A/N: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! I was going to put this up earlier but ff was being ... anyway, I was so happy with all the reviews I got that I couldn't bring myself to not put up an update. I wanted to give you all some sorta Christmas present so... an update it is!

Chapter 3

Haruka went to school even earlier than he usually did that when he slid the door of the Archery club's dojo open, there was only the club captain, Mikoshiba Seijuro, inside. He was just in time to see the captain stand to his feet slowly and gracefully with the bow and arrow.

The captain held the target with his steady gaze, breathing calm and even, as he slowly lifted his arms to a stance. Right gloved-hand holding the arrow stretched the string of the bow slowly but surely and held it still. Then released. The arrow pierced right at the center of the target with a "thunk" and Mikoshiba exhaled, closing his eyes for a second and when he opened them, they were directed at Haruka who stayed standing still by the doorway. He grinned and greeted, "Yo, Nanase. You're earlier today."

Haruka stepped inside the dojo, closing the door behind him and walked to Mikoshiba. "I need to get some things off my mind." He walked past the captain and headed straight to the lockers room.

After changing into a hakama, Haruka stood beside Mikoshiba with his own bow and arrow.

"You should really just join the club, you know." Mikoshiba said, looking at Haruka up and down. "You have talent for it, you're very good. If you join, maybe I'll make you the next captain when I retire."

Haruka only glanced at Mikoshiba then gazed straight towards the target. He shifted to proper posture and mumbled, "You already have Makoto." raised both arms steadily, pulled unto the string of the bow carefully, paused, then released. The arrow hit the center of the target successfully but Haruka lowered his arms and exhaled unsatisfactorily. He needed more focus. He needed to remove the lingering emotions in his chest that only a certain redhead could do.

The memory of their latest encounter flashed in Haruka's mind when he closed his eyes and the unwanted emotions were starting to seep through him again. He breathed in deep and exhaled with a small sound. He took the next arrow, focused only at the target and readied to shoot again.

It took a number of arrows for Haruka to get all of his concentration only to the target and regain his calm and composed demeanor. Although a bit disturbed to realize just how much Rin could affect him, he was still relieved that he still managed to reach a peace of heart and mind. To reach the state of Zen. With what he decided as his last shot for the day, Haruka looked at the target, raised his arms to pull unto the string, slowly and accurately, paused then… Bam!

The release had been sudden but it managed to successfully hit near the center. Haruka turned his head towards the door that was the source of that loud sound just now and saw a small, gray-haired student standing there and gaping at him.

"Nitori, open the door gently next time!" Mikoshiba scolded as he must have also been startled by that sound.

"N- Na- Nanase-sama." The gray-haired student stammered and Haruka only raised an eyebrow at him. Then the student gasped and bowed his head low. "I'm sorry for the interruption!"

"Yeah, yeah, just come in already."

The student nodded, closed the door behind him and walked in. He headed for the lockers room but glanced at Haruka for a bit when he passed by then ran the rest of the way. Haruka thought him strange but couldn't care less. He turned to look at the target in front of him and decided that he's done for the day. He also headed for the lockers room.

When Haruka entered the lockers room, the gray-haired student visibly jumped. Haruka ignored him and just reached for his uniform and changed.

With his last piece of clothing on, Haruka reached for his bag to leave when the door opened and in came Makoto. He smiled brightly when he saw Haruka and headed for him. "Haru, you're early today. When I went over to your house, I was told that you went ahead. Are you done for today? Are you going to the tree now?"

"Yeah." Haruka replied.

"Rin might be there."

Speaking about Rin, Haruka glared at Makoto. "You didn't tell me he's back."

Makoto scratched an index finger on his cheek. "I was thinking about surprising you."

Haruka scowled and stepped past Makoto. "I'm going." Before he walked to the door, he noticed the gray-haired student still changing into his hakama. He certainly took a long time and he started to wonder as to why.

Makoto noticed Haruka staring and followed his line of sight and also looked at the gray-haired who was fumbling with his belt. Makoto didn't even hesitate when he walked over to the smaller one and tied the belt for him. "Here you go." He said with his ever gentle smile.

Haruka ignored them and headed for the door, the last he heard from the room was the gray-haired stuttering a, "T- thank y-you."

Haruka walked through the still quiet school grounds. There weren't many students yet aside from those who joined clubs and had club activities. This was another part of his reasons for coming to school early since with very little students, he could walk around almost unnoticed.

When Haruka reached the back of the school grounds, Makoto's words echoed through his head, Rin might be there. Unconsciously, his strides grew longer and faster, anticipation filling his insides and he even forgot to think of what he should do if Rin was really there.

Just as Haruka was about to reach the makeshift entrance to the tree, he halted on his steps and breathed in. what if Rin was really there? He asked himself now. What would he do? What should he say? Would they be arguing again, would he be pushing away the redhead again? As his thoughts spiralled in his mind again, he balled up his fists and shook his head as if to shake away his thoughts. No, he didn't want to think about them. The tree was supposed to be his escape, he shouldn't be thinking about problems instead. He inhaled and turned his head towards the tree. Whether Rin was there or not, he would deal with him once confronted.

With that decided, Haruka proceeded to walk through the bushes and looked up towards the tree, his heart strangely palpating against his chest, he could almost hear it pump his blood. But his over-racing heart died away in an instant when he saw not a trace of red around the area. He turned his head left and right as he walked towards the tree and felt his heart sink further when there really wasn't any red-haired around. He shrugged his shoulders resignedly and sat down underneath the tree.

He reasoned with himself that Rin didn't really have to be there. If anything, Rin probably didn't want to be there when he knew that Haruka would be there as well. And of course, that's to be expected with how he'd treated the other in their latest encounter.

But as Haruka leaned back and fell on his back against the ground, looking up at the pink flowers of the tree petals raining on him elegantly and gently, he couldn't help feeling that even this place didn't escape the emptiness that was in his heart.

In the end, Haruka couldn't get his usual nap before morning classes started and he also couldn't relax at all. So, half the hour before the morning classes started, he decided to go back to the classroom and just spend the rest of the timed there. For what seemed like the first time in his life, he actually felt that maybe a little noise would be better than the silence that was gnawing at him.

When he entered the classroom, he noticed the students eyeing him then whispering among themselves. It must've been unusual for them as it was for Haruka that he arrived in the classroom minutes more than five before classes started. And he also didn't have Makoto with him.

Haruka ignored the eyes on him (since when did he not?) and just went to sit on his seat. He proceeded to staring outside the window in a daze, with the noisy buzzing of people as his background. Ah, how strange it was for him to feel comforted by such noise.

He was just enjoying how his mind was wandering about when he was brought back to his senses at the call of the name, "Matsuoka!" His head snapped towards the door and saw Rin coming in with another student, who must've been the one who called out his name, running to the redhead and threw an arm around his shoulders. He grinned cheekily and engaged into conversation with the other that Haruka couldn't manage to hear. Rin's stern expression relaxed to exasperation and the other student laughed.

Haruka frowned and looked away. Irritation was quickly filling him in and he glared out the window. He recognized the student that was acting so overly familiar with Rin as one of Rin's friends way back when they were still children. If he remembered right, this was the friend who was closest to the redhead and got into a loud argument with the latter. After that argument, they never talked again and Rin became a part of Haruka's circle. So how were they so close again?

Although Haruka didn't want to look at them, he couldn't stop his eyes from turning to the redhead. He watched them, with eyes that could shoot daggers, converse casually and felt his irritation pile up into heaps when the "friend" didn't let go of Rin and even managed to bring out a small smile from those soft lips.

He snapped his head the other way with both hands clenched into tight fists that slightly trembled. How could Rin go back to being friends with someone who abandoned him? It was Haruka and Makoto who stayed by his side after that and they never turned their backs on him at all, did they?

Haruka blinked and his hands relaxed, his irritation vanishing into nothing as he stared out the window with wide eyes. No, he did turn away from Rin and even rejected him, telling him such hurtful words he never meant. At the very end, and at that time when Rin was also hurting the most, he was the one who abandoned him and crushed him.

The corners of Haruka's eyes felt hot and prickly so he closed them just as he closed his palms. It couldn't be helped, he told himself. He needed to do that for Rin. It was his own way of protecting him. Yet, even though he did all of that just to keep him away, to protect him, Rin still came back, saying ridiculous things like he deserved to be there like them. That he'd prove himself even though there's nothing to prove. "Idiot."

"Haru?" The dark-haired teen slightly jolted at the touch on his shoulder and he turned his head to face Makoto with a slightly surprised expression. The brunette withdrew his hand, with a tilt of his head and his expression turned worried. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Haruka automatically replied. He shook his head to assure his best friend and looked away.

Makoto left him alone and went to his seat that had always been beside Haruka. "Haru, I was so surprised when I didn't find you at the tree like usual. Did something happen?"

"No." Makoto must be worried and Haruka knew. But he didn't want to worry his friend any more that he already was and there really were just some things that he couldn't tell anyone. Because if he couldn't even tell them to Rin, then all the more he couldn't tell any other.

"Matsuoka, do you have a horse?"

Haruka glanced at Rin and his friend who conversed nearby while slipping on his gloves. He couldn't keep his eyes away from the red-haired in his horse riding clothes that suited him far too nicely. Horse riding was one of the classes Haruka appreciated less but suddenly, he felt glad they had it if it showed a new look of Rin's. he had his red hair tied up to a pony tail at the back of his head that sent Haruka's heart racing and his blood tinting his cheeks red. And the room suddenly felt too hot for him.

"Yeah, or I should have, at least." Rin answered his friend, slipping on his own gloves and picking up his head gear from the bench. "I guess I'll go and check." Haruka looked away as Rin passed by him and exited the changing room.

Unable to stop himself, Haruka picked up his own gear too and also headed for the door. "Haru, where are you going?" Makoto asked him from behind and he replied, "I'm checking my horse." Then exited the room. He slowly headed towards the stables, making sure he wouldn't catch up to Rin with his strides. He didn't know what he was trying to do, honestly, but all he knew was that he wanted to follow Rin.

Upon reaching the stables, he searched through each one of them for the red-haired. When he finally came across the right one where Rin was standing in front of one of the horses inside, he did not enter and just hid behind the door. That's when he just realized he didn't know what to do and he might looked foolish following after Rin and hiding himself after. So, why did he even follow Rin?

While he sifted through his head for an acceptable reason that he now stood leaning against the door outside a stable, he also listened to Rin say sweet words in a really gentle voice to his horse, effectively distracting Haruka from thinking. He never heard Rin's tone so gentle before, but that's only to be expected with how bitter they were to each other now. But when they were still children, Rin used to call his name with a certain gentleness and sweetness to it that it sounded almost being…- Haruka shook his head vigorously to rid himself of such thoughts. His heart started to race again and he breathed in and out to calm himself.

Anyway, hearing Rin's gentle voice now was rather strange to Haruka. Rin's voice had changed and was now deep like that of a grown man's. And when he spoke with gentleness, he sounded almost husky and…- Haruka felt slightly envious of the horse. He, too, wanted Rin to call his name again and certainly not in a snarl like how he usually did now.

Haruka got so caught up in his thoughts that he slightly jumped when a figure entered his peripheral vision. He turned his head and found himself face to face with a surprised Rin. "Haru?" And automatically, he called back, "Rin." They only stood staring at each other in silence for seconds until Haruka started to feel uncomfortable that he turned away and started to walk back to the rest of the class. A strong hold around his wrist stopped him though, and he was tugged strongly enough that he was turned around to face Rin again.

"Haru." Rin stared straight into Haruka's blue eyes and for the first time since they'd reconciled, Haruka saw no hostility in those red eyes. Rin was still frowning at him and glaring but he couldn't feel the heat of anger present. He only looked serious and determined. "For the hundred meter track run, race me."

It took a second for Rin's words to sink in when Haruka felt himself being swallowed in his gaze. But when they did sink in, he scowled and looked away. "How troublesome."

Rin grabbed hold of Haruka's other wrist and tugged to make the dark-haired boy look at him. Only when Haruka did that Rin continued. "If I win, stop pushing me away and accept my being here."

"And if I stop pushing you away, you'll return to me?" Haruka unthinkingly blurted out and looked just as surprised as Rin was by his own words. He pulled himself out of Rin's grasp and immediately turned away. "I won't lose." He said to the red-haired who stood frozen still and briskly walked away.

When Haruka returned to Makoto, he could feel his face burning up. What did he mean by "return to me"? It's the worst that could possibly happen! Rin would be most exposed to danger if he's by Haruka's side and Haruka, of all people, knew that the most. So how could he want Rin to "return" to him?

"Haru, are you alright?" Haruka looked up at Makoto and his worried face. Makoto's been asking him the same question constantly and he reprimanded himself for making his best friend worried. He shook his head in response but when the worry on Makoto's face didn't go, he insisted, "I'm fine."

Makoto didn't look convinced but he dropped the subject. "Hey, Haru, how about we invite Rin to have lunch with us today?" He brightened up and smiled as he added, "Nagisa will probably be happy too. It'll be just like when we were younger. Don't you think it'd be nice too?"

No, Haruka wanted to reply. He reasoned with himself that he shouldn't let things go back to how they used to be. Again, it's for Rin's sake; it's dangerous for them to get closer like before, he repeated the statements in his head like a mantra to convince himself. But the word that came out of his mouth was, "Yeah."

As soon as Haruka and Makoto saddled their horses and were told by their teacher to walk their mounts, the two strolled along the wide open grass fields together while in search for the red-haired. Haruka found him later, walking his horse side by side with his friend and the mere sight of them together irritated the dark-haired teen. He could feel a great urge to go and interrupt them, to just pull away Rin and claim him as his. But what right did he have to do that? He asked himself bitterly. The situation was in so much better condition with the two of them apart but why was he so unsatisfied?

"Oh, there's Rin!" Makoto's voice snapped Haruka out of his spiralling thoughts and he realized that Rin was nowhere in his sights anymore. He turned his head towards the direction Makoto was looking at and saw the red-haired making his way back towards the stables, still with his friend in tow. They weren't with their horses anymore so he briefly looked around and located the beasts tied up unto a tree then he turned back to Makoto when the brunette addressed to him. "Haru, let's go talk to Rin and ask him to join us on lunch." He only nodded his reply and they quickly tied their own horses up and followed after Rin.

When they were close enough, Makoto cheerfully called out to the red-haired, "Rin!"

Rin and his friend stopped and turned to them. They waited for Haruka and Makoto to reach them before Rin asked, "What is it?"

"Where are you going?" Makoto slightly tilted his head in inquiry. "We're going to start with the lessons soon."

Rin only shrugged and replied, "There's still the time trial run. What do you want?"

Makoto smiled, "Won't you have lunch with us today? Nagisa will be there too! It'll be just like when we were young, I'm sure it'd be nice. What do you think?"

Rin's red orbs flickered towards Haruka who only looked away. While refusing to meet his old friend's gaze, Haruka caught the redhead's friend glaring at him. They held each other's gazes, an unspoken battle sparking in between them, and Haruka knew exactly what they're fighting for.

"Sorry, I'm joining Kaede for lunch." Rin replied, jerking a chin to his friend's way in indication. Said friend grinned victoriously at Haruka and the dark-haired teen irritably turned away. This was really pissing him off, especially when that friend of Rin's snickering at him. And did just Rin call the teen by his first name? The corners of Haruka's lips turned downwards in a frown. Was this person actually on equal grounds as Haruka in Rin's perspective?

Makoto looked disappointed as he resignedly sighed, "Oh, that's too bad. Maybe next- Haru, where are you going?" The brunette and the two other teens watched Haruka stalk away briskly. "Wait, Haru!" Makoto called out before turning to Rin to say, "We'll talk to you later, Rin!" then ran after his best friend.

Haruka returned to his horse and was untying it from the tree when he saw Rin's horse from the corner of his eyes. He stared at it for a second before turning to Makoto who had caught up to him, "Makoto, watch my horse for me for a bit." He instructed and made his way towards the redhead's beast.

He didn't know what went through his head but maybe his anger was slowly overtaking him that drove him into doing his actions. In fact, it could only be his anger because it was bubbling in him strongly that he couldn't avoid bumping into one of his classmates. He only gave a quick apology and finally reached Rin's horse. He stood in front of its face and stared into its eyes then untied it from the tree and pulled it into the tracks. He ignored the questioning looks he got and just swung unto the back of Rin's horse. He took hold of the reins and breathed in. He decided, this'll be his way of punishing Rin.

At the light kick of his shoes on the horse's belly, the beast started racing along the tracks. Haruka let the wind blow away the emotions bottled up in his chest and breathed in the air to release the heaviness that had settles on his chest. Just like all the other times he'd mounted his horse and let his periphery fly into blur, he only focused on the track that was in front of him. Except, this time, his focus was suddenly broken into with alarm.

He started to feel himself slipping slightly from the back of his mount and while in confusion of what was happening, the saddle underneath him tilted and he found himself grasping tightly around the horse's neck to keep himself from falling. His heart pounded against his chest loudly as his thoughts raced into his mind, to keep himself calm, to analyze the situation, and to think of a way to get back into his comfortable position.

He tried pulling himself up by the reins but the little movement almost made him lose hold unto the horse, his breathing stopping short within his throat from the fear of falling off. He tightened his grip around the horse more than ever as he tried to think of another way to get back up.

The possible consequences that he'll get from falling suddenly flooded into his brain, only worsening his nervousness and fear and panic. His arms also started to protest from supporting himself up almost all by arms alone and when he berated himself to calm down, to think properly, he caught sight of the ground beneath him and his nerves sent panic signals all over his body once more. He closed his eyes and shouted at himself repeatedly, no, don't think about it, and when he could feel his arms loosing strength, an idea finally surfaced into his muddles mind.

He opened an eye slightly to look at the ground only for a brief moment and tried hard to recall the most effective way of falling off a horse that would give him the least of injuries. But really, the thought of falling off the horse itself was honestly very frightening. He could only clench his fists around the horse as he weighed his options, hesitated, reconsidered. Again and again, he ran through in his mind the way to falling off with the least of injuries.

Finally, when he felt that his arms could no longer support him, he decided to let go and fall. He breathed in deep to call forth his courage and determination and, hopefully, skills to actually successfully execute the safest way to falling down. He told himself he'd let go at the count of three. Then he counted: one, two, th-

"Haru!" The voice immediately made Haruka's eyes snap open and crane his neck to the side to see who had called his name. Well, he already knew but he didn't trust his ears that he'd heard right. There was no way Rin would call his name with alarm and concern, look at him with his beautiful face twisted in worry, one arm outstretched to him with an open palm… he stared with wide eyes at the unbelievable sight in front of his face.

"Haru!" Rin called again, stretching out his arm some more. "Take my hand! Take my hand and jump off to here!"

Haruka stared at the open palm.

"Hurry up!" Rin prompted.

Haruka stared at the red of the eyes of his old friend. They were rather calm and strong despite the circumstances. They stared back at his blues as if trying to engulf him with their redness.

"Trust me." The words must've been shouted at him, screamed or bellowed but to Haruka, they sounded calm, firm, trusting. All his doubts and fears were instantly driven away and without hesitation, he reached out and took hold of that palm.

A/N: Errr... this must be really cliche but when I think about Historical, it comes with swords and bows and arrows and horses so... also, I don't know a thing about horse riding, I've never touched a horse before but I felt that no other event would be good enough. It's the first thing that came to mind and well... Forgive me for any mistake OTL Thank you so much for reading this and thank you for all the reviews and faves and follows. I love you all~