Mackerels Forever

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

There was a place to which Makoto sometimes stole away that even Haru didn't know about. It was the place he went when he wanted to give his emotions complete free reign, where he could cry without drawing concern or upsetting anyone. A place where he didn't have to smile. The place wasn't all that hidden. It was just at the back of the shrine that stood on top of the hill, above his and Haru's house.

Still, no one seemed to come to the little secluded nook with a worn and moss covered stone, the writing on which was no longer legible. Makoto often wondered what had been writing on the stone, trying to tease out the writing. He was half certain the character for love was on the stone and so Makoto had decided that stone was a monument to unrequited love. Because really, the only time he ever seem to seek this place was when his heart was heavy to the point of bursting from the knowledge that he loved his best friend but his best friend did not love him back.

It was painful, an ache in his heart that refused to subside no matter what he did. He used to comfort himself by remembering that they were best friends and so it didn't matter if Haru was not in love with him, they would still be friends forever and that was enough. However lately, with them being almost half-way through High School, with teachers and parents beginning to talk to them in earnest about their future, Makoto could not help but question whether they will be friends forever. Makoto buried his face in his hands and just sobbed.

"I love you, Haru-chan," he whispered into the air, far, far away from the ears of his best friend, "I wish we could be together forever but…" Makoto stood-up from the large stone on which he was sitting, "I will make the most of the time we have to make as many memories as I can! So that when you are no longer by my side, I will have a lot of good times to look back on."

Resolved on this, Makoto headed back home. He stopped at Haru's house on his way down the stone steps leading away from the shrine to put his resolve into practice at once and was immediately disappointed.

"I can't," Haru replied without hesitation to Makoto's invitation to come with him and his siblings to the amusement park next sunday, "There is something very important I have to do that day."

"I… I see," whispered Makoto, "I suppose if its important, it can't be delayed."

"No, I have been dragging my feet for too long already," replied Haru in his flat voice, wearing his stoic face, for once his mind unreadable even for Makoto, "I am done with delays."

Makoto wanted to ask what it was that Haru had to do but something in Haru's face told him that Haru would not answer and so Makoto didn't ask, "Well, okay, good luck with whatever you have to do then," said Makoto, flashing one of his trademark smiles, "Goodnight Haru-chan."

"Drop it with the -chan already," said Haru before they parted ways. Makoto continuing down the stairs, Haru heading upstairs to his room to rifle through his closet to find something appropriate to wear.

Haru had just finished cooking dinner when Makoto had unexpectedly turned-up to invite him out. But now dinner was forgotten and Haru's grilled mackerel cooled on the table as Haru was suddenly plunged into agony regarding what he had to do on Sunday. Truth was that Haru had no plans for sunday until Makoto had turned-up. It was only when Makoto told Haru that he was taking his twin siblings to the amusement park that Haru decided Sunday would be the day, the most important day of Haru's life so far.

Haru predicted that Makoto and his siblings would be out of the house by 10AM and would not be back until well into the afternoon. 11 AM then, Haru decided, would be a good time to visit and find Makoto's parents by themselves, free and relaxed and hopefully in a good mood.

So around 11 AM, Haru stood before the familiar front door of the Tachibana household with so many butterflies in his stomach that he was ready to vomit and the suit wasn't helping either. It was one of his father's old dress suits that Haru had managed to dig out of the storeroom after determining that he should be dressed as formally as he can. Haru was just thankful that he could wear his school winter slacks and shirt and have them pass as dress pants and shirt with the suit.

Mustering-up all his courage, Haru knocked on the door. After a too short or not long enough, Haru couldn't decide, pause the door was flung open by Makoto's mother, "Why its Haru-chan!" she exclaimed, "What brings you here?"

"Aunty," Haru started but then paused, taking a deep breath before continuing, "Aunty do you and uncle have a bit of time. There is something I really need to ask you," Haru said with a bow.

"Of course Haru-chan," said Mrs Tachibana a little surprised, "Come in, come in."

A few minutes later Haru was seated in the formal seiza in the Tachibana living room, nervously facing Mr & Mrs Tachibana who were looking on him with slightly indulgent smiles. "What's on your mind, Haruka," Mr Tachibana prompted.

"I…" Haru started before deciding a bow was called for, so he bowed low and asked in one breath, "Please give me Makoto!" neither Mr & Mrs Tachibana responded, so Haru continued, still keeping his head down with his eyes screwed shut, "I know its weird because we are both guys but I really, really love Makoto and want to spend the rest of my life with him. But I know his family is very important to him and he would never be happy if… if being with me caused problems with you and I don't want that. So… so if you don't approve I won't… I'll just be content to be his best friend and being by his side like that. It would hurt but I will endure it but if you give him to me I'll take really good care of him. I'll surround him with happiness and love and do everything and anything to keep him safe and…" Haru's voice faltered as a dizzy spell brought him up short, that's when he realised he hadn't been breathing. He paused for breath before just giving-up and begging, "Please, just please let me have Makoto."

"Haru-chan," said Makoto's mother gently as she leaned forward to put a hand on Haru's head, coaxing Haru to look-up and meet her eyes. Meet her kind, smiling eyes, not unlike her sons, "Makoto has been yours for a long time," she told him, making Haru's breath hitch, "And truth is today makes us very happy because we worried that you didn't treasure Makoto and were actually going to throw by the wayside the gift of his love and heart. That would have destroyed Makoto and maybe he would have never recovered. We love our son, we don't want him hurt."

"I… I am sorry," said Haru, "I was scared, so I delayed. I thought… but I would never hurt Makoto and if I have already hurt him, I'll spend the rest of my life making-up for it. I swear!" vowed Haru.

Mrs Tachibana smiled, "I know you won't. You have afterall, always protected him," it was absurd notion to consider given their relative sizes now that they were 17 year olds but fact of the matter was that Haru was almost six months older than Makoto.

Six months difference in birth is not a big deal when you are 17 but it was a huge deal when they were 4 year olds. Back when they met, it was Haru who had been bigger, the protector. Of course Haru was still Makoto's protector, not from physical things Makoto could fight with his body. Makoto never feared those things. Makoto's fears were all about things he could not fight with his muscles: ghosts, the darkness, the ocean, the unknown and Haru was still his protection against those things. The source from which Makoto drew his mental strength and it made his mother happy to know that her beloved son would always have Haru to draw strength from.

Mr Tachibana broke the comfortable silence that was descending on them by asking, "But Haru-chan, what about your parents? We have Ren and Ran, but you are an only child. Your parents can't be happy at the idea of you spending your life with another man."

"My parents know," replied Haru, "I already choose when I stayed behind," yes he had chosen back then. He had told Makoto that he had stayed back because it would be a pain to move to Tokyo, get used to a new school etc. Plus he would miss the sea. What he didn't tell Makoto was that that real reason Haru had stayed behind was because he didn't want to be separated from Makoto. The conversation he had with his parents would forever be burnt into Haru's memories…

"If its about swimming Tokyo will be better for you," he mother was saying, "This new position is giving your dad a huge raise and the apartment we are renting is in a complex with an indoor swimming pool. Think about it Haruka! You can swim all year long, as much as you want!"

"And you'll get used to the new school in no time," his father added, "Sure you will miss Makoto at first but you'll get over it. Best friends don't always stay with us forever. Maybe if you stay in Iwatobi you'll remain friends at least until the end of high school but what about after graduation? Are you planning on going to the same university? Getting jobs at the same town? Besides what will happen when you find girls to settle down with and have kids. The demand on your time will just continue to increase. Do you really think you can remain best friends with Makoto through all that? Don't be delusional. Come to Tokyo with us and start cutting the unnecessary ties you have with Makoto."

"My ties with Makoto are not unnecessary," Haru had replied with utter conviction, "I will never cut them," he thought of all the ties with friends and family that had already been cut and shuddered, "Makoto won't cut our ties either, I know that but if our ties are cut it won't be my doing."

"Haruka be reasonable," his mother had implored him, "It's not like you are in love with him. Eventually…"

"I am," Haru had interrupted his mother, "I will never have a wife," Haru declared with absolute finality.

There was a heavy silence in the room before Haru's father broke it with, "I told you we should have separated them at the end of elementary school. If we had just sent Haruka to Samezuka Academy he would have been in a different school and at a dorm, away from Makoto," he said accusingly.

"Don't blame this on me!" his mother had replied defensively, "It was your mother who told us not to do something that would just make Haruka unhappy. Well I hope she's watching this from wherever she is and is happy that her only grandchild is set to spend his life with another man."

"Grandmother would be happy," Haru had replied, getting-up, "She wanted me to be happy and she liked Makoto. So if that's all sorted, I'll stay back in Iwatobi."

"You are too independent for your own good you know," his mother had replied before his father could say anything more, "Very well, but you have to come to Tokyo during winter and spring breaks. Don't argue, I won't hear otherwise."

"Fine."

Haru repeated a portion of the conversation to Mr & Mrs Tachibana. Being careful to omit anything that might cast a bad light on his parents. Mr & Mrs Tachibana would not approve of Haru exposing his parents to their censor and all said and done, his parents reaction could have been worse. "Well if they have accepted Makoto's place in your life, we are happy," Mr Tachibana finally replied, "Now did you and Makoto arrange this?" he suddenly wondered, "I didn't think our son was this good at keeping secrets."

Haru shook his head, "He doesn't know… I haven't told him yet. I couldn't confess without knowing if you approved or not. He came to my house to invite me to go with him and Ren and Ran to the amusement park. So I figured you would be home alone and so I decided today would be the day I asked you… I was sick of waiting…"

At that Mrs Tachibana smiled, "I am sure Makoto is too."

Makoto returned early in the evening exhausted from a day spent chasing after twin siblings who had become even more hyper from excess consumption of candy. His good nature had allowed him to overcome whatever disappointment he still harbored over Haru's refusal to come with them. Haru had a life of his own, afterall, and it had been unreasonable for Makoto to assume Haru could just come with Makoto. Still, he had spent most of the day wishing Haru was there with him, especially when his eyes had fallen on some happy couple clearly out on a date. But then he had berated himself and brutally reminded himself that even if Haru had come, they would not be a couple and so it was stupid to be disappointed on that score.

Tired as he was, Makoto totally failed to notice his parents smiling at him slyly. As if they knew a secret that he did not. It was only after the had freshened-up a little that his mother mentioned seemingly causally, "Haru-chan came by while you were away."

Makoto blinked, "Huh? What did he… but he said he had something very important to do today and that's why he couldn't come with us."

"He did have something very important to do," his mother agreed, "In fact I don't think he's finished yet," she told him coyly, "That's why he told me to tell you to come see him…" she looked at the clock, "About now at the love stone, I think he said, that's behind the temple."

Makoto blinked, Haru knew about Makoto's secret spot. But before he could say anything his father interjected, "I think you should get going, Makoto," he encouraged, "It's rude to keep people waiting."

Thoroughly confused Makoto headed back out wondering what to expect at the end of the flight of stairs, behind the shrine, "Makoto," Makoto was brought-up short because Haru was standing just under the first torii that stood between their two houses, "I got impatient," he explained, as if he expected Makoto to understand why he was here and not where he told Makoto's mother he was going to be.

Makoto however did not understand, he had never been so confused in his life. But it was Haru, Haru standing before him, looking… happy, as if he had just been granted fins and the right to live in the ocean forever. Seeing Haru so happy made Makoto happy and he found himself smiling as he mounted the steps to get close to him. So close that he could touch him if he just reached out, "Haru," Makoto said at last, "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Don't apologies, I was the one who got impatient," Haru gently chided. There was a comfortable sort of pause between them before Haru looked at Makoto, really looked at Makoto and asked, "Makoto, you always know what I am thinking right?"

"I… its just we have been together for so long," Makoto pointed out, "It's just experience."

"What am I thinking now?" Haru asked him.

Makoto had no clue, he searched Haru's face and thought he saw… no, that was not right. Haru didn't feel that way, not about him. Makoto looked closer, taking in every little thing about Haru. The way he stood, the way his eyes were lit, the way he was smiling faintly and… no… that was wrong. Makoto was just reading something that wasn't there but what else could Haru be thinking about while looking like that? "Mackerels!" Makoto finally replied.

Haru laughed, "Actually I was thinking of mackerels," he admitted, "I was thinking of going home and grilling a mackerel with just a pinch of salt. A whole mackerel, more than enough for two people," Haru walked closer to Makoto while speaking, until they were toe to toe, "I was thinking of sharing that mackerel with you. I was also thinking of cooking mackerel tomorrow, maybe in miso just to mix it up a bit and I was thinking of sharing that mackerel with you too, and the mackerel for the day after tomorrow as well. In fact," said Haru as he all too casually wrapped his arms around Makoto's neck, "I was thinking of sharing every mackerel I cook from now until the day I join my late grandmother with you and only you."

"Haru," whispered Makoto, not believing his ears. Haru smiled as he gently cupped Makoto's face, he had said all he had to. Makoto laughed, overflowing with happiness as he pulled Haru closer, capturing his lips in an awkward first kiss. The kiss tasted faintly of mackerels.

Author's Note: So I decided to temporarily get off HMS Friendship and board the Makoharu/Harumako ship. I floated three ideas on the Makoharu tag on tumblr and idea #1 got the most votes. I deleted the original post when I started writing this fic but all the original ideas are below. Now I will return to HMS Friendship and leave Makoharu/Harumako to more capable fanfic writers!

Idea #1 (Winner!)

While Makoto is out with this siblings and his parents home alone, Haru turns-up all dressed-up and asks Makoto's parents for Makoto. Haru wants to confess to Makoto but is worried that since they are both guys Makoto's parents might mind and he doesn't want to be the cause of rift in the Tachibana family. But Makoto's parents are all like "about time! we were thinking out eldest son was doomed to suffer the pains of unrequited love!" and so Haru confesses.

Idea #2 (Nobody liked this one… I kind of wanted to write this one T.T )

Haru meets a water goddess who offers him a chance to live in the ocean, be really one with the water forever. But if Haru says yes, he'll be separated from Makoto forever… I actually have a number of endings for this, some of them happy, some of them not so much. So…

Idea #3 (Runner-up - you have no idea how angsty this was going to be so kind of happy this didn't win)

Haru coldly rejects Makoto after Makoto confesses and so Makoto leave Iwatobi for Tokyo. Makoto manages to build a new life, with lots of friends but refuses to date because he's still hung-up on Haru and refuses to get involved with someone else since he can't love anyone else completely and refuses to give only part of his heart to someone who most likely loves him with all theirs. But just when Makoto has settled down into a comfortable groove, Haru walks back into his life and everything goes topsy turvy…