Chapter Text
They said money can't buy happiness.
But maybe, at times like these, it can.
Nanase Haruka glances at a neatly-folded paper slipped underneath a stack of magazines. The paper is unmistakably a long list he's written and rewritten about what things to do and buy on Christmas days with Makoto. He wonders how long he'd left it there, quietly neglecting it to collect dust and be forgotten. His magazines consist mostly of water-related issues—waterfalls, oceans, rivers, water gardens, and some swimming articles. A couple of his own sketches are also stacked along—half of them are sketches of his best friend.
Or, he can call Tachibana Makoto his boyfriend now. It still tastes a little weird—a good kind of weird on his tongue.
Haruka exhales, his breath is blown out as warm puffs drifting in the air. He carefully removes the magazine stack and pinches the paper between his fingers. Before he can unfold it, his laptop cheerfully chimes with a new message on Skype.
It must be Makoto. Haruka has been waiting for Makoto to greet him behind the screen. It's almost seven in the evening, the time they had previously agreed to meet up online. The dark-haired man falls over his bed, in front of his laptop, heart fluttering in excitement. He pulls a giant stuffed orca he'd sewed by himself into his arms, while his finger glides on the pad to receive the video call.
On the screen, the name is Tachibana Makoto.
But the face isn't.
Instead, Haruka is seeing a younger Makoto, with wider brown eyes and a warm smile. Tachibana Ren, Makoto's younger brother, can sometimes fool people to mistake him as Makoto at first glance. Both Ren and Ran are much taller now, broader, gradually becoming a man and a woman. When Haruka looks at them, he often wonders how a blanket of several years could wrap two small children and transform them this much. Ran was such a lovely figure, the last time Haruka saw her. She'd had her hair cut, leaving soft strands of olive-green hair brushing over the curves of her neck. Ren, on the other hand, grew his brown hair messy with long bangs. It makes him look a lot like Makoto in his teenage years.
“Haru-chan! Sorry to disappoint you!” Ren smiles apologetically. No matter how achingly similar he is to Makoto now, Ren is nothing like that teenage Makoto in Haruka's memories. He can easily differentiate the two of them like a turning of hand.
“You don't.” Haruka shakes his head, slipping in a little white lie, “Ren, how are you?”
“As you can see, I'm good as ever, Haru-chan.” Ren grins, pushing his eyes closed and cocking his head a little to the side. Haruka wonders if Ren intentionally does it to mimic his older brother. He does look adorable that way, if not irresistible. Then again, Haruka always has a really soft side for Makoto's siblings. “How are you?” The boy asks back, snapping his eyes open and set them against the giant orca in Haruka's arms.
“Are you asking me or this orca?”
“Both.”
“We're both good.” Haruka answers, loosening his orca plush doll. “Where's Ran?”
“Shh. Don't tell her I'm calling you here, okay? She's downstairs, helping Mom prepare some cream cake. If she sees you on Skype, she'll dominate this laptop to talk to you and I'll be nothing but a nuisance to her. Which is unfair, because she's actually the nuisance to me.”
“You're growing close to her each day, it seems.” Haruka comments, “That's good.” And he means it. Haruka has heard that some twins can drift apart as they grow older, but Makoto's siblings seem to have their enduring relationship strengthened as time passes. They tease, protect, be with each other. Always, always together. Like Haruka and Makoto.
Ren sighs, but smiles afterwards. “I think so, although Ran can be bothering sometimes. She's kind of obsessed with perfume lately. Sometimes I can't stand the strong smell.” Ren pauses, smiling brightly at Haruka. “Putting that aside, Haru-chan, I bet you were expecting my brother instead.”
“I'd lie to you if I say I didn't.”
“I'm sorry to tell you this but my brother left me a message that he has an emergency teaching job or whatever it is. He left early and asked me to contact you here to let you know. He said you can expect him at nine.”
“Is that so...? That's fine, then. Thanks.”
“Haru-chan, how's Tokyo?” Ren promptly asks.
“Noisy. Overcrowded. Complicated.”
“Too much effort.” Ren suggests.
“Yes, in some ways.” Haruka agrees.
“Do you miss Iwatobi, Haru-chan?”
Haruka misses Iwatobi too much that it hurts. He's longing for the wild ocean, the sakura trees, the pool in the swimming club, the squid festival, the fireworks on summer night sky, the shrines, everything. They are all irreplaceable, no matter how beautiful the fireworks lit up in Tokyo, how grand and great all the pools here and how orderly the trees are, there's nothing Tokyo can offer to satisfy the great longing Haruka occasionally feels for Iwatobi.
And the greatest yearning he can have is when Makoto is also there, waiting for Haruka in Iwatobi. When Makoto was in Tokyo together with him, Haruka rarely felt the great need to fly back to Iwatobi because he's discovered that Makoto is—unsurprisingly—his home. They've gone through college all fine, and they keep living in Tokyo afterwards, in different apartments. Makoto has a coaching job in one of the swimming clubs, while Haruka has his main practice base in Tokyo, although it isn't rare for Haruka to leave Japan for competitions.
Of course, Haruka knows that no matter where he goes, Makoto is always with him, because their hearts are and always will be strongly connected. As long as Makoto's with him, he'll be fine, and just that is enough.
But Makoto isn't here. Not right now. He's gone back to Iwatobi since a week ago. Haruka couldn't do the same. His job is more demanding at the moment, and Makoto has to wait another week for him to come back and spend their time together in their hometown.
“I miss Iwatobi...” Haruka finally answers. After a pause, he adds with softer voice, almost like a whisper. “I miss all of you there.”
“Ha. I knew it! We miss you too, Haru-chan. Let's play together next week, okay? Oh, Ran's yelling at me from downstairs to help. Can you hear her voice? It's unnecessarily loud. I'll see you later, Haru-chan!”
“Yeah.” Haruka nods, “Be careful.”
After Ren has disconnected, the room suddenly drops its temperature. Haruka lazily pulls up his heavy blanket to wrap around his body, hands grasping the sides his orca. He has to wait another two hours to see Makoto. He takes his phone, checking for an email from Makoto. He finds none of it. The last time Haruka sent him email is some hours ago, and Makoto hasn't yet to reply. It's a bit unusual, and Haruka can't help feeling worried. Ren has mentioned about Makoto leaving early today to teach, so pulling some strings together, Makoto is simply busy.
It's not like something unwanted has happened, right?
Something unwanted has happened.
Tachibana Makoto stares dumbly at his own bag, his hand restlessly rummaging the mess stashed together in his bag. He can't find what he's looking for. No velvet box he's purchased with pretty much all of his savings. No nothing.
A moment afterwards, his phone rings with a new email. Makoto's hand can't stop shivering when it reaches the phone. He doesn't know if it's because he's too upset or too cold. The email comes from his little sister, Tachibana Ran.
'Brother, you forgot your magic box!!'
Makoto's heart must have stopped. It's like a nightmare comes true. Makoto takes half a minute to regain composure and type a reply.
'It's okay, Ran! Take good care of it, will you? A little change of plan won't hurt.'
'Okay! Have a great romantic cuddly week, Brother. I wish you the best of luck!' Ran's reply comes so fast that it leaves him wondering how deft his sister is with keys.
Makoto cracks a smile. No need to panic. Everything can still go smoothly. As usual, the airport is beating fast with life—crowded and busy, but nothing pleases Makoto more than the fact that he's back in Tokyo, the city where Haruka is.
The to-do-and-buy list was underneath a wedding magazine he's bought a while ago. Haruka curls up on his bed and flips over the glossy pages. His fingers stop at an article page about wedding and engagement rings, which he'd left dog-eared. He's admired some of them, but not for himself. He's been saving up to buy an engagement ring for Makoto.
Makoto will love this one. Haruka knows it. It's simply gorgeous and will fit him well. Along with a gorgeous ring, there comes a price. Numbers. They're just numbers, they shouldn't matter this much for Haruka, should they?
Unfortunately, humans are obsessed with numbers and values.
Fortunately, Haruka has numbers. Olympics, competitions, victories gave him numbers. And if it's for Makoto, spending those numbers doesn't matter in the slightest.
They said money can't buy happiness.
But maybe, just this time, it can buy a couple pockets of happiness.
Makoto's bright smile and shimmering green eyes immediately fill Haruka's head. The adorable blushes on his cheeks, the childish excitement, the light-hearted laughter. All those reactions that may come after Haruka offers him the ring. The images of Makoto set him ablaze beneath his chest, lighting up cozy fire crackling with every beat of his heart.
Haruka yearns for Makoto. He can't take it any longer. It's almost nine in the evening.
Dismissing the magazine aside, Haruka pushes his body to sit up straight, setting the laptop in front of him and turning it on. He checks his empty email inbox on his phone one last time, looks up to the spam box and still finds nothing from Makoto. His chest tightens in worry. He's ready to call the Tachibana residence if Makoto still hasn't shown up on Skype.
Fifteen minutes have passed after their appointed time. Makoto is still offline. No message, no call, no reply.
Haruka huffs, blowing up heavy warm air through his lips. He reaches for his phone, punching the numbers of Tachibana residence on it. After the first ring, Haruka hears knockings on his door. He promptly hangs up, throwing his phone to the side and slips his feet to a pair of sandals.
Who is it at this hour?
Probably some delivery man, Haruka thinks, half-dragging himself toward the door.
When Haruka opens it, it's not some delivery man. What greets him immediately is the loveliest smile he's only ever seen coming from that one person whom he's given his heart to.
Tachibana Makoto stands by the door, wearing green winter jacket and holding a bouquet of flowers—classic red roses, colorful camellias, and forget-me-nots in between. They shine with beauty, but Haruka can't take his eyes off Makoto's green eyes, which are the most beautiful of all. Then again, everything about Makoto is. “Haru,” Makoto begins with a head-tilt, “this may be a little late, but as promised, you can expect me at nine.”
Haruka should throw his body into Makoto's arms, laugh, cry, be free to display whatever will show up on his face to express the bubbling happiness overflowing in his chest. He should do that. This is the loveliest surprise he can receive for now. He's yearned for Makoto and now by some Christmas Santa magic he's delivered straight to Haruka behind his apartment door. All the long way from Iwatobi.
However, instead of laughing or running to Makoto's arms, Haruka closes the door in front of his boyfriend's nose, locks it, and turns around.
“Haru!?” Makoto's high-pitched voice drips with a tone of disbelief, slightly muffled by the door separating them. “Wha—why?”
“Wait.” Haruka breathes, more to himself rather than the other, “Wait. I...” The blue-eyed man looks up, spotting some bridal and wedding magazines stacked up on the table. Haruka rushes to collect them as fast as he can, including the one on his bed, and mindlessly stashes them in an old-fashioned hiding place that is under his bed.
He doesn't want Makoto to know. Not yet.
“Haru, how could you? I'm freezing here.” Makoto whines. Haruka steps up toward the door, unlocks it, and pushes it open. Makoto sulks just for a second, then his usual smile curves his lips again. Makoto stretches his arms to invite him in. This time, Haruka doesn't hold back.
He smashes his body to Makoto's broader one, arms wrapping around the other's torso. Faintly, delightful fresh aroma of flowers teases his nose, blended with a familiar smell of Makoto's soap. Through his embrace, Makoto delivers him a certain kind of warmth and an irreplaceable comfort.
He's home.
As long as Makoto's with him, Haruka is already home for Christmas.
“I can't believe several hours trip can be exhausting.” Makoto slams his body on Haruka's bed, playfully scrubbing the orca's fin with his fingers. “But that doesn't matter, because Haru's here with me now.”
Haruka lets out a sigh and subtly smiles. “Yeah. So,” he leans beside Makoto, forcefully pushes the bigger man to roll aside and give him more space, “you persuaded Ren into your game.”
“He didn't spill anything to you, did he?” Makoto sweeps the blue dolphin plush to his arms and lightly kicks the orca toward Haruka.
“Nah. He was being a good boy as usual.” Haruka grabs the orca, feeling a bit overwhelmed by its size. He silently dumps the giant orca to the floor. “Two giants can't be on the same space.”
“I'm not a giant—“ Makoto cuts his words as his stomach growls. “Ah.”
“You missed dinner...?” It's more like a statement rather than question. Before Makoto can reply, Haruka has stood up and walks to the kitchen. Pulling the fridge open, he finds that other than two cartons of milk and several eggs, nothing edible can be found inside. How long ago since the last time he shopped for groceries, though? He can't believe he's also run out of mackerels. “Makoto.” He pops half of his body out of the kitchen area, “Want to eat outside—“
Haruka gulps, swallowing up all his words. Makoto has fallen asleep on Haruka's bed, arms clutching on a stuffed dolphin. The blue-eyed man stares at his boyfriend before approaching him. He drapes his favorite heavy blanket over Makoto's fully-clothed body. He doesn't hesitate to land a gentle kiss on Makoto's forehead before heading back to the kitchen.
Some omelet rice should do, in case Makoto wakes up in the middle of the night and wants something to eat. Haruka will leave a plate of it on the kotatsu. After Haruka's done cooking, he fills up an old vase he inherited from his grandmother with fresh water and stores the flowers Makoto has brought him in it.
Among the flowers, there is a little note tangled in between.
'The world has a thousand ways to separate us, but we have a million ways to find each other again and always be together. No matter where we are our hearts will always be connected. From the half of your soul, Makoto.'
Haruka runs his finger through the delicate paper and reads it over and over again.
Twelve days.
In his to-do-and-buy list, he has twelve days to revisit their past, to embrace the present, and to promise a future with a few out of millions ways they have for each other.