#but I like to think Haru likes the thrill of the secrecy

[benx101cool]

[shapeshifting-wildcard]

Jou had heard about Mitsuru Kirijo a few times before. Thinking back, he'd heard Kanji and his friends mention her off and on a few times over the years. He'd never really paid it much mind, especially since they took pains not to mention her too much around him. Only now did he realize why, given all the secrecy that surrounded their shared powers.

He wasn't really sure what he had expected upon meeting her. Somehow, she both met and exceeded his expectations at the same time. She was a relatively tall woman, easily about his height even without the heels. She had long red hair that fell over one eye, immaculately styled in a way that clearly indicated she had a lot of money (and free time). She had on a white off-the-shoulder short-sleeved blouse, high waisted beige pants, and black stiletto-heeled boots. Her expression looked stern, her gaze seeming to pierce through whoever it landed on. She had an intimidating, commanding aura about her. Despite her relatively casual attire, she very much came across as The One In Charge.

Next to her stood a shorter young woman, one with short blonde hair and seemingly sporting some fancy headphones. She had on a business suit, complete with long sleeves and long pants. At the back of his mind Athena whispered, that's me.

The third young woman was the shortest of the three, standing at about the same height as Futaba. She had long teal hair, pulled into a fancy little french braid, the tail of which she was distractedly toying with as they arrived. She sported a pretty sea-green sundress, and had a darker green messenger bag slung over her shoulder. She was the one who greeted them, offering them a friendly wave as they approached.

"Hello! You must be the Phantom Thieves." She smiled at the assembled group. "I'm Fuuka Yamagishi. This is Aigis, and this is Mitsuru Kirijo. It's nice to meet you all."

The Thieves went around and introduced themselves, including their newest member Zenkichi. "So, what's the situation here?"

Mitsuru stood up straighter, making her presence that much more intimidating. "I'll start from the beginning. Some weeks ago, I attended a conference involving one Akira Konoe. Afterwards, he gave me a business card with his EMMA keyword on it. Upon entering it, I was transported into what I am told is known as a 'Jail.'"

"Wait, hang on a sec," Ryuji interjected. "Was it just you?"

Mitsuru paused and blinked. "Yes, it was. I happened to be alone at the time." "How did you get out of there, then? When it was me, Jou, and Mona we needed Sophia's help to get back out."

"I'll admit, it did take some doing," Mitsuru said. "But my Persona has some limited navigational capabilities. Plus, I'm used to undertaking missions on my own. I did have to rely on my Persona far more than I was comfortable with, but I did find my way to safety eventually."

"Dude!" Ryuji sounded impressed.

"Wow, so this is what a really experienced Persona user is like," Ann commented.

"Please continue, Kirijo-san," Naoto said.

"The moment I returned, I set about organizing a unit of Shadow Operatives to help investigate. Unfortunately, neither of our primary navigators were available at first."

"You have two navigators?" Futaba piped up, face lighting up.

"Yep!" Fuuka chimed in. "Me and Rise-chan."

Futaba's eyes practically sparkled.

"So, at first, I was the default navigator for our small team. We attempted to find a safe area to set up as a base, but were ultimately unable to find a suitable one. The Jail's defenses are too high. Thankfully, Fuuka managed to free up some time to help scout the area out."

"My power is able to extend across realities," Fuuka explained. "So I can safely navigate from outside the Jail."

"Wait, hang on," Futaba said, "outside the Jail? Does that mean you can summon a Persona in the real world?"

"Mm-hm!" Fuuka replied with a grin.

"That's possible?" Zenkichi exclaimed.

"Yes, though it's fairly difficult," Mitsuru said. "Fuuka is one of only a handful of people I know of that can pull it off. It's truly a testament to her skill."

Mitsuru's expression softened to a proud smile as she glanced over to Fuuka, who blushed and fiddled with her braid again.

"W-Well, it's not too far off from when we operated during the Dark Hour," Fuuka stammered.

"It's still impressive," Mitsuru gently insisted.

"What do you mean it's not that different?" Haru piped up.

"Oh," Fuuka stood a little straighter. "I mean, the Dark Hour felt... a little closer to the real world than the TV World and... um, Metaverse? Is that the right term?"

"That's right, yes," Haru said. "But... I'm still not quite sure what you mean?"

"The Dark Hour was like warping time and space in the real world," Aigis said. "While the TV World and Metaverse feel closer to separate worlds."

Jou recalled Kotone mentioning how the Dark Hour felt "different" from the Metaverse, but she'd never really elaborated. Warping time and space, though... that sure was a thing, huh.

"The Dark Hour can occur in any place, but only at a specific time," Aigis continued. "While the other two appear to be much more localized phenomena, from what you've told us."

"Yeah, we've only seen a few Jails pop up in specific places," Morgana chimed in. "And most Palaces only covered a fairly small area."

Fuuka and Mitsuru both blinked in surprise, attention turning to Morgana.

"...Did I hear that right?" Mitsuru asked.

"Yeah, it turns out that the cat can talk," Zenkichi said.

"Oh, so the rest of you can understand them," Aigis remarked.

"Huh," Mitsuru said, still staring at Morgana. She shook her head and returned to business as usual fairly quickly, however. "Anyway, I believe we still need to let you know what the keyword is, correct?"

"Right," Makoto said. "If you would?"

"It's 'Zephyrman.'"

There was a pause.

"Zephyrman?" Makoto repeated.

"Isn't that a really obscure super sentai-style show?" Futaba remarked. "Konoe must really like superheroes or something."

"Considering the way these keywords have worked out, I assume his Jail is going to have some sort of connection," Goro said.

"Oh yeah, that's a good point," Ann said. "What does the Jail actually look like? I mean, what kind of 'theme' does it have?"

"Mm, it's kind of... science fiction," Fuuka said, sounding a bit less than thrilled.

"Not a fan of sci-fi?" Futaba asked.

Fuuka shook her head rapidly. "Oh no, I love sci-fi! Just... this isn't the kind I'm fond of."

"Too hard or too soft?"

"Soft." Fuuka grimaced. "It's like something out of a futuristic dystopia movie. Bright neon lights everywhere, flying cars..."

"That sounds cool, though," Ryuji said.

Fuuka laughed. "I suppose to some people it would be. I just prefer something more realistic. You know, like technology that shows a lot of understanding of what people knew at the time, but expands upon it to create something that didn't exist. Or technological advancements that might actually happen in a few years!"

"Like a killer AI taking over the world?" Futaba commented.

Fuuka grimaced and glanced towards her bag. "...I think that's maybe a little too close to home."

"Actually, that reminds me." Zenkichi turned to Mitsuru. "Kirijo-san, why were you meeting with Konoe in the first place?"

"I was interested in his AI research, actually," Mitsuru said. "My company... dabbled in that back in the day, and I was interested in seeing what his company had to offer."

"Huh, I didn't know the Kirijo Group had done anything with AI," Zenkichi remarked.

"Like I said, it was a long time ago," Mitsuru said with a shrug. "And unfortunately, most of our research was lost in an accident almost twenty years ago. I haven't seen much of a reason to go back to it since."

Before anyone had a chance to press the issue further, a few growls issued from several people's stomachs. Jou suddenly recalled that he hadn't had a proper meal since they'd fled the hotel a few days ago. Mitsuru blinked at the teens, before letting out a soft chuckle.

"Perhaps we should continue this conversation over lunch. I'm more than willing to cover everyone's meals, so feel free to get whatever you want."

The teens broke out into a spirited discussion of where to go for lunch, excitedly discussing all the possibilities available to them in Osaka.

[terriblesportsimagines]

Can I have haru from free dating makato's younger sister or rin's twin sister.

Wrote Rin’s twin sister, mostly because Makoto’s younger sister is a child lol I know you probably meant like another sister, but, I also think it’s more hilarious if it was Rin’s sister lol

Nanase Haruka

He’s well awareof his good friend’s weird protectiveness over his siblings before he evenstarts thinking of you like that.  Buthe’s not one to be put off so easily when he wants something.

Thus, he’s notparticularly thrilled if you want to keep it a secret from Rin.  Though really, it’s not particularlydifficult with him being in Australia.  

Actually doesn’tseek to hide it, and if Rin actually thought to check in with any of hisfriends often, he probably would have found out sooner.  Gou is, of course, sworn to secrecy, andtheir mom, but everyone is given a pass.

Haru is the typeof guy to naturally treat his s/o with respect. I mean, he’s still kind of an airhead and he can ignite tempers with hisstubbornness, but he cares about his girlfriend and so puts in the effort.  However, knowing she’s the twin sister of hisgood friend and rival makes him treat you even better.  This is in part because you were his friendlong before you started dating.

Surprisinglychivalrous?  Refrains from stripping andjumping into bodies of water, holds doors, buys you sweets.

Mostly, justloves seeing you smile.  Does littlethings to encourage it without even thinking about it.

Likes running hishands through your hair.  It’s the samecolor as Rin’s, but that’s not really what he’s thinking when he plays withit.  It’s soft, like you, and it smellslike you.  Probably buries his face inyour hair more than he should.

When Rin doesfind out, it’s like nearly a year into the relationship and he loses hisgoddamn mind.  You have, after all, beentelling him you weren’t seeing anyone. To find his twin sister dating his rival is too much for him to bear.

There is a lot ofscreaming on both sides.  Haru isbasically a bystander, because Matsuoka’s fight their own battles.  Rin threatens to kill Haru, you smack him andtell him if he lays one finger on your boyfriend, he’ll knowsuffering at your hand.

“I love him,can’t you just be happy for me?  I don’tbelong to you, Rin!”

Rin is stunned bythe news, so stunned he falls silent, his eyes wide.  This is when Haru makes his move, coming tostand beside you and hold your hand.

“Rin,” he says,expression hard.  “I love ____.  We’re together.  You can’t change that.”

Rin wants tofight it, wants to tell you that Haru is an idiot obsessed with water, but withyou glaring at him, it is hard to think of reasons why Haru shouldn’t haveyou.  He hates it, but he gives up,grumbling.

Definitely tellsHaru later when they are alone that he is only allowing it because you seemhappy.  Threatens him that if you everget hurt he will murder him.

[datheetjoella]

Meeting Royalty

Author: DatHeetJoella Fandom: Free! Pairing: MakoHaru Rating: T Summary: When they were younger, Haruka and Makoto made a promise to each other. Now, thirty years later, their promise is one step closer to being fulfilled.

In which Haruka and Makoto surprise their children with a visit to the shelter, where they meet two cats who might just become the new members of their little family. Word count: 5,766 Part: 1/3 Notes: This fic is a gift for my friend @softmakoharus! Everything she does is amazing, please check out all of her work.

Read at: AO3, FFn, or here!

                                                Part 1: The Surprise

"Sleep well, sweetie. I love you," Makoto murmured as he tucked Umiko in and kissed her goodnight.

"Love you too. Goodnight," she replied drowsily, clearly on the verge of losing consciousness yet fighting to stay awake just a tad longer so she could return her parents' wishes of sweet dreams.

Meanwhile, Haruka whispered similar words to Mizuki and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. The poor boy was so exhausted from playing around on the beach all day that he had fallen asleep halfway through Makoto's anecdote-bedtime story. And he had been so excited about this particular story too; when he and his sister heard that their parents had starred in a short film back in high school to help recruit new members for the swim team, their eyes lit up with curiosity and they were all ears. Haruka smiled to himself as he recalled how their adorable faces had twisted in disbelief when it was revealed that their kind, sweet father had been assigned the part of the evil king. Admittedly, it hadn't exactly been a fitting role, as Makoto had proven with his acting skills - or lack thereof. The end result was cute, though. Haruka made a mental note to ask Nagisa later if he still had a copy of all the footage saved somewhere.

They would fill Mizuki in on the details he missed during breakfast tomorrow, but for now, he could conjure up his own fairytales in his dreams.

Once Makoto and Haruka were done saying goodnight to both of their children, they left the room to let them sleep. The small star-shaped light that illuminated the darkness was kept on just in case Mizuki woke up at some point during the night; while Umiko claimed that she was a big girl who wasn't afraid of the dark and therefore no longer needed the nightlight, Haruka was pretty sure that she hid her own fear behind Mizuki's and very much appreciated the glowing star. He would never call her out on this, but it was amusing and quite endearing nonetheless.

"Do you want tea or coffee?" Haruka wondered as they walked down the stairs together.

"Coffee," Makoto said, "but wait."

"On what?" Haruka questioned sceptically, following his husband into the living room but doing so with confusion. There wasn't much time left before the tv show that Makoto had been looking forward to watching would start, and he wanted them to be on the couch with a hot beverage before then.

When Makoto made sure the door was closed behind them to prevent their children from possibly overhearing - which seemed highly unlikely considering the sleepy states they had been in - a wide grin stretched his handsome face. "The shelter got back to us."

"Already?" Haruka asked, eyebrows raising in surprise, "That's fast."

While they were painting yesterday afternoon, Umiko had casually opened up the topic of adopting a dog for discussion. Her brother had supported the idea wholeheartedly, but dogs needed a lot of specific care and attention that they unfortunately wouldn't be able to give at this point in time. As a compromise, Haruka had offered that they could maybe get a cat instead. Makoto and he had already wanted a cat for as long as he could remember, and they had promised each other when they were kids that they would get one together when they were older.

Alas, after thirty years, that promise hadn't been fulfilled yet because it never seemed like the right time to get a pet; either they were too busy with school and training, or their careers caused them to be away from home too often, or every waking moment was dedicated to taking care of their adorable but needy infants.

But that was all in the past now; the children were a little older and didn't need round the clock care anymore, work at the swim club was calm and stable and they had a neat, orderly schedule. Their lives had reached a comfortable and steady point so he concluded that the time to expand their family with a cat had finally come.

As soon as Makoto heard about the conversation that was held when he was still at work, he scoured the internet in secrecy in search for a feline friend or two. Somewhere along the way, he stumbled upon a pair, seven-year-old Princess and five-year-old Duchess, who had been left in the shelter's care after their previous owner passed away. The instant Makoto saw the white cat and her orange tabby companion, he fell in love with their cute faces and thought that they were the perfect additions to their family.

After the children had gone to bed that evening, he showed them to his husband and fortunately for him, Haruka had immediately taken a liking to them as well. So they had written up an email explaining their situation and expressing their interest in meeting them, as the shelter required approval and a visitation before they allowed anyone to adopt a pet. Because of that, they decided to keep it a secret until the shelter gave them the green light. It would be bad if Umiko and Mizuki fell in love with them too but the shelter didn't think they were the right fit for Princess and Duchess.

"Yeah, I was surprised too," Makoto muttered as he fished his phone out of his pocket, "I already saw it before dinner but I didn't get the chance to tell you sooner. I was afraid the kids might hear something, and you know how inquisitive Umiko has been lately…"

Haruka understood where he was coming from; while they encouraged her curiosity and stimulated her zealousness, in situations like these they had to be careful. If she somehow got the idea that they had their sights set on two cats then they wouldn't hear the end of it until she saw them and they were hers. Of course, Mizuki would be dragged along with his older sister's interrogation and that wouldn't exactly make it easier. Precaution was key when it came to things like this.

"And, what did they say?"

An excited gleam appeared in Makoto's gorgeous eyes. "They said we can come to meet them anytime they're open."

A small yet nonetheless joyous smile appeared on Haruka's lips at that confirmation. They were approved on paper and were allowed to see them in person. The chances of the shelter denying their adoption request was significantly smaller now, given that they would like the cats and the cats liked them too - though he honestly didn't see why either wouldn't. "That's great."

"Right? I'm so happy," Makoto said, his entire face lighting up like a Christmas tree.

If it weren't the cats and their childhood promise being closer to being fulfilled that made Haruka smile, then seeing his husband so genuinely thrilled definitely would have done the trick. After so many years, that blinding smile still ignited sparks in his stomach. "Me too," he murmured softly, "So when do you want to go?"

"I was thinking Tuesday afternoon," Makoto replied without missing a beat, proving that he had already thought about that - not that Haruka had expected otherwise. "My classes end early on Tuesday, so that's when we have the most time to see them and play with them before the shelter closes."

"Sounds good," Haruka agreed, though he couldn't help but tease him a little, "If you can keep it a secret until then." They wanted it to be a surprise for the kids, but that wouldn't work if Makoto's unerasable grin revealed it all.

"I think I can manage three days," he argued, wanting to seem offended yet failing miserably when he smiled again.

"Are you sure, because your face says otherwise." Haruka jokingly poked at the curled up corner of Makoto's mouth, because that thoroughly elated expression held no secrets at all, not from Haruka and surely not from Umiko and Mizuki either.

Hearty laughter erupted from Makoto's chest as he swatted his husband's hand away. "I'm sure," he declared solemnly as he swiped his palm in front of his face and unveiled the serious look that was left in its wake. He was able to maintain that demeanour for about half a second before it crumbled with a chuckle. He bit his lip in an attempt to repress it, but it was in vain.

Haruka could only smile at his giddiness. In Makoto's defense, he had been able to not only keep Princess and Duchess a secret for the children for an entire day, but he had also successfully kept this information hidden for a few hours from none other than his own husband, who knew him through and through. He could do anything he set his mind to.

"Anyway," Makoto mumbled as he tried to recover from his giggles, fumbling with his phone for a bit and then he gave it to Haruka. "Here's the email if you want to read it."

Haruka quickly scanned the text with his eyes, his own smile softening when he read the confirmation for himself. But when he opened his mouth to reply, the tv in the background blared a familiar tune.

"It's started!" Makoto gasped and his eyes widened comically.

"Here," Haruka snorted as he handed him his phone, "You can email them back later. Go sit down, I'll get us our drinks."

"Are you sure?" Makoto asked, knowing that Haruka didn't like to watch something if he missed the beginning. When Haruka didn't waver, he muttered, "Thanks, Haru. You're the best!"

Before Haruka had the chance to stutter an objection to that, Makoto blessed him with a quick kiss of gratitude. There was truly no better way to silence him than that.

"Ah, I'm so excited!" Makoto sighed, and it was obvious that he wasn't talking about the tv show.

As always, Haruka couldn't do anything but smile in response to his husband's almost childlike enthusiasm. He was really too cute. "Me too."

The sea of children that had poured through the seams of Iwatobi Elementary's doors had long since dissipated, yet Umiko was still nowhere in sight. When Haruka pulled out his phone to check the clock, he confirmed that she was indeed running late. It was no point of concern for him, because he knew just how easily she could get caught up in conversation and lose track of time, but the small hand that was clutching his was slowly growing more and more jittery with impatience.

While Umiko had the tendency to be a bit tardy if she got distracted, Mizuki was very punctual, always ready with his little backpack firmly around his shoulders by the time one of his parents came to pick him up from kindergarten. He despised waiting and therefore made sure no one would have to wait on him either. While Haruka thought both of their habits were endearing in their own way and didn't mind waiting on Umiko for a couple of minutes when they weren't in a hurry, Mizuki got visibly annoyed if his older sister was taking too long for his liking.

Haruka averted his gaze from where it had been glued to the doors, that his husband and he had passed through countless of times when they were just children themselves, in favour of looking at their grumpy son. Most people probably wouldn't notice anything off about him, since a bright smile wasn't exactly part of his default expression, but Haruka could tell that his bottom lip was protruding slightly more than it did when he got here. That pout would surely disappear instantly if Mizuki knew what was ahead of him today.

"She'll be here soon," Haruka tried to appease him, smiling when Mizuki only huffed in response. "Do you want me to carry you?"

"No."

He wasn't going to insist; Mizuki would change his mind if his legs got tired, but Haruka didn't think it would get to that point. Even though Umiko was taking her sweet time, he was sure it wouldn't be long now. It wasn't like she would make her family wait forever.

Almost like he had sensed it, at that moment a familiar mop of black hair left the building and, as predicted, Umiko wasn't alone: three other children were with her, some of which Haruka recognised from playdates at their house.

The instant Umiko spotted her dad and little brother standing near the gate, she quickly said goodbye to her friends and ran towards them, red bag jostling on her back. It seemed like her face had trouble deciding which emotion to display; remorse for being late or the excitement that was the cause of it.

"Why are you late?" Mizuki demanded to know the second Umiko was within earshot, sounding like he was her dad instead of Haruka and Umiko owed him an explanation.

"Sorry," she apologised and though it was sincere, as soon as the word was past her lips, her enthusiasm won the battle and a wide, radiating grin appeared. "I was talking with Suzu-chan and Hiro-kun and Mari-chan. Suzu-chan got a guinea pig!"

"A guinea pig, huh?" Haruka muttered as he ruffled her hair in greeting before crouching down to kiss her head. Then his hand found one of hers so he could lead the three of them safely across the street to where the car was parked.

"Yeah! She got one, and her older sister got one too! She said guinea pigs need to have a friend."

"It's always nice to have a friend," Haruka agreed, but before he had the chance to say anything else about rodents, Umiko chimed in.

"Why are we taking the car?"

Usually, Makoto and he would drop off the kids at their respective destinations together before driving to the swim club in the morning. When school was finished, Haruka would pick them up again and the three of them would walk to their house, or wherever they happened to be going, so that Makoto could drive home after a long day of hard work.

"We're going to the swim club," Haruka replied, "I thought it would be nice to pick Papa up together. He still has one class, so we can watch him while he works."

It was technically the answer to what she had asked, but it wasn't the full truth either. Fortunately, it seemed like the kids hadn't noticed that.

"Can we swim too?" Mizuki wondered, although his way of moving through the water could hardly be called swimming just yet, as it was more like wading.

"Not today, I'm afraid," Haruka said, hoping that they wouldn't inquire further, "I thought you would still be tired of swimming after swimming all day last Saturday."

"I'll never get tired of swimming!" Umiko proclaimed.

"Me neither!"

Truly spoken like they were his own, Haruka thought to himself with a small snort. "Me neither," he echoed as he took his keyring out of his pocket and unlocked the car. Before they had the opportunity to ask him if he had already swum today - the answer to which was yes - he tried to change topics. "So, what colour is Suzu-chan's guinea pig?"

"White with brown spots, and her sister's guinea pig is black with brown spots!"

Successfully diverged.

While Umiko rambled on about every detail her friend had told her about the new pets, Haruka put Mizuki into his carseat and fastened the belts. Then he went to check if Umiko had strapped herself into hers properly, not wanting to take any chances when she was so busy chattering. Once they were both secured, Haruka buckled himself up and started the car to drive the route that had become more than familiar over the past decades.

After a short drive, they arrived at their family's business. Though the entire way here had been dyed with Umiko's high-pitched voice as she talked about anything and everything noteworthy about her day at school - though it was mostly still about Suzu-chan's guinea pig -, the second they came to a halt in the parking lot, she freed herself of her seatbelt and leapt out of the car to run inside.

"Wait for me!" Mizuki called after her, impatiently trying to unbuckle himself too but he couldn't quite figure out the somewhat complicated system.

Not wanting him to be left behind, Haruka helped him and lifted him out of the car so he could chase after his sister. He wasn't in a hurry like the kids were, so Haruka calmly grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder before he followed them inside.

They were far ahead of him, but Haruka wasn't bothered. The swim club was their second home and they knew this place like the back of their hands. Even the other staff members weren't fazed at all by their presence, as they had long since gotten used to the six-year-old and her four-year-old brother roaming around the halls. Knowing just where they were going, Haruka took a detour to the break room, the fridge of which contained some juice boxes reserved for occasions like these. Along with two of them and a bottle of water for himself, Haruka went to join the children.

Their faces were already smudged up against the glass, looking out over the pool area where a handful of instructors were having classes in different lanes, amongst whom their very own father. It didn't matter how often they were here to witness it, for some reason this remained to be a spectacular sight to see. Haruka got it though; Makoto did look really cool helping kids from all ages through the water - and really hot in his wetsuit, the design of which hadn't changed at all since he wore it for the very first time a little under twenty years ago.

"You'll stain the glass if you press up against it like this," Haruka remarked. Even though their enthusiasm was cute, it hadn't been long since he had last cleaned these windows and he wasn't eager to have to do it again tomorrow.

"Sorry," Umiko and Mizuki muttered in unison, immediately stepping away like the glass had burned their palms and noses.

Haruka smiled, bidding them a small nod of appreciation. "Here," he said as he handed them each a juicebox. Then he sat down on the bench right behind them and put his bag down beside him.

"Thanks!" they replied as they followed his example and plopped down.

After taking a swig of his water, Haruka rummaged through his bag a bit and pulled out a box of leftover vanilla muffins from last Sunday. They wouldn't be home until it was time for dinner, so he made sure to bring their afterschool snack with them. It would be bad if Umiko and Mizuki got hungry and cranky on a day as important as this one.

The same response sounded out again as the children grabbed a proffered muffin, nibbling mindlessly as they peered out over the pool. It was an occurrence as common as the next, but when Haruka looked at them, he was reminded of Ran and Ren, who he had taken here back when Makoto was first working as a swim instructor to help out Coach Sasabe. The twins had been a couple of years older then than Umiko and Mizuki were now, but the glint of excitement shimmering in their eyes was the exact same.

Suddenly, his hands began to itch with the need to capture this sight; the unawareness of the world around them as they were fixated on their father guiding other children through the water, with nothing to distract from it than the combined flavours of sweet vanilla muffins and apple juice. But a good dad always came prepared, and Haruka searched for his camera in his bag, trying not to rustle it too much in fear of disturbing the atmosphere.

He carefully scooted over to the edge of the bench and held the camera at an angle so that their vague reflections in the windows were within frame too. As soon as the shutter clicked, the spell was broken and their faces instantly turned to him. The excited glimmer was replaced by adorable confusion, their eyebrows twisting into a frown to complete the look.

Knowing they were just startled, Haruka said, "Smile," as he snapped another photo. He had already gotten the perfect, almost entranced-like picture, so a couple of goofy ones were a nice follow up to that.

A dozen or so photos were shot, some of which the children demanded be taken in front of the windows in the hopes of catching their father in action. The results weren't that great, but it was a task that was pretty much impossible to execute well, so Haruka simply obliged without protest. They'd forget about it sooner or later anyway.

Eventually the kids were reminded of their treats left abandoned on the bench and returned to them. Haruka put the camera away. He could continue to take pictures forever, but he didn't want the memory card to get too cluttered just yet. There were certainly more endearing moments coming up, ones that were rarer than these, and it would be a shame to miss out on eternalising them.

Time flew by as Umiko and Mizuki finished their snacks and babbled with their dad. Before they knew it, Makoto and his students were already standing on land again as today's class was ended. The children trickled out of the room and Makoto was left to clear away the kickboards and floaties that were used.

"Come on," Haruka said as he got up, collecting the empty snack packages to discard into a bin along the way, "Let's go to Papa."

The kids didn't need to be told twice.

They quickly traded their shoes for slippers and entered through the staff locker room, where Haruka grabbed the laid-out towel to hand to his husband. Unlike before, Umiko and Mizuki now slowly followed behind him, knowing that they weren't allowed to run anywhere near the pool because it was dangerous.

"Good work," Haruka murmured as he stepped into the room.

Upon hearing that voice, Makoto came to a halt and a bright smile stretched his face when he saw him. "Haru!"

A matching smile naturally broke through Haruka's demeanour and he threw the towel to Makoto, who caught it as effortlessly as always.

"Papa!"

"We came to pick you up!"

The chiming voices of their children drew Makoto's gaze downwards and his smile widened. "Is that so?" he chuckled, roughly drying his brown locks with the towel before letting it slip to his shoulders. "Thank you, I really appreciate it!"

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Haruka offered. He convinced himself that he asked it to help his husband out, but he couldn't deny the excitement that bubbled up in his stomach as he thought about where they were heading next.

"No, that's okay," Makoto declined with the cute head tilt that he never grew out of, "I just need to put away some stuff and get dressed and then I'm ready to go."

But instead of doing either of those things, he stepped closer to them and swiftly stole a kiss from his husband's lips. Before Haruka could ever register the contact, let alone respond, Makoto had already pulled back again with a cheeky grin on those enticing lips. The flame of playfulness that was ignited in his eyes went out as quickly as it was lit and swooped down to kiss Umiko and Mizuki's crowns before he turned around and strolled off.

"See you soon," he called over his shoulder with a wave of his hand, and Haruka couldn't help but snort.

He really loved that adorable idiot with all his heart.

Less than fifteen minutes later, the Tachibana family was seated in the car and conversation was alive as per usual, mainly thanks to Makoto and Umiko; the latter was telling the former all about her friend's newly acquired guinea pig. Because Haruka and Mizuki had already heard everything there was to know about it, they didn't feel the need to partake in the same discussion again. Since Makoto would always humour her and, like Haruka himself, was genuinely interested in everything she and her brother had to say, this was no issue at all.

On the contrary, Haruka was actually kind of glad he didn't have to engage so he could focus all his attention on driving. Though he was pretty certain he knew the exact road they needed to take to their destination, it had been quite a while since the last time he was there so he wanted to make sure that he didn't accidentally take a wrong turn.

The children hadn't noticed anything yet, and Haruka was glad about that. It meant that the surprise would only be greater when they arrived.

"And Suzu-chan's dad made a big cage, and also a big… thing so they could run outside in the yard!"

"Guinea pigs can get pretty big, huh?" Makoto commented, amused by their daughter's enthusiasm, "So it's good that they have a lot of space to move around and play."

"Yeah," Umiko affirmed, vigorously nodding her head, "Her and her sister's are still small because they're babies, but she said they can get this big." She made an indication with her hands, that might have been a teeny bit exaggerated, but Makoto only chuckled along.

"Really?"

"Yeah!" she repeated excitedly, "And she said that I can come over to see them sometime!"

"That's nice of her," Makoto said with his sunny smile, "When did you plan to do that?"

"I don't know yet. Hiro-kun and Mari-chan also wanted to see them, but Suzu-chan says she can only have one friend at a time over at her house."

"Why is that?" Haruka questioned with a frown at this new piece of information.

"I don't know," Umiko shrugged, "She said her mom said so."

"Maybe it'll be too busy for the guinea pigs otherwise. They might feel scared if they're surrounded by a lot of people, trying to hold them all at once," Makoto tried, but Umiko shook her head.

"I don't think it's because of the guinea pigs. Before she had them we could never play at her house together either."

"Maybe her mom's the one who gets scared if she's surrounded by a lot of people," Haruka joked, coaxing chuckles out of everyone. While Haruka knew better than anyone else that children could be a handful, he didn't really understand parents who had rules like that. Those types of playdates occurred every once in a while and lasted for no more than a few hours at a time at best, so it wasn't like there was much of a difference between having one kid over or two or three - at least, not to him. It only caused for some children to get excluded from playing with their group of friends.

And because he never wanted Umiko and Mizuki to get excluded, he wouldn't cause for other kids to get excluded either. The more the merrier, or something corny like that.

"Oh, and I told Suzu-chan and Hiro-kun and Mari-chan that we're going to get a cat, and they asked if they could see it when we get it!"

Makoto's eyes darted to the corner to shoot his husband an inquiring look, but Haruka just pursed his lips as a subtle sign that he didn't know either. It must have been a coincidence, for Umiko would surely speak up if she caught wind of what was going on.

"Of course!" Makoto replied, trying his best not to let his expression betray him and expose their secret, "You can invite them over when we get one."

"Or two," Mizuki added, so out of nowhere that it almost seemed like he was onto something. The look of indifference on his face, however, contradicted this.

"Can they all come over at the same time?" Umiko asked, diverting the subject from the cats they were going to get back to her friends, much to her parents' joy.

"Sure, I don't see why not," Haruka said. In his opinion, it was easier to have all three of Umiko's closest friends come over at once than to plan three separate cat-viewing playdates. "You can invite Tomo-kun over too," he told Mizuki, knowing that Mizuki only had one friend he was close enough with for him to invite into their house. He had been told multiple times that he was allowed to bring more friends than just Tomo-kun, but Mizuki always declined and said that he just wanted his best friend to come. It seemed like the other children in his kindergarten class hadn't unlocked the stage of friendship yet in which Mizuki felt comfortable having them over.

But even his best friend was not on Mizuki's mind right then. "Where are we going?" he questioned in confusion. The car ride home wasn't supposed to take this long, and he didn't recognise the buildings around him either.

"Are we going to the store?" Umiko wondered, since taking the car and picking up her father made sense in that scenario.

Makoto just shook his head.

"Then where?"

"It's a surprise."

"Oh no," she gasped in horror, "we're not going to the dentist, are we?"

"No," Makoto chuckled at the fact that that was her first guess for some reason, "we just went to the check-up appointment a few weeks ago, and your teeth don't hurt, right?"

"No," Umiko said, and even if she could have expected that outcome, she was still visibly relieved.

"I promise that you'll both like where we are going," he revealed, and that would be the sole hint he would give them.

Then it was Mizuki's turn to gasp. "Disneyland?"

That was probably the only place that would make them even happier, but he couldn't have been more wrong. If that was their expectation, then they were surely going to be disappointed; any place paled in comparison to Disneyland.

Thankfully, Umiko was the voice of reason. "Of course we're not going to Disneyland!" she argued, "Disneyland is super far away and we have to go to school tomorrow, and Papa and Daddy have to work."

"Oh yeah," Mizuki mumbled dejectedly, pouting as he averted his head to stare out the window. Haruka hoped that his frown would soon be turned upside down when he found out where they were actually going.

"No, unfortunately we're not going to Disneyland," Makoto regretfully confirmed, "but the place where we are going is a lot of fun too."

"The playground?" Mizuki tried, as it was technically a smaller, plainer version of Disneyland.

"Oh, I know!" Umiko suddenly exclaimed, the metaphorical light bulb switching on beside her head as she had an epiphany, finally able to connect all the dots. "We're going to get a cat!"

"Ding-ding-ding, we have a winner," Makoto announced like a game show host, making the children cheer like they just won a hundred million yen. "We're going to the shelter!"

Instantly, Mizuki's pout morphed into a large grin. "Yes!"

"Are we going to pick out a cat?" Umiko asked, her brown eyes wide and gleaming with excitement.

"No, we're going to meet two cats that Daddy and I picked out already."

Before the kids had the chance to moan and complain about not being allowed to help pick out the cats, Haruka cut in, "Papa found these cats on the website and thought they were perfect for us, so he showed them to me. And I thought so too, so we sent a message to the shelter, because before we are allowed to adopt them, we have to meet them in person. They said we could come today, so we wanted it to be a surprise for you until now."

Fortunately, that explanation satisfied them, and they began to rapidly fire questions at their parents about the cats' identities.

"Are they boys or girls?"

"What do they look like?"

"What are their names?"

Their passion was so endearing that Makoto couldn't do anything but laugh merrily, and Haruka's heart swelled with fondness upon consuming the cocktail of rambled curiosity and bellowing joy.

"Okay, okay," Makoto hushed with remnants of giggles, "Their names are Princess and Duchess, and they're both girls. Princess is white and Duchess is orange. That's what you both wanted, right?"

"Yes!" they yelled in unison, excitement dripping from their faces as they visualised their ideal cat in their heads.

"But Papa," Umiko mumbled as she recalled the conversation they had about their desired cats last Friday afternoon, "I thought you wanted a black cat."

If Makoto was going to say what Haruka expected him to, he was going to kick him as soon as the car came to a halt. But it seemed like Makoto had left his playfulness behind at the swim club and he answered earnestly, "It doesn't really matter to me, I'm happy with any cat."

Umiko smiled at that - if anything, she was probably just glad that at least one of the cats had fur in her desired colour. "How old are they?"

"Princess is seven and Duchess is five."

"That's older than me!" Mizuki gasped in surprise, like he had never even considered the possibility of that.

"That's right, and Princess is even older than Umiko," Makoto said, and their son's mind was positively blown by that fact.

"Wow."

"We're almost there," Haruka informed, disrupting their elated chattering. He hated to be the spoilsport, but the children were getting a little too excited about the idea of having Princess and Duchess as their cats and he had to remind them that they weren't theirs just yet. "Remember that we're going to meet them to see if we like them, but if we don't for some reason or if they don't like us, then we'll continue to look for a different cat."

"But," Makoto added before their grins could be wiped away by their dad's words to make place for crestfallen frowns, "I think we're going to like them a lot."

To support this claim, Makoto elaborated and shared all the details he knew about the royalty they were about to meet. It was safe to say that Umiko and Mizuki had already fallen in love with the descriptions they were given, just like their parents had. Now they probably wouldn't settle for anything less than Princess and Duchess - and fortunately, they didn't have to either.

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Wan High Weeping (Part 23)

It had been such a long time since Azula had left her house for anything other than school; getting ready to do so for the first time in a while had such a bittersweet and nerve-wracking edge. Ultimately, she knew that it would do her well to leave the house. She still hadn’t the drive or energy for it, but being around her father was becoming suffocating, more than it already had been. He had become blunter—and was growing more so as the days flowed on. Among other things, he began to refuse to buy her a new wardrobe. And he was cutting her money off, so she could no longer buy clothing for herself. A small thing, it was, but taxing no less. Most everything in her closet ranged from a little to snug for her to concerningly tight. Physically and emotionally it was growing harder for her to be comfortable in her own clothing. That in itself was one of the many reasons she tried to avoid leaving her house.

 She found something that looked like it would still fit at least decently well. The skirt hugged her hips a little too much for security, but it would have to do, it was almost no different than her school uniform. Perhaps it was a little shorter, but the color—black with a fringe of red sequins—was more flattering. She next pulled a blouse over her arms. It was also black in color and bore the same fringe on the sleeves and at the collar. It pinched and cut unpleasantly into her wrists as she began working with the buttons.

She began to think that this choice in attire was a mistake. Tops with buttons were now on the list of things not to wear. Her fingers trembled as she fastened her shirt the rest of the way. She narrowed her eyes, finding a new thing to fret over as she held her hands in front of her face.

She didn’t know if it was just her kicking herself down again, but she could swear that her hands were swollen. She stuffed them into her pockets and made a hasty retreat from her room. She was already running late.

 Azula could hear her father yelling into the phone, from the sound of it, Mai’s family was wanting to withdraw from, or at the very least, lighten their lawsuit claims. “We’re in this together!” He shouted. “BeiFong Electronics needs to crash.” She could practically envision his dramatic and sweeping gestures. Clearly, the man was already in a pissy mood. She considered, that it probably was a good idea for her to stay away from the estate.

She quickly gathered her keys and purse and slipped outside.

 .oOo.

 “I was beginning to think that you stood me up.” Teo greeted as he sprung up from the park bench.

 “I had to get dressed.” She replied. “I had trouble finding something to wear.”

 He looked her over, she thought that his gaze lingered for too long but she made no comment on it. “You look nice.” He said with a smile. But she couldn’t find it in herself to agree with him. She didn’t like how the skirt showed off her thighs. It took her a moment to come back to the present and realize that Teo was holding his hand out. She looked at if for a moment before deciding to take it. “So, uh, what do you want to do?”

 It had been so long since Azula had been on a date, she struggled to come up with an activity. She had less money for shopping, so she would rather avoid that temptation. She didn’t exactly want to walk around the park; the faint and dizzy feelings were growing worse and more frequent. A dinner date was completely out of the question. “You decide.”

 “Want to go for some pizza, I know a good place.”

 “Absolutely not.” She replied abruptly. With her stomach as painfully empty as it was, she knew that one slice would turn into the whole damn pizza. It wasn’t a visual she wanted to provide Teo with. It wasn’t how she wanted to ruin her good streak. So far she had managed to restrain herself for the entire week, only eating what her father permitted. And the few times at lunch where she had overdone it some, she had purged the damage in a timely manner.

 “Okay, well how about we take a walk on the beach?” He pointed in the direction of the pier. “Though I’m gonna need some help.”

 “Too cold.” She replied.

 “Okay, how about we drop by the mall?” He tried.

 “I didn’t bring my credit card and I don’t have much cash on me.” She lied.

 “We can drive to the amusement park?”

 But she wasn’t in the mood for walking around in close proximity to a bunch of overly excited children and loud noises. Even less so, she fancied the thought of being around so much cotton candy and popcorn and the collection of other wonderful smells that an amusement park teemed with. Besides, she couldn’t imagine that it would actually be much fun for Teo. She was pretty sure that he had suggested it more for her than himself. “I’m not in the mood for an amusement park.”

 “We can stay here and walk in the park?”

 “I don’t know if I feel like walking for a long time…” Now she was just being difficult. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized that she genuinely didn’t have the stamina nor the right energy for a date. “I think that I should just go home, Teo. Maybe we can do this some other time.”

 His face fell and she was almost certain that he was blaming himself.  And then his eyes lit up again, “I can come home with you!”

 “You don’t want to meet my dad. Trust me.” She grumbled.

 And the light went out again. She didn’t want it to. She didn’t want to lose the one person who seemed to care for her. “We can go to your house.”

 His smile was back. “Yeah! I think that my dad would like to meet you.” He actually looked pretty thrilled. “I don’t think that he believed me when I said that I have a girlfriend. He thought that he was dropping me off to play dungeons and dragons with Haru or something.”

 Azula nodded and led him to her car, where he helped her to help him with getting into the car seat. It was an aspect of a relationship with him that she hadn’t considered; she’d have to learn how to help him with tasks like that. Once he had buckled himself in, she squeezed the wheelchair into her trunk.

 She wasn’t much for conversation, only really speaking to ask him for directions. She caught him staring at her hands, likely taking note of the sores on her knuckles. Suddenly she wanted to make small talk, anything to take his eyes off of her hands.

Her puffy hands.

Why did they look like that?

She winced to herself and tightened them around the steering wheel.

 “Another left.” He spoke, the timing was merciful. But then he asked something less so. “Are you okay?”

 “Yes, I’m fine.” She replied instinctively. She had to be fine. She had to, lest she lose what little control she had. She was famished and her muscles were cramping, even from just a short walk, and all she could think of was food; how much she yearned for it, how she would get it, and how she would get rid of it.

But she was fine.

She had to let everyone think that she was anyways. If she couldn’t do that, if she couldn’t maintain control, couldn’t maintain secrecy, then her odds of getting back on the volleyball team would drop even lower.

 And suddenly she thought that she was letting Teo get too close. He could very well pick up on her habits, see through her excuses. She could swear that he already was.

 “Look for the house with the car shaped mailbox, that’s mine.” Teo instructed and then he returned back to the initial subject. “Are you sure? You seem so, tired.”

 “Yes.” She agreed. “I sometimes think about my brother and that makes it hard to get sleep.” It was only half of the truth. The other half was that her hunger pains kept her up. Her hunger pains and the fear that she’d never make it back to where she had been before her accident.

 She pulled into the driveway and gave herself a moment to muster up the strength to get out of the car. Her entire body felt like jelly, and her head was spinning. She knew that she really ought to eat a decent meal. Eat it and keep it in her body. But her body can’t afford the extra calories. She powered her way through the dizzy feeling. She unbuckled Teo and helped him into his chair, the effort sent her world spinning even further.

Blackness danced on the edge of her vision, she leaned heavily against her car and waited for the feeling to pass.

 “This is what I’m talking about.” Teo noted. It finally registered that his arms were on her waist, he was holding her steady to the best of his ability.

 “Really, Teo, I’m okay.” She insisted, feeling anything but.

 Teo stared at the clock. “My dad won’t be here for another hour.”

She dropped herself onto the nearest couch and curled herself up, clutch a belly that was begging for food.

 “Here, have something to drink.” Teo offered.

 She took the water bottle with desperate hands.

 “I’m worried about you.” He commented.

 “You shouldn’t be.”

 He took her by the wrists and held them up and she was faintly aware that he knew almost exactly what was going on. “Please eat something, Azula.” He was practically begging and it chilled her.

 “I will.” She agreed. And she would. She would oblige and then she would rid herself of the potential damage.

 He made his way to the kitchen and pulled down a box of cereal. “I’m not much of a cook. Do you prefer cereal or toast?”  He asked.

 Evidently, she preferred both and then a good helping of ice cream. At the same time, she preferred nothing at all. So she shrugged, “it doesn’t matter.”

 He handed her the bowl. “And no trips to the bathroom this time.”

 “I always—”

 “Yeah, that’s the problem.” Teo replied and she knew ultimately, that he had her figured out.

 “I’ll eat when I get home, Teo.” He didn’t have to speak for her to know that he didn’t buy it for a moment. “Do you want me to send pictures.” She offered.

 “You’ll just stage them.” Teo replied.

 “I’ll eat after I get back on the volleyball team.” She didn’t know why she was justifying herself to him.

 “If you don’t kill yourself trying…”

 “I’ll be fine. I have things under control.” She replied dryly. Even if she didn’t, she believed that she was, indeed, willing to kill herself in an attempt to ready herself to play again.

 “You can still be on the team.” Teo tried.

 But she knew that she no longer had the skills to land herself a position. Even if she did she doubted that anyone wanted to watch a fat girl play. “Where is your mother anyways? You keep talking about your father but you never mention your mother.” She supposed that, that was something they had in common.

 With a sigh he caved and let the subject change. “She died three years ago.”

 “Oh.”

 What a dismal first date, they were having. Other than a simple acknowledgement that she had heard him, she didn’t quite know what to say.

 “I lose a lot of people. I had a brother too. You know what’s funny?” He asked. “My dad owns a car repair shop. My mom and brother were killed in a car accident. I don’t care how many cars he fixes, he couldn’t fix the one that killed my mom and brother…”

 Azula swallowed a lump in her throat. “Is that how…”

 “No. I was born like this.” He motioned to the wheel chair. “No one really cared about it either, until I started going to Wan High. At my old school, people respected me. They liked me.” He paused. “I miss that.”

 “Me too.” She admitted softly, he didn’t catch it.

 “Now all my dad cares about is running that stupid shop. I keep telling him that fixing cars isn’t going to fix what happened. But he always goes out and does it anyways. It’s like I don’t have a dad anymore either. It’s like he thinks he’ll lose the shop if he doesn’t have it open 24/7.”

 “I wish my father would stay at work longer.”

 “I’ll trade your dad for mine.” Teo jested.

 She took it seriously anyhow. “You don’t want that. You don’t want that at all.” Her mind wandered again. Exactly when had she started fearing and hating her father? She missed the praise and the respect. The positive attention.

All of it had been taken from her because of one simple mishap.

 Teo looked at the clock. “I don’t think you’re going to meet my dad tonight. He should have been home already.”

 “That’s fine.” She wasn’t much of a catch anyways.

 .oOo.

 When she got home she only wanted to sleep. She didn’t know how she was going to keep this up. Teo had put questions and considerations into her mind that she’d rather not think about. But she dwelled upon them anyhow. For the first time, she wondered just how long she would be keeping her habits. Would she be eating little and throwing up for the rest of her life? She thought that Teo just might have been right. Her stomach muscles ached and her knuckles were raw. Between that and the searing burning in the back of her throat she was almost certain that she was breaking her body apart.

 Not breaking it.

Corroding it.

 For all her suffering, she was still no more in shape for volleyball. In fact, it occurred to her that she might just be in worse shape than before. At least when she was eating, she wasn’t so drained. At least when she was eating, her body didn’t cramp up. But when she was eating lost control. When she was eating was risking putting on weight that she didn’t need.

 Azula clawed at her hairline. She couldn’t even recall the last time she ate without feeling guilty for it. She just wanted to put herself in that place again. In a place of comfort and genuine control. Because lately, her cycles were getting worse. She was withholding food from herself with more force and by extension, when she could finally bare no more, her binges were worse.

 At least this time she could pretend that she was in control as she made her way to the kitchen. Earlier in the day she had heard her father talking about how he was going to head over to meet with Ukano about the BeiFong lawsuit. It was an opportunity to finally have a full meal. The full meal that her body had been begging for. It would be okay this time. It would be okay because she had planned for it. She would eat what she wanted, she would purge it, and she would bypass her next meal entirely.

 She picked her way through the pantry, pulling items she didn’t think her father would miss. And that night had made good on her promise to Teo. The floor was a mess of wrappers. Faintly, she wondered if she should send the pics. She laughed bitterly to herself as she wept. Planned or not, she had still lost control and she still felt every bit disgusted with herself.

 That time purging didn’t alleviate the guilt at all.

If anything, as she split her knuckles again, she felt more guilty.

 She heard the sound of the door and hustled to clean her mess of wrappers. She noticed her phone buzz on her nightstand and fretted that it was from her father. But it was Teo. It was only Teo. She wondered what he was doing up so late, but she was thankful for the distraction.

 She was thankful that she finally had someone to talk to, even if she had no intention of bringing up just how deep she had dug herself. At least she knew that the opportunity was there.