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How to Survive a Kidnapping

Summary:

After Haruka Nanase, son of a wealthy business tycoon, gets kidnapped for ransom, his parents hire a bodyguard to look after him. Little did Haru know Makoto Tachibana would become more than just his bodyguard but his partner and accomplice to take down the company he is destined to inherit.

Chapter 1: Ransom

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Haru hit the concrete floor in a bruised heap. They had taken him to some sort of warehouse—not that he knew for sure with the burlap bag over his head. The fabric was itchy on his face and it smelt like dirt-crusted potatoes.

This was ridiculous. One minute he was walking to the corner store for some canned pineapple, and the next thing he knew he was yanked into a windowless van by some guys in ski masks. They put the bag over his head and sped away in the most erratic fashion possible. He must have hit his head on the aluminum wall ten times from all the sudden turning of the vehicle. You would think kidnappers would at least know how to drive.

He shimmied himself up to a seat, which was harder than he expected with zip ties around his wrists and ankles.

“Sit there and shut up!” a man barked at him.

Haru almost laughed. It’s not like he had said anything during this whole ordeal. He learned in self-defense training to never talk during a kidnapping. If there was a window for escape, take it, but other than that, just sit there and wait for help. So Haru sat on the cold concrete, more annoyed than scared, waiting for the cops to show up.

He heard hollow footsteps approaching—the clack, clack of expensive loafers Haru was all too familiar with.

“We got the kid, boss,” the man who yelled at him earlier said.

Someone yanked the burlap sack off his head, and Haru blinked back the harsh fluorescent light. The “boss” was a burly man in a three-piece suit wearing a privacy mask. He looked as if he had just come from a gala. Haru wished he could snap a picture of this and send it to Rin. “When you have a kidnapping at 8 but the Met at 9” he would have texted. He knew Rin would crack up to that shit. Of course, he couldn’t text because they had taken his phone out of the back pocket of his jeans in the van.

The “boss” nodded to the other goon in a ski mask with his phone.

“Call ‘em,” he said flatly.

Ski Mask Man nodded, holding the phone up to Haru’s face to unlock it, and scrolled through the few contacts he had until he reached “Mom” and pressed call. The phone rang four times on speaker until his mother’s assistant picked up.

“Hello? Haru?” she said, voice ringing with concern.

Miho knew something was wrong. Haru never called.

“We have your son hostage,” Ski Mask Man said. “If you don’t pay us 200,000,000 yen in twenty-four hours, we will send him through a woodchipper.”

His captors may not know how to drive, but at least they were creative. He knew he should have been scared, but honestly, these guys were probably going to do his parents a favor by sending him through a woodchipper. He knew his parents would never pay a ransom for him. He had to take matters into his own hands.

Notes:

I'm so excited to be working on this new fic! I've always wanted to write Haru as a rebel "eat the rich" type. We'll see where this goes! <3

Chapter 2: Escape

Summary:

With the help of a certain police officer, Haru makes his escape.

Chapter Text

Sosuke was on break when he heard the call on the scanner that someone had kidnapped the Nanases’ son. They had traced the ransom call to somewhere in the shipping district where nondescript warehouses held products coming and going on massive cargo ships preparing to go out to sea.

Sosuke put his Italian sub down in the passenger’s seat of his cruiser and picked up the radio.

“Dispatch, this is officer Yamazaki responding to code 207, shipping district,” he said, putting his cruiser in drive.

He wasn’t too far from the docks, but he had to lay low. Kidnappers were always erratic, and you never knew how much fire power they had. He could only assume they had a full arsenal if they kidnapped the Nanases’ only son.

He rolled down the rows of shipping containers with his lights off. He stopped the car behind one when he saw the yellow glow of a cigarette in the distance. He knew that if anyone here saw a police cruiser riding around, word would get to the kidnappers pretty quick. It was better to proceed on foot.

***

“I’m goin’ for a smoke,” Ski Mask Man said.

Haru didn’t know what time it was, but he could tell it was getting late. Ski Mask Man’s buddy was slumped in a folding chair scrolling through his phone. Haru’s phone was face up in the middle of a card table, waiting for a call from his parents he knew would never come.

Suddenly the phone rang, but it wasn’t his. It was Ski Mask Man #2’s phone.

“Hey baby, what’s up?” he said.  

Haru could hear the shrill voice of a woman yelling through the receiver from his spot on the floor.

“I’m working! Can we not do this right now?” he groaned, turning away from his guarding place to take his argument across the room.

Now was his chance. Haru untied his sneakers and tied the string around the zip tie on his wrists. He lay on his back and did bicycle kicks until the friction of the shoelace on the ties snapped the plastic, freeing his hands. He glanced across the room where the man was still arguing with his girlfriend on the phone and quickly finessed the tie on his ankles open. He was free! But where could he escape?

He guessed Ski Mask Man was almost done with his smoke break, so he had to think fast. From what he could see, the warehouse only had one entry and exit where the man was smoking, but there were several garage doors where trucks could unload and load the shipping containers inside. To his left, there was a control panel looking box on the wall. Haru slowly crawled to it and inspected the buttons. There were at least five unlabeled red buttons, and he had no idea which one was the right one. Haru shrugged and mashed them all before sprinting behind a shipping container in sight of the door.

***

Sosuke drew his gun and crept around the shadowy alleyways of shipping containers to get a closer look at the warehouse where a man was posted up smoking a cigarette. Suddenly there was a rumbling, metal on metal screech of garage doors opening, the glow from the inside of the warehouse spilling into the night. The man chucked his cigarette away and dashed inside just as a man in a ski mask sprinted out one of the garage doors.

“Where’s the kid?!” the now cigarette-less man shouted.

“The hell if I know!” the man in the ski mask said.

“That little fucker,” he grumbled, to the man or the kid, Sosuke wasn’t sure, but it was evidence enough to call for backup.

He murmured the situation and the address into his radio as he made his way back to his cruiser. Then he saw a dark figure coming out of the warehouse door. Sosuke crouched back into the shadows as he watched a young man with dark hair and a dark sweatshirt look both ways before sprinting out the door.

“Dispatch, I think I just found Nanase,” Sosuke said into his radio.

He sprinted back to his cruiser, revved the ignition and turned on his lights and sirens. He pulled out from in between the shipping containers, fishtailing toward Nanase and opened the passenger door.

“Get in!” he shouted, and Nanase didn’t argue.

He swung himself into the cab as a stream of bullets ricocheted off the car. Sosuke hit the gas.

“Shots fired! Shots fired! Nanase is now in custody,” he rattled off into the radio. “You are Nanase Haruka right?”

The black-haired man pulled his smushed Italian sub from under him, red marinara sauce staining his jeans, and wrinkled his nose in disgust.

“Unfortunately, I am.”

Chapter 3: The Bodyguard

Summary:

Haru has a meeting with his mother where she has a proposition.

Chapter Text

One of his father’s black SUVs came to pick him up from the police station. He was really not looking forward to facing his parents right now. He was tired, hungry, and covered in dirt and marinara sauce, so he was not particularly in the mood to listen to his parents somehow blame him for getting kidnapped.

He opened the door and sank into the black leather seats with a sigh. His family driver, Gorou, eyed him from the rearview mirror as the SUV started to drive down the empty Tokyo streets.

“Hey, kiddo! Long time no see. You alright?” he said, trying to keep the mood cheerful.

“Could be better,” Haru mumbled.

Gorou used to drive him to and from school, and their conversations were more or less the same no matter what the situation was. Usually, Haru was miserable and Gorou tried to cheer him up. He appreciated the effort, but nothing could cheer him up when he was on his way to his parents’ residence. Haru usually ended up staring up at the sky through the tinted car windows. He watched the streets change from small mom-and-pop restaurants and corner stores to massive glass skyscrapers in the business district to the manicured shrubbery and gates around the upscale apartment buildings and townhouses in the “rich people district” as Rin called it. As if Haru himself weren’t rich—no matter how much he denounced his wealth.

The car pulled in front of his parents’ apartment building and the doorman, Ralph, opened his door for him.

“Good luck,” Gorou said.

“Thanks for picking me up so late,” Haru said. He really did feel bad about all the trouble.

His father would scold him for thanking the “staff” for doing their jobs, but even as a child Haru had gone out of his way to learn everyone’s names and thank them. It was his small form of rebellion back then.

Gorou tipped his cap to him.

“No problem at all! You be safe, now,” he said with a smile.

Despite everything, Haru gave him half a smile.

He entered the vast lobby of the building, scowling up at the crystal chandeliers and gaudy golden drapes. Rich people always had everything except taste. The tiger statues lining the marble column walls glared at him like they were ready to pounce, sharp fangs ripping through his neck. Everything here screamed “do not touch” and served no purpose other than making outsiders feel small.

He mashed the up button of the golden elevator and it opened immediately with a soft ding. Will, the elderly elevator operator got up from his small stool in the corner, ready to do the arduous task of hitting the penthouse button.

“Don’t get up, Will. It’s just me,” Haru said, pushing the button himself.

Will nodded and when the doors closed, he gingerly sat his tired bones back down on the stool. When Haru was a teenager, he used to sneak out on nightly walks. Will always kept his nightly travels down the elevator a secret from his parents. He was close to retirement now. He wondered if anyone in this building would notice when leaves.

The doors opened onto the penthouse floor and Haru was immediately reminded of why he left this place. The whole space was a clinical white with white furniture that he was always afraid to sit on. The marble floors made his footsteps sound hollow as if he were walking into empty space.

Miho, who was talking on her phone quickly finished up the call to greet him. Despite it being past 3 a.m. she was dressed in full business attire, not a wavy hair out of place.

“Oh, thank goodness!” she sighed.

“Hi Miho,” he said with a soft reassuring smile.

Out of everyone in this hollow place, Miho was always the one bright spot and the only person he actually talked to. Miho started working as his mother’s personal assistant when he was in middle school, and he honestly thought she was more of a mother to him than his own. It was why he had her number listed in his contacts as “Mom”. Even he had to go through Miho to get in touch with his mother.

“I’m so glad you’re alright!” she said, rushing to the entryway to give him a warm hug.

Then her face fell back into business mode.

“Your mother wants to see you in her office right away,” she said.

He sighed and nodded. Let’s get this over with.

He dragged himself past the stark white living room past the full wall of windows showing the Tokyo skyline to his mother’s home office. Miho scurried ahead of him and knocked on the closed mahogany door.

His mother said a brisk “come in” and Miho let herself in with the ease of years of practice.

“Your son is here,” she said blankly.

He didn’t like how Miho had to dull her warmth around his parents. It was as if they sucked the life out of everything in their path. He took one more steadying breath and stepped through the threshold.

His mother was sitting at her large glass desk, sifting through paperwork. She didn’t even look up when he entered. He looked back at Miho who gave him one last apologetic smile before stepping out and closing the door behind her with a resounding click.

“I see all that money we spent on self-defense class hasn’t gone to waste,” his mother said.

Haru crossed his arms over his chest and let out a tch. As if money was an issue.

“What do you want?” he grumbled. It was better to just cut to the chase.

“Your father and I have decided that you need to assume your role as the future CEO of the company. You start tomorrow,” she said while opening an envelope with a golden knife.

“I just got kidnapped!” he seethed.

“And whose fault is that?” she said finally looking up and pointing the knife at him. “Your little mishap makes you look weak—it makes us look weak. The company can’t have that right now, not when the stocks are down this quarter.”

Haru felt his face get hot. If he could breathe fire, he would have had flames coming out of his nostrils by now. He clenched his fists at his side and stood his ground.

“No,” he clipped.

No one ever said no to a Nanase. His mother bit her lip and slammed her palm down on the desk, her 14-carat diamond ring cracking against the glass.

“We let you play ‘starving artist’ in college, but now you need to start taking responsibility. You should be grateful your father even wants to take you under his wing,” she shot back, her icy blue eyes frostbite on his.

“Sorry to once again disappoint,” he said, oozing with sarcasm he knew his mother hated.

“Haruka, whether you like it or not, you will someday have to run this company, so when your father gives you an invitation, you better take it,” she said.

Was that a threat?

“Or what? You’ll kidnap me? Because I’ve already been through that shit,” Haru snapped.

His mother looked at him blankly as if she were actually considering kidnapping him.

“I’m leaving,” he said after a beat of silence.

As he turned toward the door, his mother chimed in, “One more thing.”

Haru froze in place, shoulders tensing. This couldn’t be good.

“I’m sending you back with a bodyguard,” she said matter-of-factly.

“What?!” he shouted, spinning back around to face her.

“You’ve shown you clearly can’t take care of your own safety, so you will be monitored 24/7 so this incident never happens again,” she said.

“So what? You can spy on me? I’d rather be thrown in a woodchipper,” he said.  

“No need for theatrics, Haruka,” she said as she hit the call button on her office phone. “Miho, send the bodyguard in.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Haru scoffed as he heard the door open behind him.

His mother calmly folded her hands on her desk, erasing the anger from her voice. It was all business now.

“Until you can demonstrate your commitment to the company, Tachibana-san will accompany you in your…life among the common man,” she said. “The company is the only thing that guarantees your safety and your future.”

“I wholly disagree with that. I’m going home,” he muttered, turning back around and pushing past the bodyguard’s wide shoulders.

Haru stomped back out into the entryway and punched the elevator button, but he bristled at a looming presence behind him.  Tachibana stood stiffly in his black suit with his hands folded in front of him.

“Listen, I don’t know what my mother put you up to, but it’s not going to work,” he said turning to face him.

It was the first time he really got a look at him. He was young, but his green eyes seemed older. Still, he had a kind, non-threatening face, but his body was solid like he could punch a hole in a guy if he wanted to. His brown hair was slicked back, and his suit and dress shoes were well polished—professional. No wonder his mother hired him.

“My sole purpose is to protect you from harm, sir,” he said.

Haru wrinkled his nose.  

“Please don’t call me that. It’s gross,” he muttered.

Tachibana raised a thin eyebrow.

“Then what would you like me to call you?” he asked.

The elevator dinged and opened the doors. Haru turned and stepped through the threshold, pressing the lobby button before Will could get up from his stool. Tachibana followed him in like a burly shadow.  

“Haru is fine, but don’t get used to it. You’ll get sick of me and quit soon enough,” he said, watching the digital numbers descend above the doors.

“Is that a challenge?” Tachibana asked slyly.

“No,” he said as the doors opened back up into the gaudy golden lobby. “It’s a fact.”

Chapter 4: Haru

Summary:

Makoto learns a few things about his new client.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

In the short interactions he had with Haru, Makoto learned three things about his unwilling client.

One: Haru was not as stuck up as he thought he’d be.

When he was assigned to the son of the wealthy Nanase family, he thought he would be chauffeuring him around from one rich social club to the next in the upper crust of the upper class. He didn’t think that he would instead be accompanying him to his favorite 24-hour ramen shop on a dusty street corner by a run-down train stop.

It was 4 a.m and Haru was starving, and he was honestly shocked when he asked him if he could bum 500 yen to eat. The kidnappers had taken his wallet and it was in some evidence locker at the police station now.

“I’ll pay you back,” he promised with a look of gratitude.

Makoto knew he was mad about him being here, but he got the sense that he didn’t blame him for just doing his job.

That led him to the second observation:

Haru lived a life almost completely independent from his parents and their company. In fact, most people Haru encountered didn’t even know he was the heir to a multi-billion-dollar enterprise.

“You can’t be walking around in a suit while I go to the ramen shop,” Haru had told him as they walked past the train stop.

That was another thing: Haru wouldn’t accept a ride home in the company car. He preferred to walk all the way home.

“Sorry. What should I be wearing?” Makoto asked.

“I don’t know…regular people clothes?” Haru said raising an eyebrow.

He couldn’t help but chuckle.

 “I think I can do that,” he said, taking off his stiff suit jacket and draping it over his arm.

At least they got the dress code sorted out.

When Haru was done eating, he thanked the cook and they continued down the dimly lit streets until they got to the more artsy part of the city. Even in the dark, Makoto could see the colorful murals painted on the walls of the shops. A few pride flags hung from apartment windows. This place looked a hundred times more cheerful than the business district.

He followed Haru to an old townhouse building where he dug out a ring of keys on a Hello Kitty keychain and unlocked the front door. They proceeded through a narrow hallway and up a squeaky staircase. Haru paused at a door with chipped blue paint as Makoto took in the layout of the building.

“How does this work? Do you stand outside my door like a guard dog?” he asked.

“Nanase-san told me you would have accommodations for me,” he said, getting nervous.

He wasn’t sure if Mrs. Nanase even knew where her son lived.

Haru sighed, “Right…well, there’s not a lot of room.”

He unlocked the door and he followed him inside an average-sized Tokyo apartment. The room was clean, at least.

“I guess you can sleep on the couch,” he said, pointing to the worn faux leather sofa.

Makoto looked around the room. There were paintings hanging on every inch of the walls, all in different styles but generally, all of them were of the ocean. Haru padded in bare feet across the bamboo floors and turned on the kitchen light, which he could see through a tiny window in the living room wall. A small kotatsu sat against the wall with mismatched floor pillows.

“This is a nice place,” he said, following his client to the kitchen.

There was very little counter space, but from the looks of all the kitchen utensils hanging from the wall and shelves of spices, Haru used every inch of it to cook.

“It’s not bad. The neighbors have a yappy dog though,” he said filling a glass of water from the tap.

He could see that the cups in the cabinet were mismatched as well.

Suddenly he heard something fall behind him, and Makoto went into fight mode, sliding his body in between the threat and Haru.

“Saba! Quit knocking shit over,” Haru scolded, and that’s when he saw a black cat saunter into the kitchen.

Saba mewled and rubbed against his leg. Makoto bent down and pet the cat.

“Aw, he’s so cute,” he cooed, scratching behind his ears.

“He’s a demon in disguise,” Haru said. “He seems to like you, though. Usually, he just hides under the couch.”

Saba decided that he was no longer interested in Makoto’s scratches and jumped on the counter next to Haru. He picked up the cat and hugged him, which Saba barely tolerated, but even the cat could tell Haru had had a long night.

Morning light was now filtering through the small apartment window, and Haru looked out at the sunrise. The orange light caught against his dark hair and long eyelashes. His pale face was serene, deep blue eyes focusing on nothing in particular. His thin pink lips were slightly parted as he breathed a sigh of relief of being home.

Then came the third observation: Haruka Nanase was incredibly beautiful.

Notes:

Oop there it is! So excited! Things start picking up after here. Hope you enjoy :)

Chapter 5: Threat

Summary:

Rin finds out about Haru's bodyguard in the most dramatic way possible.

Notes:

get ready for some RinHaru action ;)

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Haru ended up sleeping all day. He normally didn’t let himself sleep in for too long, but the previous night left him exhausted and in need of some privacy.

Tachibana’s watchful eyes had weighed down on him, but he hoped that the bodyguard would get tired of sleeping on his old couch and quit sooner or later. For now, he settled for hiding in his room. He knew it was a bit childish to ignore the elephant of a man in the room, but it had worked for him so far. It was how he got through his childhood, at least.

It was around 6 p.m. when he woke up from a fitful sleep to a tap on his window. He sat up and opened the small window by his bed and Rin crawled through from his usual spot on the fire escape, flopping on his bed.

“I’m gonna kill you, Nanase!” he grumbled.

Rin pushed his long red hair back, but the strands fell back into his eyes. His sharp teeth were bared but Haru knew it was all just for show.

“What did I do this time?” Haru sighed, closing the window.

Rin poked a finger into his chest with a black painted fingernail.

“You fucking ditched me last night…again!” he said.

“I was busy,” Haru said, looking away.

He really didn’t have the energy to explain all that had happened last night. Rin could get over his lack of attendance at the club.

 

“You could have at least answered your phone,” Rin grumbled, making himself at home on his bed, kicking his combat boots off and laying back on his pillows.

“I couldn’t. I got kidnapped,” he said nonchalantly, hoping Rin would drop it.

“Hardy-har-har. I’m not in the mood for excuses today,” he said, dripping with sarcasm.

Haru was silent. Rin shot up on the bed.

“Wait…Are you shitting me?” Rin asked.

Haru shrugged. Rin grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

“You actually got kidnapped. How?!” he shouted.

“You’re too loud,” Haru mumbled. “I was walking to the store and some guys snatched me. Tied me up and took me to a warehouse. Called my parents for ransom. I escaped.”

Rin released him with a sigh.

“Only you could make a kidnapping story sound boring,” he said, laying back on the bed.  

“Fuck you,” he mumbled.

“Please,” Rin smirked, playfully grabbing his ass.

Haru scoffed, “I’m going through a literal crisis and you’re horny right now?”

“Uh yes? Keep up,” Rin said with a snide smile.

Haru groaned and plopped himself down on the bed next to Rin. He couldn’t believe he let this idiot take advantage of him, but everyone who had ever been with Rin knew he was addictive as fuck.

“You’re a garbage friend,” Haru complained, bumping his shoulder into his. Rin flipped over so that he was hovering over him, a competitive glint in his red eyes.

“Would a garbage friend suck your dick?” he asked, looking him up and down as if he were prey about to be devoured. Haru involuntarily shivered.

“With your teeth? Yes,” he said. Rin chuckled.

“Shut up,” he said, and then went in for the kill.

***

While Haru was asleep, Makoto circled the block around the townhouse and inspected the nameplates outside of the building. From what he could find, Haru’s neighbors consisted of a young couple on the third floor who were attending grad school at the local university and an elderly lady on the first floor who had a miniature poodle. Haru lived on the second floor in a two-bedroom apartment, which he quietly explored while Haru slept. The single bathroom in the apartment was small but there was a tub, which was considered a luxury in Tokyo apartments. The second bedroom had been converted into an art studio where a large easel stood in the middle of the room right next to a large window. The painting on the easel wasn’t finished, but it looked like it was the start of another ocean oil painting.

So Haru, the son of a business tycoon, was living under the radar as an artist. He kind of admired that—giving up the upper-class life to follow his dream. He didn’t know much about Haru when he took the job, but he was slowly starting to get to know him. It would probably make his job as his bodyguard easier.

In the afternoon, the Nanases’ driver stopped by to deliver Makoto’s suitcase, which he had hastily packed when he got the call for the job. He didn’t have much—just a few “regular people” outfits and two black suits. He didn’t like to take too many personal things on jobs like this, but he always kept a photo of his family in the inside pocket of his suitcase so that when he opened it up, he was reminded of home.

He was looking at the said picture when he heard a loud thud followed by Haru screaming in his room. Makoto pounced into action, sprinting out of the living room down the narrow hall to Haru’s locked door. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he ripped the door open, breaking the lock and the door handle in the process. The door crashed against the wall and left a dent in the plaster. Makoto was ready to fight, but what he saw left him frozen in place.

Haru was naked on the bed with his legs wrapped around the waist of an equally naked man who was thrusting deeply into him, his sharp teeth buried in his collarbone. For a moment, Haru’s head was tilted back against the headboard, exposing the long column of his neck, covered in hickeys, eyes shut, mouth open with pleasure, back arched, both hands pulling the man’s long red hair. It was the most erotic thing Makoto had ever seen. Haru gasped and opened his eyes, and both he and the man turned their attention to Makoto who stood dumbly in the broken doorway. There was a beat of shocked, awkward silence.

“Get out!” Haru shouted hoarsely.

“Who the fuck is that?!” the red-haired man seethed, his red eyes burning holes into Makoto.

He felt the heat rush from his face to the roots of his hair.

“I-I’m sorry! I’ll just…” he stuttered as he yanked the door closed, but it didn’t close all the way because he had broken the doorknob.

He ran to the bathroom and slammed the door behind him. He let the sink run cold water against his hands before splashing his face. He took several breaths to calm himself and his…nether regions…down. He had definitely made a mistake by taking this job. He was completely in over his head.

***

“Haru! What the fuck?” Rin shouted, pushing him off his lap.

Haru lay back on the bed with his hands over his eyes. This could not be happening.

“I can’t right now. I just can’t,” he groaned.

Rin leaned over him and wrestled his arms away from his face.

“Talk. Now,” he demanded.

Haru sighed and sat up then proceeded to tell his friend everything that has happened in the past 24 hours.  

After he was done, Rin grumbled nonsense under his breath as he yanked his clothes back on, shoving his feet into his boots. He looked like he was about to beat the shit out of Tachibana, even though he could probably snap Rin’s spine in half. He broke the damn door!

Rin stomped out into the hallway, and Haru scrambled after him, putting on his boxers and an old sweatshirt. He didn’t care what he looked like. Tachibana has already seen it all.

“Why are you here?” Rin shouted at him.

Tachibana was sitting calmly on the couch, his suitcase in clear view on the coffee table. He was wearing jeans and a cream knitted sweater that screamed business casual, but his brown hair was not jelled down like how Haru had seen him yesterday, instead it was a tussled mess framing his face. He looked like any other 20-something-year-old who was about to get yelled at by his best friend.

“I am legally obligated to protect Haru from any threats,” he answered flatly.

Rin put his hand on his hip and scoffed.

“So being dicked down is considered a threat?” he said sarcastically.

“With you, it is,” Haru muttered under his breath.

“Shut up, Haru! Let me handle this,” Rin shouted, turning on him, full crazy eyes and hair flying out of place.

“If I had known Haru had a…friend…over, I wouldn’t have barged in like that,” Tachibana said.

“So he has to get your permission to have people over now?” Rin said, incredulous on his behalf.

Tachibana took a breath, obviously getting annoyed at Rin interrupting him.

“No, I’m just saying it would have been nice to know if someone was coming over so I could do a background check first…”

Rin threw his arms up in the air.

“I’m not trying to murder Haru. You happy?!”

“You literally just told me you were going to kill me,” Haru muttered jokingly.

Tachibana raised his eyebrows. Rin turned to him again like he actually might murder him.

“Haru! Shut the fuck up,” he hissed in between clenched teeth.

Okay, maybe he was having a little too much fun egging Rin on.

“Clearly, I walked into something I shouldn’t have, and I’m sorry for that, but there are people out there who actually want Haru dead, and it’s my job to keep him safe,” Tachibana explained, breaking Rin’s death glare.

“Wait a minute…who wants Haru dead? No one said anything about wanting Haru dead,” Rin said, giving him the side-eye.  

“Yeah, I thought they just wanted my parents’ money,” he cut in.  

Tachibana bit his lip as if he were thinking about what was safe to tell him, and that made Haru especially annoyed. Surely, he had the right to know things about his own life, about his own safety. He glared darkly into Tachibana’s soft eyes. For a man who could break doors and walls with zero effort, his eyes were kind, as if he were made of nougat inside. Haru could definitely exploit that.

“The police are doing a thorough investigation, but they have reason to believe that the kidnapping was motivated by more than the ransom,” he said carefully.

“So…that’s why my mother called you? To babysit me until the people who want to kill me are gone?” Haru said.

Tachibana nodded, “More or less, yeah.”

There was a beat of silence, and then Rin popped his lips.

“Welp, this is all sorts of fucked up,” he said.

Understatement of the century. Rin started toward the apartment door to make a dramatic exit.

“Haru, it’s been a pleasure. Tachibana…”

“Call me Makoto, please,” he said.

“…Right. Might as well. You’ve seen my dong,” Rin said making the other man blush a bit. Haru just looked annoyed.

 Rin opened the door and waved a lazy hand.

“Chao.”

And Haru and Makoto were left alone in the apartment, awkward silence hanging between them.

Notes:

I love the idea of Rin and Haru two bros sitting in a hot tub 0 feet apart because they are gay lol
Getting excited to finally write some MakoHaru content tho

Chapter 6: The Company

Summary:

After an awkward encounter with Haru, Makoto wonders if being his bodyguard is something he can handle.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Well, that was the most mortifying thing I’ve lived through, Makoto thought as Rin left. Haru, however, was apparently already over it, walking to the kitchen as if nothing had happened.

He knew Haru never asked for any of this, and he was starting to feel more like a burden on him rather than any help. But he was getting paid to be here, and no one ever said no to a Nanase.

“About earlier…I really am sorry,” Makoto said as Haru bent over to rummage through the fridge.

Makoto averted his eyes as his boxers rode up his long legs.

“Wouldn’t be the first time someone walked in on me,” he muttered, grabbing a water and pressing the fridge door shut.

“Oh?” Makoto raised his eyebrows. Haru took a swing of water.

“Miho, my mother’s assistant,” he said. “Me and a guy from junior college were supposed to be working on a science project. We got…distracted.”

“Happens to the best of us,” he chuckled. Haru shrugged

“She was cool about it, though. Didn’t tell my parents,” he said.

Makoto didn’t know why he was telling him all this, as if he needed an explanation. But finding out more about him was like discovering another piece to a puzzle—a 3,000-piece, ass-backward puzzle.  

“Do your parents know you’re…?” Makoto tried, half expecting Haru to yell at him to get out again.

Haru’s normally stoic expression faltered for a second before snapping back.

“Miho helped me came out to them,” he admitted.

“How was that?”

“My father hit me with a paperweight. Broke my nose. Had to get it set back. It was a whole ordeal.”

Makoto was startled at how nonchalant he was about it as if he were talking about the weather or what he was going to make for dinner that night—not surviving an act of homophobic child abuse.

Haru’s cat emerged from the shadows (or under the couch) and jumped on the counter, mewling for pets. Haru stroked his fur, but his eyes stared out the window, far away.

Makoto stepped closer, scratching the cat’s ear with a gentle finger.

“My mom caught me with the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition,” He said. “She must have figured out I wasn’t reading it for the articles. And I wasn’t looking at the girls either.”

He whipped his head toward him. It was Haru’s turn to be surprised.

“You’re…?”

“Gay? Oh yeah,” he chuckled, but Haru just looked at him suspiciously.

“Are you a creeper or something? How does a gay dude sign up to be another gay guy’s bodyguard?” he asked, crossing his arms against his chest.

“I honestly knew nothing about you when I got the job,” he admitted. “You don’t make it easy. No social media, no photos on google images, not even a single cringy school picture!”

“…that you know about,” he said with a smirk.

Makoto laughed, and Haru let out a rare chuckle. When it died down, Haru looked down at his bare feet, almost shy.

“So, are you out? To your parents, I mean,” he asked quietly.

“Yeah,” he said. “Dad was a little awkward about it for a while, but they accept it.”

Haru nodded, but he seemed like he was still in his own head.

After a moment of silence, he said, “I want to show you something.”

Makoto must have involuntarily flinched at the idea because Haru gave him a smile of reassurance.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I won’t let anyone through the window this time.”

***

Haru emerged from his room in faded dark jeans and a navy Tokyo Aquarium sweatshirt with the same scuffed-up Adidas sneakers he wore when he met him. The autumn nights were starting to get colder, so Makoto convinced him to wear a jacket and a beanie. Haru rolled his eyes but complied.

They stepped out of the apartment building and into the street. Makoto’s eyes flashed forward and backward and in all directions as Haru shoved his hands in his pockets and looked straight ahead.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“Samezuka,” Haru replied as if he knew what that was. “It’s a cub.”

“I don’t think going to a club right now is the best idea,” he said reluctantly, darting his eyes back behind them.

“The club is just a front. We’re really going in the back entrance. It’s pretty hush-hush,” Haru explained.

A secret club?

“okay…” he sighed. He hoped they wouldn’t run into trouble.

As they stopped at a crosswalk, Haru looked up at him as if he had just remembered something.

“A you can’t tell anyone you’re my bodyguard,” he said.

“Wha--?” he stuttered. “So what should I tell them, then?”

Haru bit his lip and thought for a moment, his blue eyes shining in the bright red light of the crosswalk.

“I’ll tell them that you’re my boyfriend,” he resolved.

Makoto wished his heart hadn’t jumped the way it did when Haru said that.

“Boy—what?! Can’t you just explain what’s been going on?” he complained.

“No,” he said flatly and then thought for another moment before telling him, “No one there knows who my parents are. Well, everyone except Rin.”

The crosswalk blinked white, and Haru started moving in the casual, nonchalant way that he seemed to always do regardless of what he said or did before.

“Isn’t Rin your boyfriend?” Makoto asked, speeding up his gait to catch up.

“Pfft—god no,” he chuckled. “We may mess around, but we wouldn’t last five seconds as a couple.”

They cut through an alleyway in between a corner store and a liquor store toward a beacon of neon red light. He could hear the pounding of the bass of music, the vibration of it tickling his feet. Ahead was a bright neon blinking sign that said “Samezuka” buzzing with every blink of the light. A couple of guys were showing their IDs to the bouncer out front. The dude was so massive, even Makoto wasn’t sure he could take him in a fight.

Haru nodded to the man, and he tilted his head up, expressionless, acknowledging his presence. Haru then continued down an even darker alley to a steel door splattered with graffiti. It looked like just any old employee entrance to a bar, but when Haru produced a key from his pocket and turned the rusted lock, it revealed only a staircase going down into a bottomless pit of darkness. The stairs were dimly lit by a single lightbulb that flickered and was covered in cobwebs. Makoto gulped. If Haru wanted to get rid of him, this would probably be the place, but he had a feeling that wasn’t what was going on here.

Haru looked back at him with a crooked smile.

“Scared?” he challenged with a rare glint in his eye.

Makoto gulped, but it wasn’t necessarily out of fear.

“I’ve seen worse,” he said, and it was true.

Haru shrugged and started his descent. The door shut behind them with a final steely bang. The closer he got to the bottom, he could hear a bunch of guys laughing and the blips and beeps of an old school arcade game. Haru got there first and the laughing guys all shouted, “Haru!” in a lighthearted, welcoming tone. Haru raised his hand in a short wave.

Makoto stepped down into the secret room. It was lit with rainbow Christmas lights and a strip of led light tape around the low ceiling. The floor was covered in sagging beanbag chairs and an equally worn-out couch. The beeping, Makoto figured out, had come from the old PAC Man machine near the entrance. On the far wall, there were multiple computer monitors full of code and a chucky TV that was playing a staticky version of a late-night show. There were three men gathered around the TV, taking turns smacking it to try to get the signal to focus.

“Haru, who’s this?” a woman’s voice came from the other end of the room.

Her long, red hair was tied into a high ponytail and she had several posters advertising what appeared to be a bodybuilding contest.

“No one,” Haru said.

“Haru brought a boy?!” a blond-headed man popped up from a beanbag chair.

“If Haru’s bringing a boy over here, you know it’s serious,” the woman said. “I’m Gou, by the way.”

“Makoto. Nice to meet you,” he said with a handshake.

The woman snatched his arm and examined it.

“Woooow!” she gaped. “Would you be interested in entering in my muscle contest? You are a very fine specimen.”

She shoved a flyer at him.

“Uhhh…” he said, looking to Haru for help, but he was gone from his side.

“Kou! Stop it you’re making our super attractive guest feel uncomfortable!” The blond said. “We haven’t even introduced everyone.”

“It’s Gou!” she shouted back at him.

“I’m Nagisa!” the boy said, ignoring her completely.

“Will someone please just help me fix this?!” a blue-haired, skinny man shouted as he fiddled with the buttons on the malfunctioning TV.

“Mr. Cranky Glasses is Rei,” Nagisa said.

“So…” a man with a sly smile sauntered over to Makoto. His pink hair waved gently in his face as he looked him up and down. “Where did Haru pick up such a fine piece of a—”

“It’s none of your business, Kisumi” Haru interrupted, walking toward the blue-haired man in glasses who was trying to fix the TV.  

Between the two of them, they were able to get the picture going.

“Haru, did you ditch our meeting yesterday so you could bang your new boyfriend?” Nagisa asked, complete with eyebrow wagging.

“Again, none of your business,” Haru deadpanned.

Makoto felt himself blushing bright red. Haru’s friends really had no brain to mouth filter.

“Well, we’ll fill you in on what you missed…” Gou (Kou?) said.

“Shh! It’s on!” Rei hissed, turning up the volume on the tv. Everyone stopped pestering Makoto and Haru to gather on the couch to watch the TV.

We have a special guest tonight,” the talk show host said to the camera. “Ladies and gentlemen please welcome entrepreneur and CEO of SecuriCorp XXXX Nanase!”

Makoto blinked at the grainy screen as Haru’s father entered the stage with a roaring applause—the same man whose money was paying him, the same man who had hit his own son with a paperweight when he came out. Makoto looked at Haru who was staring at the screen like everyone else, but his eyes were drawn into himself, his gaze empty and far away.

Mr. Nanase sat down in the plush chair next to the host with a perfect-white-tooth, Botox smile.

Thank you for having me, Yoshi,” he said after everyone was seated.

So, how does it feel to be the richest man in Japan? Did you ride here in one of your six Lambos or did you take the superyacht?

Nagisa gagged, “Ugh! Get off his dick, man” before Rei shushed him.

Mr. Nanase and the host joked about the exorbitant wealth he had for a while before getting down to business. Why was he even on TV?

Makoto didn’t really know much about the company the Nanases owned—SecuriCorp—but he assumed it was just another big-name hedge fund that seemed to grow money from nowhere. It turned out that SecuriCorp had been quietly producing all sorts of software for other large companies—even the military—for decades. Their latest work was apparently in facial recognition technology. Open your phone with your face? That was their code.

So, your company’s stocks are blasting off, so that must mean you have something new coming. Can you give us an inside scoop?” The host said.

Well, I can’t say much, but I can tell you that you can look forward to a new generation of tech,” Mr. Nanase said. “We at SecuriCorp pride ourselves in making the world a better place—a safer place—for our communities, and I’m really excited to roll out our latest project at the Tokyo Worldwide Technology Expo next week.

“Make sure you tune into that, folks! Nanase, thanks for your time,” he shouted to a cheering crowd.

“Ah yes, time is money,” Mr. Nanase joked. The host laughed exaggeratingly.

My man! After the break…”

“That didn’t tell us anything!” Kisumi groaned.

“Calm down, you seriously didn’t expect the CEO to actually tell us anything on national TV, right?” Gou said.

“This is some bullshit!” Nagisa yelled, bouncing up from his seat to throw a fist at the ceiling.

Makoto leaned in next to Haru.

“What’s going on? Why are you guys watching this?” he asked him quietly, but he didn’t hear him. But Nagisa did.

“Ugh! Typical Haru not filling in the new recruits,” he said.

“Recruits?” Makoto asked.

Gou turned to him on the couch with a look of seriousness he hadn’t seen in her before.

“SecuriCorp has been up to something—something sinister—for years, and we’re so close to finding the truth,” she said.

“But we’re running out of time…” Rei moaned, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

“What do you mean sinister?” Makoto asked carefully.

Now he knew why Haru insisted on not telling his friends that he was not only employed by the Nanases but that he was guarding one.

“SecuriCorp is trying to take over everything…” Nagisa explained.

“And everyone,” Kisumi added.

“It started out harmless—even helpful,” Gou started, getting up to show him a whiteboard showing what seemed to be a timeline of the company’s history. She pointed at the beginning, starting in the ‘80s.  

“Security cameras popped up at every corner of the city. Crime went down because the police were finally able to monitor the petty crime on the street,” she said, then fast-forwarded to the 2000s with her pointer finger.

“Then the new Smart Phones came out where you could unlock it with just your face. Put all their competitors out of business. You can’t find a phone without that feature now. Then came the facial recognition registry. They put it in the security cameras to identify criminals and missing people. Then…” she paused at a question mark at the end of the timeline.

“We don’t know what comes next. It’s been a slow erosion of society’s privacy for decades. And society willingly gave it up for them.”

“So, we created this club to keep tabs on what the company is doing. And maybe stop them,” Nagisa added.

“Wait…” Makoto shook his head. “You’re trying to take down a multi-billion dollar enterprise with a rag-tag team of 20-somethings and a couple of old computers?”

“That’s not all we have,” Kisumi smiled.

“There’s someone on the inside leaking information to us,” Gou said. “We’ve been storing data until we can bring our case to the public.”

He looked at Haru, who was still on the couch looking at the TV which was now advertising some sort of drug commercial.

“We think the company is going to announce something big at the Expo next week,” Gou continued.

“The next invasion of our privacy,” Rei muttered.  

“But it looks like there’s some trouble brewing up within the company,” Kisumi chimed in, acting as if he had the latest, hot gossip. “The CEO’s son got kidnapped last night.”

Makoto willed himself not to react.

“Really…” he said.

“Yeah, they kept it out of the news, but we read the police reports,” Kisumi said. “Of course, when we requested a public inquiry, the police said they couldn’t give us anything.”

Makoto scratched his chin as he thought.

“It’s an investigation in progress,” he muttered.  

“That’s what they told us!” Nagisa said.

“Anyway, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that someone would kidnap the heir to the company right before the Next Gen tech gets announced,” Gou said. “Someone isn’t happy that he’s going to take over the company.”

Makoto felt a sharp pang in his chest for Haru.

“Who is to say the son is going to take over the company?” Makoto asked.

“According to this classified brief we got from our mole, he is,” Gou said, sifting through a stack of folders on a messy desk before handing him a printout of an internal email.

It was an email from Mr. Nanase to the Board highlighting how his son, Haruka is “ready and enthusiastic” about completing his gap year and taking over the Next Gen project. Makoto scowled at the piece of paper. What kind of father makes this big of a decision for their son without their consent?

“That Ivy League prick doesn’t know how good he has it” Kisumi sneered. “I hope he shat his pants when he got kidnapped.”

“Wah!! Mummy, Daddy, I’ve been kidnapped, and they’ve stolen all my allowance money! How will I ever afford my weekly vacations to the Bahamas?!” Nagisa cried in a nasally voice that was supposed to mock Haruka’s.

“We never see anything of the son,” Gou explained, throwing the folders back down on the desk with a thwack. “He’s always abroad doing god knows what.”

“Do you think someone inside the company ordered the kidnapping?” Makoto asked, trying to steer the conversation away from mockery for Haru’s sake.

“It’s possible,” Rei mused. “The corporate structure is ruthless. It’s a ‘kill or be killed’ kind of environment.”

“Rei would know. He used to code for SecuriCorp,” Nagisa said, rubbing Rei’s shoulder.

“The way they treat their workers is abominable,” Rei bemoaned. “No sleep, no eating, only code…oh god…”

Rei dug his hands in his hair and pulled, his eyes going wild behind his glasses. Makoto had seen plenty of people who had that same look—the eyes of someone who has remembered what they were trying to forget.

“Rei-chan! Snap out of it! You don’t have to do that anymore!” Nagisa shouted, shaking him.

As Nagisa consoled Rei and the rest of the club distracted themselves with different conspiracy theories, Haru silently rose from his seat on the couch, walked to the back of the room and started playing the PAC Man machine. As the upbeat blipping music played, Makoto could tell by the way he clenched his jaw that Haru was upset. He excused himself and made his way to his “boyfriend’s” side.

“Are you alright?” he asked softly so no one else could hear.

“Fine,” he clipped as he digitally ran from ghosts.

Makoto bit his lip. He knew none of this was any of his business, but it felt like Haru had shown him this for a reason. It was as if Haru had left the door to his mind open a crack, and Makoto was still outside, wondering if it was okay to come in.

“It’s just that…your friends were making fun of you,” he said.

“No,” he snapped back as he mashed buttons hard. “They’re making fun of Haruka Nanase.”

“But you are Haruka Nanase,” he said.

As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew that was a mistake. Haru tensed his entire body. PAC Man was overrun and died in an explosion of pixels.

“No,” he hissed. “You don’t know me.”

Just when he thought he was making headway on being somewhat friendly with Haru, he had to go and fuck it up.

Haru pushed past him and stomped up the stairs.

“Leaving so soon? We still have to make a game plan for next week!” Gou shouted after him.

“Sorry! Gotta go!” Makoto called, turning the corner into the stairwell after Haru. “It was nice meeting you!”

He chased Haru out into the cold damp air of the alleyway. The sky had opened and spilled icy rain over them. Haru walked into the street with his head down, hands shoved into his jacket pockets.

“Haru!” he shouted after him, almost running to catch up.

“Go away,” he mumbled.

“You know I can’t do that,” he said ruefully.

Haru ground to a stop, hands now out of his pockets and balled into fists at his rigid sides.

“Yes, you can! You can do whatever you want!” he snapped, rain running down his face like tears.

“Haru…”  

He automatically reached for his arm to comfort him, but he flinched away.

“Let me take you home,” he said, letting his hand drop limply at his side. “We’ll talk about this when we get there.”

That was when a call came through his phone. It was the police station.

Notes:

Sorry it took so long to write this one. I'm not as good at writing plot setups as I am writing shameless fluff lol
Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Chapter 7: When Sosuke Met Rin

Summary:

As Rin's path crosses Sosuke's Haru's situation becomes more complicated than they thought.

Chapter Text

Sosuke was ten hours into a thirteen-hour shift when another officer dropped the clear Ziplock evidence bags of Haruka Nanase’s stuff on his desk.

“We’ve got nothing out of this,” he said. “Might as well give the kid’s phone back.”

Figures… he thought. They had arrested the guys at the warehouses that night Nanase was kidnapped, but they ended up letting them go because of a technical error—the security cameras in the area happened to be turned off that night, and the system couldn’t prove they had done any crimes. You would think the bullet holes on his cruiser would be enough evidence, but the red tape here was so thick it was a miracle anything got done at all.

Sosuke sighed. He knew this investigation was above his paygrade, but something didn’t sit right with him about all this. Something told him that this was more than just a gang looking to get ransom money.

He punched the number he knew by heart on the old, corded phone on his desk.

After three rings, he picked up.

“Hey, Makoto. Come pick up your client’s shit,” he grumbled before hanging up.

He felt bad for his friend and roommate. Sosuke’s limited interactions with Nanase had been sour at best. He couldn’t imagine his sweets-loving, mama’s boy best friend endure even an hour with that billionaire-spawn. But when Makoto got the call that night of the kidnapping, he knew he would take the job. They were two months behind on rent and had been living off cup-a-noodle for weeks.

He needed to remind Makoto to stop being so selfless all the time.

***

Rin had gotten a text from Nagisa that Haru had abruptly left the club after watching his father’s performance on late-night TV. That couldn’t be good. He had to deal with Haru’s mood swings for years now, but you wouldn’t know he had some serious anxiety if you didn’t know him. That boy had the emotional range of a potato.

He figured it would be best to check on him, even though that Makoto guy was surely following him around—if Haru hadn’t figured out how to ditch him yet. That was another thing about Haru—he was an escape artist.

Even as a kid, Haru was sneaky as fuck. He lost count of the number of times he snuck out of their room in boarding school to the indoor pool late at night. He would often come with him so they could race, and the night usually ended with them escaping before security could find them. No one suspected him because Haru rarely said anything to anyone during school—only speaking in clipped sentences when spoken to. He simply disappeared into the background until people forgot he was there.

That’s what Haru looked like when Rin saw him walking down the alleyways in the rain—like he wanted to disappear.

“You worry me, you know that?” Rin said, leaning into him so that they could share his umbrella.

“Shut up. I’m fine,” he sighed.

He was soaked to the bone and shivering a little, from the cold or the anxiety, he couldn’t tell. Haru would never tell him.

“You’re clearly not, but whatever” he grumbled, then added softly, “I’m here for you, okay?”

Haru looked away, mouth held in a thin line.

Makoto came up behind them and told him they were headed to the police station to pick up Haru’s phone. So much for ditching the guy. They walked the five sopping blocks in the rain until they got to the precinct. The police station was a bit run down—they had been in a budget freeze for nearly half a decade, but none of those rich fucks in the skyscrapers downtown wanted to pay their fair share in taxes, so this was what was left of the law.

They entered through a murky bulletproof glass door up to the officer at the front desk.

“Hey, is Sosuke around?” Makoto asked the man who looked heavily overworked and underpaid. “He has some of my client’s possessions released from evidence.”

The man punched the call button and muttered “Officer Yamazaki” into the speaker.

Deadbolts clicked from the door separating the civilians from the police and a tall, broad-shouldered man in a dark blue uniform stepped out. His eyes were bright blue and his gaze heavy when he glanced at Rin.

Damnnnn…

Makoto and Sosuke gave a friendly handshake.

“How’s it going Sousuke?” he asked.

“Eh, the same. Catching shoplifters, giving out speeding tickets…paperwork,” he said. His voice was deep and a bit raspy.

If he could get some of that…

“This is Haru…” Makoto said, gesturing to the boy disassociating behind him.

“We’ve met,” Sosuke deadpanned.

Haru looked blankly at the scuffed cream-colored wall, totally over all of this by now. Meanwhile, Rin was trying to fuck this man with just his eyes. It must have worked because Sosuke was now staring back at him with a slight glint of amusement in his eye. He nodded toward him.

“Who might you be?” he asked.

His voice rang up his spine and gave him goosebumps.

“Rin,” he said, smiling a sharp-tooth grin. One side of Sosuke’s lips tilted upward into a smirk.

“Nice to meet you,” he mumbled, staring into his fiery red eyes for a beat too long to be friendly.

Got ‘em.

Makoto cleared his throat, and the spell was broken. Bastard.

“Come with me. You can recover your belongings in the interrogation room,” he said to Makoto, not Haru.

If Haru was trying to disappear, it was working.

“Do you need another statement from Haru?” Makoto asked.

“No…but there are some things I would like to discuss,” he said opening the bolted door and holding it ajar with one massive shoulder.

Rin made sure to brush past him a tiny bit too closely when he walked by. He got a whiff of leather, Old Spice, and sweat. His flaming gay heart was pounding.   

They were led into a steel room with a blackout, mirrored window. Rin wondered if there was anyone listening in on them from the other side of the glass. Haru’s phone and wallet were on the cold steel table in the center of the room. Haru pocketed them without checking to see if there was any money left in there. Haru never carried any cash.

Haru turned toward the door, ready to leave, but Sosuke blocked him.

“Take a seat,” he said, leaving no room for arguments. Haru gave him a glare that could slice a man, but Sosuke seemed unaffected.

Rin could tell when Haru didn’t like someone…and Haru seemed to really not like Sosuke. He wondered what he did to piss Haru off this much.  

Haru turned slowly and pulled out a chair with a deafening screech, steel legs scratching the floor. He plopped down and crossed his arms over his chest and moped. Rin tried not to laugh, but Haru’s pouting was always hilarious.

“What?” Haru asked.

Sosuke took a breath.

***

“I know I’m not supposed to discuss the intricacies of an active investigation,” Sosuke said, pulling out the other chair across the table from Nanase. “But I feel you have the right to know.”

“Know what?” Makoto asked as he stood behind his client.

He stole a glance at Rin, whose eyes bored into him like two pinpoints of burning sunlight being shone onto him through a magnifying glass. He was captivating, but he couldn’t think of that now. He had to get this off his chest.

“The facial recognition cameras were disabled by the warehouses the night you were kidnapped,” he said to Makoto.

He knew he was risking his job by telling them this, but now Makoto was involved in this mess. He couldn’t let his friend go back out there with Nanase blind.

Nanase blinked at him, looking bored. This prick…

“When we ran the system on the guys we picked up…the guys who shot at us, the data came up blank,” he continued, slowly.

“What does that mean?” Makoto asked.

He leaned in closer to them as if someone were listening.

“I think someone hacked into the system and wiped the facial recognition registry. Whoever wanted Nanase kidnapped, ensured that they wouldn’t get caught.”

“So what? They hacked the system. I’m sure criminals have a knack for trying not to get caught,” Rin said.

“See that’s the thing…no one has ever hacked the system before. Only people within SecuriCorp have access to the code. I think whoever kidnapped you has ties to the company…”

Haru abruptly got up from his chair with another screech.

“I’m leaving.”

“You can’t leave! We need to figure this out. Listen, you’re not safe out there”

“No, you listen,” Haru turned on Makoto. He was a head shorter than him and much skinnier, but something told him that Haru could hold his own in a fight.

Sosuke slowly rose from his seat and his hand touched the taser on his belt out of habit.

“I don’t give a shit what Securicorp or my parents do,” he hissed.  “I’m just trying to mind my own fucking business, and you and everyone else is bringing me back into it. I’m done.

***

Shit, Haru was pissed. Rin had never seen him so heated—so at the end of his rope. He knew Haru could tolerate a lot of shit—that was the way he was raised—but this seemed to boil him over to a point he was worried Haru would do something destructive—something self-destructive.

He reached out to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Haru’s muscles were coiled so tight he thought they might snap.

“Haru. Breathe,” he whispered.

He let out an angry huff through his nose.

“I’m taking Haru home,” he said firmly.

Sosuke took his hand off his belt and sighed.

“Just…think about what I said,” he said.

Rin gave a mock salute, grabbing Haru’s arm and leading him out the door. Makoto followed behind. He guessed that couldn’t be helped.

This whole thing was turning into a shitshow, and Rin was able to distract Haru enough to keep him from blowing up. He wasn’t sure if he would be so lucky this time.

Chapter 8: True Self

Summary:

After the incident at the police station, Haru shuts down, but Makoto has a way of bringing out Haru's true colors.

Notes:

I feel like it's been forever since I've updated this fic. whoops

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

This was bad…really bad. Since the incident at the police station, Haru had just shut down. He lay in his bed all day for three days, refusing to eat more than a few nibbles of food at a time, change out of his sweatpants, or even shower. Rin stayed for as long as he could, but even he couldn’t pull Haru away from his fortress of blankets.

Makoto guessed that he should be grateful that he wasn’t roaming the streets where he was in danger at all, but he hated to see Haru so upset. So Makoto made a habit of making him meals the best he could with his limited cooking skills, making sure that the glass of water on his bedside table was refilled and occasionally talking to him, even though he wouldn’t talk back. Sometimes he would sit on the little chair at the foot of his bed and read him some silly tabloid stories in the newspaper. He knew Haru didn’t care about them, and neither did he, but maybe Haru just needed a presence around him.

One morning he was doing the crosswords, reading the questions out loud to himself.

“Thirteen across: Oily fish whose name derives from the Old French word for ‘spotted’’ Is it Tuna? No ‘tuna’ doesn’t fit…” he muttered to himself, subconsciously tapping the pencil on his lip.

“Mackerel,” a muffled voice said.

“What?” he asked, half thinking he was just hearing voices now.

Haru poked his head out of his blankets far enough to peek at him. He tilted his head slightly to the paper.

“The answer is ‘mackerel’,” he said.

Makoto blinked at him. After not speaking for three days, this was the thing to bring him out. He decided not to question it.   

“I guess it does fit. Thanks,” he said, not even bothering to fill in the boxes in the crossword.

 Haru sat up slowly, yawned, and stretched his arms over his head as if he had just woke up from a cat nap—not a three-day depression coma.

“We should have some,” Haru mumbled quietly as he stepped out of bed, making a beeline for the kitchen.

Makoto followed close behind.  

“You like mackerel?” he asked as Haru rummaged through the food pantry.

Haru nodded at him with an armful of canned mackerel balanced against his chest. Haru was truly eccentric. He leaned back on the kitchen counter as he watched Haru heat up the gas stove and prepare his meal.

“What other foods do you like?” he asked, trying to keep the conversation going.  

“Pineapple,” Haru answered plainly.

Makoto inwardly gagged.

“Mackerel and pineapple? Together?” he balked.

He nodded. Haru seemed pleased by the combination, and if he was happy, it was worth it.

Soon they were sitting at the small dining table with plates of mackerel and pineapple in front of them. Haru devoured the dish, but he wasn’t surprised. He practically hadn’t eaten for days. Makoto poked at the strange food combination with his chopsticks, too polite to refuse to eat it.

Then Haru took a break from stuffing his face to properly look at him, the first time he had done that in days. He no longer looked angry, at least.

“You knew that police officer. How?” he asked.

Makoto sighed. He figured that would come up sometime.

“Sosuke? Yeah, he’s my best friend,” he said.

Haru scowled, and he couldn’t help but chuckle at his sour expression.

“He’s not so bad,” he said. “At least when you get to know him.”

Haru’s eyes narrowed at him and he leaned closer, looming his body over his empty plate. He sat like that for a while before asking, “Are you a narc?”

Now that was funny. Makoto burst out laughing, but Haru’s expression remained serious.

“I am not,” he clarified after he had calmed down.

“Because you look like a narc,” Haru said with a slight upward pull of the corner of his mouth.

“What gave me away?” he asked sarcastically.

Haru leaned back into his seat and crossed his arms over his chest, looking him up and down.

“You dress too nice,” he said.

Makoto looked down at his outfit. He was just wearing an olive sweater over a collared shirt and a pair of dark jeans. He wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be a compliment or not. Maybe it was just Haru’s weird way of complimenting him…maybe.

“Thank you,” he said, a bright smile on his face.

Not that it was saying something coming from the man who wore a faded t-shirt and hadn’t combed his hair in three days, but despite all this, Haru was still stubbornly attractive—objectively attractive, of course—not that he was attracted to him—

Haru interrupted his thoughts that were clearly running away from him.

“How’d you get into all this you know…” he gestured up and down his body with his hand. “this bodyguard thing?”

Makoto leaned back and sighed.

“I have to admit, it wasn’t my career of choice, but it pays well,” he admitted.

Haru blinked at him, a signal for him to elaborate.

“I have two younger siblings—twins,” he began. “Ren wants to be a veterinarian. Ran wants to be an astronaut, but college is expensive, and my family doesn’t have much. I try to help as much as I can”

“What about you?” Haru asked.

“What about me?” He said confused.

“What do you want to be?”

Haru’s sapphire eyes stared into his green ones with an intensity that made the hairs of the back of his neck stand up. He didn’t know why he was reacting this way to a simple question. None of Makoto’s previous clients ever asked him this before. Frankly, none of them really cared enough, so it was refreshing to have someone want to know more about his life beyond his job. He was more than just a solid body to him.

He laughed ruefully. “I think it’s a bit late for that”

Haru shrugged. “Tell me anyway,” he said softly.

Makoto smiled, remembering a lost dream.

“I wanted to be a professional swim coach,” he said.

Haru’s eyes grew big and bright.

“You swim?” he marveled.

“Yeah, backstroke,” he said, getting more and more excited by the conversation.

Before he could ask, Haru answered.

“Free,” he said.

He smiled. Freestyle suited him. He had the long legs and strong shoulders for it. He pictured Haru’s lithe form gliding through the water. He wished he could see it for real.

“I didn’t compete, though. Not interested in times,” he continued. Makoto nodded.

That was such a Haru thing to say.

“I used to in high school with Sosuke,” he continued. “Then he hurt his shoulder…and I just kind of stopped. I kind of wish I kept going. Maybe I would have gotten a college scholarship, but it’s meaningless without your friends.”

Haru hummed in agreement. Now he leaned on his elbows on the table with his chin resting on his folded hands. He looked at him like he imagined a schoolgirl would admire her crush, but maybe he was just imagining things.

“You still haven’t answered my question…about becoming a bodyguard,” he pointed out.

He jumped to attention. He had been staring at Haru for too long.

“Oh—right. After high school, I joined the military for a while—Special Forces. Then when I got out, I was only really qualified to become a cop or do this, so I chose becoming bodyguard,” he explained with as little detail he could get away with. “I like getting to know my clients and keeping them safe, not just being this big, scary guy with a gun…”

“You have a gun?” Haru said, eyebrows shooting up into his messy bangs.

“Yeah, but I don’t take it out much,” he said.  

“Man of many mysteries,” Haru mused.

“Says the guy who has a secret double life as a starving artist,” Makoto backfired.  

Haru looked down a little sad. For a moment he was worried he had said the wrong thing again, but then Haru spoke in an apologetic tone.

“I’m sorry I’ve been such an ass,” he said.

Makoto shook his head. He wanted to tell him that it was his fault for not understanding him in the first place, that he enjoyed being around him, that he wished he could do more for him, that he cared about him. But he didn’t.

“You know, I’ve never known a situation in my life where I didn’t have a choice,” he said instead. “I can’t begin to imagine what you have been through with your family and…what they want you to do, but even just for now, know I’m here for you—the real you.”

They sat in silence for a while, the air heavy in between them, but not in a bad way.

Without speaking, Haru stood up from the table, stretched his long limbs and walked toward him. He placed a hand on his shoulder, which communicated more than words could. His eyes were tired but more alive than he had seen them in days. He wondered if he was staring too long again but Haru broke away first, turning toward the hall with his hand still on his shoulder. He wanted him to follow.

Haru led him to the art studio room. Makoto hadn’t been in there since he had poked his head in when he first arrived here. When Haru flipped on the lights, his eyes filled with color. Blues of every shade melded together on thick canvases. His paintings were of waves so hyper-realistic that he could feel the ocean spray on his face.

“They’re beautiful” he murmured.

They were, but they also looked lonely. Long landscapes of open water with a solitary lighthouse in the distance, too far for even Haru to reach by swimming. Haru weaved through the organized mess of the studio and pulled out a canvas from behind a shelf of oil paints. He took a moment to examine it before placing it carefully on the easel. This one was different—it was all oranges and pinks of the reflection of a sunrise in the water, and beneath the surface was a little boy who looked at peace sleeping under the surface of the sea. It didn’t take Makoto long to figure out that the boy in the painting was a younger version of Haru. So youthful and full of hope.

Now he understood. Haru was showing him his true self, sleeping beneath the sea, waiting to wake, waiting to come to the surface. He looked at the artist then, his eyes cast down and a slight blush on his cheeks. Makoto stepped closer, not to the painting but to the man.

He put his hand on his shoulder, his thumb grazing the smooth pale column of his neck.

When Haru looked up at him, his expression was so soft it gave him goosebumps. Like in the paintings of the sea, green swirled with blue, becoming one wave. Haru inched closer to him so slowly he didn’t realize it, his hand now cupping the nape of his neck. There was a magnetic pulse between them drawing each other closer, something that had been growing ever since they first met.

Without thinking he lowered his head to look closer into the artist’s eyes, mesmerized by the softness of his rosy lips and how they were parted slightly. He felt Haru’s shuttering breath on his face and then he froze.

What the hell was he doing?! This was wholly inappropriate, totally unprofessional. He felt awful. Haru must have been feeling so uncomfortable. He cleared his throat and stepped back, flinching his arm back to his side as if he were called to stand at attention.

“Thank you for showing me your paintings,” he said awkwardly.

Haru looked at him dazed and confused. He cursed himself as he backed his way out of the room.

Notes:

Things are starting to pick up with MakoHaru in this story ;)
Next chapter coming soon!

Chapter 9: Flashback

Summary:

Makoto has a nightmare and Haru is there to help.

Chapter Text

Haru lay awake in his bed staring at the ceiling above, willing his brain to turn off for one second so he could rest. Of course, tonight it wasn’t going to let up. He kept thinking about how his father wanted him to lead the NextGen phase of the company. It was his destiny, he had told him as a child, but even then, he had rejected it. He wondered why he just didn’t drop it already.

Everyone knew that he wasn’t much of a leader or a businessman. He was just there because of his birthright. He didn’t want to be trapped in a stale office building for the rest of his life, but perhaps he was equally as trapped here in his bed as he would be there. Despite everything, he couldn’t just shake off his family name.

He rolled over on his side and hugged his pillows to his chest. Then there was Makoto. He didn’t know what had possessed him earlier in his studio. He practically hated the guy a week ago, but now… something made him want to get close to him—too close apparently. The sting of rejection was still fresh as he played the scene over and over. He was such an idiot. He was Makoto’s client—nothing more, and yet he had shown him the most vulnerable painting he had, the gateway to his true self. Not even Rin had seen it, and he had known him for years.

He let his head run away from him for another hour or so before he heard a crash from the living room, a glass breaking, and a stifled scream. Haru gasped. Makoto.

He shot up in bed, heart racing. If someone had broken into his apartment, Makoto would want him to escape through the window down the fire escape, but he couldn’t just leave him behind. He looked around wildly for anything he could use as a weapon, eyes settling on the broken leg of an easel he had thrown in the corner of the room to fix later. He tiptoed to it and armed it in front of himself like a sword, not that this flimsy wood would actually protect him against someone with a real sword—or a gun—but he couldn’t think of that now. He had to save Makoto.

Another muffled yelp came from the room behind his door, so he eased it open slowly, hoping the attacker wouldn’t notice him, but there was no one there. All was quiet in his apartment, everything in place from the night before, Makoto sleeping on the new futon on the floor. He inched closer to him, lowering his wooden stick. Makoto’s water glass had toppled over and shattered on the floor as if someone had thrown it. Makoto was trembling under his blankets.

“Hey…” he said, wondering if he was awake. No response.

He sighed and poked him in the leg with the stick.

“Makoto,” he called again.

“No—Don’t--!” he cried, wriggling onto his back.

Makoto’s eyes were sealed shut, sweat rolling down his face and soaking the front of his shirt. His large hands were balled into fists at his chest as if he were preparing to punch someone. A nightmare. Haru dropped the stick and kneeled at the foot of the mat and shook his foot, careful to not get in the path of those strong fists.

“Makoto!” he shouted.

“Run! Run!” he cried, thrashing now.

It wasn’t working. It was making it worse. He always made it worse. Not caring if he got punched or not, Haru crawled over him and took hold of his wide shoulders and shook him harder.

“Makoto! Wake up!”

“BOMB!” he screamed, swinging upright so hard that he collided with Haru’s head. Haru fell backward on the mat and landed at his feet with a groan.

Makoto’s head shook, darting in all directions before he finally breathed. It was just a dream. He was panting heavily when he finally realized Haru laying there with his hand rubbing the sore spot on his forehead.

“Ow…” he moaned.

“Haru? What?” he panted frantically.

He sat up on the mat, hand still over his head.

“You were having a nightmare. I could hear you from my room. You hit my head,” he groaned.

Makoto rubbed his own head, sweat dripping onto the back of his hand.

“Oh. Sorry,” he said, still reeling.

“It’s okay. I couldn’t sleep anyway,” he said trying to comfort him, but he was shit at comforting people.

He didn’t know what to do, so he settled for patting Makoto’s knee through his blankets. After how he had reacted back in the studio, he didn’t want to get too close, but he still had the strange urge to put his arms around him.

They sat in silence for a while before anyone spoke again.

“Do you want some tea?” Haru asked.

“That would be good. Thanks,” Makoto said quietly, finally able to catch his breath.

He nodded before crawling over Makoto’s legs to get off the mat and heading across the room to the kitchen.

“How often does this happen?” he asked as he filled the kettle with water.

He could hear Makoto rummaging through his bag and the unmistakable rattling of pills in a prescription bottle.

“Not as often now,” he said with a raspy voice. He had swallowed the pills dry.

When Haru came back from the kitchen with two steaming cups of tea, Makoto had discarded his sweat-drenched shirt and was unfolding a fresh one. He could see the tense muscles of his broad back—a backstroker’s back. As he got closer, his skin revealed to be blotchy with light pink raised scars, some darker and older than others—a constellation of well-hidden injuries.

He didn’t mean to stare, but Makoto noticed.

“Shrapnel,” he said simply.

Even though he didn’t say more, Haru understood what he meant. He wasn’t having a nightmare—it was a flashback.  Makoto pulled the clean shirt over his head. If Haru hadn’t just witnessed Makoto’s night terrors, he would have been a bit disappointed to see him cover up those muscles so quickly, but he couldn’t think of that right now.

He put the teacup down gently on the coffee table and curled himself around his own mug on the couch. Makoto muttered a quiet thanks and sat next to him with his. They sat in silence again for a while until Haru got the courage to break it.

“You can tell me if you think it will help,” he murmured.

Makoto combed a hand through his bedhead and sighed.

“I don’t want to burden you,” he said solemnly.

In the short time he had known Makoto, he had never seen him so gloomy.  

“You’re not a burden,” he ensured, gathering all the comfort he could to place his hand on his arm. He hoped Makoto knew he was trying.

He was glad when Makoto didn’t shy away from his touch. He leaned into it as if his hand was the only thing keeping him upright.

“I couldn’t protect them,” he whispered.  

***

It was supposed to be a routine recon mission.

 

He and his team walked through the dusty, bombed-out remains of a city. The sun blazed overhead, and Makoto was sweating bullets under his beige camo helmet and layers of body armor. He was used to it. Two years in the desert will do that to you.

They had come to a sandy road that was once the site of small apartments and one tall, now hollow, hotel. The glass windows were all shattered, the furniture inside blown to bits. Makoto could never get used to this scene of destruction and war.

Ahead the captain called for the team to hold. He had found something not in the hotel but in the sky.

“What is that?” his comrade ahead of him gaped.

He looked up to see a dark aircraft coming toward the village, long black wings piercing the pale blue sky. It was moving fast—faster than any of the planes he had seen in the field.

“Is it ours?” someone asked, but none of them had time to respond.

The plane dipped toward them and banked hard, circling around them before zooming off. That’s when Makoto saw there were no windows on the craft—no pilot. A drone. He had a sinking feeling in his gut. All of the drones he had encountered had been clearly marked, and they usually received a message from home base whenever they launched one. They weren’t supposed to be launching any drones today.

He pried his eyes from the sky to see one of his comrades taking pictures of it with his phone, in awe of how fast the craft was. Makoto caught his arm.

“No! Don’t do that!” Makoto cried.

“Oi calm down Tachibana it’s probably just a training exercise,” he said dismissively.

Then he could hear the swoosh of the drone coming closer.

“Hey guys it’s coming back!” the captain shouted.

Slowly they started to back away as the black figure sped toward them again, the windowless nose now staring them down menacingly.

“I don’t think it’s ours,” Makoto whispered, and he felt his friend tense up as he pulled him backward.

He could now make out smaller details on the drone, like how there were doors on its underside how they opened, how a cone-shaped object lowered itself down into position.

“Oh shit!” someone gasped.

They took off in a sprint toward the abandoned hotel. Makoto lost his grip on his comrade’s arm, but he didn’t have time to look back.

“Run!” he screamed. “Run! Fuck—”

The next milliseconds decided whether he lived or died. The team was running for the remains of the hotel lobby, but Makoto was too far back. He wasn’t going to make it in time. Then he spotted a small window to what looked like a cellar, and he didn’t think. He just ran. Makoto slid into the broken windowpane, crashing onto the basement floor of the hotel. There was the roar of the engine above and then the distinctive whistle of something dropping hard and fast.

“BOMB!” he shouted, but it was too late. His voice was drowned out by the blast. His ears rung until he lost consciousness.

When he woke, he was surrounded by darkness and rubble. He dug his way through the shattered glass and crumbling rock, not knowing which way was up or out or if there was anything left. After what seemed like hours of struggling, he pushed his way out back onto what was once the road where he had walked before, but now it was unrecognizable. Everything had gone concave around the spot where he and his team had stood looking at the drone. He cried out for them, but there was only the sandy wind and the incessant ringing in his ears. In the dying light, he limped through the carnage, and looking back, he wished he hadn’t. He wished he would have just laid back down and closed his eyes, surrendering to comforting darkness.

There by the place where the empty hotel stood, were the crushed and bloody bodies of his team. Limbs torn apart by the blast, and he wasn’t sure whose limbs were whose. When the rescue chopper showed up, they found Makoto frantically digging in the rubble, trying to recover anyone living beneath. There were none.

***

He had never told anyone this except for Sosuke, not even his own parents. All anyone knew of his time in the military was that he was Special Forces and that he was honorably discharged after an injury prevented him from going back. It was a miracle that he was even alive, but he had to live with the guilt that he was the only one who had survived that mission.

He tried to live in the present as much as he could—multiple rounds of therapy taught him that—but sometimes he was yanked back into that terrible day leaving him helpless. He never thought that he would ever tell one of his clients about what had happened. His job was to show strength but being around Haru always made him feel a vulnerability he had never experienced before like Haru could see right into him and read him with those wide blue eyes.

Haru listened quietly to his story, letting his tea grow cold in his hands, and when he finished, he leaned toward him and touched a pretty hand to his arm. He said nothing, but those eyes understood him.

Makoto started to realize a bit too late that he was helplessly drawn to Haru, something forbidden in his line of work, but his heart felt warm around him. After the bomb, a part of his heart turned to stone, the pain too great for it to keep beating, but with Haru, he felt that part of him stir again. It was as if Haru was bringing him back to life.

“I’m bad with feelings,” Haru finally said his hand still on his arm. “But you are quite possibly the strongest person I’ve ever met.”

Makoto gave him a small smile. His heart fluttered in his chest.

“My client is comforting me. I’m being a bad bodyguard,” he chuckled.

“Call me your ‘client’ again and I won’t be comforting you at all,” Haru smirked.

“Sorry. What would you have me call you then? My boss?” Makoto asked coyly.

“How about ‘my friend’?” Haru answered seriously.

Warmth grew in Makoto’s chest, and he couldn’t help but smile.

“That works for me,” he breathed.

He was really smiling like an idiot now.

Haru disappeared back into his room and returned with a pillow and a blanket.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“I’m sleeping on the couch. Now scootch,” Haru said with no room for argument. Makoto tried anyway.

“Haru! You don’t have to…”

“I know,” he cut off. “I want to.”

Haru fell asleep on the couch with his hand grazing the floor, just centimeters where Makoto’s hand lay next to his.

Chapter 10: Trust

Summary:

While Sosuke continues his investigation into Haru's kidnapping, Makoto and Haru become closer after Makoto's nightmares are explained and more is revealed about Haru's childhood.

Notes:

So...long time no see. Sorry it took so long to update this story, but I'm back! (for now)
Anyway, enjoy some MakoHaru fluff and some SouRin flirting!

Chapter Text

Sosuke realized a little too late that this was probably a bad idea, but it was too late to back out now. He looked at the profile on his squad car computer.

Matsuoka Rin, 24 years old, son of the former CEO of a large fishing enterprise. From what he could tell, Rin accompanied the same social circles as the Nanases growing up, but after his father died and the company was sold when he was a teenager, Rin just fell off the radar.

He was parked across the street from the address listed under his facial recognition registry profile, a modest townhouse in a swanky district of the city. He realized that this was super creepy, but he kept telling himself that it was all for the sake if the Nanase kidnapping investigation, which had gone cold. At least, that’s what he told himself. Really, he wanted to see Rin again, to feel that same burn in his chest when he looked him in the eye. It was addictive.

He sat in his car, pretending to fill out parking tickets as he thought of how best to go about this. Knocking on the door and shouting “Police!” probably wasn’t the best way to go here. He sighed. Maybe he should just go home and give it up, but as his hand brushed the keys still in the ignition, he caught sight of a blur of red hair in his rearview mirror.

Rin had just rounded the corner and was jogging on the side of the road toward his cruiser. He was wearing a black baseball cap with his hair pulled up in a short ponytail, his black racerback running shirt clinging to his chest. God even while he was exercising, he was hot, Sosuke thought, but that thought shot right out of him as their eyes locked through the mirror.

Shit. Shitshitshitshitshit!

Rin slowed and bent over to knock on his driver-side window. He willed himself to play it cool while he lowered the glass, leaning his arm on the ledge with his uniform rolled up past his elbows.

“Howdy there, officer,” Rin said casually, still slightly out of breath. “Did you miss me?”

This bastard…

“I came here to talk to you,” he replied because he couldn’t think of something better to say.

Rin’s eyes lit up playfully as he showed his sharp-toothed grin.

“Really? That’s it?” he said, leaning closer to the window.

Rin smelled like salt and sunscreen and his eyes were bright rubies. Sosuke smiled back. Two could play this game.

“I don’t know. Is there anything I can help you with?” he asked, amused.

“You know, come to think of it, I think the smoke detector battery in my bedroom needs changing,” Rin said, staring at him like it was a challenge.

“I’m afraid that’s the fire department’s jurisdiction,” he said.

Rin stood up straight and brushed off metaphorical dust from his shirt.

“That’s a shame,” he sighed. “I guess I’ll just have to wait for a truck full of firemen to show up then.”

“Guess so…”

The conversation trailed off into a somewhat awkward silence.

“What did you want to talk to me about then?”

Sosuke discreetly glanced around.

“It’s about Nanase,” he said softly.  

Rin sighed, not even trying to hide his disappointment.

“Right. You should probably come in, then.”

The inside of Rin’s townhome was cozy—not messy, but lived in. he had several pairs of athletic shoes lined up at the door and a water bottle sitting on top of the entryway table waiting for him. Rin kicked off his Nike running shoes and downed the water, and Sosuke was trying not to focus on Rin’s Adam’s apple as he took large gulps.

“Make yourself at home,” he said as he finished and disappeared down the hall into the kitchen.

Sosuke loitered in the living room area where a sagging leather couch sat facing a massive flat screen TV. He could imagine Rin and his friends watching sporting matches here, being overly rowdy and loud. He couldn’t picture Haru here though. He wondered how two people so different could be friends.

Rin came back into the room with a damp towel wrapped around his neck. He had ditched the hat and now his long red hair hung at his shoulders around his angular face. He gestured for him to sit on the sofa, and when he did, he nearly sank to the bottom of it. This was definitely a good nap sofa. Rin lounged on the other end.

“So…” he said. “What do you want to know?”

Sosuke probably should have thought this through more, but he didn’t, and now he was here. He didn’t know what he wanted to know, but he wanted to understand some things better.

“I want to know about Haru’s connection to SecuriCorp,” he said.

Rin laughed but there was no humor behind it.

“I would say Haru has no connection to it, but his parents would say otherwise,” he said.

“You grew up with Haru’s family. Tell me about them,” he said leaning forward awkwardly on the couch that was currently trying to suck him back into the cushions.

It was the first time Rin’s eyes shied away from his. He hesitated, calculating what he could and could not say.

“As you could probably tell, Haru is a bit fucked up,” he said after a moment of silence.  

Sosuke raised his eyebrows but made no comment.

“You see, his family is particularly ruthless, totally obsessed with money, and basically started training him to be a mini businessman when he was five. Of course, Haru isn’t about that life, but growing up, I remember his parents basically beating the fight out of him.”

Something told him that he didn’t need to ask if he meant that figuratively or literally.  

“But Haru is stubborn as shit,” Rin continued. “He decided to send his parents a giant ‘fuck you’ by going to art school instead of his dad’s business school alma mater for college.”  

“And they let him do that?”

“Yeah…under some conditions,” Rin said.

“What conditions,” he asked.

“That he would come back to the company and train to be the heir,” Rin replied. “That was supposed to happen two years ago, but he managed to avoid it for that long…until he got kidnapped.”

That was interesting. Sosuke was fully in detective mode now.

“Does Haru have any known enemies? People who might be unhappy about him taking over the company?” he asked, mentally scolding himself for not bringing a notebook to jot any of this down in.

“Trust me when I say no one wants to keep Haru from running the company more than Haru himself.”

“Noted…But it does seem strange that Haru would immediately get sucked back into SecuriCorp just after getting kidnapped. Why not sooner?”

Rin sat silent for a beat.

“You think you know who was behind it…” Sosuke said, not a question.

Rin sighed and leaned closer toward him. In any other situation, Sosuke would have felt more excited about that, but Rin’s eyes looked serious.

“I would just say, Haru’s parents are batshit,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they had him kidnapped to scare him into coming back.”

“But it didn’t work,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, because Haru’s had to deal with a lot worse,” Rin said without further elaborating.

From the tone of his voice, Sosuke knew he wasn’t going to get much else out of Rin.

“Thank you for your time,” he said dislodging himself from the couch.

Rin stood up after him.

“Wait a sec,” he said before dashing back toward the kitchen.

He returned shortly after with a hot pink post-it note in his hand.

“Here,” Rin says handing it to him.

Sosuke’s heart fluttered when he saw his phone number written in jagged handwriting.

“Just in case if you need anything else,” Rin said a bit more suggestively than necessary. “We should grab coffee sometime.”  

Sosuke slipped the paper into his breast pocket with a sly smile.

“I’ll be sure to call you, then,” he said.

Rin led him back to the front door, and just as he crossed the threshold Rin put a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and was face to face with that sharp grin again.

“Oh, and next time you want to be stealthy and stalk me, maybe don’t drive a car with flashing lights,” Rin smirked.

He let out a raspy chuckle.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

 

***

Makoto slept in late. After having his nightmares last night, he decided to let it slide. He sat up from the mat, yawned and stretched, prepared to start his day like usual at Haru’s apartment when he looked to his right and saw Haru still curled up and sleeping on the couch.

He hadn’t expected him to stay with him the entire night like this, which he both felt grateful and guilty about. He debated whether he should wake him now or to let him be, but it was too late. Haru sucked in a long breath through his nose and began to stir, eyes blinking open.

Makoto tried very hard not to think about how cute it was.

“Good morning, Haru,” Makoto said cheerily.

“Mmph,” Haru mumbled, planting his face back against the pillow. Makoto couldn’t help but chuckle.

“What time is it?” Haru said, his voice muffled against the cotton.

Makoto looked around for his phone, which had been flung across the room under the coffee table. He crawled over and woke up the screen. Sosuke had texted him last night, and he made a mental note to text him back.

“It’s almost 11:30,” he said.

He looked up from the screen to see Haru stretching his limbs, which reminded him of a cat sprawling out in the sun. He sat up and his dark hair was tussled, falling into his eyes. His stomach growled, and Haru covered his abdomen with his palm as if he were willing it to be quiet.

Makoto couldn’t help but chuckle as a light blush rose to Haru’s cheeks.

“I don’t know if you’d be interested, but there’s a café down the block that I kind of want to try,” he said.

“That you saw when you were staking out my building?” Haru asked teasingly.

“Yes, but that’s not the point,” Makoto said a bit flustered. Haru always had a way of pushing his buttons. “You don’t have to. I go where you go, obviously—”

“I would like that,” he interrupted his babbling.

Makoto sported a blush of his own.

“Okay.”

The café was a bit of a hole in the wall—quite literally hidden by a stone garden wall with ivy climbing up the trellises. Small circular tables enough to barely seat two each were scattered in an organized chaos in the small courtyard outside the storefront. It was the lunch rush, but Haru managed to snag a table under a cherry blossom tree. Though the leaves were still green, they were beginning to fall in the autumn chill, but luckily it was pleasantly warm in the afternoon sun.

When they sat down, their knees knocked together under the table. After a few awkward “excuse me’s” and “sorry’s” they managed to fit their long legs under the tiny table in a somewhat comfortable position. A cheerful waitress came to their table as Makoto was crossing one leg over another, jostling the table with his knee, which toppled the salt and pepper shakers over. Sometimes he wished he weren’t over six feet tall.

Haru ordered a green tea with a piece of vegetable quiche while he asked for his usual coffee order with extra sugar and vanilla cream and a chocolate croissant. What could he say? He had a sweet tooth.

“Thank you for taking me here,” Haru said.

“Thank you for indulging me,” Makoto smiled brightly.

It may have been a trick of the light coming through the branches of the cherry tree, but he could have sworn Haru smiled back.

The waitress came back with their order, and the spell was broken. The waitress’ hand brushed his as she handed him his coffee, leaning into him a bit too close. He was used to this happening sometimes, and he never figured out a graceful way to say “I’m sorry, but I’m super gay and not interested” so he just sat there uncomfortably. He sneaked a glance at Haru, who looked extremely annoyed as he unwrapped his cloth napkin.

When she finally left, Haru was still staring down into his teacup with a sour look on his face.

“What?” Makoto asked.

Haru shook his head.

“Nothing,” he said when clearly it wasn’t nothing.

“Suit yourself,” he shrugged, taking a sip of his overly sweet coffee.

They sat there in awkward silence for a minute before Haru finally spoke.

“You could have at least told her to get her boobs out of your face,” he grumbled.

“Haru! You can’t just say stuff like that. We’re at a restaurant,” he whispered while nervously looking around to make sure no one had heard him.

“I’m just saying, you don’t have to compromise your personal space to be polite,” he said taking a sip of tea.

Makoto laughed once.

“You should have seen the barracks in the desert. Twelve guys squished together in a tent meant for five. I think my version of personal space is a bit stilted,” he said.

Haru threw up his hands in surrender as if to say “fine, you got me.”

They were silent again, Haru poking at his quiche with his fork. Makoto could tell something else was on his mind, but he knew better than to force it out of him.

“You seemed pretty rough last night,” he said quietly, his eyes not leaving his plate.

Makoto knew he was asking him in his Haru way if he was okay. He took a bite of his croissant to stall for a moment.

“Oh, I’m completely fine…” he said nonchalantly as he chewed. Haru looked up and gave him a questioning look, a pretty black eyebrow raised over his bangs.

“I am really,” he ensured. “I get over it. I always do.”

Haru put down his fork and stared straight into his eyes, blue melding again with green. There was an intensity there that he hadn’t felt since they were together in the art studio.

“You don’t have to be fine all the time, you know,” Haru said with a softness in his voice that made his insides feel warm.

Makoto looked down and played with his napkin in his lap.

“I know. Same to you…I mean you were the one who wouldn’t get out of bed for three days,” he said, deflecting the conversation away from himself.

“You’ve got me there,” Haru admitted. “I’m a bit bipolar.”

It kind of made sense—the half-finished paintings in his studio, the mood swings, the distance from other people, even those who cared about him.

“Just a little bit,” Makoto said.

“A smidge,” Haru said sarcastically. “Not related to my toxic upbringing at all.”

Haru picked his fork back up and dug into his quiche a bit too aggressively, shoving half of it in his mouth.

“You know you can talk to me, right? If you want to. Not saying you have to do anything,” Makoto stammered.

Haru chewed slowly.

“Makoto, it’s fine,” he said, and then later adding, “Thank you”

 Makoto smiled, his heart skipping at the thought of Haru being able to trust him like this and that he could trust him too. He finished his croissant, and this time he was able to savor its sweetness.

Then they both caught sight of the flirting waitress again, coming straight toward them—or Makoto.

Haru let out a playful huff.

“Darling, you have chocolate on your face,” Haru said loud enough for her to hear and then proceeded to lean across the table and dab the corner of Makoto’s mouth with his napkin.

Makoto was stunned into silence, and so was the waitress, but Haru’s eyes cut to hers with a smirk.

Makoto’s entire body felt warm enough that he could have probably baked a quiche on his head.

“O-oh! Thank you, Haru-chan,” he said without thinking.

It was Haru’s turn to look shocked. He blinked at him, face just inches from his before regaining his regular poker face.

After the waitress had dropped the check on their table and scurried away, Haru leaned back in his chair and chucked.

“Haru-chan?” he smirked.

Makoto blushed all the way up to his ears.

“I panicked, okay!”

Haru let out a tich and paid the bill.

Haru and Makoto walked side by side back toward the apartment, shoulders occasionally brushing against one another. It was amazing to Makoto that this was the same Haru who wouldn’t even look at him a week ago, who walked at least three paces in front of him so that he could forget there was someone following him. He was in awe of how much trust they had built in one another in such a short amount of time, but if Makoto was being honest, he felt like he knew Haru before they even met. It was like he had known him in a past life and they were just picking up where they had left off.

That’s crazy talk, Makoto thought to himself. No such thing exists. But even the voice in his head didn’t sound completely convinced.

“That was fun,” Makoto said as they approached Haru’s stoop.

“Yeah, I haven’t gone out in a while,” he said.

Haru was looking up at him with a rare smile on his face. His eyes were bright blue and alive like the summer sea. Makoto felt himself blushing again. This was getting out of hand, but he didn’t want to stop looking at this gorgeous—admittedly eccentric—man before him. He had to say something—something to show how much he appreciated his presence for the past week.

“Haru, I…” Makoto said but was interrupted by his phone’s loud buzzing in the pocket of his jeans.

When he looked at the caller ID, his heart dropped. It was Haru’s mother.

“What is it?” Haru asked, seeing the concerned lines forming in between Makoto’s eyebrows.

“I’m sorry I have to take this,” he said.

Haru clutched his apartment keys nervously in his hands as Makoto picked up the phone.

“Hello. Tachibana speaking,” he said in a formal voice he hated using.

The voice on the other line was sharp, devoid of warmth.

“Bring Haruka to my office,” Mrs. Nanase commanded. “We need to talk.”

Chapter 11: Breaking Point

Summary:

Haru and Makoto are summoned to the Nanase penthouse where carefully hidden family trauma come to light. Makoto would have to choose which side he is on.

Notes:

TW: Violence and mentions of child abuse in this chapter.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Haru found himself once again standing in front of his mother’s expansive desk as she stacked papers together into a sharp edge.

“Take a seat,” she said without looking at him, and Haru looked back at Makoto who gave him a reassuring smile.

He was back in the suit he wore when Haru first met him, but he no longer looked stiff and unforgiving like he had thought him to be before. Now he just saw kind and gentile Makoto quietly following orders. He hoped that he was still on his side in all this, but Haru had been burned before.

He sat down in the uncomfortable chair facing his mother. If the goal of this piece of furniture was to make those who sit in it feel small and weak against the desk, it was working.

“What do you want?” he asked annoyed.

His mother passed the stack of papers to Miho who scurried away before she finally acknowledged his presence.

“Your father is flying in tonight. I thought after all this time you would like to see him,” she said flatly.

 Haru definitely did not want to see him, but he knew this wasn’t the only reason he was here.

“And?” he said.

She hit him with the same nasty glare he used on her.

“And he would like to go over some business details with you ahead of the Technology Expo tomorrow,” she said.

Shit. That was tomorrow? He really lost track of time over the past week.

“As you know, your father isn’t a patient man,” she continued. “I suggest you do as he says.”

Before Haru could respond, Mrs. Nanase snapped her fingers at Makoto.

“Take him to his room until further instruction. Haruka will be expected to attend dinner at 6,”

“Yes, ma’am,” Makoto said weakly.

Makoto put a hand on his arm to lead him out of the room, but he shrugged it off rougher than he intended.

“What the fuck?!” he hissed after they were in his old bedroom with the door shut behind them.

“Haru…” Makoto sighed.

“So, are you my mother’s lap dog now?” Haru snapped. He knew he was being hard on Makoto, but he was too angry to control who he took it out on.

“She’s my boss. I can’t just disobey orders,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose the way Haru knew he did when he got stressed.

“I thought your job was to keep me safe!” Haru shouted.

“It is. I am,” he said calmly. “Haru, you need to calm down.”

“No. Fuck that!” he said punctuating his words by poking Makoto in the chest. “If you really wanted to protect me, you would get me out of here.”

Now he was having a glaring contest with Makoto, but Makoto wasn’t biting. He looked at him with his green, empathetic eyes and took both his hands in his. His hands were warm against his cold, shaking ones. He almost enjoyed it and forgot what he was fighting about.

“You know I can’t do that,” Makoto whispered.  

This was ridiculous. He broke away from him and crossed his arms across his chest, sitting on the corner of the immaculately made-up bed. He didn’t dare look at Makoto, worried that his expression would betray him. In the short time he had known him, Makoto had gotten extremely good at reading him, and that was both exciting and irritating.  

“I thought you were on my side” he whispered, willing his voice not to break.

He felt the bed dip next to him where Makoto had sat down.

“I am. Just go to the dinner. Hear them out. Maybe they’ll let you go,” he said.

“They won’t,” Haru mumbled.

As much as he wanted to be mad at Makoto, he couldn’t help feeling the warm fluttering in his stomach when he reached his arm across his back. Haru let himself relax against him, leaning his head against his broad shoulder. They fit perfectly together.

Hours passed, and somehow, they ended up buried in the million pillows on the bed, Haru curled into Makoto’s side. He was warm, and his slow breathing was comforting, and his body seemed like the only thing that couldn’t slip through his fingers right now. Makoto’s arm was still draped around him, and even though he was putting his weight on him, Makoto never complained about his arm falling asleep. Their faces were close enough to kiss, but Haru didn’t try. The memory of what had happened last time he tried was still fresh in his mind.

Still, if Makoto was by his side like this, he knew he could endure whatever crazy shit his parents had planned for him.

There was a light knock on the door, and Haru begrudgingly sat up. Makoto rolled off the bed with a groan and straightened his suit.  Makoto gave him one last sympathetic smile before he said, “come in.”

Miho poked her head through the door and then snuck in, closing the door behind her.

“Your father just arrived. He seems to be in a good mood today,” she said.

During his childhood, he and Miho had developed their own language when it came to his father’s temper. She always subtly warned him when he was angry and looking for someone to take it out on. Sometimes she would send him off to go on needless errands or get Gorou to drive him around the city when his father’s moods were particularly bad.

He was somewhat grateful that today was not one of those bad days, but Haru knew all too well how quickly it could turn.

“Thank you, Miho,” he said.

“You should get dressed for dinner,” she said.

He clenched his jaw and looked down at his outfit: black jeans with a red flannel shirt.

“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” he asked annoyed.

Miho sighed, knowing that he was probably going to put up a fight.

“Haru, you haven’t seen your father in nearly five years. Please try to show some respect,” she said.

Haru sighed in defeat. The last thing he wanted to do was set him off by “looking like a commoner” as his father used to say.

“Fine,” he huffed.

“Your old things are still in the closet,” she said and then exited the room, the door closing behind her with a click.

Haru made no effort to move, so Makoto slid open the closet for him. Everything looked exactly the same as how he left it when he moved out six years ago. Even his school uniform was hanging there, firmly pressed.

Makoto fingered through the clothes and picked out a navy-blue sports coat.

“You’d look nice in this one. It’ll bring out your eyes,” he said cheerily as if he were picking clothes out to go on a date, not a war-room dinner with his abusive parents.

Haru let Makoto pick out his outfit, the blue jacket with matching blue slacks and a light blue collared shirt. It looked very neutral like he could disappear into the background and be forgotten. It was the best he could get.

While he took the clothes to the bathroom to change, Makoto perused his sad collection of ties. He only ever wore a tie to school and when he was forced to attend family functions, which was rare because of his “sour attitude” growing up.

He stalled for a while, opening all the medicine cabinets to looking for his old stash of Xanax he had left behind, sighing when he saw all the cabinets and drawers were emptied and cleaned. By the time he emerged back into the bedroom, it was five-till six. Makoto walked up to him and adjusted his collar so that it lay flat.

“You’re going to be fine,” he said softly, stringing a navy-blue tie with tiny blue fish swimming across the fabric around his neck.

Haru gave a weak smile and let him fasten the tie. It was his favorite one—the only one that he picked for himself growing up. He wasn’t surprised that Makoto was able to figure that out. Makoto finished, patting his shoulder in comfort as Miho knocked on the door again. It was time.

***

Makoto was painfully aware of how guarded Haru was in his parents’ home, and he didn’t want to think about why. Haru looked like he wanted to become invisible again, his normal confidence and strong spirit wavering.

The Nanase’s apartment (or technically penthouse) was insanely large for a Tokyo apartment. He had never been to an apartment with a separate dining room with an actual long dining table and ornate dining chairs. There were three places set when they arrived, and Makoto stood silent against the fancy wall-papered wall as Haru took his seat in the middle of the table.

He could hear Mr. and Mrs. Nanse approaching from the living room, chatting about business plans. When they entered the room, Haru stood from his seat as if the queen of England had just waltzed in. He stared down at his hands. His parents continued talking as if Haru wasn’t even there. His invisibility act was working.

With Haru’s parents standing next to each other, Makoto could pick out the features Haru had inherited—He had his mother’s blue eyes and delicate hands and his father’s broad shoulders and long legs. But his parents’ mannerisms were entirely different from Haru’s as if he were the wild child raised by wolves, constantly trying to break free. His parents were the epitome of keeping to the status quo. Hell—they probably invented it.

Finally, Mr. Nanase finished his conversation and turned toward Haru.

“Look who it is,” he said sarcastically, bourbon in a crystal glass in hand.

Haru continued his starring contest with the placemats.

“Aren’t you going to say hello to your father? He’s come a long way to be with us tonight,” Mrs. Nanase said pointedly.

“Hello,” Haru mumbled.

Mr. Nanase strode across the room and roughly slapped Haru on the shoulder. Haru flinched so hard, Makoto was worried he might collapse.

“My son has finally come to do something with his life,” he said proudly before taking his seat at the head of the table.

Haru looked like he was about to puke on his father’s insanely expensive shoes. Only when he sat down were Haru and his mother allowed to take their seats. The sight was so formal that Makoto thought he might puke too.

An elderly butler man appeared out of thin air and started pouring glasses of red wine. As soon as he put Haru’s down, he snatched it back up and proceeded to drink half of it in one gulp.

Then came the parade of literal silver platters stacked high with the fanciest food Makoto had ever seen. The butler man was placing some green beans on Haru’s plate with silver tongs when Mr. Nanase spoke up.

“Give my son an extra portion. He’s too thin,” he barked. The butler bowed his head and hurriedly scooped more greens onto the plate.

“I’m not hungry,” Haru said.

“Come now, Haruka, you have to look strong to lead the company,” Mrs. Nanase scolded as she cut a single green bean in half with a fork and knife.

“I don’t want to lead the company,” Haru said louder this time. Everything clattered to a stop. “I don’t understand why you would want me to at all.”

There was a tense silence at the table, even the butler knew to flee back to the kitchen.

“I have no experience and I’m hardly qualified to do the books, let alone make financial decisions on behalf of a company,” he continued.

He had never heard Haru speak so formally before. He was now trying to appeal in his parents’ language as a last resort.

“Don’t worry about that,” Mr. Nanase said, waving him off. “You will be surrounded by the best advisers in the country. You’ll act as more of a…figurehead than anything.”

“I don’t want to be a figurehead,” Haru said with his voice raised.

“Don’t argue at the table,” Mrs. Nanase snapped.

“I’m not arguing. I’m just stating the fucking obvious,” he muttered.

Mr. Nanase slapped his palm on the table with a bang, making the table dressings shake.

“You better watch your tongue if you know what’s good for you,” he said eerily.

Haru curled up in his seat and sealed his lips shut. This was painful to watch. He wished he could scoop Haru up and escape with him in his arms. He wished he could tell him he was loved, and it didn’t matter what his birth parents thought. He had his own found family that cared for him and actually supported his dreams, not crush them. But he couldn’t say anything. He only caught Haru’s eyes, trying to communicate as much of that as possible to him via telepathy, but Haru’s eyes were wide with terror.

Mr. Nanase cleared his throat as if that could diffuse the situation.

“When my father passed the company to me, I was deeply honored,” he said. “Your great-grandfather built this company from nothing, and now look where we are. You will inherit one of the richest companies in the world, you’ll get to influence economies, whole governments…”

“Commit human rights violations…” Haru muttered under his breath. His father continued as if he couldn’t hear.

“But you’d rather starve yourself for some little paint by numbers art project?”

“I’m not starving,” Haru said.

Mr. Nanase didn't like this answer. 

“We are the most powerful family in Tokyo—no, Japan—and I will not have you sully what your elders worked so hard to build,” he shouted. “You will join this company. And you will lead it into the future. And when I die, you will be the new CEO. Do I make myself clear?”

Haru stared down at his untouched food and mumbled something under his breath. This seemed to anger his father more.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you! God, why do you always have to make things difficult for us, Haruka?”

Haru sucked in a breath and stared straight into his father's eyes with the fire behind it Makoto recognized as Haru’s unwavering (and incredibly stubborn) resolve. This was Haru fighting for his life.

“I said I won’t do it,” he said firmly.

“Haruka! Stop this nonsense. You’re making your father very upset,” Mrs. Nanase cried. Haru ignored her.

“I’m sorry I’m not the son you wanted, but you can’t make me do this,” he said.

Mr. Nanase went red in the face, clutching his crystal glass with a white-knuckle grip.

“Yes. I can,” he said darkly.

The next few seconds would seal Makoto’s fate forever. Mr. Nanase shot up from his seat, the dining chair clattering to the floor. Haru stood just as fast, but he was already too late. The bourbon glass was already flying, hitting him in the shoulder and shattering on his collarbone. Haru screamed as blood blossomed through his blue shirt.

Mr. Nanase lunged at him then, and Makoto had a choice: look the other way and keep his job or protect Haru. It was an unconscious choice.

Just as Haru’s father’s fist connected with Haru’s jaw, Makoto sprung across the room in a blur of rage. Haru fell back into the dining table, plates and glasses breaking on impact. Mrs. Nanase was screaming about her fine china while her husband kicked and punched their son over and over—until Makoto lifted the man by his armpits and threw him on the floor at his feet.

“What the hell! Who are you?! How dare you!” He screamed, trying to get up but Makoto kicked his kneecap so hard the man cried in pain and curled into himself.

“I’m taking Haru home now,” Makoto said firmly.

 He picked Haru up off the table and held him in a protective stance against his side. He was shaking so hard, he wondered if he was going to make it to the elevator. Makoto dragged them both out of the room, through the maze of hallways back to the apartment entrance.

“Stop! Stop that man!” Mr. Nanase shouted.

“Tachibana, you’re fired! Fired! You hear me?!” Mrs. Nanase cried. Makoto moved faster.

“Keep walking. Don’t look back. Just keep walking. We’re almost there...” he repeated more to himself than to the boy in his arms. Haru was about five seconds from losing his shit.  

They got to the entryway, but Miho blocked their entrance to the open elevator. With worried eyes, she stepped aside.

She leaned in close and whispered, “The car is ready. Go.” Makoto nodded curtly.

They both piled inside, and the doors closed behind them. It was then when Haru finally collapsed in his arms, sobbing loudly into his jacket.

Like Miho said, there was a black SUV already running in front of the building. Haru was still attached to his side, but Makoto had thrown his coat over the boy’s shoulders to hide the blood. That didn’t stop everyone in the lobby from giving them weird looks as they both ran across the marble halls into the street.

Makoto opened the car door and dumped Haru into the passenger seat before sprinting to the other side to take the wheel. The car screeched as he accelerated onto the road, oncoming traffic honking at him as he cut them off.

“Makoto,” Haru shivered.

“It’s going to be okay,” he said calmly despite his reckless driving. “I’m taking you to the hospital.”

“No. No hospitals,” he said.

“Haru, you’re hurt!”

“They’ll find me if I go to the hospital!” he cried, voice cracking in terror.

“Okay…okay,” Makoto said, putting a hand over Haru’s. To his surprise, he didn’t let go. “Where should we go?”

There was a beat of silence when Haru caught his breath.

“S-Siexumeka,” Haru stuttered. “Rei has some medical training.”

“Okay then we’ll go there. Lay low for a while, and go from there,” he said, trying to calm Haru down, but the boy was still shaken up.

The car stopped at a red light, and Makoto was finally able to look at him. Haru’s lip was busted and already swollen and bruised. There was a fist-sized welt on his jaw and under his left eye, which was already swelling shut. At least the cut on his collarbone had stopped bleeding, but Haru had landed on glass, so there could have been shards still lodged in his skin.

He saw a man who looked beaten and scared, so Makoto brought his hand to his lips and kissed his bloody hand. Haru’s eye widened.

“You’re going to be okay, Haru-chan. I swear,” Makoto said seriously, moving his other hand from the wheel to push a sweaty strand of black hair behind his ear. Haru leaned his cheek against his warm palm and let a single tear slip down his face. He may have lost his job, and the pay that came with it, but this man was worth it—so worth it.

The light turned green, and he focused his eyes back on the road, still holding Haru’s hand.

Notes:

Makoto is like DON'T DISRESPECT MY MAN!
Thanks so much for making it this far! <3

Chapter 12: The Video

Summary:

Sosuke and Rin have to work together to warn Haru and Makoto of impending danger from the police. Meanwhile, Rei and the Siexumeka crew find another leak from the mole within SecuriCorp, adding to the mystery of what the company has planned for its next-generation launch.

Notes:

Hey guys! This is a short one, but I've been having a lot of fun writing Sosuke putting his detective hat on. Enjoy!

Chapter Text

Sosuke was dispatched with the rest of his squad to what he thought was the apartment of a missing college kid, but when he pulled up to the curb of the modest townhouse, he recognized it immediately. It was Haru’s place. He had staked it out a few times when he knew Makoto was there. They even caught up on daily events out on this very curb a few days ago.

Now the apartment was dark, and Haru and Makoto weren’t there. He parked his cruiser and met up with some other officers gathered in a pack in front of the apartment.

“What’s going on here?” he asked.

“Someone kidnapped the Nanase kid again,” an older detective croaked.

“Who is it this time?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. Haru seemed to be causing a lot of trouble lately, whether he meant to or not.

The detective pulled out his phone and opened the facial recognition registry, showing him the photo of the suspect. He tried not to react as he saw Makoto’s face on the screen.

“Nanase was abducted from his parents’ apartment earlier this evening,” the detective continued. “It took some digging, but we have reason to believe they may be heading to this address.”

“Understood,” he said without wavering. “I’ll secure the block.”

He was turning to leave when the detective caught his arm.

“I like you Sosuke, so be careful. This guy is ex-Special Forces. The Nanases said he was armed and dangerous.”

“Right…” Sosuke said carefully knowing full well Makoto was neither of those things.

“If you get a shot, take it,” the detective continued. “We can’t have another incident with the Nanases, or it’ll be my head on a platter.”

Sosuke’s heart fell to his stomach. They wanted him to kill his best friend for this? He couldn’t let them see all the anger and fear he felt. He thanked god that he never talked about his personal life at the office, otherwise he would be on the hit list too.

“Yes, sir,” he said, and the detective finally let him go.

He walked fast down the sidewalk, dipping into an alleyway to pull out his phone.

You need to go dark NOW, He texted. Cops at Haru’s place, said you kidnapped him. They want you dead.

He hoped to god Makoto would get the message, but he was running out of time. Soon people were going to start looking for him. That’s when he made a last-minute decision. He pulled the hot pink stickie note out of his breast pocket and dialed the number.

Rin picked up on the third ring.

“Couldn’t get enough of me today?” he said in a teasing voice. As much as he loved the sound of Rin’s voice on the phone, he didn’t have time for this.

“If Haru were running from the police, where would he go?” He asked.

The line was silent for a beat, Rin contemplating if he should give a cop the answer, but Sosuke must have sounded desperate because Rin whispered, “I’ll send you the address,” and then hung up.

***

Haru, that son of a bitch, was getting on his last nerve. He was always in trouble, and Rin never found out until someone else told him about it later. Damn, that boy had trust issues.

He had no idea why Haru was running from the police, but he figured his parents had something to do with it. The Nanases basically had the cops in their back pocket. Rin had been descending the basement stairs of Siexumeka when Sosuke had called. He knew if Haru was having an emergency, he would come here.

When he stepped down onto the landing, he saw Rei typing furiously on the keyboard, lines of code scrolling past the multiple screens.

“Ugh! We need more time!” Nagisa bemoaned, falling back on the old couch.

“I hate to crash your hacking party, but I think Haru’s in trouble,” Rin said. Five pairs of eyes blinked at him.

“Did his hot boyfriend break up with him?” Kisumi asked, popping up from a beanbag chair.

“Boyfr—what? No!” Rin stammered.

When did Haru get a boyfriend? He’s going to kill him.

“Wait-wait! Guys! Look at this!” Rei said.

An encrypted message blipped on Rei’s screen.

“Is it the mole?” Gou asked, leaning into the screens with the rest of the crew.

“Guys we don’t have time for this! Haru might actually be in real danger and you’re freaking out about some message that doesn’t make sense?” Rei shouted.

“It’s not a message,” Rei said, his hands flying over the keys until a black box popped up on the screen. “It’s a video.”

He hit play and what appeared to be shaky phone footage played on the screen.

***

Sosuke made up an excuse of a fender bender in front of the Siexumeka night club to get away, hoping that he wasn’t too late. Makoto hadn’t responded to his text, and he tried to keep his brain from imaging the worst. He wished that he had never gotten involved in the Nanases’ shit, but it was too late for that now.

He pulled into a dark alleyway behind the club and texted Rin that he was here. Still no sign of Makoto or Haru. After a few minutes, Rin popped his head out of a back door and motioned for him to follow.

He got out of the cruiser and dashed to the door.

“Are they here?” He asked.

Rin shut the door behind them with a clang, their bodies close in the dimly lit staircase. His eyes were concerned.

“No, but you have to come see this,” Rin said.

Rin led him down the stairs to a den where a group of people were crowded around a computer screen. A woman with red hair like Rin’s turned around and balked.

“You brought a cop in here?!” she shouted.

That seemed to get the rest of the group’s attention as two guys dove behind the couch and the guy with glasses in front of the computer screeched, making an effort to hide the mass of papers on his desk as a blond-haired shorter man flipped out a pocketknife.

“I’ll protect you, babe! We’re not going to jail!” he shouted at him.

Rin rolled his eyes.

“Relax guys, he’s with me,” he sighed. “This is Sosuke. Sosuke this is everyone,” he said.

“What is that?” Sosuke asked.

“NOTHING!” Rei shouted, scrambling to cover the screen but hitting the play button in the process.

“No! Don’t do that!”

“Oi calm down Tachibana it’s probably just a training exercise.”

Sosuke’s eyes widened.

“What is this?” he muttered, but he knew full well what it was. He shoved his way to the computer and paused the video.

There was Makoto dressed in his military uniform in the desert, a drone flying overhead. This was a video of how he had almost died.

He let it play out, seeing the drone come back toward them and the camera shaking wildly as they ran and then the blast and the video went black.

“Why do you have this?” he asked, voice shaken.

“We don’t know. Someone leaked it from SecuriCorp,” Rei said.

“Why do they have this, though?” Gou said.

“We don’t know…” Rin murmured, standing shoulder to shoulder with Sosuke. “…yet.”

Chapter 13: The Chase

Summary:

Makoto and Haru end up in a car chase trying to get to safety. Meanwhile, Sosuke and Rin go on a chase of their own.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Haru and Makoto sat in silence in the car for a while on their journey across the city to Siexumeka with Makoto squeezing Haru’s hand in his. He wanted to pretend they were just out for a ride, maybe going out on a dinner date or to the movies, but then Haru rubbed his bruised jaw and sniffled as he cried quietly in the passenger seat.

Part of him wished he had hit Mr. Nanase harder before he got Haru out of there. He never wanted anyone to hurt him like that again.

“We’re almost there,” he soothed, rubbing his thumb against Haru’s knuckles.

Haru wiped the tears away with his blood-stained sleeve.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “Why did I think it was going to go any other way than this?”

“Don’t apologize,” he said, taking his eyes off the road to really look at him.

His head was down, but he still clung to Makoto’s hand like a lifeline, inching himself closer to him in the seat.

“It’s not your fault. No parent should ever treat their kid like that. It doesn’t matter who they are,” Makoto continued.  

Haru nodded slowly, but he could see a new round of tears drop onto his lap. Makoto contemplated pulling over on the busy road to hug Haru in his arms to show he was worthy of love, but something caught his eye in the rearview mirror.

A black SUV crawled through traffic two cars behind him. Was that car there before? How long has it been there? Something didn’t feel right in his gut. Makoto abruptly switched lanes and got into an exit lane.

“Where are we going?” Haru asked.

“I just want to check something,” he said, staring down the car through the mirror. It continued straight in its lane as Makoto exited the highway, and he sighed with relief. He must have been a little paranoid.

They were still in the financial district of the city when Makoto stopped at a traffic light. Black SUVs must have been more common in this area, he thought. The light turned green, and he continued forward.

“What is your family like?” Haru asked quietly.

Makoto smiled to himself thinking of them. He hadn’t visited his hometown of Iwatobi in a while, and he missed it.

“Oh, you know…my family is pretty typical,” he said, but then he realized Haru might not know what a “typical” family was like.

“Maybe after we get you cleaned up, we can go visit,” Makoto blurted. “Mom would love to have you, and she makes great green curry.”

Haru gave him a half-smile.

“That would be nice,” he said, but by the look in his eyes, it was a faraway dream he was unable to reach.

Makoto turned the corner to get back on the highway when he saw the same black SUV turn on the same road from another side street, now directly behind their car. He must have had a look of concern on his face because Haru looked up and asked, “what’s wrong?”

That’s when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket in the specific pattern he assigned to Sosuke’s number. Normally he wouldn’t take out his phone and drive, but something in his gut told him to get the message.

You need to go dark NOW. Cops at Haru’s place said you kidnapped him. They want you dead.

What? Dead?

He looked back at the SUV in the rearview mirror, trying to make out the shadow of the driver in the tinted windows. He made a split-second decision.

Makoto yanked the wheel to the left, crossing two lanes of oncoming traffic onto a side road.

“What the fuck?!” Haru shouted, bracing his arm against the door. It was only then when Makoto let go of his hand.

“We’re being followed.”

Haru turned around in his seat, eyes widening at the sight of the SUV.

“Shit,” he hissed.

“I’m going to try to throw him off,” Makoto said, stamping his foot on the gas. “Hang on!”

Normally, Makoto was an overly careful driver. Sosuke hated it when he drove, often complaining that he drove slower than a 90-year-old grandma. Sosuke should have seen him now, drifting around street corners with a screech of the wheels, weaving in and out of traffic going 30 miles over the speed limit. Yet their pursuer kept catching up.

Motherf—" Makoto cursed as the SUV rounded another turn behind him.

In the corner of his eye, he saw Haru rummaging around the cab before he dislodged his seat’s headrest.

“What are you—?” he started to ask, but Haru was already ahead of him.

He rolled down his window, the wind roaring through the car, stuck his head out a bit, and then threw the headrest at the SUV.

Clearly, the driver hadn’t seen that coming because the headrest crashed into the windshield with a crack, and the SUV swerved, hitting an unlucky car that happened to be in the next lane over. The SUV careened out of control, tires popping with the impact, and then flipped over the other car like a tumbleweed until it landed in a crumpled mass of bent metal on the side of the road.

Haru rolled the window up and sat back in his seat looking victorious. Makoto just stared at him with his jaw on the floor.

“I threw him off for ya,” he said nonchalantly.

Still buzzing with adrenaline, Makoto laughed.

“You really did.” He smiled wide at his partner. “I’m impressed.”

Haru’s face flickered from amusement to fear in a split second.

“Makoto! Look out!” He shouted.

Makoto had just enough time to shift his eyes back on the road to see another black SUV charging toward the driver-side door. He threw an arm across Haru’s chest, knocking him back into the seat and the air out of his lungs as his foot pressed all the way down on the gas. He braced for impact.

The SUV clipped the back corner of their car, jerking them off the road and onto the empty sidewalk.

“Hold on!” Makoto screamed.

His arm braced against Haru coming back to the wheel to spin them into an alleyway. They were so close to the club, but Makoto knew he had to get this guy off his trail if Haru was going to get out of there safely. After whipping around a maze of turns, he could see the neon Siexumeka through a narrow street. Makoto swerved the car, Haru screaming and gripping the center console with both arms. The SUV pivoted into the narrow street sideways, blocking anyone from getting through.

“Get out and run!” he shouted.

Bright headlights shone around the corner of a building. They were coming.

“Makoto,” Haru cried.

“I’m right behind you. Now go!”

Makoto threw his door open and sprinted to the other side of the car. Haru stumbled out and ran down the street toward the red neon light. He was going to make it. They were almost there.

Something cracked in the air, something small but powerful shooting through the air by his head and past Haru. It was a feeling Makoto knew all too well from his time in the military.

“Haru! Get down!” He screamed, diving toward the boy.

There was another loud pop and Makoto felt the bullet slash his neck. He cried out in pain and shock, blood spurting from the wound. He fell to the ground with Haru in his arms.

***

Sosuke heard the gunshots before anyone else. Being in the basement, the sound was just a muffled pop, but he instantly knew what it was.

“I gotta go,” he said, quickly making his way to the stairs.

Rin tore after him.

“What was that? Is that Haru?” he asked, keeping up as he ran up the staircase.

Sosuke hoped it wasn’t, but he knew better than to hope. The scene outside the steel basement door was chaos. A dark figure was shooting a handgun out the window of a black SUV, which was barricaded from getting any closer to the club by another banged-up SUV. Then he saw Haru and Makoto sprinting toward them, dodging bullets on their way.

He saw Makoto dive to protect Haru. He saw him get hit. White-hot rage surged through him as he watched his best friend fall to the ground.

“HARU!” Rin screamed, sprinting toward the two boys limp on the ground.

Sosuke tried to reach for him, but it was too late. This idiot was about to run straight into the line of fire. Sosuke drew his gun from his holster.

“Police! Drop your weapon, NOW!” he barked, but the figure retreated into the car and started to speed away.

“Oh hell no,” Sosuke mumbled, racing to his cruiser and turning on his lights and sirens.

He was going to get that bastard.

Rin, who had been bent over Makoto and Haru, raced to his passenger-side door and flung it open.

“What the fuck Rin?!” Sosuke roared. “Get out of here!”

“No! I’m coming with you to catch that bastard,” he shouted.

Sosuke sighed. He didn’t have time to argue right now. The bad guy was getting away.

“What about Haru?” he asked as he pulled out of the alleyway and through another road leading out to the direction the SUV went.

“They’re both alive. The crew will take care of them,” he said.

Sosuke nodded, hitting the gas when he got onto the main road. The SUV was in his sights now.

“Well, you better buckle the fuck up, and don’t get in my way,” he said.

Rin gave him a sharp-toothed grin.

“Let’s get this guy.”

***

Haru regained consciousness with his ears ringing and something heavy pinning him down. His first instinct was to panic, to scramble away, but then he remembered the gunshots piercing the air and Makoto tackling him to the ground.

Makoto…Where was Makoto?

His eyes tried to open, but they were bleary with tears. Dislodging an arm, he wiped his eyes and then he saw red. Dear god, he was crying blood! But he didn’t feel pain, other than the sensation of something heavy on top of him.

Then his eyes focused. Makoto was on top of him, shielding his head with his broad chest, and he was covered in blood.

“Makoto!” he cried, trying to get the larger man off him.

Makoto took a shuttering breath, and he could hear his heart still beating with his ear so close to his heart.

“Haru…” he mumbled, disoriented.

“Makoto, you’re hurt,” he said desperate to get up and help him.

“No, stay down,” he hissed.

They waited for the screech of wheels fleeing as Sosuke’s police cruiser’s sirens blared. They waited until they heard the sound of running footsteps coming toward them.

“Haru-chan!” Nagisa cried, sliding onto the ground to shake them.

Makoto winced as he rolled off of him, a bloody hand pressing into his neck.

“Nagisa! Don’t run off like that! It’s not safe out here,” Rei said, kneeling down next to him.

“Rei,” Haru panted. “Makoto’s hurt.”

Their eyes turned to Makoto who was struggling to sit up. Haru took hold of his waist and helped him up, letting him lean his weight against his shoulder. Makoto’s breaths were shallow and wheezy, but his body was still strong. Together, they managed to stand up and limp toward the basement entrance as Rei asked Makoto a slew of questions that he was too tired to answer.

They stumbled down the stairs, batting away Kisumi, Asahi, and Gou who crowded them at the entrance. Asahi took one look at their bloody clothes and fainted, which gave the other club members something to occupy themselves while Haru led Makoto into the small bathroom in the back.

Rei followed them in with a makeshift bandage torn out of an old blanket he stole from the couch. They sat Makoto down on the toilet lid as he handed the bandage to Haru, pressing his hand against the pulsing wound on Makoto’s neck.

“I’ll be right back. Keep putting pressure on it,” Rei said, scurrying out of the bathroom to get more supplies.

The small room was silent except for their shuttering breaths. The adrenaline was still coursing through Haru’s veins, and he shook a little as he held Makoto’s neck and jaw in his hands. Haru tried not to think about how intimate this position felt with him standing over Makoto so closely, touching him.

“Are you okay?” Makoto asked in a raspy voice.

Haru huffed.

“Am I okay? You are the one who got shot!” he balked.

Makoto had the audacity to chuckle.

“Sorry. Old habits die hard,” he said. “But seriously, it’s just a scratch.”

Haru wanted to make a witty comment back, but one look into Makoto’s soft green eyes left him helpless. He looked down as a blush rose on his cheeks. He took a wet cloth Rei had left on the sink and started gently wiping the blood off of Makoto’s face.

“You really scared me,” he mumbled as he smoothed the cloth over his cheek.

Makoto’s features softened into an endearing look, leaning into his hand. No one ever looked at him that way before, and it made Haru’s insides turn to putty.

“I’m okay, Haru-chan,” he whispered, reaching to hug his hands around his waist to pull him closer.

Haru blushed harder at Makoto’s use of the nickname. As he pressed the cloth to Makoto’s neck, he caressed his sturdy jaw with his thumbs. Somehow touching Makoto like this was both calming and exhilarating. Either way, it was better than feeling fear.

“Makoto…” he murmured.

He wasn’t very good with words, but he wanted to convey how he felt to this incredible, selfless, and stubbornly charming man before him. Makoto looked up at him with a smile, reading the expression on his face like he just knew. He understood him, which is something Haru couldn’t say about anyone before. Haru smiled back, feeling Makoto’s hands smooth soothing circles on his back.

Haru didn’t think. His body automatically drew closer to Makoto’s as he leaned down and kissed Makoto’s awaiting lips. He closed his eyes and let go, reveling in the sensation of having Makoto’s lips fit perfectly on his. His lips tasted like copper from the blood but gave way to something sweeter like caramel and vanilla bean coffee. He wanted those lips everywhere all the time.

Makoto couldn’t move, so Haru tilted his head more to deepen the kiss, letting Makoto’s tongue explore his mouth. He let out a tiny moan and didn’t even feel embarrassed about it as Makoto’s hands moved everywhere, smoothing over the wide plane of his back and sliding down to frame his trim waist and hips. He didn’t go any farther than that, and in his heated state, Haru wished he would have.

They parted for a moment, breaths shuttering for a different reason now.   

“You’re incredible,” Makoto breathed, closing the space between them again for a sweet kiss.

Haru’s first instinct was to dispute that, but the look in his eyes had really made him believe it. He felt incredible in Makoto’s arms. He ran his nimble fingers through Makoto’s sandy brown hair, loving how the texture tangled with his hand. He kissed his temple and felt his eyelashes flutter against his cheek, something he didn’t know would be so attractive.

“You saved me,” Haru whispered, and Makoto knew he wasn’t just talking about his bodyguarding duties.

He moved in for another kiss, but it was cut short by Rei throwing open the door.

“Don’t worry! I have gathered the materials for—oh.” He stopped in his tracks.

Haru reluctantly broke this kiss and stood up to full height. Makoto’s neck felt hot in his hands, and he gave him a small smirk before looking at a shocked and flustered Rei in the doorway.

Rei cleared his throat.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but we should dress Makoto’s wounds now before they get infected,” he said.

“Of course,” Haru said. “Do what you need to do.”

Before he stepped aside to let Rei work, Makoto smiled up at him and winked. This man was going to be the end of him.

Wounds to the neck and head always looked worse than they were, which Haru had unfortunately come to know from growing up in an abusive household, but the sight of the blood-soaked cloth he had pressed to Makoto’s neck scared him. He could have lost Makoto today, and he never wanted to lose him.

Haru cupped Makoto’s hand in his.

“Squeeze if it hurts,” he said. Makoto smiled wearily.

As Rei sanitized the wound, Makoto squeezed a little, but not enough to hurt Haru’s hands. Even wounded, Makoto was trying to protect him.

Rei wrapped his wound up quickly, creating a sort of neck brace with bandages while Haru stood off to the side, still holding Makoto’s hand.

“That should do it,” Rei said. “The bleeding has already slowed down. Just try not to do anything to irritate it.” Rei glanced at Haru, making him blush against his will.

Sure, he wanted to do so many things with Makoto (or to Makoto) now, but that could wait. It didn’t change the fact that they were in the middle of a crisis.

“Thank you, Rei,” Makoto said, voice still raspy as Rei nodded and left them alone once again.

Haru took his other hand and helped him up to standing. Makoto swayed a little as he stood up, probably dizzy from the blood loss.

“Take it easy,” Haru said, anchoring his arm on Makoto’s waist.  

Makoto leaned his head on his shoulder and sighed.

“What are we gonna do now Haru-chan?” he groaned.

Haru folded him into his arms.

“What we can,” he murmured, giving him a short peck on the cheek.

***

Rin felt like he was flying in that police cruiser. He knew that this was probably super crazy and stupid, but he wanted to catch the guy who tried to kill his best friend. He wanted to throw his fist in their stupid face and break something.

Sosuke drove the car at blinding speeds, catching up to the SUV in no time. He rammed the car into the back of the SUV with a jolt and flung it forward, wheels smoking with struggle as the SUV tried to get out of Sosuke’s grip. But the cruiser was stronger with its fortified bumpers and tank-like body. Sosuke rammed the SUV straight into a light pole.

The SUV wrapped around the pole, a circle of bent metal and broken glass. The engine smoked and then caught fire.

Sosuke unhooked his seatbelt and rushed out the door with his gun drawn.

“Stay here,” he said.

Rin was never good at doing what he was told. After Sosuke was out of sight, he got out of the car, legs shaking with adrenaline. A man with a deep gash across his bald head fell out of the SUV and crawled across the pavement covered in broken glass before collapsing on his back. Rin inched toward him as Sosuke pointed his gun at him.

“Who are you?” he barked.

No response.

“Answer the question, dickhead!” Rin shouted.

Sosuke gave him a side-eye but then turned his attention back to the man on the ground. He then turned on his radio.

“We need a medic here,” he mumbled into the speaker.

“Don’t bother,” the man coughed. “My life is over.”

“Tell me who you work for, then,” Sosuke said.

The man coughed again, blood gurgling from his mouth. He stared blankly at the city sky devoid of stars. Rin thought of how this must be the shittiest way to die and suddenly felt grateful he wasn’t able to kill Haru or Makoto like this.

Rin and Sosuke knelt down beside the man, seeing that he could barely move or make a threat. The man let out one last shuttering breath, not before uttering a name.

“Nanase.”

Notes:

Look out! Things are about to get ~spicy~

Chapter 14: Here and Now

Summary:

Haru and Makoto realize they don't have much time left.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

When they emerged from the bathroom, everyone was making an effort not to look him in the eye. Makoto’s face reddened. He felt like he and Haru had been caught in the act, but something told him that wasn’t the whole story. Haru gripped his arm tighter beside him, and he suddenly felt dizzy.

Haru led him to the old ratty couch and sat him down.

“Are you guys okay?” Nagisa asked, unusually sullen.

Makoto rubbed the bandages on his neck absentmindedly.

“I’m fine,” he said.

He looked to Haru, whose mouth pressed into a thin line.

“What’s going on, Haru? Why are people shooting at you?” Asahi asked.

Makoto didn’t know how Haru was going to explain all this without revealing his true identity—and his. He looked from Haru to his friends and then back to Haru. He didn’t want to keep any more secrets, but the same couldn’t necessarily be said about Haru. Who knows how long he had been living this double life?

“I—” he stuttered. He had a captivated audience now.

Haru turned his eyes to Makoto, who smiled at him as supportively as he could with his neck throbbing.

Haru sighed as if resigning to his fate.

“You deserve to know,” he said quietly.  “My real name is Haruka Nanase. My father is the CEO of SecuriCorp, and I’m pretty sure he’s trying to kill me.”

The room was silent for a moment, but it didn’t last.

“WHAT?!” the crew exclaimed all at once.

“I hope this doesn’t change how you think of me,” Haru continued. “But believe me when I say I want nothing to do with my family or their company.”

Rei pushed his glasses up. “If that’s so, are you the mole?”

Haru shook his head.

“So, you don’t know anything about the video,” Gou said.

Haru glanced at Makoto again with a look of concern.

“What video?” he asked.  

The room was silent again as if no one knew how to respond. Makoto had never seen the group so quiet, which was unsettling. Rei slowly spun around in his office chair and hit the space bar. Within two seconds, Makoto was on his feet.

“Oi calm down Tachibana, it’s probably just a training exercise.”

Makoto’s brain scrambled as he watched himself on screen running from the black drone in the sky before the explosion cut the video off. He watched his comrades die again. Suddenly he couldn’t feel his legs, the world spinning around him, his heart hammering in his chest and in his head. He sank to the floor, not even noticing that Haru had caught him before he fell too hard.

Haru was shouting at Rei, but he couldn’t hear what was happening. All he could think of is the flash-bang of the missile coming toward him over and over. Maybe Haru was right. He wasn’t okay. He was never okay. Maybe he will never be okay again.

***

Haru was livid.

“What the fuck kind of sick joke is this?!” he shouted with his arms still looped under Makoto’s armpits so he wouldn’t pass out.

Makoto had turned so white, his face looking almost transparent. His eyes were wide with terror like they had been when he woke up from that nightmare.

“Haru-chan, calm down,” Nagisa pleaded as Rei flinched in his chair.

Haru knew that none of this was their fault, that they didn’t know this was the source of Makoto’s trauma, but he couldn’t contain his rage any longer.

“Don’t play that shit in front of him!” he hissed.

“You mean he’s—Makoto’s the one in the video?” Rei asked.

Everyone crowded around the screen and squinted at the picture. Even under all the military gear, Makoto’s figure was unmistakable.

“Oh, shit,” Asahi mumbled.

Kisumi knelt down at Makoto’s level and put a hand on his shoulder. Haru nearly growled, suddenly protective and not wanting anyone but him to touch him. Kisumi retracted his hand.

“Is there anything we can do?” he asked.

Makoto let out a shaky breath.  

“Play it again,” he mumbled.

“No, we’re not doing this...” Haru hissed.

“Play it. Again,” Makoto said more forcefully, picking himself up from the floor and walking toward the computer.

Everyone stepped aside. Even Rei vacated his computer chair.

Makoto scrubbed through the footage and pressed play again. It was the part where the drone dipped down toward the camera with a deafening metallic roar. He stopped the footage, rewound it, and played it again.

“What are you looking for?” Haru asked, coming up behind him with a comforting hand on his back.

Makoto’s eyes were focused, his whole body closed off to everything except for the computer screen.

He rewound the footage again. The whole crew was crowded around them now. The video played, the drone roared, and before it sped off-screen, Makoto hit pause.

“There!” he said pointing at the screen.

Haru couldn’t see it at first, but once he did his heart dropped into his stomach. There, on the blurry, grainy screen, was the NextGen logo on the drone’s underbelly. His family’s company was behind the attack. Haru felt sick.

“But why?” Kisumi asked.

Everyone else was silent, a feeling of dread filling the room.

“It was a suicide mission,” Makoto mumbled, sinking into the chair. “They sent us into the desert to die…so that they could test their weapons.”

“Jesus…” Asahi mumbled.

“We knew SecuriCorp was bad, but this is just evil,” Nagisa said.

Haru’s hands were clenched in bloody fists.

“I’m gonna destroy it,” he growled.

Everyone was now staring at him. No one, except for Rin, had ever seen him this angry.

“I’m going to burn SecuriCorp to the fucking ground.”  

The room was silent once again, but once everyone got over the shock, Rei pushed his glasses back up.

“If you’re going to do that, we need to come up with a plan.”

***

Makoto let the cool spray of the shower calm his mind. Everything had happened so fast, and he was only now coming out of his shock.

Gou had taken them to a secret little apartment above the nightclub. She said her father purchased it before he died years ago before the facial recognition registry, and thus it didn’t exist in the record. They were safe here for now.

He stared at the bloody water running at his feet until it ran clear. With all that had happened in the last hour, he was surprised there was anything left in his body at all. His neck was sore, but the surgical glue Rei had used to keep the wound closed was working. He turned off the spray and dried himself with a dingy towel leftover from who knows how long. He didn’t care. He needed to get out from inside his head. He needed Haru.

Makoto entered the small bedroom with the towel wrapped around his waist. Haru was sitting on the bed in his boxers and an old sweatshirt Nagisa had found in his backpack. He was staring at their bloody clothes discarded in a dirty pile in the corner of the room.

“I have to do this,” Haru said without looking at him.

Makoto had been too in shock to object Haru’s plan to destroy the company. Haru wanted to give himself up to his parents, help Rei hack the company’s files, and leak it to the press in time for the Expo. The plan was risky, and he wasn’t sure if the Nanases would take him back at this point. There was an overwhelming chance that Haru was walking into his own prison, or worse, grave.

“No, you don’t,” Makoto said more forcefully than he intended. “You’ve spent your entire life forced to choose from a gambit of shitty choices. I’m not going to let you do this for my sake.”

“Makoto…” Haru looked at him then. His blue eyes were tired but full of resolve. He had accepted his fate, but Makoto wouldn’t have it.

He sat next to Haru on the bed and took his hands in his.

“You deserve better than this. You deserve to be free,” he said softly.

Haru sighed and squeezed his hands.

“If you want me to be free, then let me go,” he whispered.

That pained Makoto’s heart more than any physical wound could. He leaned down and pressed his forehead to Haru’s and closed his eyes. His hair was soft but matted down with sweat. He smelled like blood but also of chlorine and the body wash he used back at his apartment. Something told him that he needed to soak up as much of this man as possible, that their time together was ending.

“I can’t protect you anymore,” Makoto breathed, his voice cracking.

He felt Haru’s hands leave his and caress his cheeks. Makoto opened his eyes to see the most beautiful shade of blue he’d ever know and Haru’s small lopsided smile.

“After this, you won’t need to,” he said.

Makoto crashed his lips to Haru’s in a final plea for him to stay, but he was stubborn, and they both knew the argument was over. Makoto let himself melt into the kiss as Haru’s cool hands soothed his hot skin. He needed him everywhere. All at once.

As if he would read his mind, Haru straddled his hips, so they were eye level and kissed Makoto deeply, rocking his hips into him slowly. He moaned into his mouth, running his hands down his sides and under his sweatshirt. The towel did nothing to hide his arousal, which seemed to encourage Haru to get more handsy, feeling the defined muscles on his chest.

“I want you,” Haru murmured against his lips, and the raw need in his voice sent sparks flying up Makoto’s spine.

Makoto broke the kiss, catching his breath.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

Haru nodded, then kissed his temple.

“I want Makoto inside me” he whispered hotly in his ear.

Fuck, Makoto thought. That was hot.

Haru laughed—like, actually laughed. He must have accidentally said that out loud.

Makoto couldn’t help but smile. He leaned back on the bed, taking Haru with him. Their lips met again, but this time Haru slipped his tongue in his mouth, the taste of him intoxicating. He hiked his sweatshirt up until he pulled it over his head. Haru looked down at him with a blush that had crept all the way down to his pale chest.

“You’re so beautiful,” Makoto beamed, making him blush harder.

“Shut up,” Haru mumbled before kissing him again.

Sometime between kisses, Haru had snuck his thigh in between his legs, grinding his own arousal against the loosening towel. Makoto groaned at the friction, rolling his hips up into him. The sensation wasn’t nearly enough, but he didn’t want to rush anything.

He tried not to think about how long it had been since he had last gotten laid, but this was different. This was Haru. He wanted this to last because he got the sinking feeling that this was going to be their last time together.

Makoto’s hands had landed on Haru’s hips just above the waistband of his boxers. Haru pulled away and fiddled with the loosening knot in his towel.

“Do you want this off?” he asked.

He bit his lip and nodded so fast he nearly got dizzy. Haru smirked and pulled the towel away and proceeded to stare at his dick with eyes the size of dinner plates.

“Don’t stare at it!” Makoto cried.

Haru snapped out of it and looked back up at him.

“Sorry, I can’t help it,” he said, tugging off his boxers nonchalantly as if Makoto wasn’t blushing so hard his head might explode.

Something snapped inside him at the sight of Haru’s naked body. He wanted to claim him—to make him his. He grabbed Haru’s trim waist and flipped them over, thrusting his lover into the bed as he mashed their lips together. Haru let out a low moan as they ground against each other in a messy rhythm. Haru pulled his hair as Makoto fucked his mouth with his tongue.

He moaned into his lips, trailing wet kisses to his jawline and down the pale column of his neck. Haru gasped a little when he scraped his teeth against his delicate collarbone, still bruised from his father’s bourbon glass. He moved on to his chest, loving how Haru’s heart raced under his lips, goosebumps rising every place he touched. He swirled his tongue around a nipple and smiled as he drew out a soft moan from Haru’s lips. So, he was sensitive there…

“O-oh my god! Makoto!” he rasped.

“Do you want me to stop?” he smirked.

“I want you to kiss me,” Haru said, pulling his hair again.

Makoto chuckled and gladly did what he was told. He liked how bossy Haru was in bed.

After some more fumbling and fondling, they found a small bottle of lube and some condoms in the bedside table. He didn’t want to know why they were there or who put them there. He was too focused on pulling Haru’s nerves apart from the inside with his fingers.

“Makoto, please,” Haru panted as he thrust his fingers in and out of him lazily. “Please fuck me.”

Makoto smiled down at him and kissed him gently.

“Okay, Haru-chan,” he murmured.

“Drop the -cha—oh my god,” he moaned as he replaced his fingers with his dick.

He was so hard. So painfully hard, but he curbed the urge to start pounding into Haru with abandon to let him adjust.

“You okay?” he murmured.

“You’re so…big,” Haru moaned, making him blush to the roots of his hair.

“Haruuuu,” he groaned, hiding his face in his lover’s neck.

Haru responded with a tiny giggle. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard.

They spent a while locked together, Makoto slowly pushing deeper and deeper into him, feeling Haru’s walls pulse around him. He knew he wasn’t going to last long, but he wanted Haru to feel as good as he felt.

“You can move now,” Haru whispered into his hair.

He rocked back a bit and thrust forward, pushing Haru’s legs against his chest for more access. Haru let out a choked cry, toes curling as he arched his back off the bed.

“Fuck!”

“Sorry! Did I hurt you?” Makoto panicked.

“No,” Haru grunted. “Shit—Do that again.”

He thrust harder and deeper, trying to hit the same spot as before, but it was hard to concentrate. Haru’s cock was pink and leaking on his stomach and their skin slid together with an erotic slap. He reached a hand in between their bodies and stroked Haru’s cock to the rhythm of his thrusts, loving how his mouth gaped open in a silent cry as he massaged the tip with his thumb.

“Oh my god. Makoto,” Haru moaned with his back arched. “I’m close.”

Their lips crashed together, breathing each other’s air as they desperately chased their release. Haru hooked his legs around his back and clenched so that there was no more space left between them. He felt his dick swell against his tight walls.

“Ugh, Haruka,” he sighed, realizing too late that he had called Haru by the name he hated.

He was just about to apologize when Haru captured his lips again, biting his lower lip.

“Say it again,” he moaned against him, nails scraping his back.

“Haruka,” Makoto murmured as he kissed him. “Shit, I’m close.”

His thrusts came faster and harder and more erratic, now pulling all the way out and slamming back in, rocking together in an intoxicating rhythm. Haru was becoming more vocal, moaning loudly into his ear as Makoto pumped his cock faster.

“Don’t stop, don’t stop,” Haru cried breathlessly, canting his hips harder against him in time with Makoto’s deep thrusts.

Makoto felt like he was about to die in the best way possible.

Haruka,” he moaned, thrusting in him so hard that he nearly bent him in half.

Haru cried his name as he came in his hand.

Watching Haru orgasm was probably the most arousing thing he had ever seen—how his eyes rolled back and closed, his black hair splayed against the pillow in all directions, how he went slack-jawed, and his neck bent back, limbs shaking with pleasure. The sight was enough to send Makoto over the edge, coming harder than he ever had before, buried deep in Haru.

They worked each other through their climax before collapsing into a sweaty heap on the bed. Makoto slowly pulled out and rolled on his side next to Haru, who was staring at the ceiling like a UFO had just crashed through and beamed him up.

“You okay, Haruka?” he chuckled softly, caressing a pretty arm.

“If I had known the sex would be that good, I would have jumped you a week ago,” he mumbled.

Makoto laughed and Haru rolled on his side to face him. They shared a slow, lethargic kiss.

“I wish I hadn’t run away when you tried to kiss me in your studio,” he murmured.

Haru ran his fingers against his bandaged neck, up his jaw and to his cheek. He brushed a stray hair out of his eyes, which made Makoto very drowsy.

“Well, we’re here now,” he said soothingly, giving him a sweet kiss.

Makoto smiled sadly. Here and now was all they had.

Notes:

Get ready for the grand finale! I can't believe this fic has gone this far. Kudos if you've stuck with me lol

Chapter 15: Burn

Summary:

The grand finale! Haru tries to free himself from the clutches of his parents once and for all.

Notes:

It's here, and it's a long one. I hope you enjoy the finale of HTSAK!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Haru sat quietly in a chair in his father’s office as the makeup artist covered his bruises with a thick layer of foundation—the bruises his father gave him.

“Give him some more color on his cheeks,” his father ordered. “He needs to look lively for TV.”

The woman bowed and aggressively brushed his face with a rouged makeup brush. Haru wondered if she was now going to make him look like a clown—a deeply unhappy, sleep-deprived, injured clown. He had the urge to say something snarky to his father, but he had to keep the act going. He had to be the quiet and obedient son his father wanted him to be right now. He had surrendered.

Haru had shown up at the office at 6 am still in his bloody clothes. His eyes were red and wet from staying up all night with Makoto, neither of them wanting to let go of one another as they said their goodbyes. He had silently cried the whole way there, and he used it to his advantage. Haru didn’t like manipulating people, but he was playing his parent’s game now, and now it was necessary.

He limped up the steps of the glass tower and pushed through the revolving door. The security guard glanced up from his newspaper and flinched. Haru knew he looked terrible, but the uncontrollable sobbing was the icing on the cake.

“I want my m-mo-o-m,” he warbled.

The security guard scrambled, caught off guard from seeing a grown man cry, and dialed the emergency line for the executive office. It was humiliating, but it got their attention.

Miho rushed down to collect him a few minutes later, taking him up to the belly of the beast. Now his father was spoon-feeding him answers to soft-ball interview questions he had pre-approved from the press that he was expected to gleefully regurgitate during the NextGen launch. He could hardly stand it knowing what he now knew about the company, but the only thing getting him through this was knowing all this would soon be over.

Rei had given him a thumb drive containing a virus that could scramble the company’s firewall. According to Rei, all he had to do was get down to the basement where the servers were located and stick it in some computer there. Rei said he would do the rest. It sounded easy enough, but after his escape and car chase last night, his father wasn’t going to let him out of his sight. To make matters worse, he took his phone away and any chance of contacting his friends or Makoto with it. He was going to have to think creatively if he was going to start the hack in time.

The makeup artist finished powdering his face, and with a nod of approval from his father, the woman left silently, leaving him alone in the office with him. He willed himself not to squirm uncomfortably in his seat.

“You see, Haruka? You don’t have to make things difficult for yourself anymore,” he was saying from behind his massive glass desk. “After today, we will be royalty.”

He nodded. Staying silent seemed like the best option.

They left the penthouse office and went down a few levels to where the other lesser executives worked. When they got off the elevator, they were met with a thunderous applause from his father’s lackeys. He paraded Haru around the office, introducing him to faceless, spineless businessmen. All the attention made Haru uncomfortable, but he had to wait for the right moment to break away. He waited until his father struck up a lengthy conversation with a member of the board to excuse himself to go to the restroom.

Just as he was about to leave, his father gripped his arm tighter than necessary, making Haru freeze in terror. He called over his assistant, a short, stout man who sweat a lot under his suit.

“Show Haruka where the restrooms are, will you?” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

“Y-yes sir,” the man stuttered.

It was only then his father let go of him.

Fuck. How am I supposed to get rid of this guy? Haru thought as they walked down the sterile office hallways toward the men’s room. He thought that maybe he could sneak away once the assistant dropped him off there, but he stayed posted outside the door. Damn it.

He didn’t have time for this. He had to think fast. Locking himself in a stall, Haru thought of his options. There were no windows to escape out of or any grates he could crawl through. He needed a distraction. He glanced at the toilet and got an idea—a humiliating one at that.

He started unraveling an entire roll of toilet paper and dropped it in the toilet bowl and then unrolled another and another and another. Once he was sure the toilet was clogged, he flushed—five times. Water overflowed all over the floor onto his shiny black shoes. Gross, but the entire bathroom was now flooded. He smiled at the chaos he had caused on his father’s shiny executive bathroom.

He poked his head out of the room, and the assistant was still there.

“Um, I’m so sorry, but I’ve had a bit of an accident…” Haru said bashfully.

“What kind of accident?” he asked, pushing through the bathroom door and immediately stepping into a puddle of toilet water.

Haru had turned the toilet into a water feature, and he was kind of proud of it.

“Oh god! Oh no!” the man stuttered, pulling his thinning hair out at the sight of the toilet fountain.

“What do we do?” Haru gasped in fake terror. “Please don’t tell my father! Oh, this is so embarrassing. I knew I shouldn’t have eaten that burrito last night…”

The man gagged but quickly recovered.

“Okay, here’s what we’re gonna do. You stay here and lock the door, so no one comes in here. I’ll get ahold of maintenance,” he said already pushing his way out of the room. “Sit tight. I’ll be right back!”

Haru smirked at his trickery. He waited a few seconds before bursting out of the room toward the emergency exit staircase. He went down several floors before getting off and taking the elevator the rest of the way down to the server room.

The room was dark and silent except for the humming of machines. He weaved his way through giant stacks of blinking towers of servers before he spotted a computer at the end of the room. Bingo.

The screen asked for a password, but Haru ignored it, fishing the thumb drive out of his pocket and sticking it in the back of the computer. A loading screen popped up and then some lines of gibberish code. It was working! It was almost over.

“It’s insulting, really, how you think you can fool me,” a voice echoed.

Haru spun around. His father was there flanked by two burly security guards with guns strapped to their hips. His heart dropped to his stomach.

“You think I don’t know my own son?” His father said looking almost amused as he strode toward him.

Haru sank back against the computer.

“No, you don’t know me at all,” he said. “You never tried.”

His father barked a laugh with no humor behind it.

“I’ve done good by you. I gave you everything! And this is how you show your appreciation? By betraying me? Your own flesh and blood?” he roared.

Haru willed himself to stand up straighter and hold his ground.

“This company has hurt a lot of people. It needs to be stopped,” he said.

His father’s eyes darkened, a deep frown setting into his face.

“You are a stain on our family name—a stain that needs to be scrubbed out,” he growled.

The security guards snatched his arms. Haru fought back, but he was too weak to fight both of them.

“Let me go!” he shouted as they dragged him away.

They wrestled him into a small concrete room full of screens, supposedly where security watched the live feed from the security cameras around the building. They forced him to sit down in a chair and held him there by his shoulders. His father leaned against the control table and glared down at him in disgust.

“Do you know what happens to anyone who crosses the most powerful man in the world?” He asked ominously.

He pressed a button on the control panel and all the screens went black except for one. Haru thought he was going to be sick. There on the screen was Makoto gagged and tied to a chair in a dark room.

“No!” Haru cried.

Makoto was frantically trying to break free from the rope but a guy in a ski mask shoved a lit taser into his abdomen. Makoto writhed in pain and let out a muffled scream before slumping in the chair, eerily still. Haru’s eyes filled with tears as he struggled against the security guards’ hands. His father smiled wickedly down at him.

“People get hurt.”

***

Makoto regained consciousness to the smell of charred skin. Whatever taser gun the kidnappers hit him with had burned through his shirt and left a large red welt on his side. The wound burned, but he willed himself to be calm. He had gone through training on how to be a prisoner of war back in the military, but he never thought he would ever use this knowledge as a civilian.

Even while tied to a chair surrounded by men in masks with guns, Makoto found himself more worried about Haru than his own safety. He knew he shouldn’t have let Haru go back there. His parents were murderers, and now he could be next.

He thought back to when he dropped Haru off a few blocks from the SecuriCorp offices that morning. At first, Haru didn’t want him to go, but Makoto insisted on seeing him off. They had pulled up to the curb in Kisumi’s car, Haru’s hand gripped tight in his. He looked at him then. Haru’s eyes were sad and anxious, probably going through the hacking steps Rei had given him over and over.

“Haru…look at me,” he murmured.

Haru did and said, “If I don’t make it out…”

“What? No! You’re going to make it, Haru-chan,” Makoto interrupted.

He couldn’t think about losing Haru. He needed Haru to be okay.

“But in the very real chance I don’t, just… shit,” Haru cursed, scrubbing a shaking hand over his forehead. “I’m no good at this.”

Makoto leaned in and kissed him, and Haru kissed back fiercely. He tried to make himself believe that this wasn’t going to be their last kiss.

“It’s going to be okay. I promise,” Makoto said more to himself than Haru.

Haru gave him a slight crooked smile.

“How are you so optimistic all the time?” he asked almost humorously.

Makoto chuckled softly, “It’s a gift.”

Haru had his hand on the doorhandle, letting out a steadying breath before going outside.

“I’ll see you soon, okay?” Makoto said, cupping his cheek in his hand.

Haru nodded. He gave him one last lingering kiss before opening the car door and disappearing into the early morning darkness.

As he watched him go, Makoto was genuinely optimistic about getting Haru back by the end of the day, but as he started to drive away, his hopes were crushed. Before he even reached the end of the block, he saw blinking police lights in his rearview mirror.

Makoto’s heart dropped, and he contemplated whether he should make a run for it, but a part of him still held onto hope. Maybe they were just stopping him for a parking violation, maybe they didn’t know who he was and that he was wanted by the police. He pulled over, but his optimism turned out to be a curse.

Two policemen piled out of the car with their guns drawn.

“Come out with your hands behind your head!” one shouted as another police cruiser pulled up in front of him, blocking his escape.

Soon half a dozen policemen had their guns trained on his head as he stepped slowly out of the car. Maybe they would understand if he could just explain the situation, but no one was interested in what he had to say. He was handcuffed and a paper bag thrown over his head. Someone shoved him into the back of a cop car, and they sped away, not to the police station, but what Makoto assumed to be some sort of warehouse from his limited vision. When the paper bag was yanked off his head, the police were gone, and a dozen men in ski masks had their guns pointed at him.

Now he was here, tied to a chair over his handcuffs, no hope in making an escape.

As he stared at the concrete floor, some shiny black shoes came into his view. He looked up to see a finely dressed man. He looked like a mob boss from the Roaring ’20s. There was no doubt that he was in the Nanases’ pockets.

“Lieutenant Tachibana,” he said. “You’ve been causing more than your fair share of trouble.”

Makoto grunted and struggled in his chair. No one had called him Lieutenant in a long time—not since the drone incident. His body went cold. These people knew who he was. They knew he was the sole survivor of the attack, and he knew who was behind it. There was no way he would be allowed to live with the knowledge he had.

“It’s a shame that missile didn’t kill you,” the mobster sighed. “It would have made our jobs a lot easier—cleaner.”

He nodded to one of the goons and he hit him with the taser again. Pain shot through his entire body, convulsing uncontrollably trying to escape it. He screamed but he couldn’t hear himself over his ears ringing.

“Consider yourself lucky. The boss doesn’t want you dead…yet”

***

Rin and the Siexumeka crew huddled around Rei’s computer as he typed in random codes.

“When I worked for SecuriCorp, we put everything on a closed-loop—office computers, emails, security cameras, basically anything with an internet connection,” Rei said as he typed. “All we need to do is break into the loop, and we will have everything.”

He had to admit, the plan was pretty smart, but he wasn’t surprised that Haru was enough of a dumbass to waltz right back into that place and go through with this. When he got back, he was going to have a stern talk with that guy. Haru had been getting into so much trouble lately that it seemed borderline suicidal.

Asahi and Kisumi sat together on the couch and turned the TV to the news channel live streaming the Tech Expo. Right now, it showed an empty podium as the news anchors talked about how Haru’s father was going to make a “revolutionary announcement.” Rin smiled to himself. It was going to be revolutionary alright.

It was then when Rei’s screen started blinking, and a loading screen popped up.

“Signal detected!” Nagisa read excitedly.

“Haru’s doing it!” Asahi shouted with a fist pump.

“That son of a bitch,” Rin mumbled with a sharp-tooth grin.

Everyone was focused on the progress bar, slowly crawling across the screen. But the celebrations were short-lived. Just as the progress bar reached 75 percent, it stopped and was replaced by “signal disconnected” in large letters.

“What happened?” Gou asked biting her nails.

“I-I don’t know,” Rei said as he typed. “We got cut off.”

“What does this mean? Did the system kick you out?” Rin asked.

“That can’t be it. The program was working the way it should. It’s as if someone took the thumb drive out before the process was complete,” Rei said, typing some more.

“Do you think Haru is okay?” Gou asked.

“Oh shit!” Nagisa cried. “Someone caught him, didn’t they Rei-chan?”

Even though Rei wasn’t facing him, Rin knew from how his shoulders slumped that this was likely the case.

“So that’s it? We can’t do anything?” Rin said, frustrated.

“Not necessarily…” Rei focused again and typed some more.

“We may not have access to the company’s files, but we got just enough connectivity to hack the security cameras.”

Nagisa jumped in the air.

“Rei you’re a genius!”

Rin leaned over Rei’s shoulder, staring at the code with determination.

“Then we can see what happened to Haru.”

***

“Stop! Please!” Haru cried as he watched Makoto writhe in pain under the taser gun.

“You have me now, so just let him go!”

Tears streamed down his face as he sobbed, but his father was not moved.

“You know I can’t do that, Haruka,” he said.

“Please…I’ll do what you ask. I’ll run the company like you wanted. I’ll do whatever you want me to do for the rest of my life. Just let Makoto go,” Haru rambled.

He had the audacity to laugh.

“Who knew that all I needed to do to get you to comply was send some boy,” he said. “It’s pathetic, really.”

One of the kidnappers on-screen kicked Makoto in the stomach, sending his chair falling backward onto his arm. His shoulder hit the concrete with a crack, and it bent grotesquely out of shape.

“Please…” he whispered.

“You know all of this could have been avoided if you had just come willingly, but no. I had to send some gang scum to put the fear of God in you,” his father said, aggressively pointing at him.

“You were behind the kidnapping?”

“You really do make things difficult for me. If Tachibana had actually done his job correctly, I wouldn’t have had to send those hired guns after you. It’s a shame Tachibana made it out alive. He was on borrowed time anyway.”

Haru struggled in his chair.

“You set us up!” he raged. “And for what? So you can launch more drones and blow up more soldiers from our own country?! Why?!”

He waved Haru off as if killing soldiers was nothing.

“We needed to test the technology on someone. Besides, soldiers get lost in the desert all the time. If it hadn’t been for Tachibana, we would have had clean results.”

Haru’s hands balled into tight fists, his jaw clenching so hard it hurt his teeth. For the first time in his life, he really wanted to hurt someone—make his father hurt the way he hurt his entire life. He would deserve it.

“You’re a murderer!" Haru growled. "Have you ever thought that you are on the wrong side? ”

“Ah, Haruka,” he sighed. “You will soon learn that there are no sides. If you think about it, we are on all sides. War sells, and soon everyone will be using our technology on each other. It’s a cycle that never ends and makes us incredibly powerful.”

“You disgust me,” Haru spat. “For as long as I live, I will never respect you or your family name. I will never be your son.”

He walked past him and the security guards toward the door.

“Save that energy for the stage,” he said, too close to his face for comfort.

A knock came on the door, and his father opened it. It was nervous assistant man Haru had fooled earlier.

“Sir, ten minutes until curtain call,” he said.

“Excellent,” he said, clapping his hands together. “Oh, and get someone to fix Haruka’s face. He messed up his makeup already.”

The assistant bowed and scurried away. Security yanked him up by his armpits and dragged him toward the door. He made no effort to move, letting the men hoist him down the hall toward the elevator. His father stepped inside the doors and faced him with a dark expression on his face.

“Now if you want your little boyfriend to keep all of his limbs, I suggest you get on this elevator,” he said.

Haru bit his lip and stood up straight, bowing his head as he stepped onto the elevator with security still by his sides.

“See! That wasn’t so hard,” his father said, oozing sarcasm.

“I hate you,” Haru clipped.

The CEO hummed, “That’s good. Hate is the thing that really drives people. It’s love that kills you.”

They pushed him through the building until they were backstage at the Expo in the large conference hall. His mother was there examining her blood-red nails with Miho keeping her head down in the background. There was no way she could get him out of this situation.

“Haruka,” his mother cooed. “So glad you could make it.”

Security disposed of him next to his mother. He didn’t look at her.

“How does it feel to be complacent in murder?” he rebuked.

She immediately stopped her lovey-dovey act.

“Just read the script,” she said harshly before the announcer called for the CEO and his wife.

His parents come on stage with thunderous applause and cameras flashing. Together, they looked like a billionaire model couple. Haru was still seething and didn’t hear him being introduced until one of the stagehands pushed him out into the open. The lights were blinding, and at least a dozen news cameras were pointed at him from every angle. He needed to do this for Makoto, but he was terrified. He had never seen so many people staring at him before. He felt like the room was closing in on him and he was going to run out of air.

As he approached the podium, his father patted his shoulder and he involuntarily flinched.

“Remember, you promised,” he whispered in his ear before taking his place behind him, breathing down Haru’s neck.

He stood at the podium in silence for a beat too long, the silence deafening in the giant room. The man running the teleprompter waved, trying to get his attention by pointing to the screen. His father cleared his throat behind him.

He sucked in a breath. There was no getting out of this.

“H-hello,” he said shakily. The microphone screeched and everyone covered their ears.

“Sorry,” he said as the teleprompter man pointed more aggressively at the screen, mouthing “just read!”

His hands shook as he began to read.

“I am proud to announce the next phase of SecuriCorp’s revolutionary development. I…” suddenly all the lights went out. The audience broke into confused shouts.

Haru felt his father’s rough hands shoving him out of the way, knocking him to the ground.

“Now, everyone remain calm! We’re just experiencing a brief technical difficulty…”

Then the theater-sized screen hanging above the stage, and every screen on the walls of the SecuriCorp building lit up with static before displaying footage of security wrangling Haru into the room full of screens in the basement. What was this?

“Let me go!” Haru in the recording shouted. Then the screen proceeded to play everything—the whole conversation he had had with his father. All the threats, the footage of Makoto tied up and tortured, the footage of the drone killing the soldiers.

Haru had failed the hack, but Rei had broken through somehow. When the lights shot up again, the scene was chaos. All the journalists erupted into a shouting match of questions. Some SecuriCorp employees were shaking their heads, having no idea that their work had helped a murderous plot. And at the head of all this was the company’s CEO, his face red with rage as he sputtered, “It isn’t true! He’s lying! My son is a filthy liar!”

Haru was stunned, still collapsed on the floor, his makeup running from his sweat revealing his black eye and other injuries.

A journalist staked out in front of him off stage got closer and asked if he was okay.

“Do I look okay? He tried to kill me,” he cried, pointing at the CEO. Cameras flashed at the scene.

Then came a booming voice.

“Police! Get out of the way!”

Oh great…

The journalist parted the way, letting Sosuke plow through the crowd toward him.

“Sosuke?” Haru asked, still in shock.

“Come on! Let’s get out of here,” he shouted, taking his arm and dragging him off stage.

They disappeared into the crowd as the CEO screamed at the journalists to get back as they ambushed the stage.

“We have to save Makoto!” Haru cried as they shoved their way out the door.

They piled into Sosuke’s cruiser, lights and sirens blaring.

“Way ahead of ya.”

***

Everyone in Siexumeka was shocked to silence.

“I can’t believe that worked,” Rin mumbled as they watched the chaos ensue on TV.

“You did it, Rei!” Nagisa yelled, bounding over to the boy at the computer and giving him a big, wet kiss.

Rei blushed and adjusted his glasses.

“I, well—it wasn’t that difficult. I just needed to do a simple password scramble and connect the feed to the…”

“Wait guys,” Gou interrupted. “Look at the screen!”

The computer screen was blinking again, the words “signal connected” flashing as the progress bar continued to load.

“The signal is back on! Someone put the thumb drive back in!” Nagisa said loudly, detaching himself from Rei.

“Do you think it’s Haru?” Rin asked hopefully.

“No, it can’t be. We just saw him leave,” Kisumi said from his spot watching the TV on the couch.

“It must be the mole!” Gou said.

The progress bar hit 100 percent and the screen displayed “download complete.” A waterfall of files filled Rei’s desktop.

“Holy shit!” Rin said as the files kept coming.

Rei began to laugh uncontrollably like a mad scientist.

“The files! It’s so beautiful!” he laughed maniacally. “Now to complete my master plan!”

“Leak it to the press!” Nagisa cheered.

Rin smiled to himself. Nagisa and Rei really made a mad couple.

Rei uploaded everything to the internet, and only a few minutes later, they watched the journalists on TV check their phones as they saw the massive file dump come through their emails.

The questions intensified, and for the first time, the CEO looked panicked. With a huddle of security, he fled the stage. It was over. They had burned SecuriCorp to the ground.

***

Makoto lay on the ground, his shoulder broken under him, as one of his captors cocked his gun. This was it. He was going to die.

He should have known that it would come to this. He knew too much—seen too much—for the Nanases to let him live. His mind flashed to all the people he loved in his life—his parents, his siblings, his friends, Haru.

Even on the brink of death, he was calm because at least he had met Haru. Makoto wasn’t very religious or spiritual, but ever since the moment they met, he felt as if he had known Haru in a past life—that he was born to be with him.

Makoto closed his eyes and thought of Haru’s lips on his, how his body clung to him while they were making love, how his eyes shined for him and no one else. He knew Haru would be alright after he was gone. They would meet again in the next life.

The gunshot echoed through the warehouse, and for a moment, everything was still.

“Police! Come out with your hands up!” Sosuke shouted.

The kidnappers scrambled toward the sound of Sosuke’s voice, guns blazing.

Makoto let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He was alive. The gunshot had not been for him.

Makoto struggled in his chair. Sosuke needed help! There was no way he could take all of them at once! Suddenly, he was lifted from the floor.

He let out a muffled scream before soft hands ripped off the duct tape over his mouth.

“Shh! We don’t have much time,” Haru whispered.

Makoto’s entire being lit up.

“Haru!” he cried.

“I said be quiet, idiot,” he grumbled without any malice behind it.

Haru’s hands framed his face as he quickly looked him over.

“Are you hurt? Do you think you can stand?” he asked.

“You’ll have to untie me first,” he said, deliberately not answering the first question.

Haru sighed in relief and gave him a quick peck on the lips before getting to work untying his hands from behind the chair.

“I’m the only one who gets to tie you up,” he grumbled, the knots coming loose.  

“You really decided to be kinky at this moment?” Makoto cried, blushing too hard for what was appropriate in a kidnapping situation.

“Better get used to it. You’re stuck with me, darling” Haru said sarcastically with a kiss on the cheek.

Soon Haru had untied all the knots and picked the lock on the handcuffs. Makoto slumped forward into Haru’s arms.

“Let’s get you out of here,” he said as he helped Makoto up and let him put his weight on him.

“Hey!” They spun around at the ski mask man looking at them. “Where do you think you’re going!”

“Haru! Run!” Makoto hissed.

“No. I’m not leaving you,” said with no room to argue.

Haru pushed him back on the ground behind a stack of boxes and sprinted toward a handgun left on the table where his captors had played cards. The ski mask man fired his gun, but Haru was fast. Makoto watched with unexpected pride as Haru grabbed the gun, flipped the table over, using it as a shield, and started shooting in the man’s general direction. The criminal fled and Haru crawled back to where Makoto lay, totally shocked by what Haru had just done.

“We have to hurry before more of them find us,” Haru panted, grunting as he lifted Makoto back up.

Shots fired in the distance. It sounded like Sosuke was giving them a distraction so that they could escape. They weaved around the warehouse, hiding behind boxes and columns as they approached the exit.

“We’re…ugh… almost there,” Haru panted through gritted teeth.

Makoto felt bad that he was putting so much weight on Haru, so he let off a little. But just as they made it through the door, Haru collapsed on the street.

“Haru!” Makoto screamed, reaching down toward him.

Haru’s hair was matted down with sweat, and his face was almost white. A red spot bloomed on his shirt on the side of his abdomen. Blood.

“Oh no…Haru…no,” Makoto stuttered.

Panic filled his veins. Haru had been shot. He was bleeding out in his arms. He was dying.

Bullets ricochet around them, and without hesitation, Makoto scooped up the gun and shot three men coming toward them in cold blood.  

“Makoto…I’m fine,” Haru grunted, trying to sit up. He couldn’t.

“No, you are not fine! Shit,” Makoto cursed. He dropped the gun to press both hands on the wound, now gushing blood onto the concrete.

“Ow! Motherf—” Haru screamed.

Sosuke’s cruiser whipped around the corner and screeched to a stop in front of them.

“You fucking idiot, Nanase! I told you to stay in the fucking car!” he roared, but his anger quickly dissipated when he saw the scene before him.

“Shit,” was all he could say.

Sirens blared in the background as backup started to arrive. Sosuke knelt down with Makoto over Haru and called for an ambulance. Haru was fading fast. Makoto was leaning nearly all his weight on the wound, but the bleeding wouldn’t slow. Haru’s eyes began to droop, and his lips were turning blue.

“Just stay with me, Haru. Don’t close your eyes. Stay with me,” Makoto chanted over and over.

“We need a medic!” Sosuke yelled into his radio. “Fuck!”

Haru reached for Makoto’s hand, and he grasped onto it with everything he had, Sosuke taking over putting pressure on the wound. Haru’s breathing became shallow, his heart fluttering too fast. His grip on Makoto’s hand loosened.

“Makoto?” he asked in barely a whisper.

“Yes, Haru. I’m here. Just focus on breathing,” Makoto soothed, squeezing his hand tighter.

His hands were covered in Haru’s blood, and looking at it almost made him sick, but there was no way in hell he was going to let go.

“I…” Haru coughed and took a shuttering breath.

“I love you.”

Makoto’s eyes filled with tears and spilled over.

“Stop. No. you don’t get to say that now,” he sniffed. “I’m supposed to take you out to dinner first and go to a movie with you and then go for a romantic walk on the beach—all that stuff regular couples do. Then you can say it.”

Haru chuckled weakly.

“Well, I said it... Can’t take it back now,” he rasped.  

Makoto leaned his head against his. Haru’s skin was cold, so he clung to him harder, trying to bring his warmth back.

“I love you too, Haruka,” he whispered, tears falling into his dark hair.

Haru gave a weak smile, blinking slowly before closing them.

“Haru? Stay with me, baby. Don’t close your eyes,” Makoto said, shaking him.

But it was too late. Haru’s head lulled to the side against Makoto’s chest.

“Haru!” he cried, his voice rough with sobs. “Haru!”

***

Sosuke was never a fan of hospitals. He had seen too many dead bodies being rolled away here while he was on the job. He didn’t want to break the news to Makoto, but Haru looked as dead as the others when they rolled him away.

Haru had gone into emergency surgery two hours ago, and there was still no news. Makoto was a wreck, understandably. Sosuke was never any good at comforting people, but he had to try with Makoto. In some ways, he was his only friend, and he had never seen the normally upbeat man so upset before.

He remembered the traumatic scene they had left at the warehouse. By the time the ambulance had shown up, Haru was passed out cold, blood poured onto the concrete around him. He had lost so much blood, it looked like all of it had drained from his body. It took him and another police officer to pry Makoto off of Haru’s body. Even injured, Makoto was insanely strong.

Makoto was sitting next to him now with a bandage wrapped around his middle and his arm in a sling. The doctors had to knock his shoulder back into its socket, but it was as if Makoto didn’t even notice. He was too worried about Haru to think of anything else. He had run out of tears an hour ago, and now he stared blankly at the floor as if it could give him answers.

“You know that feeling when you finally have met your match?” Makoto said after nearly an hour of silence.

Sosuke made eye contact with Rin across the room.

“Yeah, I think I know the feeling,” he said.  

“It was like that with Haru,” Makoto continued. “Haru saved me. And not just from those gangsters. He helped me with my inner demons, too.”

He put his arm around his wide shoulders.

“I’m sure he’s going to be fine,” he lied.

Just then a nurse emerged from the operation double doors and called out Haru’s name. Everyone in the small crowd of Haru’s friends stood up at attention. Sosuke didn’t realize how many people’s lives were touched by Haru’s. For a guy who looked disinterested in most everything, he had a lot of people who cared about him.

Makoto quickly approached the nurse.

“How is he?” he asked anxiously.

Sosuke put a hand on his shoulder, preparing for the worst.

“He’s stable,” she said. “But his injuries were severe.”

Makoto nodded solemnly. She let them through the doors of the ICU. All the patients beyond each door were hooked up to machines that breathed for them. Sosuke feared what Haru would look like for Makoto’s sake.

As they reached the last section of rooms, an alarm went off over one of them. It was Haru’s.

“We’ve got a code blue!” someone shouted.

They ran toward the room with the sound of a heart monitor flatlining. Sosuke’s heart dropped. If Haru was gone, there was no way Makoto would ever get over him.

They were stunned by the sight before them. Not only was Haru alive, but he was awake and trying to escape.

“Mmmn let me go, you assholes,” Haru slurred, throwing wires off of him clumsily.

“See? I told you he would be fine,” Sosuke said, patting Makoto’s shoulder as he stood in the doorway in shock, but he snapped out of it quickly.

“Haru-chan!” Makoto shouted, running toward him as fast as his bandages would allow.

Haru was currently trying to pull his oxygen cannula away from his nose.

“Drop the -chan” he grumbled.

The nurses rushed in and reattached Haru’s wires, much to his disliking, but he looked too tired to fight anymore. Once the nurses were gone, Makoto hugged him as gently as possible.

“Don’t you dare scare me like that again,” he said sternly.

Haru flopped an arm around him.

“I won’t,” he said in a muffled voice with his head buried in Makoto’s chest.

When they parted, Makoto’s eyes were filled with happy tears. He gently caressed Haru’s pale cheeks with his good hand until Haru relaxed. Whatever drugs Haru was on seemed to be kicking in.

“Alright, big guy. It’s time to let Haru get some rest,” Sosuke said, putting his hand on Makoto’s good arm.

Makoto reluctantly pulled away.

“Hey Sosuke,” Haru mumbled. “Thanks.”

He smirked. “The next time you disobey a police officer, I’m putting your ass in jail.”

Haru huffed a laugh. “You know Makoto will just break me out,” he said.

Makoto shrugged at Sosuke as if to say, “he’s not wrong.”

“Get well soon, asshole,” he said with a smile as they left the room.

“ACAB,” Haru muttered.

Makoto snorted a giggle. He hated to admit it, but Makoto had picked a good match.

***

After the commotion died down, Miho found herself in her boss’—ex-bosses now—penthouse office. All those years of feeling like she had no power was melting away. No more would she turn a blind eye to all the atrocities that happened behind closed doors. No more would she have to cover up her boss’ crimes. No more would she have to hide Haru from the abuse of his own parents.

She strode to the large mahogany desk Mrs. Nanase had sat behind to make others feel small. She would never do that to anyone again—and neither would her husband. After the press and the prosecutors are done with them, they will be lucky to stay out of federal prison.

Miho sat behind the desk in the luxurious office chair she had ordered for Mrs. Nanase but never got to touch. Running her hands against the smooth wooden surface of the desk, she smiled. She was in charge of her own destiny now, and it felt as good as fine leather. She reached into the pocket of her blouse and placed the thumb drive in the center of the desk.

This, she thought, was justice.

Notes:

Thank you so much to all who decided to read this crazy story! The Epilogue will be out soon. Haru and Makoto need at least one good day.

Chapter 16: Epilogue: New Dream

Summary:

Three months later, Haru and Makoto are still going strong. Now they decide where to go from here.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Three months later

Rin glanced nervously at his watch and then back at the door to the restaurant. Sosuke was almost twenty minutes late, and Rin looked too good tonight to be stood up. He wore his skinniest, ass-hugging black jeans and a low-cut V-neck shirt that showed off his chest muscles. His red hair was down and styled to frame his face in a way that accentuated his high cheekbones.

Haru would have said he was making too much of an effort, but given how Haru was fawning over Makoto these days, he could shut the hell up. In any case, he had lost his only booty call, but Rin was on the prowl for something—someone—new and better.

Just as Rin downed his first glass of wine, Sosuke rushed through the doors. His normally stoic face had a hint of anxiety to it as he scanned the restaurant for his date. Rin smiled amusedly and soon their eyes met, and he forgot all about Sosuke’s tardiness. He had traded in his police uniform for a button-down shirt rolled up to the elbows and a pair of dark, form-fitting jeans. He swore the man got hotter every time he looked at him. 

“Sorry I’m late,” he said sitting down in the chair across from him. “Got held up at work.”

Rin smirked, leaning his elbows on the table so he could sneakily get closer to him.

“It sounds like it's crazy down at the precinct,” he said.

“Yeah, no shit,” he sighed.

After the data leak, the press soon found out how entrenched the police were in the Nanases’ corruption, so many of the higher-ups at the station were fired. Sosuke meanwhile earned himself a new title—Detective Yamazaki. It had a nice ring to it.

Now after everything they’ve been through, they were finally on their first date, and it was as amazing as Rin had dreamed. The lights were dim, the food and wine were good, and they laughed at their own little inside jokes. They already had inside jokes!

They were on their second glass of wine when the TV over the bar showed the ten o’clock news. The reporters were still covering the SecuriCorp disaster, showing footage of its former CEO covering his face with his hand as cameras flashed around him. It was a shot from earlier in the week when the Nanases were called into court. Luckily Haru wasn’t implicated in anything—he was a witness fighting against his parents.

“They better put those fuckers in prison,” Rin said.

Sosuke winced over his wineglass.

“Knowing the system, they’ll probably get off with a fine,” he said. “But I doubt they’ll be doing any business once this is all over.”

“Well, good riddance,” he said clinking his glass with Sosuke’s.

“I’ll drink to that,” he smirked.

There was a moment of silence and prolonged eye contact over the wine glasses.

“You know,” Rin started slyly. “You’re going to have to make up the time I sat here by myself waiting for you.”

Sosuke raised an eyebrow.

“Seems fair,” he said, playing along. “What did you have in mind?”

Rin leaned closer so that his lips nearly kissed his ear.

“Come to my place and find out.”

***

Haru startled awake. He had been dreaming of that small concrete room where he watched Makoto get singed by the taser gun again and again. He had been trapped there all night, pleading with a man who was no longer in his life to let Makoto go. He shot up from the covers, forehead soaked in sweat as he scanned the room. His heart raced until he felt a familiar hand stroke his back.

“It’s okay, Haru-chan,” Makoto soothed. “It was just a bad dream.”

The nightmare was reoccurring, but Makoto snapped him out of it every time. Haru eased himself back onto the bed, wincing at the sharp pain on his side. The bullet wound was still fresh even though he had been released from the hospital two months before. Makoto wrapped his hand around his side and lightly caressed the scar. He had a similar scar on the same side of his abdomen from where he was burned. Some couples get matching tattoos. They got matching wounds.

Haru nestled his head under Makoto’s chin and sighed.

“Do the nightmares ever end?” he asked quietly.

Makoto hummed and ran his fingers through his dark messy hair.

“It gets better with time, but I don’t know if it ever really leaves you,” he said.

He knew Makoto was more affected by his trauma than he let on, but it was comforting to know that despite everything, Makoto could still be his bright, cheery self.

The sun was filtering in from in between the cracks in the blackout curtains. Makoto glanced at the clock. It was almost noon, but they were usually slow in the mornings. It took a few hours for the pain meds to kick in for Haru, and if he tried to do too much, he ended up sore and grumpy by the end of the day.

“We should probably get up,” Makoto said.

Haru made a cross between a grunt and a tired sigh.

“No. stay a bit longer,” he said, clinging to him closer.

Makoto chuckled and kissed his temple.

“Alright, but you don’t want to miss your own show,” he said.

The art show. Makoto just had to remind him of that when his nerves were already on edge.

“Do I have to go?” he asked in a small, child-like voice.

“You are the main artist featured in the gallery, so yes,” Makoto said, emphasizing his point with a quick peck on the lips.

Haru groaned. He wasn’t in the mood for flattery right now. Don’t get him wrong, he was grateful that his artwork got picked up by a local gallery, but he hated the fanfare of all of it.

“Just be yourself and you’ll be fine,” Makoto said with a bright smile Haru couldn’t resist.

That was precisely what he was worried about. Haru went quiet and still, but Makoto waited for him to speak his mind. He could always tell when Haru had something to say but was working out how to say it.

“What if I’m not what they want me to be?” he whispered.

Makoto’s olive-green eyes softened. He smoothed his hand up and down Haru’s arm. The warmth of his hand calmed him a little.

“You deserve to be who you are,” he said softly. “And whoever doesn’t think so isn’t worth your time.”

Haru considered this. He had been trained from a young age to hide his true self because his parents didn’t like who he was. He didn’t need to pretend anymore, but other people’s expectations of him still made him nervous.

Reluctantly, he got up and readied himself for the long day ahead.

The art show was a casual affair, but Makoto still had to convince him not to show up in one of his ratty sweatshirts and a pair of ripped jeans. In the short months they have been living together, Haru noticed that Makoto had significantly more fashion sense than him. He was both grateful and annoyed at how Makoto would force him to dress up and get out of the apartment to do things. Entering his artwork into the gallery was his idea.

They pushed through the glass entrance doors of the gallery hand in hand. Prominently displayed on the wall was his self-portrait of him underwater with the name of the exhibit overhead: Free.

“Wow! It looks even better in here than it did in the studio!” Makoto said.

Haru blushed. Who knew he would be showing the art that he once hid from everyone to the general public? He didn’t expect to become a public figure after fighting against his parents either.

All of his friends were already inside talking over little flutes of bubbly champagne.

“There he is!” Rin gushed, his arms opening wide for him.

Haru gave him a quick side hug, noticing a fairly large hickey on the side of his neck.

“Congrats,” Rin said.

“You as well,” he fired back, nodding at the bruise and then glancing at Sosuke behind him. Rin blushed and lightly pushed him away.

“Shut up,” he mumbled as Nagisa launched himself at Haru.

“Haru-chan! Why didn’t you tell us you were such a good painter! It all looks amazing!” he shouted too loud for the small space.

Nagisa’s arms were wrapped uncomfortably tight around him and shot a spark of pain in his side, but Makoto rescued him.

“Nagisa, be careful with Haru!” he warned in his mother-hen voice. “He’s still healing.”

“Oh! Sorry, Haru-chan,” he said stepping back.

“It’s okay,” he sighed.

He hated how everyone acted like he was so fragile he might break, but he had a hard time admitting that it was somewhat true. As he trailed the group in their tour of his work, he felt his energy waning. Haru wasn’t accustomed to getting tired so easily, courtesy of the bullet hole in his side, but Makoto could just as easily see through his strain.

“Let’s sit down,” he said, and Haru was too tired to argue.

They sat on a little bench at the back of the gallery, away from everyone else.

Haru leaned his shoulder against Makoto’s and nestled his head in the crook of his neck. He wasn’t always a fan of PDA, but with Makoto, it was hard to keep his hands to himself, especially when he was being protective like this.

Makoto’s arm wrapped around his shoulder and squeezed.

“Doing okay?” he murmured.

Haru nodded, and they sat in silence for a while. They were staring at one of Haru’s larger paintings of a sailboat drifting in a flat, windless sea. He had painted it when he felt especially lost, adrift in his own life.

“What will you do now?” Haru asked.

They hadn’t really talked about the future at all in favor of taking things day by day, but Haru wanted to know where life was going to lead Makoto, and himself.

“I don’t know,” Makoto said. “I guess I can find a new dream.”

Makoto had said he was done being a bodyguard, but Haru didn’t want him to put his dreams on hold for his sake or anyone else’s. He remembered Makoto telling him about his family, how he became a bodyguard to help them make ends meet and to send his siblings to college, all sacrificing his own dreams of becoming a swim coach.

Haru reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope. He couldn’t do much, but this was at least something.

“I want you to have this,” he said, handing Makoto the envelope.

Makoto eyed him curiously as he opened it, pulling out a check. His eyes widened at the number of zeroes at the end of the number.

“It’s what’s left of my inheritance,” Haru explained. “I want you to have it…so you can follow your own dream.”

“I-Haru…I can’t accept this. It’s too much!” he stuttered, trying to hand the check back to him.

“You never got paid for your work,” he said, pushing Makoto’s hands back toward him. “And you saved my life. It’s not nearly enough.”

Makoto still looked conflicted, but when Haru gave him a rare smile, there was no going back.

“I could go back to school with this,” he said.

“Whatever you want,” Haru said, leaning closer to him again.

“How about we put this somewhere safe…a little nest egg for us,” Makoto smiled warmly at the sound of his own idea.

“Making plans, are we?” he teased.

“What? Do you have something else in mind?” he asked sarcastically.

Haru felt a blush creep up his neck to his cheeks, so he looked away.

“Not really,” he muttered. Makoto chuckled.

“Well, good, because you’re involved in all of my plans from now on,” he said, tucking the check back into the envelope and putting it in the breast pocket of his jacket.

“I would like that,” Haru whispered soft enough so only Makoto could hear.

Makoto leaned down as if to kiss him, but instead combed a stray dark hair from his brow. This made Haru blush even harder, but he couldn’t look away from those soft green eyes.

“You look tired. I should take you home,” Makoto said.

Haru huffed stubbornly.

“Makoto, I’m fine, really,” he said, about to get up from his seat, but Makoto’s hand snatched his and kept him there.

“No, I really think we should go home so that you can rest,” he said with a wink.

Haru’s head nearly exploded with how red he was getting. Makoto wanted to ditch to be alone with him, and Haru thought that was a fantastic idea.

“Oh, right. Okay,” he stuttered.

As they said their goodbyes, Makoto’s hand sneakily crawled up his side under his shirt and fingered under the waistband of his jeans. Yes, they needed to go home immediately.

When they stepped into Haru’s apartment, which they now shared, no time was wasted. They stumbled hand in hand to the bedroom, stopping at least three times on the way to make out against the wall, both of their clothes coming off in a trail from the front door to the foot of the bed.

Makoto gently nudged him so that he lay on the bed in the nest of pillows he was just lying in a few hours before.

“You’re eager tonight,” he teased, but Makoto was already hyper-focused.

Makoto’s lips trailed down his abdomen to the raised scar on his ribs just above his hipbone. He no longer cared that he would have this scar for the rest of his life if it meant Makoto would kiss him there so softly, making his insides melt every time.

Haru combed his fingers through his brown tousled hair with a soft moan.

“You’re mine,” Makoto said in a raspy voice, green eyes meeting blue.

Haru tugged him up by his shoulders and their lips met in a searing kiss.

“And you’re mine,” Haru said against his lips, his teeth scraping against his bottom lip.

Makoto hummed, the vibrations against his lips making him feel dizzy, but he didn’t want to let it show. He knew Makoto would stop at the first sight of his fatigue. Really, he wanted Makoto to make him go blissfully numb.

Makoto hovered his body over his so that he wouldn’t put his weight on him, but Haru missed the pressure.

“Mako,” he moaned. “Closer.”

“Whatever you want, baby,” he soothed.

He took him into his lap, Haru’s long legs splayed on either side of his lover’s hips as they rocked together.

Makoto buried his face in Haru’s neck as he gave a languid thrust up into him, a protective hand still on his injured side and the other on his ass cheek.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he whispered.

“You won’t,” he said, kissing his hair.

“Promise you’ll tell me to stop if something feels wrong,” he said seriously.

Haru couldn’t help but smile down at his gentile giant.

“I promise,” he said.  

The seriousness lifted from Makoto’s face as they met in another sweet kiss. His hand had moved down to finger his entrance, making Haru gasp. Makoto took his sweet time with him, waiting until Haru was shaking and moaning as his fingers slid in and out of him.

“God, Makoto,” he gasped, trying to bare his hips down on those thick fingers before he pulled out. “More,” he said giving him a sloppy kiss.

Makoto chuckled. He swore the man had a kink for teasing foreplay. His dick was hard and hot against him, and he needed it inside of him now.

Haru let himself be manhandled in Makoto’s arms, holding onto his broad shoulders for dear life as he thrust up into him. Waves of pleasure washed over him with every deep thrust of Makoto’s thick cock. Haru couldn’t help but throw back his head and moan, allowing Makoto to capture his neck, sucking a bruise there for all to see. He knew he wasn’t going to last long like this. Makoto made him feel too good.

“You’re everything, you know that?” he breathed hard in his ear.

He had come to know Makoto’s pillow talking was a massive turn-on for him. He didn’t have the words to answer, so he kissed him, open-mouthed and moaning.

“I love you, Haruka,” he said in between messy kisses. “I love you so fucking much.”

Makoto gripped his hips tightly and slammed his dick into the bundle of nerves that unraveled him from the inside until Haru was coming so hard he thought his orgasm would last days.

Haru collapsed over his lover, arms splayed weakly down Makoto’s muscular back and his head resting on the side of his neck.

“I love you too,” he sighed, and that was enough to finish Makoto off.

Haru’s legs trembled as he felt Makoto filling him up deep inside him. If he wasn’t so exhausted, he would have climaxed again just from the feeling. After gently pulling out, he lay Haru back down on the bed and flopped down next to him with a satisfied sigh. Haru reached over and caressed his chest, scooching closer to him. They were both a sweaty mess, but neither of them wanted to be the first to pull away.

“How are you feeling?” Makoto asked, combing the messy black hair out of his eyes.

Haru smiled, taking his hand in his and kissing it.

“Better than I’ve felt in a long time,” he admitted.

He liked how open he could be around Makoto, how even the smallest things he did made him smile. He loved how his gentile hands found ways to touch him, to remind him that he was there—his palm running circles on his back, his finger hooked around a stray hair, his thumb wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. It was all simultaneously too much and not enough. Haru didn’t just need him, he needed him forever. Luckily, Makoto had no desire to be anywhere else.

Makoto smiled brightly and kissed him on the cheek.

“Me too,” he said.

In Makoto’s arms, Haru felt his old life crumble in favor of a new dream. A dream they made together.

Notes:

That's it! Thank you so much to all who have read this to the very end. This is only my second long fic so I didn't think I would make it this far! I'm probably going to take a little break, but I'm always on the hunt for some MakoHaru fic ideas. Love you all! <3