Today is a special day. Not only Rin's birthday, but also the 6th anniversary of @preusterreich and I being married. Crazy how time flies!

So here's a cute little RinRei drawing to celebrate both.

rinrei week!

Day 4: Library / Study date

They are not studying! Or they are studying each other. That's because I was too lazy to draw books lol. These outfits are so 2010s, I based it off some official magazine artbook art.

YESSSS YESSSSSS I TOTALLY DO 😭😭

I STILL CRY ABOUT THEM AS HARD AS I DID A DECADE AGO... I cried about them yesterday and today

Everytime I find a new OTP, I'd be screaming THEY ARE SO RINREI-CODED and nobody understands... I have to get into a quick RinRei 101 and scare off new friends

Just yesterday I told some moots that Buddie (my ship from the TV series 9-1-1) is so RinRei-coded. I had to hold back from screaming about their similarities so much 😭

That's What I Love About You

“What the heck do you even like about me, anyway?!”

It had come up during one of their silly little arguments, but for some reason, it had stuck with Rei.  It kept popping into his head while he tried to focus on homework.

It bothered him, he realized.

Not because he didn’t have an answer, of course.  He had myriad answers, too many to easily articulate.

No, what bothered him about it was the fact that Rin apparently didn’t know any of those answers.

After an hour or so of struggling to finish his homework with that knowledge popping into his head over and over, Rei switched gears.  He set his schoolwork aside, grabbed a blank sheet of paper, and began writing with intensity.

The next day…

“Rin-san.”

Rei frowned when Rin rolled his eyes before sighing and approaching him.

“Look, I’m sorry, okay?” Rin began.  Despite the dismissiveness of his words, his tone was sincere.  “I’ve just been really stressed lately, and I took that out on you.  I shouldn’t have yelled at you, and I shouldn’t have said what I said.  I’m sorry, Rei.”

Rei raised a hand and shook his head.  “It’s all right, Rin-san.  I understand.  That’s not what I wanted to talk about.”

“Oh?”

“I wanted to respond properly to your question.”

Now Rin looked confused.  Rei sighed, pulled a folded sheet of paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and cleared his throat.

“These are not listed in order of importance.  Number one:  Your perseverance and tenacity are incredibly admirable.  Number two:  Your ability to set goals and find a way to achieve them is exceptional.  Number three:  You are physically quite attractive.  Number four:  You—”

“What the heck are you doing?”

Rei’s brow furrowed.  “I’m outlining the things I like about you.”

“Huh?”

Rei was incredulous.  What was so confusing about this?

“Yesterday, you asked me what I ‘even liked about you, anyway,’” he explained, trying to speak slowly and clearly so Rin would better understand.  “So, I made a list of things I like about you, and now I’m reading it to you.”  He cleared his throat once more.  “Number four:  You—”

He stopped again when Rin burst out laughing.  Feeling defensive, now, Rei folded his arms across his chest and frowned.  He waited while Rin laughed heartily for a few minutes.  Once Rin quieted, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes, Rei gave him a pointed look.

“I fail to see what’s so funny.”

“Oh, Rei.”

Rin threw his arms around him in a tight hug.  He held it for a few minutes; Rei felt himself relaxing in the embrace and uncrossed his arms as he leaned into it.  Rin finally pulled back, smiling [warmly].

“We were having a silly argument,” Rin said, shaking his head.  “People just say stuff when they’re arguing.  They don’t always mean any of it.”

“Well, that’s incredibly illogical,” Rei quipped, frowning.

“Like I keep telling you, you dork:  love isn’t logical.  And that’s what’s great about it.”

“So…you do know what I like about you, and I didn’t need to write a list of reasons to explain it to you?”

Rin took Rei’s face in his hands and pressed a kiss to his lips.  Rei closed his eyes, leaning into the kiss.  His grip on the piece of paper loosened; he faintly heard it flutter to the ground at his feet.

The kiss was both fleeting and timeless—another illogical contradiction Rei unconsciously noted.  Before he knew it, the kiss ended, and he was staring into Rin’s mulberry-colored eyes.

“Of course I know what you like about me,” the redhead assured him.  “You gave me the whole spiel when we started dating, remember?”

Rei did remember.  Rin had laughed that time, too, once he’d realized that Rei was trying to ask him out, as the colloquialism went.  He nodded to show his understanding.

“But that doesn’t mean I don’t like hearing how awesome I am from time to time.”

“Rin-san!”  Rei playfully slapped Rin’s shoulder.

“Besides, that fiercely, ridiculously logical part of you is one of the things I love about you, Speedo-Megane.”

Rei felt his cheeks grow hot as he unconsciously analyzed Rin’s words in his head.

“Did you say ‘love’?” he asked breathlessly.

“You bet I did.”  Rin crouched down for a moment and rose again holding the piece of paper Rin had dropped.  “Now, what was that part about me being ‘physically quite attractive’?”

“Rin-san!  That’s private!”  Rei tried to grab the list from Rin, who snatched it away quickly.

“Not that private—you were reading it to me, after all.”

“Rin-san!”  Rei’s cheeks grew warmer as embarrassment replaced the affection he’d felt previously.  He tried to pluck the list from Rin’s hand, but the latter flicked it just out of reach.

“Ooooo, you drew pictures!”

“R-Rin-san!”  Again, he tried to retrieve the page, and again, he was unsuccessful.