It's officially the end of June 30th everywhere in the world. And so, it's the end of Haru's birthday, too. ;;
We hope you guys enjoyed the flood that happened in the past 2 days. It got to a point where we had to post things every 30 minutes. That's really amazing! ✧*｡(//・◡・)人(ㅎ.ㅎ//)✧*｡
We had a lot of fun making this event and even more fun seeing the submissions you guys sent in. We all screamed about how cute they were to each other whenever we got one. Haru has a lot of talented fans!
It wouldn't have been possible without any of you so thank you so much for participating, supporting, spreading the word, etc. We're truly grateful that so many of you wanted to celebrate with us. It made it extra special that we could all come together to do so. ^^
Plus, we got a lot of heartwarming comments for our dolphin boy here! You can still send them in if you want; we'd be happy to include them all.
Hopefully we'll be able to do something like this again. <3
Rating: T, sfw
Characters: Haruka Nanase, Makoto Tachibana, Nanase Parents
Summary: A Coming-Out-Of-The-Closet story set on Haru’s birthday, because if there was anyone Haruka needed to explain his relationship with Makoto to, it was his parents.
———-
Finding the right words is the hardest part.
He concludes long before that he will tell his parents on the day of his birthday. He wants—needs to believe that his parents will celebrate his life for everything he is and for everything he stands for.
Free.
Here they are in the Nanase living room, gathered in circle with Makoto engrossed in retelling the details of their high school lives, the Iwatobi Swim Club and all, as well as the escapades Haruka has been into besides water and mackerel, while his parents listen with equal enthusiasm.
Of all the dread and anxiety his unspoken words are flooding him, he revels at the comfort of how Makoto, in all his built and size, can fit seamlessly with his family; the same way he fits perfectly in Haruka’s heart.
And then, it finally registers: the right words.
“Mom, Dad,” he is somehow surprised at how steady his voice sounds to his own ears, yet his heart is a hammering monster in his chest.
“What is it, Haruka?” his mother asks.
There is an uncanny tingle on the palms of his hands, the kind he feels whenever he is near a body of water but cannot dive into; breathing out and linking his hand with Makoto’s, he presents their joined hands to his parents, “This is the love of my life.”
He says simply because it is the truth. It has never been about gender, his and Makoto. One fortunate day he stares at Makoto’s eyes and realizes he was born to fall in love with this person. That realization just happens to be accompanied with unnecessary consequences, all of which Haruka is willing to take.
He is expecting anger. He is expecting bitter words. He is expecting resentment, disappointment; ready for a clash of wills and a battle for his beliefs.
The reaction they get is his father’s silence and his mother’s tears.
“I’m sorry,” came too late, but these are the words Haruka needed his parents to hear nonetheless. “I wanted you both to be part of this so badly, I selfishly didn’t consider for your feelings.”
His mother raises her hand and shakes her head rapidly, tears splaying on her cheeks. “Always,” she whimpers her words through the words, “We always thought you’d end up alone and miserable.” Swallowing the emotions down her throat, she regards Makoto with a thoughtful gaze. “Our son is a handful. He barely speaks his mind, obsessed with water ever since we introduced him to the ocean, and doesn’t fit well with people. You want that?”
“Yes ma’am, for the rest of my life,” Makoto replies readily, and a smile breaks in her mother’s face.
Haruka feels his lips quiver as he fights back the tears from his own eyes.
“And how long will this love last?” His father’s question cuts through their protective cocoon.
“Darling.”
“It is important,” his father grits every word in emphasis, “that we know how sincere they are for this.” It is not anger coloring his father’s tone, nor spite, nor disappointment and resentment. It is fear.
Intertwining their fingers in that familiar manner of reassurance, Haruka answers, “Until I stop swimming.”
His father takes the words into his heart, nodding at his flesh and blood with the look of perpetual pride. He focuses on Makoto this time, eyes with a mellower glow, “The mere fact that you’ve come here in our house to pay your respect, to celebrate Haruka’s life with his family, to promise to love our son, brings to me as a parent more joy than any disappointment could ever measure up. You will take care of our Haruka.”
“Yes sir.”
“Then you have our blessing.”
===
Outtake
The rest of the evening passes by like a blur. He does recall his parents offering Makoto to stay in for the night, which he has to turn down regrettably. The Tachibanas are expecting a full report, and truthfully the Nanases need their own time together to catch up on certain events more than anything.
“Well,” Makoto stops on the entryway. “See you tomorrow.”
A nod is his answer; but as Makoto turns away Haruka grabs him by the shoulders and kisses him. Makoto staggers for a moment, surprised more than anything, before melting with the kiss, eyes closed, arms winding around Haruka’s waist, mouth opening for more.
Haruka meant it as a kiss goodnight, but the consequential events have left his emotions raw, and the kiss they share is deliciously sweet and passionate. For the first time in his life, Haruka feels alive and it has nothing to do with his aquatic solace.
When they pull apart, Haruka buries his face in the crook of Makoto’s shoulder and mumbles, “Thank you for being born in this world.”
“You stole my line,” Makoto sing-songs, kissing the side of Haruka’s head, his cheeks, anywhere his lips could reach. “Happy birthday, Haru,” he whispers softly, and pulls them closer still.
“Say it properly.”
“Happy birthday, Haruka.”
===
A/N: Oh my God, I apologize in advance if this sounds randomly vague and weird. Happy birthday again, Haru-chan!!!
Rating: G
Characters/Pairing: Nanase Haruka, Hazuki Nagisa, Ryuugazaki Rei, Tachibana Makoto, Matsuoka Rin
------
The water is alive. Once you dive in, it will immediately bare its fangs and attack. But, there’s nothing to fear. Don’t resist the water. Thrust your fingers into the water surface and carve an opening. Then you slide your body through that opening.
Nanase Haruka found himself reminiscing the words of his twelve year old self again. This time, outside of the water. Not quite. It was before he let himself sink into the comfort of his own bath tub. The soothing envelope of the ever so familiar coolness eased every knots and joints of his body from a long period of work. He had been doing odd jobs after graduation, trying to open his opportunities in life after school as wide as he could. He knew he should when he asked about Rin’s dreams. The thought of his own dream crossed his mind once in a while, but when Rin can finally answer his question with clarity and determination, Haru think he should too. Not just because the competitive trigger from his rival-cum-friend, he just think he should put a little more effort when it comes to the future.
After graduation, he saw both Rin and his childhood friend Makoto, off to Tokyo where they planned to pursue their dreams. Nagisa and Rei were to continue in their final year of high school along with Gou, and during their practice, Haru would show up for some dipping session for himself, giving some tips and pep talk to some juniors joining the Swim Club. It was unlikely that he can give pep talk given with his natural poker face and no-care-of-the-world-whatsoever attitude, but he did it so well because he was the ever so honest-despite-the-circumstance-and-consequences Nanase Haruka. That somehow had touched the students.
Then, he decided to go to places and try many things. He didn’t go too far, but he tried working at different places for experience. He learned that the jobs required fine details kept him focused, and he sometimes do things out of impulses. He had a hard time with some jobs that required him to interact with people, but is good at listening, and at times, he could give great advices too. He likes quiet place rather than a lively place. He felt at home when there is water involved. It might be one of those journeys of self-realization.
Don’t resist the water. Welcome it. We accept one another.
Haruka begin to immerse more of his head up to his nose in the water. The familiar sense of numbness to the outside world began to fill. After two years of working odd jobs and wandering around, he was back at his Grandmother’s house. The house was not abandoned since his parents would made several visits a year for celebrations and sometimes, just to say hi. Before he left, Haruka left a long note. Besides telling them what he was up to, he also told them to keep the house in its best condition, although he never would have expect that it would take him this long to return. He never lost contact with his parents, called them every time he got to a new place, with his mother’s order of course.
My late grandma taught me an old saying, “When you’re ten, they call you a prodigy. When you’re fifteen, they call you a genius. Once you hit twenty, you’re just an ordinary person. ”
The voice of his younger self kept on resounding and that’s when he realized that he was out of breath and resurfaced with a few frequent gasps.
“I am twenty today.” He said to himself as to remind himself the moment he had been waiting for.
His phone rang after a few seconds. It was in his pajama pants in the basket outside of the bath. He was woken up by Makoto who announced that he and Rin had just arrived home and later they planned a reunion and birthday celebration for Haru. This call is from someone who is familiar but now with quite a deeper voice. It was Nagisa, as perky as he always is.
“Haru-chan, I called just to remind you that we meet up at ‘our restaurant’ at 2, since Mako-chan said he had some catching up to do with his family.” Haruka replied with the usual hum.
# # # #
There are many times in Haruka’s life where he regrets things. Things like trespassing into their old swimming club, the Samezuka Academy pool, giving effort to trivial things and also blurting out his desire to become ordinary to his friends.
When his birthday cake is brought forth accompanied by the Happy Birthday tune from his friends, that’s when he had an undescribable mixed feeling.
Happy Ordinary is written on the cake.
“Nee, Haru. I doubt you are ordinary even if you’re twenty.” Rin just let something so unexpected nonchalantly. “I mean…”
Rin leaned closer to Haru. As a matter of fact, too close. Rin’s nose was touching the bangs of his hair, which then went lower to his lips.
“You still smell like mackerel. Faint, but yeah. Still the same Haru.”
Makoto pulled Rin away from Haru by grabbing the back of Rin’s collar. “That’s enough, Rin. I told you to stay at least 2 feet away from Haru.”
“Why? Because I’m a bad influence? I bet, you’re just jealous,” Rin replied sarcastically, as if resuming a conversation with Makoto from somewhere when they are together in Tokyo.
Makoto just gave Rin a look that made him stopped talking. He let go of Rin’s collar. “I have my ‘fangs’ to remind me.”
“Yeah, so is my tongue.”
“Rin-san, Makoto-senpai, are you going to start fighting? God, what happened to the both of you?” Rei cut them off.
“Rin made me file my canine.” Makoto showed his pair of canines which were now sharp as Rin’s teeth.
“Thanks to those, vampire lovers crowd you all the time, Mr New Edward Cullen. You should thank me for that. But what did you do? Put this on me.” Rin stuck his tongue out and on the flesh was a tiny silver stud. “Thank God, this doesn’t add up any resistance when I swim.”
“I’m actually doing you a favour. I’ve heard ‘those’ rumors from the girls you used to date, saying how they would miss you.”
“Guys, guys! I don’t know what happened to the both of you while in Tokyo, can we just let it slide and let Haru blow the candles off and cut the cake already? The strawberries are tempting me.” Nagisa butted in.
“Nagisa, you just ate half of the pizza alone, you know what the doctor would say if he finds out.”
“Rei-chan is so mean. Can I just let loose for this one day. It is Haru-chan’s birthday.”
“That is why we should make him feel special.” Rei added.
It’s not that Haru minded that he was ignored, but at times, it’s good to be a spectator rather than the main event. He knew his friends were lively, even after graduation. Everyone has changed at some point, but some part of them are still the same. They had cake, some drinks, a few exchange of stories, some body modification debates and a walk on the beach during sunset, reminiscing the summer camp three years ago.
“If Haru was the Haru three years ago, he would strip-”
Haru had taken off his shirt and was ready to embrace the warm water of summer.
“What? I didn’t have my swimsuit on.” Haru pulled of his pants to reveal a loose summer shorts. “It’s summer.”
Nanase Haruka dived into the water that had been calling him since they took a detour to the beach. So what if he didn’t gave up mackerel. So what if he had more collection of swimsuits than ever before. So what I he still have the undying indescribable love towards water. What is ordinary anyway? When he was 12 he thinks that the water is alive, when he was 17, he thinks that it was stupid. At the age of 17 he wanted to be ordinary, at 20…? He was free.
Rating: G
Characters: High Speed! Age: Nanase Haruka, Tachibana Makoto, Hazuki Nagisa, Matsuoka Rin
Summary: Haruka’s always questioned why he has such weird friends. Or for that matter, why they would choose to be friends with an anti-social such as himself. But of course, he wouldn’t trade them for the world.
------
The door creaked as it was opened. A mother poked her head into the small bedroom. The air felt stagnant and thick, afternoon sun streaming in through the window. Dust floated in the light, lazy and subdued, into the wash basin filled with lukewarm water. The woman brushed the black hair behind her ear.
“Haruka?” She called softly.
From the bed, the sea blue sheets stirred, shifting in such a way that it resembled ocean waves. A tiny groan was muffled under the sheets, followed by a cough or two. The mother walked inside, a washcloth draped across her shoulders, dipping it into the wash basin and ringing it out. “Haruka, I know you’re awake. Are you going to ignore me?”
The blankets ruffled again. Blue eyes met blue eyes, and the young boy stared blankly at his mother who continued to ring out the washcloth. He was quite small in physique, but not too small. His eyes were as blue as the summer sky, shining like sunlight glistening off a waterfall. His face was rosy, cheeks flushed unnaturally, for the poor boy was stuck inside on a warm summer day with a cold. It wasn’t just any day either; it was the boy’s thirteenth birthday.
“I’m awake,” Haruka said finally, gaze drifting to the sunlight coming from the window.
His mother sighed, kneeling at his bed, laying the washcloth across his hot forehead and gently caressing his cheek. “Are you okay?” She asked.
“… Yeah,” He replied, “I’m just tired.”
“I’m sorry you had to get sick on your birthday-“
“It’s fine.”
Haruka was never one to care about birthdays in the first place. He didn’t particularly enjoy parties and didn’t mind missing out. Makoto, Nagisa, and Rin had planned a party for him today. He knew. The clothes he was going to wear, a typical blue striped shirt and jeans, already draped across the desk chair on the other side of the room. But Haruka was Haruka, and he had been swimming in the ocean the day previously, for a bit too long it seemed. He had come home after the sun had already set, flushed, with hair still wet. It was no surprise that the young boy was sick with a cold the next day.
What a day to be sick too. It was a brilliant summer day. The distant chime of the ice cream truck and people playing on the beach reached Haruka’s ears, but most importantly, the crashing tide of the ocean against the sand. It was soothing to his soul, and the best lulling lullaby he could ask for.
“Did you tell Makoto-kun that you aren’t coming later today?” His mother asked, crossing the room to pull the curtains across the window. The room darkened, the shadows expanding across the floorboards.
Haruka hesitated, “… Too much effort.” He responded finally.
His mother gave him one of those motherly looks, “Won’t they be wondering where you are?”
“Probably.”
“Oh Haruka, how do your friends ever put up with you?”
“Dunno.”
Leaving the room, his mother said simply, “I’ll call Makoto. You get some more rest, okay?”
The stoic boy said nothing as she left, slipping back into sleep almost immediately after her exit.
XxXxX
“N-Nagisa! That’s not yours, don’t touch it!” A sharp whisper travelled up the stairs, followed by a soft thump. “Pick it up! Pick it up!”
“I thought you said ‘don’t touch it’ Mako-chan?”
“Well, you knocked it over!”
“Guys, be quiet or he’ll hear us!”
It was too late though. Haruka lay underneath the covers, eyes open, his hands tracing the pattern on the blankets. If Makoto, Nagisa, and Rin were going for a stealthy surprise, they had already failed.
Three pairs of feet tiptoed up the stairs, before scrambling into their friend’s bedroom, the door creaking upon their entrance.
“Is Haru-chan even in here?” Nagisa said a bit too ecstatically.
“Shhh! He’s sleeping, can’t you see?” Rin hissed, closing the door behind them. “Nagisa, do you have the present?”
“I thought you were supposed to have it?”
“You were!” The angry redhead snapped, before stealing a glance at the bed and lowering his voice.
“He almost forgot it at my house, so I brought it,” Makoto said, saving the day. “It was his idea to bring balloons, but he almost forgot those too.”
Haruka could feel the mattress creak as Nagisa climbed atop the bottom end of the bed, tying balloons to the bed frame.
“Nagisa,” Rin seethed, “What are you doing?”
“I’m tying balloons to Haru-chan’s bed! What does it look like…?” The blonde asked curiously.
“Get off!”
Haruka heard Nagisa hit the floor, scrambling back toward Makoto and Rin, nearly knocking over the wash basin. “So what do we do now?” Nagisa asked impatiently, “Do we just wait for Haru-chan to wake up?”
Makoto and Rin exchanged glances. “I… I guess,” Makoto said finally.
From his place under the blanket, Haruka scoffed. It was just like his friends to sneak into his room and not know what to do. He heard the crinkling of a convenience store bag, as it was set down on the desk. “Do you think Haru-chan would mind if I ate in his bedroom?”
“Nagisa, we’re supposed to eat those together…” Makoto trailed off.
“But I’m bored! Can’t we just wake Haru-chan up now?”
“The guy’s sick!” Rin argued, “He’s resting for a reason!”
Haruka sighed, finally peeling the blankets away and saying very blandly, “… Could you guys keep it down?”
The three other boys twisted around to look at him. “Haru-chan!” Nagisa cheered happily, a chocolate between his lips, “Happy Birthday!”
“… You guys didn’t have to come,” Haruka said.
“Your mom phoned me saying you were sick and couldn’t come to the party at my house,” Makoto said, “So we just thought we’d bring the party to your house!”
Rin gave him a smile, “Romantic right?”
Haruka just stared.
“Aw, come on Haru-chan! Don’t give us that face!” Nagisa pouted, fishing in the convenience store bag again and pulling out a cardboard party hat that read, birthday boy in flashy lettering. “Wear this and feel better.”
Nagisa climbed atop the dolphin boy’s bed, securing the cheap hat to Haruka’s head. “Why go through the effort?” He asked, “I’m sick and don’t feel like having a party.”
Rin laughed, “You’re so cold Haru! We did it because we’re friends!”
“And that’s what friends do!” Makoto finished.
The two other boys crawled up onto Haruka’s bed, flicking the balloons tied to the bed post and they bobbed up and down.
“… Friends?” Haruka said.
“Yes, friends,” Rin said matter-of-factly, “And as your friends, we’re here to celebrate your birthday with you.”
“You mean a lot to us Haru-chan!” Nagisa contributed.
“Alright, time to get this celebration started!” Rin exclaimed, “How about we play a game or something?”
“Let’s go swimming,” Haruka said.
“Haru, you can’t swim when you’re sick!” Makoto fretted in his typical manner, “How about we play cards or something?”
“Go Fish!” Nagisa cheered.
Haruka stared as his friends began to clamour over each other, reaching for things, causing fusses, and scattering food crumbs all over his bed sheets. He had such strange friends. And he wondered why they stuck around with an anti-social person like himself.
“Ah! Nagisa, you’re cheating!” Rin yelled.
“No I’m not Rin-chan!”
Haruka laughed finally. He wondered why he had decided to chose them as friends in the first place. But if he had the chance to choose different ones, would he?
“Mako-chan, your cards are bleeding!”
“Eh?”
Definitely not. Haruka wouldn’t trade his weird, wacky, friends for all the water in the world.
