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"Just a little further now." Makoto called ahead of him. The roots tripped him and the low branches caught on his clothes , so overall Haru was having trouble weaving through the dense tree lines but Makoto did it with the grace of a dancer. With the way he walked , anyone could tell he had traced the path many times.
Haru wondered where Makoto was taking him. Makoto had shown up at his door earlier and demanded he go with him , that it was important and it couldn't wait . The brunette had been two steps ahead him and they hadn't spoke on there way here. It was a mystery to him what was so important that it couldn't wait till morning.
Although he knew was that it was near midnight and he was cold but he'd follow Makoto anywhere.
Well at least that's what he used to think.
But since Australia and finding a dream of his own, Haru and Makoto had started to drift. Like a lone piece if driftwood floating above the sea, Haru was becoming more distant from the seashore that was his best friend.
It was a subconscious act, Haru was going to train with Rin in Australia while Makoto headed to Tokyo for university. Haru didn't want to be separated from his best friend but the threads of life were tugging them apart , saying they would be happier apart but it still made him feel empty. Like he was losing an important part of himself.
Haru was becoming lost to his thought when he stumbled out of the trees and into the clearing. It was completely empty grassland except for a large tree stump centred in the middle. Makoto was stood there , staring at the remains of the tree, as if a touch would shatter it.
Haru walked toward him till they were stood next to each other, shoulders barely meeting, both staring at the stump. The air around them was silent until Makoto started.
" I guess this is what they call the end."
Haru was startled by the boys choice of words and was going to speak against but Makoto continued.
" Tomorrow it's all going to change. I'm leaving for university and you and Rin are off the Austraila. I'm happy for you both, I am really, but I'm don't know if I'm ready for something so big as this. What about you , Haru ?"
"I'm scared"
His voice was a hair above a whisper but what he said was true. He scared to move away from the small town that was his whole world to a place he barely knew with a language he barely grasped. He wanted to go and didn't at the same time and this internal conflict raged in him at all times.
They were silent as the moon glowed amongst the stars above.
"Promise me." Haru said.
Makoto hadn't heard him. He turned to the taller boy , gripping his face towards him.
"Promise me" He said more firmly this time.
"Promise what?" Makoto's voice hitched at the close proximity between them.
"That this isn't the end for us. That tomorrow isn't the last time we will be together. Promise we will be together again"
Haru realised that most of what he was saying was a confession. A confession that he was scared to lose the person he was the closet to in the whole world. The boy he loved.
He wasn't sure for how long he had loved Makoto, maybe since they met or maybe since he saved him from that storm last year, but he knew he loved him with such ferocity that he couldn't be without him.
Both boys stared at each as Makoto said " Do you why I wanted to come here with you?" Haru shook his head " This tree was here for hundreds if not thousands of year and had seen many things. Many people admired this tree for it greatness and beauty." Makoto's eyes looked down as his hand danced atop the stump. "Then it was cut down and no one came to see it anymore. But the stump is still here so the tree is also here still in sense. The tree exists onwards even if no one thinks its there anymore"
Haru wondered what this had to do with anything but when Makoto met his eyes his heart fell. Makoto may have been looking at him but his stare was a thousand miles away, like the miles that would soon be between them. His green eyes were brimming tears and his jaw trembling.
Makoto afraid to lose him too.
The boy with green eyes leaned down and touched his forward to the boy with blue eyes.
"I promise , Haru." His voice shook but he went one.
" No matter what happens lets me here this day , this time, one year from now." He wanted to say much more than that but that was as far as he could go before the sobbing. So much unspoken when it was most needed.
Haru pulled Makoto into him, arms wrapping around the taller's neck. He leaned his head into the crook of Makoto's neck and felt himself become undone.