Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I’ll wash today.”

“Okay, I’ll dry then,” Makoto answers cheerfully, not bothering to mention the fact that Haru always washes, without fail, claiming that he wants to feel the water.

Haru nods in agreement, stands up from the dinner table and makes his way over to the kitchen. It is late afternoon, and the sun is only barely visible through the window to Makoto’s left. He sits for a moment longer and looks out at the sunset, a content smile forming on his face.

The dinner Haru made was delicious as usual.

He leaves the table when he hears the sink being turned on, and picks up the dirty plates and cutlery as he makes his way to the kitchen.

The black haired man motions for him to come closer and reaches out to take the plates out of his hands. Makoto complies.

“Thanks for the meal,” he whispers softly into Haru’s ear, not wanting to break the peaceful atmosphere just yet. The calm hours after dinner when neither of them has anything to do is probably his favorite time of the day

“Mm.”

He watches silently as Haru washes, one hand planted securely on his husbands lower back. Many things has changed over the years, but it still feels just as good to touch him as it did ten years ago when they were both teenagers trying to figure out what to do with their lives.

The smell of soap fills the room, and Makoto finds that he does not mind it at all. It is the brand that they always have stuck to—The one that smells citrusy.

Haru holds the first finished plate out for him to take and he is forced to retrieve his hand from his back, although reluctantly.

They work side by side, not saying anything. The only sounds in the room comes from the sink where the water gets into motion as Haru washes, as well as the occasional clink from the tableware.

Makoto uses a kitchen towel to dry the clean plates to the best of his ability before putting them away in their assigned cabinets.

He likes their kitchen. The room is covered in a warm light that illuminates the furniture nicely, and it is always tidy thanks to Haru. Neither of them is especially disorganized, but Haru always tidies up after himself immediately whereas Makoto usually waits a while first. He admires that about him.

“You don’t have training tomorrow, do you?” Makoto asks as his puts away the second plate.

Haru shakes his head, eyes fixed on the sink as he swirls the warm water around. “No, but I have a meeting with my coach ten o’clock. He wants to discuss which events I am signing up for in the tournament next month.”

“Okay,” Makoto smiles. “We should do something after that, maybe we can go out and eat? I don’t have work.”

Haru huffs. “Of course you don’t, I know that. It’s the weekend.”

“The children I teach kindly reminded me during the last class of the day, trust me,” he chuckles, but stops abruptly when a small shower of soapy water suddenly hits his face.

“Oh, you did not just do that!” he exclaims and uses the sleeves of his shirt to wipe away what he can.

Haru says nothing, but he has a playful glint in his eyes as he dips the dish brush in the water again and directs it against Makoto. He does not even have time to shield himself before he is being splashed again, this time most of it ends up on his torso, soaking his shirt.

He takes a few quick steps back, away from Haru, and crouches down behind the kitchen counter. His heart is beating ridiculously fast. Before he knows it Haru is on him again, arms on the edge of the counter, creating a cage for Makoto. A mischievous smirk plays on his lips.

The amount of soap foam that Haru rubs into his hair catches him off guard, and he tries desperately to escape.

“Haru!” he laughs, swatting Haru’s hands away. He gets to his feet hurriedly, almost bumping his head in the edge of the counter in the process.

The sink is not so far away, he can manage to get there before Haru if he is quick…

Haru dashes forward at the same time as Makoto and they end up crashing into each other halfway there. The brunet tries frantically to avoid falling, holding his arms out to restore his balance. Haru has it worse seeing as he is the smaller one of them, and he tumbles into Makoto, pushing both of them down on the floor.

“Oh my god, are you okay?” Makoto blurts and tries to lift his head enough to get a glimpse of his face, unsuccessfully.

“Yeah,” Haru snorts, burying his head in his husband’s chest.

They probably look ridiculous, the brunet figures. Makoto is soaked in water and he has foam in his hair and face, and Haru is sprawled out on top of him like a starfish. He can feel him trying to contain the laughter. Small tremors going throughout his body.

Makoto is not as successful, and it is not long before he is positively shaking with laughter, fighting for air. There are tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

He puts both his arms around the body on top of him in a warm embrace and buries his nose in the soft, black hair that belongs to the man he loves.

Haru peeks down at him and straightens himself up slightly. He rolls completely over on his stomach and folds his hands on top of Makoto’s chest, supporting his head on them.

“That looks really good on you,” he announces while smiling crookedly.

“What?” Makoto chuckles as he looks up into the impossibly blue eyes that he has lost himself in on multiple occasions.

“The soapy water. It’s kind of hot.”

He touches the brown hair with a fascinated expression on his face, collecting some of the foam in his hands.

“Haru!” he laughs. “I’m pretty sure you are the only one who thinks that.”

“Are you mocking me?” he asks, but Makoto can tell that he is joking by the tilt of his head and the excessive arch of his eyebrow.

“No, of course not. I’m just saying!”

Haru responds by shoving the white foam he had collected from Makoto’s hair into his face. He rolls his eyes before he uses his arms to push himself of off Makoto and up from the floor.

Even if Makoto would love to lay there with him forever, a part of him is relieved too. Haru is heavier than he looks because of the muscle mass he has built up as a result of his training.

“Are you going to lay there all day? We still have to do the cutlery.”

“Oh come on, you started!”

He gets up nevertheless, rubs his back with his knuckle and smooths out his shirt. Then he walks over to the sink and puts an arm around Haru’s waist, pulling him closer to place a soft kiss on his cheek.

They do not play around like that too often, and it is even less frequently that Haru is the one to initiate it.

“I love you,” he tells him, just because he feels like it. The statement comes more natural now than what it used to. It is not scary anymore, the words does not get caught in his throat on their way out.

Now they are said with ease, without stuttering; flowing smoothly out between his lips.

A beautiful blush covers the blue eyed man’s cheeks, clearly visible on his pale skin, and he whips his face away. “P-Pick up the towel, idiot.”

“Sure thing, Haru-chan.”

Haru stomps on his foot.

Chapter Text

Makoto drags the lightweight sheet that he just fixed around the chair over to the arm of the cream-colored couch, using the furniture as supporting pillars. He furrows his brows in concentration as he works.

“Do you think this will do?” he asks when he is done, stepping back to examine his work. “Aw, I was so much better at this when I was a child,” he whines. The way he pouts makes Haru want to object. He is still a child, just a bigger one.

It does not look that bad, Haru thinks as he pats the sheet lightly to check if it stays in place. The ongoing construction wobbles a bit, but it does not fall down like he had feared it would.

“It’s fine, we just need some blankets to cover the other side with,” Haru decides and walks over to their bedroom. He turns the light on and grabs the blanket that is already laying on their bed. They sleep with only one, preferring to stay close together, but Haru knows that they have another one stored away in a cupboard somewhere that they use during colder days in the winter.

He returns to the living room and pushes the one he had found into his husbands arms.

“I think we have another one,” Makoto begins and looks around as if he is expecting it to appear into his sight immediately.

“I know. Start fixing the back while I look for it.”

After about ten minutes of trying to get the fort to stay in place, they give up on putting the second sheet on top, instead moving on to filling it with soft pillows.

“Should we put the sheet inside too?” Makoto suggests, said sheet in his arms.

“Yeah.”

Makoto kneels down and positions himself in front of the construction while leaning forward to get the blanket inside. Haru holds his breath when he notices that Makoto’s left elbow is inches away from one of the chairs that holds the fort up. One wrong movement and it was sure to end in catastrophe.

Luckily, Makoto gets up on his feet again without any sort of trouble. Haru lets his breath out in relief.

“Something wrong? You’re just standing there.” Makoto tilts his head.

“Nothing,” he replies and gets his feet moving again. They have already collected every single pillow that they have in their house; And it is not few. Some of them are of the softer kind, the ones that makes Haru want to push his face into them and just stay there forever. At least until Makoto touches his head gently in an attempt to get him up, which is what usually happens every time he happens to take a nap. In the mornings,on the other hand, it is the other way around. Makoto has never been a morning person.

“All done,” Makoto smiles after they have gotten all the pillows inside. “Let’s go in now,” he continues, giggling. The childlike behaviour has Haru shaking his head. He will not deny that it is cute, though.

They maneuver themselves inside the fort, and Haru quickly realises that it is not nearly big enough for two grown men. Half his left foot is still on the outside, the other one bent in an uncomfortable position.

Makoto is not any better off. He has to keep his head down to avoid causing the sheet-made roof to fall down.

He still laughs, one hand in front of his mouth. “Maybe this was a bad idea.”

Haru just roll his eyes in response and tries his best to get his other leg inside. It is not a complete failure, it actually works out fine as long as he hugs his knees to his chest.

“I don’t think I can do that”, Makoto admits, scratching the back of his head with the hand that is not squeezed behind Haru. “We could lay down, maybe?”

It takes some fumbling and one almost-incident where Makoto nearly brings one of the makeshift walls down with him, but they eventually manage lay down properly. Their legs are all the way out now, but it is much more comfortable that way.

“The pillows are nice,” Makoto comments and pats one near his arm.

“Yeah.”

They lay in silence for a while, and Haru starts to wonder what had been so entertaining about it when he was younger. Were they not supposed to be doing something? He may have exaggerated the memories of exciting pillow forts just slightly.

Makoto turns his head towards him and offers a smile. “We could get the computer in here and watch movies?”

“It’s not enough room,” Haru reasons, knowing that he is right. There is no way that they would be able to find a position where they would both be able to see the computer screen without bending one limb or another in the wrong direction.

“Guess you’re right.”

Makoto pauses, obviously thinking of something to do.

“I don’t mind just laying here,” Haru mumbles, hoping it will stop Makoto from trying to come up with something. In truth, he really does not mind at all.

Makoto looks surprised, but he nods nonetheless. “Okay, let’s do that.”

Haru shuffles as close as he can to Makoto, which is not that much closer than he already was. He puts an arm around his middle and rests his cheek against his shoulder.

Having a pillow fort is actually not that bad after all, he decides.

He feels Makoto sneak an arm under his head carefully, the other effectively trapping him against his warm chest. Haru puts his hand against Makoto’s heart and curls his fingers slightly, grabbing onto his shirt.

Makoto chuckles, and Haru can feel the tiny vibrations going through his body. “I don’t really remember what we used to do when we'd build pillow forts, but I’m pretty sure that it wasn’t this.” A hand brushes through Haru’s hair, and he closes his eyes.

“I like this,” he whispers before pressing a kiss to Makoto’s collarbone.

“Me too.”

Makoto tilts his head down a bit so that Haru can reach his lips, and they meet in a warm kiss. When they eventually pull away, they linger with their lips just barely still touching. They share breaths for a while like that, and it is enough to make Haru dizzy in a way that only Makoto knows how to.

Then, something catches his attention.

“You have freckles,” he mumbles, lips moving against Makoto’s as he speaks.

Makoto often gets them in the summer, but they are usually so small that you cannot see them unless you are very close to his face, which is why Haru still gets surprised every time he sees them.

They are primarily on his nose and cheeks, seemingly blending perfectly in with his skin tone — none of them looking out of place.

“Really?” Makoto asks, as if he had not yet seen them. The corners of his eyes crinkles as he smiles.

Haru closes his eyes and kisses Makoto again. A pleased sigh slips through his lips.

The arm Makoto had used to trap him against his chest comes to rest against his cheek, warmth seeping pleasantly through Haru’s skin. They break the kiss hesitantly to take a breath and looks at each other.

“I know something else we didn’t do in pillow forts when we were younger,” Haru says, wiggling one of his legs in between Makoto’s suggestively.

Makoto grins at him. “Why don’t you show me, then?”