All things considered, Haruka knew he was pretty lucky in life.

Even though he had grown used to living on his own, he knew his parents loved him very much. If ever he needed, all it would take was a phone call to have them come to him in an instant. His late Grandmother had taught him much in their time together, such as how to balance tradition and an open mindedness to the ever changing world.

He never bragged, for there was no reason to, but he knew what he was good at. Cooking, art, swimming. His grades may not have been at the top of the class, they were far from the bottom. And while he also knew what he was bad at, his best friends were typically there to help with that. If he couldn't find the words, Makoto would be his translator to the outside world. If he felt stuck in place, Rin would push and pull to get him moving. Nagisa, Rei, and Kou all encouraged him and looked up to their senpai.

The first year at university was going well. After all the things that had happened, he had still been scouted and offered places at several schools and, after going over all the options and weighing pros and cons, he accepted an offer in Tokyo. His classes were not too difficult, and training was exciting in a way, knowing he'd only get better with it. There was even a café near his apartment that he had started working part-time at. It was a great place to meet with Makoto, or even teammates, to study on quiet days.

Yeah, Haru knew he was pretty lucky.

"I said I was sorry, Haru. How was I supposed to know that this would happen? Rin, quit laughing! It's not that funny, and you're in the same boat as us!"

He wasn't sure that being "blessed" by old Norse gods counted as being lucky, though. Especially with his new-found ability of speaking in a flowery way fit for nothing of the times. That put a damper on things, since he had a few choice words for the red head that was in tears on the ground. He supposed they were taking things rather well, though, considering.

It had been Makoto's idea, of course.

Haru wasn't surprised to find himself agreeing to a camping trip over summer break. It wouldn't be a long one, only a few days, but Makoto had been adamant on getting at least a little time in with just the three of them when Rin came to visit. He knew it was going to be a rare treat to have a whole two weeks off training, and even rarer for Rin to be able to make it to the area, so he saw no point in arguing. Apparently the Tachibana clan would be spending this summer up north visiting family, so they offered use of their gear and suggested a camp site only a couple hours away from the city for the boys to visit since they knew the green eyed youth couldn't get enough time off at his own part-time job to go with them.

As both Rin and himself had gotten their driving licenses before heading to school, they agreed one would drive to the site and one drive back. The trip had been entertaining, filled with Rin and Makoto's voices singing to the radio and an interesting game that the tallest teen had insisted on playing that involved trying to out flatter each other. Haru quickly figured that this must be what sunburn felt like, with how warm his face was most of the way. Upon arrival he also quickly figured out that watching Rin attempt to put a tent for the first time had to be one of the funniest things on Earth.

It had actually been a rather fun couple of days. They had picked a secluded spot between a beach and some wooded hills, with a pier not too far away and a small town only about ten minutes by car. The weather stayed nice, allowing them to fish and swim as much as they wanted. Sharing one tent with three full-grown teens was tight, but no one minded just making one large nest-like bed to share.

Makoto suggested they go hiking, but somehow they pushed it back until the last day.

The woods were quiet and peaceful, untouched by humans save for a few trails that had been woven through the trees over time. There was a stream nearby, the sound of running water trickling through the air as Haru took his time following his friends. It was soothing to walk without rushing, the atmosphere calm.

And then the youngest found the shrine.

Somehow, that wasn't surprising to Haru. Rin draped himself over the raven as they watched Makoto carefully clean it up some, trying to make sense of the runes carved into stone. A few minutes pasted, and then green eyes turned up to look at red and blue. Rolling his eyes, Haru elbowed Rin off before kneeling down.

Great Gods of old, please accept our meager offering of prayer.

He glanced over to see the other two doing the same, and then without a word the three got up and continued on their way.

They didn't say much the rest of the day, a peacefulness surrounding them like a blanket.

It wasn't until they made it back to Iwatobi to drop off the camping gear the next day that they realized what had happened.

"Seriously, Rin, it's not that funny! I don't understand. How is this even possible? Nordic gods visit us in our dreams, and in order to 'thank' us for honoring them, suddenly we're… We're… I don't know, some sort of demigods?"

Blue eyes followed Makoto's form as he paced the room. They were sitting in Haru's bedroom, discussing what was happening. Or at least, Haru was sitting. Rin was currently on the floor clutching his midsection leaning against Haru's legs, while Makoto kept walking from one wall to the next.

Well, "walking" may have been a stretch. "Storming" may have been a better term. Literally. Though he was trying to pay attention to his friend, Haru couldn't keep his eyes off the cloud floating above Makoto's head. Funny, considering this "Freyr" that was mentioned was supposedly a god of peace and fair weather. And good sex, but Makoto had stumbled over that part and Rin did a quick Google search to figure out what the mumbling had meant. Hence the laughing. Or maybe that had started when Haru had opened his mouth earlier, and just carried on into laughing at both of them rather than just one.

"Our dearest friend is quite right, gallant Rin. Tis not such a matter to make jolly of in such a way."

As soon as he started speaking, Haru wanted to bite his tongue off. God of Poetry, the old man in his dream had said. How that equaled everything coming from his mouth being disgusting nonsense, the raven wasn't sure. Rin took one glance at his face before rolling away, a fresh wave of laughter overtaking him. Oceanic eyes narrowed into a withering glare, which was promptly directed at Makoto once more.

A loud groan resounded in the space as the gentle giant collapsed onto the floor. "What are we supposed to do? And, why is it Rin only got away with his eyes changing color?"

Swiping tears from his eyes, it seemed Rin finally managed to get his mirth under control as he sat up. His eyes, which should have been a crimson color, shone bright silver. As bright as the moon, Haru guessed, which the god that had blessed him pulled through the sky. The older boy's grin was as sharp as ever, at least, when he leaned over and said into the space by Makoto's ear, "Well, the three of us could always see just what tricks Freyr might have taught you."

At that, Makoto looked slightly mortified as his face turned as red as a sunburn. Rin leaned back and bit his lip, a smirk threating to take over his face until Haru finally just kicked him, laughter once again breaking free. Evergreen eyes stared at the cloud still floating above his head as Makoto scrubbed his face with one hand. "Rin, I love you both very much, but if it's all the same I'd rather we not go that route right now." With a slight grin of his own, he leaned back and said "At least take us on a couple dates first." Even Haru had to laugh quietly at the look of surprise that crossed Rin's face.

"Would not our best course of action be retracing steps of old? To thank for our gifts, and to ask forgiveness for our digressions against said gifts."

The smile that warmed Makoto's face made it easier to keep the grimace off his own as he was once again forced to listen to such words pour from his mouth. Because apparently just "Let's go back to the shrine and pray again" was much to plain a thing to say from one Bragi took interest in.

"That's a great idea, Haru! Ah, we should go now if we want to make it sometime before it gets too late. The tent is still in the car, and—"

"No, hold on a second." Silver gleamed in the darkened room. "What's the rush? We still have a couple days before we have to head back to the city. And I heard 'date' come from a certain sex godling's mouth. Correct? I rather like that idea. Movie and pizza night work?"

"Rin…"

"Oh, come on. One date. And if either of you really feel that awkward, we'll never speak of it again."

Haru blinked. Huh. Well, maybe getting blessed was lucky in a way. Because he liked the sound of that.

Author Note: Thanks for reading until the end! I hope you enjoyed my entry for the Free! Shipping Relay on Tumblr. To be honest, I didn't much like it, but the feedback I received was encouraging. Our (The H2Hoes) theme theme was demigods, and I think it worked well? If you hop over to AO3, I have a slightly different version on display. Like that a little bit better, so same user name if you wanna check it out.

So! Love it, hate it, think it needs work? Tell me your thoughts! Until next time, good luck and happy reading!