Work Text:
Bachira:
COME ONNN RINRIN
ITLL BE FUN
I PROMISE! (ㅅ•́ ₃•̀)
PINKY PROMISE WITH A CHERRY ON TOP
Rin:
I’ve already told you
I'm not going to go watch a movie I have no interest in just so that you can stalk your best friend.
Bachira:
Noooo, it's not stalking
i dont think…
ANYWAYS.
I HAVE to be there, Rin
We haven't seen each other in WEEKS (っ╥﹏╥ς)
And now he is hanging out with Hiori instead of ME
Not that I dislike Hiori, he’s cool and all, but
I'm supposed to be going on cute little hangouts to the cinema with Isagi
Rin:
Ok.
Remind me why I need to be there again.
Bachira:
Because!
If I show up alone, it'll look weird
PLUS, we haven't seen echother in a bit ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و ♡
Two stones, one bird!
Rin:
It's one bird, two stones, dumbass
And it's a stupid reason too.
Bachira:
Ok well
Do you have to do something else to do that day???
Rin:
Yes, actually
I planned to train.
Bachira:
BORING!
You do that every SINGLE day!!!
Well, whatever.
I'm picking u up in 15, and then we'll head over to the mall.
Rin:
I never agreed to anything
Bachira:
Too bad
I'm already heading your way!!!
Rin:
GOD DAMN IT BACHRA
YOU BETTER NOT
Rin’s hands clenched inside the pockets of his jacket as he and Bachira walked through the crowded Mall. The urge to turn back around and Sprint outside this overcrowded place was strong, but stronger would have been Bachira's constant whining if he were to run away. So he stayed, grunting and sighing now and again when Bachira's talking got annoying.
He found their seats in silence while Bachira yapped in his ears about something or other. Rin remembers the reason he absolutely hates watching movies with other people — the constant yapping in his ears, the uncomfortable seats, the trash food.
“And then that's when I jump up from behind and-” Bachira continues talking as he sits next to him, fumbling with himself as the lights dim. Rin shoots out an arm, both to keep the shorter one in place and also to cover his mouth.
Bachira masterfully dodged the attack but quieted down nevertheless. They sit through the commercials in silence: Rin peacefully, Bachira eyeing the doors anxiously waiting for his unassuming best friend to come.
Rin is honestly fed up with their back-and-forth. Clearly, they are head over heels for each other, yet neither can muster up the courage to actually confess. If they don't get their act together sometime soon, Rin will have to take matters into his own hand. He still doesn't quite know how, but he is getting really sick of watching them orbit each other like moths to a flame. What's worse, somehow, he has become the designated therapist for their relationship troubles.
Rin is jolted out of his thoughts by a slap to the arm. Bachira is hitting his forearm reportedly as he shakes with excitement. His hand moved so fast it was hard to distinguish its shape. “Look. Look, Rin, there he is.” The dyed blonde pointed at tow figure entering the room quietly, his arm is going to get bruised if he lets this go any further.
“Great,” he said grumpily, pulling his arm out of reach, “can I go now?” He asked, already getting up. What a total waste of time. Luckily, there were barely any people here. Probably because it was mid-afternoon on a workday.
Already halfway down the row of empty chairs, Rin gets pulled back by Bachira. He stumbles but doesn't let the other pull him back down into the chair. “Nuh uh, you're staying!” Explained Bachira as the taller ones stood over him.
Asking why Bachira does what he does is a fruitless endeavor. His reasoning, when he has one, is stupid and nonsensical. As such, he doesn't bother asking. Rin sighed dejectedly and stayed in place, his hands balling up into fists. Maybe, if he glared at the back of the other's head hard enough, it would burn through his patchy dye job. He stared at Bachira, and Bachira stared back, amber eyes shining.
Their staring match was interrupted by two people walking up next to them.“Oh wow! What are you guys doing here?” Asked an annoyingly familiar voice next to him. Rin didn't need to turn around to know exactly who it belonged to.
Bachira's eyes widened, and Rin could almost see his own in them. His frown is inverse to Bachira's wide grin. The unpremeditated ability to captivate each other was astonishing.
They both turned to look at the newly arrived with varying degrees of excitement. Rin turned slowly, breathing in a sigh as if steeling himself for a fight. Bachira sprang up with a grin.
“What a coincidence, right?” said Bachira, sort of maniacally, as he jumped up. Looping one of his arms around Isagi with a smile and waving animatedly at the light blue-haired guy behind Isagi. Buzzing about the group vigorously.
Rin didn't bother greeting them. Hiroi did wave hello, but the other two were too caught up in their own little bubble. He nodded a greeting. Spying the room out of the corner of his eye. Luckily, nobody was paying their little group any attention. Be it because there were barely any people or because everybody was busy chatting with their own friends, to really mind them. He pulled the hood of his jacket up, embarrassed to be seen next to these two.
Rin resisted the urge to drag his hand across his face when he turned back in toe conversation, “Hey, you should sit with us!” enthused Bachira, bouncing on his heels. Nihilistically, Rin is entertaining the idea that this wall is a plot ot make his day miserable. Not only did he miss his training to watch a shitty movie he had no interest in watching, but he not only had to spend time with Isagi, but he had to spend time with Isagi and Bachira. He wouldn't say he enjoyed spending time with Bachira, but it wasn't the worst thing that could happen to him. He was loud and energetic, but he knew how to fill the awkward silences Rin always struggled with, and he made a half-decent football player. But as soon as Isagi was within the premises, he became a lovesick fool. Both of them did.
Pulling at the collar of his shirt, Isagi shrugged, unsure. “Those are not our seats, though,” Isagi mumbled, looking back at Hiori, who nodded in agreement.
Bachira lets go of the other to look around the room. The lights had already dimmed, but the actual movie hadn't started yet. “It's mostly empty, nobody would mind,” He said, stating the obvious.
“I guess you're right…” Admittedly, Isagi probably did so because of all the stares they were getting, and moved to sit down next to Bachira eagerly, as if worried somebody would have the audacity to also sit down next to him.
Bachira, all too happy to have the other close by, exclaimed, “Of course I am!”He giggled before addressing the other two. Rin and Hiori were left standing awkwardly in the small space between booths. “Come on, sit, sit.” Both of them looked at each other uneasily. Hiori shrugged and sat down, leaving a seat for Rin between him and Bachira. Rin wondered if his scowl could depend anymore.
He collapses on the chair, irritable, and crosses his arms over his chest. Trying to ignore the chatter coming from his right. Somehow, these two manage to give his brother and that cockroach competition for the most annoying couple Rin has had the displeasure of third wheeling. And neither were actually dating.
Besides him, the cyan shared guy spoke of “Hey…” greeted Hiori. Rin didn't really know the guy much. They talked once or twice, and he knew his name, and that was about it. He didn't know he was good friends with Isagi until now.
Rin hums a greeting indifferently; he supposed that, after all, he wasn't the worst person to get stuck with. He seems normal enough. Plus, they are in a Cinema. He's not expecting a riveting conversation.
“At this point, why are we even here…” said Hiori, looking leaning toward his seat to look at the other two. It seems he's also not too interested in the movie.
Rin laughs at the absurdity of the situation, “pft- we are the excuse, obviously," he snorts, being sarcastic. At least he won't have to be a third wheel alone.
Hiori is about to say something else when the chatter dies out, and music starts to play: the movie is starting.
Out of the four of them, only two paid attention to the movie; he couldn't tell if it was because they were actually interested or if they were using it as an excuse to steal glances at each other. Rin closed his eyes momentarily. Hiori pulled out his phone from the pockets of his pockets, trying to be discreet: lowering the brightness of the screen to the lowest it could go and muting the volume. Bachira and Isagi tried and failed to sneakily glance at each other, and Rin has to look away if he doesn't want to get any cavities.
He looks right: Isagi with one arm around Bachira's shoulders, playing with the edges of his dyed hair. He looks left: Hiori playing games on his phone. Watching the nimble fingers poking out of the sleeves of his turtleneck shoot the enemies on his screen was far more interesting than whatever trashy movie was playing on the screen.
“That movie was trash,” complained Rin as the four of them walked out of the cinema and into the busy plaza of the mall. The stiff seats left his body feeling sore. Stretching couldn't rid him of the firmness in his legs.
The number of people here was absurd, concluded the dark-haired teen. As his acquaintance — they were not his friends — gasped beside him. Apparently, they had just watched the sequel of a fairly popular release, within its niche, one that initially Isagi was a fan of, and by processes similar to osmosis, Bachira has also incorporated. “Rin,” exclaimed the shorter one next to him. “Did you even watch it?” he questioned skeptically, eying him.
Rolling his eyes, Rin grumbled, “I watch the good parts”
He felt a warm hand on his bicep, and he flinched in surprise as Hiori popped up in between him and Isagi, grabbing onto them for balance. Rin preened silently when Hiori had to grab onto Isagi’s shoulder and not his arm. The simple pleasure of being tall. The cyan-haired guy chuckled and poked the taller one playfully. Rin’s eyes widened in surprise at the blatant assault on his personal space, “You watched me play on my phone and huffed whenever I didn't follow your instructions,” he snitched.
“You didn't watch it either, Hiori?” asked Bachira from Isagi’s other side, jumping up on him and grabbing him by the other shoulder. The shorter one was struggling to keep upright.
Hiroi avoided the other’s questioning look, rubbing his neck awkwardly. “I watch the good parts,” he said, looking at Rin for a split second, his round eyes shone, sparkling playfully as they looked at him, like they just shared an inside joke. The corner of his mouth pulled upward slightly.
Now that they were outside the dark cinema, he could actually admire the other’s appearance. He hadn't paid any attention to him before, but now that they were in such close proximity — Seriously, their heads were next to each other. He had soft, round eyes in a light blue colour that reminded him of the sky, with dark lashes that accentuated its colour. His hair was short, yet longer than his own, and the colour matched his eyes perfectly. It framed his face beautifully.
Huh.
Strange though, that Rin was shoving into a box at the back of his head to never open again
“You guys are impossible," sighed Isagi.
Rin was still grappling with the realization that he may or may not find the guy whose face is centimeters away from his own, and whose hand is still around his arm, attractive.
“I'm hungry”
“ice-cream!”
After being dragged to the food court, the group split up to find something to eat. Miraculously, Bachira ran off with Isagi to torture the poor minimum wage girl at the counter of an ice cream shop. Rin, instead of running away back home like he so desperately wanted to, stepped into a coffee shop. As much as he wanted to use the opportunity that he was granted, he knew that if he wanted home now, Bachira would blow up his phone later. So weighting the pros and cons, he decided the best course of action was to stay.
Surprisingly, Hiori had remained stuck to his side. Rin suposes that the other guy didn't want to ruin the impromptu date their friends had found themselves in. To say Rin was uncomfortable was an understatement. They both had their drinks — coffee — and were sitting in silence, waiting for the others to make their way over. They had been in silence the whole way.
The silence was eating Rin alive, yet he seemed incapable of finding a way to fill it. Hiori, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind. He relaxed onto the bench and sipped on his tea, savoring the taste in his mouth. Rin looked away.
The silence remained until Hiori spoke again, “So, why are you even here?” He asked suddenly, as if his mouth spoke faster than his brain could think. Then cringed.
“Huh?”
He moved his arms up in a surrender motion, “Sorry!” He tried, playing with the sleeves of his turtleneck awkwardly. He breathed before continuing, “Not to be mean, but I can't help but notice that you seemed sort of annoyed”
Rin sighed, pinching his temple in annoyance, “Einstein over here. What a shocking conclusion,” He remarked sarcastically. Still, he didn't move.
“Oh, is it because Isagi and I sort of invaded your day?”Questioned rhetorically the shorter one, speaking fast. His accent is breaking through. As he continued to ramble, Rin couldn't help himself from hanging onto the others' way of speaking, the soft accent music to his ears. He wanted to hear more of it. More of Hiorin. “Because if so, I'm sorry. Isagi is hard to pull away from Bachira…”
He couldn't help the sharp exhale that escaped him. He didn't laugh, could have had, "Don't apologize. I knew that would happen,” He explained, not as harshly as he would have normally. He couldn't quite play his finger on it, but something about Hiorin pulled him in. Made him more permeable to conversion.
Hiori made a soft voice of confusión at the back of his throat that Rin would rather die than admit he found cute.
Looking the other way, he said, “Do you honestly think I would willingly hang out with Bachira?”
The other blinked at him, waiting for him to continue. Those clear sky eyes looked onto his own. The calm of the sky meets the turbulent waves of the ocean. Calm in a way Rin had almost forgotten things could be. Yet they blinked at him expectantly, waiting to hear more. More of him, willingly.
Rin mumbled, head feeling sort of in a daze, “I got dragged here by that overgrown bee because he was jealous and wanted to see Isagi.”
Like a bubble that popped, Hiorin's chuckle brought him back to reality. The warm Coffee in his hands, the chair under his legs, and the plastic table in front of him. “Wait— that's actually…sort of cute,” thought the other out loud.
Gesticulating with his hands, Hiorin explained between sips of his own drink, “I told Isagi he needs to get out and do something because his constant overthinking about asking Bachira out on a date was starting to get annoying”
“Those two piss me off, for some reason I always end up third-wheeling them,” said Rin, leaning back onto the chair harshly. He had almost forgotten they were here as well. Well, somewhere, he couldn't spot them with a quick sweep of the place with his eyes. And he honestly didn't care much for where they are. They would find him eventually.
“That is what we are doing, isn't it”
“Well, I can't leave without Bachira getting annoyed.” Mumbled Rin, not that he cared for the others' opinion on him, but Bachira was annoying when mad. Spamming his phone constantly, and once, he even showed up at his house. Crazy.
Another silence enveloped the table, this one, however, you didn't feel anywhere close to awkward as the last one had. Maybe the other silence hadn't been awkward, at least not for Hiori — Rin was just not used to them. He took another cup of his coffee before turning to the other and throwing his own words back at him, “But, why are you even here?”
“Ah,” mumbles Hiori, caught off guard. “Honestly, I just need an excuse to get away from home,” he said softly, quietly, like he wasn't sure whether to admit it or not.
Rin encouraged him to go on with little noise and a flick of his wrist. The other took a moment to think before continuing, “My parents are… intense, let's say,” he explained briefly, vaguely. “So, if it keeps me away from them, I don't mind third wheeling those to”
Contrary to popular belief, and his own, as well. Rin could, every now and again, pick up on social cues. Using this reasoning, he decided it was better to leave the topic at rest and not pray for any more details.“And they aren't even dating…”
“Haha, yeah. I'm tempted to do something about that,” Hiori chuckled awkwardly, still reeling from the topic change. His statement didn't seem false anyway.
Rin noted deep in thought, “So am I,” he said, a playful glint in his eye as he looked at the other. Unspoken invitation.
After successfully tasting half of the flavors the ice cream parlor had to offer, and annoying the cashier at the front sufficiently, Bachira licked his mint chocolate and banana split ice cream cone happily. Walking side by side with a tired Isagi. “You know, those two are getting along better than I thought they would,” he said, way in front of them at the other side of the food court, they're two friends sitting next to each other in a booth, talking. Rin, his antisocial, lone wolf, easily annoyed Rin, willingly speaking.
It took the other a few minutes to spot the others, but when he did, his eyes went wide and surprised, “Oh wow, yeah. That's weird,” he gasped, squinting his eyes to look better.
Bachira chuckled, he was glad that Rin was coming out of his shell, “Its almose like were in a double date!” he announced as soon as the thought crossed his mind.
“I never pictured Rin as a date type of guy.” Muttered Isagi, before his eyes widened as he processed what his friend had just said, “wait”
He looked at Bachira with wide, adorable eyes. “Double date!” he exclaimed, a blush creeping up his cheeks. But he just smiled, praised himself: very smooth.
“Well, that's what it looks like, no?” He question intending to make the other blush even harder.
Isagi took a second to think it through, hand on his chin, before not into himself and saying, “In that case Ill have to up my game for our second date.” It was now Bachira's turn to blush.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his two friends looking at them, pointing and then looking at each other with a mysterious grin. Something told him they were plotting against him. Right now, however, you've got bigger problems to worry about.