Oh I love this. I often wondered about how Rin would have taken Haru's little crush on Yuki and this provided me with the answer.
Wonderful.

Well, “in the same vein” enough to be just as good and… wounding. But then, that’s… sort of just how you roll. In ur chests, rippin out ur hearts, style of thing. Sorry, I can’t resist the urge for chatspeak revenge… Ahem. Moving on.

“Or, worst case scenario, the praying mantis.”
- Kleptis virgo. Apt. I can’t believe I missed that until you brought it up. I just assumed… well, spindly and hunting and creepy. But… oh man. *shudder* And Akito, she just wants… well. Everything. But…

“And it was raining, the tippity-tap tattoo on the ears, distracting me so I wasn’t listening to what was going on inside.”
- Oh frailty, thy name is rain…

“They were whispering, because that wouldn’t draw my attention.”
- That, with the rain - and of course she still has to listen, has to hear, because what kind of self-respecting Souma would pass up the opportunity for self-flagellation? Mm. Just… everything against it, and she still… hears. And they must honestly not mean for her to hear, because… otherwise would be cruel in addition to stupid… but can’t they just… I don’t know.

“If He knew…”
“He won’t. And don’t say it like that.”
- Because you know right away what he means, with the capital letter [and it’s so lovely that this word is the one when it doesn’t even apply to Akito, technically speaking, but of course she pwns gender, so…] and then, that you know what he means but Yuki not only doesn‘t but didn‘t know he was doing it… “Oh. I didn’t mean to.” Just so cute and sad. And… mm. Unaware of himself, which is perfect with what they’re doing to Rin.


“I won’t ever ask again.”
“You will, though. You always will.”
“That’s because…”
“Yes. It’s because. We can’t keep doing this.”
- Undoubtedly my favorite exchange of the entire fic, even though it doesn’t have Rin in it and she’s the best thing, lends this the most poignancy overall - just, this one little bit is so… sad and childish, and Christ they’re only twelve-ish, which just isn’t old enough to have to figure this stuff… and it’s old, too, in a way, Yuki’s part, just so tired.

“ ‘I need it.’
A long, long pause.”
- That this is the argument against which no defense is brought.

“A moment to get their breath back.”
- That she knows that. Oh. God. Rin.

“We all wish a lot of things.”
“Don’t say that. It’s not Rin’s fault.”
- So, so lovely…

“No. It’s not.”
“Don’t give me that. It’s not mine, either.”
- And because I can just hear the tone that goes with that to merit the ‘it’s not mine either’, but there wouldn’t have to be much of it for Haru to get to that conclusion, because he’s so… taking care of everyone all the time, and everything, and then so selfish at odd moments. Like now. Or like a few minutes ago, actually, right now he’s not being. But with the kissing and Rin right outside… which, before I forget - I adore the format of this so much. Rin telling the story to start, and to finish, with just their dialogue running down the middle - those little snatches of narration that you could forget were even hers if it weren’t so painful…

“Okay, it’s a little bit my fault.”
“I forgive you.”
- And that… I don’t know. That he doesn’t bother with taking it back or saying it’s not, just… forgives him.

“No more. I won’t give you any more.”
“Alright. I can manage without for a while.”
- The way they talk about it, too - here and above - like… a commodity. It’s just… sad, too.

And I adore the band of light, for some reason. Lighthouse. Warning Rin.

“…The only one who didn’t have footsteps was…”
- And that is my second-favorite part. Definition by absence is always good, but this is especially… yes. And god, talk about creepy. I get all heart-jumpy again every time I read it. TimetogotimetoGO…

“No. Window. Praying mantis.”
- That he knows what she means, whether through precedence or just because he’s Haru. And the way Yuki’s kind of not there, once she kicks into action - no lines, nothing about him but that Haru said “something like goodbye” to him - not even getting a proper line for words TO him now that there’s an out…

“The wetness on my face had an excuse, then. The rain was heavy, and drowned out the sound of Haru and Yuki kissing while I kept watch. It washed it all away.
The rain helped me forget.”
- There. It is good for some things, then, even if it did betray all three of them by selective drowning-out of sounds. And just such a beautifully written passage.

“And in the end, I was the one with his arm heavy and warm at my back.”
- …yes. Perfect ending. Because it’s happy, conventionally speaking, mostly, but god it’s so, so sad…