Haru moved through his day listlessly. It felt like he was going through the motions as he got himself dressed, made himself breakfast, packed a lunch and went to work. He checked his papers, swam, ate his lunch, and taught the middle school kids. He put away the equipment and talked to some parents who were curious about their children's progress.

Haru was leaving when Coach Sasabe stopped him. "Yo, Haruka!" he said jovially. "Good job, with the kids today. You heading home?"

"I'm heading to the train station," he replied, unable to prevent the small smile that pulled on his lips.

"Ah, that's right. Makoto's coming home today, right? Say hello to him for me," Sasabe said. Haru nodded and left, walking just a little faster to leave his stuff at home.

Makoto will be here soon, he thought as he walked down his steps. He saw Rin waiting for him at the foot of the steps, leaning on a railing and listening to his music.

"Oh, Haru," Rin said when he noticed Haru standing next to him. He grinned when he saw the sparkle in Haru's eye. "You look excited."

"Do not," he replied, unable to make it sound menacing with his excitement. He tugged on Rin's sleeve to make him hurry up.

Rin laughed. "Jeez, Haru, you're acting like you're five," he teased. "Are you going to tell him?"

Haru paused, and their pace returned to a normal, less excited one. "... I don't know," he said after a while.

Rin sighed. "I think you should," he said. Haru looked up at him. "I... I don't know if I'm a good judge, but I think he misses you, too. He'll hear you out."

"You think so?" Haru asked softly.

"Haru," Rin began. "It's already hard enough to send everyone a mass text everyday, but he made the extra effort to send extra texts to you. Just to you. He replies to us, sure, but if everyone did what you did," he pointed a finger at Haru with an accusatory tone,"and no one made the effort to text him back, Makoto would only be sending extra texts to you."

Haru looked ahead as they walked to the station. "What if it doesn't work?" he said, panicking. "What if I tell him, and he doesn't say anything? What if he laughs? What if-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down, Haru," Rin said, putting his hands on Haru's shoulders. Haru took a deep breath. "Makoto's a considerate guy, there's no way he'd laugh at you. It'll be fine. You don't even have to tell him right away," he continued. "You should tell him during Obon. But you have to tell him before he leaves again. Otherwise it'll be another year of awkward silence from you, and then Makoto really will stop talking to you."

Haru looked down at the pavement as they continued walking to the station. He knew Rin was right. He had to muster up the courage somehow. Somehow, he had to face the Makoto that managed to survive seven months away from Iwatobi, from his family, from his friends.

From Haru.

"Haru-chan! Rin-chan! Over here!" Nagisa waved to them at the entrance of the station. They walked over to him.

"Where's Rei?" Rin asked.

"He went to ask about the train schedule. He'll be back soon," Nagisa said as they walked towards the station.

They saw Rei standing by the platform entrance and they walked in together. "So?" Rin asked. "When's Makoto's train getting here?"

"It should roll into the station in the next ten minutes, so we should just wait for a bit," Rei said as he checked his watch.

The ten minutes ticked by slowly as Haru watched the clock. He would phase in and out of the conversation that was carried on between them, and he bounced his knee, growing more and more impatient.

Nagisa giggled, which caught Haru's attention. "You're really excited to see Mako-chan, aren't you, Haru-chan?" he asked fondly.

"I guess," he said blandly, trying to compose himself by stilling his knee.

"You must really love Mako-chan, don't you?" he continued.

"Wha-," Haru started, before snapping his head in Rin's direction, who held his hands up in defense.

"I'm just surprised as you are! I didn't say anything!" he yelled, anxious.

"Haruka-senpai," Rei began, sitting next to Haru. "We could tell."

Nagisa laughed. "Did you really think we've been friends for this long that we wouldn't be able to tell what was up between you and Mako-chan?" he asked gently.

Haru stared at Nagisa, almost dumbfounded. "How did you know?" he asked quietly.

"Mako-chan asked me one day if there was anything wrong with you," Nagisa said, staring ahead of him, deep in thought. "When I asked him why, he said it was because you hadn't answered any of his texts."

"Nagisa-kun told me and asked me to help him watch you," Rei continued where Nagisa left off. "After you broke up with Rin-san, we both guessed there was something else going on, and that's when we found out. Last night sort of confirmed our suspicions."

Haru looked down, not sure what to say. "... Don't say anything to Makoto," Haru said meekly.

Nagisa smiled brightly at him. "Don't worry, Haru-chan! We won't say anything," he said. Then added, gently, "We support you. We all want you to be happy."

Haru looked around at the faces staring at him, expressions full of support and care. He allowed himself a smile. "Thank you," he said quietly.

Their attention was taken when they felt the wind of an oncoming train, and soon their ears were filled with the sound of wind and screeching brakes. Haru stood up, feeling tense, nervous, anxious, and excited all at the same time.

The train halted and Haru held his breath, searching. Searching for a tall figure with brown hair, broad shoulders and a smile that was warm and gentle and utterly wonderful.

Haru saw him helping an older lady with her luggage as he handed it to someone who was waiting for her. Typical, gentle Makoto behaviour. He had his backpack slung over his shoulder, and he was rolling a small luggage behind him.

Makoto spotted them a little ways away from where he'd gotten off the train and walked towards them, a warm smile spreading across his face at seeing his friends. Haru locked eyes with him, and Haru suddenly forgot how to breathe.

Makoto was in front of him, looking at him the same way he'd always looked at him, with the eyes that haunted his dreams and filled his thoughts, the face that he found himself sketching late at night when he couldn't sleep. The same walk, the same sway of his shoulders. Haru wanted to run to him, feeling his legs twitch, even though he was rooted in place. He wanted to throw his arms around him and tell him how much he missed him, how much he loved him, how much he saw him in crowded places. He wanted to kiss Makoto's mouth, the way he dreamed about at night when he wore his shirt, wanted to take the breath right from his lungs, giving him the breath from his own lungs instead-

"Mako-chan!" Nagisa cried, breaking Haru's thoughts as he broke into a run to meet Makoto. He jumped up, full of exuberance, and gave him a signature tackle hug as Makoto dropped his things to catch him.

"Nagisa! Be careful," he laughed that same laugh that Haru missed so much. "It's nice to see all of you."

"Makoto-senpai! Welcome back!" Rei said, as he went to grab his rolling luggage.

"Nice to see you, Makoto," Rin said, picking up the dropped backpack.

"Thanks, you guys," he said smiling at all of them. His eyes rested on Haru, and a gentler smile touched his eyes. "I'm home, Haru," he said softly.

Haru nearly lost it, his heart ready to burst with emotion as he held back tears. "Welcome home, Makoto," he replied.

They had walked Makoto back to his house, talking and asking him questions. He tried to keep up, answering everything as best as he could. They asked about his clubs, his friends, he had pictures to share, stories to tell and his own questions to ask.

"Haru-chan's working at the swim club," Nagisa said.

"Really? I didn't know that," Makoto said, gazing at the sky. Haru felt a stab of guilt. "I'm glad you're doing well, Haru," he said.

Haru looked at him, before looking away, embarrassed. He could barely deal with himself, now that he had so many emotions in him, all for Makoto, that he could now identify.

They had dinner at Makoto's house, greeted by a very excited Ran and Ren.

"Onii-chan, you have a piercing on your left ear!" Ran exclaimed. Ren's eyes widened, looking scandalized as he took a peak.

"Eh?! Mako-chan, let's see!" Nagisa said, turning Makoto's head. And there it was, a small, silver stud on his left ear lobe. Haru felt strange seeing it.

"Are you a delinquent now, Onii-chan?" Ren asked, worried.

He laughed gently and patted his head. "No, Ren, I'm not. I just... lost a bet," he finished lamely. Ran and Ren were called into the kitchen by his mother, so Nagisa questioned him next.

"What happened Mako-chan?" he asked, excited. "Did you have to do battle? Was it for money?"

Makoto laughed as he pulled up a chair to sit down with everyone. "No, nothing like that. I, uh... The swim team has a traditional race to haze the new members, and I got pretty far, but I lost my second to last race. As a punishment, they drew a lot for me, and I had to get my ear pierced, so here it is," he said, pointing to it.

"Did it hurt?" Rei asked as he looked at it carefully.

"Only a little," Makoto said, leaning over to let Rei see better.

"I didn't think you'd be up for that type of stuff, Makoto," Rin said slyly.

Makoto smiled at him indulgently. "I'm not, really," he said, leaning his elbows on the table. "We didn't know what the punishments were until after we got them, so it was hard to chicken out before participating. I didn't even get the worse punishment."

Rin perked up. "Oh yeah? Who had it worse than you?" he asked, completely interested.

"A guy named Tooru," Makoto thought, remembering the moment with wry amusement. "He had to get a tattoo."

Rin tried to hold in a chuckle. "What kind of tattoo?"

Makoto stared at him dead in the eye. Rin started to shake. "A tramp stamp," Makoto deadpanned. Rin burst into laughter.

After dinner, they moved to Haru's house to hang out more and have a sleep over. They got Makoto to tell them more about his swim team, the people he hung out with, his roommate and what he did in his spare time. He indulged them with everything he could. At some point Rin told Makoto that he and Haru broke up a while ago, and Makoto looked surprised, but told them he was glad they were still friends.

They moved to go to sleep, Makoto a few centimeters away from Haru, lying next to him, between him and Rin. Nagisa promised to bring Makoto to all the new food places he found while he was here, and at Rei's suggestion, the group decided to go to the new waffle place that was in town.

While everyone had fallen asleep, Haru lay awake, staring at Makoto's back. Had it gotten broader? He couldn't tell. He felt a little bittersweet about seeing Makoto, now that the others had asked him enough questions to catch up with him.

Haru wasn't seeing the Makoto that left for Tokyo seven months ago. He was seeing a new Makoto. A Makoto that made new friends, experienced new things. That joined new clubs and stepped out of his comfort zone.

A Makoto that survived seven months without Haru.

And yet he still felt like the same Makoto. The smile, the bright, green eyes, the gentle laughter, the warm voice. The familiar scent of warmth and comfort and the sea and fresh citrus and mint.

Makoto.

Haru wanted to reach across the short expanse of distance between them. He wanted to trail his hands down that broad back, wanted to get Makoto to turn to face him so he could gaze at his face, stare into his eyes as they watched each other. He wanted to hold Makoto's hand as he slept, wanted to lean into his chest to smell him. He wanted to kiss his chest, a gentle press of his lips that would earn him a similarly gentle kiss on the top of his head, as they fell asleep, holding each other.

Haru drifted to the steady, quiet breathing of Makoto deep in sleep, thinking of tomorrow when he could see his smile, hear his laugh, and look into his eyes.