really long nap where everything is numb and prickly. A throbbing headache, something against the skin beneath his nose and cheek. He wanted to scream so badly, it was all too much at once.

“Rin, listen, stop, you’re okay, you’re at St. Luke’s. The hospital,” Haru was quick to explain, speaking as if reassuring him, but hecticly as well, as if it was urgent that Rin calmed down immediately. It didn’t help. He was looking at him through widened eyes, he could feel his eyes hurting, strained and almost as if they were dry - that itchy sensation. He was so scared, so afraid, and why couldn’t he speak, why couldn’t he scream, why couldn’t he swallow or do anything? “You have a breathing tube in your throat Rin, it’s to help you breathe, okay? Don't be scared, you’re okay... I’m going to call for a nurse, okay?”

Rin didn’t respond. He couldn’t. Maybe he wouldn’t have, even if he could. All he could do was stare at Haru with terrified, widened eyes. He could move his arms, he realized, as he suddenly registered he was grabbing onto something, which, apparently, wasn’t the tube he wanted to pull out and get away from, but rather he was grabbing onto Haru’s arms, put in between Rin’s hands and the tube. Rin couldn’t tell if his grip was tight, he thought so, but Haru didn’t react, and there weren't any marks on his arms when Haru very slowly moved one away to touch something behind Rin. Or rather, pull something - a red string.

“You had to go through surgery due to blood loss and internal damage, they had to help you breathe for a while, but you’re better now…” Haru carefully explained, still in the process of calming him down. Rin realized he had never witnessed Haru this clearly emotional before. There was sorrow and guilt beneath the exhaustion, and his voice was unstable. It felt like he was looking at and listening to a whole different person.

A nurse quickly came in within seconds, and then Rin heard shouting, another nurse came in, then went out, then came back right after with a doctor in tow. They explained what Haru had already explained, quickly as well. He had a breathing tube down his throat, to help him breathe. They would take it out for him now. He had to cough. It hurt, but more than anything, it was extremely uncomfortable. Once it was out, a bunch of things happened that he could barely register or keep track of. He realized then, that Haru stood somewhere to the side, watching along almost with the same intense eyes of a hawk, though a scared one. His bare hands looked bruised, even from afar and through Rin’s tired vision, and his clothes a bit disheveled. It was strange. Rin truly hadn’t seen him like that before.

Rin had to go through tests, and they were talking to him for a bit, though only about current things, the technicalities and purpose of said tests. They didn’t mention anything that had happened to him, or why he even had needed help breathing to begin with. He was confused beyond words, but they finished up by saying they would come back later once he was a bit more awake to explain the rest, and that he should rest for now. And so he did. He didn’t want to, but he couldn’t help it. His body was exhausted, he felt like he had been run over by a car, or ten. He drifted off before they had even properly left the room.

When he slowly stirred and blinked himself awake again, a new rush of fear and panic kicked in, before he once more realized where he was. He was at the hospital. Which hospital was it again? He wasn’t sure. He turned his head to look at where Haru had stood the last time he had looked at him, or at least he thought it had been the last time, he couldn’t be sure about that either. Haru didn’t stand there anymore, though, but instead sat in the chair again, pulled up right beside Rin once more. He was watching him, though less intensely and scared than what Rin slowly remembered he had looked like before he had drifted off.

“Rin?” Haru asked.

What time was it? How long had he been asleep for?

His throat hurt, a burning sensation, but there were no giant plastic tubes in front of his face, only small ones coming from his nose, no suffocating feeling, at least not the same, physical and present one. He could even swallow, though barely, with his mouth and throat all dry. It must have been audible or visible, because Haru quickly got up to grab something beside Rin - a cup placed on top of a tall table that stood beside the hospital bed. Various other items were on top of it, too, but Rin couldn’t quite see what from where he was lying. Haru helped him sit up, and then helped him take a sip from the cup, before slowly helping him lay down again. He placed the cup back down on the table and sat on the chair again, hesitantly and gently placing a hand on the bed, as if he wanted to touch Rin but couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“How-” Rin began, but got broken off by a cough. His throat was really dry, and it felt like he was speaking for the first time in quite a while. Haru helped him sit up and take another few more small sips from the cup, this time adjusting the bed so that Rin stayed in the sitting (though laid back) position, either to make it easier for him to have another sip if the need arose, or as in hoping that it would be easier for him to breathe and speak like that rather than lying down more. “How um- how long? Time?” Rin asked, hoping Haru could guess what he meant.

“Um… Just now? Only about three hours, I think,” Haru guessed, then he noticed Rin’s confused expression - the nap wasn’t what he had referred to. “Before that you… They had to put you in a coma.”

“What? When?”

“Eight days ago,” Haru informed him, voice quiet. Eight days?

“What happened?” Rin asked in rather disturbed surprise, and Haru looked like Rin had slapped him. He stared at him, clearly unsure of what to say. Rin didn’t mean what had happened to him, he knew all that. He just didn’t remember arriving at a hospital, or even escaping. Many things were still so hazy and blurred for him, his memory still trying to catch up with him, even as he was actively working on processing what was currently going on. Haru looked like he didn’t know how to answer that question, and maybe he couldn’t answer it. Maybe he didn’t know. Rin was remembering more and more, and found himself saying, very certainly: “I didn’t… give them anything.”

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t tell them anything,” Rin clarified, unsure why it felt so important for him all of the sudden to make sure Haru knew that. Maybe he was afraid he had caused or was causing unnecessary worry to Haru? Maybe he wanted to reassure him back? That clearly wasn’t a success based on the response he got, though, as Haru looked incredibly hurt by it rather than reassured.

“I don’t care about that,” Haru stated, sounding very steadfast and as hurt as he looked.

“But-“

“You’re alive. That’s all that matters,” Haru insisted. “All that matters is that you’re alive,” he repeated, and Rin realized he sounded almost offended or outright shocked by the implication that anything else could be the case. “Besides, they’re all dead.”

Dead? Rin thought to himself, as he tried to recollect all the missing parts; grasp all of his missing memories. It slowly came back, one by one. Very slowly. He had heard gunshots. Someone was on top of him. He was scared, horrified even, when the person on top of him grew heavier. He couldn’t breathe. People yelling, running, more gunshots.

“I’ll arrange for you and your family to be relocated,” Haru suddenly said, pulling Rin out of his - admittedly horrifying - process of remembering.

“What are you talking about?” Rin asked, voice still hoarse and almost unrecognizable, looking at him in complete shock.

“Any country you want, name it, and I’ll make it happen,” Haru stated. “You can start over, your mom can have a bigger bakery, your sister can continue with her education. You… you won’t have to see me again. You won’t need to worry about anything anymore. I promise.”

“What are you-? No?” Rin’s eyebrows knitted in confusion, and he could hear the obnoxious beeping in the background getting quicker. “What? No.”

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, Rin,” Haru apologized, sincerely. “You’re right. What you had said the last time we spoke. You were right, you should have left when we met. I should have never approached you.”

“You’re sending me away? Now?” Rin asked in disbelief, realizing what Haru was doing.

“No… No, I’m- I’m trying to fix what I couldn’t do before. I’m trying to keep you safe.”

“Well, don’t?” Rin looked at Haru with so much hurt in his expression he was sure he looked and sounded pathetically desperate, just as much as he felt.

“You got hurt because of me,” Haru argued.

“No, Haru,” Rin refuted. “You’re supposed to be- be the rational one of us, what are you saying?”

“I’m being rational. I should have been rational sooner…”

“You’re not thinking properly,” Rin said, and it hurt to speak, but he had to.

“That’s the problem, yes.”

“You didn’t do anything,” Rin kept arguing. “I was the one who left.”

“As you should have,” Haru insisted, as he got up from the chair. A rush of panic hit Rin with that gesture. Was he leaving him? Was he really leaving him? Now? Like this?

“Please don’t do this,” Rin practically begged.

“I have to,” Haru said, and Rin could see it pained him despite his general stubborn nature.

“I love you,” Rin said. It was a plea, another attempt at begging. He had never said it to him before, hadn’t really expected to ever say it either, but he meant it, undeniably so. He had no energy, but if he had, he would have gotten out of the hospital bed and flung himself at him, wrapped himself around him like a baby animal, a koala, perhaps, refusing to let go of him. Instead he could only lie there, try to move closer, try to find the strength to reach for him, but being unable to. The nearest body part was Haru’s bruised-looking hand, still laying on top of Rin’s bed, placed there as if stuck, as if it had been there for a while, and he reached for it, he couldn’t grab it, couldn’t hold it, but he managed to move and place his weak hand on top of his, and Haru looked down at it for a long moment.

“I killed nearly a hundred people, Rin,” Haru finally said. It wasn’t an argument, it wasn’t even a confession. It was just a fact, a simple statement he made.

“What?”

“I even tortured several people. In worse ways than you had been,” Haru continued, and Rin realized now that Haru almost sounded almost ashamed by it, which was entirely uncharacteristic of him, and thus quite disturbing. It might not have been the act itself, but admitting it to Rin that troubled him, given the situation. Rin had never taken him for someone regretting killing or hurting people, as he had stated the opposite countless of times, but at the same time Haru was definitely remorseful about something. “I’m not worthy of your love. You have to give it to someone else.”

Haru leaned down to place a kiss on Rin’s forehead, his other hand, the one not touched by Rin’s own, placed behind his head, caressing him lightly. He shut his eyes tightly, before he let go, moved his hand out from underneath Rin’s and was about to turn around again, but Rin grabbed his hand with what little strength he had managed to gather.

“Tell me you don’t love me,” Rin demanded.

“What? Why would I-”

“Say it.”

“I can’t,” Haru insisted.

“Then don’t leave me… please don’t leave me, not again, please don’t- not now-” Rin’s eyes were too full of tears now for him to see and he bowed his head down, letting the tears fall down his cheeks as he bit down on the inside of one of them, trying his best to keep the tears back, but unable to do so. He still held onto Haru’s hand, but his body was so weak, he couldn’t pull at it despite wanting to. He wanted to pull him back, to have him close. He suddenly felt a hand underneath his chin, lifting his head up and into the nape of a familiar neck, the bed shifting as weight got added onto it beside Rin. He let go of Haru’s hand and wrapped his arms around him instead, as Haru did the same, holding him close and allowing him to cry and sob into him.

All the fear he had felt from - how long had Haru said? Eight days? - ago, came back, only to slowly leave his body, a bit more properly this time, with each tear and each sob. He was a mess, but Haru didn’t move, just kept holding him, careful not to hurt him or pull at any of the tubes and equipment connected to his body.

“I’m not leaving you, Rin. At least not right now,” Haru tried to reassure him, though it was hesitant, and Rin definitely paid attention to the last few words. “I just wanted to grab a nurse… They told me to do that once you woke up…”

Rin didn’t respond. He still cried. He couldn’t help it. It was mostly silent tears, which was a relief, otherwise his throat would have probably hurt even more. After some time, the tears slowly stopped, and Rin tried to catch his breath, though each inhale hurt a lot. Haru clearly tried to calm him down, but he was so unsure of what to do, and it didn’t help much.

There was still so much Rin didn’t know, and so much he wanted to ask. As he regained his ability to breathe more properly, through the pain, he also tried to collect his thoughts and pinpoint the first question he should ask.

”How- um- How long… was I gone for?” Rin slowly asked, figuring that was a good start. “Like… how long was I there…? With them?”

“Around sixteen hours,” Haru said, in admittance, as if he was ashamed of it. Sounding far more ashamed than he had done during the admittance of the killings just moments ago. Rin was outright shocked by that revelation; he had expected several days at least to have passed with him being there. It had felt like such a long time; weeks, months. There was no way it hadn’t just been a day - no, wait, less than a day.

“I thought… I thought it was much longer,” Rin admitted. He was still in Haru’s arms. Haru was still right next to him on the bed, holding him. It was nice. It kept him grounded; kept him from getting pulled too far into his memories, though that was difficult as they kept coming back one after another, despite his mind feeling all kinds of foggy.

“That’s… quite common,” Haru said, pulling back to look at him.

“I think… they drugged me,” Rin recollected.

“Yes,” Haru confirmed. He was watching him; observing. Analyzing. Rin could tell.

“I was so…” Rin began, but trailed off, not yet fully ready to face the truth yet.

“Scared?” Haru offered, and Rin nodded slowly. “I know you can never forgive me, and I won’t ever ask you to, but-”

“Forgive you for what?”

“This? All of it.”

“It’s not your fault,” Rin argued. Haru clearly thought he had heard wrong, his expression turning surprised.

“What?”

“It’s not your fault, none of this is your fault,” Rin insisted, a little worried from seeing that expression.

“But you said-”

“I know what I said. I wish I had never said it. I regret it so much,” Rin admitted. He was glad Haru allowed him to finish his sentences, since it took him a while. It hurt to speak, not just in his throat, but in his lungs as well. Actually, it hurt a lot, and the amount of pain kept surprising him. But, this was important. This was worth the pain. “None of it was true. I was just angry and scared. I didn’t mean any of it.”

“Why are you...?”

“I don’t blame you. I would never blame you. Not for this. Not for what’s happened. And not for any of the things leading up to it, either,” Rin continued, glad to finally be able to say it after all this time of wanting to. “I never blamed you. I just said it because I was angry. I wasn’t even necessarily angry at you, I was just angry.”

”But you got so hurt…”

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not. I saw it. I read your file. You got so hurt because I couldn’t-”

“Stop. Enough about files,” Rin complainingly dismissed. “You found me. I’m alive because of you.”

“No, you’re stuck in a hospital bed because of me,” Haru insisted. “Do you know they thought you were beyond saving at first? They had to give you so many transfusions… your lungs… your head… broken bones… I can’t tell you how sorry I am for causing you this much pain.”

“You didn’t,” Rin said, getting almost impatient with him now, despite the words he had just said. The words should have made him pause and ask what he meant by all of that, but he was so focused on convincing him of the truth that he barely even heard him. All he heard was another dumb argument to back up his untrue point.

“I meant what I said before,” Haru stated. “You have to move, Rin, you need to get far away from me so no one can hurt you again.”

“Please don’t push me away,” Rin begged. They had already been through this, not again. “I won’t go.”

”Let’s talk about this another time, sorry. I’m really sorry. You just woke up…” Haru said, defeated, looking away. There was nothing he could say that would change Rin’s mind in that moment, and he must have known this, too. However, if he really thought he could change his mind at a later time, no matter what dumb argument he could make up, he was very wrong. Rin truly did not blame him. Not one bit, and he never would.

“The whole time,” Rin began, catching Haru’s attention. “I was thinking of myself, of course, and the pain,” - Haru almost seemed to flinch at that - “but I also thought about my family and friends. It kept me going. It wasn’t hope, I didn’t have much of that. I knew none of them could help me. I also thought about you. With more hope. The only hope I had was of you finding me,” Rin said, insistently, not wanting Haru to even try to argue or doubt that. “Really, my friends and family weren’t the ones that kept me going. I don’t want to leave them behind, of course, but I didn’t want to leave you behind either. I couldn’t. Not after the way I had left things…”

“Rin…” Haru said. Rin shook his head, then quickly coughed once, surprising himself, and Haru was quick to grab the cup of water and help him take another sip. Rin felt a bit pathetic, he wouldn’t lie about that, but, although it was difficult to acknowledge, there was a part of this gesture that was also quite nice. Haru’s softer side, acting caring like this. It wasn’t like it had never happened before, but it definitely hadn’t happened a lot, especially not outside of aftercare, and definitely not like this.

“None of what I said was true, I need you to know that,” Rin then insisted, once he felt like his throat and lungs were ready to be put through more pain and strain again. “None of it. What happened to me is not your fault, and can never be your fault,” he emphasised, slowly, wanting it to be fully clear. “You were forced into this life. You said so yourself. You haven’t chosen it and you’ve said several times before that you don’t want it; that you would have never chosen it for yourself, that you would leave it far behind you if you could. And-“

“Yes, but-” Haru began.

“But what you have chosen was me,” Rin interrupted back, taking advantage of Haru’s watchful state, the way even the smallest of sound was enough to shut him up and listen; even the smallest of movements were enough to alert him. “You chose to be with me. And I chose to be with you, knowing fully well the life I entered with that choice.”

“But-”

“No, I knew it, you didn’t deceive me,” Rin interrupted again. “You didn’t lie. I knew what I was getting myself into. I knew the risk of this. I still chose it. It’s not your fault.”

“How can you say that when it’s just… it just happened days ago, and you’re fine with it?”

“Of course not. I’m not fine with it. I won’t be fine for a while, I guess, well- obviously,” Rin said, wanting to gesture to himself in the bed, but barely able to outside of using his eyes, which only drew the point further. “But I don’t want you to take the blame for it.”

“If…” Haru began, but trailed off.

“Yes?” Rin quietly asked, urging him to continue.

“If I can’t push you away, and I can’t leave,” Haru began again. “Then you can’t either. You can’t leave me like that again. I couldn’t-”

Haru cut himself off. Rin was a bit put off by the demanding tone in Haru’s voice, until he realized it covered up the emotions that lay dangerously close to the surface beneath it. Haru was sad. He was hurt. This was him begging. This was him admitting that what Rin had done had hurt him, possibly more than he would ever allow him to find out, and furthermore that he didn’t want it to happen again. Of course, Rin could push him to speak, he could ask him what he meant, he could get him to talk, if anything then out of pity, but he felt like this was enough for now. He didn’t need to know the reason. He didn’t need to hear any arguments. This was Haru trying to compromise with him, trying to ask him to stay, and-

Oh.

Oh, Rin thought, as he realized how in love he was with this dangerous man that sat right beside him, so close. This dangerous man who so clearly loved him back, who was demanding - no begging - for him to stay and not leave him. Not again. Never again. This moment was far more significant than Rin could possibly allow himself to acknowledge. Yet, he found it within himself to recognize the fact that he wouldn’t trade it for anything.

The realization of what he had just gone through would inevitably hit him. It would leave permanent scars on his soul, mind and self. He would remain traumatized by it, probably for the rest of his life. He knew this deep within himself, even if he hadn’t been forced to acknowledge it just yet. He had just woken up, he hadn’t needed to think much about it. But he knew, still, that he would never be the same again. And yet, for some reason, it almost felt a little too easy for him to stay in that moment; to focus on Haru and his feelings for him, to allow it to postpone the altering pain that was going to come when he least expected it. The physical, and the mental pain. And if he was honest with himself, he was fine with that momentary distraction. It seemed almost like a good and healthy deflection, a nice excuse to take and work through things as slow as possible.

After a moment or two more, Haru’s arms around him relaxed a bit, and it made Rin suddenly notice something he knew he should have noticed sooner. Haru’s scent was different. In fact, it was barely there. Instead, he reeked of something else. It wasn’t strong, but it was still strong enough to overpower anything else. It didn’t help that Haru likely hadn’t put on any perfume, or presumably, judging by the slightly unkempt, rather casual clothes he was wearing, hadn’t showered or even just changed clothes, at least not that day.

“Not to uh- be mean or anything, but… you kinda smell?” Rin found himself saying out loud.

“Oh- sorry,” Haru quickly apologized, pulling away a little bit again.

“Is that cigarette?” Rin quickly realized.

“Yeah, I- uh- I’m going to quit again, it’s just…” Haru trailed off, a bit ashamed of not having considered it being noticeable. Even his first thought was that he probably smelled of general bad body odor from wearing the same outfit for a couple of days, and not of that.

“You haven’t smoked before,” Rin pointed out. It’s not like Rin was outright appalled by it. He wasn’t a smoker himself and it wasn’t a nice smell, but smelling it on Haru was… surprising, if not alarming, simply because it wasn’t like him. And there was a great difference between the smell of someone having been close to people who had smoked, and the smell of someone who had smoked themselves, and this particular smell was definitely alike to the latter.

“Not for many years, no,” Haru confirmed.

“Then why-? Ah,” Rin stopped himself, as his clueless brain finally figured it out on his own. For a moment he had suspected Haru had been around someone else who had smoked for long enough for it to stick like that, but it was pretty clear, no matter how surreal it was, that Haru had stayed by his side, at least for some time, maybe the whole time, so he wouldn’t have been able to catch it from someone else. Plus, there was no way he would let anyone get that close to him for it to rub off like that. So that only left one option, and that was that Haru himself had smoked, which was… strange. New. It could only be bad, given the circumstances.

“I started a few days after… you know…” Haru tilted his head slightly forward and kept looking at Rin. You know - the thing we can’t fully talk through yet, not here, not like this. “Then, with you in a coma, I guess the stress from the wait got to me, too.”

“I’m sorry,” Rin apologized.

“It’s not your fault. Sorry I smell, though, I’ll have a change of clothes brought by later,” Haru apologized back.

“Lung cancer will kill you, you know,” Rin jokingly pointed out. He was indirectly scolding him, but also trying to lighten the mood, while still feeling perplexed about it, knowing he was essentially the cause behind it. If Haru had started at any other point in their relationship, it wouldn’t have been as big a deal. But this? It felt like a big deal. And they were already going through too many big deals right now as it were.

“Then it’s a good thing we’re in a hospital,” Haru surprisingly joked back, and Rin gave him a surprised look, before snorting, which then made him wince in pain and fuck why did everything hurt so much? He looked down, saw Haru’s hands, noticing once more the bruising on them, seemingly fading but still quite dark, and realized there was another question he hadn’t asked yet.

“What happened-?” Rin began, reaching a hand towards one of Haru’s hands.

“Don’t worry about me,” Haru quickly interrupted, having followed his line of sight. The bruising was on his knuckles. Rin realized then that his own hands, arms and fingers were bruised as well, though far, far worse. But still - still - why was Haru’s hands bruised? It almost looked like he had hit something. Someone, his brain reminded him. He figured with Haru’s reaction it was no good trying to get the answer out of him right now, but he was definitely going to ask again. After all, it wasn’t fair if Haru really had read his file and then wouldn’t even tell him anything about the current state of himself - which, admittedly, wasn’t good. For now, though? For now he just went quiet. Disapprovingly, of course.

Rin eventually tried to move a bit, not wanting to put distance between or pull away from Haru, but both out of habit to readjust and move freely, and also from being ready to test the waters and see how much of his body worked and could move after everything it had been put through; everything that he wasn’t yet ready to acknowledge, wanting to postpone it forever, but that he knew he couldn’t deny had happened.

“Um… hey, where’s my underwear?” Rin hesitantly asked, feeling uncomfortably exposed all of the sudden at the realization that his balls and dick weren't confined by fabric the way that they usually were, the attempt at moving having revealed that to him quite well. He lifted the hospital blanket up a little, at the side Haru wasn’t still sitting on top of, and as much as he could with what little strength he had, then took a peek underneath to check on whether he was actually naked from the waist down or not, like it certainly felt like he was. “Wait what the fuck is-“

“Don’t touch that, it’s a catheter,” Haru quickly said, grabbing Rin’s wrist to keep him from potentially yanking the tube out. Not that he would ever do that… (He would have, he was actively reaching for it when Haru grabbed him).

“A what? Why is it going into my-“ Rin began, knowing completely well what it was, but definitely not expecting it to be put through the tip of his own dick. Hadn’t he been tortured enough? Then Rin noticed not only that he was lying on some type of padding, but also that there was another tube. A brownish and much bigger one, visible beneath the first one. “Wait there’s another-“

“Yes, don’t touch that one either,” Haru quickly said, still holding on to him, voice almost a bit nervous, though strict.

“Where’s it-?“ Rin began, following the direction of it, coming up from somewhere at the corner down by the end of the bed, out of his line of sight, and going all the way up between Rin’s legs, seemingly going right underneath… “Wait. Is it in my-?”

“Yeah,” Haru rather hesitantly confirmed. “You were in a coma, so- Okay, wait, I’ll call for the doctor again, hold on. Don’t touch anything,” Haru said, deeming this a topic best led by a professional, then was about to get off of the bed, but paused to add: “And uh- about your underwear… They were thrown out. I’ve already made sure someone fetched another pair and a complete outfit for you there in the bag,” he gestured to a small backpack placed neatly on a padded bench beneath curtained windows. “And some of your other things. Though if you want something else, I can make sure of that, or go grab it myself, if you-”

“Why did they just throw them out? Aren’t they supposed to keep them? They did that the last time I had surgery?”

“They were kind of… soiled? And the doctors cut them up too, before-”

“Soiled? What? Wait-” Rin asked, in confusion, but then quickly realized. “Oh. Well… that’s… embarrassing.”

“No, it’s not,” Haru quickly refuted. Then, a bit more solemnly, he added, without looking at Rin: “It’s actually… quite… common. Also."

“Common, how? What is?”

“During… what you went through,” Haru said, clearly not yet ready to talk about it, least of all mention it casually or off-handedly like this. It almost felt like a humorous moment. “It’s a normal bodily reaction...”

"So you’re saying I… pissed myself?” Rin asked, and Haru would have probably chuckled at the forwardness of that, if the circumstances had been any different.

“Yeah, presumably,” Haru rather awkwardly confirmed, not sure how to handle Rin’s reaction or the topic itself. He turned around, got out of the bed and headed for the door, then paused again at the sound of Rin’s voice.

“Wait… you carried me out, didn’t you?” Rin suddenly remembered.

“You remember that?” Haru asked after turning back around, clearly very surprised.

“Vaguely, just now,” Rin said.

“Yes, I did,” Haru confirmed, still sounding surprised by the fact that Rin had even remembered at all.

“So you… touched me… after I had…”

“You say it like I would care,” Haru was quick to interject.

“You don’t?”

“About your piss? Of course not,” Haru dismissed, with no hesitancy. It felt odd for this to be the focus right now. Haru hadn’t paid it much mind, at least not in the context that Rin clearly did. “I honestly didn’t notice it at the moment at all. It doesn’t matter.”

“Do you mean I’m just naturally that gross or-“

“That’s not what I mean, and you know it,” Haru interrupted him, and for a brief moment he almost sounded impatient, if not offended. It reminded Rin of their usual banter for a brief moment. It was nice.

“Do you have some fetish that I don’t know-” Rin pressed on.

“Rin,” Haru warned, but not playfully. This was not a joking matter to Haru, that much he made clear. To Rin though, he felt like he had to laugh soon or he would lose his mind completely.

“So… you love me,” Rin noted instead.

“I do, yes,” Haru confirmed, with even less hesitancy than with his previous answer. It was heavy. It was a heavy confirmation to words he had never uttered to Rin before. Rin was almost scared to ask him to repeat himself. “It’s a very weird takeout from that, but yes.”

“How else would I take it, coming from the man that wouldn’t let me into pools without showering first or-“ Rin continued to joke, grasping at the chance to lighten up the heaviness in the room that only seemed to get exponentially heavier.

“You bring that up now?”

“It’s a good example and it’s happened a lot,” Rin argued.

“You’re unbelievable,” Haru said, smiling. With that smile, Rin finally felt like he could breathe a little better, the thickness in the air easing up, if only just for a moment. “That’s so very different.”

“Is it, though?” Rin found himself sassing, hoping to widen that smile of Haru’s. It worked.