A/N: Hello there! This my first Free! fanfic so I ́m a little bit nervous but I hope you like it!
English is not my first language so I apologize in advance if you find any errors.
The sentences that are between ' ' and are in cursive represent the characters thoughts.
The sentences between " " are what they say aloud.
Disclaimer: I do not own Free or its characters.
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Haru woke up with a headache. It wasn't very common for him to have them, but when he did, they striked with no mercy. The worst one he remembered happened when he was 14 years old while hanging out with Makoto in his house. It was a permanent throb most of the day, but later the pain hit him so hard he ended up curled in the bathroom floor with an anxious olive-brown haired boy towering over him. Makoto probably suffered more than Haruka himself, hating to watch his best friend in pain, but he was able to give him some medicine and put a wet towel on his forehead successfully calming the pounding on Haru ́s head.
He lifted himself from his bed with a pained groan, putting a hand on his temples to try to somehow liberate some of tension there. ́A bath will make it go away ́ he thought as he slowly walked towards his bathroom and began to prepare himself for what he hoped would be a relaxing bath.
10, maybe 15 minutes passed when he heard his doorbell ring. He didn't move from his spot because he already knew who it was and that that person was going to enter by the backdoor of his house that always remained unlocked. He was not wrong. Seconds later Makoto appeared with a tiny "I'm coming in" in his bathroom ́s door wearing his signature smile that could light up a whole room shrouded in darkness.
"Good morning, Haru-chan" - He said as he lended Haru his hand for the other to grab it.
"Stop calling me that" - Haru murmured, grabbing his friend's hand and lifting himself up from the tub. His vision blurred a little as his pounding head tried to accustom to the height difference from being sitting to standing up, but luckily it lasted only a few seconds so he got out just fine.
Makoto, after apologizing for calling him that way, started talking about how they should hurry up or they were going to be late for school, but Haru didn't pay much attention to the brunette; his headache was worse than before and was making everything 100 times harder than it should be.
He lazily walked towards the kitchen but found himself stopped by his giant friend who was suddenly holding his school uniform in his hands.
"I ́m sorry Haru, but you should go and change right now. If you start grilling some mackerell now we won't get to school on time..." - He said as gently grabbed Haru ́s shoulders and turned him around towards his room to make him get changed.
"On the way there I will give you the leftovers of my breakfast, okay?" - Haru shot an irritated look at Makoto, but did as he was told nevertheless, knowing well that Makoto ́s intentions were good.
First a headache and now no mackerell. Great, just great ́, were his thoughts as he finished dressing up. Before heading out he went to the bathroom and took two pills from the bottle he always made sure was stored at the same place, hoping they would help with his head and end his misery.
The two friends walked to school on their typical path by the ocean. While eating some of his friend ́s breakfast and with Makoto ́s voice filling the morning ́s silence, Haru stared at the ocean in awe. His blue orbs reflecting the ocean ́s color sparkled at the thought of going for a swim, and he almost convinced himself that it wasn't necessary to go to school that day; however, he knew it was impossible due to the fact that it was mid september and that it was too chilly yet. The cold autumn wind that hit his face and made his whole body shiver reminded him of that.
"Hey Haru, would it be okay for me to go study at your house after school today?"
The calling of his name snapped Haru out of his thoughts and he turned his head towards Makoto, who was blushing and scraping his neck with his hand, making himself look almost embarrassed by asking something so trivial. Typical Makoto ́ Haru thought as he made an "mhm" sound to let his friend know that it was okay.
"Thank you Haru! Normally I would study at mine but mom told me that Ran and Ren are planning on inviting some friends over after school, so I wouldn't be able to concentrate well if I stayed there."
Haru grimaced. He knew how loud Makoto ́s little brother and sister could be, he didn't want to think how loud it would be if there were more than just two kids playing and screaming around the house. In moments like that he admired Ms. and Mr. Tachibana for their infinite patience and endless kindness that Haruka himself sometimes wished he had.
"I will definitely compensate you! Do you want me to bring you some Mackerell tomorrow? Earlier in your kitchen I saw that you don't have that many left." - Makoto said as he looked down at his friend, knowing that even if Haru wanted to turn his offer down, his love for mackerell was bigger.
And he was not disappointed.
"If you want to" - Was the quiet reply he received and Makoto couldn't help but laugh at it, making Haru pout slightly and turn his face to watch the ocean once again. The rest of their walk was made in comfortable silence.
Even though the fresh air of the ocean and the pills he took relieved some of Haru ́s discomfort, it wasn't enough for him to stop thinking about how much he would like to crawl under his bed sheets and go to sleep for at least 4 hours.
When the first class started he tried hard to focus on what the teacher was saying, and surprisingly found it not as difficult as he thought. However, that didn't last long.
When the third period ended, he was desperate for some relief. Every scrap of a chair against the floor, every question his teacher asked and every answer someone said sent more and more waves of pain to his skull, making him excuse himself repetitively and hurry to the bathroom to wash his face in failed attempts to make the headache tone down a little bit.
Everytime he got back to his designated seat Makoto eyed him worriedly, trying to understand what was wrong with his friend for him to go to the bathroom so much. He tried to talk to him through the day, but Haru was not making eye contact, apparently too focused on his own little world for him to sense his friend's attempt to help.
When lunch time rolled in he could barely keep his eyes open as every single ray of sunshine that hit his eyes would make him grab his head with such force it ended up making everything hurt more. 'This is so much worse than that time 4 years ago', the voice inside his head said, as he slowly walked through the hallway that led him towards the roof were Nagisa, Rei and Makoto were waiting for him (he had told Makoto that he should go up first because he needed to go to the bathroom again).
As he neared the roof he heard Nagisa ́s loud voice, making him groan not for the first time that day because, even if he normally could put up with his friend ́s squeaky and sometimes annoying voice, he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to endure it the whole lunch break.
He inhaled, exhaled and gave himself some time before he opened the roof ́s door and flinched as the sunlight touched his sensitive eyes. When his eyes got used to the light he saw his friends sitting and chatting while they ate their lunches, so he went there and sat down besides Makoto who moved aside to make more space for him. Without a word he opened his bento and started eating his own lunch: mackerel and rice.
"Ehhh?!? Haru-chan is that the only thing you ́re going to eat today?" - Nagisa asked him loudly before taking another bite of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. His question made the other two companions pause their eating and look at his poorly varied food.
Rei adjusted his red glasses, "Haruka senpai, that is not beautiful at all! How do you think your body will react if you continue to eat so badly? You will not have the energy necessary to swim!" - He crossed his arms and before anyone could stop him he started talking about how his lunch was cautiously balanced with the perfect amount of proteins and vegetables.
Haru decided to ignore him and he continued to eat his mackerel until he felt Makoto tilt his body towards him. "Haru, you've been acting weird all day, are you okay? I mean, you have been abnormally quiet today! Do you have a fever?" - He asked as he put his hand on Haru's forehead, but before he could tell if it was fever or not, Haru abruptly turned his head away with a murmured "I ́m fine".
Makoto frowned at this and opened his mouth to complain, but he was interrupted by the bell signaling the end of their lunch break. Haru was the first one to stand up and, without a word, he disappeared inside the building leaving Makoto, Nagisa and Rei looking at each other worriedly; the three of them asking themselves what was wrong with their friend.
The bell rang signaling the end of the school day and Haru sighed relieved. He was finally able to go home and be surrounded by the so much needed peace he had been craving for hours. That day they didn't have swimming practice so he packed his things inside his backpack and started walking out of his classroom only to be stopped by someone calling his name. Oh, that's right. Makoto is here. He stayed in place until he felt the brunette ́s presence besides him, then both of them made their way towards the school exit.
Haru ́s steps were noticeably slower than Makoto's, another sign for the green-eyed boy that something was wrong, but he decided to ignore it for now and ask Haru properly when they arrived home, not wanting to annoy him unnecessarily.
As they started going up the steps that lead to their houses Haru recalled the conversation he had had with Makoto in the morning and the question his friend asked him about going to study at his house. Haru knew that it was too late to tell Makoto that he changed his mind and that he wanted to be left alone, he couldn't do that to him. So he told himself to suck it up and that it wasn't going to be as terrible as he thought.
When they entered his house they took off their shoes and made their way towards the living room where a small table that Haru used to study and sometimes to eat when the kitchen was too much of a mess was installed. While Makoto sat down and started putting his notebooks and pencils on the table Haru went to the bathroom to retrieve two more pills which he swallowed in one go. As he came out of the bathroom he looked longingly at his bed wanting nothing more than to just go there and close his eyes for some time, but he resisted the urge because he couldn't leave Makoto alone after letting him be in his house.
He went downstairs and the sound of pots and plates being moved around reached his pounding head making him rub his temple gently. He was rounding the corner to get to the kitchen when a loud noise echoed through the house making him flinch in both pain and surprise.
He hurriedly went to the kitchen, "Makoto! What happened, what was that?" - He asked as he processed the scene in front of him.
Makoto was standing in the middle of his kitchen with a frying pan in one hand and one plate in the other one while at his feet shards of white ceramic were scattered all around him.
"I- I ́m so sorry Haru! I was just trying to make you something to eat because you don ́t look well and I.. uh I guess I thought I grabbed the plates firmly but one of them slipped and... it broke. I ́m sorry, really" - His friend said as he gently laid the pan and the survivor plate on the table beside him.
He hurriedly got down on his knees and started picking up the bigger pieces from the floor so he could throw them away, but as he stood up he was so focused on his task he didn't realize that the other plate was dangerously near the edge of the table. So when he put his hand on what he thought was the table to support himself he ended up taking the plate down to the floor with another loud crash.
For Haru that was the straw that broke the camel, and before Makoto could understand what was happening Haru grabbed his arm forcefully and took him to his living room.
"H-Haru, oh god I ́m s-"
"Don ́t!" - Haru yelled, interrupting him. "Makoto can you PLEASE be more careful?? I didn't bring you home for you to make a mess and break my stuff! I know sometimes you can be a little clumsy but come on!"
Makoto stared at him wide eyed, never having heard Haru yell at him like that. He knew Haru liked having his own space, having everything placed in a certain way and didn't like it being disturbed, so he understood why his friend was mad at him. That's why he remained silent.
"Look, my head has been killing me the whole day, and I can't say that you here is making it better can I?" - Haru asked ironically as he pointed towards the kitchen, not noticing how his friend ́s body seemed to shrink at that harsh comment. He sighed and closed his eyes for a minute, trying to calm himself before continuing.
"Look just... just try to be a little bit more careful ok? And could you not be so loud while you ́re here? I don ́t mind you studying here, but my headache is really strong today." - He said, almost begging Makoto with his eyes to just say that he would leave him alone and go home, but his friend didn't seem to understand his hint.
"Yeah, okay I'll be qu- Wait. Did you say you have a headache?" - Makoto gasped as he processed his friend ́s words. "Haru why didn't you tell me before! You should be in bed right now, come here I ́ll take you" - And without waiting for a response he gently grabbed Haru ́s hand and led him upstairs, making sure to be extra careful when opening the door as he didn't want to make more unnecessary noise.
Haru stood in the middle of his room while Makoto started undressing him until he was left only with his swim suit on. "Go lay on your bed" - Makoto whispered as he finished folding Haru ́s uniform and putting it on the dresser.
The black haired boy did as he was told and he couldn ́t suppress the sigh of contentment that escaped his mouth as he laid his head on his pillow, savoring the feeling of its softness caressing his head and face. He closed his eyes and seconds later he felt a blanket softly being thrown on top of him.
"Do you have any pain meds?" - Makoto asked him and he almost forgot to answer as sleep was slowly taking control of his subconsciousness, but he managed to respond, "I took two of them in the morning and other two like 15 minutes ago".
Makoto hummed, "So they should be making it ́s effect any minute now, that's good." - He went to the bathroom, filled a tiny bowl with water, grabbed a towel and went back to where his friend was drifting off to sleep. He slowly walked towards the bed and carefully put the bowl in the floor, not wanting to make a mess and disturb the peace Haru needed. He dipped the towel on the bowl and after squeezing it a little bit to eliminate the excess of water he cautiously put it on Haru ́s forehead, hoping that it would help with the pain.
The boy stayed like that looking at his friend for some minutes, smiling softly as Haru made tiny noises in his sleep. He lifted a hand and touched Haru ́s cheek, glad that it wasn ́t hot to the touch. "Apparently it was just a bad headache, nothing to worry about" - He said in a tone that clearly said that he was concerned it was the flu or something worse.
He stood up and left the room, closing the door gently behind him. He made his way towards the kitchen and cringed as his eyes stopped on the broken plates laying on the floor. His face turned red with embarrassment and he covered his eyes. "God I'm a disaster! How could I be so careless and break not one, TWO of Haru ́s plates!" - He said to himself as he shook his head and started cleaning his mess.
After making sure there were no more broken pieces on the floor and throwing them in the trash can, Makoto sighed and looked at his watch which signaled it was 5:23pm. ́Haru ́s been asleep for half an hour now... I will go upstairs in 20 minutes to make sure he's fine ́ He thought as he made his way towards the living room to start doing his homework.
Time passed quite rapidly and before he knew it, it was already 6:40pm. "Gaaah! How did I not notice it was this late!" - Makoto hurriedly stood up and ran upstairs, but before he could reach the second floor he heard a door being opened. He stopped in his tracks and waited there until he saw a figure slowly appearing in the hallway, it was Haru alright. He was wrapped in the blanket Makoto had given him, his hair was pointing everywhere, his face had pillow marks printed on it and he was lazily rubbing one eye with the back of his hand. He looked adorable.
"Makoto?" - He asked in a hoarse voice.
"A-ah, Haru you ́re awake! I was just on my way to check on you... are you ok now?" - The brunette said with a small smile, hoping that Haru was feeling better and that his presence didn't bother his friend.
Haru mumbled something between the lines of "I'm fine, my head is not hurting anymore" as he started going down the stairs. Makoto moved aside to let him pass and then followed him like a lost puppy.
"I ́m so glad you ́re feeling better Haru! But you should still be in bed, what if it's more than just a headache?" - He asked -"I can heat up some of the soup that's in your refrigerator and give it to you... I mean, if it's okay to you for me to do it."
That last comment made Haru stop walking and turn around with a frown. "What? Makoto, you know I don't care if you go to my kitchen, my house is your house after all. Why would you-" He stopped talking as he remembered what happened in the kitchen hours before. ́Wow, did I really yell at him like that? I guess my headache made every little thing feel ten times worse'. He sighed embarrassed and looked at his too tall friend who was watching him with a curious glint in his eyes.
"Makoto, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. Accidents happen, so..." - He tried to express himself, but he was never good when it came to talking to people. "You know how terrible headaches are, and I was very easily irritated... Look what I'm trying to say is-"
"Haru." - Makoto ́s voice interrupted him. He lifted his eyes and saw Makoto looking at him with a wide smile. "I get it Haru, you don't need to explain yourself any further. I ́m still sorry though, I ́m 18 I should know how to be more careful with things."
After hearing that, Haru felt as if he could breathe easily again. His friendship with Makoto was one of those that almost never had any arguments, so when they did fight Haru never liked the feeling. Makoto was a rock that had been in his life since he could remember, a rock where he could lean on and trust that it would never turn against him or abandon him. He smiled as he remembered all those times Makoto would make him company when his parents were away far longer than he was comfortable with and loneliness would start to make its dark appearance. Yeah, he was lucky to have a friend like Makoto.
"Even so, thank you for taking care of me Makoto. Not just today, but my whole life." - Haru said and the smile that appeared in Makoto's face as he heard those words was one that Haru would remember forever, not that he was ever going to tell someone that, no.
"Haruu!!" - Makoto said as he threw himself towards his friend and hugged him with such force Haru started struggling to breathe. When the green-eyed boy realized what he was doing he immediately let go and with worried eyes made sure his friend was alright, his face softening as Haru no longer looked as if he was going to pass out.
"But you know... if you want to you can still repay me one way" - Haru said as his eyes moved briefly towards the kitchen and then settled back on his friend in front of him. Makoto laughed softly and nodded. "Don ́t worry Haru, I will bring some mackerel tomorrow for breakfast okay?"
Haru nodded satisfied and layed on his couch as Makoto went to the kitchen presumably to prepare the soup he had mentioned earlier.
Later that night, Haru lay on his bed and silently thanked his parents for introducing him to their neighbor's kid all those years ago, promising himself that he would never take for granted his big dummy of a friend.
END
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This is it!! Did you like it? Hated it? Please review so I can know what you think! Love you all and I hope you have an amazing christmas if you celebrate it 3