Episode 6 gave me all the HaruMako feels so I hurried up with chapter 2... Hope you'll like it.
Thank you for reading! please feel free to leave a message, I'd love to hear from other HaruMako fans.
Enjoy! ^_^
The Dolphin Dreams of Dry Land
Chapter 2: That Ordinary Future
It was the week before when Haruka realized for the first time that they are on the brink of adulthood and he had no idea what he was going to do with his life. Makoto was supposed to come over for dinner. It wasn't that they made plans or anything, they never have. But Makoto would nearly always show up, except for occasions when he would have dinner with his family instead. So when Haruka finished grilling the fish and Makoto still hasn't shown up, he decided to take a stroll outside and after stepping down the stone stairs and giving the local street cat a short pat, he buzzed the bell of Makoto's house.
He could hear shouting and the dashing feet of the younger siblings – that house was always too high on energy, sometimes it wore him out.
"Ah, Haru-chan!" The little girl smiled brightly at him, her young brother was pouting at her side – obviously he lost the race to the door. Haruka smiled softly. "Hey, your brother home?" he asked.
Mrs. Tachibana showed up behind the two children. "Oh, Haruka-kun, how are you?"
Haruka answered politely. He couldn't ask her or Makoto's father to stop calling him by his name, so he had to bear with it.
"Makoto went to the open day at the university," she told him after the small talk ceased. "I thought you went with him."
"Open day?" Haruka pondered out loud. Come to think of it, the teacher said something about it, but he didn't really listen.
"He's started to look into universities, to decide what to study… have you already decided, Haruka-kun?"
'Already decided…' Haruka rubbed his neck, feeling embarrassed. He, who had always looked forward to finally be 'ordinary', had not thought even once about what he would do when he becomes just that, an ordinary adult. Last year, when they were in 2nd year of high school, they had to fill a form with their desired universities, but it was acceptable to still not have any wishes. Now that they were seniors though… he never even asked Makoto about it. The truth was he didn't care.
"He brought a few pamphlets and he's even looking at schools in Tokyo," the mother continued talking.
"Tokyo?" Haruka perked his head.
"I'm kind of worried that he wants to go there." She let out a nervous laughter. Her laugh sounded a lot like her son's. "What would we do without him here?" She put her hands on her young children's heads. "Right?" Her smiling face was also a lot like her son's.
"Onii-chan would never go to Tokyo even if he wanted to!" the little girl announced. "Because he wouldn't want to leave Haru-chan alone."
"That's…" Haruka blushed and scratched his cheek. "Well…"
"Ne, ne, Haru-chan… let's play!" The boy grabbed Haruka's hand, dragging him inside.
After exhausting the young boy to sleep in Makoto's bedroom, Haruka put down the playstation control and looked around the room. He didn't remember Makoto saying anything about universities and where or what he wanted to study. He did talk a lot about school and their homework and exams, to the point Haruka would stop listening. That was usually when Makoto would make his move and advance on Haruka. Very sly, Haruka could not resist him after his walls took the damage with the boring talk first.
Just like Mrs. Tachibana had said, there were a few pamphlets on the desk. Haruka got up and took a look. How long was Makoto thinking about this? It felt like there was a whole side of him that he just didn't share with Haruka, and Haruka was definitely not used to that.
"Tokyo…" he mumbled quietly when he spotted a pamphlet of a Tokyo university. Tokyo had the sea, but it wasn't a pretty sea like over here. And Tokyo was huge. Tokyo was like its own country within Japan. Why would Makoto want to go there and leave everything behind?
It was getting late and Makoto still hadn't shown up, so Haruka picked up the sleeping boy from Makoto's bed and carried him to his own bedroom, before heading back to his house.
The thoughts about the future continued to plague Haruka's mind as he walked back home and as he sat down to feed the stray cats in his backyard. What did he want to do when he grows up? Nothing came to mind. He just wanted to swim. Unlike Rin, he didn't care much for competitive swimming or becoming an Olympic swimmer. Even though competing against Rin was always exciting to the point his blood was boiling in his veins, Haruka just wanted to feel the water. But wouldn't Rin's dream make perfect sense for him too? A career in swimming - he could swim as much as he wanted, and compete with top class swimmers. However, the strict training regime and working with coaches seemed too tiresome. And anyway, he refused to swim anything but free style.
Haruka gave the cat one last pat and got up. He decided to submerge those thoughts, along with his head, inside the bath.
He didn't know how long he'd been under water, maybe he even dozed off in there for a few seconds, but suddenly strong arms pulled his body up.
"Haru!" Makoto shook him almost violently. "What are you doing?! I was calling your name and you wouldn't come up!" He sounded frantic.
"You're so noisy, I was just relaxing."
"I told you before, don't fall asleep in the bath! You scare the shit out of me, Haru."
Haruka scowled and stepped away from Makoto's arms, reaching for his towel. "What are you doing here anyway?" he asked and dried his hair. "It's late."
"I've come to apologize for missing dinner," Makoto said and grabbed the towel from Haruka's hands and continued to dry Haruka's hair. "You probably only had fish again."
"You don't have to come here if you don't like it." How many times have they had the same conversation? Yet Makoto would never talk about what he really wanted to. Under the towel, Haruka's studied Makoto's face, and that calm smile that hid everything away. Makoto was really sly.
"I'm sleepy, I'm going to bed," Haruka broke the silence when the towel touched his shoulders. As he turned to walk away, he thought better of it and grabbed Makoto's hand, dragging him out with him.
"Wait, Haru, I still haven't taken a shower…" Makoto started saying. He really doesn't get a clue, does he?
"Take it in the morning," Haruka said and a faint blush spread on his cheeks. He could feel himself hardening under the tight swimming suit. He really couldn't get any more direct than that.
tbc.
