A/N:This fic was supposed to be part of my MakoHaru fic collection "Home is Where You Are" but this fic got so long that I thought it would be better if I posted it all by itself. Therefore, this fic was also a request that was anonymously sent to me on Tumblr. The prompt was "a hurt/comfort fic where haru had to do cpr on Makoto bc he didn't wake up after he almost drowned with some really emotional after effects" Considering the way this person phrased their request in the message they sent me, I think they didn't know about my collection of fic requests, so I hope that they'll see this fic and that they'll like it.

I've been working on this for the majority of the past three months, so I really hope that you'll enjoy it.

This fic was originally written as a one-shot, but considering the length and style of this fic, I decided that it would work better as a two-shot. I have finished this fic entirely, so I will post the second part some time next week, probably.

If it weren't for this request, I most likely would never have written this fic since this is something that so many people have already written about this, but despite that I did enjoy writing my take on it. I do realise that this fic is not realistic. I tried to keep it as realistic as I could, but given the nature of the prompt, that is not completely possible. For the sake of this prompt, I ask you not to pay too much attention to it and see it as the work of fiction that it is. Thank you in advance.

Anyway, I think I have rambled enough for now and I hope that you'll enjoy part one of this fic! ^^

TW: mention of blood, but it's so tiny that you most likely won't even notice it.

Thunder was rumbling, the wind was howling and the heavy rainfall was pattering, but Haruka barely noticed any of it as he was breathlessly dragging Makoto's limp body out of the raging ocean. It had taken all of his strength to fight against the wild water while simultaneously needing to keep his grip on Makoto and he was absolutely exhausted. Once they were out of the sea's range his legs gave out underneath him, dropping Makoto's heavy body clumsily onto the wet sand.

He only took a second to catch his breath before he turned to Makoto again. Grabbing him by the shoulders, he began to shake him in an attempt to make him regain consciousness.

"Makoto... Makoto!" he called, worry evident in his voice, "Wake up!"

Makoto was unresponsive and the panic within Haruka grew. Frantically he looked around himself for anyone, anything that could help him.

"Someone... Is anyone there?!" he yelled, "Nagisa? Rei!"

There was no one around; no reaction whatsoever. He was on his own.

His arms began to tremble as he lifted his finger to his mouth, trying to figure out what to do. With the terror and hysteria engulfing his mind it was hard to think clearly, but he knew he had to do something because if he didn't then Makoto, Makoto would…

That train of thought was cut off as the basic first-aid rules suddenly shot through his head. He leaned forward and took a look over Makoto's body.

"Is he injured?" he mumbled to himself, "No."

Trying to think of what was next, he pondered for a moment before he placed his head on Makoto's chest. He held his breath as he waited to hear the rhythmic beating of Makoto's heart, to feel his chest rise as his lungs filled with air.

He waited and waited and waited, but Makoto's chest stayed still. It took some time until Haruka finally accepted that he didn't hear a heartbeat nor the intake of breath.

Sitting back up, he knew he had to do something; if he didn't, then Makoto would die. CPR, he had to give him CPR, but where did he have to start? How many chest compressions? What could he do so Makoto would wake up again?

Fear made him freeze on the spot; fear of doing something wrong, fear of doing anything in general, fear of not doing anything at all, fear of Makoto dying.

Finally snapping out of his trance when the limited amount of CPR knowledge he had decided to bless him with the ability to recall it, he sat up again on his knees and put his hands on Makoto's chest. Then he began to push down, trying to get Makoto's heart to start pumping again.

He counted the compressions he did, trying to keep a steady pace and not press too fast. When he got to thirty he ceased his compressions and tilted Makoto's head backwards. With one hand on his chin and the other pinching his nostrils shut, Haruka leaned down and placed his lips over Makoto's, blowing once, twice, and watching how his chest rose as his breath filled Makoto's lungs.

"Makoto," he called again, but alas there was still no response.

So he returned to the compressions, desperately trying to keep Makoto alive. At first his head was void of any thoughts, too focused on counting compressions and breaths. But as time passed and Makoto stayed unconscious, the more worries shot through his mind.

What if he wouldn't be able to make Makoto wake up? They were on a deserted island with no hospital or medical care anywhere near them. In most cases of CPR the person still died and that was when there were trained professionals performing the compressions and rescue breaths, so how could he, an untrained, distressed teenager possibly save Makoto's life?

Despite that fact, Haruka knew he would never stop trying, wouldn't stop until Makoto was alive and breathing, wouldn't stop even if it would kill him.

"Makoto," he pleaded, "Makoto, please."

All of this felt like a horrible, horrible nightmare; one moment he's peacefully sleeping in his tent and the next he's doing everything he can to prevent his best friend from dying. And he hoped, wished, prayed that that was what it was: a nightmare, not reality. He would wake up any moment now.

But he didn't, because he was already awake; this was really happening. Makoto was slowly slipping away from him and he wasn't sure if he could actually hold onto him.

He didn't even notice that he was crying, his tears intermingling with the rain as they fell on Makoto's chest and face. His heart was beating harder and faster than it ever had yet all he wanted was for Makoto's heart to do the same.

Switching from chest compressions back to rescue breaths, Haruka had a hard time providing Makoto with air because he had started to hyperventilate. He demanded himself to get a grip, because he couldn't give up now. He couldn't lose Makoto due to his own incompetence.

"Makoto, please! Makoto!" he begged, his voice sounding alien to his own ears. Whether that was because it was so uncharacteristically loud, distressed and thick with tears or because he was so focused on the situation at hand that he didn't realise he had spoken, he didn't know, but it didn't matter.

What was he going to do? What was he going to do if he couldn't save Makoto, if he would lose Makoto, if Makoto would die? What would he do without Makoto?

No, he couldn't lose Makoto! He just couldn't! Makoto was his best friend, the most important person in the entire world, the person he loved. He couldn't lose Makoto. Makoto was his home, and he needed him more than anyone, more than anything. He was all Haruka had.

It was as if a haze overtook him; his ears were ringing and his vision was blurred, yet he couldn't stop with CPR, couldn't stop even if he wanted to or tried. As if a primal survival instinct had cut in and controlled his muscles. For his entire life he had done everything he could to protect Makoto, from ghosts, bullies, and most importantly, the ocean. He couldn't fail now, couldn't lose Makoto to what he feared the most.

"Please, Makoto. Please wake up," he whispered through his hiccups, "I can't lose you, Makoto, I can't." The more he said, the louder his voice became to the point where he was screaming out Makoto's name, begging him to wake up and return to his side where he belonged, alive and well.

Hours, days, weeks had passed since Haruka had begun his attempt at keeping Makoto alive - at least, that's what it felt like to Haruka. However, no matter how much time passed, Makoto wasn't waking up, didn't respond to his voice nor his compressions and breaths. But he just couldn't give up, he couldn't lose his best friend, he couldn't let Makoto die.

So he pressed harder, the rhythm becoming irregular as his strength was slowly seeping away, his arms growing tired and they started to hurt, but he would continue until he was physically incapable to, wouldn't stop until his limbs fell off.

With what felt like his last breath he leaned down again to seal Makoto's lips with his, blowing once and inhaling for the second one, when salt water was suddenly sent down his throat, making him reflexively pull away to cough.

When he had rid his lungs of the water he suddenly inhaled he looked back at Makoto and saw him turned on his side, violently coughing up salty water. Once all of the water had left his lungs, he turned on his back as he desperately tried to get oxygen back into them.

Blue eyes widened in disbelief. "M-Makoto?" he hesitantly questioned, not trusting his own eyes and ears.

Slowly one of Makoto's eyes opened and found the source of the voice that had spoken. "Haruka?"

His voice was rough, like the salt in the ocean had cut his vocal cords and deformed the once angelic melody he used to speak in. His green eye was glazed over, almost as if he wasn't quite awake yet and he was frowning in what seemed to be pain and discomfort. The pattern of his breathing was irregular and he seemed to flinch with every inhale and exhale. But none of that mattered to Haruka, because Makoto was alive. Makoto was alive!

Overwhelming relief washed over Haruka in the form of tears and cries of Makoto's name. He fell down on top of Makoto's torso as sobs wrecked his body, loudly wailing into Makoto's chest.

"Ow, ow!" Makoto protested, but Haruka couldn't hear him over the sound of his own bawling. Makoto slowly lifted his arms to cup Haruka's head and back. "Haru, what-"

"Ah, there they are! Haru-chan, Mako-chan!"

At the sound of Nagisa's voice calling out Makoto turned his head to his right, making out the figures of Nagisa and Rei as they ran towards them. Unlike Makoto, Haruka didn't look up, instead kept crying into Makoto's chest.

"Rei, Nagisa," Makoto muttered, "What's going on? Where are we?"

Ignoring Makoto's quiet questions, Nagisa continued, "Ah, I'm so glad you're both okay!"

"He's not okay!" Haruka yelled through his sobs and only then did Nagisa notice that he was bawling his eyes out, "He needs to go to a hospital. Right now!"

"What?" Nagisa and Rei asked simultaneously, frowning in worry as they looked at Makoto.

"What?" Makoto echoed in confusion, "Haru, I'm fine, I-"

"You're not fine!" Haruka insisted, looking up for the first time to meet Makoto's hazy gaze, "I had to give you CPR! You could have died!"

Speaking those words confirmed that this had actually just happened. He actually could have lost Makoto. That thought alone was enough to reduce him to a sobbing mess again, incoherently rambling underneath his breath.

"What?"

"We have to go back immediately," Rei said decisively, "He needs urgent medical care."

"But how are we going to get back? We're on a deserted island. I doubt there's anyone with a boat around here," Nagisa argued.

"We have no other choice; we're going to swim back to get help."

"Rei-chan, are you insane?!"

"I know it's dangerous but we have no other choice! The storm has calmed down a little so we can make it."

"But you can't even swim that well! You swimming in this storm was what got us into this situation in the first place!"

"I know that!" Rei yelled, looking genuinely hurt by Nagisa's words even if he knew they were the truth, "Nagisa-kun, we have no time to argue about this. If we don't go right now then Makoto-senpai can die! I know I can't swim that well but it's not safe for you to go in alone and Haruka-senpai is in no state to swim. I wouldn't say this if we had any other options."

"Okay, okay!" Nagisa gave in, defensively holding his hands up. "So what are we going to do?"

"We're going to swim back as fast as we can and when we get to shore you go wake Amakata-sensei and Gou-san and let them call an ambulance to wait for us at land. I'll look for a coast guard or someone with a boat who can help us get back here and bring us back to the mainland."

"Wait, what?" Makoto asked, not completely able to keep up with the situation. Everything went too fast for his mind to comprehend and he still had no clue what was going on or where they were. All he knew was that Haruka was crying, Rei and Nagisa were arguing, and something about CPR? His mind was foggy and the lack of oxygen in his blood made it hard for him to piece the truth of what had happened together from the bits of information he had been able to gather from his surroundings.

"Don't worry, Makoto-senpai. We'll come back with help as soon as we can," Rei dismissed, not bothering to explain the situation because he knew they had no time to spare. Then he turned to Haruka. "Haruka-senpai. Haruka-senpai!" he called until he got Haruka's attention and he looked up, "Keep talking to him at all costs. No matter what happens, he cannot lose consciousness. Do you understand?" When Haruka didn't respond, he sternly repeated, "Do you understand?!"

The seriousness and authority in Rei's voice took Haruka by surprise and made something snap inside of him. He realised that this was no time to cry and feel sorry for himself. Even if Makoto was alive now, he wasn't safe yet. The risk of losing him was still very much present and if he lost consciousness now then he was pretty much done for. And he needed to do everything within his power to prevent that from happening.

Knowing that he had to pull himself together, he sniffed deeply and swallowed the saliva that had built up in his mouth before he nodded.

"Alright. We'll be back as soon as we can," Rei told Haruka before he turned back to Nagisa, "Nagisa-kun, let's go."

While Rei and Nagisa ran back into the ocean, Haruka turned his attention back to Makoto, trying to think of what he should say. His mind was blank but he reminded himself that it didn't matter what he said, as long as Makoto remained awake and responsive. So he began to blabber about everything and anything, about the swim club and the training camp, about his family and the neighbourhood's stray kittens, all the while making sure that he asked questions to keep Makoto involved in the conversation.

Makoto's responses were vague and incoherent, nothing at all what they usually would have been. It seemed as if he had trouble recalling the past couple of days as the confusion in his answers was clear. Besides that he looked like he was so tired, like he hadn't slept in days and could fall asleep any moment and although the sight of sleepy Makoto was usually cute and endearing, right now it was the second-most terrifying thing he had ever seen - only the sight of Makoto's lifeless body beat it.

Despite the fear that came with Makoto being tired and confused, Haruka knew that he shouldn't let that fear consume him, knew that he couldn't be swept away by it because he had an important duty to fulfill. He could cry later but right now, Makoto's life was in his hands and he would never forgive himself if Makoto would die.

So he kept talking, reminding Makoto of things his hazy brain couldn't remember, explaining things it couldn't comprehend. Words that were meaningless and phrases that were nonsensical. Repeating Makoto's name over and over when he thought he had slipped away and breathing a small sigh of relief when Makoto reacted to him again. Even though Makoto didn't really know what was going on, he seemed to understand that he had to stay awake as he was practically fighting to - fighting for his life.

A century had passed before a small boat arrived at the deserted island and from that moment on everything blurred together for Haruka.

Rei and a man they didn't know jumped overboard and swum towards them, lifting Makoto up and bringing him back to the boat with Haruka following closely after them. Once everyone was back onboard they went towards the docks as fast as they could. Everyone around him was talking but Haruka didn't register any word that was spoken for all his attention was focused solely on Makoto, making sure that he would stay conscious and responsive.

When they finally got to the harbor an ambulance was already waiting for them. Two paramedics stood on the dock with a stretcher and as soon as the boat came to a halt they jumped inside and took Makoto out of it, putting him down on the stretcher and strapping him to it. Then they sped back to the ambulance and Haruka automatically followed them, getting into the back of it. The doors closed behind him and immediately they drove off, rushing back to the hospital.

Haruka turned his head back to Makoto and saw that his eyes were closed; he had lost consciousness and though that worried him, he didn't freak out like he would have done minutes earlier. An oxygen mask was put over his nose and mouth and one of the paramedics was sticking patches to his chest. The sight of seeing his Makoto, big and strong Makoto, so helpless tugged at his heartstrings and tears were welling up in his eyes again.

He felt like he had failed Makoto. Even if he wasn't gone yet, he was only barely hanging on and if Haruka had successfully protected him like he always promised himself he would, then none of this would have happened. Then Makoto wouldn't be forced to fight for his life after almost drowning. If Haruka had used his head and stayed true to this promise, then this wouldn't be happening; then they wouldn't even have gone on this stupid training camp to begin with. He never should have agreed to it in the first place.

Those thoughts made the lump in his throat grow and he had a hard time breathing because of it. He reached out and grabbed Makoto's hand in an attempt to ground himself. Makoto's skin was as cold as ice and Haruka's common sense did its very best to remind him that it was not because Makoto was dead, but because of the rain and the wind.

His ears were ringing with the blood that was rapidly coursing through his body, making it hard for him to pick up the sounds of the sirens, the beeping of the machines and the voices of the paramedics. All he could hear was the voice inside of his head, chants of Makoto's name repeating itself along with prayers to any deity that was willing to listen to please save Makoto.

He was trying his very best to stay positive and hopeful; Makoto was in the hands of professionals now, of people who have dealt with situations like this a million times before. But the sceptical, almost negative side of him was doing its very best to tear him apart bit by bit and the what-ifs that were eating away at him weren't helping either.

And then, amid the rustle of all the sound that his brain couldn't register, the sentence that was worse than his most fearsome nightmares broke through the white noise.

"We're losing him!"

At that moment it was as if Haruka's own heart ceased its beating. His blue eyes widened as terror and panic filled every part of him. He jumped up from his seat and Makoto's name left his lips in a desperate whisper. When he tried to get closer to Makoto one of the paramedics pushed him away and yelled something at him that he couldn't make out over the sound of his own frantically thumping heart. His hand was pulled out of Makoto's and the same paramedic held out his arm in front of him to keep him away from Makoto's body. Instinctively Haruka tried to pry his arm away but when he saw the defibrillator in the other paramedic's hands, his common sense told him to stay put.

"Clear!" the man called before he put the pads down onto Makoto's chest and side. The electric shock that left the pads vibrated through Makoto's body, shooting through him as it made its impact. Then the heart monitor that he was hooked up to returned to its previous rhythmic beeping with regular intervals. "Safe."

A wave of relief washed over Haruka and a big sigh left his lips as he fell back into his seat. The arm that was in front of him dropped back to the paramedic's side and the man stepped aside. Seeing this as an opportunity, Haruka reclaimed his hold on Makoto's hand, gripping him tightly yet gently with both hands. Automatically he lifted Makoto's hand to his face and pressed a long kiss against Makoto's knuckles, needing his hopes and wishes to be conveyed to Makoto through his lips and praying that they will somehow encourage Makoto, help him fight. Closing his eyes for a stronger impact, he withdrew his lips and tilted his head so his forehead rested against the back of Makoto's hand, his tears dripping onto Makoto's skin. He remained like that for the rest of the ride, needing the leverage of Makoto's touch for reassurance and comfort.

The entirety of the ride to the hospital seemed much shorter than it actually was, at least felt like that in comparison to when he had to wait for Nagisa and Rei to return with help. They came to a halt before Haruka even noticed it and he was pulled from his prayers when Makoto's hand was taken out of his to be put back next to his legs on the stretcher. The doors of the ambulance flew open again and then Makoto was gone, the paramedics having taken Makoto away without his realisation and he was left in bewilderment.

The second it hit him he leapt out of the ambulance and saw the back of the stretcher being rushed into the emergency room. Although he was not very quick nor graceful on land like he was in the water, right then he ran as fast as his legs could carry him to follow after Makoto and not lose sight of him, not caring or even feeling how the pavement scratched at his bare feet.

The adrenaline inside of him made him run harder and faster than he ever had before and he ran through the automatic doors of the emergency room. Though the paramedics were rushing and rapidly pushing the stretcher through the hallway, they weren't running like Haruka was. He almost caught up with them when they went through another set of doors when he was suddenly held back by a nurse.

Trashing around to get out of her grip, he yelled out Makoto's name. A second nurse came to assist the first and they were talking to him but he couldn't hear them over the sound of his own screams. The stretcher that carried Makoto was long since out of sight but he needed to stay by his side. He couldn't be separated from him because he was afraid that Makoto would die if he didn't; he felt like he was dying every second he was apart from him and not knowing how he was doing.

After the umpteeth attempt of escaping the hold of the nurses failed, every bit of adrenaline that had kept him going left his body at once. He quit resisting and fell to his knees, his mouth open with the protests that were not going to be voiced. What was he going to do if something happened to Makoto and he wasn't there to protect him?

The second nurse grabbed him by his arm and pulled him back to his feet, mumbling something about him blocking the way. As if his body was on automatic pilot he dragged himself to a vacant chair and plopped down on it, pulling his knees up to his chest and burying his face in them as quiet tears cascaded down his cheeks again, silent sobs wrecking through his body.

Now there was nothing left to do for him but wait, he allowed himself to cry and go over everything that had happened within the last hours; how he got from sleeping in a tent on the beach to crying into his knees at the emergency room while he waited for any sign that would let him know his best friend would survive.

It was his fault, because he never should have agreed to this training camp; if he never went along with starting the swim club, then none of this would have happened. It was Nagisa's fault, because Nagisa suggested they start the swim club and planted the idea in their heads; because he was so insisted on sharing a tent with him that Makoto was forced to share with Rei and therefore sleep in a different tent than Haruka, which prevented him from being able to protect Makoto from his biggest fear that was only a couple of meters away from them. But most of all, it was Rei's fault. If Rei hadn't gone out to swim in the ocean at night then Makoto wouldn't have been forced to put his life on the line to try to save him from drowning. If Rei wouldn't have been such an idiot then Makoto would still be sound asleep in his futon instead of fighting for his life at the ER. And if Makoto would end up paying the highest price for Rei's stupidity, then Haruka knew he would never forgive Rei. Never.

"Haru-chan!"

"Haruka-senpai!"

The voices of Nagisa and Kou echoed through the room and Haruka tilted his head so he could peer in the direction of the sound as saw them jogging towards him, accompanied by - albeit slower - Rei and Amakata-sensei.

"Haru-chan!" Nagisa repeated, "How is Mako-chan? Where is he?"

A shrug was the only response Haruka gave. How was he supposed to know?

"I contacted Tachibana-kun's parents and they should be coming over here as soon as they can. Have you heard anything about his state, Nanase-kun?" Amakata-sensei asked. When Haruka dejectedly shook his head, she continued, "Then I suppose there's nothing for us to do but wait."

They all took place in the empty seats next to him, all in varying states of concern. In contrast to when they were at the island, Nagisa was positive and optimistic; he kept mentioning that he was sure that Makoto would be alright, because why wouldn't he be? He was young, healthy and strong, so there was no reason for him not to be. A little bit of water surely wouldn't kill him, right?

No one argued with him; in fact, no one responded in general. It was not so much that they agreed with him, but rather that they couldn't find the strength to list all of the facts that contradicted his words. Whether Nagisa genuinely believed that Makoto would be okay or if he just kept saying it not only to convince everyone else that his words were true and attempt to keep everyone's spirits up, but also to make himself believe his claims, Haruka didn't know, but he didn't really care either. He was just trying to tune Nagisa out for now so he could focus on his own thoughts and prayers.

When Nagisa repeated it for the twentieth time in the past fifteen minutes, Rei couldn't take it anymore. He burst out in tears and covered his face with his hands in an attempt to conceal his loud sobs, but it was to no avail. Nothing was left of the pragmatic attitude he had when the four of them had been at the island; like the plug to all of his accumulated feelings had been pulled now that the situation was out of his hands and there was nothing left that he could do.

The sudden shift in Rei's demeanour surprised all of them; none of them had ever seen such an emotional display from the boy that was usually nothing but calm and collected. Rei had always behaved as if he kept his cool at all times, because losing it without knowing every detail about a specific scenario would be illogical.

Haruka didn't even know why he was crying so hard. He barely even knew Makoto, met him only a month or two ago. Makoto didn't mean nearly as much to him as he did to Haruka. If Makoto were to die that would be unfortunate to Rei at most, but to Haruka... his life would be destroyed if something were to happen to him. And besides, it was his fault that this was happening. So how dare he sit here and bawl his eyes out? What gave him the right to act as if he was just as worried as the rest of them?

At that moment it was as if every single emotion that was coiling in Haruka's stomach turned into sheer anger targeted towards Rei. He bit his lip to prevent all of the venom coursing through his veins from flowing out of him all at once. It was useless to waste his energy on Rei anyway, he didn't deserve whatever reaction Haruka could give him. Focusing on Makoto and praying for his well-being was much more important. For now, he would try to tune Rei and his existence out, try to forget he was even here and direct his attention at the person who deserved it more than anyone else. Who mattered more than anyone else.

"H-Hey," Nagisa tried to console but it only caused Rei to wail even louder.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he whimpered, repeating this apology over and over, "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry."

"Rei-chan, it's not your fault. I didn't mean what I said at the island, you know that, right?"

"But Nagisa-kun, you were right: it is my fault! If I hadn't gone out to swim at night then Makoto-senpai wouldn't have to come and try to save me. When I saw him coming to help me, he didn't seem like his usual self..."

"He'll be fine!" Nagisa brushed off, clearly trying to make the whole situation sound as light and trivial as possible, like Makoto stubbed his toe or scraped his knee on the pavement and was inside getting a band-aid. "It's Mako-chan we're talking about. Of course he'll be alright!"

"Just because he'll live does not mean he'll be alright!" Rei suddenly yelled, his voice full of all the pent up emotions that had built up these past couple of hours and his cheeks were blazing red with tears and exertion. "Even if he'll survive this, that doesn't necessarily mean that he's okay! What if he has permanent brain damage? What if he has to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair? What if he is not the same Makoto-senpai when he wakes up?"

Nagisa's mouth had fallen open at Rei's outburst and he was rendered speechless. He licked his lips and swallowed thickly, not knowing what to say to the words that had been playing at the back of everyone's mind, yet no one had dared to voice them. The chances of Makoto coming out of this unscathed were practically null; even if Haruka didn't know exactly how long it took for Makoto to wake up for his perception of time was all over the place, it had been at least a good few minutes before he had regained consciousness. During that time Makoto's brain suffered a severe lack of oxygen and that could've done some serious damage, and it most likely did. So even if Makoto would survive, there was an incredibly big chance that he would be injured for life, physically like paraplegia but mentally as well, like amnesia or worse.

Once more Haruka cursed Rei and he bit the inside of his lip even harder, the metallic taste of blood filling his mouth. Why did he have to bring this up right now? Even if they all knew the risks very well, that didn't mean that he had to speak them aloud, to bring them up so they all had no other choice but to face reality. Somehow, the fact that Makoto would probably be anything but okay felt all the more real now.

His chest was heavy and ached deeply, like Rei had personally stabbed him in his gut with his stupid action and was now rubbing salt into the wound with his words. He wanted to cry but he had seemingly no tears left, had been drained from them along with the energy that had kept him going. This once again made him feel furious towards Rei, because he was able to cry while Haruka was left with a lump in his throat and a figurative knife between his ribs.

It was silent for a few minutes, save for Rei's sobbing that was gradually decreasing in volume and the faint noises of the hospital. When he was only softly sniffling, he cleared his throat.

"If something happens to Makoto-senpai then that's my fault," he stated, sounding lost, broken, but most of all guilty.

Hearing Rei say this made something inside of Nagisa click and he turned back to Rei. "It's not your fault," he said in a tone that was low and serious, "You didn't mean for this to happen. You were just trying to practice, right? You couldn't have known that things would turn out like this. No one could have predicted this. We don't blame you, so you shouldn't blame yourself."

Although Haruka very much disagreed with that, he kept quiet. He dug his nails into his skin and averted his head, pointing his gaze at the doors through which Makoto had disappeared instead.

Not a single word was spoken after that.

"Haru-chan!"

Turned out his previous claims were wrong: he definitely had some tears left to cry.

When he heard that familiar voice call out his name he turned his head to face the door and saw Mrs. Tachibana walking towards him followed closely by Mr. Tachibana, the waterworks started all over again. He got up without even realising what he was doing.

"Oba-san," he wailed and when she got close enough she wrapped her arms around his back. Although Haruka wasn't really someone who craved physical contact, he hugged her back, bending his neck to bury his face in her shoulder, allowing her to comfort him the way only a mother could.

Unlike Haruka, Mrs. Tachibana wasn't crying, even though she must be just as upset and scared as he was. She had always been so level-headed and he really appreciated that about her, now more than ever. He guessed she had no other choice, being a mother of three - or sometimes even four - children who were all dependant on her, she basically had no other choice but to be a boulder of support on which they could lean back. Still, that didn't mean that Haruka didn't admire her for it, because she had always been there for him as well - perhaps even more than his own mother was lately.

"Shh, Haru-chan, it's okay," she muttered, stroking his hair in a soothing way. Her presence was different from Makoto's, but almost as calming. She just had this gentle aura that he couldn't describe as anything but motherly, like she just emitted nurturing and wisdom. It made him feel like everything would be okay as long as she was there, because she would make sure of it and he almost believed it too.

"Have you heard anything yet?" Mr. Tachibana asked. He wasn't crying either, but there was a certain panic in his voice that he wasn't able to conceal completely. Most people probably didn't notice it, but even if he wasn't visibly showing distress, it was easy to tell that he wasn't as collected as usual.

"Not yet," Amakata-sensei responded, shaking her head dejectedly.

"I see," Mr. Tachibana said, a hint of sadness in his tone, "I'll go ask if they know something at the front desk."

"I'm sorry!" Rei suddenly yelped as he jumped up and bowed deeply before Mr. Tachibana, tears running down his cheeks and startling everyone.

"...For what?" Mr. Tachibana questioned in confusion, clearly caught off guard by this boy he didn't really know bowing and apologising to him.

"Makoto-senpai... It's my fault that- that Makoto-senpai..."

"It's not your fault," Nagisa sighed as he pulled him back into his chair. Then he turned back to Makoto's father, "It was an accident."

Mr. Tachibana only nodded, showing that Nagisa could spare him the details until later and that all he cared about at that moment was the well-being of his son. He walked around his wife and Haruka and dropped the bag he was holding onto the chair next to Haruka's before he walked over to the front desk.

In the meanwhile Haruka's sobs had died out again for the most part and he released his hold on Mrs. Tachibana. She did the same and rummaged a bit in her handbag and grabbed a packet of tissues out if it, pulling one tissue out and she offered it to Haruka. While Haruka was blowing his nose, she spoke up.

"We brought you some clothes, you must be freezing."

Only then did Haruka realise that not only he, but Nagisa and Rei as well were wearing nothing but their damp shorts - and in Rei's case legskins. Due to all the commotion and adrenaline he hadn't even noticed it, didn't even feel the cool air of the ER nor the goosebumps on his skin.

"Why don't you go put them on? They're Makoto's, so they'll be a little big on you, but that's okay, right?" Mrs. Tachibana offered as gently as she could, and when Haruka nodded in confirmation she stepped beside him to open the bag her husband had put onto the chair next to them. She pulled out Makoto's salmon-coloured shirt and a pair of black, knee-length pants as well as a plastic bag to put his wet shorts in and handed them over to Haruka, who accepted them without a word.

A weird sense of disappointment shot through his stomach when he looked at the shirt in his arms. Although he didn't dislike this shirt - not at all, in fact it looked very good on Makoto - it wasn't his favourite, the orange and yellow shirt that he always wore when he slept over at Makoto's. Although it seemed stupid to complain about what shirt he got to wear when he didn't know if his best friend was going to walk out of this place alive and well, the shirt was a small detail that could have given Haruka even a little bit of comfort. Not that this shirt wasn't good enough, but that shirt was just special.

But then he remembered that it couldn't have been that shirt, because Makoto was wearing it yesterday, had pulled it off before he had ran into the ocean to save Rei, letting it be carried off by the wind just like his own shirt had. It was a selfish and immature thought, but a tiny part of him was hoping that they would be able to find the shirt back once all of this was over. He couldn't even bring himself to feel guilty about it, all it did was target more anger towards Rei for making him lose his favourite shirt.

"Well then," Amakata-sensei said as she got up, "We should take our leave: I have to go bring Hazuki-kun, Ryugazaki-kun, and Gou-chan home."

"Thank you," Mrs. Tachibana thanked as she bowed to her, not specifying the reason behind her words but apparently she didn't need to as Amakata-sensei nodded in understanding, "If we hear anything, we'll let you know."

"Thank you," Amakata-sensei echoed accompanied with a bow of her own.

"I'm so sorry," Rei blubbered again, directing his bow and apology towards Mrs. Tachibana this time, who was just as lost as her husband had been yet she did a better job at hiding it.

"It's not your fault," she replied, clearly copying what she heard Nagisa say earlier. "Why don't you go home to get some rest?" She pulled another tissue out of the packet and offered it to the sobbing, half-naked boy that was standing in front of her.

"Y-Yes ma'am," he stuttered as he gratefully accepted the tissue and loudly blew his nose. If he were to see himself right now he'd surely describe the sight of it as 'not beautiful'.

Haruka was glad that he was leaving; he couldn't stand being with him in one room any longer. Even though she did nothing to give this impression, Haruka could tell that Mrs. Tachibana shared this sentiment, although her reasoning behind it probably differed from his. Unlike him, she wasn't angry at him nor did she blame him for what happened to her son simply because she didn't know what exactly had happened to him, but she was very upset and needed to focus her attention on her family and her own thoughts and prayers rather than putting energy in trying to comfort some boy she hardly even knew.

They said some more goodbyes and wishes of well-being but Haruka didn't bother to stay and listen. Instead, he walked into the restrooms to change into Makoto's clothes.

When he was done and came back into the room everyone had left save for Makoto's parents, who were now sitting in the seats that had been previously occupied by Nagisa and Rei. Haruka sat back down in his own chair without uttering a word, putting the plastic bag down on the chair beside him, drawing his knees back to his chest and resting his chin atop of them.

Makoto's clothes smelled like laundry detergent and the shirt in particular also had a whiff of what he couldn't describe as anything but Makoto himself. A mixture of emotions welled up inside of Haruka, like the scent of home strengthened the feelings that had already been swirling through his body for the last couple of hours. Longing and dreading, hoping and fearing, yearning and praying, loving... it was all too much for him at once. Never in his life could he have believed he would be so frightened by a situation simply because he didn't have control over it. Then again, he had also believed that Makoto would always be his side without question and he had been wrong about that too. So Haruka knew that if they were lucky and blessed enough for Makoto to survive, then he would never take him for granted again.

Biting the inside of his cheek, he tried to get his mind off of things because his head was anything but pleasantly empty like he wanted it to be. It was difficult because his thoughts did their very best to destroy him from the inside, like there was a little devil on his shoulder who was whispering in his ear and personally planting the most fearsome thoughts into his brain.

At this point it was easy to conclude that the worst part was the uncertainty of it all. If he were to know for sure that Makoto would be alright then he wouldn't have to be afraid, then he could just sit here and wait for Makoto to walk back out here so he could wrap his arms around him and never let him go again. If he were to know for sure that Makoto wouldn't make it then all of his attention would be focused on grief and depression and anger, but because nothing was set in stone yet he was feeling all of that in combination with hope. Of course, he would rather live in uncertainty for the rest of his days than to lose his Makoto, but that didn't mean that it wasn't killing him. Didn't mean that it wasn't tearing him apart bit by bit, demolishing him mentally and physically as well - at least, it felt like it was.

Tears were burning in his eyes again and he did his very best to swallow them, which the large lump that had formed itself in his throat only made harder. He didn't want to cry again, not now Makoto's parents were here. Not because he was ashamed to cry in front of them, but because he knew that this was just as hard for them as it was for him and he didn't want to force them to worry about him when they should be worrying about their son first and foremost. He had already drawn the attention to himself earlier when Mrs. Tachibana had to comfort him, he couldn't selfishly demand that they focus on him instead of their own feelings.

Trying to look for something, anything that could stop the train of depressive thoughts from continuing to crash inside of him, he said the first thing that came to mind.

"Where are Ren and Ran?"

Despite the fact that the location of the twins was the least of his concerns right now, he couldn't help but ask about it, desperate for a distraction even if he could never completely take his mind off reality.

Apparently the reason behind his almost irrelevant question didn't get lost on Mrs. Tachibana, as she smiled sympathetically at him before she said, "They're at home; Tamura-san is with them. Since we wanted to get here as soon as we could we didn't have time to wake them and bring them to their grandparents, so we were glad that Tamura-san was willing to watch them for us."

That answer did not surprise Haruka as much as it should have. Back when his mother moved out of the house to live with his father and he was left all by himself, Tamura-san had told him that he could always come to her if something was up, emergency or not. Of course, if a situation like that were to occur then he would always go to Makoto's family first, but regardless of that he had really appreciated the old lady's offer. So he supposed that she had done a similar proposal to the Tachibanas.

Tamura-san had always been that kind; he remembered an instance back when Makoto and he were in elementary school and Makoto had tripped and scraped his hands while they were running up the stone steps leading to their houses. The skin of his palms was torn and they were bleeding a bit, and Makoto had to do everything he could to prevent the tears that were burning in his eyes from spilling over - whether it was the actual pain or just the sight of blood that almost made him cry, Haruka didn't know.

Tamura-san had been sweeping her porch and saw the scene unfold. She came over to them and when she made sure Makoto wasn't badly injured, she had offered them to come inside so she could disinfect his wounds. Once inside Tamura-san had warned Makoto that the disinfectant could sting a little and the sheer mention of it made Makoto's breath hitch. But there was nothing to fear, Tamura-san reassured, because she had something special to give him: magical cookies that could make every little pain disappear within an instant. Immediately Makoto's expression changed from sad to amazed and he asked if they really worked.

'Of course,' Tamura-san had said, 'Try them for yourself.'

She held a plate of cookies in front of him and Makoto reached out to take one before he halted and asked, 'Can Haru-chan have a cookie too?'

'Of course,' the old lady echoed and when Makoto took a cookie off the plate with a wide smile, she shifted the plate to offer Haruka one, who accepted one silently.

'Wow!' Makoto had exclaimed after he ate half of his, 'They really work! My pain is gone!' To Haruka it tasted like any normal cookie, but if Makoto confirmed that they worked, then he supposed they were magical.

If only Tamura-san had some magical cookies that would ensure that Makoto would be safe and sound.

A deep sigh left his lips as he let his feet slide off the chair and onto the floor. Recalling that memory made him wish that he could rewind time and prevent all of this from happening. If he could have a second chance to do all of this over then he would make sure to do everything right this time; he would protect Makoto from all of this. But it was useless to think about this, because he wouldn't get a second chance. This was his one and only shot and if he wasted it with his incompetence then he would have to live for the rest of his life with the misery of his failures, with the knowledge that he could have prevented Makoto from dying if it weren't for his own incapability and that he would have to miss his most important person.

If Makoto were to pass away, then Haruka would die right with him.

A small, soft hand was placed over his own, which were turning white with how hard he was squeezing them together. He looked up at Mrs. Tachibana and loosened his grip. She didn't say a word, just looked at him as she caressed the crescent moon-shaped imprints his nails left on his hands.

With just that, the thoughts that had been cutting at his soul vanished. The look in her dark green eyes was calming and almost reassuring. Although her true feelings were probably nowhere near what she feigned them to be, it reminded Haruka that it was useless to let his own imagination eat away at him when they didn't know anything yet.

Thus the waiting game continued. Every second seemed to pass slower than the previous one, to the point of it feeling like a never-ending night. His perception of time was still all over the place and even if waiting always made it feel like every minute was actually an hour, never before had it taken as long as it did now.

The adrenaline that had given him energy and had kept him going throughout the night was long since gone and exhaustion was finally taking its toll. Even if the terror that kept resonating through his mind had been keeping him awake, he was so extremely tired, physically as well as mentally and it would be impossible for him to stay awake any longer.

Unable to fight it, he nodded off into a restless sleep.

"Haru-chan. Haru-chan."

The sound of his name softly being called was what roused him from his sleep. His eyes fluttered open and he was disoriented by the world around him. Within a split second the memories of what happened in the last couple of hours shot through his mind and he sat up, noticing that his head had been resting on top of Mrs. Tachibana's lap.

"We can go see Makoto now."

"Is he okay?" Haruka asked, the panic at the thought of him not being okay making every trace of lingering sleep dissipate immediately.

"He's alive. He hasn't woken up yet but his condition is stable," Mr. Tachibana explained.

Overwhelming relief engulfed him and the majority of his worries left his body in the form of a deep sigh. "Oh, thank God."

"The doctors checked his vitals and everything seems to be alright. But we won't know anything for sure until he wakes up..." The last part of his sentence died out on his tongue, but Haruka could clearly hear them: 'If he wakes up.'

Without another word they followed behind a doctor who led them through the hallways of the hospital. Eventually they came to a halt in front of a room and the doctor opened the door. Once inside he finally saw him again. Instantly Mrs. Tachibana and Haruka rushed over to him, standing on either side of the bed and grabbing a hold of his larger hands.

The oxygen mask still covered his handsome face and the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor resonated through the room. His body was clad in a hospital gown, suggesting that the nurses had removed his wet shorts so he could warm up more. Next to that there was an IV drip nestled into the skin of his forearm. Everything made sure Makoto would live, now all that was left was for Makoto to wake up.

Haruka clutched Makoto's hand with his, stroking the skin that was still cold, yet not icy like it had been before. Trying to stimulate his blood flow, he rubbed circles on Makoto's hand with his thumbs in the hopes of it warming a bit - and maybe because he hoped that his touch would somehow make Makoto regain consciousness.

The cycle of endlessly waiting resumed but it was a lot more bearable than it was before. He was by Makoto's side and even if he didn't know if everything would be alright, the knowledge that he was alive gave him hope and strength. Of course he would rather have Makoto wake up right now, but having to wait a little longer wouldn't kill him because he reasoned that it made sense that Makoto was unconscious; fighting to stay alive sure as hell wasn't done effortlessly and if none of this were happening then he still would have been asleep. So he was confident: Makoto would wake up. For now, that was the most important. Anything else could wait until later, for he would worry about it when it deemed itself necessary to.

Unaware of his own actions, he lifted Makoto's hand to his lips and kissed Makoto's fingers. The instant he did it he realised his surroundings and the fact that Makoto's parents were right there, but frankly, he didn't really care. Then again, Mr. and Mrs. Tachibana probably didn't care either; after everything that had happened tonight, Haruka pressing a kiss against their son's hand was really the least of their concern.

After an undetermined amount of time spent waiting Haruka could feel himself starting to nod off again. He was conflicted, because he was so tired and now that he was a little more calm he could hopefully have a more peaceful sleep, but he was also afraid to leave Makoto's side, even if it was only mentally. Despite the reassurance of Makoto being alive, Haruka was still scared that the second he were to leave his side he would slip away again.

Suddenly, Makoto's fingers in his hand twitched. Immediately Haruka was awake and alert, looking for any sign that he had really felt it and that it wasn't just his own hands that had moved. Just when he was about to blame it on his own exhaustion and accepted that it was just a dream, a soft groan broke the silence that had settled in the room.

Everyone jumped up at the noise and no one dared to take their eyes off Makoto, afraid that they would miss the moment that would confirm their hopes and expectations. With bated breath they waited and watched.

A frown appeared on Makoto's face and slowly his eyes blinked open only for them to be tightly squeezed shut at the bright light in the room. The hand that Haruka held in his was pulled back and came up to feel at his own face. Squinting against the light, Makoto touched the oxygen mask that covered his nose and mouth, and his glassy eyes he looked at the people that were practically hanging over him.

"Mom? Dad?" he croaked out and then his eyes found his best friend, "Haruka?"

At that moment the mixture of emotions that had been coiling through all of their bodies turned into relief in the form of tears and cries of Makoto's name.

Confused at all of their reactions, Makoto grabbed the oxygen mask and tried to pull it from his face, the cord around it making it impossible for him to do so. So he just held it up as he spoke again.

"What's going on? Am I at the hospital?" he asked, but both his mother and his friend were crying too hard to reply to him, so he looked at his father, "Why am I at the hospital?"

Although his father seemed to be the calmest of the three, he was sniffing deeply and had his glasses in one hand, his other wiping at his red eyes. "You don't remember?" he managed to get out, sounding not as composed as he usually would have been.

"No?" Makoto replied and he tried to push himself upwards when a stinging pain in his chest held him down, his face scrunching up with hurt and discomfort.

Mrs. Tachibana searched for the remote of the bed, doing her best attempt at pulling herself together but she wasn't quite successful. "I'm so glad you're alright," she muttered as she pressed a button, a watery smile stretching her lips.

Once he was sitting up Makoto took the mask off his face, slowly starting to become more and more awake. "What happened?" he asked again whilst rubbing in his eyes, expecting to get an answer this time.

"You almost drowned," Mr. Tachibana provided.

"What?"

The shock in Makoto's voice was clear, indicating that he had no memory of the incident.

His mother sniffled again as she regained her composure, wiping away her tears and she said, "Haru-chan saved you."

"What?" Makoto echoed, looking over at Haruka, who did a worse job at collecting himself.

"How much do you remember?" his father then asked, needing to make sure the lack of oxygen hadn't damaged his memory.

"Uh," Makoto mumbled under his breath as he tried to fit the pieces of the puzzle together, "We were at the training camp, right? I remember that we set up the tents and we swam from island to island. Then we ate pizza and we were going to go to bed, I think?" he hesitantly answered, not sure if he put all the events in chronological order for even if he remembered them, it was all a hazy, blurry mess in his head.

Makoto's parents looked over at Haruka as if to ask if that was right, who nodded in confirmation.

"Still, how did I...?" He didn't finish his sentence but it was obvious what his words were going to be.

The only response he got from his parents was a shrug. Again they had to direct the question towards Haruka instead, for he was the only one here who knew what happened, who was there while it had happened.

Even if the last thing Haruka felt like was revisit the past night and experience the horror all over again, he knew that he owed everyone here an explanation; Makoto's parents, but Makoto himself especially deserved to know. He breathed in deeply as he tried to calm himself down so he could pull himself together and tell everyone what they were waiting for.

Collecting everything and tying it together into a coherent story proved itself to be much harder than it seemed. For the majority of the night his actions had been driven by fear and panic, and even if he had a fair idea of how things played out, he didn't want to accidentally claim something to have happened when it actually didn't nor leave out details necessary to paint the whole picture.

Mind full of scenes that he'd do anything to forget, he blurted out the first thing that established itself as a fact. "It's all Rei's fault," he said and he bit his lips, the simplicity of recalling the time spent on the deserted island being enough to make tears burn in his eyes again. "If it weren't for him..."

He had to pause then, the anger that he had felt earlier that night increasing tenfold and boiling hot in his stomach and he knew that if he were to continue to speak right now then his tone would be furious and he would spit the words out filled with venom. Because he didn't want to speak to Makoto and his parents like that, he tried his best to swallow every feeling of hatred towards Rei, but it wasn't easy when he could have lost his most important person due to that idiot.

Mr. and Mrs. Tachibana did not respond to Haruka putting the blame on Rei at all, but Haruka knew that his resentful words had given them clarity as to why Rei had been sobbing and throwing apologies at their heads.

The more he tried to forget the emotions that this entire night had brought onto him, the more he felt them digging into his soul and he couldn't stop a single tear from spilling over again.

At that exact moment he felt the touch of a hand covering his and he looked up to meet Makoto's concerned gaze. His green eyes were full of worry and Haruka could clearly read the assurance in them. Makoto squeezed his hand and gently nodded at him, encouraging him to continue but only when he was ready to.

Taking another deep breath, Haruka told them everything that had happened from his point of view from start to finish. About how he was woken by Makoto yelling Rei's name, but wasn't fully sure if he had dreamed it or not. That Nagisa and him went to check on their friends - or Makoto specifically in his case -, only to find the tent empty. That he had seen the figures of Makoto and Rei in the raging ocean and that they had ran in to save them. That the only reason for Makoto to be in the sea during a storm was because he was trying to save Rei from drowning - this factor he couldn't stretch enough, only proving to himself once more how all of this was Rei's fault. How the waves had separated them and how he had to drag Makoto's limp body out of the water. About the CPR and the struggle he'd had with making Makoto regain consciousness. About Nagisa and Rei swimming back to get help while Makoto and he stayed behind and waited. About how he desperately had to keep Makoto from losing consciousness. About the boat that had finally arrived and how there was an ambulance waiting for them at the harbor. About the ride to the hospital and the terrifying events that had happened during it. And finally, the agonising waiting without a sign that told them that Makoto would live.

Everyone had been silent while he was talking and no one bothered him to go on when everything was too much and he had to take a moment to gather himself. When his story came to its conclusion for it had reached the current point in time, the silence lingered as they tried to process what they had been told.

Makoto was the one to break the silence after a short amount of time. "Haru, I-"

"He's awake?!"

The voice of a woman interrupted him and they all turned to the source of the sound. A nurse was standing in the door opening and the second they saw her they realised that due to all the commotion they had forgotten to tell the hospital's staff about Makoto regaining consciousness.

From that point on the events of the night were put behind them for the time being as the focus shifted entirely on Makoto's condition. He was asked a whole bunch of questions and he was examined from head to toe.

For the majority of the examinations and tests he got he was moved from one end of the hospital to another and Mrs. Tachibana went along with him, leaving her husband and Haruka behind in the room to wait for their return. Then there was the wait in-between the examinations as they waited for the staff of certain sections of the hospital to arrive or for there to be an open spot in the planning they could squeeze him in.

Sometimes during those times another nurse would come with another list of questions. The basics were always there: name, date of birth, et cetera. The rest of the questions differed from one list to another: some were more focused on his body and physique while others were specifically about his mental state and feelings regarding the situation.

Makoto's answers were pretty much the same to every question: he felt fine. There was nothing wrong, nothing different from how it was before. And he was telling the truth, Haruka could easily detect when he was lying, because he would avert his eyes and he would nervously fumble with his fingers. That was the reason he could tell when Makoto was being untruthful. When he was asked if he was entirely fine and if nothing ached or hurt at all and Makoto confirmed, the signs that were so subtle they could fool anyone but Haruka appeared. So when Haruka called him out on his lie, Makoto scratched his cheek with his index finger and sheepishly admitted that there was a dull ache right in the middle of his chest, but he thought that it was just because of the tension and therefore deemed it as nothing worth mentioning because it would disappear soon enough.

The nurse that was writing down his answers shook his head while he noted what Makoto had told him, reminding him that he had to respond to every question honestly, regardless of how trivial the pain might seem to him.

When the last test he got was over, it was already around noon. Unlike the hours in the night, it seemed as if the morning had flown by, although that was most likely because parts of it were spent asleep on Haruka's part. Even if Makoto claimed that he was perfectly fine, everyone else was a bit more hesitant and doubtful, including the staff of the hospital. Because they deemed it impossible for Makoto to walk out of this unscathed regardless of how good he felt, they kept a close eye on him for the time that remained until the results came in, fearing that things would go wrong when everyone least expected it.

Eventually every result of every last examination and questionnaire came in and it turned out that the doctors and nurses were right.

Two broken ribs.

That was all that Makoto had, all that this incident had left him with. And they weren't even broken because of the fact that he almost drowned, but Haruka had broken them during his chest compressions. The only remnants of this life or death situation were due to his friend giving him CPR, saving him was what hurt him. Although Haruka felt sorry for breaking his ribs, he definitely didn't regret doing it.

Luck, was what one nurse called it. A miracle of God, was the conclusion of another. But Haruka knew that it was all because of Makoto, because Makoto was strong and Makoto fought to stay alive and well. Nothing and no one would take that credit away from him.

Despite the only injury Makoto had being a few broken ribs, it took some time until he was finally released. There was still some paperwork left to do and he was prescribed some heavy painkillers for his ribs - even if he said that it was no big deal, the hospital's staff knew better than that because he was definitely not the first person to ever come in with broken ribs. With every breath he took sharp pain shot through his chest and he needed to have strong painkillers in order to suppress that pain and ensure that everything could heal properly.

Only once everything was finished and check-ups with the Tachibana family's GP were planned, Makoto was released, after he promised he wouldn't hide any sort of pain from his parents and would come back when he noticed anything out of the ordinary.

It was well into the afternoon by the time they got back to the Tachibana residence. As soon as the car was parked and they got out of it the front door was swung open as Ran and Ren rushed towards them, running to Makoto only to be held back by their parents. They were coaxed back inside with promises that the situation would be explained immediately.

Makoto chuckled lightly at his siblings but Haruka was suddenly overtaken by fear that made his throat close up and squeezed all of the air out of his lungs. Unconsciously he grabbed the back of Makoto's shirt, holding him back and preventing him from following after his family.

Feeling the tug on his shirt when he tried to walk forward, Makoto turned towards Haruka, whose head was downturned as he stared at the ground beneath them.

"Haru?" Makoto questioned and at the sound of his voice Haruka's grip tightened. A soft smile appeared on Makoto's face. "Do you want to stay over tonight?"

As soon as the question got through to Haruka he shyly nodded and released his hold, peeking at Makoto through his bangs.

Makoto just smiled again, tilting his head as his eyes closed in that endearing habit of his. Witnessing this familiar sight was what reassured him that everything would be alright and he was so glad that he lived to see Makoto smile again. This sight that he would never take for granted ever again.

"Shall we go?" Makoto asked and the melodic tune of his voice filled not only his ears, but his heart as well.

Once more all Haruka could do was shyly nod at him.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed it enough to stick around for the second half :)

I had some trouble with coming up with a summary of this fic so I decided to just state it as it is. Like I mentioned before, I never intended to write this fic, but I always jokingly thought to myself "if I do write it, then I'll call it 'when the obligatory beach episode goes wrong'". Since I was writing this fic I decided to stick with a more serious name because I'm pretty sure I'll regret it in the long run if I give this fic a joke title (there was also a time while I was writing when I thought that "Water Surprise" would be an accurate and cruel title, but I just couldn't do it.)

You can follow me on Tumblr and Twitter DatHeetJoella if you want to be informed of my writing or if you simply want to talk about MakoHaru with me ^^

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I hope you all have a wonderful day and I hope to see you at the second half of this fic!