A Chance Encounter [MakoHaru]

Chapter 4

A few days passed, and Haruka had completely recovered. "Hey, Haru?"

"Hm?"

"You've fully recovered.."

"So it seems.." They both sat in silence for a moment. Both of them knew what was to come.

"It's time.."

"To take me back.. yeah, I know."

Makoto looked at him with a bittersweet expression. "Hey, at least now you won't be cooped up in this stuffy room with nothing to do, right? You can be free again."

"I want to be free with you, Makoto."

"Haru.."

"I don't want to be alone in this world any longer. You're the only being that has ever shown me kindness. Please, don't take that away from me."

Makoto's eyes teared up. "I-I don't want you to go either.. but you can't live like this."

They arrived at the beach. Makoto knew an area that hardly anyone visited. He'd take Haru there. Carrying him out of the car, he headed towards the water. "Let's just make this nice and simple.. less painful.." Makoto mumbled. Haruka said nothing. Easing into the water, Makoto looked down at Haru, on the verge of tears. "This is it.. g-goodbye, Haru.." He let go of his friend. But, Haruka didn't let go of him. Grabbing Makoto's wrist, Haru dragged him farther and father away from shore. He was too strong for Makoto, who was thrashing about in the water. "Haru! No!" When they got far enough, Haruka let go of Makoto. "Honestly, Haru.." Makoto sighed, gazing back at the distant shoreline.

"I don't want you to go."

"I don't want to go either, but.. i-it's for the best.."

"So, I'll never get to see you again?"

"What are you talking about?! I just meant you couldn't stay at my house anymore! I will visit you at the ocean, of course!" Makoto exclaimed. "Did I sound like I was completely abandoning you? I am so sorry!"

"Oh.. well, good. Because if you were planning on leaving me, I'd drag myself to your house," Haru replied. It kind of sounded like he was joking, but his tone sounded somewhat serious.

"Heheh.. yeah.."

The two swam and talked for a few hours, until the sun was setting. They were both floating on their backs, looking up at the sky and holding hands so the current wouldn't drift them apart. "The sky is so pretty.." Makoto commented. Haru nodded in agreement. "Well Haru, I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave you here for now. I'm exhausted and I need to get home so my family doesn't worry."

"I understand."

"Say, I'll come meet you by the rock by the far side of the shore tomorrow afternoon, alright?" Makoto pointed at a rather large rock sticking out of the water near the shore.

"Okay."

"See you tomorrow. Have a good night, Haru."

"You too."

With that, the two parted ways. Makoto went home, had dinner, and did his homework. He sighed, scanning his room. It felt lonely. He had gotten used to his new friend being there. With nothing else eventful happening, he showered and went to sleep.

---

The next day, school was a bore. The only fun thing that happened was that he got to hang out with his friends, Nagisa and Rei. "Mako-chan, what have you been up to recently?" Nagisa asked, bubbling with curiosity.

"Oh, nothing really.. I made a new friend."

"Do they go to our school?" Rei asked.

"N-No, but he does enjoy swimming.." Makoto replied. 'If only they knew Haru, then they'd really get it.'

"Really?! Cooool! So, when are you planning on introducing him to us, huh?" Nagisa pestered.

"H-He's kinda.. shy, so I'll have to talk to him about it."

"Awwwww..." he whined. Makoto was about to say something else, but the bell rang, signaling that school was over. He bid farewell to his friends and walked home.

'Should I do my homework or go visit Haru first..? Maybe I could work on it at the beach.. no.. the papers might get wet and I'll be out swimming. I'll just quickly get them done now and then go to the ocean,' Makoto decided. Makoto got home, quickly greeting his family before rushing off to his room to get his work done.

"Hey, Makoto?" his mother's voice sounded as she peeked her head through the door. "Do you have anything planned tonight?"

"I-I was gonna go to the beach to.. hang out with a friend, why do you ask?"

"Do you think you could push that off until tomorrow afternoon? I need you to watch your siblings tonight, your father and I are going out for dinner with a few of his co-workers." Makoto couldn't really argue with that. He remained silent for a moment. It wasn't like he could just text Haru and tell him something came up. Haru was probably already waiting for him to show up, but he couldn't do anything. He could take his brother and sister to the beach. 'No, that's too risky. I don't think Haru would like that.' There was nothing he could do. He would just have to explain to Haru tomorrow what happened and hope he'd understand. If he even showed up..

"Y-Yeah, sure thing, Mom!"

"Thank you very much, dear. Alright, I'll leave you to do your schoolwork. Dad and I will be leaving shortly," his mother replied and left the room. Makoto sighed and folded his arms on his desk, resting his head on them. 'I don't understand why I feel so bummed out about missing one day of hanging out with him.. I'll be seeing him tomorrow, so what's the big deal?' Makoto tried to convince himself that he was overreacting but he couldn't shake the feeling of disappointment.