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When they first met.
Haruchiyo and Takemichi had always been best friends since they were kids. He had met him one faithful day when he escaped from his house after he accidentally made a mess in Takeomi’s room. Haruchiyo only wanted to borrow some of his scale cars to play with while Takeomi and Senju were away, but since they were on the highest part of the shelf, Haruchiyo had to climb it in order to get to them. He didn’t think that the shelf would fall to the floor and send Takeomi’s scale cars flying everywhere.
Haruchiyo felt so overwhelmed by the mess that had become Takeomi’s room and by what would inevitably happen —Takeomi scolding him— , that he decided to run away to the nearest park and wait until Takeomi dragged him back home when he realized what he had done.
Haruchiyo was drawing figurines in the sand with a stick while trying hard to not cry.
What would he say to Takeomi?
He’ll yell at him for sure.
The thought was enough to make more tears form in his eyes.
Why did he think it was a good idea?
Desperation filled his heart as the thought of what would happen corroded his mind.
Why him?
Why him?
Why—?
"Ah!" Haruchiyo hissed in pain when the stick he was using broke in two pieces and a splinter got stuck in the palm of his hand.
That’s when Takemichi entered his life.
"Are you okay?" Takemichi asked him. He had been playing on the sand too, without Haruchiyo noticing him. "Oh, that must hurt a lot. Let me have a look."
Takemichi was wearing a red cape and a Band-Aid on the bridge of his nose the first time Haruchiyo saw him. Before Haruchiyo could say anything, Takemichi had grabbed his hand and took it closer to his eyes, inspecting Haruchiyo’s palm.
"My name’s Takemichi. What’s your name?" Takemichi asked without taking his eyes off of Haruchiyo’s palm. He even kept moving it to see the splinter from all angles.
"H-Haruchiyo," he replied with a trembling voice.
"The tip’s really small, Haruchiyo-kun. My mom cut my nails yesterday, I don’t know if I’ll be able to pull it away," Takemichi said in a disappointed tone. "Wait, do you live nearby? I always see you here every time I come. Do you have tweezers at home?"
Haruchiyo shyly nodded. He remembered that Takeomi had a pair of tweezers in his room. It was all happening too fast for him. Not many people talked to him at school, and even less random kids in the park.
"We’ll go to your house then! Where is it?" Takemichi immediately stood up and looked around.
"It-It’s one block away, on the right."
"Let’s go, Haruchiyo-kun!" Takemichi took Haruchiyo’s hand, the one that didn’t have the splinter, and helped him stand up.
Haruchiyo nodded and guided Takemichi.
It was only when they arrived at his house that he remembered why he had run away. Takeomi’s bedroom door was open, and the mess inside was still there. Luckily, Takeomi hadn’t arrived yet.
"It’s such a mess here," Takemichi said as he saw the shelf on the floor with many cars scattered around the room. "Do you want me to help you clean it?"
"Uh?" Haruchiyo turned to look at Takemichi, who immediately noticed his red eyes.
"Let’s find the tweezers and then we’ll clean this together!" Takemichi exclaimed.
"You’ll h-help me?" Haruchiyo timidly asked, to which Takemichi eagerly nodded.
They got the splinter out and then managed to get the shelf to stand up again. They were in the middle of picking up all the cars when Haruchiyo heard the main door being opened and his sister’s voice.
"HARUCHIYO!" Takeomi yelled and his voice was heard from the entry. "WHY IS MY BEDROOM OPEN!? WHAT DID YOU DO!?"
This time Haruchiyo couldn’t help crying as he heard the voice coming closer.
"WHAT—!? Who are you?" Takeomi asked when he saw Takemichi in his room. His previous anger faded a bit. "What are you doing here?"
Upon seeing Haruchiyo’s trembling state, Takemichi decided to intervene in his defense. "Don’t yell at Haruchiyo-kun! He didn’t mean to do it, and we’re already fixing this mess!" Takemichi said. "Yelling at him won’t make him fix this faster! You’re only scaring him!"
"What happened, Haru-nii?" A little girl came from behind Takeomi.
Takeomi couldn’t believe he was being scolded by a kid who he had never seen in his life before. He looked at Haruchiyo and saw the tears that were running down his cheeks, then he looked down and saw the scale cars in his hands. The kid was right. Haruchiyo was already cleaning up the mess and only stopped when he yelled at him.
"I- I’m sorry, Take-nii. I didn’t mean to, I pr- promise," Haruchiyo apologized. "I’ll p-pick everything."
Takeomi sighed. Maybe the kid was right.
Oh, to be scolded by a kid half your age.
"Clean this up before dinner’s ready, okay?"
Haruchiyo nodded.
"Uh, Haruchiyo’s older brother, do you have anything we can use to reach the higher part of the shelf?" Takemichi asked before Takeomi left.
"Senju, pass them the stool on from the backyard," Takeomi said.
"O-Okay, Take-nii!"
Haruchiyo doesn’t know if Takemichi still remembers the day they first met, but to him the memory was still vivid in his mind. After they finished picking everything, Takeomi took them to the park again until Takemichi’s mom came to take him home.
From then on, Takeomi stopped yelling at him, and Haruchiyo became Takemichi’s best friend.
When Mikey found Takemichi.
Since Takeomi and Shinichiro were best friends, he often took him to Shinichiro’s house to catch up with his friend while Haruchiyo and Mikey played together.
Haruchiyo believed that Mikey was really cool. He was strong and could easily speak up whenever he disliked something and ask for what he wanted. He was everything Haruchiyo ever wanted to be. However, as time passed and Mikey spent more time with him, he began to demand more and more stuff from him. Had Haruchiyo never met Takemichi, he would’ve still thought that he and Mikey were "friends".
They weren’t.
Mikey always took everything he liked and wanted. He’d ask for his toys and play with them in front of him as if he was unaware of his wish to play with his toys too.
"Don’t be such a selfish person, Haruchiyo, let Mikey play with your toys too," Takeomi casually commented as he played poker with his friends.
"You heard him, right? Don’t be mean, let me play with them," Mikey said with a fake smile on his face.
Haruchiyo had always felt so little next to Mikey that he could never say no to him, so he nodded.
"Let’s go, Haruchiyo, Senju. It’s getting dark outside," Takeomi said.
"O- Okay Take-nii," Haruchiyo said, rising to his feet. "Mikey, I’ll leave soon. Can you give me back my toys?"
"Ah, sorry Haruchiyo. I think I lost them. I’ll search for them later," Mikey replied, his eyes never once leaving the manga he was reading.
"You can get it back next time. Let’s go," Takeomi insisted.
Mikey never gave Haruchiyo his toys back. Every time Haruchiyo asked him about them, Mikey would make up an excuse and promise he’d search for them later, only to forget everything the next day and pretend that he didn’t know what Haruchiyo was talking about.
Haruchiyo stopped bringing his toys to Mikey’s house and kept all the few precious things he had to himself. Takemichi was another one of his precious things, so Haruchiyo never once mentioned his existence in front of Mikey. As much as he and Takemichi were friends, Haruchiyo doubted that he would still be friends with him after meeting Mikey, who was much cooler and better than him.
Takemichi would surely have the same destiny as his old toys that ended up in Mikey’s hands and he never got to see them again.
When he turned eleven, Haruchiyo stopped accompanying Takeomi to Mikey’s house. He preferred spending time with Takemichi. Last month, they found a secret entry to an abandoned shop near his neighborhood and often spent their time there playing and eating snacks. They even got stuff from their houses to make that abandoned shop feel more like a decent place.
Haruchiyo always felt at home when he was with Takemichi.
It had been one of those days. Takeomi went to Mikey’s house with Senju and gave him some money to buy himself snacks while they were out. Haruchiyo took the money and went to his and Takemichi’s secret hideout. He stopped to buy some chocolates in the convenience store so they could eat them together too.
Haruchiyo’s heart was beating faster as he thought about all the things he and Takemichi could do. Takemichi said he would bring the new manga his mother bought him.
It was supposed to be Haruchiyo’s perfect day.
However, his happiness faded away as soon as he entered their hideout.
Mikey was there.
"Oh, hi, Haruchiyo," Mikey greeted him with malice in his voice and pointed at the box of toys in the corner. "I didn’t know you had all these toys! When did you get them? You didn’t bring more toys to my house."
Those were Haruchiyo’s favorite toys. Of course he wouldn’t take them to Mikey’s house.
"You know each other?" Takemichi asked with curiosity, looking at Mikey and Haruchiyo.
"Yeah! We’re best friends!" Mikey stood up and wrapped his arm around Haruchiyo’s shoulders. "Isn’t that right, Haruchiyo?"
After seeing Takemichi’s excited expression, Haruchiyo didn’t have any other option than to nod. "Y- Yes, we're friends," he said in a low voice.
"Woah, that's so cool!" Takemichi's eyes lit up. "You didn’t tell me that you had such a cool friend!"
Haruchiyo knew he had lost again. "I- I must’ve forgot," he said, with an uncomfortable smile on his face.
"Why don’t we go meet in my house next time? I’ve got a lot of cool toys that I can share with you!" Mikey invites Takemichi.
Haruchiyo didn’t miss Mikey’s side smirk.
"Can we go, Haru-kun?" Takemichi asked him.
Haruchiyo could only smile at him as his heart was broken once again.
"Y-Yeah," Haruchiyo replies, knowing that their "secret hideout" is no longer a secret because the person he least wanted to know about it, found out.
Haruchiyo stopped going to their secret hideout since he no longer felt safe in it. Takemichi called him to hang out, but Haruchiyo always found an excuse to not go.
"Let’s just leave him, Takemitchy, instead we should go see that new movie!" Mikey said as soon as Takemichi ended the call.
"I- I’m sorry, Mikey-kun," Takemichi apologized. "It’s just that we’ve been waiting for months to see that movie… I don’t want to go without Haru-kun."
Mikey wanted to roll his eyes, but stopped himself. "Then we can go to that amusement park!"
"Sorry, Mikey-kun. I’ll pass this time."
"Okay, Takemitchy," Mikey said, giving him a fake smile. "I guess we can hang out another day, right?"
"Definitely! Thank you for understanding, Mikey-kun."
Takemichi was worried about Haruchiyo. He knew there was something happening to him and that Haruchiyo was hiding it from him. He decided to go to Haruchiyo’s house and find out. He arrived at the Akashi house and knocked on the door.
"Ha-ru-chi-yo-kun! I’ve come to talk to you, I know you’re there! Open the door!" Takemichi yelled with all his force, so Haruchiyo wouldn’t ignore him. "Ha-ru-ch—"
Before Takemichi could finish the second sentence, the door suddenly opened.
"H- Hi, Takemitchy," Haruchiyo greeted him.
Takemichi was right.
Haruchiyo was hiding something. The pained expression on his face told him everything he needed to know.
It took some convincing and moments of silence for Haruchiyo to finally confess how Mikey had been treating him all those years. Takemichi felt disappointed in himself for not noticing Haruchiyo’s feelings sooner. He wiped Haruchiyo’s tears and hugged him.
"I'll always be by your side, Haru-kun," Takemichi said. "I promised."
"Really?" Haruchiyo asked, looking at Takemichi as he held the moon and stars.
Takemichi didn't think it that much when he brought his lips over Haruchiyo's. He only realized what he did when he saw Haruchiyo's red face.
"W- Why did you do that?" Haruchiyo asked, brushing his fingers over his own lips, as if he couldn't believe what just happened and needed Takemichi to confirm it. "T- Takemitchy?" It wasn't as if he disliked it. In fact, he had loved the kiss, it's just that... he never thought that Takemichi would feel the same way about him.
"I- I k-kissed you," Takemichi replied, with a face as red as Haruchiyo's.
"Why?" Haruchiyo asked. "Why would you—?"
"Because I like you, Haruchiyo," Takemichi interrupted him. "I think you're r-really cool and- and sweet, and pretty."
"Oh, I- Uhm I like you too, Takemitchy," Haruchiyo confessed, his hands were trembling from nervousness.
Takemichi quickly took notice of them and intertwined their fingers together. "O- Okay."
"Are we- uh. Are we boyfriends now?" Haruchiyo asked. Takemichi's hands were warm and made him feel safer.
"Yeah, we are boyfriends," Takemichi said in a low voice.
"Can we kiss again?"
"S- Sure."
Takemichi and Sanzu went to watch the movie they had been waiting for months as their first day.