Although they weren't in the same class, there was no way they could avoid at least noticing each other. Haruka had seen Makoto fool around with his classmates and watched them take advantage of him all year whereas Makoto had watched Haruka walk to and from school on his own each and every day. Both of them somewhat felt bad for the other, even Haruka, though it wasn't that much.
It was a cold winter day in January. In fact, it was so cold that snow had fallen over Iwatobi overnight and the teachers had decided to let the students take advantage of this, since this was something that only happened about once every ten years or something.
So now, all the first graders had been let out in the snow to play whatever they'd like. Some were having a snowball fight. There were both boys from Haruka's class and boys from a different class.
Haruka was sitting close to the wall and gathering a small pile of snow because he had nothing better to do. He didn't want to participate in the snowball fight. He didn't want to build a snowman, first off, because it was the girls who did that and he didn't want to be associated with them more than absolutely necessary. His name was enough. The second reason was that he simply didn't see the point in building something that would have melted away in a few days.
"Aren't you going to play with the others, Nanase-kun?" Haruka's teacher came up to him and asked.
"I don't want to," Haruka answered.
"Come on Nanase!" one of Haruka's classmates said. "It's our class against the other one, you have to join!"
Haruka turned his head away, attempting to signal his lack of interest in that snowball fight, but his classmate didn't seem to get it because he grabbed Haruka's wrist and dragged him over. Haruka then found himself forced to participate in this pointless fight. He made snowballs and threw them, he also avoided any incoming shot from the other class. However, this only lasted until he was hit for the first time. The feel of the snowball that hit his face and fell to pieces was much similar to when he dived into the water in a lake or a pool or simply in the bathtub at home. This caused him to stop dodging the balls from the others and he even allowed his classmates to use him as a shield. The boys from the other class used a tall boy from their class as a shield as well. Haruka couldn't see the reason why the boy let it happen though.
After they had been playing for about an hour their teachers called them back into class. They still had to learn something today. As they walked in, Haruka saw how the tall boy from the other class was walking somewhat in the middle of the group of boys, laughing with them. Haruka's classmates were also walking around him, laughing. Haruka wasn't taking part in it though.
After school the others agreed to resume the snowball fight. Haruka didn't want to. In his opinion it wasn't an ideal way to spend his afternoon. He would rather be at home and do something less pointless. He would figure out whatever that would be once he got there.
"I have to go home, mom will get worried if I come home late," he heard a boy say to his classmates as he walked by.
"You're no fun, Tachibana," another boy whined.
Haruka didn't listen more to their conversation as he just walked on by. He headed out of the school campus on his own and heard someone walking behind him. When he looked over his shoulder, he recognized the tall boy from the other class who acted as their shield. Behind him, he noticed a few of the boy's classmates, attempting to sneak after him. He wondered what that was for.
He hadn't expected to figure out the answer while he was on his way home. He hadn't expected to figure out the answer at all. But suddenly, Haruka's own classmates stood in front of him and one fired a snowball. It went right past Haruka and he looked over his shoulder to see it hit the other boy on the cheek. His eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't expected that either.
As if on cue, The boy's classmates stepped out behind himand started firing snowballs at Haruka.
Haruka wondered why they had to do this as he unconsciously backed away from his own classmates. Were they going for the shields, but why was that?
Suddenly, Haruka felt as his back hit something and he turned around to meet the other boy's scared, green eyes. They were wide and teary. The other actually looked like he was about to cry. Haruka found it a little troublesome, but something inside of him told him not to just dismiss it and leave this boy to himself. For the first time in his life, Haruka actually felt like he had to do something for someone else's sake.
Before he got the time to really think things through, Haruka felt his hand slip out of his pocket and grab a hold of the other boy's hand. He held on tightly before he started moving away, pulling the other along. Within only a few steps he broke into a run and the other followed. They both ran as their classmates chased them, firing snowballs at them. The other picked up the pace and soon pulled ahead of Haruka. It was now him dragging Haruka along.
They reached the mountain where they both lived and the other boy dragged Haruka up a different set of stairs than the ones Haruka normally used. They ran to a house and the other ran inside, still pulling Haruka along by the hand. None of them had let go through all this time.
"Is that you, Makoto?" a female voice sounded from within the house and the Haruka could now hear footsteps as a woman immerged from the kitchen.
"I… I'm home," the boy said in a shaky voice.
The woman, whom Haruka assumed was Makoto's mother, looked at first Makoto and then Haruka. "Is that boy a friend of yours?" she asked.
Makoto looked to Haruka with a questioning look as if silently and nervously asking if they were friends. Haruka wasn't sure on how to respond that, but they probably weren't.
"I think so," Makoto said, regardless. "Mom, this is…" he trailed off and then looked to Haruka. "Eh… what's your name?" he asked.
Haruka wondered why he would even say that they were friends if he didn't know his name.
"Nanase Haruka," Haruka introduced himself.
"I'm Tachibana Makoto," the other boy introduced himself. "Nanase is from the other class," he said.
Makoto's mother smiled and nodded. "I see. So you are the child of the Nanase family?" she asked.
"Yes," Haruka answered.
"Now, why are the two of you covered in snow?" Makoto's mother asked them.
Haruka didn't know how to answer and it didn't help him much when Makoto looked like he was about to cry again. Was this kid really so weak?
"We… We were having a snowball fight. I said I had to go home and both Nanase-kun and I were heading home but then our classmates started firing snowballs at us and we ran here," Makoto said.
"Because we were having a snowball fight earlier today too," Haruka explained further.
Makoto's mother watched them. "And both of you had left the fight?" she asked, looking from Makoto to Haruka.
"Yes," Makoto answered while Haruka only nodded his head.
She looked softly at them and then reached out a hand. "Take off your clothes and go take a warm bath, both of you," she said. "I'll dry your clothes and make you some hot chocolate. Nanase-kun, when my husband comes home, he'll walk you home, okay?" she asked.
Haruka nodded as both he and Makoto took off their coats and handed them to Makoto's mother. They also took off their shoes. Then they headed upstairs.
Makoto let Haruka use the bathroom first because he was the guest in the house. Haruka decided to not take as long as he normally did, knowing that he was in a new place and that Makoto was waiting for him to finish.
When he came out, Makoto handed him a blanket that he could wrap around himself while his clothes were drying and showed him the video games he owned.
"We can play whatever game you want once I'm done in the bath," Makoto said.
Haruka only nodded as Makoto left him. It didn't take too long before he returned. He also had a blanket wrapped around him. However, the one Makoto had was green, whereas Haruka's was purple. Haruka had picked a video game by this time and Makoto started it.
They had just managed to sit down, each with a controller, when nMakoto's mother came up with two cups of hot chocolate. She placed them in front of the boys on the floor, and as she bent down, Haruka thought he noticed something odd about her stomach. He didn't ask Makoto about it until his mother had left though.
"Is your mother pregnant?" he asked.
Makoto's eyes widened slightly in surprise as he turned to face Haruka. "How did you know?" he asked.
"When she bent down, her stomach looked a bit odd," Haruka answered.
"Have you seen it before?" Makoto asked.
Haruka shook his head. "I'm an only child," he said.
"So am I," Makoto answered the obvious, "at least for another half a year."
Haruka nodded and picked up the cup of hot chocolate and drank a little bit. It was hot, of course, but it tasted really good, though Haruka wasn't used to drinking hot chocolate. At his place they normally had tea.
"It's good, right?" Makoto asked, causing Haruka to turn his head to look at him. Had Makoto read his mind, or was it just a polite question or a lucky guess?
"Let's start the game," Haruka said as he looked away once more.
Makoto smiled and started the game. They then played for a little while, around five rounds. Makoto won the first four because he knew the game. He had played it a lot with his parents and other friends he had had over. Haruka hadn't played it before, but he could sense as he was getting better at the game too. In the fifth round, Haruka had completely mastered the game and won the round. Makoto stared at the screen with wide eyes as the game finished until he snapped out of it and looked to Haruka.
"You're amazing, Haru-chan!" he exclaimed.
"Don't put –chan on my name, and we aren't on first names, Tachibana," Haruka muttered.
Makoto laughed. "You can call me Makoto too if you want," he said. "You can add –chan to my name as well," he continued.
"I won't," Haruka said. He didn't miss the hurt look that appeared on Makoto's face as he said those words, but neither of them commented on it.
"Let's start a new round," Makoto then said after a minute of an awkward silence.
Haruka nodded in agreement, and they played another five rounds of the video game. Haruka won all five of them.
While they were playing the 11th round, they heard the door open downstairs and a man's voice could be heard through the house as he said that he was home.
"My father's here now," Makoto said. "We should stop playing after this round,"
Haruka nodded and so, once Haruka had won the 11th round, Makoto turned off the video game and they sat in silence for a little while longer until Makoto's mother came up with their dried clothes and handed them out.
"Thank you," Makoto said and Haruka also muttered a 'thank you' to Makoto's mother.
"It was no trouble," Makoto's mother answered while smiling. Then she left the room again and clothes the door as Haruka and Makoto could get dressed in peace.
"Tachibana," Haruka said, breaking the silence.
"What is it?" Makoto looked up at Haruka. He was in the middle of pulling on his shirt.
"Why are you letting the other boys use you?" Haruka asked, cutting directly to the chase.
"Use me?" Makoto raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I'm not being used," he said.
"Your classmates are taking advantage of you. They were using you as a shield today during the snowball fight, and I've seen it before too," Haruka explained.
"I never noticed.." Makoto said, still being confused. But then he decided to voice his own question. "Why do you distance yourself from others?" he asked.
"It's troublesome," Haruka answered.
"How are friends troublesome?" Makoto asked.
"You only get useless chatter, get used or get held back by friends," Haruka said.
Makoto shook his head. "That's not true," he said. "Or… maybe, I don't know, but you get other things too. You get someone to talk to about important stuff. You get someone you can rely on throughout everything, and in the best friendships, you get someone who will never leave you," he said.
Haruka sent Makoto a look that clearly showed that he didn't get it. This caused Makoto to smile at him.
"If we can be friends, I'll show you," he said. "If you promise to show me a friendship where I'm not being used."
Haruka thought about that as he finished getting dressed and watched Makoto finish as well. He had made up his mind and opened his mouth to answer Makoto's offer, but before he could, a knock was heard on the door and it opened.
Outside was Makoto's father.
"Nanase-kun, are you ready to go?" he asked, looking at Haruka.
Haruka nodded in response.
"Can I come along?" Makoto asked.
Makoto's father looked to Makoto and then nodded, smiling at his son. "You should, Makoto. Then you can see where Nanase-kun lives too," he said.
Makoto and Haruka followed Makoto's father down the stairs. They pulled on their shoes and then Makoto's mother appeared with their coats and the boys pulled them on too. Then they were ready to leave with Makoto's father.
The walk from Makoto's to Haruka's house was completely silent. Haruka wanted to answer Makkoto's offer from earlier, but he didn't exactly know how to bring it up. He wasn't good at handling situations like these properly.
They stopped outside Haruka's house and Haruka headed the llast bit of the way, up to his door while Makoto and his father stood a little away. He opened the door and entered.
"I'm home," he said.
"Welcome home," his grandmother answered from the living room. He could hear his mother preparing dinner in the kitchen.
"Goodbye, Nanase-kun. You are welcome to come back over at any time," Makoto's father said.
"Goodbye, see you tomorrow, Haru-chan," Makoto said before clapping a hand over his mouth as he realized that he had accidentally called Haruka by something he didn't want to be called.
Haruka didn't mind, for a change. Thanks to this, he knew how to respond to Makoto's offer.
"See you tomorrow, Makoto," he said before closing the door to his house.
The story was actually inspired by Makoto who said in a preview "Back in first grade, before I knew Haru..." I think it was the preview of episode 7 (so in episode 6 at the end of Free Iwatobi Swim Club) I remember thinking that it was strange that there was a time before Haru and Makoto knew each other. You hardly ever see them apart. I remember having read another story about the time when the two met, but I wanted to give my own suggestion to what I think happened. That's this story.
I hope you liked my story and my suggestion to how they met. Thank you for reading.
Jackie