Makoto knew the Nanase family long enough to grow attached to them. On the day Mr and Mrs Nanase were scheduled to leave town, he was there by Haruka's side to see them off. Mrs Nanase made Makoto promise to provide her with weekly updates on how Haruki and he were doing, for her own son was hopeless in such personal matters. Makoto assured her that he would fulfill his promise like a trustworthy brother.

As Mr and Mrs Nanase drove away with their belongings, Makoto stayed at the gate of the Nanase house to watch their dark blue car until it disappeared from his vision. He was about to remind Haruka of how he used to give Haruka pep talks in the backseat as they were driven to swim meets, when he realized that Haruka had already went back inside. Makoto went into the house to find Haruka with a plan in mind to have a small chat with him. Whatever Haruka felt about being left to live alone in an empty house, it was unhealthy for him to feel it alone. Makoto did not expect them to exchange many words on this sensitive issue. Nonetheless, he believed that it would be better for the both of them if he could understand what Haruka felt.

Makoto entered the living room, didn't find Haruka there and was about to look elsewhere when he noticed something that made him retrace his steps. A significant change had occurred when Makoto was still watching Mr and Mrs Nanase leave: Haruka's trophies, medals and other awards for his swimming had been removed from the display cabinet and stashed away in a place where strangers couldn't access. The change perturbed Makoto to the extent that he was compelled to open the cabinet and run his fingers across the wooden surface. The pads of his fingers did not pick up a hint of dust, a sign which testified Mrs Nanase's meticulousness in cleaning the area.

A minute later, Makoto startled Haruka by barging into the bathroom.

"You didn't knock," Haruka pointed out the obvious.

"Hey, where did you put your old trophies?" Makoto asked.

"In my room's closet," Haruka replied. "Why do you ask?"

"You shouldn't have put them away," Makoto simply said.

He left Haruka alone to retrieve what Haruka had decided on his own was not worth displaying. When Makoto slid open the closet door, he instantly found what he was looking for and was hit with a mixture of shock and sadness. In the short span of time, Haruka had haphazardly dumped the achievements that he had earned through swimming in a measly cupboard box. Makoto did not hesitate to take the box back to the living room to return the trophies, medals and other awards back to their rightful place. Just as Makoto finished returned the last of them, he had calmed down enough to accept that these objects were worthless to Haruka. It was Makoto had treasured them in all these years.

Haruka's appearance behind him effectively stopped the flow of Makoto's nostalgic thoughts.

"After you leave, I'm putting those things away again," Haruka said. "I'm sorry that you bothered."

"Well, I'm not sorry," Makoto said. "Anyhow, these are your awards and this is your home. You're free to do anything you like, at least for now."

Makoto should have disrespected Haruka a little bit more after that day, yet they still remained friends. As the period of their first examinations in high school approaches, they had agreed to study together at Haruka's house all Saturday. The studying session started out well enough as the two sat down on the floor on opposite ends of a low table with their revision material laid out in front of them. After lunch, Makoto maintained his streak of productivity and getting quite a lot done while Haruka had suspended studying in favour of lying back to stare into thin air.

"This isn't fun at all," Haruka said.

"The faster we study, the faster we'll get through the exams," Makoto said. "Come on now, your work isn't going to do itself."

"I don't want to," Haruka said. "The heat is terrible and I'm covered in sweat. I need a bath."

"Hm, why don't we take a break for a while to swim in the ocean?" Makoto suggested.

"Not today," Haruka said. "I didn't plan on leaving the house, so I'm not going to."

Haruka rarely declined an offer to go swimming, which surely meant that he was exceptionally lazy that afternoon. Makoto decided to give him extra motivation. He put down the pencil he was holding and walked around to Haruka's side to stretch out a helping hand to Haruka.

"Come on, Haru-chan," Makoto repeated. "Lets do something fun, and then you can stop being lazy."

"Don't call me Haru-chan," Haruka said and as usual, he took Makoto hand to allow Makoto to pull him back up. However, it was not a gesture which signified an acceptance of Makoto's offer, for Haruka said next, "I'm going to soak in the tub. You can join me if you want."

Makoto did not think that Haruka was being serious, so he said, "We both need to study. Maybe after some rest you'll feel like you want to study."

"No, I want to take a bath," Haruka said.

He promptly got up to do what he wanted and left Makoto all by himself.

Makoto's ability to concentrate eroded with the passing of the afternoon. Around the time he could see the sun setting, he called it a day and plopped down on the table to rest his head on his folded arms. He mentally counted the years when he and Haruka were friends, causing images from the past to involuntarily appear in his mind. Haruka's default surly expression that made him prone to teasing remained unchanged had not changed one bit. Makoto had interpreted it as an expression of discontent upon their first meeting. He admitted to himself that he still wondered whether Haruka looked happier when it was truly alone and this thought made him wonder if being around made Haruka any more happier. Our could the opposite be true, that being a worse friend could actually be better for Haruka?

The sound of the opening of the bathroom door caused Makoto to raise his head. In a moment, Haruka re-entered the room while wearing nothing but his swimming trunks.

"You do look a lot better now," Makoto said.

"I'll be making dinner now," Haruka said. "Do you want some?"

"Sure," Makoto said. His mother had most likely already prepared some food for him, but he could always distribute it among the cats in his neighbourhood.

Haruka cooked his plain, favourite dish of fried fish and divided it into two portions. Makoto smiled and thanked him for the meal.

AN: This piece can be interpreted as a gen fic or a shipping fic about one-sided Makoto/Haruka. Thank you for reading :)