Notes:
This is a sequel to "Makoto's Goldfish", taking place 10 years later.

It is set before the swimming competitions started, but after the training camp at the ocean.

Haruka's Secret

The day of the summer festival had finally arrived. Makoto had always looked forward to it. He's been going with Haruka every year for as long as he could remember, so it had become a sort of tradition for the two. Of course, Haruka wasn't as excited. In fact, every year Makoto had to bribe him into going. It wasn't that Haruka hated the festival - Makoto was pretty good at judging how much of Haruka's behavior was just an act and how much was honest disdain. Even though he wasn't as obvious as others – Ren and Ran were chatting up a storm about the festival the entire week – Haruka loved going to the festival. The first evidence was that when Makoto showed up, prepared to drag Haruka out of the bath, Haruka had actually answered the door after the first buzz, already dressed.

Makoto smiled softly at him. This year was different. Rin was back, Haru was swimming again, preparing for their competition. More than anything, Makoto wanted to have Haruka just relax and forget about everything that's been burdening him since encountering Rin again.

Even though they had arrived early, the festival was already bustling with life. It seemed like it grew bigger every year. He didn't think he had ever seen it that crowded before. Makoto, dressed in in an olive yukata, looked around at the people, then lowered his eyes to Haruka, who walked tacitly at his side. Haruka was wearing a navy blue yukata, tied loosely enough so more of his chest was showing. He was eating a grilled fish on a stick. Makoto smiled at how relaxed he appeared, despite being at such a large and busy event. That must be the second evidence.

Haruka noticed him staring and raised his eyes. "What?"

"Uh-un, nothing." Makoto continued to smile. "Just thought it's great I don't have to look after the kids tonight."

"We still have a couple of kids to babysit," Haruka muttered and gestured with his head at Rei and Nagisa, who were walking in front of them, also dressed in yukata. Nagisa was teasing Rei, who continued to snap at him, loud enough to be heard even in the commotion of the festival.

Makoto chuckled. "That's right…"

He stopped walking when he spotted a goldfish scooping booth next to them. Children were making noise as they splashed around and tried to catch the fish. He looked at them for a bit; a sad, nostalgic smile on his lips. Now that he had grown and his body was the size of an adult man, the narrow carts the troubling of goldfish was swimming in really looked too small.

"Makoto." Haruka's firm, but silent voice prodded him to continue walking.

"Haru-chan was right after all," he pondered out loud.

"Don't add –chan to my name," Haruka grumbled, then stared up at Makoto. "What is it?"

"Those goldfish… they should be able to swim in big ponds instead of those small boxes," Makoto said quietly.

"What nonsense," Haruka huffed, surprising Makoto. "Water is water anywhere, I would be happy to swim in there with them."

"Eh?" Makoto felt his heart skipping a beat. He smiled again. "Even with the kids trying to catch them?" he asked after a bit.

Haruka made a face. "That aside!"

Makoto chuckled, grateful Haruka didn't try to take a dip in those carts. He wanted to say something silly like how he wouldn't let anyone else catch Haru, but Nagisa stomped in their direction, puffing his face.

"Come on, Haru-chan, Mako-chan! what's taking you so long?" he whined. "There's a haunted house on the hill!" he added and his face darkened in an evil grin, just as Makoto's face paled. "It appears every 10 years!"

Rei also didn't like Nagisa's dramatic ghost story presentation. "It's just a booth they put out for kids, isn't it!" he groaned.

Nagisa pursed his lips. "But they only operate it every 10 years or so, it's true."

Makoto was still grimacing. "I think I will… uh… look for my b—"

"Mako-chan, you can't run away!" Nagisa grabbed his wrist. "They only let pairs go inside, I'll go with you!"

"N-no thank you…" Makoto felt sweat forming on his forehead.

"I also would rather not go in with Nagisa-kun," Rei declared. "He will make it scarier than it is." He didn't notice Makoto was paling even more as he spoke. "I'll go with Makoto-senpai."

"Makoto goes with me," Haruka interrupted with such authority in his voice that left no room for arguing.

"Che. Not fair." Nagisa made a face and pushed Rei ahead towards the booth, which was placed on the hill, just outside the shrine.

"Why do I have to be stuck with this guyyyy…" Makoto and Haruka could hear Rei cry out as Nagisa grabbed his hand and ran ahead.

"Ah, I do feel sorry for him…" Makoto said quietly. "Shall we go?" He took a step to follow in their direction.

"Wait, Makoto." Haruka stopped him. "You don't have to go if you don't want to."

Makoto let out a little smile with a sigh. "If it's with Haru, it's okay."

Haruka eyed him. "You ran off the last time we were here."

Makoto scratched his head. "You remember that?" he chuckled nervously, then shrugged his shoulders. "I was seven. I'm a big boy now, don't worry." He waved his hand in dismissal.

'You're still a big scaredy cat,' Haruka thought, but just walked forward towards the booth.

"Don't you think it's a little odd?" Rei asked as they waited in line on the stairs. "I thought this is for kids, but we are surrounded by couples."

Makoto looked around them. Just as Rei noted, everyone in the line were couples; women dressed in pretty patterned kimono clinging to their men's arms. If there were any children, they were few and far between, hidden from sight. He also could hear nothing but the chatter of the older ladies.

"I guess it's really scary this year," Nagisa said and added, "Don't worry, Rei-chan, you can cling onto me!"

"Like hell I would!"

"You sure you're okay with this?" Haruka asked Makoto again. "We can still leave."

"I'm okay," Makoto said, although both of them could easily tell he wasn't so confident about it.

Normally, Haruka wouldn't care. Makoto was old enough to do whatever he wanted, or not wanted, as the case may be. He was easily scared, but that didn't stop him from doing things Haruka enjoyed, like watching a horror movie or go fishing. And - Haruka would never admit it - he liked how Makoto would cling to him. It gave him an opportunity to take care of Makoto for a change, without any effort.

But this time was different. This year's festival was different. The memories from ten years ago had started to resurface. No, it had already begun with their training camp, when Makoto was facing his fear of the ocean and Haruka nearly lost him. He clenched his teeth. He hated thinking about it. Why did Makoto have to stop by the damn goldfish booth?

"Haru?" Makoto's voice startled him. "What's wrong?"

Haruka felt his face heat up. "Nothing."

He wanted to hold Makoto's hand. With the yukata's long sleeves, no one would notice, right? His eyes stopped on Nagisa's joyful face as he continued to tease Rei. That guy would definitely notice. He would notice and make sure everyone around them would notice as well. Haruka let out another pitiful sigh; he was bad at keeping his urges at bay.

"Good luck, Rei," Makoto said with a forced smile when it was Nagisa and Rei's turn to enter the haunted house. Rei gave the two of them one last pleading look, still hoping Haruka-senpai would change his mind. His hope quickly died out as Nagisa grabbed his sleeve and dragged him in. With the other hand raised, Nagisa yelled "Charge!" as he entered the house.

Makoto was nervous, but determined to go through with it. When it was their turn to go inside, he quickly hurried after Haruka and the door closed behind them, leaving them in complete darkness. The only light source was a dim and malfunctioning overhead lamp which only made the setting creepier.

"Geh." An involuntarily groan escaped Makoto's mouth. His eyes slowly got used to the darkness and he reached out his hand to grab the back of Haruka's yukata. Just then, a door creaked and he saw two white figures walking in front of them.

"Gah!" He jumped on Haruka, squeezing him in a big hug, and attempting to cower behind his smaller figure.

"Oi, Makoto," Haruka muttered quietly and reached up, resting his hand on Makoto's. "I can't walk like this."

"S… Sorry…" Makoto mumbled. He had a hard time letting go of Haruka. His heart was beating so hard, he was sure Haru could feel it against his back.

Haruka sighed quietly and took Makoto's hand in his. "Let's go."

Makoto smiled. He was still anxious, but Haruka's hand was warm and safe. He squeezed it gently and allowed Haruka to lead the way. He squeezed it harder when the light shone on a body propped against the wall next to them. It was clad in a white robe and even in the dim flickering light, he could see the blood stains.

"It's okay." Haruka's soft voice shook him out of his stupor. He didn't need to say anything else, Makoto could hear the rest of the words, 'I will protect you.'

He let out a deep sigh and continued walking, when suddenly he felt something grabbing his ankle. He looked down to see the corpse holding him.

"GYAHAAAA!" he screamed and shook his leg, freeing himself from the hold, he charged forward, pulling a stunned Haruka with him as he run.

"Oi, Makoto!" Haruka cried out as he tried not to stumble and fall. "Calm down!"

"S-Sorry… Haru…" Makoto whispered meekly and stopped running, causing Haruka to bump into him. "It grabbed my foot!" His voice broke, sounding like a pathetic whine.

"Let's go this way." Haruka pointed ahead and gave Makoto's hand a reassuring squeeze.

Makoto followed him, moving closer so their arms were touching. At least this time there were no flying dolls – he remembered nearly pissing his underwear as a child. The budget was probably lower this year.

His breath hitched when he heard another creaking door. He squeaked when they came across another 'body' covered with blood and sitting against the wall. He just knew it was going to charge at them at any second and linked his arm with Haruka's, their fingers clutched tightly. He could tell Haruka was uncomfortable, especially as Makoto was bigger and heavier, and still leaned into him as a shield.

"Sorry, Haru…" he whispered meekly.

Haruka didn't say anything, just continued to walk, staggering due to Makoto's weight.

"It's going to jump at us…" Makoto mumbled; his eyes half shut as he dared to look at the 'body'. It didn't move.

Haruka sighed. It was nice to hold Makoto's hand at first, but now he was starting to lose any feeling in his hand. He didn't think Makoto was even aware how hard he was squeezing it. He looked ahead, the exit couldn't have been far, but it felt like a long way. He wondered briefly how many more 'ghosts' were going to come at them. He was concerned Makoto may have reached his limit and was going to run away.

He pushed forward, dragging Makoto with him, when suddenly a 'ghost' charged at them from an unexpected direction, hollering.

"Ahhhh!" Makoto screamed and let go of Haruka's hand.

"Wait, Makoto—" Haruka started saying. He couldn't let Makoto run away again. Without thinking he lunged in and slammed his right fist into the 'ghost's face.

The 'ghost' yelped in pain and fell to the floor, holding a hand over a bloodied nose.

"Ah…" Haruka mumbled oafishly when he realized what he had done.

"Gyah…" Makoto was startled when the 'ghost' sitting on the floor behind him got up and rushed to the injured 'ghost'.

"Yamada-san! Are you okay?" she asked in concern.

"Ha…" Makoto blinked, then looked at Haruka. "Haru! What have you done?!"

"What's the matter with you?!" the 'ghost' rebuked Haruka, then helped the bleeding man up on his feet. "We need medical help!" She called out.

"We're really, truly, very sorry," Makoto apologized and bowed, reaching out his hand to forced Haruka's head down as well. "Hey, Haru, you too apologize," he muttered at the boy sitting next to him, before putting his forehead against the floor.

"Sorry," Haruka said quietly and bowed, albeit not as low as Makoto. "I got carried away."

"Since we were still able to resume the activity, and Yamada-san's injury is not serious, we will let this incident pass. It's the festival spirit," the man said. He had just spent a great deal of time lecturing them at the shrine.

"Really? Thank you!" Makoto smiled one of his most dazzling smiles.

The man cleared his throat. "However you cannot come here again."

"Not a problem!" Makoto beamed.

"And we have no choice but contact your parents to escort you out of here," the man continued.

"Eh…" Makoto stopped smiling.

"How troublesome," Haruka muttered under his breath and Makoto gave him a side glance.

"Ah well, Haru- uh, Nanase-kun's parents live in Osaka, there's no need to trouble them with this, right? My parents will take responsibility for both of us, sir," Makoto said politely.

"Very well, wait here." The man got up and left them alone in the room.

Makoto let out a heavy sigh. "I wonder if Nagisa and Rei are still waiting outside."

Haruka rested his hands on his thighs. They were forced to sit in a proper Japanese sitting the entire time and he wasn't used to that. His knees were in pain. He didn't care anymore, he just hoped Makoto's parents will arrive there fast.

That wasn't entirely true, he did care. He looked at Makoto. "Sorry. I wasn't thinking."

Makoto smiled brightly at him, causing him to look away in embarrassment. His friend's true smiles had that effect on him.

"Well, that can't be helped now, I'm glad they are nice enough to let us go with just that," Makoto said. "And anyway, thanks to that, I wasn't scared anymore." He smiled again, closing his eyes and tilting his head. "Thank you for protecting me, Haru-chan."

Haruka blushed. "Drop the –cha—"

One of the shrine's monks walked in and interrupted him. "Tachibana-kun, your parents are waiting outside." He waited for them to follow him outside.

Haruka closed his eyes briefly in relief. Finally they were allowed to go and he could regain some feeling in his legs.

Everyone was staring at them when they walked outside, escorted by a number of monks. Makoto's parents were apologizing to the head monk and to the man in charge who lectured Haruka and Makoto before, while Makoto's young siblings were tagging on their father's shirt, looking bored.

"Ahh! Haru-chan, onii-chan!" Ran spotted the two teens and ran over to them, followed by her brother. "Look, I caught a yo-yo!"

Makoto smiled at them and gave each a little pat on the head, before walking over to his parents. The twins jumped on Haruka instead, who struggled to continue walking. He looked at Makoto and his parents. Makoto was apologizing and bowing again. In all the years he had known Makoto, he had never seen Makoto's parents angry. Not at him. The twins were a bit of a handful, but Makoto was always a good kid.

"We're not going to babysit you, Makoto," Mrs. Tachibana said when they were back in the decorated street of the festival. "I expect you to go straight home."

"Yes," Makoto replied quietly, shoulders sagged.

Haruka sighed. "Auntie, it was my fault. Makoto didn't do anything wrong."

"It's okay, Haru, thank you." Makoto smiled at him and turned to his parents. "Then we will go back first, see you later."

"Why do you have to be like that?" Haruka muttered when they made their way back home. "You wanted to stay, didn't you?" He threw a glance at Makoto.

Makoto rubbed his chin. "I feel a little bad Nagisa and Rei might be looking for us," he admitted. "But it can't be helped." He gave Haruka a tired little smile. "There's also something I need to do."

Haruka watched in silence as Makoto replaced the flowers at the goldfish grave in the backyard. It was something he was doing on a weekly basis, but today of all days… today was different. And suddenly Haruka couldn't bear it anymore, that secret he had kept inside for ten years. Maybe if he told Makoto the truth… maybe then Makoto wouldn't have this sad look on his face.

"Makoto…"

Crouching in front of the grave, Makoto pressed his hands together in pray and closed his eyes. After a brief moment, he raised his head to look at Haruka.

"What is it, Haru?"

"Ah, no…" Haruka felt his cheeks burning. Why did it feel like a confession?! "I just…" he stammered and crouched down beside Makoto. "The truth is… those goldfish…" He licked his lips and stared at the flowers. "I'm…" He searched for the words. 'I'm the one who caught those goldfish for you, not that fisherman. So stop looking so sad when you look at it.' The words got stuck in his throat, it was one of those moments he needed Makoto to read his mind.

"Thank you, Haru." Makoto didn't fail to follow him. "I can't believe it's been ten years," he went on to say. "The truth is, I don't even remember that old fisherman all that well; his face is a blur." He got up and Haruka stood up as well, still looking at him.

"But I remember he was nice, and I'm sure he has a family that misses him even now. These goldfish… it's a sad memory, a scary memory, but…" He took a short breath. "It's also a happy one."

Haruka's eyes widened in surprise.

"Because I will always remember what it felt like when he gave me the goldfish, and even if I don't really remember him, I remember he existed, and that's enough for me." Makoto smiled softly and raised his hand to touch Haruka's cheek. "So don't worry about me anymore."

Haruka raised his hand and rested it on Makoto's palm. He finally understood. This memory, as sad and traumatic as it was, was part of what made Makoto who he is. It wouldn't be right to steal that memory away from him. He kept it a secret for ten years, he could keep it a secret for as long as he lived.

Makoto leaned in and pecked a gentle kiss on Haruka's lips. "Let's go inside and have a bath or something."

"Un." Haruka nodded and let Makoto take his hand and lead him inside the house.

He will keep what happened ten years ago a secret, but when he has a chance, he will definitely, definitely, catch new goldfish for Makoto. This time he will give them to Makoto himself and watch him smile without hiding behind someone's back. He will give Makoto new, happy memories so he would continue to go forward, alongside him.

"Haru?" Makoto turned to look at him when he felt Haruka squeezing his hand tight.

"It's nothing." Haruka shook his head, giving him a faint smile. "Let's have a bath." Or something.

end.