Haruka's Secret

After Ryosuke had gone back home to his village, Iduna called Makoto and the others to gether to say something to them. "You've all done very well," she said, a bright smile beaming on her face. Makoto blushed. "It was nothing, Iduna," he said, scratching the back of his head shyly. "It is my duty," Ryu said, putting his hands together and bowing. "Both as a Paladin and as a member of the Yamamoto family." Chihiro nodded and said, "Yeahー I mean, yes, as a part of the Yamamoto family, it is our duty to protect Eldoria." Shiro smiled and nodded. "As Apex Paladins, we must protect Eldoria and those in need."
"Since you've all already done so much," Iduna said, taping her chin lightly, "why don't you take a break? You all deserve it very much." Ryu looked at Iduna and did a double take. "But the Abyss is still out there!" He said as if taking a break was impossible. "Takeo, the Abyss Warrior, he said we haven't seen the true Abyss King yet! Besides, I need to practice still!" But Shiro put a hand on Ryu's shoulder and said, "puer, take the break. You need it just as much as some might say I do." Ryu pouted. "Don't call me puer," Ryu muttered, brushing Shiro's hand off his shoulder.
Just then, Haruka walked in, his purple eyes reflecting the light that came in through the windows of the large room the group was standing in. "Pardon my intrusion," he said, bowing slightly in the groups direction, "but, Makoto, could I trouble you and your friends to be my body guards on my trip back home?" Haruka smiled sheepishly, visibly a bit embarrassed at asking this question. "Sure, I don't see why not," Makoto said with a small smile, which Haruka returned. "Thank you," he said to Makoto. "Be safe!" Iduna called out to the group before they left the room.

After the group walked from the Apex Palace back to Haruka's cabin, Haruka offered to let them stay inside for a while before they went off on their break. "Stay a while," he said with a polite smile. "I'll make you some tea as a thank you for being my body guards." Makoto nodded, and the group entered the cabin. Makoto suddenly felt calm when he entered, though he wasn't stressed before entering. 'For some reason,' he thought to himself, 'I feel kinda safe in here, like how when I was in the library at school I felt safe from the bullies.' Shiro tapped Makoto on the shoulder, getting his head out of the clouds. "Haruka brought the tea, puer," Shiro said with his signature grin.
As the group drank Haruka's tea, Makoto noticed Haruka looking out the window. He looked like he was thinking about something, something important. Before Makoto could ask what it was, Haruka looked at him and asked, "Makoto, can you come with me for a minute?" Nodding, Makoto stood up and followed Haruka to the same room they had been after they had first met. "I have something I want to tell you," Haruka said slowly, his voice sounding a bit awkward this time. "But you have to promise you won't laugh at me, alright?" Makoto, curious but not wanting Haruka to feel hurt somehow, just nodded and said, "I won't laugh, don't worry." Hearing this, Haruka stayed quiet for a moment, then, taking a deep breath, turned to face Makoto. "How do I say this," he said, searching for the right words. "Makoto, there are very few, if any male fortune-tellers in Eldoria. It's always been a job typically done by women." Makoto nodded, a bit confused by what Haruka could be leading up to with this. "I... you see," Haruka continued, "in my village, when I was young, I always had this strange attraction to fortune-telling... and to sewing, too."

"I also always wanted to, well, let my hair grow out a bit ー nothing crazy, just shoulder length ー but my parents... well, didn't approve of any of it." Haruka paused for a moment, looking out the window. "My mother said it just wasn't right, and my father said that one day, I quote, 'life is going to hit you like an avalanche, and if you don't learn to defend yourself now, you could get really badly hurt later'. And any time I tried to grow out my hair, my mother would take scissors and cut it short."
Makoto listened closely, and he started to understand what Haruka meant. He started to understand where he was going with the conversation. "So," Haruka continued, "one day, my father sent me to live on my own. He said I'd have to 'learn to be a man the hard way' or something. But then," he said, a soft smile appearing on his face, "I met someone in the forest. Someone who understood me." Makoto leaned in and asked, "who were they?" Haruka faced Makoto again. "I met him while out looking for some berries and whatnot," he started. "He had hurt his leg, and so I decided to let him stay here in this cabin til his wound healed. But, over time, I started not wanting him to leave," Haruka said quietly. "You see, Makoto... this guy, his name was Misao Yamaguchi, and... Makoto, I..."

"I fell in love with him."

When Haruka said this, Makoto's understanding of the situation went from not understanding at all, ALL the way to completely understanding. "YOU FEー *cough*," Makoto tried to say, but chocked on his own spit before he could finish his sentence. "I knew you'd think it's weird," Haruka said, turning away and walking to the far end of the room. "W-wait, no," Makoto said, following Haruka. "That's not what I meant at all! I just meant... why did you only tell me? Why not the others?"
Haruka turned slowly to face Makoto again, his expression a bit nervous. "Ryu and Chihiro are Apex Paladins, so they might think I'm weak. And I can't read Shiro at all, so... I don't know if he'd accept it." Makoto stayed quiet for a moment before putting his hand on Haruka's shoulder. "You don't have to worry, Haruka," he said quietly. "I know what it feels like to be thought of as weird. In fact, back on Earth, where I'm from, I was a super weird kid. Everyone called me stuff like 'nerd', 'weirdo', 'cringe'," Makoto let out a dry laugh. "And I'm pretty sure Ryu and Chihiro get it, too. Maybe even Shiro understands." Haruka looked Makoto in the eye. "Well," he said awkwardly. "Yeah?" Makoto asked. Haruka looked down, still very awkward. "I meanー"
But before Haruka could continue, he remembered something. "Ah!" He gasped. "The tea!" Before he opened the door, though, he turned back to Makoto and whispered, "also, thank you for listening, Makoto. I really appreciate it." Makoto smiled and nodded, and the two of them returned to the main room with the others to finish the tea before it got cold.

After leaving Haruka's cabin, the quartet stood still for a moment in the clearing. "Where should we go for our break, then?" Ryu asked the group. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Chihiro said, tapping his chin with his knuckle. "Hm," Makoto thought, scratching his head. "Hmm," Chihiro and Ryu thought, Ryu stroking his chin. "Hmmm," Shiro thought, closing his eyes and thinking hard. "HMMM," they all thought in unison. "The forest," Shiro suddenly said. "Hm?" Chihiro looked at Shiro, a bit confused. "No, the ocean," Shiro said, shaking his head, his eyes staying closed the whole time. "The beach," he finally said, opening his eyes again.
"Why the beach?" Ryu asked, genuinely curious. "It's just a self-indulgence of mine," Shiro said with a wink. "I just like the sound of the waves, is all." Chihiro nodded. "I have to agree with Shiro on this, the sound of water against water helps me fall asleep."
'Huh, the beach,' Makoto thought to himself. 'I remember, there was a beach scene in Battle of the Gods season four episode ten.' He remembered that in this particular episode, the main characters, Ryuu, Slyveria, Edmund, and the twins Aiko and Aikiko, went to the beach to relax after fighting a very strong enemy. It was a wholesome episode... until, that is, Sylveria went on screen in a meme-creating swimsuit. 'Wait,' Makoto thought, his face starting to get red. 'Does that mean... I-Iduna... what?!' Shiro noticed Makoto's face go red, and he chuckled. "Well," Shiro said, "I suppose we could go somewhere else, though the beach isn't that far from here." Makoto quickly shook his head. "No no, it's fine!" He said, though his face was still red. "I've never been to the beach before anyways, so it'll be new for me."
Ryu shrugged, "Alright then, let's go. But remember, there mightー" Before he could finish his sentence, though, Shiro stopped him by saying, "we know, puer, there could be Abyss Warriors at any corner. That's why I'm going to be there, just in case." Ryu pouted again when Shiro said 'puer', but said nothing and just started walking in the direction of the beach. 'I guess I'll find out why kids at school kept saying the beach was fun now,' Makoto thought to himself before following Ryu and the others.