Ali sanpei: Thank you very much for waiting~
Nayomi-Kiiroibara: How close you are to the truth, my child, how close~
Abiding Angel: Lies, lies everywhere, but which words are lies, which are truths, and which are half-truths? DUDE HAVE YOU LISTENED TO THE NEW DRAMA CD WITH KISUMI GAWD I FEEL SO SORRY FOR HIM XD He's so bright and cheerful but apparently he's fodder for making Haruka jealous.
Chiisaiuki: CLIFFHANGERS ARE MY SPECIALTY MWAHAHAHAHAH!
A: Indeed, I am acknowledged to be a sadist by many of my peers, both internet and reality.
WolfPacFaan: MAKOTO IS A HORRIBLE SHIT IN THIS STORY FOR SO MANY REASONS AND YET AND YET. Well, I can do a slap thing.
NyxLied: Who says that Makoto's mission was for naught? Who said that was his mission at all? LOL.
LazyBum00: Well, hello! Sorry for ruining your life, LOL.
Guest: This seems to be a theme with the majority of the chapters in this story, LOL.
Haruko: AHAHAHA MAKOTO'S HAREM OH GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE I'VE RUINED YOUR CHARACTER MY ANGEL.
nemuicchi: This is... really not soon :P
I do not own Free! Iwatobi Swim Club or any of the characters in it.
It's been longer than two weeks. ... dammit.
"Rin-kun!" gasped Lord Tachibana as he lowered the knife in astonishment. "You shouldn't be in here!"
Rin did not hear him, his eyes fixed solely on the seemingly limp forms of his disappeared friend's mother and siblings lying on the ground. A lit lantern sat on the floor next to their murderer. A harsh smell hit his nose and he recognized it right away.
"... Oil?"
"Rin-kun, you need to leave," Lord Tachibana tried to step closer to him but Rin, terrified, took several steps back.
"You killed them," he said, his voice hollow. "You killed – "
"I didn't," Lord Tachibana whispered, his kind eyes brimming with tears. "Rin, oh Rin, I wish you hadn't come. You weren't supposed to see this until..."
"Until WHAT?!" Rin shrieked. "Until you were a corpse too?!" he flew forwards and beat Lord Tachibana with his childish fists.
"No! Wait, Rin-kun! Don't – "
"Rin-kun! Stop!"
Rin froze in shock. From the supposedly dead body of Lady Tachibana, her voice rang out clearly.
"A-Auntie...?" Rin whispered, lips quivering. He watched in both horror and amazement as Lady Tachibana rose from the dead, her lovely face covered in blood.
Rin opened his mouth to scream, but she held up a hand. "Wait!" she cried. "I'm alive! Really! It's fake blood!"
Rin almost gagged form his voice becoming caught in his throat. "I – what – WHAT'S GOING ON?!" he finally screamed in frustration. "I don't understand!"
Lord and Lady Tachibana exchanged looks and the former knelt down on one knee to speak quietly and quickly to his young friend.
"Rin, as you know, Makoto was taken away from us a long time ago. We've tried to adapt to a life without him, but," he smiled sadly, "it's impossible. We want our boy back."
"That's why we're doing this," Lady Tachibana interjected. "We're staging our deaths."
"By turning Uncle into a homicidal-pyromaniac?!"
"Some sacrifices are necessary," Lord Tachibana put down the knife on the ground and took Rin's small hands into his own. Rin could feel the calluses on his fingers and palms. "But don't worry; it not our lives that we're sacrificing."
"Just our way of life," added Lady Tachibana. "By dissolving the Tachibana family, we will be able to move undetected by the people who took Makoto away. Then, perhaps, we will be able to find him. We'll change our names, lives, and faces if we have to, for the sake of getting our baby boy back..."
"What about the twins?" Rin asked, taking in the limp forms of Ran and Ren, both of whom had not moved an inch since the beginning of the conversation. "Are they...?"
"Of course not," their mother flipped them onto their backs so that Rin could see their sleeping faces. "We gave them a little something to keep them still. It'll wear off in a few hours."
Rin let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding. "But then you'd set fire to the room...?"
"There's a secret entrance built in behind the bookshelf over there," Lord Tachibana pointed to a bookcase by the window. "We've also prepared fake bodies so that we don't just disappear into thin air."
"Is that what you were doing in your, uh, 'study'?"
"Having a little knowledge of alchemy and science goes a long way," for the first time a little twinkle of humor sparked in Lord Tachibana's kindly eyes. "There's no time left. Hurry and get out the room, Rin. We need to complete the plan."
"You cannot tell anyone, Rin-kun," Lady Tachibana's eyes were pleading. "Please."
"I won't," Rin nodded quickly, taking a step backwards. "I swear – "
Rin suddenly fell backwards as he tripped over something. There was a soft tinkling sound of glass breaking.
The lantern.
The lit lantern.
Suddenly fire spread through the room faster than anyone could blink. The oil spread through the carpet of the room alit easily and raced its way around, tongues of flame licking at the wooden furniture. Lady Tachibana shrieked in alarm and gathered her babies to her breast to protect them. Lord Tachibana gave a loud howl of pain – one of his feet was engulfed in flame.
"UNCLE!" Rin screamed and moved forward to put the flame out. However, he was instead grabbed by the middle and the next thing he knew, Lord Tachibana had flung him across the room in an miraculous show of strength. He landed hard by the study door, safe from the fire.
"Go Rin!" Lord Tachibana bellowed. "Leave and don't look back!" he gave another cry of agony as the flame climbed higher up his leg.
"But – "
"GO!"
Rin ran. He ran and didn't look back, sobbing as he dashed for the kitchens below and escaped through a ground floor window. Parts of his skin hurt and he realized that some of his skin had blistered and cracked from the heat. He collapsed in a pile of relief outside on the cool dewy grass, watching as the house was slowly swallowed by the monster of fire.
.
.
.
"I never told anyone," Rin whispered quietly. "I was afraid for what would happen to me, to my family if word got out. The young head of a powerful company screwed up and killed four people... I'm sorry, Makoto. I wish I could have told you sooner."
Makoto had been very quiet throughout the story, stroking the neck of Rin's horse with a contemplative look on his face. He did not look at Rin, nor did he say a word.
"But I'm ready now," Rin added. His hand slipped beneath his clothes and he pulled out a silver knife inscribed with his family's symbol. "Hit me, stab me, do whatever you like. But don't hurt Haru. Haru didn't kill your family; I did. So..."
Makoto had looked surprised when Rin pulled out the knife, but he looked downright bewildered as Rin mentioned Haruka's name. Rin watched his shoulders begin to shake and he wondered if Makoto would really kill him then and there.
Instead he did something completely unexpected.
He laughed.
Tachibana Makoto laughed, doubling over and slapping his knee as tears of pure mirth ran down his eyes. The horse whinnied in surprise and reared back on its hind legs in alarm. Even so, Makoto kept laughing until he could no longer stand, instead opting to fall on to the ground and roll around merrily in the dirt.
"Ma... koto...?"
Rin's confused and quite possibly terrified voice wormed its way through Makoto's consciousness and he finally sat up to wipe away the tears.
"Oh. Oh wow," he breathed, face flushed from exertion. "I haven't laughed like this for a long time."
He picked himself off the ground and brushed away the excess dust from his clothes. He was still smiling – wait a minute – smirking. He was smirking at Rin.
"What's so funny?" Rin asked, feeling nettled. He had just explained the biggest secret of his life only to be laughed at. Now he was being smirked at, by a victim of his misdeeds no less.
"Oh Rin. Rin, Rin, Rin." Makoto shook his head. "I think you're misunderstanding something. Kill Master Haruka? Why on earth would I do that?"
"Isn't that what you're going to do?" Rin demanded. "I mean, indirectly it's Haru's fault that your family went into debt..."
"But you thought that the reason I'm here is for a personal vendetta?" Makoto shook his again, little childish giggles escaping his lips. "Oh Rin, I've never been doing this for myself."
"What?" floored, Rin squinted sideways at his friend. "... Then what are you doing it for?"
"Everything," the brunette's voice suddenly went soft and sweet. A look of such longing filled his eyes that it would make anyone's heart ache at the sight. "Everything I have done, everything I will do, everything... Everything is for the sake of being reunited with my true Master," the green in his eyes was practically glowing. "For that purpose, I have already sacrificed everything..."
"Makoto, you're scaring me..."
"You should be scared," Makoto stepped closer to Rin, and suddenly the redhead felt very, very small in comparison. The brunette leaned closer and whispered into his ear, "Hasn't the Baron already gotten his claws in you...?"
Rin gasped and stepped back, backhanding Makoto's cheek in the process. "You bastard," he hissed. "You knew!"
"Of course I did. He used to be one of my subordinates," Makoto absently rubbed at the purpling bruise on his face. "At least until he started to make a name for himself. I'm quite proud of him, really."
"But you didn't tell me!"
"Why would I? As I said, he used to be one of my subordinates," Makoto shrugged lightly. "This is his first big job within the organization. I want him to succeed for my sake too."
The redhead was caught in between screaming at the top of his lungs or just punching Makoto in the face. What had happened to his friend? He had never been a person to do such terrible things. And his anger at Haruka, which Rin truly believed that he had, was misplaced! Because, because...!
"... fault..."
"Rin?"
Rin stepped forward and seized Makoto but the collar, nearly knocking the other backwards. "It was your fault!" he exploded, albeit quietly. "The reason that accident happened to Haru in the first place, it was your fault...!"
Makoto gave him a crooked smile. "Didn't you say something completely opposite when we were children? Or are you finally speaking your true thoughts?"
"Shut up! If you hadn't dropped that thing in the river and tried to get it back, Haru would have never lost his memories!"
"..." Makoto chuckled and gripped Rin's wrist holding his shirt with bruising strength. The shorter man cringed and released him. Makoto, however, did not relent.
"Very well," he said softly. "I'll give you that. But Master Haruka had faults of his own in the past. Some of which are more dire than others, and he needs to pay for them."
"Like what?!" Rin snapped.
"That boy that he rescued from drowning..."
Rin paused, before squinting his red eyes in concentration. "... Oh, the one where he rescued somebody? What about it? That's more a heroic than a fault."
"Were you there to see it?"
"No. He told me about it afterwards."
"So you didn't see?"
"That's what I just said!" Rin looked more irritated than ever, and that was saying quite a bit. "So?"
"Master Haruka said that he 'rescued' the boy," Makoto tilted his head childishly and tapped a finger to his chin in fake contemplation.
"Yeah."
"But did he say if the boy survived?"
Rin pulled up short and gaped at Makoto momentarily. "'Rescued' means 'survival', doesn't it?" Rin demanded, though his face was troubled.
"'Rescued' implies 'survival'," Makoto corrected. "You can certainly rescue a body, though whether or not it lives afterwards is a different matter."
"You're full of shit," Rin immediately said, mind automatically blocking out everything that Makoto just said. Denial was always easier.
"Whatever you say, Rin," Makoto replied, his voice suddenly becoming disinterested as his attention turned back to Rin's steed. "What do you say we get your horse some more sugar cubes and maybe a carrot?"
"Yeah, sure. Whatever."
.
.
.
Haruka awoke to an empty bed and cold sheets wrapped around his naked form. Makoto's spot next to him was empty.
He shifted slightly and winced as he felt he a sharp pain lance up his spine. Something cool was trickling down his thigh, leaving behind a slimy feeling. He shuddered and pulled away the sheets from his legs.
His hand shot to his mouth and he choked back his stomach contents as all he saw were crimson flowers, peppering his sheets, his tossed-away clothes, and trickling down his legs.
Blood. So much blood. Was there always supposed to be so much blood? If they did more things like this in the future, would everything always be stained in dark red blossoms? A wry smile pulled at Haruka's lips; he was already thinking of next time. Because despite the roughness that he had been treated with, Makoto's touch had set his skin aflame and awakened his desirous side. There was a new feeling there too... A fullness even though Makoto was no longer inside him. He was confidence, he realized. Confidence that Makoto he and Makoto shared a mutual love, confidence that Makoto would stay by his side.
As for the injury scar... well, everyone had something that they didn't want to talk about. Himself included. He should apologize to Makoto the next time he saw him.
(Before, Haruka might have raged at him, sulked, and then ignored him. However, it was already too late. Already he had not noticed of how deeply Makoto had gotten under his skin, and how far he was willing to forgive him for.)
.
.
.
"Rin? You're here?"
"Hey Haru – Are you naked under that?" Rin's eyes immediately zoomed to the blanket encircling Haruka's form.
"Pervert," was Haruka's simple reply before plopping himself down next to Rin on the couch. Why Rin was in one of the guest rooms was something that he didn't know about and at the same time, didn't care. He had only discovered him because the door was open. "Have you seen Makoto anywhere?"
"Wouldn't you know better than me?" Haruka's pointed stare made him relent. "Okay, fine. He's getting me some breakfast. It's early morning, you know."
"Hmm," Rin noticed that the moment he mentioned where Makoto was, Haruka's eyes had become disinterested.
In the topic...? Or no, in me? Because I've already told him what he wanted to know, he's completely disregarding me. Rin frowned. The last time he had seen Haruka, he hadn't been this deeply attached to Makoto to the point of ignoring his other friends. Just what had the brunette done to their childhood friend?
"Haru, could I ask you something?"
"Mm?" Haruka's eyes, still completely disinterested in his presence, made him flinch backwards. "What is it?"
"Uh, well..." how to bring up a topic that Haruka was sure to avoid talking about? "You know, all those years ago when you rescued that kid from drowning?"
"What about it?" the dark-haired teen turned his head to gaze steadily at red eyes. At least he was paying some attention now.
"That kid... do you remember what he was like?"
"No," Haruka turned away, his blue eyes glinting an icy light. "Is it important?"
"... Maybe," Rin tried to discern something from Haruka's body language, but it was too well hidden by the sheet draped around him. "It's just that you never told me something about the kid that you rescued..."
"Then spit it out," Haruka's eyes were trained on the door, waiting for Makoto to come.
"... Did the kid live afterwards?"
Now Rin had Haruka's full attention. The blue-eyed young master turned his face back towards Rin, his expression unreadable. "... Yes. Of course he did. Why would you ask that?"
Rin stared at him, only the long years of being Haruka's best friend helped him discern the minor differences on his sculpted face. His mouth was pulled down slightly on the edges, and his brows were just barely furrowed.
He's confused, Rin affirmed to himself, and that means that he's telling the truth. Or... he's at least telling what he thinks is the truth? Rin's own brow furrowed and he rested his hands in his lap as he contemplated. But maybe he doesn't know if that slave kid lived or not. Maybe he just assumed that he survived like I did when I first heard the story.
But in that case, did Makoto misunderstand? It's not Haruka's fault that he doesn't know about the kid...
Rin's fists clenched in his lap as he came a to another horrifying possibility. Or did Makoto lie to confuse me?! To get me off the topic of killing Haru—!
The door swung open and Makoto stepped in with a trolley of food. "I'm back! Oh, Master Haruka. You were awake? You should have called for me," was it just Rin, or did Makoto's bright smile towards his master look more like a leer? It was really too weird, for Makoto to be ignoring him when he just explained how he had killed his family...!
"Makoto," Haruka's eyes were suddenly glowing a brilliant azure as his hand went to grasp at Makoto's shirt. "Makoto."
"Hmm...?" Makoto gently grasped Haruka's hand in his own squeezed it. "What is it?"
Haruka's cheeks turned uncharacteristically pink and he turned his eyes towards the floor, suddenly shy. "N-Never mind..."
Oh god, Rin pulled a face. If the mystery didn't kill him, the sexual tension would. He felt like he was choking on the pheromones that both of his childhood friends were emitting. Get me out of here!
Instead he let out a soft cough to remind them of his presence and the two broke apart like a dropped teacup. "My apologies, Master Rin," Makoto coughed in his own fist out of embarrassment. "Would you like tea? Or coffee?"
"Black coffee. And that orange Danish," the redhead ordered sullenly. Makoto handed over the food before turning his attention back to Haruka. His eyes softened and his smile seemed to become more real.
"And you, Master Haruka? We have chrysanthemum tea..."
"Yeah..."
"And for breakfast?"
"... I'm not hungry..."
Rin nearly choked on his coffee and was barely able to avoid spewing it all over himself by forcibly swallowing down the boiling liquid. What was this, a romance novel? No, even romance novels weren't as nauseating as watching Haruka and Makoto make googly-eyes at each other.
But Makoto seriously doesn't look as angry as I thought he would... was it my imagination?
... Or has he just gotten better at hiding it?
.
.
.
Makoto smiled blandly at Rin as he handed the horse reins to him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Haruka watching them from an upstairs window. "I'm sure that your servants are worried about you," Makoto said. "You should hurry home."
"... Makoto, what are you planning?" Rin finally asked, fed up with the thoughts that had been swirling madly through his head all afternoon. "I can't leave here without knowing what you're up to...!"
The brunette tilted his head so that his bangs covered one green eye, while the other twinkled brightly from the shadow of it. "Why don't you ask Nitori-kun? I'm sure he can tell you."
"Nitori won't tell me anything! Besides, I want to hear the truth from you. You're a trusted friend that I've known for so long..."
"We've been separated for such a long time and yet you still trust me?" Makoto gave a soft chuckle. "You really are very kind, Master Rin."
Rin bristled at the title. "Don't call me that! Don't call me master...!"
"Yes, yes. Saddle up, please," Makoto gestured to the horse. "Or if it's too difficult, should I help you?" he proposed an intentional challenge. Rin bristled yet again and easily climbed his horse and swung a leg over it.
"I can get on just fine!" he paused as he realized the trick too late. "Wait a minute..."
"Rin," Makoto interjected with a quieter, suddenly solemn tone, "if you want the truth, try asking Yamazaki-kun."
"Wha – "
Makoto gave his horse a fine slap on its rump and it reared up to whinny with surprise before it charged ahead, leaving the Nanase property. Rin hung on for dear life and turned back to see Makoto with his trademark smile, waving casually as if he didn't let slip crucial information.
Sousuke? What does Sousuke know? Don't tell me...
He's involved in this too?!
.
.
.
Haruka, now fully dressed in a casual white button-up and black trousers, crossed his legs, uncrossed them, then re-crossed them as he fought for a casual position to sit in. Makoto didn't see him at the window, did he? The moment Rin had left and Makoto had turned around to go back into the house, Haruka had dashed away from the window and was now trying to appear as if he hadn't left the couch. He felt jittery, like his insides were trying to rearrange themselves, and found it difficult to sit still. His backside was still sore from last night's rough treatment... Why wasn't Makoto back yet?
A small voice that was drowned out by the jitters tried to ask why he was so nervous, wanting, desperate for Makoto. He was not behaving as his usual self, as if something from last night had invaded his mind and now made it impossible to breathe without the brunette by his side. Was this what love did to a person?
Makoto walked back into the room and the small voice was no more than an annoying buzz. "I apologize, Master Haruka. Did I keep you waiting long?" he asked. Haruka shook his head mutely and patted the spot next to him. "Hm? You want me to sit?"
Again, Haruka only expressed his thoughts with a jerky motion of his head. Makoto sat down and smiled at him. "Hmm?"
Haruka was suddenly very aware that they were completely alone. Blood rushed to his cheeks. God, what was wrong with him? Was love always like this? Did it make a person feel like they were going to go crazy? He shifted closer and leaned his head on Makoto's shoulder.
"Master Haruka?"
Tongue-tied as he was, he had to say something. "... Don't move," he flinched. Why did his voice have to crack at the end there? Did Makoto think that there was something strange about him? Who was he kidding? There was something strange about him.
"As you wish," he felt warmth breath in his hair. An arm came to wrap around his shoulders and pull him closer so that they were pressed together. "Is this more comfortable for you?"
Oh, the body contact made Haruka irritated at himself for how much it affected him. Why did he have to be so very aware that Makoto's muscles were firm and smooth to touch and how he remembered them naked and delectable? He wondered if any of this was showing on his face. He hoped not.
"... Master Haruka, your face is a little scary..."
"Eh?"
"Your brow is furrowed and you look like you're glaring at something? I know that you're not actually angry though," Makoto lightly tapped the crease in his forehead and it smoothed out under his fingertips. "Is there something that you're worried about?"
Your warmth is killing me with sweetness, Haruka thought privately. "It's nothing," he said instead, trying to keep his face and voice as monotone as possible.
"Is that so?" he felt Makoto smile in his hair but he didn't know what the smile was directed at. He curled up closer to him and felt the warmth embrace him fully.
How bothersome, Makoto thought in the deepest recesses of his mind. The deadline is approaching so our time together is nearly at an end.
He heard his master's breathing slowly even out; he had fallen asleep. Makoto shook his head and tried to move away without disturbing him. Haruka clung tightly to his shirt and refused to let go, even in unconsciousness. Makoto sighed again and looked at Haruka with something akin to pity.
"I'm sorry," he murmured. "To the current Master Haruka who is completely unguarded towards me... I'm so sorry."
The horrors would soon begin, as they had for him seven years ago.
Whether Haruka would survive or not... well, whatever happened would be inevitable.
Six more days...
And so the countdown begins...
The next couple chapters will be a little shorter since they will be representative of 'days'.