The intrusive sound of the zipper on the tent broke into Makoto's sleep-clogged mind the next morning.

"Onii-chan! Haru-chan! Wake up!" Makoto groaned softly, opening his eyes halfway to cast them back to the opening of the tent where Ren and Ran were peaking through, already dressed and ready to go. Ran giggled at the position the two were in; Makoto's arms were still curled around Haru's chest, his face pressed against the black-haired boy's neck.

"Onii-chan and Haru-chan are so cute!" she giggled, "Come on! Mommy and Daddy say to get up! We're going swimming!" The twins scurried away, still laughing to themselves.

Makoto sighed and nuzzled Haru's neck, "I know you're awake," he said quietly.

"Mm," Haru hummed softly, opening his eyes to turn in Makoto's arms and look up at him, "I want to go swimming. Now." Makoto laughed brightly, his tiredness forgotten. Clearly at the mention of swimming, Haru was ready to get up.

"Alright. Let's get ready then," he said, grunted as he sat up and stretched, yawning once to rid himself of his last bit of sleepiness.

The two of them dressed quickly, especially when Mrs. Tachibana called them out for breakfast. Makoto was starving, and he could tell that Haru had the same ravenous atmosphere around them. To Haru's joy and to his chagrin, Makoto's mother had brought along plenty of mackerel when she knew Haru was coming, and the black-haired boy insisted that everyone ate it.

Makoto knew he'd get sick of it fairly quick if he would be eating it every day for four days, for every meal too. He sighed and ate it nonetheless. It made Haru happy, so it made him happy.

"Hurry up, Onii-chan! We'll leave without you!" Ren called from the edge of the campsite while Makoto hitched his bag onto his shoulders.

"Coming!" He called, looking back over his shoulder to where Haru was getting his bag as well, "Let's go, Haru."

The lake was a public area, connected to a boardwalk. Several people had houses along the shore and part of it was sectioned off for swimming. It was also a thirty-minute walk from the campsite. There was another, smaller lake near by, but it was secluded and didn't get much sunlight.

No one minded the walk much until about fifteen minutes in when the twins started whining that their feet hurt and started begging Makoto and Haru to carry them.

"You have to walk, okay?" Makoto instructed, "If you can make it, which I know you can," he teased, "I'll buy you an ice cream after lunch, okay?" That got the twins to brighten up immediately and they actually ran ahead of Makoto and Haru in some new rush of energy. Makoto laughed brightly when they ran ahead and he looked down at Haru, giving him a smile.

"You spoil them too much," Haru said.

"What? I do not!" Makoto protested, giving Haru a pout, "They would love me even if I didn't give them treats."

"You do," Haru shot back, his eyes trained ahead.

"Yes, well," Makoto sighed, "Only one more year before we go off to university somewhere, you know? I want to make sure we have a lot of fun before they get older." Haru blinked up at him, noting his melancholy tone. He reached out and took Makoto's hand in his own, giving it a squeeze.

"We?" he echoed several minutes later as they continued along the trail, turning his gaze up to Makoto.

"We what?"

"You said we would be going to university," he mumbled.

"Well, I thought we were. Together," Makoto said, smiling at him, "Regardless of what school, as long as I'm with you, Haru, I'll be fine." Haru stopped walking, staring at him with a slightly baffled look on his face before he continued moving again.

"Idiot," he said, though there was no malice behind the words, only a small smile on his face. Makoto laughed again, squeezing Haru's hand and saying nothing, knowing there was no need for more words.

As soon as Haruka saw the lake, his clothes were in a heap on the sand and he was dashing towards the water, ignoring Makoto's protests. Makoto sighed, watching the twins follow Haru, yelling happily for him to wait up. He smiled warmly as he picked up Haru's clothes off the sand and tucked them away in his bag where they wouldn't get sandy.

"Onii-chan! Come on!" He heard the shrill cry of one of the twins and he stripped off his clothes, stowing them away before he quickly dashed to the shore, hearing his parent telling him to keep an eye on the twins in the background.

Makoto found himself quickly giving most of his attention to the twins, not that Haruka minded. The black haired teen was floating on the surface, enjoying the clear lake water and Makoto smiled at the serene look on his face.

Haru eventually joined in the splash fights against the twins when the twins dragged Makoto under water far too long for his liking. After scolding them lightly, Haru joined Ren in a battle against Makoto and Ran.

"Hey! Ran! You splashed my eyes on purpose!" Ren cried out, turning into Haru to wrap his arms around the swimmer's waist.

"I did not! Don't hog, Haru-chan!" Ran yelled, slapping her hands onto the water in indignation.

"Hey, hey, calm down," Makoto said, patting Ran's head gently, "Maybe you two are a little overheated. Why don't you go sit in the shade with mom and dad, alright? You to, Ren," he said gently. Ren turned watery brown eyes onto him and gave a reluctant nod, as did Ran, "Come on. I'll walk you two over there," he said, taking their hands into his, "Be right back, Haru."

"Sorry, Onii-chan," Ren mumbled as Makoto walked them back through the water to the sand.

"Me too, Onii-chan," Ran said. Makoto smiled gently and gave each of their hands a squeeze.

"It's alright. Why don't you try not to fight a lot, okay? You want to make this a great camping trip for Haru, right?"

"Yes!" Ran said immediately and Ren nodded frantically, "And for you too, Onii-chan!"

"Me?"

"Yeah!" Ren chirped, "Onii-chan, you want to spend lots of time with Haru-chan, right?"

"Right. Of course I do," Makoto smiled gently, their feet hitting the sandy shore as they walked towards the shade where their parents were sitting.

"Okay, Onii-chan. Then you should go places with Haru-chan and we'll go places will Mommy and Daddy!" Ran suggested, her smile wide, and Ren nodded enthusiastically.

"Wh-what? But this is our family camping trip," Makoto protested, slowing his walk to a halt to look down at his siblings with a confused expression.

"Yeah, but we'll have a lot more! And you should make Haru-chan feel really special on this one. Haru-chan is part of the family after all!" Ren said, bouncing excitedly on the balls of his feet, "Please, Onii-chan? For Haru-chan?" Makoto sighed and smiled gently, gratefully down at the twins and he nodded.

"Okay. I'll make this the best trip Haru has ever been on, okay? But if you want us to come hiking with you or-"

"No, Onii-chan," Ran huffed, giving him a look, "Go with Haru-chan. Don't wimp out."

"I wouldn't wimp out!" Makoto sputtered, resuming the walk over to the shade.

"Yes you would," Ren giggled, letting go of Makoto's hand to run ahead to their parents, flopping onto his mother's lap. Makoto stopped walking and looked down at Ran, expecting her to run ahead too.

"Ren is silly," Ran huffed, "He doesn't understand," he sighed.

"Understand?" Makoto asked, a confused tone lacing his voice.

"Understand that you'd never let Haru-chan down of course," Ran said, grinning up at him before she squeezed his hand and dashed after Ren.

Makoto chuckled softly and turned back the other way towards the lake once more. How his siblings could be so profound sometimes and so childish others, he had no idea.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Haru," he said with a smile as he approached the still floating teen. To his surprise, Haru actually stopped floating and came over to him, standing the waist deep water to look up at him before his face broke into a small smile. Haru reached out and took Makoto's hand in his, his wet palm squeezing Makoto's.

"Let's go swim now, Makoto."

After spending all day until the sun was starting to set in the water with Haruka, Makoto was exhausted in a good way, but absolutely starving. Fortunately for him, Haru was feeling the same way and he actually headed out of the water first.

At Ren and Ran's prompting, they had made Mr. and Mrs. Tachibana take them back to the camp site and leave Makoto and Haru alone for the evening until it got too late and they had to head back.

They quickly toweled off and put their clothes back on over their wet swimsuits before Haru came over and took Makoto's hand.

"I know you're hungry, Haru," Makoto smiled, "Come on. Let's get something to eat."

The two of them took their backpacks and walked, hand in hand, to the boardwalk where a few restaurants were still open and relatively empty. Haru stopped them walking when he saw a brightly lit barbecue place and he looked up at Makoto for his approval.

"You want barbecue, Haru?" Makoto asked, a puzzled look coming over his face. He had figured Haru would want some sort of fish, but he wasn't protesting. He himself enjoyed barbecue for time to time, and if Haru wanted it then there was no refusing.

Dinner was good, almost too good, and it was a trial for Makoto to make himself walk back to where they were camping, but Haru had basically tugged him along when he started to slow down.

"Wha- Haru! Let's just, slow down, okay?" he suggested, coming to a stop to look down at Haru with a smile, "We don't want to rush. Let's just go slow." Haru agreed and they slowed, walking in step with each other, clasped hands swinging absently in between their bodies.

"Did you have fun today, Haru?" Makoto broke the silence, looking down at the other boy with expectant eyes. He hoped Haru had had fun. The entire point of inviting Haru along was so that he wasn't lonely and so he could actually have an enjoyable vacation, "I'm sorry if the twins got a little rambunctious. You know how they get when you're around," he laughed lightly.

Haruka was quiet for a few moments as they kept walking, but he nodded eventually, "Yeah. I had a lot of fun," he murmured, "Thank you, Makoto," he said, giving Makoto's hand a squeeze, his blue eyes moving up to look into Makoto's eyes.

"You don't have to thank me, Haru," Makoto said. His smile widening and his eyes shining lightly, "I should be thanking you. I'm so happy you're here with me. And I promise that I-"

His words were cut off by Haru's lips pressing against his own, effectively stopping him from talking. He easily gave in, moving his lips sweetly against Haru's, turning his head into a less awkward angle and pulling Haru close to him in a warm embrace. He briefly thought about how dorky and clichéd this was, kissing in the woods at night, but he didn't care. All he was focused on was the soft press of Haru's lips against his own and the warmth radiating up his arms as he held him.

"You talk to much, Makoto," Haru breathed softly when they broke the kiss, his lips still only millimeters away from Makoto's, "You don't have to thank me."

"Y-yeah. I suppose I don't," Makoto laughed sheepishly, "But, on the other hand, if you're going to shut me up like that every time then maybe I should keep talking," he grinned teasingly. Haru rolled his eyes good-naturedly and gave Makoto's hand a tug.

"Come on. I'm tired. Let's finish heading back," he suggested and Makoto agreed, knowing he was exhausted as well.

Notes:

Yippee chapter 2~

These chapters will be relatively short. I feel like drawing out fluff too much just kills it.

Thanks for reading and commenting! uwu

Stay tuned!