Chapter Text
Haru was eternally grateful for all the help you provided around the safari park. With both you and Ren around, his crowded plate had a few sides taken off of it.
You were so eager to lend your manpower wherever it might be needed, to the point where Haru once thought perhaps you had ulterior motives. This, however, was squashed in one afternoon when you were yet again, following him around with the desire to help.
Today, he had the monumental task of wrangling the critters that lived in the trees for their health checkups. He’d never take you along on a trip that might hurt you, so he made sure to have you assist with only the sweetest ones. However, he hadn’t planned for you to try to go a step above and shimmy up a tree after one that decided to attempt an escape.
“(Y/N)?” Haru said. You hadn’t answered his question about what you wanted for lunch later, so he turned around to see what was causing your lack of response.
“Come back here, little guy! You haven’t had your check up yet,” you cooed to a scared looking rodent. Haru turned his head up, following the sound of your voice. You had climbed impressively high for a regular person in the amount of time he’d turned away from him.
“Hey, hey! Come down from there,” he said.
“I’m so close to bringing him back down, though.”
“It’s alright. I’ll get him. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
You didn’t answer. You looked down at him briefly, clutched the branch tighter, and scooted forward. As you did, you focused just on the animal, and failed to notice just how drastically the tree branch you were sitting on was thinning out. Just as the animal leapt away to another part of the three, the small branch you were leaning against snapped.
Before he could even register that you were falling, Haru was underneath you. He caught you, cushioning your blow.
“Are you okay?” he asked. He pushed your hair out of your face, assessing your condition.
“Thanks to you, I am,” you said, letting your head rest on his shoulder. You gave him a small smile, hooking your arm around his neck. A dopey grin spread across his face at your relief, when a harrowing, deafening noise flooded his senses.
He nearly screamed at the loud, thrumming noise. He fumbled with his hold on you, gripping you closer to his chest as he swiveled his head in every direction. He was ready to bolt at any sudden movements. You, of course, didn’t have as good of hearing as he did, so you sat motionless in his arms, looking like a deer in headlights. The tighter he held you though, the more frantic the noise got, when he finally realized the source: himself.
His heart hammered away dutifully, and he almost pulled you off his chest when he realized your palm was directly over it. However, he wanted to avoid freaking you out, so he nervously coughed up an excuse.
“We’re all clear. That noise was just several animals making noises at the same time!” Haru nervously laughed. He felt like his excuse was just words, and definitely wasn’t good enough. However, thankfully for him, you bought it.
“Oh, good. I was getting worried there, especially since I had no idea what you heard,” you said, wiping your forehead with the back of your hand. “Even if it was a false alarm, I’m grateful for you. I mean, if it was something, you’re definitely the ghoul I want by my side.”
Your words nearly made his soul leave his body. His jaw comically fell open, and once he realized what he was doing, he scrambled to reign himself back in again. When he glanced down at your face, you were peering up at him owlishly.
“What’s the matter?” you asked.
“I just remembered I left the oven on!” he blurted out.
“Oh! Put me down so you can go turn it off then.”
“It’s quicker for me to take me with you.” Haru grinned at you. If he could wink, he would have. He would take any excuse to keep you in his arms longer, even if that meant he felt like his heart was going to leap out of his chest at any moment now.