A/N: Sorry for the long wait but here is chapter 8 and it's a pretty long one too! I really hope you all had a good Easter bc I sure did! Enjoy the new chapter!

Chapter 8 - Love

It had been three days since my realization and I found myself just sitting in my apartment waiting for my father to call me and ask me to come to the research facility. I was really worried about Dr. Hamada's real intentions so I wanted to see Haru as soon as possible. When the fourth day came I could no longer hold back so I went to the research facility uninvited. When I got there I was really worried that security wouldn't let me in but I guess they had become used to me being there so they just let me pass without any trouble and I was lucky enough not to run into anyone on my way to Haru's room. I stood in front of the door but just as I reached for the doorknob I heard sobbing from inside the room and stopped.

"Is Haru crying?"

I slowly opened the door and entered. Haru was sitting at the bottom of the tank with his back turned to me. I approached the tank in a slow pace and then I just stood there a few seconds before opening my mouth.

"What's wrong Haru?" I asked in a gentle voice.

The sobbing stopped and he turned to me and what I saw broke my heart. His eyes were completely red like he had been crying non-stop for days and he had a pained look on his face.

"What do you want?" Haru asked in a pained voice.

"I wanted to see if you were okay but you're clearly not" I said.

"You're lying."

"What are you talking about Haru? Of course I'm not lying to you"

"STOP LYING TO ME! YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING BUT LIE TO ME!" Haru screamed at me.

I was really suprised that he had snapped at me like that.

"Haru, I don't understand? What have I done?" I asked him.

"He told me everything. About how you only came to see me to get information from me. How you pretended to be my friend just to get close to me so that I would reveal all my kind's secrets to you."

"What is Haru talking about? I would never do anything like that!"

That was when it hit me that Dr Hamada must have told him that. It explained everything.

"Whatever he told you was a lie. I would never do anything like that," I told Haru but the look on his didn't change or soften at all so he obviously still didn't believe me.

"Why should I believe you? Dr Hamada has always told me the truth before. Talking about how when I told him where the rest of my kind are he would find them, and send them to different parks and make alot of money on it. Even though the things he said were horrible, he always told me the truth and what he told me makes perfect sense. There can't possibly exist any gentle and kind humans." he said with the same pained voice as before.

I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't stand to see Haru like this, his face filled with sadness and betrayal, his voice so unlike the usual Haru. I felt the tears stinging in my eyes.

"Haru… I haven't lied to you. Please believe me…" I said as a tear ran down my face.

"Why are you crying? You have no right to cry" Haru said in an almost cruel voice.

This was the final drop. I fell to my knees as the tears started streaming out.

"Haru… Please believe me…?"

"Just leave."

It was when he said that, that I lost it completely.

"NO, I WON'T LEAVE!" I screamed in desperation

I had to explain. Haru had to understand.

"I NEVER LIED TO YOU AND I'LL PROVE IT TO YOU! FROM THE BEGINNING I WAS INVITED BY MY FATHER TO SEE YOU BUT I NEVER HAD THE INTENTION OF USING YOU! MY FATHER AND DR HAMADA DID TELL ME TO GET INFORMATION FROM YOU BUT THEY LIED TO ME ABOUT THE DETAILS! AND I ONLY AGREED TO IT SO THAT I WOULD GET A CHANCE TO KEEP SEEING YOU! A FEW DAYS AGO I WENT TO THE MARINE PARK WITH MY FRIENDS BECAUSE ONE OF MY FRIENDS SISTER WORKS THERE! THERE I SAW THE SIGNS ABOUT THE NEW MYSTERY ANIMAL THEY WERE GOING TO …! I ALWAYS HAD A WEID FEELING ABOUT DR HAMADA AND AFTER LEAVING THE OTHER DAY I REALIZED EVERYTHING! I WANTED TO COME HERE EARLIER BUT SINCE MY FATHER HADN'T CALLED I FELT AS THOUGH I COULDN'T COME BECAUSE I WASN'T INVITED BUT TODAY I COULDN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE AND I CAME HERE TO SEE YOU! I'M NOT A BAD PERSON AND I DON'T WANT YOU TO THINK THAT! BUT I ALSO WON'T LET YOU MAKE FUN OF MY FEELINGS! I WON'T LET YOU THINK SUCH HORRIBLE THINGS ABOUT ME WHEN THEY AREN'T TRUE! SO WHATEVER DR. HAMADA TOLD YOU IS A LIE BECAUSE THE TRUTH IS THAT I LOVE YOU HARU! AND I WOULD NEVER WANT TO HURT YOU EVER!"

The room fell silent except for my own sobbing.

"Makoto… Don't cry anymore… please…?" Haru suddenly said with a very gentle tone in his voice.

I stopped my sobbing and raised my head to look at Haru. He was crying too.

"I'm so sorry Makoto. I can tell your feelings are true. I didn't mean to doubt you but I had never met such a kind and gentle human before and when Dr. Hamada said that you had been using me I believed him. Like I mentioned before I thought I was so stupid for thinking that such a human could exist. But now I believe in you. Mermen and mermaids has the ability to tell if a human's tears are real or not. No one really knows why we have that ability but there is a story about it. Anyway, none of that really matters right now."

Haru moved a bit and was now face to face with me.

"Makoto… I'm really happy that you love me."

When Haru said that my heart skipped a beat. I had almost forgotten that I had confessed to him before. I became a bit nervous but I didn't look away.

"Because, Makoto… I love you too."

It took awhile for my brain to process what Haru had told me but when I finally understood what he had tild me my heart skipped a beat again.

"Haru… I'm really happy that you love me too," I said and smiled. Just as usual Haru blushed when I did.

"You really are cute when you blush". I told him and his face became even redder.

"Don't say things like that. It's embarassing," Haru said.

"I'm just stating a fact."

The room fell silent once more but with no sobbing this time. We just stood there and stared at each other.

"Haru…" I said and put my hand against the glass of the tank.

"I swear I will get you back to the ocean, no matter what."

Haru took his hand and put it over mine from the other side of the glass.

"I really want to go back to the ocean but… Right now there is something else I want more than to go back to the ocean," he said.

"And what is that?" I asked him.

"To be on the other side of this glass with you."