Whoops this is a little early for Valentine's day. Oh well, at least I finally wrote something :p

Today was the day. The one day of the year that Haru was a little less indifferent and more irritated about.

Valentine's day.

It was the day that some of the clueless first years came up to him and gave him chocolates and candy. Haru didn't even like sweet things all that much. Sometimes they'd even ask him out on a date, prompting him to give the same response he did every year: no. He was stoic on the outside when he rejected a girl, but on the inside he was really, really annoyed. It just wasn't his thing. The only date he wanted was with a pool or bathtub.

He sighed as he got into said bathtub, putting on his swimsuit as he always had. Just because today was a special day, didn't mean the usual morning routine had to be messed up too. His friend Makoto would be there to help him out of the bathtub, then he'd cook mackerel, and then Makoto would comment on how weird he was for having mackerel for breakfast. Same thing, every day.

Haru heard the back door open, an indication that Makoto was coming to pull him out of the water. He hated getting out every day, and often got out with much reluctance. But when Makoto was there to help him, he couldn't help it. He was so gentle and kind about it, and not forceful like Kou or Rei probably would've been. He liked that about Makoto. He liked a lot of things about Makoto. The door was suddenly slid open, breaking Haru out of his thoughts. In came his best friend, but his hands were full today, much to the raven haired boy's surprise. Haru found himself getting curious over what was in his hands.

"Happy Valentine's day!" Makoto said in his usual cheerful tone as he held out a plastic sack in front of Haru. Haru stood up in the tub, reaching out to take the bag, when Makoto suddenly pulled away with a chuckle.

"Nope, you gotta get out of the tub in order to find out what your present is."

"Is it chocolate?"

"No guessing! Just get out." Haru sighed again and got out. As soon as both feet were on the cool, slick tile of the floor, he snatched the bag out of Makoto's hands. Makoto only laughed as Haru opened the bag to reveal a package. It contained mackerel. In the shape of a heart. Haru could feel his own heart race at this.

Makoto gets me.

Haru wasn't certain why his heart raced like it did, or why his friend giving him a gift made it that way. All he knew was that this strange feeling had to be love. Haru had never really been in love before, but he figured the by the way other people described it, that this was the feeling. However, Haru was also certain that there was still a lot to be thought about. For example, he wasn't sure whether Makoto really loved him, or if that was just a gesture of kindness. Or the fact that they were both guys. Well actually, Haru didn't really find it that odd that their genders were the same, but it still plagued his thoughts.

When Haru got to school, the air had a certain buzz to it, which mostly meant that the girls were doing more gossiping than usual, and his locker would most likely be full of Valentine's cards. He walked over to his locker and prepared for the cards to fall out. As soon as he opened, ten spilled out on to the floor, along with various candies. Haru sighed.

This was going to be a long day.

All day, Haru couldn't stop thinking about Makoto's gift. He also couldn't stop thinking about what Makoto had said to him as soon as they parted ways to go to class.

"Meet me by the entrance of the locker room after practice. Put your clothes over your swimsuit. I want to go somewhere that I think you'll enjoy."

What had that even meant? Where was Makoto taking him?

"Haru-chan!" Nagisa had called out to him after swim practice. Haru looked in the direction of his friend, and didn't even bother to correct him when he put the -chan at the end of his name.

"What?"

"I have a present for you! In fact, I have a present for everyone!" he said as he produced little Valentine cards from a nearby table. Everyone thanked Nagisa for being considerate, and the boys headed toward the locker rooms to change. After storing everything that needed to be kept, Haru emerged out of the locker rooms to wait for Makoto, who for some reason was taking longer than usual in the locker room. When Makoto did end up finally coming out, Haru saw that he had brought two towels with him. Upon closer inspection, one towel had a whale on it, and the other, a dolphin. Makoto smiled a light smile.

"Come on Haru, let's go." For some reason, Haru didn't question Makoto's intentions.

About half an hour later, they reached the ocean shore. They found a good place on the beach away from other people to set up their towels. Makoto began to strip down to his suit, prompting Haru to do the same. But Haru had only gotten his shirt off before he realized how unusual the situation was.

"Makoto, are we going swimming in the ocean?" Haru questioned, knowing how much of a sore subject the ocean was for his friend. Makoto turned to him and just continued to smile as he nodded his head. However, Makoto's eyes didn't seem to match the rest of his expression. They seemed... uncertain.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Haru questioned again, just to make absolutely sure he wasn't going crazy.

"Yes! It'll be fun, Haru," he said as he started toward the water. Haru followed him without questioning him.

As it turned out, Makoto was right. It was fun, despite the water being kind of chilly. They had swam around and talked mostly the whole time. Haru even found himself smiling a couple times. He soon began to realize that the more time he spent with Makoto, the more he found himself falling in love with his best friend. He thought about the good times that were had with his friend, and even some of the bad. He still didn't quite understand the feeling of love, but he knew he loved Makoto.

He just didn't know how to express it.

After hours of swimming, the two headed up to shore and laid on the towels. Haru hadn't even noticed the afternoon sun beginning to set until he laid down. Makoto turned to him.

"Did you have a good time, Haru?" Haru sat up and looked at him.

"Yes. Thank you." Makoto's smile seemed to brighten at this.

"That's good to hear. I know every year you're always annoyed by those first year girls, so I thought this might be a good change."

"It was a good change. But Makoto, I still don't understand how you put up with being in the ocean for that long. Or why you did all of those nice things for me. I guess, it just feels different." Haru almost regretted saying this, for he saw a small blush form on Makoto's face. He looked down at the ground, with one of the saddest expressions Haru had ever seen, yet still Makoto continued to smile.

"W-well, when you love someone a lot, y-you do anything you can to make them h-happy. Even if it hurts you in the process," he said. Haru's eyes widened. He had noticed that Makoto's hands had began to shake. In fact, his whole body was trembling. Haru's own heart began to pound when he realized that this must've taken a lot of courage for Makoto.

It was all for me. I don't think I could find anyone else like that.

And suddenly, Makoto felt Haru's lips on his.

Makoto sat there for a moment, stunned. But he soon found himself kissing back, and even more passionately. After about a minute, they pulled away. Makoto found himself grinning wider than he ever had in his life, and reached up to hug Haru. Haru hugged back, and buried his face in Makoto's neck. He could feel another emotion he didn't quite know how to express bubble up into his head: pure joy.

"Haru, I love you."

"I love you too, Makoto."