Because I am thinking of warm fireplaces right now.

Pairing: MakoHaru
Warnings: Nagisa


Harbour

The icy swirls outside the window drew delicate patterns on the glass surface of the windows, casting a soft, wintery spell on the snowscape outside, making everything seem to glow.

Makoto gently traced one of the snowy patterns on the glass with his pointer finger, smiling slightly as it formed a trail of condensation below his finger. He was busy drawing out a slightly sloppy sketch of Haruka, Nagisa and Rei on the glass -it definitely paled in comparison to what Haruka could draw though, he thought to himself sadly- when a slightly muffled shout from outside caught his attention.

"Haru-chan, Mako-chan! Come out and look at my snowman!"

Nagisa waved at him enthusiastically from the outside, and Makoto waved back hesitantly, wincing slightly at Nagisa's overexcited voice. He glanced back to see Haruka's reaction. As expected though, Haruka had barely moved an inch from the warm kotatsu, his brilliant sapphire eyes sliding close slowly as he tried not to fall asleep. He gave no indication of hearing Nagisa's voice at all.

Makoto turned back, gave Nagisa an apologetic smile and gestured behind him, putting his finger to his lips meaningfully. Rei seemed to catch his drift, his eyes widening in understanding, but Nagisa gave him a confused and undeterred look, pointing to the huge pile of snow, his extremely menacing looking snowman behind him. "Come on Mako-chan!" He could practically hear the blonde chanting. "I don't know what you're talking about, but come here and meet Mr Snowy now with Haru-chan!"

Makoto sighed softly, before shaking his head, as he made a sleeping motion with his hands, trying to tell Nagisa what was happening. It didn't seem to do anything but make him seem absolutely ridiculous, for there was a moment of silence before the blonde simply burst out laughing, clutching onto the blue-haired teenager beside him for support. Makoto shot Rei a sympathetic glance as the pair tumbled down into the snow, before he headed back into the cosy interior of the room, giving up on communicating with Nagisa. It was definitely out of his league.

As Makoto slipped into the kotatsu beside Haruka, sliding his feet underneath the blanket into the warmth gently so as not to disturb him, he let out a small sigh of satisfaction as the heat engulfed him, eliminating all traces of cold from his limbs.

Winters were fun, especially when he could look at Haruka all he wanted and the other wouldn't ever notice him. He seemed to be incredibly vulnerable to low temperatures, and refused to leave the warmth of the kotatsu at all during the winter. It was kind of endearing, and it reminded him of the adorable fluffy kittens he saw everyday on the way up the steps to Haruka's home. He wasn't allowed to keep pets, but he'd snuck them in his house during the harsh, cold weather, and the little balls of fur had huddled by the fireplace, refusing to take even one step away from the warmth.

Haruka's sleeping face looked so cute at that moment that Makoto unconsciously reached out, letting his still slightly cold fingers touch Haruka's cheek, wondering if he would wake the other up from the small gesture. Instead, Haruka leant against his hand slightly, and Makoto's heart leapt in his throat, before a small smile tugged at his lips. Even his reactions were similar to the kittens, the way they gave in to his touch quickly, mewing contentedly whenever he stroked them. Haruka's lips parted then, and he had to lean in slightly to hear what the other boy was saying.

"... So much... water..."

Makoto had to bit on his lip to stifle his laughter. Even in his dreams, Haruka was thinking of water, it seemed.

He watched as Haruka curled up even more, his fingers sliding off the table top and burying themselves into the warmth of the kotatsu as well, even as unconscious as Haruka was, and it was so adorable that Makoto made up his mind there and then, to introduce Haruka to the little kittens another time before his parents found out about them, and he had to let them go. Maybe they'd get along better than he thought, for even though Haruka didn't seem to care for anything that disliked water, he still had a penchant for adorable things, as much as he liked to deny it.

"Makoto..." He heard a sleepy murmur from the other male, and Makoto's heart jolted from the shock of hearing his name on Haruka's lips. He wondered what kind of dream Haruka was having, and the strange, fluttering sensation in his chest wouldn't go away, not even after Nagisa bounded into the room rowdily, scattering snow everywhere, while Rei trudged behind him slowly, shooting Makoto a look of exasperation at his overly enthusiastic friend.

"Nagisa-kun, clean yourself up before you go in! If you get snow everywhere, Haruka-senpai will be mad at you!"

"Ehhh? Haru-chan wouldn't do that! Right, Haru-chan?" Nagisa retorted, before turning to look for the stoic male. "Where's Haru-chan?"

Makoto blinked out of his happy stupor, before giving the other two occupants of the room a slight smile. "Welcome back, Nagisa, Rei. Umm… Would you mind keeping it down a little?" His gentle yet firmly chiding tone made the two of them realise that Haruka was still fast asleep by the kotatsu. It didn't take long for them to settle down a little after that, and Rei sank down onto one of the cushions opposite of Makoto, while Nagisa bounced around on his heels, unable to keep still.

"Mako-chan, Mako-chan! I'm starving! Can I look for food in the fridge?" Nagisa piped up eventually, whispering loudly to make sure that Makoto could hear him. It was rather counterproductive, but the message got across to him, so Makoto decided to leave it at that.

"Um… I don't know. This is Haru's house, you know? You shouldn't ask me that…"

"But...! Haru-chan is asleep, and he likes you the best out of all of us, so if I get permission from you first, I won't get into trouble!"

Makoto wasn't sure that he approved of that explanation.

"Come on, Mako-chan! Pleaseeeee?" Nagisa whined, before attaching onto Rei's arm. "Rei-chan, say something! You're hungry too, right?"

Rei startled, not expecting to be dragged into the mess of a conversation they were having. "E-Eh? N-Nagisa-kun… Well… I guess I'm a little hungry… No! I mean! We have to take Haruka-senpai's feelings into consideration first!"

With the commotion they were causing, it was probably inevitable that Haruka would eventually wake up, rubbing his eyes sleepily as he lifted his head up, his dark locks slightly dishevelled.

"Good morning, Haru." Makoto greeted his best friend, a gentle smile tugging at his lips.

Haruka yawned again, before slumping against Makoto's shoulder, still clearly tired. The warmth from the other seeped into him pleasantly. "…Good night, Makoto."

… Really, Haruka was the most adorable thing in existence.

"Makoto-senpai, you look like you're in a good mood," Rei observed, his tone carefully neutral. Makoto couldn't wipe the smile off his face, and he shrugged, a bright smile on his face.

Nagisa 'hmph'ed at the cuddly scene in front of him and pouted childishly, moving over to lean his head on Rei's shoulder as well. "Rei-chan, be a gentleman and hug me like what Mako-chan's doing to Haru-chan!"

"E-Eh, hold on Nagisa-kun...!"

And on this carefree note, winter break began for the students of Iwatobi High.