A/N: First and foremost, I forgot on the last one, but Sakura, my lovely beta, betaed both this chapter and chapter 17 of WGU.

Now then, this ending is probably going to piss a lot of you off, but this is how i've seen it ending since the very beginning.

it feels nice to be ending this story now. i began it when i started my shitty job and now i'm ending it having given in my 2 weeks notice.

XXX

The day the phone call came was like any other.

Haruka had not been to see Rin since he had left Rin standing on the street in a towel. He continued to meet with Maria, or so Rin assumed, since it seemed as though things were moving in the direction of JAL offering a special package for the students at the orphanage to be able to go on a rather long trip to the US.

But, time had seemed to stop for Rin. That day, everything seemed to stop. He and Nitori weren't happy exactly, but they continued playing pretend.

He continued teaching. It was quite. His family seemed happy for him. No one seemed angry exactly.

It was as though time simply moved on, but his life had frozen.

That was true until the phone call came.

"It was the hospital," Nitori said, putting down the receiver, "it's my father...he...he -"

Nitori didn't have to finish the sentence. Rin already knew.

Their father had died.

Rin remembered the man in the hospital. He closed his eyes. He wanted to preserve the memory of his adopted father before that. The memories of his adopted father that were happy. Not that last memory though.

Rin put an arm around Nitori, "It's going to be okay."

But, Nitori had already cracked. Yes, whatever had been said on the phone was the end for them. That was it.

Nitori's voice cracked. He was obviously holding back the immense pain he was feeling.

Rin pushed his lips together and make a "shushing" sound to try to comfort the silver haired man, he repeated himself, "It's going to be okay."

"It's not," Nitori answered.

The spell was broken.

"What are we doing, Rin? Why are we living this way? God, all this time, what have I been doing? Why did I come down here? Christ, my whole fucking life. It's all a giant fucking mistake. It was supposed to be different. We were supposed to be different. We were supposed to tackle the fucking world. Why, why are we here? This is so fucking meaningless," Nitori went on.

He was spiraling.

Eventually, the storm began on his face. Tears streamed from his eyes.

"I don't want to do this anymore," he cried, "I don't want to be this way anymore. I don't want to be here. I don't want to be with you."

"I don't understand," Rin said softly, and he really meant it.

Nitori kept bawling, "I just can't. I just fucking can't, Rin. I can't even...I just can't."

He pulled away from Rin, who he left mouth gaping.

He went over to his closet, grabbed a small day bag, and threw some things in it, "I'm leaving."

"What?" Rin asked, completely dumbfounded.

Nitori started shaking, "I just...I have to go. I can't be here. I can't be with you."

Rin bit his lower lip, "Let me come with you. We can go give him a proper funeral, a proper burial," he started.

Nitori shook his head, "I don't want you there. It's a lie, Rin. I can't go to his grave and lie. I just, I just can't."

Rin let out a heavy sigh.

"I'm going. I'm going back to my old house and then to Tokyo or New York. I don't even know. I just...I can't keep this up."

"O-okay."

And then, Nitori was gone.

XXX

Rin called his sister shortly after. She hadn't been surprised. The hospital had called her too.

"It's really awful, Rin," She said. He could hear the pain in her voice.

Rin simply sighed.

"You shouldn't follow him. I'll handle Nitori."

"I think I should," Rin answered. He wasn't trying to be defiant or to disagree, he simply figured that was what he ought to do. Nitori, regardless of what happened was like his family. Rin couldn't imagine being without him.

"I think, he just needs time, Rin. Rather like you did."

Rin couldn't disagree with that.

XXX

"I'm sorry."

The text came about a week later and that was all that it said.

Rin half-figured that his sister had been the one to send it, but he didn't want to go there. Just as Nitori needed a break from him, he needed a break from Nitori.

XXX

Time continued to pass. Before long, the summer was gone, and the leaves on the trees had all turned red.

One such leaf, blew from a tree in front of Rin's apartment and landed at his feet.

It was crushed below his foot, and Rin continued on his way to work. He walked past the student dorms where he found the young Haruka and Rin walking to his class. He waved to them.

The young Haruka volunteered a question, "Have you been okay lately, Mr. Eri?"

Rin smiled weakly, "I'll be happier soon. Fall always depresses me a bit."

He had been thinking. It was almost exactly a year since he had escaped here.

"I'm totally excited to have you as a teacher again, Mr. E, I'm ready to learn all the advanced English I can for our big trip that Nanase Haruka's sponsoring," the redheaded one completely ignored the mood.

Rin froze, hearing Haruka's name. They were going to be meeting later that afternoon. Maria had been meeting Haruka privately, but now that the trip was moving forward, she had to coordinate with Rin. He was the English teacher after all.

"Y-yeah," Rin answered recovering, "you should study hard. If your final exams from last year are any clue, you sure need to," he teased.

The young Rin rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders.

XXX

Rin walked into Maria's office. To his surprise, she wasn't there. But, the room wasn't empty. He was suddenly face to face with Haruka. Haruka, who he hadn't seen since the big incident.

Rin sighed and he started to leave. He'd wait outside the office until Maria was back.

"Where are you going, Rin?" Haruka asked. His voice was almost a whisper.

"I figured you'd want privacy, until Maria comes back."

"It's just us, today," Haruka answered.

"Oh," Rin's face fell a bit. This was going to be a difficult conversation, he knew that.

Haruka seemed unbothered, "Have a seat," he said, motioning at one of the empty chairs.

Rin took it and sat down. He sighed.

"I want to discuss the trip," Haruka explained.

Rin nodded.

Haruka had some paperwork laying on the table which he pointed to, "I've planned some destinations that I think they should go to, the big cities, and some smaller suburbs, so that they see America. I thought you could come up with some lesson plans, or maybe pick specific things they should do."

Rin looked over the itinerary that Haruka provided. There were quite a few places he recognized. He skimmed through it rather quickly, but it was quite planned. The students would be spending more than a month abroad, from about November 20th to January 10th. It was quite a trip. Haruka had made accommodations for other teachers of theirs to come too, so that they'd keep up their other school work.

"I can make this work," Rin said eager to leave.

Haruka nodded, "There's another thing we have to discuss. You'll be there for quite some time, so I figured you'd want to plan your own itinerary accordingly. If there's anyone you want to bring with you, I'd be happy for JAL to support it."

"No," Rin answered, a little too quickly.

"You'll be gone like 7 weeks and when you aren't chaperoning, you'll have a lot of downtime. I can get you extra tickets, you just need to let me know how many you want," Haruka explained. He wasn't trying to be rude, Rin realized.

This was Haruka's way of accepting the situation, Rin thought, this was his way of saying that he was fine with Nitori. He has no idea, Rin realized, that Nitori and I aren't together anymore, but the gesture was nice, "Just a ticket for me."

"Mmm," Haruka said.

"Just me, there's no one I want to or could bring," this made Haruka raise his eyebrows, but Rin didn't explain, "If that's all, I've got a lot to do."

Haruka pursed his lips, "The tickets should arrive in the mail, about a week before takeoff."

"Thanks," Rin took the papers, and started for the door. He turned back though and faced Haruka, "I think it's really a good thing you're doing this. I mean, I get why, publicity for JAL, caring for the 'less fortunate' and all that, but I hope you realize that this is really making a difference in these kids' lives, and that means a lot. Even if it means nothing to you, this trip is the world for them."

Haruka said nothing and Rin went out the door.

XXX

You have to figure it out on your own.

You have to make it work yourself.

You have to.

You just, you have to figure that out.

We have to figure that out.

But, can we?

Can I?

Haruka dipped his head back into the water. Back then, we just flew around. We just fucked. It was easy back then.

Can we go back? Can I go back?

XXX

The package from JAL came a week later and Rin found it on his doorstep after class.

Rin had replayed his conversation with Haruka a hundred times, but he realized he must have misunderstood Haruka. He swore that Haruka had said the tickets would arrive one week before the trip. Haruka must have said a week later, he told himself.

Rin picked up the package and brought it into his kitchen. He grabbed a knife and opened it up. Inside were a stack of tickets for his students and an envelope, with his name handwritten in lettering that only belonged to Haruka.

Rin slid a letter opener through the envelope carefully, and pulled out a piece of paper.

It was a note.

"Car service to your apartment, today at four."

Rin looked at his watch. He had gotten out of school at 3, but he had to talk to some students. It was now 3:45. Rin walked out to his front porch. Unsurprisingly, there was a car service waiting there, early. Rin didn't bring anything with him except his wallet. He locked the door and went over to the car.

"You're here for me?" Rin asked.

"Yes," answered a young male.

Rin smiled, "Where to?"

"Can't tell you, sir."

Rin was a bit apprehensive, but he tugged on the door handle for the back door. It was locked.

"Not in that," said the young man, stepping out of the car. He went to the trunk, "Change into this, and then we can go."

He had pulled a tailored Armani suit out of his trunk. Rin raised his brows, but he didn't fight him.

He went back into his house and changed. When he came out, he looked much more like his old self. He looked much more like Rin Matsuoka than Yodobashi Eri. He had even grown lazy lately, with the dye, and his hair was back to its fiery red.

"Now, can we go?" Rin asked. He wouldn't have been interested in this, except that he was curious. He wanted to know what Haruka was doing. He stopped himself from getting too excited though. It was likely that he only wanted to further discuss plans for the trip for the students.

But, why would he put me in this get up? Perhaps, I'm meeting more board members or something.

Rin really hoped that was not the case though, he would have the potential of being recognized, something which he could not risk.

Rin slid into the back of the car. He looked around trying to determine where they were going. They got onto the highway and Rin decided to simply close his eyes.

What are you thinking, Haruka? He wondered.

The car came to a rather sudden stop. His eyes flew open. They were on a runway. A runway for a private airstrip.

"This is it," The driver announced.

"Huh?" Rin asked the driver, not even sure if he'd heard correctly.

"This is it," the driver repeated, and he pointed to a plane, "go over there."

Had Rin not known that the handwriting on the card was Haruka's he would have been sure that this was a joke from Seijuro. It was something he would have done.

Sitting in the direction that the driver had pointed was a private plane, the one that belonged to JAL.

Even though it wasn't customary in Japan, Rin usually tipped his drivers. He didn't bother with this one though, as he was certain that Haruka had taken care of that too. Instead, he simply stepped out of the car and walked towards the plane. He moved slowly, unsure of what exactly was going on.

He reached the plane and there was an attendant standing next to the steps, "Up that way, Mr. Matsuoka."

Rin froze hearing that name, but he went anyway.

When he got inside, he saw the pilot. The pilot welcomed him aboard, and Rin half-wondered if Haruka was taking him to some unknown location around the world, "You may sit anywhere, Mr. Matsuoka," the pilot offered.

Rin cringed in response to that name, but tried not to let it bother him. He assumed that Haruka wouldn't be so cruel as to do something that could potentially actually put him in any danger. And he couldn't help himself. He'd come this far already. He was curious. Where was Haruka sending him?

Rin looked around. There were a total of about 10 seats on the plane, all were first class, and they were grouped together in a rather large circle.

Rin took a seat in the middle. He fastened his seatbelt, closed his eyes, and rubbed his temples.

He continued doing this until he heard in Japanese, "I trust you'll be having your usual, Matsuoka-sama, Champagne?"

He recognized the voice. It was Haruka's. Rin's eyes flew up.

Haruka was wearing his old JAL uniform. One from when he had been a flight attendant, from before he had been recognized by Rin for who he really was.

Rin was sure this was a dream, he pinched himself.

It wasn't.

Rin's mouth dropped open, "Uhhh," he started to say something, but he wasn't even sure what he wanted to say.

Haruka placed champagne down on a small table next to Rin. Then, he carried the tray back into the back. Rin unfastened his seatbelt and started to follow after Haruka.

Haruka was one hundred percent calm, and spoke in Japanese, "I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask you to sit back down and fasten your seatbelt, Matsuoka-sama," again, Haruka emphasized the honorific, "we'll be taking off soon."

"H-haruka," Rin said.

He only smiled at Rin.

Rin felt his face get a bit hot, and he went back to his seat. Haruka put the tray down somewhere in the back, and then, he came out again. He took a seat in the chair on the right side of Rin.

Rin downed the champagne.

"It was pretty good," he commented, "better than anything you ever served me when you were actually a flight attendant."

Haruka chuckled.

"So -" Rin started.

"Let me explain," Haruka stopped him. In the background, the plane had begun to move forward.

Rin looked over at him a bit surprised, but he let Haruka speak.

"Rin, I...I've talked to a lot of people, and I've given this a lot of thought. It took time, and it needed to, but I...I realized what I've wanted all along. From the day that I met you, I have been dying to fuck you on a plane. And what better place to do it than a plane that I own?"

Rin burst out laughing.

"Don't laugh," Haruka warned.

"I don't understand at all."

"It's been a long time, Rin, and so much has happened. I think, at the end of the day, we're on the same page and we want the same thing from each other, but I...I don't want to have that talk anymore. I just want to fuck you like crazy."

Rin stared at him. Again, this conversation seemed like a dream.

"Seeing you last week - no - seeing you last December drove me absolutely mad. I've been crazy ever since. I just, I need you, Rin. And the rest of the shit, I thought it did, but it doesn't matter."

Rin just looked at him for a minute. He looked into Haruka's eyes, trying to read the man next to him, "You're serious? You really want that?"

"Yes."

Rin didn't laugh this time. Instead, he answered huskily, "Okay."

Because the truth was, he'd felt the same back in December, back in the pool, any time he'd seen Haruka. It drove him absolutely mad. Haruka would always have that effect on him. Always.

Rin leaned forward and Haruka took him into a kiss. They were taking off.

The kiss was nice and familiar, but eventually, Rin's curiosity got the better of him.

"So, where are we going anyway?"

"Does it matter?" Haruka asked.

Rin thought for a moment, "Nope. Not a bit."

Haruka smiled, "Good."

They kissed again.

But, once more, Rin became curious.

"Okay, but really?"

Haruka shrugged, "I told them to fly around until we got bored, and then, we could just land wherever in the fuck that was."

"What if we run out of gas and end up in the middle of the ocean?"

"You're thinking too much."

"I can't help myself."

Haruka put a hand on Rin's cheek, "For a bit, just a bit, let's escape together, like we always used to. Every time we were on a plane, every time we were going somewhere, back then, it was always a break. You didn't work, you didn't do anything. Sure, there were other people around, but it was just you and me. It was really just you and me."

Rin's eyes widened, and then, he smirked, "I want to fuck you."

"Then come and do it."

Rin leaned in, but he passed Haruka's lips and whispered, "I love you. Always have, always will."

"I know," Haruka answered. There was no announcement, but the plane leveled off.

"Can we do this? Can we really just go off together?"

"I don't see any reason why not."

"Good enough for me," and Rin gripped him tightly.

Rin unclipped his seat-belt, and pulled off Haruka's.

XXX

A/N: some of you will probably think it's a bit anticlimactic i imagine, but i've always seen it ending this way. the two of them just getting on haruka's plane and figuring things out with their bodies. sometimes that's all it takes.