note: this is shamelessly based off of this dj (my student suddenly proposed to me! on mangahere... a makoharu dj!) bc i needed to write something to get this crappy writer's block out of the way (༼ ༎ຶ ෴ ༎ຶ༽) just for ref, haru is 8, makoto is 16, and ren/ran are 10. yes? yes. also, my first published oneshot that uses past tense! (lol as if that's something to celebrate).
warnings: age gap, persistentchild!haru, confusedteen!makoto, don't worry makoto is not a pedophile, unrequited until legal bc makoto has morals, humor, fluff, unbetaed, this is supposed to be a cute short oneshot hehe
Among his peers (which consisted entirely of teenage boys and girls), Makoto had to admit that he had one of the best, if not the best, skills in handling children.
He had been an older brother for about ten years, after all. His parents often left the house during the weekends to go on romantic outings, leaving polar opposite twins in his care. At the time, Makoto had only been eight; in his mind, there was absolutely no way he could take care of two, nevertheless one , child at a time. However, time went on and Makoto had quickly grown used to the diaper routine and the feeling of strong relief when there was nothing but silence within the household to the helping-the-children-with-homework and the walking-them-home-from school routine.
Looking back on it now, the birth of his brother and sister had forced Makoto to mature at such an early age. It was almost as if it was his destiny to become a third parent at such a young age. He was positive he would have no problem being a father in the future. (At least… that's what his friends told him.)
So when Makoto started to volunteer at the local primary school with Rin, his friend from Samezuka High School, he originally thought he would work, get his hours, and go. The thought of accidentally attracting a eight-year-old child (who absolutely had no boundaries for honorifics) and being proposed to never crossed his mind.
"Makoto."
The sound of feet pitter-pattering across the floor halted behind him. Makoto felt a tug on the leg of his pants and closed the closet door, shoving the broom and pan inside. Turning around, he spotted a child (who was supposed to be outside playing) holding a bunch of wildflowers in his hands at his feet, a faint blush dusted upon the apples of his cheeks.
"I like you, so please marry me."
Is this what you have to deal with on a daily basis as a teacher? Gulping, Makoto bent down until he was face to face with the child and tried to dance around the subject, praying he would drop it and go play. "Um… Thank you, Haru. I like you too."
To his surprise, the child, Nanase Haruka, didn't scamper off and instead brightened. His posture straightened and his voice was more confident as he proposed for the second time. "Then, will you marry me?"
"Well, marrying… is a bit…" Makoto started off, immediately remembering the flowers he held in his hands. "Oh! Are those for me?"
"These are proposal flowers. Wait a little bit longer for a ring."
Children are so pure. A ring? Makoto chuckled, patting the top of Haru's head. "Haru, aren't you a bit too… old to be 'Playing House'—"
"—no."
"H-huh?"
"I'm not 'playing house'." Haruka's gaze remained unwavered as he shuffled a little closer to Makoto, holding the flowers further out. "I'll always like you. I want you to marry me."
What…
What?!
Makoto thought Haru would have forgotten when he returned back to volunteer the next day.
"I really like you, Makoto."
Haru didn't forget.
The random confession from the other day stayed stuck in his mind as he mindlessly ran a hand through his hair and before he knew it: it was time for Makoto to go home.
Shoving his items into his schoolbag, Makoto swung it over his shoulder with a great sigh. Finally, he could go home and forget that confession had ever happened—
"Makoto!" A voice called out from behind him. A familiar sense of dread began to fill his chest as he slowly cocked his head around. He could see Haru cutely hiding the lower half of his face behind the wall and hands gripping the sides of the open windowsill, eyes boring into his own.
"Yes?"
Instead of saying anything else or making an attempt to move, the boy simply watched him from within the classroom, a sudden aura of twinkling stars circling his face.
Thankfully, there was no volunteer work to be done today. Makoto wanted the whole marriage conversation to be swept under the rug before he returned.
Instead, Rin had dragged him to swim club—despite Makoto protesting for the sake of his exam grades—to race when a huge horde of children came flooding through the front door. Turns out it was the class the pair had helped out with the past couple of months and the teacher decided to take the class out on a field trip to the club for swim lessons—had swimming become obligatory for children? Makoto never remembered being forced to swim when he was eight—and began supervising as the children practiced floating with Coach Sasabe.
With the sudden invasion of children, Makoto began pulling himself out of the pool until that voice called out to him again. "Makoto!"
Makoto averted his gaze just to the lane next to him. Haru was standing on starting block, adjusting his goggles. The corners of his lips curved up into a smile. Maybe Haru forgot—
"If I swim fast, will you marry me?"
Never mind.
Maybe, just maybe, Haru would drop the subject.
Makoto didn't notice he was holding his breath when he watched the boy approach him. He let it out because this time , he was holding a piece of paper in his hands.
Finally , the boy realized Makoto was there (also) for homework help and not to clean up, play, or fill in the role of a future husband. Before Haru reached out to tug on the leg of his pants as he did every other day, Makoto squatted down, a bit too eagerly. Shoot, was I too obvious?! "Yes, Haru?"
Haru held out the piece of paper without a word, his cheeks flushed pink. "Makoto, sign this."
"Uh…" Makoto gingerly took the piece of paper, eyes scanning the messy grade-schooler writing.
ENGAGEMENT DOCUMENT
Both of you will take your marriage vows.
Nanase Haruka & (WRITE NAME HERE)
It almost broke his heart how excited Haru looked as he waited for his response.
Today, Makoto sat on the front steps of the school building, supervising the children frolicking on the playground as they enjoyed their break time. Today was also a Thursday… which meant he would be normally playing with the children while Rin cleaned up their mess in the classroom…
Except…
Today, Nanase Haruka sat in his lap, unwilling to be separated.
What should I do…? He's so persistent… Makoto glanced down at the child in his lap, unsure of what to do when he saw big eyes twinkling expectantly back at him.
"Makoto, will you be my bride?"
He choked. Ugh, this again? "Um… You know, Haru. We can't marry unless you're an adult. In your case, you'll have to wait ten years… Plus, we're both guys."
Haru put a finger up, cheeks puffing out shyly. "I know. That's why we're only getting engaged until I become an adult."
Makoto slumped against the railing that ran up and down the stairs, feeling more depressed all of a sudden. He avoided and didn't even listen to the most important thing… "Honestly, where did you even learn such a thing?—"
"—yo, Haru." If the ears were able to hear a facial expression, Makoto definitely heard a smirk in Rin's voice as he emerged from the building. Rin stuck the broom into the cement with a clunk and sat down with a thump, leaning against the broomstick. "Are you confessing to Makoto again?"
"Rin!"
Before Makoto could stop the discussion of his marriage life any further, Haru piped up from his lap, a cocky look replacing the shy one he had on earlier. "We're actually talking about our engagement right now."
"H-Haru!"
Rin laughed as he draped an arm around his shoulders. "That's great, Haru! You guys can get married in ten years."
The boy's enthusiastic nod went unnoticed by Makoto as he began to piece everything together. Don't tell me… " You were the one who taught him weird stuff?"
The redhead pouted. "I didn't teach him weird stuff. Just about Japan's marriage system."
"You didn't even teach him the most important thing!"
"So loud." Rin muttered then scowled, sticking a pinky into his ear. Besides , it's not impossible. It's just not possible in Japan yet." He then turned to Haru with a shrug of his shoulders, suppressing a giggle. "Any way you look at it, there's no way Makoto can be a bride. He can't even cook."
Haru's eyes bulged, turning a bit pale—which Makoto found offensive , by the way—as if a child Haru's age could have better culinary skills than Makoto. Totally ignoring Makoto's weak defensive of "I can cook a little", he leaned in closer to Rin who started whispering something in his ear. "So you become the bride, Haru. You're pretty skillful, so you can take care of Makoto."
"AH! W-wait a minute!" Makoto yelped, clasping his hands over the boy's ears and pulling him to safety on the other side of the stairs. "What are you saying, Rin?!" With one hand, he waved Rin away. "Geez, go away!"
Rin stuck his tongue out. "Yeah. Yeah." Before heading down the stairs, Rin whacked the top of Makoto's head softly. "You two make me jealous."
That guy…!
Thinking Haru was going to go follow Rin when Haru moved to jump off of him, Makoto scooted away until he was stopped by tiny hands on his knees. "... I get it now."
"Hm?"
"Makoto, I'll work hard to cook for you. I'll work even harder when swimming. I'll work, so I want you to marry me." For the second time that day, Haru looked back up at him with expectant eyes. And for the second time since Haru had confessed, it almost broke his heart how excited Haru looked as he waited for his response. (Maybe it broke his heart before he even knew it.)
"Haru…" Makoto started off slowly. "I can't marry you."
"Huh?"
"Haru is a eight-year-old boy and you'll meet all kinds of people once you grow older. You might even find a girl you'll like when you're older." Makoto paused, heart wrenching as the boy's face began to crumple up. "I want you… to be happy with a girl of your own age."
With teary eyes, Haru diverted his gaze to the top of Makoto's knees which were pulled up after Haru had gotten off of his lap, refusing to say another word.
"I-I'm sorry, Haru." Makoto's heart squirmed and he felt like breaking out into tears himself. "W-what about this? If you still like me when you're older, I want you to come and meet me again."
It didn't make Haru perk up like a lightbulb again, but he seemed to be content with Makoto's requirements. With a sniffle, Haru wiped away his tears, cheeks tinted with a rosy red. "Okay."
Makoto wiped the remaining tears off of his cheeks, smiling sadly. "Thank you, Haru…"
On the last day of Haru's last year of primary school, Makoto had attended the ceremony with Rin to see the children they had worked alongside graduate. When Makoto went to find Haru later, he received a handwritten letter with a heart sticker pasted on the opening. As a gift for when they separated, Makoto kissed the top of his forehead, hoping that it would ease any negative feelings Haru had held for him after the rejection.
Makoto knew Haru didn't have any when the boy's face burned bright red.
When he came home later, Makoto opened the letter, finding that it only contained one line:
When I'm older, I'll definitely still like Makoto! So just wait until I come and meet you again. Promise.
Although he was sure Haru would forget him the year after primary, Makoto had kept the letter safely clamped in a book containing all of his private information—rereading its contents every now and then. But since then, ten years had passed and by the time he realized it, it had become March of the year Haru was set to graduate from high school. Hopefully, Haru had smoothly moved along with his life, even if he didn't…
It made Makoto feel warm knowing that he was that loved.
Whenever Makoto reread the letter during his down times to uplift his spirits, he would always be struck with the feeling of guilt for being so harsh while rejecting the eight-year-old. Thinking back on it now, Makoto wasn't quite sure why he was so insistent on persuading Haru otherwise when Makoto held no opposing feelings to the matter.
At times, Makoto wondered if Haru even remembered him at all… even remembered how much he liked Makoto at all.
Makoto shook his head vigorously. I wonder how Haru is doing?
In the span of ten years, Makoto graduated high school and moved out of Iwatobi, landing a two bedroom apartment—for such a cheap price, thanks to Kisumi—in Tokyo. And in those ten years, Haru had been left behind, along with the memories they had made together during the time they had shared when Makoto volunteered.
What the heck am I doing thinking about a boy I haven't seen in years?!
Along with him, Rin had also moved out of Iwatobi, instead moving to Australia to pursue his goal as the best swimmer from Japan in the Olympics. Makoto, on the other hand, settled for being just a swimming coach. He wasn't competitive like Rin, after all.
Makoto planned to move back to Iwatobi after he finished earning his degre—
Then, the doorbell rang.
Makoto closed the book he had open on his lap. Shuffling to the door, he squinted at the darkness. "Yes, com…" And tried to adjust to the silhouette of the tall figure standing on his doormat. "... ing."
In front of him stood the very boy—man?!—he had thought of minutes ago. "H-Haru?!"
"You still remember me?" Haru's cheek warmed. "That's great, Makoto. Plus, I kept my promise."
"Hah?!"
"I love you, Makoto. I never once stopped thinking about you in the ten years we've been apart." Flipping open a small case, Haru revealed a gold ring, identical to the one he flashed on his hand next to his face.
"So marry me."
by the way:
(a) i left the ending open. you can intepret haru or makoto saying "so marry me" or even both at the same time!
(b) i added some minor detail which isn't found in the dj heehee, like the mention of kisumi and rin at olympics, and other stuff haha
(c) i really love when it is haru who falls in love first and relentlessly pursues makoto, i never really liked a dom!makoto, is it that unpopular? cuz dom!haru is where it's at for me
(d) don't worry, after this… makoto went out with haru and they married two years later and had 100 kids.
(e) wish everyone a great 2019!'
my tumblr: tanasemakoharu