Read AN at bottom please.
Makoto is five when she's first baby sat by Mrs. Matsuoka. Her mom and dad are off on a date for her mom's birthday. Makoto had already given her a homemade card and a stuffed animal, so she's glad her mommy is going to have a good time.
Gou Matsuoka is in her swim group along Haru-chan, Nagisa and Rei (there are three others but Makoto doesn't really know them.) She's an okay swimmer but she really doesn't like to swim. She says she's only there because her brother, Rin swims in the older groups, and that her mom doesn't like leaving her on her own.
She and Gou are watching cartoons, when the door to Gou's room slams open and an older boy with red hair walks in.
"Gou! What I'd say about touching my stuff?! Now where's my book? "
"Nii-san, I have a friend over don't be so mean! I don't have it anyways, you lent it to Mikoshiba-san last week. " Gou says already knowing which book he's talking about.
Rin looks sort of surprised to see Makoto, he's seen her around Haruka Nanase, the swimming genius. Makoto, red-faced from both shyness and embarrassment, stammers out Hi before turning to Gou unsure of what to do.
"Rin, this is Makoto-chan. Mako-chan this is my stupid big brother Rin. "
" Uhh... Hi. Anyways, mom says it's time for dinner. " He turns to Makoto. "You like curry?"
Makoto nods trying to cool her flushed face. Rin now feeling awkward, leaves. He rubs his wrist band over his soul mate mark, trying to ignore the tingling he's feeling.
Gou turns to her, a concerned frown on her face. " You okay? I know he's kind of rude but really when you get to know him, he's actually really nice. Mako-chan? Mako-chan? "
Makoto blinks and she gives her a weak smile, " I'm fine. We should wash up for dinner. " She could feel her own wrist tingling, it had to be Rin, he was her soul mate.
Gou gives her a doubtful look but decides to leave it. Makoto will tell her when she's ready.
From then on, Makoto makes sure Gou is included in the group. Though Nagisa and Gou fight over him calling her Gou and not Kou. Haru shrugs not minding the new addition to their group, and Rei is just annoyed that their number is uneven now one person would be left out during their relays but that was quickly resolved when Gou said she didn't want to be in relays.
They were walking home already have waved goodbye to Rei when his mom came for him. They passed a convenience store, here they get ice cream. Gou has always noticed Makoto taking care of Haru.
" So, Mako-chan. " Gou says once Nagisa and Haru have gone home. " Are you and Haruka soul mates?"
Makoto drops the last of her ice cream in surprise. " W-why would you ask that? "
" Well, you're always taking care of him. You choose stuff he likes rather than what you like. You guys are super close for friends so... "
" No. We're just best friends, thats all. Our marks are different. And we've been around for each other since forever. " Makoto shrugs. " He's just Haru. If you could have friendship soul mates, then Haru-chan would be my soulmate."
M6r11
Makoto isn't sure the exact moment she fell in love with Rin but she is sure that he is hers and no one else's. Gou had given her a strange look one day when she switched her bracelet to the waterproof one for swimming. But she didn't say anything.
She tells Gou of her feelings, when the two girls are playing outside. Well more like she managed to stammer " I l-l lik-" before Gou beat her to the punch.
" Mako-chan, I already know you like my brother. " she let out a snort. " He's probably the only one who doesn't know. "
" Am I that obvious? " Gou opened her mouth. " Wait! Don't answer that! "
Gou smiled, leaning in conspiratorial, " Wanna know a secret? You and Rin have the same mark. A triangle and a heart together, right? "
Makoto nodded, shocked. " But I wanna do this right. Not cause of some mark, I love Rin. Okay? "
Gou shrugged, " He should be coming home soon, maybe you can try now. "
Makoto stood dusting off her dress, " I'm going to do it! " She carried the flowers she's already picked, walking to the Matsuoka house.
" Rin?! Are you home? "
" Makoto, I thought you and Gou were playing. "
" Mrs. Matsuoka, do you know where Rin is? "
" He's in his room. Remember to knock, sweetie. "
Makoto ran up the stairs, once she reached Rin's door. She paused taking in a calming breath. She knocked, and waited.
" Come in. " She quickly got in and shut the door. " Hey, Makoto. Gou's not here, mom said she was out. "
" I need to tell you something. " Rin grinned leaning towards her. She was going to tell him something before she told Gou.
"Rin... can I be your bride? When I'm older I mean? " He looked at her shocked. His mouth opened and closed making him like a fish. She wanted to laugh but was still nervous about what he'd say.
" Makoto, I can't. Okay? You're too young, don't give me that look. We both have soul mates waiting for us. I can't promise you that. I'm sorry. "
Tears of embarrassment filled her eyes. She ran out crying, not even telling him about the mark. Her heart broke.
" Makoto? "
" Gou, what happened to Makoto? " Gou shook her head pretending not to know before rushing to Rin's room.
Her face reddened with anger, " How could you? You! You! You big dummy! "
Rin was still sitting there numb.
The next week was quiet, Makoto didn't drop by and Gou didn't speak a word to him. He had enough. He was going to do something stupid, but it was worth it to have her back.
He prepared first. He bought her a flower, and a chocolate ice cream cone. When he comes to her house, it's Nanase-kun who answers, his normally blank face shows a hint of anger but he lets him through. He finds Makoto in her room reading.
" Makoto, I'm sorry. " he says offering her the ice cream and flower. " Forgive me? I promise if you or I don't find either of our soulmates, we'll get married. Well, if you still want to. "
For weeks after she happily smiles, because she has her Rin.
M12r17
" Ren! Ran! Be careful. Your scarf will fall off with all this wind." Makoto sighed wishing Haru-chan was with her. It was much easier for her when she had some help.
" 'Choo! " She must be getting sick, not much of a surprise with the weather being so bad. She saw their bus comes right down the street. She bent down to their level, she fixed Ren's scarf again and tied Ran's laces before looking both of them in the eye."Be good, okay? "
Makoto waved as they got on the bus. She looked at her watch, sucking in a harsh breath, she'll end up late again.
She ran, thankful for her warm tights for the wind blew again. She could see Haru ahead of her. Haruka was lost in his thoughts again.
She was always weary of walking along this road. It was open and too close to the ocean for her taste. And she still remembers the day, she and Haruka saw Rin and Gou following after the white robed people. She remembered gripping his hand tightly, they had reminded her of ghost. The only splash of color was the harsh red of the Matsuoka family's hair.
She looked scared but she also wanted to follow and hold Rin's hand. Gou was walking along with her face hidden in her hands.
She hadn't understood what had happened, only that her friend from the pier had died in the storm and so had the fishes he'd given her. It wasn't until she saw Rin did she realized what had happened.
Both of them could hear a soft sobbing, Makoto's grip grew tighter when she saw it was Mrs. Matsuoka.
"Makoto, are you scared?"
"I don't know." She's not sure what he's asking. "Are you, Haru-chan?"
Haruka wasn't scared. He didn't know what the line of people meant, but there was no denying that something about it was frightening Makoto.
"Good morning, Nanase-kun."
When someone called to him, Haruka turned suddenly, startled. He'd been so far in his thoughts. He had been taken completely by surprise. When he saw that it was Aki, he briefly worried for a moment that she saw the uncertainty before returning to his usual self.
"Hey." Aki, completely ignored his grouchy reply, and turned her usual cheerful smile on him.
"What happened to your scarf?" After he asked, he regretted his words, thinking I shouldn't have said that.
Aki laughed not a hint of sadness on her face.
"It sank a little after you left, Nanase-kun. After that, I was able to give up." She said with a shrug. She frowned looking at his face."What's wrong, Nanase-kun? Your face looks kind of red."
Haruka squirmed away from her gaze.
"It's nothing. It's normal."
"Are you sure you don't have a fever?"
He pushed away her hand before it touched his cheek. Aki looked unsure and surprised at his movement.
"Ah…sorry." Haruka was the one to apologize.
"Oh, no, I'm the one who should be sorry."
Their conversation dragged off into silence, as both of them began down the road toward the school once again. Silently, keeping their heads down, their faces screwed up against the gusts of strong wind.
Makoto who got momentarily distracted by a kitten, noticed how far away she was from him, and hurried to catch up yelling "Haru-chan! "
Their homeroom theme was "Creating Memories for Graduation." All of the classes had been brought together to contribute ideas, and then those ideas were narrowed down to just one, there were many different ideas, even just within Haruka's class.
Then, when it seemed that all of the ideas had just about run out, Aki's hand went up.
"Um, I've been thinking this for a while now, but the only flowers that bloom around this school are from the cherry tree, right?" Heads nodded remembering the lone cherry tree in the courtyard.
"In the spring there will be lots of flowers, but right now it seems sort of lonely…So I was thinking, what if we planted a flower bed around the cherry tree?" She paused waiting to see if they were still interested. "I thought it would be wonderful if there were lots of bright-colored flowers blooming happily with the cherry tree in the spring."
"I'm in favor of planting a flower bed, too." The one who spoke, advancing Aki's idea, was Makoto. She hesitated though, noticing Haruka's nose scrunched with annoyance. "I think it would be nice if we planted flowers that would bloom right around the time we all graduate."
Majority rule the flowers were chosen.
That was how it always went, and Aki's idea had general support; and so the class voted overwhelmingly in favor of the flower bed.
"Haru, are you okay?" After homeroom, Makoto came to talk to him with a worried look on her face. She noticed his face was flushed and all through class his head would nod.
"What do you mean?"
"Your face is red. Do you have a fever?"
Haruka put the palm of his hand on the back of his neck. "Not especially. I feel fine, but…"
Makoto's hands fluttered around Haruka worried. If this was Ren or Ran she get them to bed but Haruka wouldn't listen to her.
Do you want to wait for Rin? He could take you home, if you want. "
A few of Makoto's friends, their chattering voices grating on him, worsening his headache. He heard a squeal and some giggling coming from the girls as Rin walked in.
Rin came over to them, speaking in a voice that was out of tune with the atmosphere.
"I always knew you liked flowers and love, Mako-chan ." Rin flashed a grin and folded his arms, he loved teasing Makoto.
Makoto flushed, unspoken words passed between them. " Rin! "
Makoto and Rin's voices were hurting Haruka's ears, but even yelling for them to be quiet seemed troublesome and not worth the effort.
Rin noticed his condition, with a small frown. He looked towards Makoto. "Is Nanase not feeling well?"
"About that, I was wondering if he had a fever, but…" As she spoke, Makoto peered into Haruka's face.
"I said I don't have a fever!" Controlling himself was too much trouble. At Haruka's raised voice, several nearby people turned toward them. An awkward silence fell.
Makoto looked aghast at his outburst, Haruka was normally quiet only speaking when necessary. Even then it was only to her.
"…Sorry." Haruka stood up from his seat and headed toward the classroom door. Makoto's worried gaze followed his form. Haruka left the classroom.
Her fingers twisted the hem of her shirt, unease filling her body. "I'm going after him," She said grabbing her backpack. She ran out the door, not caring about Rin calling to her. " He's probably sick. I don't want him to get hurt. "
Haruka looked up at the stairs to Makoto's house just once. Makoto hadn't arrived yet. Leaving his bike behind, he began to run the two kilometer distance at a light jog.
Her breath sprang white into the air. She had to hurry, something within her screamed 'something's wrong'.
Makoto hadn't caught up with him yet. I wonder if she ended up walking home with Rin again. Well, whatever…
He finished crossing the bridge, he was aware that he probably wouldn't be able to run all the way to swim practice. He reached his limit as he ran along the bank of the river. His feet stopped; he put his hands on his knees and took deep breaths that shook his shoulders. Sweat dripped off of Haruka's downturned face.
" Makoto! Wait! " Rin yelled, easily catching up to the twelve year old. He grabbed her hand to make sure she didn't continue run. " How do ya know he's coming this way? He's probably at home. "
" He's my best friend, I know what he's going to do! " She pulled her hand out of his, any other time she'd be crowing with excitement but right now, she had to find him.
After a while, as Haruka's breathing was beginning to calm down, he suddenly realized that something white was appearing and disappearing on the surface of the river. Aki's scarf was caught in a place that looked like it could be reached from the shore under the embankment.
There was the sound of brakes, and Haruka reflexively turned around. Aki got off her bicycle, a worried look on her face. "What's wrong, Nanase-kun?"
He wanted to say Nothing, and continue running, but his voice wouldn't work.
"Ah!" Aki's gaze had gone past Haruka and landed on the river's surface. On the white scarf floating on the river's surface…
"I'll go get it."
"You don't have to, it's too dangerous!"
Haruka turned his back on Aki. Just as he reached the riverbank, a dizzy spell hit him. He had thought that he could feel the grass ground under his feet, but everything went black and he was tumbling down the embankment. All he could hear was Aki's voice, crying out against the wind.
He hit the water with a dull splash, he finally felt cool and clear. One hand fumbled for land to grip and the other caught something. He dimly recognized Aki's scarf.
"Haruka! " Another familiar voice called out, it brought his thoughts to a standstill.
In the space between dreams and reality, he thought that he could faintly hear Makoto's voice calling his name, and the sound of ambulance sirens.
"Haru, Haru!"
And then Haruka fell into a deep sleep.
Makoto and Rin had arrived just in time to see Haru fall head first towards the riverbank. Her heart stopped. She couldn't lose him.
She was scared. But she ran into the riverbank, with Rin yelling at Aki to call an ambulance. Haruka felt burning hot to the touch, despite the icy water surrounding him. She trembled gripping his arms and tugged.
" Makoto, get out of here. It's too dangerous for you. " Rin said, lifting Haruka's unconscious body into his arms. She followed after with a wet squish.
She watched his chest rise up and down slowly. Aki was on the phone with the swim coach, trying to ask him to call Nanase's mother. That there'd been an accident at the river.
When the ambulance arrived, Makoto climbed in not wanting to let go of his hand, Rin came to. To explain what happened.
He woke up because his head was hurting terribly. Before he could even wonder where he was, Makoto's voice reached his ears.
"Haru, are you awake? Haru!"
For once, he couldn't even object to being fussed over. His throat felt sore. Makoto's voice flowed over him naturally, just as it always did. And calmed him like water did.
He tried to focus his eyes, but it didn't work very well. His head still hurt. His body felt heavy. He wanted to tell Makoto I'm awake now, so don't worry, he began trying to form words, the words caught in his throat.
"Where…am I?"
"You're in the hospital."
"The hospital?" He tried to figure out why he might be sleeping in the hospital, it made his head hurt again.
"Haru, are you alright? Your mom will be coming soon, okay? We got in touch with her a little while ago." Makoto's hands hovered, wanting to be ready to help.
Haruka was finally starting to be able to see Makoto's face clearly. When he did, he realized that there was another person behind Makoto. Rin was standing there silently, his face unusually serious.
On a hanger beside him, something white was fluttering in the breeze from the air conditioner. Is it the curtain? No, it's thinner, a different kind of cloth…
-the scarf! The moment he remembered, his memories returned. He immediately tried to get up, and his whole body protested.
"Don't! You can't push yourself like that. You have a fever of 104 degrees." She said pushing him back down.
She could see Haruka wanted to know. What happened after he had fallen in the river? He wanted to know right now. "Aki?"
Aki had been on the riverbank, and had probably seen the whole thing. But Aki was nowhere to be seen.
" Aki-chan, I think she went home with her mother. But I'm sure she's worried about you right now." Makoto grabbed a cup and filled it with water and passed it along with medicine the nurse asked them to give him if he woke up.
"What happened to me?"
"Just as Rin and I were looking for you, and we reached the bridge, we heard Zaki-chan yelling. When we went to see what was wrong, you had fallen into the river."
" Once we got to the hospital, they checked you out. They told us that you had influenza, Haru."
Something as stupid as that got me into this situation? Haruka thought, extremely annoyed.
"Well, I'm going to go call the doctor." Makoto opened the door and left, and it suddenly became quiet inside the hospital room.
Haruka looked at Rin. He was still standing silently, his gaze slanted down toward the floor. Next to him, the scarf fluttered.
"Matsuoka…thanks." The words came out so honestly that Haruka even surprised himself.
Rin just gave a small nod, and didn't try to look up at Haruka. He wondered if he realized how much it affected Makoto. Neither boy tried to talk to each other, awkward silence filling the space. From then until the time that Makoto returned, the only sounds were of the air conditioner and Haruka's breathing.
Makoto was followed by Haruka's mother and the nurse.
"I'm afraid visiting hours are over for friends. " She said smiling. Makoto gave him one last hug.
"So make sure you go and talk to Zaki-chan later, too, okay?"
Haru nodded once. He wanted to ask Makoto to explain everything to him. Listening made his head hurt, but he intended to act unconcerned for as long as he could.
Being exposed to the cold air outside made him remember just how warm it had been inside the hospital. Makoto shivered in the cold night, sneezing a little. Wet tights had been taken off in the warm hospital and placed in a plastic bag she was carrying.
As Rin walked, he put his numb hands into the pockets of his jacket. He wasn't sure what to say, to comfort the girl in front of him. But he had finally caught up to Makoto, who was walking in front of him. He tried calling out to Makoto.
"…Mako-chan ." It felt like it had been forever since Rin had used his voice. At the very least, this was the first time he had since they'd come to the hospital.
"What is it, Rin?" She turned to face him, it was obvious she was holding back tears.
"I…" His voice faltered, and his heart ached to see her in pain.
"Hm?"
Rin hesitated. Without pressing him, Makoto waited for what Rin would say next. In the moments, Makoto continued walking, without letting her feet stop. Slowly, as though she was waiting for Rin to catch up to her.
"I was seriously scared." Rin was being honest about his feelings. Even now, the feeling of he's still scared. It made him feel like all of his insides were moving wrong, and they wouldn't stop. "I was so scared that I couldn't even figure out what to do."
Makoto turned and gave him the smile. Raising her upturned eyebrows, she smoothly kept walking while facing backwards. "It's going to be okay. They said it's just the flu. It hasn't turned into pneumonia, so he'll get better soon."
" I'm still worried though. "
Rin thought that Haruka's situation was very serious. It was true that when he had seen that Haruka had fallen into the river, he had panicked. He had been hasty, and had lost his train of thought .
But what was making Rin feel scared right now wasn't any of those things. "No, not about Nanase. About you, Makoto."
"What?" Makoto stopped walking, her brow scrunched in confusion. She wasn't sure how he meant it by though she met Rin's honest gaze straight-on, but she was still smiled. She almost looked as if she wanted to ask whether Rin was joking.
It'd be a cruel joke on his part. Especially since he knows how she feels about him.
"When we pulled Haruka out of the river, you were shaking, weren't you?"
"Was I? It feels like I was dreaming, so I can't remember very well." Makoto turned to face forward and started walking again. She didn't want him to see her fear.
Rin watched Makoto's back tense, thinking she had definitely shaking back then.
Makoto had been shaking so hard that there was no way to miss it. Her hands, her legs and her face - they weren't shaking from the cold, but because she was afraid of something. Even while they were riding in the ambulance, Makoto had gripped the hem of Haruka's shirt, shaking and calling Haruka's name the whole time.
Rin had never seen anyone that terrified by something before. The sight had stuck deep in his heart, and now his body wouldn't work the way he thought it should.
He wanted to hold her, protect her, say that everything would get better.
Without saying anything more, Rin kept walking behind Makoto. If Makoto said that she didn't remember, then Rin wouldn't press the issue. He didn't want to force Makoto to talk about things that she didn't want to talk about.
While they were waiting at the bus stop, and after they got on the bus, as well, the two of them stayed silent, Makoto leaned against him but didn't try to meet his gaze when he looked down at her.
" Do you want me to walk you home? " It was only two stops away from his house. Makoto shook her head.
Rin pushed the bell at his stop and stood up to get off the bus. With nothing else to say he said. "See you."
"Yeah."
For just that one second, Rin looked at Makoto's face. She looked the same as always. Her upturned eyebrows were raised, waiting to see what he'd do and she was smiling just as she always did.
Maybe I was worrying too much. Rin got off the bus, and suddenly all the strength went out of his body. He took a deep breath of the evening air, and stared after the bus as it drove off into the red sunset.
As soon as Rin left the bus, Makoto's hands started shaking. Her nerve had been pushed to its limits, all her emotions flooded her and her hands were shaking so hard that she couldn't do anything to stop it. Before long,her entire body, and her legs, her chest, and her face trembled, and even her teeth were chattering. She held herself tightly with both arms.
No matter how hard she squeezed, it wouldn't stop. She could still feel the freezing water on her skin and his burning hand in hers.
No matter how hard she clenched her teeth, her lips still shook. She let out a small hiccup, before quieting. The few people still on the bus tried to either ignore her or send pitying looks.
Soundlessly, tears were pouring down her cheeks, and Makoto couldn't do a thing about it.
And that's part one of i think about three. This is my first venture into the Free! fandom, so it won't be perfect. Makorin is my otp, so i decided to give it a shot.
if you see any inconsistances please PM me and help me improve this story. This is a Soulmate/Genderswap AU with age difference so they're gonna act very different from canon.
R&R