Thank you for leaving your lovely reviews, putting this story to fave and/or following this story!
They really encouraged me! I was so happy to know you enjoyed this story so far! Just like the title may have indicated, this chapter is an interlude, between the battle and Haru's first day of school.

I hope you will enjoy this chapter. ^^

Chapter 7

An Interlude, a Secret

:-:

"Good morning! This is Ryuugazaki Rei. Get up and be properly ready for the day. Today is beautiful!"

"Good morning! I am Hazuki Nagisa. I'll bring fresh morning breeze for you! If you won't get up, I'll go in and sleep with you! Just kidding."

"Good morning! This is Tachibana Makoto. Um... I hope you will spare your time to visit the garden and enjoy the scents and beauty of the flowers—oh, it's also a great place for meditation before you start your day. But remember, don't be late, okay?"

"Good morning. Matsuoka Rin here. Get up already. The morning sun is good for your health so yeah, go outside and drench yourself with sunshine. Go for a morning run for best results. If you're able to see the sunrise, that's much better."

"Good morning. Yamazaki Sousuke here. If the morning turns out to be cold for you, go heat yourself with exercises, rather than covering yourself with a blanket."

Nanase Haruka felt like his eyes had been frozen shut, and he made no attempt to break the invisible ice, giving in to his own sleepiness. Voices that seemed to come out of the radio kept insisting to pull him awake. They never stopped, the sentences were repeated several times that they annoyed Haruka.

"Good morning! This is Tachibana Makoto—"

"Makoto you're loud." Haruka mumbled, hand stretched out to the end table near him. His fingers found something solid that was buzzing a little as it produced the voices. Recognizing that it was some sort of an alarm clock, Haruka tried to turn it off. Yet, his sleepy hand bumped into it harder than necessary until the clock fell off the table and crashed on the floor.

"No! My beautiful creation!" Rei's loud voice rang through Haruka's ears. Finally snapping his eyes open, Haruka let out a small yawn and slowly sat on his bed. He turned his head to the side and found Rei, who was still lying on his bed, trying to reach the alarm on the floor with extended hand.

Haruka scooted closer to the gap between their beds, reaching for said alarm and handing it to Rei. It was a digital alarm clock framed by different kinds of animals huddling together. Most of them are marine animals, with an exception of a butterfly, who seemed to be out of place.

Butterfly, penguin, killer whale, shark, and whale shark.

Although Haruka was silently wondering about the choices of animals, he didn't bother to ask Rei. The alarm clock told him it was already 6.40 A.M. Then again, if he was not mistaken, today was weekend. Not that Haruka had any obligation to do on normal days now.

After his battle with Makoto, Haruka was required to attend more entrance exams for many days to come. Haruka felt a little bit betrayed, considering Makoto had welcomed him as if he'd passed all the exams, but as Akihiko had said, they were definitely easier. He had to show pretty much everything he could do in front of some of the teachers. He also had to answer some paper-based personality questions, a little Math and English, IQ test and such. He silently prayed to whatever transcendent being out there so everything would go smoothly. He had a huge problem with English and he hoped it wouldn't cause him to get kicked out of school.

Following all the fuss about the exams, a couple of days off were given. Rei had promised him a little tour of the school on weekend, when he was free of any school obligation. Haruka spent his free days in the bathtub and sleeping. He didn't realize how exhausted he was until he threw his body on the bed. Sometimes he would wander around the school, taking a good look at its garden and the gym. He was delighted when he discovered a swimming pool inside the gym. Without thinking, Haruka stripped off his clothes and revealed his favorite black and purple jammers before jumping to the pool.

It was Makoto who found Haruka in the pool. Makoto let out a deep sigh, lecturing him about how appropriate it would be if he used the school's facility with permission. Yet, a smile immediately followed after, and Makoto stretched his hand toward Haruka in the pool. Haruka stared at the hand before he silently took it, letting Makoto pulled him out. Makoto's hand felt warm and comfortable, though.

That was yesterday.

Today was weekend, and if everything went as planned, then Rei had to take him around. The blue-haired teen adjusted his glasses as he examined the alarm clock in his hand. "Thank the spirit. It isn't broken." Rei smiled in satisfaction. "Do you like the voices, Nanase-senpai? Soon I will add your spirit animal and your voice inside, too. Tell me when you're ready to get recorded. Say a nice 'good morning' message and it'll be done."

"Good morning," Haruka started to say, "This is Nanase Haruka."

"Wait! I haven't prepared the recorder—"

"Get up. That's it." The blue-eyed teen ended his message.

"T-that's it? Not so beautiful, Nanase-senpai."

"You haven't recorded it, right? So no problem." Haruka stood up from his bed and made his way to the bathroom.

"Nanase-senpai, I'm sorry if it's too sudden, but tonight, Makoto-senpai requires you to come to the front garden at 7 P.M." Rei informed him as they walked around the empty corridors of the school. The corridors looked normal enough—modern, wide with glass windows at one side of the corridor. The floor consisted of tiles with diamond-shaped design.

"What for?"

"I honestly don't know. Makoto-senpai can be a bit strict, so if you want to please him, don't be late, Nanase-senpai. Remember that he has the privilege to reduce our points."

"What's the use of these 'points'?" Haruka asked, feeling actually curious. Nagisa seemed a bit troubled when Makoto mentioned about cutting his points out.

"Points are taken from your hard work and attitude outside of school hours, under the supervision of the faction leader. It will greatly affect your final report card. In Iwatobi Academy, the top three students with the best report will get the special privilege to use an area of this school to their liking. An easy example is Makoto-senpai. Before he becomes a leader, Makoto-senpai made it to the top three. Now he owns a small secret garden at the backyard of his room. That's where he spends most of his free time. He said it's his little piece of heaven." Rei explained, violet eyes glowing in enthusiasm. "As for Nagisa-kun, he said he wants to try to score his best so he can create a place where he can keep penguins as his pets."

"What about you?"

"M-me...?" Rei smiled sheepishly before he exhaled a breath. "I'm still a first-year, but I hope I will be able to reach top three and have my own laboratory."

"I see. Good luck, Ryuugazaki. You're working really hard."

Rei's eyes widened before his smile turned to a happy one. "Yes! Most students don't bother with points, actually, since very few will get selected. Ah, I just remember—Nanase-senpai, don't you want to take a closer look of the Tree of Protection?"

Excited heartbeats reminded Haruka about how curious he was about the whole thing. "Yes, please." He gulped as his dream rushed back to his memories—still as vivid as the first time he remembered it the moment he woke up. A dream of seeing Makoto there, weeping, trapped in his own agony, and bursting into light.

They strolled in steady steps outside of the school building and toward the backyard of their dorm. They passed the back garden with the gazebo and a fountain in it—the exact same one where Haruka first arrived at this world—until Rei finally approached an area with a lot of trees. As they penetrated inside, Haruka felt like he was now walking in a forest. The path is narrower, a bit steep as the ground was more curvy, and darker under the shades of many leaves. Multiple sun rays slipped themselves between the rich green leaves covering the area.

"Nanase-senpai, I've been wondering." Rei finally spoke, his voice accompanying the sounds of their footsteps and trampled leaves. "Since you mentioned about Makoto-senpai having the sky spirit."

Oh.

"It's nothing." Haruka answered a bit too hastily. He'd promised Makoto to keep his sky spirit a secret. "I just talked randomly."

"Random? Are you sure, Nanase-senpai? Didn't seem like it." Rei's brows scrunched up, unsatisfied, "Especially when your statement has that kind of similarity with the name of the tree. I can't believe it's mere coincidence. Nanase-senpai, you can trust—"

"I said it's nothing." Haruka cut off. He clenched his jaw, eyes turned darker as they casted an ice-peak glare to Rei. He felt the urgency to protect Makoto's secret, even though he didn't even understand why Makoto had to keep it a secret.

Rei lowered his head, fingers nervously fidgeting. "I..." he sighed, "alright. Fine. There it is, Nanase-senpai. That's the tree."

They finally stopped in front of a barbed wire fence. Several meters away, Haruka could see the giant roots of the tree, planted firmly to the ground. Rei pressed the fence with his palm. "We can't go further than this. Students are prohibited to approach the tree, but here should be enough if you want to witness it."

It was exactly like the one in his dream. A huge giant tree that was so full of life. Even from the distance, Haruka could sense a very strong aura emanating from the tree. Yet, he couldn't tell for sure what kind of aura it was. A powerful aura of life and security, if that even made any sense. His heart beat with a new surge of power as he witnessed the tree this close. The tree seemed like it was giving Haruka a new spirit, revitalizing him, all weariness drifted away. With this kind of wonderful sensation by being nearer to it, he understood why evil spirits couldn't break such solid barriers the tree might have created.

"Tree of Protection—no. Sky of Makoto." Rei's eyes shone, mesmerized by the sight. Beautiful glimmer crossed over his violet irises. Then, he closed his eyes and removed his red glasses. Rei lifted his hand. His finger wiped a single tear breaking out of his right eye.

"Ryuugazaki...?" Haruka broke his gaze from the tree, looking at Rei in confusion.

"It's nothing, Nanase-senpai. Let's go back." When Rei raised his head and wore his glasses again, he smiled at Haruka. The trace of tear was no longer there.

"Senpai! It's already 6.43! Senpai!"

Haruka's head lazily cracked the surface of the water as he emerged and inhaled the air. He was relaxing in his bathtub and almost fell asleep again, if not for Rei's voice that was ringing like a bell. The loud, hard pounds against the bathroom door pushed Haruka's lips to turn down. With creases formed between his brows, Haruka stood up on his bathtub and stepped outside of it, grabbing his towel.

"Senpai!"

"Ryuugazaki, I hear you." Haruka wrapped the towel around his waist before making his way toward the door. The moment Haruka opened up his door, Rei was panting. A shade of red colored his entire face.

"You didn't come out of the bathroom since... like... an hour and fifty-two minutes ago—that I had to visit Nagisa-kun's room just to borrow his bathroom, Nanase-senpai!"

"Ah... sorry," replied Haruka, softly.

"Oh, no, it's okay, Senpai. The most important thing is, please get properly dressed. We should be at the front garden at seven. We have only thirteen minutes to prepare and rush there!"

Even when the dusk was over, the front garden remained in its darkness. None of the garden lamps had been turned on. While he was walking, Haruka could barely see what was in front of him, if not for the silver moon reflecting its light to drench his body. He stopped by the giant fountain and sat onto its side, head turning around to look for Makoto.

Before Haruka could reach the front garden, Rei had exclaimed about forgetting an important matter and he had to go as soon as possible. The blue-haired teen scampered away, muttering something under his breath and leaving Haruka alone.

While closing his eyes, Haruka let himself engrossed in the calm, pleasing sounds of water drops behind him. He shifted his hand to the water, letting his fingers submerged in the lukewarm water. Grabbing a handful of water ball, Haruka began to shape it in the form of Iwatobi-chan, the school's mascot.

Like a shadow lurking in the dark, a familiar ethereal aura began to fill in the air. Haruka closed his eyes before crushing his water creation to bits and returned it to the fountain behind him. He slowly stood up, feeling the breathtaking aura radiating stronger until he heard footsteps.

"Haru?"

His ocean-blue eyes snapped open, and Haruka just realized that he had been holding his breath the whole time since he felt Makoto's aura approaching him. He thought he had gotten used to it, but sometimes it still could affect him in a way he didn't expect. Haruka turned his head to the side, finding Makoto walking toward him with gentle smile pasted over his lips and fluffy gaze of vivid, moonlit green eyes.

The sight induced both comfort and nervousness in Haruka. His heart fluttered, palms a bit sweaty, butterflies playing in the stomach. His eyes were focused on Makoto's irises. He craved the sight of Makoto smiling at him that it made him strangely elated.

"You came. This is great. Let's sit for a while." Makoto stopped in front of him before relaxing himself on the side of the fountain. Haruka silently followed, sitting beside Makoto. This close, it wasn't just his soothing aura that felt like it was embracing Haruka's nervous body, but also the warmth of Makoto's natural presence that were affecting him. Being near Makoto gave Haruka a new sensation. It felt so right—like there was no other place more fitted for Haruka to stay.

"So," Makoto began again, cracking a wider amiable smile, "how have you been?"

"Fine," answered Haruka, softer than he intended. It must be caused by his nervousness. "Everything went good..."

Makoto exhaled a breath of relief. "I'm glad to hear that." He chuckled, tilting his head as his gentle gaze rested deeper on Haruka. "I came here to say congratulations. You've passed all your tests, Haru."

"Oh." Haruka's cheeks burned a little at the announcement. He caught Makoto's eyes mirroring the same glimmers in Haruka's own eyes.

"We're on the same grade. Hopefully we can even attend the same class, Haru! Please meet me tomorrow at the lounge of Iwatobi dorm. I will take you to our tailor so you can be measured and we can quickly prepare your uniforms." Makoto's voice went to a higher pitch in enthusiasm.

"Thanks." Haruka finally smiled back, feeling the same relief and enthusiasm.

"And, by the way, Haru, did you wonder why it's so dark out here?"

"Kind of..." replied Haruka, "I don't know."

"Come with me." Makoto promptly stood up, reaching out his hand to Haruka. After staring at the hand for a full two seconds, Haruka took the hand and settled himself on his feet. Perhaps he should get used for another stretches of Makoto's hand toward him starting tonight. Makoto immediately released his hand after Haruka stood up. The brunet walked in front of him in hasty steps.

Haruka followed Makoto to a darker area with even less light. "Do a countdown. From ten," said Makoto without looking back.

The other blinked in curiosity, but he began to count. "Ten, nine, eight..."

"Seven, six," Makoto continued, stopping on his track, "Five, four..."

"Three..." Haruka stopped behind the other. Makoto turned to him, flashing his cheerful, sunshine smile that pushed his eyes to close. "Two..." Haruka blushed, feeling another flutter of his heart, "One."

From a distance behind Makoto, a flash of blue light shot up to the sky and exploded with a loud crackle, torn apart like dandelions, its fragments fell like shooting stars before vanishing in the dark. More colorful lights shot up like rockets, burst into sparkling dandelions adorning the sky, their lights collided against one another. Haruka couldn't take his eyes off the continuous fireworks filling the dark night with colors. Their lights reflected within Haruka's admiring eyes.

"Haru," Makoto's voice seized his attention. The brunet was smiling at him, eyes never left Haruka. He wasn't paying even a glance at the beautiful fireworks in the sky. With a head tilt, Makoto's eyes closed up as he smiled cheerfully at Haruka. "Happy birthday!"

"Birth...day...?"

"It's the thirtieth of June, Haru!" Makoto's eyes cracked open in disbelief, "Don't tell me you forgot your own birthday!"

"I..." Heat rushed through Haruka's cheeks, making them burn from the inside. It had been a while since the last time Haruka received a 'happy birthday', that he often forgot when the day actually came. Before his grandmother died, she'd forgotten about Haruka's birthday for a couple of years. Haruka was fully aware that his grandmother loved him, but it seemed like sometimes her memories didn't work as well as he'd hoped.

"Anyway, I know it's not much." Deep blushes started to adorn Makoto's cheeks and lingered adorably there at the sides of his sunshine smile, "But these are our birthday presents for you, Haru. From me, Nagisa, and Rei."

Haruka was happy—more than that, he was elated. A smile finally cracked up from his stiff lips. "Thank you, Makoto. To Ryuugazaki and Nagisa, too."

"Uh-huh." Makoto nodded, his smile still lingered there.

The fireworks finally stopped shooting from the ground. Night breeze started to caress their skin. In a matter of seconds, the breeze was blown to a more powerful gust of wind that slapped Haruka's cheeks and forced his eyes to close. "Haru-chaaan!" Nagisa's voice rang loudly and out of the blue from behind him. A pair of arms quickly embraced Haruka when Nagisa landed behind him, clinging on Haruka with cheerful laughter near his ears. "Happy birthday, Haru-chan!"

A flash of light blinded Haruka for a split second. An intense electrifying aura was soon following Nagisa's airy one, emanating strongly behind his back. Still with Nagisa clinging on him, Haruka finally managed to turn his head and found Rei smiling at him. "Nanase-senpai, I wish you a happy birthday."

Haruka's smile turned gentle, feeling a surge of newfound happiness within this small circle of people he cared about. "Everyone, thank you."

The three of his friends flashed each other a wide grin of satisfaction. They seemed genuinely happy with Haruka's reply. The blue-eyed teen couldn't understand why did Makoto, Rei, and Nagisa cherish him so much like a precious friend. Were they acting the same to the other students? Or was it only Haruka? Either way, Haruka treasured these warm feelings fluttering in his belly. Maybe it was what people called 'happiness'.

Nagisa had released Haruka, engaged in cheerful conversations with Makoto. When Haruka turned to Rei, he was no longer smiling. His roommate stared blankly at Makoto. His mind seemed to wander off. Finally, Rei regained his senses, spotting Haruka and managing a sheepish smile before he looked down to the ground.

Something was wrong.

Haruka was lying on his bed, eyes focused on the ceiling. Today was pleasing. A little tour around the school, taking a closer look to the Tree of Protection, getting a pleasant birthday surprise, strengthened bonds between them. Except for one thing that kept bothering him.

He closed his eyes and sat up on his bed. Rei was sitting by the study desk, fingers fumbling against an opened book in front of him. His mind was obviously not there with him. He'd been daydreaming since they went back to their room, violet eyes gazing off to the empty wall.

"Ryuugazaki." Haruka called.

No answer.

"Ryuugazaki." He tried again, furrowing his brows.

Rei's body shook a little in surprise. "Wha—what is it, Nanase-senpai?" He turned to Haruka, biting his lower lip in worry. Sadness never left his face since they parted ways with Makoto and Nagisa.

"What's bothering you?" Haruka asked in concern.

"I... you said it's nothing, right...?" Rei managed a sad smile.

Haruka gulped, feeling a bit nervous as he sensed what topic Rei was about to mention. "Why is it bothering you so much? About Makoto's... Sky...?"

"I'm afraid, Nanase-senpai." Rei finally said, his voice trembled a bit.

That finally got Haruka. He bored his ocean-blue eyes onto Rei, waiting for more explanation.

"You read auras really well, and I really wish you could've read Makoto-senpai wrong. I'm afraid, if Makoto-senpai indeed has the sky spirit..." Rei trailed off, shrugging.

"What?"

"I read a lot." Rei sighed, "And I've once read about the spirit of the sky from an old diary I found in the storage of my great-grandfather. The sky spirit is not something a person naturally has."

Haruka knew he should stop this. He should stop poking around with someone else's sensitive secret. He was aware when Makoto wanted to keep it a secret, he had all the rights to keep it untold and oblivious to everyone. He knew he should cut Rei off, telling him to mind his own business.

Yet, his lips couldn't move to stop Rei. Curiosity got the better of him, his ears ready to listen. He felt like he'd betrayed Makoto this way.

"My great-grandfather wrote in his diary, that the people unfortunate enough to possess the sky spirit, with no exception, will disappear forever when they reach the age of seventeen, as if they never existed."

The words escaping Rei's lips felt like a surge of shockwave to Haruka, alarming every sense in his body. It left uncomfortable tingling sensations on his skin, pulse died cold, heart frozen. His vivid dream about Makoto bursting into light after Haruka touched him invaded his mind.

"But you said it's nothing, right?" Rei immediately continued, forcing a laugh, "Makoto-senpai has no such thing! Right, Nanase-senpai? You just said something random at that time!"

When Haruka didn't even move an inch to respond as if he was petrified, Rei's laughter vanished.

"No." Rei breathed, "Please answer, Nanase-senpai."

He couldn't. He didn't even know how to react. Just several days ago he imagined a new life full of laughter, of a miraculous thing his grandmother called 'love'. Just days ago he imagined Makoto to always be there with him, sharing his soothing aura that made Haruka felt like he was finally home. Just days ago he felt like he'd discovered a missing piece of his soul, safe in his hands.

And it was just hours ago when he treasured the warm feelings he got from his friends and every smile and laughter escaping Makoto's lips. Just hours ago Haruka was elated with Makoto's presence near him, feeling like there was no place better for him to stay.

And now Rei was telling him that Makoto would disappear forever, and soon.

How could life treat him so cold and cruelly like this?

"Nanase-senpai."

"Has Makoto reached seventeen yet?"

"Seventeenth of November this year."

Four months and a half until then.

"I see. Ryuugazaki," Haruka didn't know how he had the energy to say it so calmly and casually. Probably because Makoto was just someone he'd just met. Or maybe, it was because he was so numb that he could feel nothing at all. "Please respect Makoto's secret and don't ever tell anyone. Not even to Nagisa. Pretend like you don't know anything about it. Besides, it could be wrong. It's just an old diary."

Haruka knew he was just trying to fool himself.

"So it's... it's true...?" Rei looked like he had just been slapped in the face.

"...I could read it wrong. Makoto probably doesn't have that kind of spirit."

"It's true."

"Ryuugazaki—"

Rei's shoulders shuddered as more tears broke out from his glimmering eyes. "S-Senpai..."

Haruka stood up, approaching Rei by his desk. The moment he lifted his hand to touch Rei's shoulder, his fingers trembled along with it. "Rei," Haruka said, tasting an establishment of a new, stronger relationship as the name rolled off his tongue, "everything will be okay."

"Haruka-senpai..." Rei rested his chin on Haruka's shoulder, his body shaking even more. Warm, fresh tears started to dampen Haruka's shirt. "Haruka-senpai..."

Now shouldn't be too late, Haruka thought, if I want to will myself not to fall for him and back away, now shouldn't be too late.

Rei had fallen for Makoto and now he was breaking. Haruka could avoid crushing his own self to pieces, if he decided to stay away from Makoto.

Yet, the more he thought about Makoto, the more Haruka cared less about his own heart.

If it was Makoto who broke it, maybe... he would be okay.

Notes:

I'm sorry for dropping a little 'bomb' at the end. Thank you for reading. The good morning messages were partly inspired by the Drama CD where Nagisa held a little contest about who had the most romantic morning greetings, or something like that.

For kanamexzero fan: thank you so much. The battle is my great concern, so I'm happy to know you enjoyed it. ^^ More adventures to come.

Reviews are very much appreciated. Hope we will meet again in the next chapter. :)