Shenangians guys. Shenanigans. :D
The Free Fighter and the Evil Within
Chapter Six
-((Saturday)))-
"Take that, you blue-eyed brat!" Makoto heard himself say, watching as a wave of darkness flew towards a shimmering blue figure. He blinked and the figure was gone, but in the next instant he found himself off-balance, crashing towards the ground because of some unseen force. Wait…I'm not on the ground—?
But he caught himself somehow, suspended midair as he came to the realization that he was face-to-face with none other than the Free Fighter. The Free Fighter! It's really you! Makoto tried to say, but his body didn't appear to be listening to him.
"You're getting weaker, Orca Boy," Makoto heard, unable to do anything but stare into the Free Fighter's determined, steely blue eyes, "This time I have you." If Makoto was able to make sound, he would've gasped, eyes widening at the sight of a sudden wall of water barreling down at him, appearing form out of nowhere. Unable to dodge, he took the attack at full force, sprawling onto the ground with a hard thud.
"You think just that will work?" he heard himself taunt as he sat up halfway, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
"No." Makoto was suddenly pressed back onto the pavement, a bare foot against his chest holding him solidly down. The Free Fighter raised a hand, palm pointing towards Makoto; it started to emit a blue light, as if he were charging…something.
Makoto's eyes widened as he stared at the hand. Wait; there's been a mistake—! but he couldn't make a sound; he watched the light in the Free Fighter's hand grow brighter and brighter, powerless to defend himself…
The light seemed to reach critical mass as he heard himself cry out, a wave of darkness engulfing him—
"No!" he exclaimed, and his eyes flew open, abruptly focusing on the quiet stillness of his bedroom. Makoto blinked slowly in confusion, taking in his surroundings as his arms subconsciously tightened around Haruka's still-sleeping form.
A dream, he surmised, looking down at Haruka, …a nightmare. I can't remember the last time I had one of those; not since Haru and I… Makoto frowned, concerned over his nightmare. It was so vivid; I don't remember any of my nightmares ever being like that before—
A sudden ping! from his cell phone pulled him out of his reverie. Not wanting the noise to wake Haruka, Makoto reluctantly let go with one hand, reaching for his cell phone. He was surprised to see that it was already almost noon. Did we really sleep that much? Makoto thought, amazed. He never slept that late; the twins would usually wake him much earlier. He remembered Haruka sneaking in at some point during the night, but he wasn't sure when (even when Makoto sent him away for some reason or another, Haruka would always sneak back over at some strange hour of the early morning). We must've been really tired, I guess. He pressed the notification; it was a message from his favorite Free Fighter forum. Nightmare temporarily forgotten, he followed the link to the new update, excited to read about the Free Fighter's latest exploits. However, Makoto's frown returned as his eyes scanned the forum entry:
The Free Fighter was the closest yet to defeating the Master of Darkness last night; he had him pinned, and was about to use a new attack (!) involving some kind of beam when Kurakvo broke free, escaping at the last moment. There was darkness everywhere so I couldn't' really see what happened properly though -.- I don't know about you guys, but I definitely want to see more of this beam! :D :D
Pinned to the ground…a beam? Flashes of Makoto's all-too-vivid nightmare replayed in the back of his mind as he reread the forum post. His nightmare sounded eerily similar to the events of the night before. How could I have known what was going to happen? he wondered, disturbed. I mean, to dream about the stories I've read already is one thing, but to dream about them before I read them—
"What's wrong?" A voice cut into his thoughts, and Makoto looked down to see a sleepy-eyed Haruka blinking up at him.
Makoto gave himself a mental shake. "Nothing," he said with a warm smile, and it was true. It was just a stupid nightmare; end of story. He tossed his phone back onto the nightstand. "Good morning, Haru-chan," he said as his free arm returned to Haruka's waist, "or should I say good afternoon? We slept quite a bit," he added with a chuckle.
Haruka seemed unperturbed by this information. "That just means we needed some extra sleep," he replied. He knew he at least needed all the sleep he could get lately.
"Still, we should probably get up," Makoto pointed out, although he made no move to let Haruka go.
Haruka let his head fall back against Makoto's chest. "I'd rather just stay here," he countered, nuzzling his chest lightly.
Makoto blushed. "But it's Saturday! The weather's supposed to be nice today; staying here all day would be a waste—"
"Time spent with Makoto is never a waste," Haruka stated bluntly, and Makoto barely had time to let out an indelicate squawk before Haruka leaned up to seal his lips over his. His hands tightened at Haruka's hips as Haruka crawled up his body, settling himself more comfortably atop him, their lips moving languidly together. Makoto sighed happily into the kiss, allowing himself to relax as Haruka trailed a hand lovingly through his hair. This is nice, he thought, a hand migrating to the small of Haruka's back as the kiss increased in intensity ever-so-slightly. Maybe we could—
"Nii-chan! Wake up! Nii-chan!" A sudden pounding on the door caused the two to spring apart on reflex. Never had Makoto been more grateful for the lock on his door: his privilege as the oldest. He reluctantly disengaged himself from Haruka, stretching slightly before approaching the door.
"I'm surprised that they waited this long," Makoto said good-naturedly over his shoulder before opening the door, seamlessly shifting into 'big brother' mode as the twins jumped on him.
"It's time to get up, sleepyhead!" Ran chastised as she gave her big brother a good-morning hug.
"Yeah!" Ren agreed before running over to the bed and flopping down beside Haruka. "You just had to be awake before we left!"
"Left?" Makoto echoed, carrying Ran to the bed and playfully dumping her beside Ren.
"Mom's taking us to the amusement park!" Ren explained, practically exploding with glee.
"We're having a special day with Mommy," Ran added solemnly, but she was unable to keep her face from splitting into an excited smile. "We're—"
"Ren, Ran, it's almost time to go!" Makoto's mother appeared in the doorway, a laughing smile gracing her features. "Good morning boys; you've certainly slept quite late today."
Something about the way his mother was looking at him made Makoto want to make excuses and blush profusely. Before he could open his mouth, however, Haruka spoke, climbing out of bed.
"That's my fault," he said calmly, "I came over late last night and Makoto didn't want to wake me up." Makoto nodded in agreement. It was true…mostly. Makoto had no idea why he was having this sudden urge to defend their actions, but his mother didn't seem to mind.
"It's alright," she said, "With all the schoolwork you two have been swamped with, you guys could use a break." She ushered the twins down the stairs. "Just try to get out of the house at least!" The boys sounded off an agreement as she started to follow after the twins.
"Oh, and Makoto?" she said, popping her head back around the doorway, "You've nothing to be embarrassed about."
Makoto blushed to the roots of his hair as his mother winked before taking her leave. Even after all this time, Makoto and Haruka had never explicitly come out and told his parents about the change in their relationship. However, Makoto knew that they weren't stupid. It had become sort of an unspoken understanding that they'd talk about it when Makoto was ready.
At least, it had been unspoken. Well shit, now they were going to have to—
"Don't worry about it," Haruka said, taking his hand and putting a stop to his nervous train of thought before it had even fully formed, "It's not like this changes anything."
And just like that, Makoto felt better. Leave it to Haru, he thought, letting out a small sigh as he placed a gentle kiss on Haruka's cheek. "You're right," he said, returning his focus to his boyfriend. "It's the weekend, and there are better things to do than worry." He tugged Haruka over to the window, opening the curtains and letting in the dazzling sunlight. "It really is a perfect day outside," Makoto commented, "How about we go to the beach?"
"The beach?" Haruka questioned in surprise, "But…you don't—"
"I know," Makoto said, "but you like the beach. Love it actually. And I love watching you swim."
Haruka's cheeks turned the slightest shade of pink as he wrestled with indecision. They really hadn't been to the beach in a very long time, but that was justly because Makoto was afraid of the ocean. But if Makoto really wanted to go…
"It'll be fun," Makoto insisted, green eyes mirroring both hope and excitement. "I promise I'll have fun even if I'm not swimming. I'll just enjoy the view," he added flirtatiously, his eyes trailing significantly down Haruka's chest.
Well. When Makoto put it that way, how could he refuse?
-(To the Beach!))-
Makoto sat on a towel under their beach umbrella, openly staring at his boyfriend in the water nearby. He really was beautiful; there was no other word he could use to describe the graceful way in which Haruka moved in water. There was just something about such elegance and fluidity that seemed to right, so…natural. Makoto's eyes widened as Haruka surfaced, the cool and clinging rivulets of water trailing down his chest while he stood catching his breath. The sunlight glinted off his slick skin, highlighting every crevice and muscle of his chest and abdomen. Suddenly Makoto felt inexplicably hotter, and it wasn't from the sunlight. Before he'd even realized it, he had taken off his shirt and stood, heading for the water.
Instead of his usual nervousness, Makoto felt a pang of excitement as he approached Haruka and the ocean. It's just water, he reasoned with himself (and not for the first time, either). I swim in the pool all the time; why not the ocean? He stood on the edge of the tide for a moment, hesitating. He looked towards Haruka, who was bound to have noticed him by now. He had, Makoto could tell, but he was determinedly keeping his focus elsewhere, not wanting to influence Makoto's decision in any way. Feeling a sudden rush of affection and gratitude, Makoto made up his mind. He took a deep breath and stepped forward, his feet slipping into the warm, comforting tide of the ocean.
For an instant, nothing happened; Makoto didn't feel any different. Then all at once it felt as if he were caught in a storm, a wave of utter revulsion and hatred sweeping over him. It felt as if his skin was crawling; he couldn't take it. He stepped back hastily, removing himself from the water as if it were boiling. Haruka silently watched the entire exchange, taking note of Makoto's almost sickened expression before approaching him.
"Makoto?" he questioned, standing in front of him in the water.
Makoto gave himself a mental shake, ridding himself of the uncomfortable emotions that still plagued him whenever he tried to go in the ocean. "I'm fine," he said reassuringly, and he meant it. "Wanna take a break?" He reached out, holding out a hand for Haruka to take. Haruka held onto him, allowing himself to be pulled out of the water towards their towel. He sat next to Makoto in the shade, drying off his face and hair with a towel.
Makoto frowned. "Haru…you should probably put some more sunscreen on; you were out there for a while." Haruka put down his towel and nodded, reaching for the bottle of sunscreen. Makoto watched him, idly wondering if he should put on some more sunscreen as well. Haruka finished his task, turning to set the bottle back next to the beach bag.
Noticing that Haruka still had some sunscreen on his cheek, Makoto chuckled. "Haru, come here; you missed a spot," he said, reaching to turn Haruka's cheek completely towards him. He held his chin with a hand, rubbing his thumb gently over the smudge of sunscreen that lingered on his cheek. Even after the sunscreen was long gone his hand stayed there, methodically rubbing the same spot. "I wish I could swim with you," he blurted out suddenly. "I mean, I know I can swim with you, we do it all the time; I just, I mean, I want to swim with you right now and I don't know why but I just can't and it's really frustrating and mmf!"
Makoto found his lips suddenly too preoccupied to continue speaking as Haruka leaned forward, effectively clearing Makoto's mind of thought with his kiss. "It's okay if we can't swim together today," Haruka said evenly, pulling away for a brief moment. "We can do this instead." He kissed him again with more force, shifting onto his knees and framing Makoto's face with both hands as he scooted closer. Makoto groaned, and his hand fell from Haruka's face, clutching at Haruka's thigh as his tongue traced his bottom lip. Makoto's lips parted before he pulled away with a gasp, flushing.
"Haru!" Makoto scolded, scandalized, "W-We're—!" He squeaked as Haruka pushed at his chest, sending him sprawling backwards on the towel. "We're at the beach! People are staring—!"
"Let 'em look," Haruka said shortly, silencing him with a searing kiss, and Makoto's blush intensified to the point where it looked like he was the sunburnt one. For a moment he gave in; his fingers clutched at Haruka's slick shoulders as he leaned over him, distracting him with tantalizing kisses. Makoto could feel his reason slipping away as one of Haruka's hands slid down his cheek, trailing over his bare chest and lower to the waistband of his shorts—
"Ice cream!" Makoto exclaimed suddenly, pushing at Haruka's chest so he could sit up. "You must be really tired from swimming for so long; let's go get some ice cream!" Haruka sighed but allowed himself to be pulled off the towel and towards the food stalls. He couldn't see Makoto's face anymore, but he could see that even the tips of his ears were red. Haruka allowed himself an uncharacteristic smirk. They'd have to try that again sometime soon, in a place Makoto felt more comfortable…his bedroom perhaps…
-((A Few Days Later))-
Haruka looked at the clock on his living room wall. It read 10:29. Finally, he thought, getting up from his seat on the floor in front of the table and heading for the door. Recently, Haruka had taken to being rather…distracting when he and Makoto were studying together, so Makoto had temporarily sent him away tonight so the two could get some real work done. He was allowed to come back at 10:30. And not a minute earlier, Haru!
Haruka sighed as he turned away from his textbooks. He hadn't been able to get anything done for the past hour. Every equation and question had the unique ability to transform into Makoto, it seemed. So much for being productive, he thought ruefully as he walked the short distance to Makoto's house. Makoto's mother didn't even blink when she heard the front door slide open.
"He's upstairs, Haru," she said with a smile and a greeting. "Did you get any studying done?"
"…No," Haruka replied, figuring it was best to be honest. Mrs. Tachibana only laughed and shooed him up the stairs.
Haruka started talking as he pulled open the door. "I hope you got more done than I—" Haruka's mouth snapped shut mid-sentence as he entered the room.
Makoto was gone.
-((To Be Continued!))-
The perfect place to stop, I think ;) Reviews keep me motivated! Also, if I do up the rating, nothing ::heybaby:: will happen until after Makoto isn't possessed anymore because….because. ((if we can free Makoto from his possession of course XP))
Once again, please review!
Thank you for reading!
~freaky-hanyou
