1/4
Title: Water's Edge
Pairing: Nanase Haruka/OC
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Spring has arrived, and they finally move on.
Note: This is the first part of the fifth installment. You may find the previous installments here:
Coastline
Soup-Port
Harbor
Island [ 1 | 2 | 3 ]
Cherry blossoms color the tranquil morning in their brilliant hue. The birds are singing to the directions of the wind, sweet and lingering, like the lazily passing clouds overhead that mingle with the gentle sun.
Spring has come.
The gates to the school are held open to welcome families and friends. The Student Council members and the faculty usher the visitors into the gym where most of the senior students have gathered, talking to their peers as though they are only attending one of those opening ceremonies they have but already passed for three years. This assembly happens to be the last, as the end.
The view of the pool from the rooftop hasn’t changed. There are no specks of light that glimmer in the distance though, the sunlight deprived of its liquid mirror. What replace the water in that rectangular gap are leaves and weeds and stray cherry blossom petals, all mixed as if a tiny tornado had visited overnight. It’s quite a sight, still.
“Miharu.”
The girl leans back from her place by the rooftop’s boundary, her hands flat on the cement edge. Haruka is standing behind her. The boutonniere on his uniform is definitely something new, if not stray. She rather see him without it, really, and maybe they can just stand there and look at whatever parts of the campus are visible from their spot until sunset. She actually forgets for a moment that she, too, has a corsage pinned to her blazer and that it serves as a reminder that she and Haruka are marked; that they’re required to attend the assembly, or else.
“You found me.”
“I saw you sneak out of the gym.”
“So you followed me?”
The only answer Haruka can give Miharu then is a glimpse of him diverting his attention away from her and the tiny hint of awkwardness that he is quietly hiding. In the next thirty minutes, Amakata-sensei will be calling their names one by one like how she did in homeroom during their junior year but unlike in class, they have to stand up from their seats and walk up to the stage and shake hands with the principal and accept a piece of paper with yet another mark of their names encased in a tube. And then it’s over. Since it’s such a monotonous procedure, Miharu wants something special out of it.
“Hey, Haru,” she says as she faces the boy completely now. The wind brushes by them and softly combs their hair to the side. Haruka is staring at her with his ever same deep ocean eyes. She still feels bare under his gaze - this reassures Miharu greatly; that despite the time ticking, some things just really don’t change.
“What is it?”
A small smile eases out on Miharu’s face as she fixes her hair, her eyes softening. “I think I want a memento,” she whispers. “But cherry blossoms will only remind me of any other spring day.”
There’s no question, actually. Miharu really isn’t asking Haruka for his opinion as she seems to be simply thinking out loud as if she’s determining whether to pick ice-cream or candy for desert. But what’s obvious in this scene, to Haruka, is how Miharu really wants to etch that day in her mind and remember it with a smile on her face and not tears falling down her cheeks. He knows Miharu has a penchant for keeping things that remind her of a certain memory and that she keeps them in a blue and beige-colored circular box, like one of those used in old Western movies for hats. How terribly lonesome it is to keep memories in a box, whether they’re reminders of times spent in joy or ones spent in isolation. Haruka knows Miharu has all of these memories, but he wants to build up the number of happy ones so that the ones that make her cry won’t catch up to her.
“I guess that’s what pictures are for. After all, today is…” Miharu trails off as her attention shifts to her hand - that one, the one Haruka is holding then. There’s something in between their palms but she can’t quite guess what it is. Just when the breeze passes by them again, the boy lets go and waits for Miharu to open her hand. When she does and sees the tiny entity staring at her, she doesn’t speak.
“I found my old middle school uniform when I was packing,” Haruka explains briefly. He had not seen his gakuran for years and when he did the night before, as he packed his leftover clothes, he noticed its second button and recalled Miharu’s penchant. He didn’t think she would think much of it but now that he has given the button to her, right in front of him, he sees her smile as if she received a treasure so priceless that even the happiness she feels reflects perfectly in her dark brown eyes, shining only at him.
“Thank you,” she says as she encases the button with both her hands. “I’ll cherish it.”
Not expecting Miharu to say such words, Haruka lowers his eyes to the ground, nodding once. He turns around and starts for the door. “It’s going to begin soon.”
Indeed, the sound of someone’s voice booming into a microphone is carried over to them by the wind. Miharu hesitates for a second until she sees Haruka waiting for her by the door. She looks at him, all the while remembering the tiny yet so very meaningful gift in her hand. She turns around and takes one last look at the pool before she walks away from the scene to fall in step with Haruka as they return to the gym.
Of course Haruka and Miharu aren’t aware but while they were gone, Makoto has been trying to clear up a misunderstanding his parents created with Haruka’s own.
“Her name’s Hasegawa-san. She comes over with Haru-kun to visit Makoto-kun from time to time,” Mrs. Tachibana tells Mrs. Nanase beside her. “Makoto-kun won’t tell us if she’s his girlfriend.”
“She’s not, Mom!” Makoto protests, his distress evident in his voice.
Mr. Tachibana, who is sitting to his wife’s left, chuckles. “Hasegawa-san and Haru-kun seem to get along pretty well, too, don’t they, Makoto?”
Knowing that it’s not his story to tell, Makoto blushes in embarrassment. Haruka’s father, who is sitting on the far right side of their little space, begins to chuckle as well.
“So what you’re saying is that this Hasegawa-san is either Makoto-kun’s or Haru-chan’s girlfriend?” he asks just to see if he got the gist of their conversation correctly.
Mrs. Tachibana, clearly excited, nods. “Definitely!”
“M-Mom!” Makoto starts to whine.
Breaking her silence, Mrs. Nanase giggles behind her hand. “That’s funny. Makoto-kun, won’t you clear the confusion for us?”
Not wanting to give in to Mrs. Nanase’s bidding, Makoto freezes up, conscious of his parents’ and Haruka’s parents’ waiting gazes. Just when he mentally decides to steer the conversation to a different route, Haruka and Miharu appear behind them, earning the grownups’ attention now.
“Mom, dad,” Haruka says with a pinch of surprise. His parents have been away because of their jobs and though he told them about the day’s occasion, he wasn’t expecting them to visit at all. Right then, his parents stand up and wrap him in a tight embrace.
“You’ve done well, Haru-chan,” Mr. Nanase whispers lovingly against Haruka’s temple. His son narrows his eyes a bit and he knows why he does so; because he called his name with -chan again. He likes teasing the boy. “Haru, then.”
As Mr. Nanase and Haruka talk, Mrs. Nanase notices the girl Makoto is talking to now. From their seats, the Tachibana couple is watching their son with delighted and mischievous smiles and it doesn’t take long for Mrs. Nanase to understand who that girl really is.
“Hasegawa-san?” the woman calls out as she stops in front of Makoto and Miharu, a gentle smile gracing her lips.
At the sudden call, Miharu freezes and stutters, “Y-Yes?”
Finally meeting the girl from the Tachibana couple’s stories, Mrs. Nanase can’t help but look at her for a moment. Miharu really does look a tad young for her age. The eyes that such long lashes shelter look so kind yet mysterious at the same time and the blackness of her hair and the redness of her lips complement her porcelain skin. With her wavy locks and side-swept bangs as well as her petite and lean body, Mrs. Nanase feels like she’s staring at a doll.
“Makoto-kun’s parents have been telling us a lot about you,” Mrs. Nanase says before she and Miharu bow to each other in due respect. “I’m Haru-kun’s mother. It’s very nice to meet you.”
“It’s very nice to meet you, too, Nanase-san. I-I’m Hasegawa Miharu.”
In the background, Makoto lets out an amused smile.
Miharu-chan is really nervous.
“Thank you so much for taking care of Haru-kun.”
“N-Not at all!” Miharu replies in a panic, her hands held up by reflex. In doing so, she accidentally drops the button that she had been holding all this time and before she could bend over to pick it up, Mrs. Nanase has already done so, looking at it on her palm.
Oh. This is…
Right before they headed out to go to the school, the Nanase couple decided to stop by at the house. Haruka had already gone ahead by that time. While Mr. Nanase went around the house to do his routinely check, Mrs. Nanase found herself in the den where some of Haruka’s boxes are still unsealed. She looked around more and found her son’s old gakuran folded neatly atop one of the boxes. She noticed its second button was missing and thought that it must have gotten pulled off while Haruka was going through his stuff. Now that the missing second button is sitting prettily on her palm, having been in Miharu’s grasp before, Mrs. Nanase finally concludes the confusion earlier, smiling ever more fondly at the blushing girl in front of her.
“This is yours,” Mrs. Nanase says as she takes Miharu’s hand and leaves the button on her palm. Despite Miharu’s doll-like appearance, the woman glimpses callouses on her hands and surmises that she is, indeed, a hard-working girl. Glancing at Haruka behind them then back at Miharu, Mrs. Nanase lets her heart be filled with giddiness.
“T-Thank you…” goes Miharu’s reply in a mumble, encasing the button in her hand carefully and securely as though it’s a precious jewel. Mrs. Nanase’s smile is filled with even more fondness from such a sight.
“Oh! Who’s this?” Mr. Nanase asks as soon as he and Haruka return to where Makoto and Miharu are.
“This is Hasegawa-san, dear.”
Mr. Nanase’s smile stretches to a jubilant grin. “I see! We heard so much about you. Thank you for taking care of Haru and Makoto-kun for us. We really appreciate it.”
Is it possible for Miharu’s cheeks to burn even more than they already have? Haruka’s parents are such kind and gentle people! “P-Please don’t thank me-“
“Let’s go,” Haruka cuts in, gripping Miharu’s wrist to pull her away from his parents. The Nanase couple can see the panic in the girl’s eyes for not saying good-bye to them properly but they don’t mind. After all, they got to see Haruka in his ‘possessive’ state.
Makoto bows to the couple on his and Miharu’s behalf before he follows his friends back to their seats. Mr. Nanase watches his son take his seat right after walking Miharu back to hers. Being away for so long, he thinks of how much in Haruka’s life he has been missing out on. Mrs. Nanase shares the same sentiments as her husband so that when she had glimpsed the redness of Haruka’s face when he dragged Miharu away, her heart just fluttered.
“He told me.”
Mrs. Nanase looks at her husband. He has encased her hand in his, turning to her with a gaze as though he has fallen in love with her all over again. She looks at him with an identical smile as that time when she whispered, “I do”.
“I know,” Mrs. Nanase says as she squeezes her husband’s hand. “He gave her the second button.”
“He did?”
She nods as she looks at both Haruka’s and Miharu’s backs in the sea of students before them. They’re five seats away from each other and yet the lady still catches their secret smiles. “He’s all grown up, dear.”
“And we were here to see.” Mr. Nanase lets out a relieved sigh. “Finally.”
Time works its magic and soon, the sun is already setting. The ceremony has long been concluded and the gym has been ridded of the banners and chairs. The school is empty now. Everyone has gone home to celebrate with their families and friends. Sitting on the steps that lead to the beach, Haruka and Miharu watch the water glitter in the distance. The flowers pinned on their blazers are bathed in the nostalgia that sunsets always give the two of them. The button is still in Miharu’s hand and it has been since Haruka gave it to her. After all, it’s like a piece of the quiet boy’s heart, if not its entirety.
“I’ll cherish it.”
“You said that already.”
“I want to say it over and over so you won’t forget.”
“I won’t.”
Not hearing a reply prompts Haruka to glance at the girl next to him. She’s looking down at the tiny dot in her hand with a gentle smile, as if she already knows where to put it in her memory box at home. And this is what Haruka wants - to give Miharu more happy memories. But alongside that thought is wanting Miharu to keep the memory of that day not in her old Western movie circular box, but in the box well-hidden within her chest.
You shouldn’t forget either.
A giggle chorusing with the waves caresses Haruka’s ears just then. He looks up and into shining dark brown eyes, losing himself there before soft red lips curve into the very same sunset smile he has come to etch in his memories.
“I’ll miss you, Haru.”
Haruka nods.
I’ll miss you, too.
Then the day ends in meaningful silence.
The season passes slowly. Several days have gone and ended since their graduation. Miharu hasn’t seen the others, knowing that Haruka and Makoto are busy finalizing and securing their enrollment in their respective schools and Gou, Nagisa and Rei with the swim club. All of her other friends have already moved to wherever they’re heading and Miharu hasn’t heard from them ever since. All she needs to do now is to wait for when she has to move to the apartment room she rented so until then, her parents have her all to themselves.
Having decided to take a train to the next town to leisurely stroll around the vicinity that day, Miharu bumps into someone she hasn’t seen nor talk to for quite some time.
“Rin…”
The boy’s lips curve into a small smile. He’s clutching a small bouquet of white chrysanthemums that Miharu eyes discreetly. It’s not every day that she sees such flowers.
“Come with me,” Rin says in a low voice before he turns around and starts walking up a path that seemingly leads to a small cliff. Miharu hesitantly follows him. Both of them are quiet until they reach the end of the trail, standing on ground that overlooks the sea. What makes Miharu’s throat go dry at that moment isn’t the breathtaking view, but the tall stone that sits lonesome near the edge.
“I…”
Rin kneels and leaves the bouquet of flowers in front of the gravestone, his eyes lowered to the petals before he closes them and clasps his hands together, bowing his head in prayer. Miharu does the same solemnly.
Matsuoka Toraichi…
“My father was a fisherman before he died. His dream was to go to the Olympics though,” Rin shares as he and Miharu stand by the edge of the cliff. The sea is calm.
“I’m really sorry…”
Shaking his head, Rin lets out a chuckle. “What are you apologizing for? My old man’s going to the Olympics. I’ll take him there.”
“You’re amazing, Rin.” Miharu chuckles weakly behind her palms.
“N-Not really…”
“But you are,” the girl insists. “It’s your dream, isn’t it? This is what you swim for; for your father, and for yourself. I think that’s really amazing.”
If only his father was here then Rin would definitely burst in laughter but he isn’t and Rin doesn’t because, though several years have passed, regrets still linger, running amok during the most inconvenient times or simply because they do. He knows Miharu means well and that she, too, has her own regrets. Though they’re not as close as when the others are around, Rin still wants to lessen the times that Miharu might fall prey to remorse. He is a friend this way.
“You’re like me, in the past.”
The water is shining, blinking up at them with so much brilliance that it’s pleasantly blinding.
“You need to stop running away from the people who care about you. Tell them your honest feelings.”
They have turned their backs to the sea now, walking down the same path they took to get there. The sun peeks in between the leaves of trailing trees, shadows cracking upon gravel, sand, old dirtied navy blue sneakers and black worn out running shoes.
“How strange. Yamazaki-kun said the same thing.”
“Really? You’ve been talking to Sousuke?” Rin inquires with mild curiosity and a pinch of worry.
“I have. For a couple of times, I guess.” Nodding twice to herself, Miharu confirms her words. “But he can be mean, huh? He was mean to me,” she adds and unknowingly eases a laugh out of her companion.
“If Sousuke’s acting like that, it means he’s being friendly,” he explains earnestly, having known the boy since childhood but Miharu still sighs in disbelief.
“Or he’s just really mean.” She tilts her head slightly. “To me, at least.”
This isn’t the first time Rin has heard someone voice out their concerns about Sousuke’s behavior. There’s Gou, after all, back when they were wee kids but the girl has adjusted to Sousuke’s mannerisms just fine, with enough time of course. Miharu and Sousuke may very well be strangers despite the reported ‘few times’ of having conversations so Rin can’t really blame Miharu for feeling this way but he is glad to hear Sousuke - who can be awkward - socializing; with people he and Rin barely know, no less.
“You probably already noticed but Sousuke can be pretty intimidating because of his ‘serious’ expressions but like any other guy who has the same problem, he’s a nice one,” Rin expresses fondly. “Once you get past his ‘unapproachable’ appearance, you’ll know.”
Miharu passively recalls the few times she and Sousuke talked. “Well, his smiles really do seem to give off a kind and gentle impression.” Rin laughs. “But does he usually ask other people to call him by his given name?”
The laughter ceases as Rin unconsciously widens his eyes at Miharu. “Did Sousuke ask you to do that?”
Awkwardly, the girl nods stiffly. “Yes.”
Rin laughs once more. “Then he really does like you,” he comments gleefully yet completely failing to reassure Miharu with his words as she narrows her eyes at the end of the path they’re nearing.
Without anything particular to do, Miharu and Rin wander off to town. They drift down the streets, their eyes straining to focus on anything interesting enough to garner their attention. They pass by the bookstore that Miharu frequents and without using words to express her wanting to drop by, Rin gestures for her to go ahead and that he’ll follow. Once they enter the homey shop, Miharu almost instantly disappears, completely out of Rin’s sight so that he is left to stroll on over to the sports section where he picks up one of the bestsellers there and reads it.
“I can’t remember if I have this volume…” Miharu mumbles to herself as she stares at the paperback in her hands. “If I remember correctly, I think-“
“Y-Y-You’re…”
Sensing another presence, Miharu turns around and sees a boy standing there, staring at her with his cheeks red and his lower lip trembling as he tries to speak. From the way he’s dressed - plain yet somehow cool with a thin cardigan on to match his slightly messy bed hair, oddly enough - he seems like a high school student.
“May I help you-“
“You’re really cute!” the boy blurts out, now suddenly inches away from Miharu’s face.
“H-Huh?”
“I like that manga, too!” he comments upon seeing the book Miharu is holding. “But I like hunting for stag beetles best! My favorite proverb is ‘Even Homer sometimes nods’! My best dish is fried eggs! My favorite kind of spaghetti is vongole! The biggest stag beetle I’ve caught so far is-“
“Momotarou! What are you-“ another boy steps into the scene and grabs the other by his collar. He seems older than the latter and they look so much alike that Miharu begins to wonder if they’re related. As she does this, she doesn’t notice the newcomer staring at her as well, much like how the first one did.
“So you were bothering this cute girl!” the taller boy says whilst laughing a bit loudly. “Too bad you don’t know the basics! Leave it to onii-chan and watch and learn!” then, suddenly, he pushes the other boy aside so he can stand in front of Miharu and flash her a cool yet flirty smile, winking.
“Onii-chan! That’s so unfair!”
“Excuse my brother. But, more importantly, what’s your name?”
Realizing that she has stayed too long to be caught in this scuffle, Miharu freezes, her hand being encased in the older brother’s own tightly, his eyes beaming at her so brightly while his younger brother try to take her attention by taking the book in her other hand so he can hold her as well.
“U-Um-“
Right before she speaks, Miharu feels herself being tugged backwards and then resting against another body. She looks up and sees Rin with his eyes slanted at the brothers in front of them.
“Momo, Captain,” Rin says in a plain albeit warning tone, “what are you doing?”
“Oh! Matsuoka!”
“Rin-senpai!”
Rin sighs as he pulls Miharu to his side. “This is Mikoshiba Seijuro and his younger brother, Momotarou.”
“You can call me Momo! Momo!” Momotarou exclaims eagerly and happily, pointing at himself.
“Why did you leave your girlfriend alone, Matsuoka? Don’t you care if other guys take her away from you?” Seijuro asks teasingly, chuckling.
“G-Girl-“ Rin coughs. “You got it all wrong. She’s not my girlfriend-“
“Oh? Then a prospect?”
“Hey…”
Momotarou turns to Miharu and excitedly says, “Rin-senpai is a good guy! He used to be the captain of the swimming club in Samezuka but since he already graduated-“
“Momotarou! What are you doing? Let’s not interrupt their date!” Seijuro cuts in but his tone is still mischievous.
Sighing yet again, Rin massages his temples. “This is Hasegawa Miharu. She went to Iwatobi High with Haru and the others.”
“It’s very nice to meet you,” Miharu says awkwardly.
“Too bad she’s not your girlfriend, Rin-senpai! But since she’s not your girlfriend, maybe I can-“
Before Momotarou can finish, Seijuro hangs an arm around his neck and drags him away, having seen Miharu fidget uncomfortably next to Rin and sensing the atmosphere correctly this time. “We’ll be taking our leave now, Matsuoka. It was nice meeting you, Miharu-san!”
Miharu and Rin watch the Mikoshiba brothers disappear - they can hear them bicker oh so brotherly even as they went to the other aisle - and they stand there for a moment to recover from the abrupt surprise.
“I know the someone who’s lucky.”
Upon looking up at Rin again, Miharu finds him looking at her teasingly, referencing Momotarou’s last words. She feels herself blush maddeningly, understanding, then she walks off to another aisle to ignore Rin’s trailing chuckles.
Once Miharu finishes paying for two rather big and bulky History books, she and Rin trudge out of the bookshop and into the nearest café where they settle down and order honey-sweetened tea and some biscuits to go with it. They talk about graduation (with Rin somehow fascinated and amused as Miharu shares about how she met Haruka’s parents) and their future plans. When Miharu hears that Rin is going back to Australia, she unconsciously starts speaking in English and the boy receives this well, speaking the same in return. They hold the rest of their conversation in this language until they finish their treats and they stand up to leave.
Now, being a gentleman, Rin has been carrying Miharu’s books for her ever since they left the bookstore (although Miharu stubbornly protested at first but Rin completely insisted) so that once they’re back outside, he lets her walk ahead of him and she does for some time as she goes to check the stores’ displayed items then jogging back to fall in step with him, as if she’d get lost if she didn’t do that. As they stroll around town aimlessly once more, Rin begins to understand why Makoto can’t help but act brotherly toward Miharu - the girl can be so naïve and inquisitive, and it doesn’t really help when she looks so innocent and a couple of years younger than her real age. The way Gou acts and dresses up matches Miharu’s age better than the girl herself, who somehow acts and looks like a twelve-year-old. But, in the light that Rin has come to know Miharu, he knows that her way of feeling and thinking are far beyond what a twelve-year-old is capable of, and perhaps cursed with.
“Miharu.”
“Hmm?”
The sky above is slowly being colored orange as they sit on a bench at the park, the very same place where Sousuke had confronted Miharu a few months ago. The cherry blossoms seem to glow, their radiance being captured in pictures that visitors there are taking with their cameras. The two of them quietly watch nature’s gift to them, mentally digging up fond memories from the crevices of their minds.
“Haru can be a difficult person and most of the times, he just cares about swimming and the water and he has a tendency to shut people out when he loses track of himself. He doesn’t talk much and when he does, it’s usually something snarky or sarcastic and it’s hard to tell sometimes, which way he means his words.” Rin sighs as he scratches the back of his head. Then he turns to Miharu and offers her a calm, trusting smile. “He makes himself seem like he doesn’t care or he’s simply aloof but once he pays attention, he can be loyal, in his quiet way. No matter how difficult he can be, once you get Haru’s attention, there’s no turning back.”
Taking each one of Rin’s words to heart, Miharu nods. Rin is entrusting Haruka to her, like that time so many months ago and just the same, she accepts the responsibility wholeheartedly, sealing the deal with her own trusting smile.
It still feels new to Rin, this whole arrangement. They used to say that Makoto or Nagisa will be the first one to get a girlfriend and yet the least expected one beats them to it. But he knows he can trust Miharu. After all, she is as persistent as Haruka and Rin couldn’t imagine Haruka liking anyone else. Miharu is different - he’s very aware of that.
“Thank you for today,” Miharu says with a little bow, taking her books from Rin. They’re at the intersection now, near the train station, with the sun taking its last peeks before it completely welcomes the stars.
“No problem.”
“Hey, Rin?”
“What is it?”
Another smile appears before Rin’s eyes and yet again, he is reassured that Haruka is in good hands. He is a friend that way, too.
“Have the time of your life in Australia, okay?” Miharu expresses with genuine cheer. “Let’s hang out again when you come back so you better have tons of stories to tell me and the others!”
Rin grins, satisfied with the girl’s support. He stretches a hand out and rests it atop Miharu’s head, patting her as if expressing that she did a good job. And she did, really, for conveying her feelings which reached him completely. “Yeah, yeah, I will. You do your best, too. Don’t get too cocky like how Haru is. I don’t want to come back to that.”
Miharu chuckles. “Take care, Rin.”
“You, too.” Rin pats Miharu’s head one last time before the two of them turn around and go their own ways.
Weeks after spending that spring day with Rin, Miharu, together with Haruka and Makoto, moves to the city. It came as a surprise to them when they found out that Makoto and Miharu were going to attend the same university and were going to stay in the same apartment building while Haruka’s college is fairly distant so that he has to stay in a different building. The first week after they arrived in Tokyo, Haruka stayed over at Makoto’s to help him settle in. The two of them would visit Miharu in her room whenever they were on break and they would usually find her dozing off on the living room floor or organizing her books on the bookshelf that her parents had custom-made for her (she had tons of books). They’d help her settle in, too, and she would reward them with candies and tea. They also had their apartment keys duplicated, giving one to the other two so that each of them had a spare to each of their rooms, just in case.
“Miharu-chan’s sleeping face still amuses me,” Makoto whispers to Haruka. Both of them are sitting on the floor by the coffee table, eating their snacks as they face Miharu sleeping on the couch. She had been reading a book about Jane Austen just a few minutes ago but now she’s passed out, exhausted from all the cleaning and arranging. They manage to help her settle in completely so that that day marks the last of moving things here and there, as well as Haruka’s stay.
“Makoto.”
“Hn?”
“I’ll be going back to my own apartment tomorrow.” Haruka pauses as if he’s choosing his words carefully. “A few days from now, the semester will be starting. I won’t be around by that time.”
As Haruka speaks, his eyes are focused on the drooling girl before them. Almost reluctantly, he stands up and walks over to her side, kneeling there and carefully swiping a finger against the corner of her mouth to wipe the trailing drool and then moving even more cautiously to take the book beneath her hands, which had buried it against her stomach. Makoto watches his best friend as he commits his so very subtle yet implying words in his mind; a reminder, delivered in Haruka’s simple way, which says: “Watch over her while I’m away.”
Makoto nods as soon as Haruka turns to him and they share that all too knowing look. “All right, Haru.”
With that, Haruka returns his attention to Miharu, who is on her side now, facing him with her oh so defenseless and unknowing self. Her sleeping face still amuses him as well.
Part 2 >>>
Pairing: Nanase Haruka/OC
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Spring has arrived, and they finally move on.
Note: This is the first part of the fifth installment. You may find the previous installments here:
Coastline
Soup-Port
Harbor
Island [ 1 | 2 | 3 ]
Cherry blossoms color the tranquil morning in their brilliant hue. The birds are singing to the directions of the wind, sweet and lingering, like the lazily passing clouds overhead that mingle with the gentle sun.
Spring has come.
The gates to the school are held open to welcome families and friends. The Student Council members and the faculty usher the visitors into the gym where most of the senior students have gathered, talking to their peers as though they are only attending one of those opening ceremonies they have but already passed for three years. This assembly happens to be the last, as the end.
The view of the pool from the rooftop hasn’t changed. There are no specks of light that glimmer in the distance though, the sunlight deprived of its liquid mirror. What replace the water in that rectangular gap are leaves and weeds and stray cherry blossom petals, all mixed as if a tiny tornado had visited overnight. It’s quite a sight, still.
“Miharu.”
The girl leans back from her place by the rooftop’s boundary, her hands flat on the cement edge. Haruka is standing behind her. The boutonniere on his uniform is definitely something new, if not stray. She rather see him without it, really, and maybe they can just stand there and look at whatever parts of the campus are visible from their spot until sunset. She actually forgets for a moment that she, too, has a corsage pinned to her blazer and that it serves as a reminder that she and Haruka are marked; that they’re required to attend the assembly, or else.
“You found me.”
“I saw you sneak out of the gym.”
“So you followed me?”
The only answer Haruka can give Miharu then is a glimpse of him diverting his attention away from her and the tiny hint of awkwardness that he is quietly hiding. In the next thirty minutes, Amakata-sensei will be calling their names one by one like how she did in homeroom during their junior year but unlike in class, they have to stand up from their seats and walk up to the stage and shake hands with the principal and accept a piece of paper with yet another mark of their names encased in a tube. And then it’s over. Since it’s such a monotonous procedure, Miharu wants something special out of it.
“Hey, Haru,” she says as she faces the boy completely now. The wind brushes by them and softly combs their hair to the side. Haruka is staring at her with his ever same deep ocean eyes. She still feels bare under his gaze - this reassures Miharu greatly; that despite the time ticking, some things just really don’t change.
“What is it?”
A small smile eases out on Miharu’s face as she fixes her hair, her eyes softening. “I think I want a memento,” she whispers. “But cherry blossoms will only remind me of any other spring day.”
There’s no question, actually. Miharu really isn’t asking Haruka for his opinion as she seems to be simply thinking out loud as if she’s determining whether to pick ice-cream or candy for desert. But what’s obvious in this scene, to Haruka, is how Miharu really wants to etch that day in her mind and remember it with a smile on her face and not tears falling down her cheeks. He knows Miharu has a penchant for keeping things that remind her of a certain memory and that she keeps them in a blue and beige-colored circular box, like one of those used in old Western movies for hats. How terribly lonesome it is to keep memories in a box, whether they’re reminders of times spent in joy or ones spent in isolation. Haruka knows Miharu has all of these memories, but he wants to build up the number of happy ones so that the ones that make her cry won’t catch up to her.
“I guess that’s what pictures are for. After all, today is…” Miharu trails off as her attention shifts to her hand - that one, the one Haruka is holding then. There’s something in between their palms but she can’t quite guess what it is. Just when the breeze passes by them again, the boy lets go and waits for Miharu to open her hand. When she does and sees the tiny entity staring at her, she doesn’t speak.
“I found my old middle school uniform when I was packing,” Haruka explains briefly. He had not seen his gakuran for years and when he did the night before, as he packed his leftover clothes, he noticed its second button and recalled Miharu’s penchant. He didn’t think she would think much of it but now that he has given the button to her, right in front of him, he sees her smile as if she received a treasure so priceless that even the happiness she feels reflects perfectly in her dark brown eyes, shining only at him.
“Thank you,” she says as she encases the button with both her hands. “I’ll cherish it.”
Not expecting Miharu to say such words, Haruka lowers his eyes to the ground, nodding once. He turns around and starts for the door. “It’s going to begin soon.”
Indeed, the sound of someone’s voice booming into a microphone is carried over to them by the wind. Miharu hesitates for a second until she sees Haruka waiting for her by the door. She looks at him, all the while remembering the tiny yet so very meaningful gift in her hand. She turns around and takes one last look at the pool before she walks away from the scene to fall in step with Haruka as they return to the gym.
Of course Haruka and Miharu aren’t aware but while they were gone, Makoto has been trying to clear up a misunderstanding his parents created with Haruka’s own.
“Her name’s Hasegawa-san. She comes over with Haru-kun to visit Makoto-kun from time to time,” Mrs. Tachibana tells Mrs. Nanase beside her. “Makoto-kun won’t tell us if she’s his girlfriend.”
“She’s not, Mom!” Makoto protests, his distress evident in his voice.
Mr. Tachibana, who is sitting to his wife’s left, chuckles. “Hasegawa-san and Haru-kun seem to get along pretty well, too, don’t they, Makoto?”
Knowing that it’s not his story to tell, Makoto blushes in embarrassment. Haruka’s father, who is sitting on the far right side of their little space, begins to chuckle as well.
“So what you’re saying is that this Hasegawa-san is either Makoto-kun’s or Haru-chan’s girlfriend?” he asks just to see if he got the gist of their conversation correctly.
Mrs. Tachibana, clearly excited, nods. “Definitely!”
“M-Mom!” Makoto starts to whine.
Breaking her silence, Mrs. Nanase giggles behind her hand. “That’s funny. Makoto-kun, won’t you clear the confusion for us?”
Not wanting to give in to Mrs. Nanase’s bidding, Makoto freezes up, conscious of his parents’ and Haruka’s parents’ waiting gazes. Just when he mentally decides to steer the conversation to a different route, Haruka and Miharu appear behind them, earning the grownups’ attention now.
“Mom, dad,” Haruka says with a pinch of surprise. His parents have been away because of their jobs and though he told them about the day’s occasion, he wasn’t expecting them to visit at all. Right then, his parents stand up and wrap him in a tight embrace.
“You’ve done well, Haru-chan,” Mr. Nanase whispers lovingly against Haruka’s temple. His son narrows his eyes a bit and he knows why he does so; because he called his name with -chan again. He likes teasing the boy. “Haru, then.”
As Mr. Nanase and Haruka talk, Mrs. Nanase notices the girl Makoto is talking to now. From their seats, the Tachibana couple is watching their son with delighted and mischievous smiles and it doesn’t take long for Mrs. Nanase to understand who that girl really is.
“Hasegawa-san?” the woman calls out as she stops in front of Makoto and Miharu, a gentle smile gracing her lips.
At the sudden call, Miharu freezes and stutters, “Y-Yes?”
Finally meeting the girl from the Tachibana couple’s stories, Mrs. Nanase can’t help but look at her for a moment. Miharu really does look a tad young for her age. The eyes that such long lashes shelter look so kind yet mysterious at the same time and the blackness of her hair and the redness of her lips complement her porcelain skin. With her wavy locks and side-swept bangs as well as her petite and lean body, Mrs. Nanase feels like she’s staring at a doll.
“Makoto-kun’s parents have been telling us a lot about you,” Mrs. Nanase says before she and Miharu bow to each other in due respect. “I’m Haru-kun’s mother. It’s very nice to meet you.”
“It’s very nice to meet you, too, Nanase-san. I-I’m Hasegawa Miharu.”
In the background, Makoto lets out an amused smile.
Miharu-chan is really nervous.
“Thank you so much for taking care of Haru-kun.”
“N-Not at all!” Miharu replies in a panic, her hands held up by reflex. In doing so, she accidentally drops the button that she had been holding all this time and before she could bend over to pick it up, Mrs. Nanase has already done so, looking at it on her palm.
Oh. This is…
Right before they headed out to go to the school, the Nanase couple decided to stop by at the house. Haruka had already gone ahead by that time. While Mr. Nanase went around the house to do his routinely check, Mrs. Nanase found herself in the den where some of Haruka’s boxes are still unsealed. She looked around more and found her son’s old gakuran folded neatly atop one of the boxes. She noticed its second button was missing and thought that it must have gotten pulled off while Haruka was going through his stuff. Now that the missing second button is sitting prettily on her palm, having been in Miharu’s grasp before, Mrs. Nanase finally concludes the confusion earlier, smiling ever more fondly at the blushing girl in front of her.
“This is yours,” Mrs. Nanase says as she takes Miharu’s hand and leaves the button on her palm. Despite Miharu’s doll-like appearance, the woman glimpses callouses on her hands and surmises that she is, indeed, a hard-working girl. Glancing at Haruka behind them then back at Miharu, Mrs. Nanase lets her heart be filled with giddiness.
“T-Thank you…” goes Miharu’s reply in a mumble, encasing the button in her hand carefully and securely as though it’s a precious jewel. Mrs. Nanase’s smile is filled with even more fondness from such a sight.
“Oh! Who’s this?” Mr. Nanase asks as soon as he and Haruka return to where Makoto and Miharu are.
“This is Hasegawa-san, dear.”
Mr. Nanase’s smile stretches to a jubilant grin. “I see! We heard so much about you. Thank you for taking care of Haru and Makoto-kun for us. We really appreciate it.”
Is it possible for Miharu’s cheeks to burn even more than they already have? Haruka’s parents are such kind and gentle people! “P-Please don’t thank me-“
“Let’s go,” Haruka cuts in, gripping Miharu’s wrist to pull her away from his parents. The Nanase couple can see the panic in the girl’s eyes for not saying good-bye to them properly but they don’t mind. After all, they got to see Haruka in his ‘possessive’ state.
Makoto bows to the couple on his and Miharu’s behalf before he follows his friends back to their seats. Mr. Nanase watches his son take his seat right after walking Miharu back to hers. Being away for so long, he thinks of how much in Haruka’s life he has been missing out on. Mrs. Nanase shares the same sentiments as her husband so that when she had glimpsed the redness of Haruka’s face when he dragged Miharu away, her heart just fluttered.
“He told me.”
Mrs. Nanase looks at her husband. He has encased her hand in his, turning to her with a gaze as though he has fallen in love with her all over again. She looks at him with an identical smile as that time when she whispered, “I do”.
“I know,” Mrs. Nanase says as she squeezes her husband’s hand. “He gave her the second button.”
“He did?”
She nods as she looks at both Haruka’s and Miharu’s backs in the sea of students before them. They’re five seats away from each other and yet the lady still catches their secret smiles. “He’s all grown up, dear.”
“And we were here to see.” Mr. Nanase lets out a relieved sigh. “Finally.”
Time works its magic and soon, the sun is already setting. The ceremony has long been concluded and the gym has been ridded of the banners and chairs. The school is empty now. Everyone has gone home to celebrate with their families and friends. Sitting on the steps that lead to the beach, Haruka and Miharu watch the water glitter in the distance. The flowers pinned on their blazers are bathed in the nostalgia that sunsets always give the two of them. The button is still in Miharu’s hand and it has been since Haruka gave it to her. After all, it’s like a piece of the quiet boy’s heart, if not its entirety.
“I’ll cherish it.”
“You said that already.”
“I want to say it over and over so you won’t forget.”
“I won’t.”
Not hearing a reply prompts Haruka to glance at the girl next to him. She’s looking down at the tiny dot in her hand with a gentle smile, as if she already knows where to put it in her memory box at home. And this is what Haruka wants - to give Miharu more happy memories. But alongside that thought is wanting Miharu to keep the memory of that day not in her old Western movie circular box, but in the box well-hidden within her chest.
You shouldn’t forget either.
A giggle chorusing with the waves caresses Haruka’s ears just then. He looks up and into shining dark brown eyes, losing himself there before soft red lips curve into the very same sunset smile he has come to etch in his memories.
“I’ll miss you, Haru.”
Haruka nods.
I’ll miss you, too.
Then the day ends in meaningful silence.
The season passes slowly. Several days have gone and ended since their graduation. Miharu hasn’t seen the others, knowing that Haruka and Makoto are busy finalizing and securing their enrollment in their respective schools and Gou, Nagisa and Rei with the swim club. All of her other friends have already moved to wherever they’re heading and Miharu hasn’t heard from them ever since. All she needs to do now is to wait for when she has to move to the apartment room she rented so until then, her parents have her all to themselves.
Having decided to take a train to the next town to leisurely stroll around the vicinity that day, Miharu bumps into someone she hasn’t seen nor talk to for quite some time.
“Rin…”
The boy’s lips curve into a small smile. He’s clutching a small bouquet of white chrysanthemums that Miharu eyes discreetly. It’s not every day that she sees such flowers.
“Come with me,” Rin says in a low voice before he turns around and starts walking up a path that seemingly leads to a small cliff. Miharu hesitantly follows him. Both of them are quiet until they reach the end of the trail, standing on ground that overlooks the sea. What makes Miharu’s throat go dry at that moment isn’t the breathtaking view, but the tall stone that sits lonesome near the edge.
“I…”
Rin kneels and leaves the bouquet of flowers in front of the gravestone, his eyes lowered to the petals before he closes them and clasps his hands together, bowing his head in prayer. Miharu does the same solemnly.
Matsuoka Toraichi…
“My father was a fisherman before he died. His dream was to go to the Olympics though,” Rin shares as he and Miharu stand by the edge of the cliff. The sea is calm.
“I’m really sorry…”
Shaking his head, Rin lets out a chuckle. “What are you apologizing for? My old man’s going to the Olympics. I’ll take him there.”
“You’re amazing, Rin.” Miharu chuckles weakly behind her palms.
“N-Not really…”
“But you are,” the girl insists. “It’s your dream, isn’t it? This is what you swim for; for your father, and for yourself. I think that’s really amazing.”
If only his father was here then Rin would definitely burst in laughter but he isn’t and Rin doesn’t because, though several years have passed, regrets still linger, running amok during the most inconvenient times or simply because they do. He knows Miharu means well and that she, too, has her own regrets. Though they’re not as close as when the others are around, Rin still wants to lessen the times that Miharu might fall prey to remorse. He is a friend this way.
“You’re like me, in the past.”
The water is shining, blinking up at them with so much brilliance that it’s pleasantly blinding.
“You need to stop running away from the people who care about you. Tell them your honest feelings.”
They have turned their backs to the sea now, walking down the same path they took to get there. The sun peeks in between the leaves of trailing trees, shadows cracking upon gravel, sand, old dirtied navy blue sneakers and black worn out running shoes.
“How strange. Yamazaki-kun said the same thing.”
“Really? You’ve been talking to Sousuke?” Rin inquires with mild curiosity and a pinch of worry.
“I have. For a couple of times, I guess.” Nodding twice to herself, Miharu confirms her words. “But he can be mean, huh? He was mean to me,” she adds and unknowingly eases a laugh out of her companion.
“If Sousuke’s acting like that, it means he’s being friendly,” he explains earnestly, having known the boy since childhood but Miharu still sighs in disbelief.
“Or he’s just really mean.” She tilts her head slightly. “To me, at least.”
This isn’t the first time Rin has heard someone voice out their concerns about Sousuke’s behavior. There’s Gou, after all, back when they were wee kids but the girl has adjusted to Sousuke’s mannerisms just fine, with enough time of course. Miharu and Sousuke may very well be strangers despite the reported ‘few times’ of having conversations so Rin can’t really blame Miharu for feeling this way but he is glad to hear Sousuke - who can be awkward - socializing; with people he and Rin barely know, no less.
“You probably already noticed but Sousuke can be pretty intimidating because of his ‘serious’ expressions but like any other guy who has the same problem, he’s a nice one,” Rin expresses fondly. “Once you get past his ‘unapproachable’ appearance, you’ll know.”
Miharu passively recalls the few times she and Sousuke talked. “Well, his smiles really do seem to give off a kind and gentle impression.” Rin laughs. “But does he usually ask other people to call him by his given name?”
The laughter ceases as Rin unconsciously widens his eyes at Miharu. “Did Sousuke ask you to do that?”
Awkwardly, the girl nods stiffly. “Yes.”
Rin laughs once more. “Then he really does like you,” he comments gleefully yet completely failing to reassure Miharu with his words as she narrows her eyes at the end of the path they’re nearing.
Without anything particular to do, Miharu and Rin wander off to town. They drift down the streets, their eyes straining to focus on anything interesting enough to garner their attention. They pass by the bookstore that Miharu frequents and without using words to express her wanting to drop by, Rin gestures for her to go ahead and that he’ll follow. Once they enter the homey shop, Miharu almost instantly disappears, completely out of Rin’s sight so that he is left to stroll on over to the sports section where he picks up one of the bestsellers there and reads it.
“I can’t remember if I have this volume…” Miharu mumbles to herself as she stares at the paperback in her hands. “If I remember correctly, I think-“
“Y-Y-You’re…”
Sensing another presence, Miharu turns around and sees a boy standing there, staring at her with his cheeks red and his lower lip trembling as he tries to speak. From the way he’s dressed - plain yet somehow cool with a thin cardigan on to match his slightly messy bed hair, oddly enough - he seems like a high school student.
“May I help you-“
“You’re really cute!” the boy blurts out, now suddenly inches away from Miharu’s face.
“H-Huh?”
“I like that manga, too!” he comments upon seeing the book Miharu is holding. “But I like hunting for stag beetles best! My favorite proverb is ‘Even Homer sometimes nods’! My best dish is fried eggs! My favorite kind of spaghetti is vongole! The biggest stag beetle I’ve caught so far is-“
“Momotarou! What are you-“ another boy steps into the scene and grabs the other by his collar. He seems older than the latter and they look so much alike that Miharu begins to wonder if they’re related. As she does this, she doesn’t notice the newcomer staring at her as well, much like how the first one did.
“So you were bothering this cute girl!” the taller boy says whilst laughing a bit loudly. “Too bad you don’t know the basics! Leave it to onii-chan and watch and learn!” then, suddenly, he pushes the other boy aside so he can stand in front of Miharu and flash her a cool yet flirty smile, winking.
“Onii-chan! That’s so unfair!”
“Excuse my brother. But, more importantly, what’s your name?”
Realizing that she has stayed too long to be caught in this scuffle, Miharu freezes, her hand being encased in the older brother’s own tightly, his eyes beaming at her so brightly while his younger brother try to take her attention by taking the book in her other hand so he can hold her as well.
“U-Um-“
Right before she speaks, Miharu feels herself being tugged backwards and then resting against another body. She looks up and sees Rin with his eyes slanted at the brothers in front of them.
“Momo, Captain,” Rin says in a plain albeit warning tone, “what are you doing?”
“Oh! Matsuoka!”
“Rin-senpai!”
Rin sighs as he pulls Miharu to his side. “This is Mikoshiba Seijuro and his younger brother, Momotarou.”
“You can call me Momo! Momo!” Momotarou exclaims eagerly and happily, pointing at himself.
“Why did you leave your girlfriend alone, Matsuoka? Don’t you care if other guys take her away from you?” Seijuro asks teasingly, chuckling.
“G-Girl-“ Rin coughs. “You got it all wrong. She’s not my girlfriend-“
“Oh? Then a prospect?”
“Hey…”
Momotarou turns to Miharu and excitedly says, “Rin-senpai is a good guy! He used to be the captain of the swimming club in Samezuka but since he already graduated-“
“Momotarou! What are you doing? Let’s not interrupt their date!” Seijuro cuts in but his tone is still mischievous.
Sighing yet again, Rin massages his temples. “This is Hasegawa Miharu. She went to Iwatobi High with Haru and the others.”
“It’s very nice to meet you,” Miharu says awkwardly.
“Too bad she’s not your girlfriend, Rin-senpai! But since she’s not your girlfriend, maybe I can-“
Before Momotarou can finish, Seijuro hangs an arm around his neck and drags him away, having seen Miharu fidget uncomfortably next to Rin and sensing the atmosphere correctly this time. “We’ll be taking our leave now, Matsuoka. It was nice meeting you, Miharu-san!”
Miharu and Rin watch the Mikoshiba brothers disappear - they can hear them bicker oh so brotherly even as they went to the other aisle - and they stand there for a moment to recover from the abrupt surprise.
“I know the someone who’s lucky.”
Upon looking up at Rin again, Miharu finds him looking at her teasingly, referencing Momotarou’s last words. She feels herself blush maddeningly, understanding, then she walks off to another aisle to ignore Rin’s trailing chuckles.
Once Miharu finishes paying for two rather big and bulky History books, she and Rin trudge out of the bookshop and into the nearest café where they settle down and order honey-sweetened tea and some biscuits to go with it. They talk about graduation (with Rin somehow fascinated and amused as Miharu shares about how she met Haruka’s parents) and their future plans. When Miharu hears that Rin is going back to Australia, she unconsciously starts speaking in English and the boy receives this well, speaking the same in return. They hold the rest of their conversation in this language until they finish their treats and they stand up to leave.
Now, being a gentleman, Rin has been carrying Miharu’s books for her ever since they left the bookstore (although Miharu stubbornly protested at first but Rin completely insisted) so that once they’re back outside, he lets her walk ahead of him and she does for some time as she goes to check the stores’ displayed items then jogging back to fall in step with him, as if she’d get lost if she didn’t do that. As they stroll around town aimlessly once more, Rin begins to understand why Makoto can’t help but act brotherly toward Miharu - the girl can be so naïve and inquisitive, and it doesn’t really help when she looks so innocent and a couple of years younger than her real age. The way Gou acts and dresses up matches Miharu’s age better than the girl herself, who somehow acts and looks like a twelve-year-old. But, in the light that Rin has come to know Miharu, he knows that her way of feeling and thinking are far beyond what a twelve-year-old is capable of, and perhaps cursed with.
“Miharu.”
“Hmm?”
The sky above is slowly being colored orange as they sit on a bench at the park, the very same place where Sousuke had confronted Miharu a few months ago. The cherry blossoms seem to glow, their radiance being captured in pictures that visitors there are taking with their cameras. The two of them quietly watch nature’s gift to them, mentally digging up fond memories from the crevices of their minds.
“Haru can be a difficult person and most of the times, he just cares about swimming and the water and he has a tendency to shut people out when he loses track of himself. He doesn’t talk much and when he does, it’s usually something snarky or sarcastic and it’s hard to tell sometimes, which way he means his words.” Rin sighs as he scratches the back of his head. Then he turns to Miharu and offers her a calm, trusting smile. “He makes himself seem like he doesn’t care or he’s simply aloof but once he pays attention, he can be loyal, in his quiet way. No matter how difficult he can be, once you get Haru’s attention, there’s no turning back.”
Taking each one of Rin’s words to heart, Miharu nods. Rin is entrusting Haruka to her, like that time so many months ago and just the same, she accepts the responsibility wholeheartedly, sealing the deal with her own trusting smile.
It still feels new to Rin, this whole arrangement. They used to say that Makoto or Nagisa will be the first one to get a girlfriend and yet the least expected one beats them to it. But he knows he can trust Miharu. After all, she is as persistent as Haruka and Rin couldn’t imagine Haruka liking anyone else. Miharu is different - he’s very aware of that.
“Thank you for today,” Miharu says with a little bow, taking her books from Rin. They’re at the intersection now, near the train station, with the sun taking its last peeks before it completely welcomes the stars.
“No problem.”
“Hey, Rin?”
“What is it?”
Another smile appears before Rin’s eyes and yet again, he is reassured that Haruka is in good hands. He is a friend that way, too.
“Have the time of your life in Australia, okay?” Miharu expresses with genuine cheer. “Let’s hang out again when you come back so you better have tons of stories to tell me and the others!”
Rin grins, satisfied with the girl’s support. He stretches a hand out and rests it atop Miharu’s head, patting her as if expressing that she did a good job. And she did, really, for conveying her feelings which reached him completely. “Yeah, yeah, I will. You do your best, too. Don’t get too cocky like how Haru is. I don’t want to come back to that.”
Miharu chuckles. “Take care, Rin.”
“You, too.” Rin pats Miharu’s head one last time before the two of them turn around and go their own ways.
Weeks after spending that spring day with Rin, Miharu, together with Haruka and Makoto, moves to the city. It came as a surprise to them when they found out that Makoto and Miharu were going to attend the same university and were going to stay in the same apartment building while Haruka’s college is fairly distant so that he has to stay in a different building. The first week after they arrived in Tokyo, Haruka stayed over at Makoto’s to help him settle in. The two of them would visit Miharu in her room whenever they were on break and they would usually find her dozing off on the living room floor or organizing her books on the bookshelf that her parents had custom-made for her (she had tons of books). They’d help her settle in, too, and she would reward them with candies and tea. They also had their apartment keys duplicated, giving one to the other two so that each of them had a spare to each of their rooms, just in case.
“Miharu-chan’s sleeping face still amuses me,” Makoto whispers to Haruka. Both of them are sitting on the floor by the coffee table, eating their snacks as they face Miharu sleeping on the couch. She had been reading a book about Jane Austen just a few minutes ago but now she’s passed out, exhausted from all the cleaning and arranging. They manage to help her settle in completely so that that day marks the last of moving things here and there, as well as Haruka’s stay.
“Makoto.”
“Hn?”
“I’ll be going back to my own apartment tomorrow.” Haruka pauses as if he’s choosing his words carefully. “A few days from now, the semester will be starting. I won’t be around by that time.”
As Haruka speaks, his eyes are focused on the drooling girl before them. Almost reluctantly, he stands up and walks over to her side, kneeling there and carefully swiping a finger against the corner of her mouth to wipe the trailing drool and then moving even more cautiously to take the book beneath her hands, which had buried it against her stomach. Makoto watches his best friend as he commits his so very subtle yet implying words in his mind; a reminder, delivered in Haruka’s simple way, which says: “Watch over her while I’m away.”
Makoto nods as soon as Haruka turns to him and they share that all too knowing look. “All right, Haru.”
With that, Haruka returns his attention to Miharu, who is on her side now, facing him with her oh so defenseless and unknowing self. Her sleeping face still amuses him as well.
Part 2 >>>