A/N: Phew, chapter 4! It would have been here sooner, but it seemed to really like giving me trouble... First the power went out while I was writing, wiping a large portion of it clean. And then, after writing a good majority of it again, I decided to go a different route and scrapped the whole thing and started over. But I hope you guys enjoy it! With my luck right now, though, it will be be deleted off forever.
Haru sighed as he laid his head on his desk. It had been a couple days since Yuki had told him about stress, and the blonde-haired alien had done so much to try to figure out what cured it. Several of the books had told him to try something called "time management," but he didn't have a clue what that even was. TV shows and the internet told him to listen to calming music while doing something called "meditating," which sounded a lot like sitting and doing nothing. But when he tried it, his mind started reeling with thoughts about Yuki, Urara, and the terrible dream he kept having.
Every night, he'd find himself wandering around in the darkness until he'd find his two friends embracing each other, their lips crashing and molding together. And all he could do was watch in painful silence as it happened in front of him. It had practically become routine to the alien, and had resulted in an utter hatred of the nighttime.
"Haru!"
The blonde quickly stood as he heard the teacher calling him. "Y-yes!"
"Stop daydreaming and start reading from line 48, please."
"Yes, sir!" All of his classmates giggled as Haru picked up his book and started reading aloud. All but one.
Yuki watched Haru with concern in his eyes. This definitely wasn't the first time somebody had trouble getting the alien's attention. For the past couple days now, it seemed yelling was the only way to snap him out of his thoughts. He didn't know what Haru was thinking about all the time, but he was sure that it was the cause of his odd behavior.
And those band-aids. Those damned band-aids.
Yuki had been trying so hard to "accidentally" catch Haru with the band-aids ever since the blonde had asked if they helped with stress that morning. He had tried to get Haru to go swimming, even saying that he would accompany him even though he couldn't swim. He'd tried convincing him that he'd cool off if he removed his shirt, but the blonde adamantly refused. Yuki had even tried walking in on Haru in the bath, finding that his timing was terrible when he saw Haru's torso fully covered every time. And for reasons that had become obvious to Yuki the night he put Haru to bed, Haru did not allow anybody to go in his room.
Just asking the alien was not an option. He knew that Haru would just lie and put on a big grin while he doled out a false explanation. But if Haru had been caught, he would have to give him the truth. Right?
The notebook on Haru's desk was full of small drawings and doodles. It's all he ever did during class lectures. After all, what good was human knowledge to an alien? Now, though, he regretted not paying closer attention during class. He wondered if one of his teachers had already talked about stress in an earlier lesson. It would have been so much easier to listen to a teacher than to search through the endless amounts of self-help books he'd found.
He continued to draw in his notebook. The doodles hadn't changed much since the feeling in his chest started coming around. There were still plenty of flowers and small fish scattered across the pages. The only noticeable difference was in the drawings of the groups of people fishing. One could easily make out Urara's distinct ponytail hairstyle and Yuki's mop of messy hair. Sometimes even Natsuki, Akira, and Tapioca made an appearance. It was a complete group of all of his friends happily fishing in the sea.
Without him.
While he included himself in his earlier doodles, somewhere along the way Haru began to draw only his friends. He didn't see it as a huge change. At first, he didn't even notice it. And once he did, he didn't pay much mind to it and continued to draw as he usually did.
The pencil slid across the paper as Haru was finishing the tail on Akira's turban, when he felt a light thump on the top of his head. Looking up, he saw Urara standing close behind Yuki who was holding a notebook atop his blonde locks.
Haru plastered a grin onto his face. "Yuki, you surprised me! You were so quiet, it's like you're a ninja!"
"Quiet?" The red-head's frown turned into a grimace as he removed the notebook from the alien's head. "Haru, both of us have been trying to get your attention for the past couple minutes." Yuki began to gesture to the empty seats around them. "Class is over. Everybody else has left."
"Oh?" The blonde looked around the empty room as he stood and grabbed his bookbag. "I guess I was too busy learning to notice everybody leaving!"
Yuki raised a brow. "We all know you don't pay attention to the lectures."
A pout came across Haru's face as he crossed his arms. "I pay attention! I pay lots of attention!"
"Haru is always writing when I look over at him, Yuki," Urara chimed in.
"Try drawing, Urara," Yuki replied as he started making his way toward the door, the two aliens following close behind.
"Hmph! I'm a good student!"
"Whatever you say, Haru." A small smirk appeared on the red-head's face. At least Haru was acting like his normal self right now. "Anyway, I was thinking we'd go get something to eat and then fish for tuna today."
Urara gave a small nod. "That sounds good."
Haru didn't say anything.
"What about you, Haru?" Yuki glanced over to the blonde. "Does that sound good to you?"
Shaking his head slightly, Haru replied, "Haru doesn't want to fish today. Haru's going to go home."
Both of his companions turned to him, surprised, almost shocked. The trio always went fishing after school. To not want to go might have been the most deviant act in their small group.
"But you love fishing, Haru!" Urara reminded him.
"Yeah. Why don't you want to go?"
The blonde shrugged. "Haru just doesn't feel like it today!"
Yuki frowned, a puzzled look on his face, as he pushed open the school doors. 'Well, I suppose it isn't a huge deal, not wanting to fish once in awhile. It doesn't have to be because of whatever's making him act weird.'
When the three reached the school gates, Yuki stopped and turned to Haru. "Are you sure you just want to go home?"
Haru grinned as he nodded. "Mmhmm! Haru's gonna go play with the flowers!"
"Well..." Yuki paused, attempting to read Haru's face for any trace of something off, but only found the bright smile he'd come to know too well. "Okay then. If you change your mind, we'll be where we usually go for tuna."
"Okay!" Haru turned and started walking away from his companions, raising a hand in the air. "Don't have too much fun without me!"
"I'm not promising anything!" Haru heard Yuki yell as he and Urara started in the opposite direction.
The blonde heard the two discussing where they wanted to eat before he turned a corner and couldn't hear them any longer. He let the sides of his mouth fall as he relaxed, finally dropping his facade. The bounce in his step disappeared as his pace slowed and he began walking normally.
'Well, that wasn't so hard,' he thought to himself. Haru had thought that it would be much more difficult to get out of fishing with his friends. It wasn't because he disliked fishing, but because he was unsure whether he could handle watching Yuki get so close to Urara without being haunted by images of his dream. And the last thing he wanted was to have a repeat of what happened at the docks that night.
So for his own good, he ignored his desire to turn around and go fishing with his friends, and kept walking in the opposite direction.
Haru turned the corner into the yard and was immediately spotted by Keito who stood by the door of the house, holding a watering can. Her face was adorned with the same motherly smile she always seemed to wear.
"Welcome home, Haru," Keito said as the blonde walked toward her.
"I'm home!" he declared as happily as ever. His eyes shifted to the watering can in the woman's hands. "Is Keito going to water the flowers now?"
"I thought they could use a drink on such a warm afternoon." She held the watering can out to the alien. "Would you like to help?"
Nodding enthusiastically, Haru took the watering can from her as the two began to make their way around the house to the garden. Once they reached the backyard, Keito watched as Haru set the can down, grabbed the hose, and began to fill it and another watering can nearby with water. When both of the cans were full, Haru turned the hose toward his face and let the water wash over him in a refreshing waterfall.
He turned to Keito as he stopped the flow of water. "The flowers are really going to like this!"
Chuckling, she took one of the cans and began to pour its contents over some poppies. Haru quickly grabbed the other and started watering some nearby dahlias.
"So where are Yuki and Urara?" Keito asked as they continued to water.
"They're fishing for tuna!"
"Oh?" The woman paused as she shifted her watering can over to the zinnias. "And why aren't you fishing today?"
Haru moved on to a rose bush as he replied, "Haru didn't want to fish today! Haru wanted to water flowers!"
"I see. Well, I'm sure the flowers appreciate what you're doing for them, then."
The two of them moved from the flowers they had finished watering and both came to the tulips. Keito knelt down as one particular tulip caught her eye. The alien bent down to see the yellow tulip he had cried over days ago, now beginning to wilt to the ground.
"Haru," Keito began as she gently touched the poor flower. "Did you know that a yellow tulip symbolizes hopeless love?"
He blinked, confused. "Hopeless love?"
"Yes. A love that can never be returned. It truly is such a sad thought, isn't it?" She took her hand away from the delicate flower as she continued. "I never understood, though, how such a bright, yellow flower could represent such a thing. They always look so happy." She flashed a smile at Haru. "And they bloom beautifully."
Something caught in Haru's throat as Keito reached for her watering can and moistened the soil around the wilting plant. "I hate to see them wilting like this, but I understand that they can't always be completely happy. So I'm very proud of them for persisting to grow and bloom like they do." Once again, she turned to Haru with a soft smile. "And I'll be very happy when this one blooms again."
Haru could feel the water pooling in his violet eyes as they widened in realization. "Keito," he started quietly, fighting the lump in this throat. "What does love feel like?"
"Hmm..." she hummed as she stood. "Let's just say that it's that heavy feeling in your chest when you see that special person."
He looked up at her with wide, teary eyes as she winked at him and started walking toward the house, leaving him alone in the garden.
