I don't own Free! or its characters.

two suns in the sunset

It had been a simple plan.

Because Makoto's parents were going to be out of town for the weekend, they asked Haruka if he'd wanted to come over and look after the twins with Makoto. They knew, even though Haruka didn't show it on his face, that he loved spending time with the kids. Haruka had agreed to the idea without hesitation – a weekend full of Makoto and his little siblings sounded quite good, and it was even better if Makoto's parents weren't home. It wasn't like he hated them; in fact, he loved them to the point of thinking about them as his second parents, but sometimes they had urges they couldn't take care of when Makoto's parents were around.

Haruka and Makoto had walked back to Makoto's house after school. Haruka didn't bother taking some clothes with him; albeit everything looked incredibly big on him, he could always borrow something from his friend. Makoto said they could go for a walk in the beach and grab some iced coffee on the local bar until it was time to pick the kids up from school. Then they could walk back home across the beach, maybe swim till it was dark enough for the twins to still be outside.

Makoto hadn't considered the fact that, as soon as Haruka put his feet in the sand, he would take every piece of clothing off except his swimming trunks and run into the sea as if nothing mattered more to him than his encounter with the water.

It had been an hour since that, Makoto thought. He was sitting in the sand, looking at Haruka's swimming form and trying to be angry at him. It was futile, of course. He couldn't stay mad at him when he saw him in the water – he looked so at home, as if he was one with it, and Makoto knew he couldn't compete with the feeling of being surrounded by water, even with all of his years of loyalty spent by Haruka's side. He stifled a sigh at that thought; he didn't want to think much about that, Haruka loved him and he showed it in his special, Haru-like way, and it was okay, so he shouldn't be feeling this way.

After some time, Haruka came out of the sea. He flipped his hair like he always did, getting some droplets of water on Makoto's sitting figure, but the brunette didn't mind. Haruka was going to sit beside him, but Makoto stopped him before his butt hit the sand and took his school jacket off, draping it next to him so Haruka could sit on it. He didn't want Haruka to get his trunks dirty, as they were the only pair he'd have for the weekend, and Haruka could get pretty moody if he couldn't swim.

"You know, Haru-chan," Makoto started, looking out at the sunset. They still had some minutes until it was time to pick the kids up, enough for Haruka to get dry under the summer sun. "Sometimes I think you love water more than you like me."

Haruka seemed to think about it for two seconds, but dismissed the thought almost instantly, getting some of his soaked hair out of his eyes with lithe fingers.

"Don't be stupid," he finally mumbled. "And drop the -chan."

Makoto smiled, placing his hand on top of Haruka's and giggling happily when the other teen separated his fingers, giving him enough space to lace their fingers and give his hand a little squeeze.

"We should go get the twins," said Makoto, letting go of his hand and standing up. He offered the same hand to Haru, who took it like it was second nature, which after all those years of friendship it probably was.

They would take Makoto's brothers on their backs on the way home, then they would make dinner together (Haru, of course, would want something with fish in it, and Makoto couldn't for the life of him refuse the almost invisible pout on his usually stoic face) and they would help the kids take a bath. Maybe they would play some videogames while waiting for them both to fall asleep, and once they tuck them into bed, they would snuggle under the covers and share kisses that taste like seawater and homemade food.

They would spend the next day on the beach, probably trying to get Haruka out of the sea so they can have lunch under a tree, and Makoto would fume a little over Haruka's undying obsession with water, but it would be okay, because at the end of the day the one receiving all of Haruka's love was him.

Even if it was in the bathtub.