Disclaimer: I do not own Free! .

Hi, guys. This is my first time posting a story for this fandom, so please forgive me for any wrongs in this story. -smiles- Before you go through the story, let me state the warnings first.

Warnings: Alternate Universe (Future), Un-betaed (sorry for any grammatical errors), tints of OOC-ness, yaoi.

In this universe, gay marriage is already legalized in Japan.

Enjoy the story. :)

"My flight is at 7 pm. I'll reach Iwatobi the latest by 10." Haruka quietly murmured into the phone call, and he could hear Nagisa's excited chatter as the response. The blond was so excited when Haruka announced at the last minute that he would be coming back to attend Gou's wedding ceremony. Apparently it had been quite some time since the last time he returned to Iwatobi. It was not that he didn't miss the place, but Haruka was too busy to do so.

Furthermore, going back to Iwatobi was not a good idea when he was still-

Haruka blinked his eyes, and shook his head viciously. He didn't have time to think about this – petty – thing. He needed to finish packing for the one week holiday, and gently he put the phone down on the bed while pressing the loudspeaker button. Nagisa's voice echoed in his large bedroom as the blond continued his chatters and Haruka with his packing.

While absent-mindedly listening to the blond, Haruka finished with his task and turned to look around the room in case he forgot anything. Then his eyes caught the picture of him and his ex-husband together; the taller man laughing and Haruka himself looked away, but the arm that wrapped around his shoulders was firm and loving at the same time. Haruka had placed the picture frame on the nightstand, so that every night before he went to sleep, he could see them together and dream that everything was fine once again.

Staring at the picture for one whole minute, Haruka blinked his eyes slowly, and then reached out to hold onto the picture frame. He wondered if the brunette would be coming to Gou's wedding as well, and his grip on the frame tightened. Quietly, Haruka pulled out the picture from the frame, and unzip his luggage. He slipped the picture carefully in between his clothes; his blue eyes felt warm at the thought of leaving the picture behind and not bringing it with him.

Once Nagisa had stopped with his talking, Haruka took the phone close to him and took a deep breath. He wanted to ask the question but then the blond cut him off.

"Ohh Haru-chan! I have to go now! Rei-chan is being impatient again-"

"I heard that!" Rei's voice was loud in the background, and Haruka heard Nagisa giggled happily.

"-And we need to see the bride like, right now, so we're kind of running late and I need-"

"Nagisa-kun!" Rei's voice again and Haruka stifled the need to sigh at Nagisa's childish behavior, although he was now 23 years old.

"Okay, okayyy! So bye for now, Haru-chan! I'll see you tonight, okay!"

With the call being ended, Haruka found himself standing in the middle of his master bedroom, one hand on his phone and another fisted at his side; miserable and lonely as he could ever be.

When he stepped out from the train, Haruka's eyes wandered around the station to look for any familiar faces. Nagisa had told him that he would pick him up with Rin, and Haruka couldn't wait to see the redhead. Although they talked on the phone at least once in a month, it also had been a long time since he last met him face to face. Haruka considered of calling Nagisa to remind him that he was now here at Iwatobi, but then a voice called out his name from far and Haruka decided that there was no need for that anymore.

"Haru-chan! Haru-chaaaaan!"

"Geez, shut up, Nagisa, he can see you from here." Rin grumbled next to him and Haruka had to let a small smile to appear on his face. Nagisa didn't change at all, he was wearing a bright orange shirt with a red sweater, and Rin next to him was all clad in black, though he was smiling as well when his eyes met Haruka's.

The blond glomped him once he reached him, and Haruka tried to stand properly with the new added weight.

"Haru-chaaaan, I miss yoooou!" he wailed and Haruka sighed heavily. "Nagisa, nice to meet you again. And drop the -chan."

Ran tched, a hand reached out to pat Haruka on his shoulder. The redhead then leaned down to take his bag, and Haruka nodded gratefully at him.

"How's your flight?" asked the redhead and Haruka tried to find a proper answer while at the same time dropping the blond back to his feet. Nagisa grinned happily at him, and cuddled tight on his side as they started to walk.

"It was okay. When did you reach here?" he turned to look at Rin and Rin shrugged.

"Yesterday. I don't have any competition to take part in this week, so I guess coming early won't hurt much. I drove here, anyway." Rin looked back at him and Haruka quietly looked away. He knew that the redhead might want to say something else – something related to them that Haruka didn't want to know now, and perhaps, never – and Nagisa hurriedly pulled Haruka toward the black car once they left the station. Rin put his luggage in the back seat and told Nagisa to sit at the back. The blond pouted and whined but he was ignored as both Haruka and Rin took the front seats.

The drive to the hotel was filled with Nagisa's talking about the wedding arrangement and Rin cut him off sometimes to add his own details. Haruka's silence seemed to be something that both Rin and Nagisa had agreed not to question, and when they finally reached the hotel, Haruka finally found the little remaining courage that he had left to ask about him.

"Is he coming?"

Rin parked the car, before turning to look at him. Nagisa fiddled with his fingers, laughing weakly before looking at Haruka as well.

"Haru-chan… umm," Nagisa bit his lower lip and Rin rolled his eyes at the blond's response. The redhead leaned against the driver seat and crossed his arms on his chest.

"Makoto reached Iwatobi this morning, we haven't got a chance to see him yet... but Kou said that he brought a plus one."

Haruka stared wide eyes at the redhead, and Rin's eyes glared a hole on the windshield of the car. Nagisa seemed to be hesitating, since he looked like he wanted to say something on behalf of Makoto, and to comfort Haruka as well.

Haruka blinked his eyes slowly, and decided to act like this shouldn't even matter anyway. His hands clenched and unclenched repeatedly in his lap, before he turned to leave the car. Rin whipped his head to look at him in shock, before the redhead also leaped out from the car.

"Haru! Are you not going to say a fucking thing about this? I mean it has been almost a year and you never talk about this with anyone! What the fuck, Nanase, you're not that invincible-"

"Rin, please be quiet." Haruka cut him off with a quiet tone, and Rin stared at him as if he just grew another head. Nagisa also stepped out from the car, and took out his luggage together. Haruka murmured a soft 'thank you' to the small blond before he looked back at his other childhood best friend.

"Can you please lead me to my room?"

The rest of the night was spent with Haruka sitting quietly in his seat. Nagisa, Rin and Rei were with him, chattering happily with each other. Rin looked a bit tense before, but Rei managed to loosen him up by asking him about his swimming competition. The blue haired man just finished with his medical school and now having his housemanship training at a hospital in Kyoto. Nagisa was working at a kindergarten as a teacher, in a town a few stations away from Iwatobi. And Rin, the redhead was still chasing after his dream to be the best swimmer. He was a national swimmer and had taken part in a lot of swimming competitions.

Gou and her future husband, who was Rin's ex captain, Seijuurou, had opened an aquatic centre together in Tokyo and the business seemingly was going very well. Haruka was still working as a sous-chef in a well-known restaurant in Tokyo. He managed to get a high raise only in two years working there, and perhaps by next year, he would be appointed as the executive chef.

Silently, Haruka took a sip of his lemonade and his eyes turned to look around him. They were now in the bar belonged to the hotel; the hotel was positioned at the border of Iwatobi Town, so Haruka didn't get the chance to visit his old home and the ocean on their way there.

"Hopefully Gou-chan is not panicking right now, she was supposed to meet us here fifteen minutes ago." Nagisa complained as he checked his watch again. Rei looked at him with a disapproving glare.

"Nagisa-kun, it's completely normal for the bride to panic when her wedding is in three more days. Wedding must be made perfect and beautiful." The blue haired man pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and Rin snorted. Apparently he still didn't get over his obsession over beautiful things.

"Shut it, Nagisa. My sister can come whenever she wants. Just enjoy your drink." The redhead gave a look at the blond, and Nagisa pouted back at him. Rei laughed at the way Nagisa was treated by Rin, and Haruka slowly stood up from his seat.

"I'm just going to get my drink refill." The dark haired man informed his friends before he left, and slowly approached the bar. He put down his glass on the counter and called out to the bartender. When the tall bartender came to refill his drink, Haruka stared at the collection of alcoholic drinks at the cupboard, and abruptly pushed away his empty glass. The night was still young and tomorrow he might not be able to enjoy a peaceful night anymore – since his ex-husband was also in the same hotel with him now, along with his plus one – so he figured a glass of alcoholic drink wouldn't hurt.

"Cognac, please." The bartender nodded his head at him and turned to grab a bottle of Cognac for him instead. While waiting for the bartender to pour him his drink, Haruka went stiff at the sudden, new presence, beside him.

"Hi, can I have a cup of Irish Coffee, please?"

Wide eyes, Haruka turned to look at the newcomer and if it was even possible, his blue eyes went wider.

Makoto stood beside him, wearing a formal buttoned-up white shirt, with the sleeves folded up to his elbows. Two first buttons were undone and his necktie was nowhere in sight. He wore a pair of black slacks as well as a pair of black shoes. He looked good as how he always did, and his hair looked a bit ruffled, but that only added more to his charm. However, it was the sight of him smiling that caught Haruka's attention.

To think that it had been almost a year since the last time he saw that smile…

"Ohh, H-Haru!" the taller man, apparently also just realized his presence, as he stuttered in surprise once he looked at the man next to him. Haruka blinked his eyes as well, and stepped back from him, putting a bit of distance between them. Makoto seemed to realize what he was doing, because his expression softened and his eyes had a fleeting glimpse of hurt in them. Haruka quickly looked away – anywhere, as long as it was not at Makoto – and he felt the taller man next to him stiffened too.

"Umm…" Makoto rubbed the back of his head with one hand, and his green eyes looked a bit troubled as he tried to find a suitable greeting for the black haired man, "Hi.. Haruka. Been a long time since we last met, yeah? I thought you're not coming… How are you doing?"

'What happened to Haru-chan?' Haruka's voice cried in the back of his head, and Haruka nodded his head slightly.

"I'm doing well. I changed my decision last minute because I managed to get a replacement for my shifts."

The was an awkward silence for a moment, as Haruka stared at his hands on top of the counter, and Makoto also not knowing what else to say. It had never been like this, when they were together. There were comfortable silence, angry silence, loving silence, but never awkward, never uncomfortable.

Haruka pulled down his hands from the counter before they could start clenching themselves again, like how they had been doing a few hours ago. He could feel Makoto's green eyes scrutinizing him from his head to his toe; probably to check whether he was really doing well. Typical Makoto; always looked out for other people no matter how uncomfortable he was with them.

"Here, Sir." The bartender put Haruka's glass of Cognac on top of the counter, closer to Makoto rather than Haruka himself. Haruka muttered a soft 'thank you' before he reached out to take his drink. However, Makoto was faster, because he took the glass for Haruka and offered it to him instead of letting Haruka reaching out to take it.

Both Haruka's and Makoto's eyes widened at the simple gesture; Makoto's hand stilled with the glass in his grip, and Haruka's froze in the air.

"Here, Haru-chan, your drink." A hand offered Haruka a glass of water as Haruka sleepily entered the kitchen-

"Haru-chan!" A towel was placed in front of him, and Haruka smiled as he took the towel from his husband, having just gone out of the bathtub-

"Which one do you want, Haru?" Haruka stared at the pink strawberry and green kiwi Popsicles, before reaching out to take the green one. But before he could do so, Makoto already pressed the tip of the ice cream on his lips. Blushing slightly, Haruka took the Popsicle and abruptly looked away, hoping that Makoto didn't see the slight flush on his face. Makoto did, though, as he laughed happily at Haruka's embarrassment-

"Here, Haru," Makoto's voice was soft and gentle as he put a cooling pad on Haruka's feverish forehead, and Haruka closed his eyes with a happy sigh coming from his lips. A loving kiss were pressed against his temple and his hands reached out to grab onto his husband's bicep when he felt the taller man started to move away-

"Makoto-senpai!"

Both of them gasped in surprise, as Gou's voice echoed in the small bar. The young redhead wrapped her arms around Makoto's middle, and Makoto fortunately managed to put down the glass of Cognac before it could spill. Haruka still watched him with wide, horrific blue eyes, as Makoto wrapped his arms back around the redhead. Makoto laughed weakly, his green eyes avoided Haruka's blue as he congratulated Gou for her wedding, and Haruka had to take a deep, long breath before he could start talking without a shaky voice.

"Hello, Kou."

Gou looked up at him, and her eyes sparkled happily.

"Haruka-senpai! I'm so happy that you made it!" she let go of the brunette to approach him, and Haruka had to smile a little because the redhead still found it awkward to pull him into a hug after all those years. He patted the girl on her head instead, and when Gou blushed, Haruka smiled wider.

"Makoto, yo." Makoto turned to look at others who were now approaching them as well. Rin tilted his head slightly at the tall brunette, with a raised eyebrow, and Makoto smiled at them.

"Hi, guys! Long time no see!" The brunette greeted them and Nagisa cried out happily as he jumped the brunette. Rei scolded the blond and Rin only snorted. Haruka took this chance to look at Makoto properly – and tried to memorize his features and his laughter – and when he realized Gou was staring at him with sympathy in her eyes, he had to look away.

Haruka hated this. He thought that he was over this, and he hated the fact that everyone could see that he was not.

Clenching his hand tightly into a fist, Haruka murmured a very small 'I need to go now, I'm sleepy', hoping that none of them actually heard him and tried to stop him. But before he turned away to leave, he caught the sight of Makoto's eyes widened as they looked at him in surprise.

Haruka paid no mind to them though, but his steps became quicker and he ended up running back to his room.

"What happened to us, Haru?"

"I don't understand you anymore, Makoto. I thought you and I are in this together."

"Then what do you think we are now?"

"… I think we are over."

Haruka's eyes were wide as they stared at the white ceiling of his hotel room. His hand on his chest, gripping tight on the shirt where his beating heart was located. Haruka didn't know much about love or together or forever, but he knew that it wasn't supposed to hurt. Loving someone who you wanted to be with, together, forever, shouldn't hurt you.

It shouldn't be hurting you or the other person. That was, in the first place, not love. Because you shouldn't hurt the one that you love.

Haruka blinked his eyes when he felt them warming up. His sight blurred and suddenly Haruka remembered that Makoto used to cry every time Haruka told him he was feeling a little bit sad. It was like the brunette knew him too much, understood him too much, that he got affected by everything that Haruka felt. It was annoying; adorable, but annoying, and unfortunately, Haruka wouldn't have it any other way.

He didn't have that anymore though. The second when he scrawled his signature on that piece of paper, Makoto didn't belong to him anymore.

It was no longer Makoto and Haruka.

There were no more Makoto's Haruka, and Haruka's Makoto.

By the moment the two of them went separate ways – with the divorce petition signed and verified – there were Makoto, and Haruka.

It was painful, days after that, to survive without the brunette. But Haruka had managed to convince himself that that was the best. You can love someone from far, you can love them more than yourself, from far. Furthermore, in his condition, that was the only option left. To think that maybe Makoto missed him too, soothed a bit of his misery, and Haruka was done with it anyway.

At least there were no more late night waiting for Makoto to go home, no more broken dates and promises, no more tears and no more trying. The only downfall of it was that there was no more Makoto. And God, didn't that hurt the most when Haruka returned home and realized that there wouldn't be any more cooking mishaps by his husband, no more Makoto's sheepish laughter and no more of his long fingers running through Haruka's hair every time Haruka told him he couldn't sleep?

Haruka never wanted to talk about this to anyone. He did try his best back then, but things didn't work out and they didn't have faith. They didn't have enough faith for this. The two of them played every card that they had, and when there was no more trick under their sleeve to save what they once had, they both know it was time to stop trying, and stop hurting.

Haruka blinked his eyes and managed not to let any tears fall. He turned to lie on his side, and stared at the open window. The winds were strong, as they blew the untied curtains of his windows. Haruka thought of closing the windows, but then there would be silence.

And Haruka had enough with silence. He didn't need more than the deadly, quiet beating of his heart. He didn't need more silence, because the silence that followed Makoto's last goodbye, was enough to last him forever.

The next morning, Haruka tried to best to avoid any interaction with anyone. He took his breakfast early in the morning, went for a short jog and swim in the hotel's pool, before he returned back to his room. He stayed inside for a few hours, watching the television boringly, until there was persistent knocks on his door. Knowing so much the only person who dare to do so, Haruka sighed heavily and opened the door.

"What do you want, Rin?" He asked with his blank expression, and Rin pushed past him to enter his room.

"What the hell, Haru? You are awake all this while, we were waiting for you and for fuck's sake, please answer your phone at least once in your whole life, could you?!" The redhead hissed at him and Haruka's eyes automatically turned to look at his cell phone on the nightstand. He usually put the cell phone on silent mode, disliking it very much when people called him for useless stuffs.

Rin seemed to realize this as well, as the redhead groaned angrily. And then he grabbed onto Haruka's arm and pulled him outside with him. Haruka's frown as he tried to pull away from Rin's grip.

"Rin, let me go-"

"You and I," Rin was gritting his teeth, and Haruka almost flinched at the tone that he used, almost, "Are going for a swim."

If it was years ago, Haruka's eyes would sparkle at the mentioning of water and swimming. But now when there was no one – Makoto – to pull him out from the water, he found himself deflating miserably. But the black haired man didn't fight it as Rin dragged him towards their destination.

Although he was acting aggressively, Haruka knew that all he wanted just to make sure that Haruka was okay. And Haruka was grateful enough for that, not to fight him back. It was better than having to talk about his feelings to the redhead anyway.

The God must have hated Haruka. Hated him so much that He decided to drop everything down on him all at once. Because mercy was just something too nice to be given to a man who broken the heart of a person as beautiful as Makoto.

Haruka stood close to the swimming pool, having been there for the second time of the day, as he stared at Makoto. The brunette was sitting on the edge of the pool, his legs in the water, and his own green eyes were wide as they looked back at Haruka.

Haruka wanted to die in a deep, dark abyss.

"Oi, Nanase! Strip and jump already!" Rin shouted at him from inside the pool, the insensitive bastard that he was, and Haruka stiffened even more at the sight of Makoto's flushing all in sudden.

Die, Haruka screamed in his head, DIE.

Haruka reluctantly pulled his shirt and pants off; his blue eyes tried their best to not look at his ex-husband, but he couldn't help it. He just had to see Makoto's response to him being almost naked.

Makoto was looking away from him, his green eyes looking focused as they stared at the water. But the bright red flush on his face and neck gave him away. Haruka didn't know whether to feel troubled or proud, that Makoto still found him attractive. He opted to jump into the pool instead, and let the water take him in.

Rin swam close to him, and Haruka found himself relaxing once he was immersed in the cool water – since it was autumn –. His legs moved on their own accord, out of habit, as he started to swim freely in the pool. He didn't get enough swimming this early morning because he was too wary of his surroundings.

He kept on imagining Makoto appeared out of nowhere and offered him a hand to help him out from the pool. It didn't go well with his intention to avoid the brunette at all cost. But now he got Rin with him and Makoto seemed to be reluctant about Haruka. Rei and Nagisa, who were there too, were having a nice chatter with the brunette about his job and Haruka closed his eyes, trying to focus on blocking all the words.

Makoto's and Haruka's career; sensitive topic.

Haruka swam smoothly inside of the pool, his whole body feeling light and he circled the redhead when he reached him. Then he saw Rin grinning like a shark at him before the redhead grabbed him by his shoulders and started wrestling him playfully under the water.

"Rin Rin! Haru-chan! What are you guys doing?" Haruka could hear Nagisa's worried voice as the blond looked at them from above the water. His legs kicked the redhead's behind him, but Rin was stifling his laughter as he continued to headlock him. Haruka growled in anger, and bit the redhead's arms with his fingernails. It seemed to surprise Rin enough to release him and swam back, and Haruka swiftly turned to strangle him with his hands when suddenly his stomach contracted.

Gasping in pain, Haruka curled into himself and his hands went to touch his cramping stomach. Rin stared wide eyed at him and the redhead quickly swam toward Haruka to help him. But before Haruka could register it, familiar strong arms wrapped around him from behind and he felt his body being dragged up to the surface.

"Aaah!" Haruka gasped for breath when they finally resurfaced, his arms still tight around his stomach, while the person behind him proceeded to pull him out from the water. Rin also had rushed out from the pool and approached him with a panicking look on his face.

"Haru-chan!"

"Haruka-senpai!"

Nagisa's and Rei's worried faces appeared in his line of sight, and Haruka whined when Rei slipped a hand on his lower back and pressed another on the cramping area.

"Stomach cramp. Nagisa-kun, get me the towels!"

Haruka closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing. It had been a long time since he had last got stomach cramp, because Makoto always looked out for his health, and the water and weather condition before allowing him to swim. And it had been almost two weeks since Haruka last swam in a pool because he was too busy working.

However, in the midst of Rei trying to stop his cramping by placing a number of towels behind his back for him to lie on, he felt long fingers ran them through his water soaked hair. He felt the strong arms from before were still supporting him, because his head was lying on one arm, while the fingers of another hand stroke his hair lovingly.

Slowly opening his eyes, Haruka felt his breath stuck in his throat at the sight of Makoto looking down at him with his pair of green eyes. He looked worried and his face scrunched in a way that Haruka knew he was holding onto his tears.

"Haru…" the brunette called out his name in a soft voice, and suddenly Haruka felt so out of place. He didn't know where to put his hands now, and he didn't know whether it would be a good idea to look away. Makoto, though he did look like he matured more in the duration of months they weren't together, still had the heart of a kind man. His broad chest was probably to contain his big heart that was so rare to find nowadays.

His fingers were still stroking Haruka's hair and Haruka wanted him to stop because Makoto was making him feel like he had taken one step forward, just to take two steps back afterward.

"Haruka-senpai, does the pain lessen?" Haruka heard Rei asked him in a concerned tone and then he realized that the pain was no longer here. Nodding his head stiffly, Haruka tried to pull away and sit down, but his stomach throbbed and he had to take another gasping breath, eyes closed uncomfortably.

"Haru," Rin started and Haruka shook his head to show that the redhead didn't have to feel guilty. It was Haruka's fault anyway for not continuing his normal swimming routine; it felt like his body was slowly forgotten how it felt like to swim for hours.

"I'll bring him back to his room." Makoto said to their friends who were looking at Haruka hesitantly. They were never that good at reading him anyway, so Haruka didn't blame them for their insecurities and reluctant when it came to Haruka's thought. But then he felt Makoto put an arm under his knees and another around his shoulders. It made his blue eyes widened in shock, as he abruptly turned to look at Makoto. Then the brunette carried him up, bridal style, with ease came from routine and familiarity. Just like how Makoto carried him when he fell asleep on the couch – due to late night movie together with Makoto, or due to waiting for Makoto to return home – and when Haruka fell sick and unable to move by his own.

The brunette was drenched with water since he jumped to save Haruka in the pool, fully clothed. Haruka's first intention to stop him died on his lips when Makoto pulled him closer to his chest and proceeded to walk them back into the hotel. Haruka slowly looked down, his fingers restless as they tangled with each other on his lap.

Makoto's steps were carefully and in that silent moment the two of them impliedly agreed not to break, Haruka wondered how he knew where his room was. Then he realized Makoto was glancing down at him, and as if he was reading Haruka – he was, he had been doing it for a long time, and Haruka loved him so much because of that – he gave a small awkward smile.

"I actually had to change my room last night, and the hotel gave me the one right across yours. Kou told me that."

Haruka couldn't help but paled at the thought of unable to avoid Makoto any longer now.

The brunette seemed to sense his discomfort, because his body became tensed as well and his grips on Haruka tightened. Once they reached Haruka's room, Haruka fumbled with the key Nagisa gave him right before Makoto took him away. The brunette entered his room after a small nod from Haruka, and instead of the bed, he headed toward the spacious bathtub and placed Haruka to sit down inside of it. Haruka blushed slightly, happy at the implication that Makoto still remembered what he preferred best when he was hurt or sick. Makoto smiled at him, his green eyes bright and warm as he opened the tap to allow water to flow it; his fingers tested the water to make sure it was warm before he pulled away.

Then he went to retrieve the towels from the upper cupboard and placed them on the closed toilet lid. Haruka looked up at him as he stuttered a bit in his action. By then Haruka realized that Makoto's hand was reaching out, probably to pat him on his head like how he always did when Haruka was feeling unwell.

Blue eyes wide, Haruka stared at Makoto, as the brunette stared back at him with equally wide green eyes. The two of them didn't realize that they were holding their breath, until the water almost overflow the tub.

"O-Ohh!" Makoto hurriedly off the tap and there was flushes on his face when he looked away from Haruka. Haruka looked down as well because he felt his cheeks were reddening quite rapidly. Then he clenched his hands on his lap, and tried to gather his courage to smooth things up with his ex-husband.

"Makoto-"

"Haru-"

Another awkward silence as the two of them unintentionally called each other's name at the same time. But right at that moment, Haruka and Makoto were both looking at each other and Haruka felt his resolve breaking at the sight of Makoto's eyes looking so pained. Makoto didn't deserve that, didn't deserve any kind of pain, because although they agreed to separate and let go of what they had had in their whole life together, Haruka was the one who initiated everything.

Because he didn't know what else to do, and Makoto wasn't there to help him about it.

"I…" Makoto started again, and this time Haruka allowed himself a little bit of chance to see the love of his life as someone who used to belong to him. Makoto's hand was fisted at his side and Haruka felt his eyes warmed again at the memory of them clenching and unclenching the day Haruka told Makoto they were over. "I… I think I better go now."

Haruka closed his eyes once Makoto turned away, and quickly left the bathroom. He heard the sound of the door being closed, and Haruka spent a moment being still in his position. Then he immersed himself underwater, with the hope that the salty drops of water he felt running down his cheeks and lips just now were only his imagination.

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A/N: I know Haruka seems a bit out of character, but I just can't – strangles myself – and I hope you love the plot. This could actually be a one-shot, but I'll decide that based on the aftereffect of this chapter. – smiles –

Please review.