"I think it's about time I promoted the two of you."

Rin blinked. He wasn't awake enough to process what was being said to him.

He'd had to miss his morning visit with Haru because the Captain had requested that he and Sousuke come in early to discuss something. It was habit for him to assume that that always meant bad news, but here he was, being offered a promotion. He turned to look at Sousuke and laughed, amazed at how awestruck Sousuke's face was.

"Are you sure about this, sir?" Sousuke asked, his eyes wide and gleaming.

"The position is open to you if you want it. You'll have to take the exam, but I'll provide you with the study materials, and anyone here will be willing to help you."

Rin leaned back in his chair and whistled. Sousuke raised an eyebrow at his uncertain expression. The Captain seemed to notice it at the same time.

"I understand if you're not ready for it. It's a lot of added pressure, and no one'll fault you if you decide to stay where you are, but..." The Captain trailed off, as if he wondered whether he should continue. "You've done really well working with those kids."

Rin blinked, and then seemed to absorb the compliment, blushing slightly and turning away. Sousuke chuckled.

"It's a lot to spring on us at once, you know, so I hope you don't mind if we think it over," Sousuke said politely. The Captain nodded and waved a hand dismissively.

"Take all the time you need. I don't want to put either of you in a position you're not ready for."

Rin smiled and stood to gratefully shake the Captain's hand, Sousuke following suit. Sousuke took a pile of forms from him and put them in his locker. Rin waited beside him, not saying a word.

The work day was uneventful, and finally lunchtime came. Sousuke picked up their usual lunch from the nearest take-out Japanese place. He took his seat at his desk and cleared a space to eat, and Rin did the same to his own desk across from him.

By now this was so routine that neither needed to say anything. Sousuke took his sushi, and he handed Rin his cup of miso soup and carton of hibachi-grilled shrimp and vegetables. He'd grabbed water bottles for the two of them and uncapped them both, putting Rin's near his food. Rin had already begun to eat in silence.

Around them, Sousuke heard their coworkers settle into their routine places, eating their routine foods. Everyone else tended towards greasy burgers and bad Chinese food. He looked over his shoulder at Momo, who was already eagerly shoving his pork fried rice in Nitori's direction. Their desks had become a veritable buffet table.

Sousuke laughed, and saw Rin glance at him and then at them briefly before looking back down. Rin had his chopsticks opened and was holding them, but he hadn't used them much and mostly picked at his food. Sousuke began to sigh, but then noticed the extra pair of chopsticks sitting near the napkins.

As he picked them up, he tried not to laugh at Rin's wide eyes watching his hand. His expression was somewhere between terror and disgust, but Sousuke wouldn't be swayed. He pried the chopsticks apart and put them between his fingers, looking up as he tried to remember how his mother held them. Rin's face told him that he was terribly wrong.

It wasn't until he had picked up one of his sushi rolls that Rin snapped.

"All right, all right, I'll talk! Just... Just put them down, for the love of god. It's physically painful for me to watch."

"Yeah, I know. You think you're so cultured, huh? Spend eight years in Japan and think you know better than me?" He only pretended to sound annoyed, and as he fumbled and dropped his sushi roll he realized he really didn't know how to handle them.

"Hey, I had to learn English, and you had to be taught your lousy Japanese," Rin teased in his native tongue. He laughed at the delay in Sousuke's response. He could practically see the rusty translation gears activating in his head.

"My Japanese is fine. It gets me by," Sousuke responded much more slowly. He noticed Momo looking at him and snickering and turned around. "Hey, you don't speak a damn word, don't you laugh at my accent!"

Rin smiled to himself, shielding his face behind his cup of soup as he took a long sip. Sousuke's Japanese wasn't actually bad. It was just awkward. It sounded rehearsed and stiff, and he always spoke very slowly. As he listened to Sousuke and Momo bickering he felt his stress melt away. The warm soup was a big help as well.

"You should take the promotion." He said it before he had realized he was going to say it, and Sousuke stared at him.

"Which means you aren't going to?"

Rin sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"Not... Not yet, Sousuke. I'm not ready for it right now. I'll study for the exam, though. I'll be ready someday soon." It only occurred to Rin after he had said it that Momo and Nitori had stopped eating and were watching him intently.

Sousuke's face twisted, and he avoided Rin's eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, and then stopped.

"I don't..." He trailed off, and Momo inconspicuously moved his chair closer to hear his lowered voice better. "...I don't know if I want to take the job without you."

Nitori laughed, and Sousuke's head jerked up. He turned to glare at him only to find that Nitori was smiling kindly, that he hadn't meant it condescendingly. Momo rolled his chair back to his desk and pretended that he hadn't been eavesdropping.

"You're more than ready for it, sir. And it's not like you won't see Rin anymore. He'll join you when he's ready."

Momo scarfed down the last remaining bites of his lo mein before he interjected with his own agreement.

"Yeah, man, you're perfect for the job! And Rin's okay with it— isn't that right, shark boy?"

Sousuke glanced back at Rin, and he nodded.

"I want you to do it. You've wanted this for a long time, remember?"

Sousuke looked around the room and saw only smiling, encouraging faces. From somewhere across the room Rin heard Gomez and Noble voice their support, and wondered just how many people had been eavesdropping. Eventually he was left with no choice.

"Alright," Sousuke said, though it came out as more of a sigh than a word.

Nitori and Momo cheered. Momo spun his chair so quickly that he nearly fell off, though he tried to play it off as some kind of trick. Nitori had clearly caught it, but didn't say anything or betray it in his expression. Sousuke couldn't help but laugh.

Rin extended a hand, and Sousuke shook it, even if he did so somewhat bitterly. He couldn't deny how badly he wanted the job, but it wasn't what he had always imagined. That said, Rin's well-being was his top priority. He wouldn't force him into a job that he wasn't ready for.

When the day finally ended, Sousuke drove the two of them home in near-silence while Rin rambled on about how excited he was, and all the changes the promotion would bring. He started daydreaming out loud about the increase in his paycheck.

"We'll go to Red Lobster when you get your first paycheck," he said. Sousuke managed a chuckle.

"Yeah, okay. Just this once. You know I can't eat any of those biscuits, though." He winced, knowing that if given the chance he could easily eat six baskets of them.

When they got to the apartment, Rin took off somewhere before Sousuke could say anything. The sun had started to set, and Sousuke decided he'd do some reading and then turn in early. Just as he he went to Rin's door to knock on it, Rin burst from the room with his backpack and water bottle.

"Going out for a long walk again?" Sousuke asked, knowing that that wasn't what Rin had actually been doing.

"Yeah," Rin replied, knowing that Sousuke didn't believe him.

Rin left, and Sousuke was left alone once again in their quiet apartment, one that was too small for two people but far too big for one.

------------

Haru pointed his camera and clicked the lens. He turned the camera to study his picture and decided that he liked it.

He'd spent the day trying to document the entirety of his home in the coral forest. The light was particularly bright, allowing him to get a few decent photos of his cave, his collection, and his drawings.

He'd managed to show Rin something he hadn't seen before, and Rin had seemed more than appreciative. It had been over two weeks since that night, and Haru had been trying to find something else to surprise him with. Rin had suggested renting snorkeling gear and letting Haru give him a tour, but the risk of other merfolk spotting them was too great to risk showing him any truly interesting sights.

He lowered his camera when he saw Makoto approaching.

"What are you doing up this high?" Makoto began to ask, but shook his head and waved the question off when he noticed the camera.

Haru swam back down to the sandy ocean floor, Makoto following just behind him. They lounged and stretched out in the sun. Haru could hear Makoto's joints popping and cracking, and he winced.

"How long were you cooped up?"

"Three days, at least. Ran, too. He's very interested in this particular subject."

"And what subject would that be?"

"Interspecies communication."

Haru perked up at that, sitting up and putting his weight on his elbow to look at Makoto more directly. He had forgotten about it, but merfolk could communicate with the more intelligent species beneath the sea— dolphins, sharks, and whales, most notably.

"...Is it difficult?"

"Well, no, and that's why they chose to teach me this way. In that three-day cram session I managed to learn everything there is to know. I guess they thought that was better than teaching me slowly over a few weeks when I could use that time for other things." Makoto didn't seem to notice Haru's thoughtful expression.

"So conceivably, someone with no training could learn how to talk to dolphins and sharks and whales in a couple of weeks?"

Makoto caught on, and shot up from the sand like a bullet.

"No, Haru! I'm not going to help you with this!"

"Help me with what?"

"You want to show off for your human friends, and I won't have any part in it!"

"Maybe I just want to make some new friends. I like dolphins. You know I like dolphins. I'd like to talk to a dolphin."

Makoto thought it over, his arms crossed and his forehead creased. Haru got up and floated beside him.

"...And if anyone asks, that's all I wanted."

Makoto sighed.

"I know that you're lying. No one would believe me."

Haru looked sadly downwards. Makoto was right. And besides, he couldn't ask him to sneak his expensive study materials out of the castle and bring them to him. It was too much. He forced a smile.

"I won't force you to get involved. I'll check the libraries. I'm sure I'll find something."

"...The ones they'll let you into are—"

Haru glared at him, and he stopped. Makoto was going to remind Haru of his social standing— something Haru was always aware of.

Because of the strict social classes of merfolk, Haru was not allowed into higher-class establishments. There were plenty of places he could go, but their quality was vastly inferior. Between each of the many libraries he could visit, it was possible that he could piece together one decent lesson on his subject of choice. Even so, he was determined to learn, and he would do so no matter the obstacle.

"Would they let you take the materials home?" Makoto asked, and Haru shrugged. He hadn't tried.

Since books couldn't be used underwater, literature and study materials had to be carefully carved into thin slabs of stone or into metal sheets. This was a process that took a great deal of time and labor, and so the written word was expensive and very carefully protected. He didn't know that someone of his standing could be trusted to take such a thing home with him.

"Aren't you curious? About humans?" Haru asked out of nowhere, and Makoto reeled back in surprise. He looked almost offended, putting a hand on his chest as if to still his heart.

"I can't answer that. I won't answer that," he insisted. Haru froze, and Makoto relaxed, if only because his confusion startled him out of his stern expression.

"...You looked at me like one of them," Haru spat, and Makoto reacted immediately. He rushed forward to grab Haru by his shoulders.

"No, Haru. I don't look down on you and you know that," Makoto said pleadingly. Haru avoided his eyes until Makoto shook him gently.

"...Maybe you've been spending too much time with them, because even if you don't mean it, their habits are rubbing off on—"

Makoto shook him again, harder this time.

"I get curious, Haru, I do! You're not a freak, okay?!"

Haruka took a moment to reroute his thoughts. The outburst had been a delayed answer to a question Makoto had, at first, ignored.

"...So you're admitting it. You want to know about what goes on up there too."

"I can't say that. I can't." Makoto released Haru and fell almost bonelessly into the sand. Haru followed suit, feeling his anger melt away.

"I didn't think of it until now, but I'll bet you're even more bored than I am. At least I get to go explore, and watch the surface, and collect things. You're stuck in your castle. This is the furthest you can come." Makoto nodded slowly as Haru spoke. His expression was full of guilt. "Look, I'm sorry, Makoto. I know you didn't mean... I know you're just worried."

Makoto looked up at him and finally smiled again, and Haru smiled back, trying to force a careless laugh. He looked around as he thought something over, and then decided that the time had come.

"...You know, I can help you satisfy your curiosity. You won't get in trouble. You come here often, so no one will suspect your visit."

Makoto looked at him curiously.

"What exactly are you offering me?"

"Just come with me," Haru commanded, taking Makoto by the wrist and dragging him along. "I never have shown you my home, have I?"

He pulled Makoto with him until they arrived at the cave. Makoto admitted that he'd tried to find it himself and had never managed, and Haru laughed, saying that he had planned it that way. He guided him into the cave's interior and snickered watching Makoto try to flatten his muscular frame to make it. His jewelry snagged on the entrance, and Haru momentarily panicked, wondering if he'd get stuck.

Once inside, Haru guided Makoto to the left, away from his 'bedroom' and into his collection room. Compared to Makoto's trinkets and jewels, the items seemed like junk, but Makoto's face lit up, and he sat down on the ground in the center of the room. Haru sat closer to the doorway to allow him free reign.

"I had to do some more bridal shopping," Makoto said. Haru was unsure of where the statement had come from. Makoto picked up a locket necklace and looked sadly at the photo inside, one that depicted a smiling and happy family. Haru understood.

"Do you have a future bride lined up already?"

"Not yet, but father did make me narrow the list down. There are a few women staying in the castle now that I have to pick between. For the next few months... I'll have to spend most of my time courting three women I'm not attracted to."

Haru winced, and then changed the subject, not adding anything further.

"What do you like?" He directed the question at nothing in particular and assumed Makoto would understand his meaning.

"This is interesting," he said, holding out a few chess pieces. Haru marveled at how calm Makoto seemed. He'd expected a bit of scolding for hoarding these sorts of items.

"Those are chess pieces. The ones humans use look different."

Makoto looked up at him suddenly, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"We play the same game? We got chess from humans?" Makoto asked. Haru nodded, and Makoto appeared to ponder something for a moment. He shook his head and quickly put the pieces back on the shelf, picking up a small filigree box. Haru explained that it used to be a music box, but that the device did not work underwater, and Makoto nodded.

Makoto seemed, mostly, to like the pretty things— the fancy silverware, the brooches, the picture frames, and other detailed trinkets. That was the case, anyway, until he found the plastic animal figurines.

"What is this?" He asked loudly, holding up a small plastic cat. He had gathered the entire set in his arms and taken them to the floor with him. Haru had guessed that they were from a popular children's toy line, as he had found plenty left on the beaches or in the ocean near towns. He had a wide array of animals.

"That's a cat. They're common household pets," Haru explained. He tried not to laugh at Makoto's delight. With one hand he picked up and put down the other animals quickly, unable to decide which one to look at, while he kept the cat in the other. His smile widened further when he found another cat.

"There's lots of cats!" Makoto had found four of them, and set them in a little line. "They're so cute!"

Haru laughed and pulled himself closer to the pile of plastic toys. He started sifting through it, picking out the pieces he was looking for, until he had formed a small line for himself. His was only slightly longer, at five pieces.

"I prefer dogs," he said, pointing at his collection. Makoto hummed as he looked at them, and then back at his cats.

"How many kinds are there?"

"Of dogs, or of cats? There's probably hundreds of kinds of each."

Makoto was so startled by the information that his head shot back. He took the plastic dogs from Haru and joined them with his cats, carefully studying the differences. He poked at the cats' long tails, smiling to himself.

"...Dogs and cats are both common pets, but they're very different, and people tend to divide themselves into dog people and cat people. Dogs are very friendly and affectionate, but they can make big messes and even hurt people if you don't train them right. Cats are lower-maintenance and less dangerous, but they tend to keep to themselves, and they don't really play or go on walks."

Makoto seemed to half-listen, and he moved the dogs and cats aside as he looked through the other animals. He seemed intrigued by the elephant and the giraffe and perplexed by the snake and the dragon.

"That... That one's not a real animal. Not as far as anyone knows, anyway," Haru explained, pointing at the dragon Makoto was wincing at. Makoto breathed a sigh of relief.

The light in the cave dimmed as the hours passed, and Makoto seemed content to sift through every item in Haru's collection, only speaking every once in a while. Even as he found other things that he liked, he kept the plastic animals nearby. Haru smiled. It almost felt like they were children again. Makoto didn't look over his shoulder, and he didn't seem jumpy or afraid of anything.

The last item Makoto found was a crystal dolphin. He studied it closely for a long while, and Haru couldn't tell what he was thinking. It was Haru's favorite piece. He knew that Makoto wouldn't break it, but he couldn't help but watch him closely just to be sure.

"You do really like dolphins," Makoto said quietly. Haru, failing to catch his meaning, didn't react at first.

"I do," Haru said, and Makoto smiled sadly at the crystal statue, placing it back on the shelf.

"They're not hard to talk to, you know." Makoto leaned forward on his elbows, and Haru imitated his pose.

"...Thanks, Makoto," he said, and he smiled at how wonderful a friend he had found.

------------

As Haru shot out of the water and surfaced in the pool of his cove, he caught Rin out of the corner of his eye just then squeezing through the narrow tunnel. He burst in more erratically than usual, almost tripping over his own feet. He was clearly excited.

"What's gotten into you?" He asked, and Rin righted himself before taking a seat and throwing open his backpack to dig for his scrapbook. He handed it to Haru, and Haru started rifling through it as Rin talked.

"It's been a big day! Sousuke and I got offered a promotion. The other guys and I convinced Sousuke to take it."

Haru paused.

"Does that mean that you didn't take it?"

Rin laughed sheepishly. He looked like he'd been caught in a lie, even if he hadn't told one. Haru guessed that Rin had hoped he wouldn't catch that detail, that in a way he felt he was lying by omission.

"I didn't," Rin admitted. He sat down and crossed his legs, and Haru pulled himself from the water and moved to dry himself off with one of his towels. Rin noted that almost all of them had been used and decided he'd wash them and bring them back.

As Rin explained everything, Haru nodded along, humming or grunting occasionally to indicate that he was listening. Rin said that he wasn't ready for the promotion, but that Sousuke had been working very hard and had wanted it for a long time. Rin had a habit of getting sidetracked while telling stories he was excited about, and he ended up explaining every detail of the morning's conversation down to his aversion to watching inexperienced people use chopsticks incorrectly. That was where Haru stopped him.

"And what are chopsticks?" Haru asked. Rin, having been cut off, blinked at him for a moment before chuckling. He pulled his backpack to him and grabbed a fancy-looking lunch container, explaining that it was a temperature-controlled lunchbox.

Rin looked Haru over for a moment, his expression searching. Haru had moved past the promotion. Rin couldn't help but breathe a small sigh of relief at the fact that he'd been so understanding. He pulled the top off of his lunchbox, revealing his handmade sushi rolls.

As hurtful as it was to his pride, he, a proud Japanese man, had had to google instructions for how to make sushi.

"I happen to have some chopsticks with me today. I made you some sushi. I used mackerel, you said you liked that." Haru's eyes lit up at that, and he looked with curiosity at the food.

"The chopsticks are those things? I have some of those."

"What don't you have down there?" Rin asked.

"A dog," Haru grumbled sadly. He was truly depressed by the fact that he couldn't keep a fluffy pet. Rin clicked his tongue and shook his head, chiding him gently.

Haru tried the first of the sushi rolls, chewed tentatively, and then smiled and nodded. Rin's face lit up with pride and relief, and he got an extra pair of chopsticks to use for himself. His eyes caught Haru's hands, and he beamed.

"You got it right! That's how you hold them."

Haru looked down at his fingers and then squinted in confusion at Rin.

"How else would a person hold them?"

Rin shrugged, an almost disgusted expression making him narrow his eyes and look off to the side somewhere.

"You'd be surprised."

They chatted about various things as they ate, and then went through their regular habits, Rin pulling out his scrapbooks and Haru pulling out his camera. He retrieved his sketchbook and pens and drew a picture of a sushi roll, and Rin asked something about dolphins. Haru looked up, and Rin showed him the picture he'd taken of a school of dolphins, a picture in which one could barely see Makoto looking on nervously and keeping things under control.

"I'll explain it to you later," Haru said, and Rin glared. The look didn't contain any real anger, but he was visibly disappointed nonetheless. "I promise," Haru added, and Rin smiled again.

As Rin's signature mischievous (flirtatious?) grin widened, Haru noted once more his shark-like teeth. Wouldn't it be amusing to see him come face-to-face with a shark?

Haru promised himself that soon, very soon, he would make his vision a reality.

------------

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Is mackerel sushi a thing? If not, it is now.

Y'know, in some ways the written version of this fic is very different than the anime I have in my head (of course in ways that I can't possibly put into words), but hey, it's the best I can do. Like I said, the conversion is surprisingly difficult. What may help is for you guys to imagine it as an anime after you finish reading a chapter.

(A lot of it is pacing. I have a habit of adding lots of scenes that don't really need to be there because I feel like I need to establish a sense of time passing, so that everything doesn't seem jumpy and rushed and sudden. This fic is going to end up really long.)