Chapter Text
Haru woke up to the sound of the door opening and closing. He must’ve forgotten to lock it before going to bed last night, and now someone got inside his house. He sat straighter in his bed, staying still and holding his breath in, and waited for any other sound that would follow, indicating to him if it was a burglar or maybe Makoto. Haru wasn’t scared per say, he was mostly just curious. He was tall and strong enough to defend himself if needed, but he was just trying to see who would walk in at this hour. It wasn’t that early, but still oddly early for random people to come in.
From where he was, he could hear some footsteps and two voices muffled by the walls, but he couldn’t decipher if it was someone he knew or not. Chances were that he didn’t know who the people were because not many people in his circle of friends or family had found their soulmates. He got up as silently as possible and put on some shorts and a t-shirt. He didn’t want to make any noise, but the hardwood floors decided otherwise and creaked under his weight when he reached the hallway. The sounds from downstairs stopped as if they were all waiting for someone else to move or say something first, but eventually a shadow moved and then a familiar face came into sight.
“Oh! Good morning Haru!” His mother said enthusiastically. “I’m sorry if we woke you up.” She added, turning her head to where Haru’s father must be standing.
“Mom? What are you doing here?” Haru asked without thinking.
Haru’s still sleepy mind was too slow to realize he just spoke to her out loud, but he could pinpoint the exact moment his mother registered that he just used his voice for the first time in almost eighteen years when her eyes lit up. His mother let out a gasp escape her mouth, her head snapping up and looking straight at him with big, round eyes. Haru regretted opening up his mouth instantly and mumbled something to himself when he saw the way her face illuminated and she gripped the stair railing.
“What was that? Did you just talk?” She smiled and turned her head toward the hallway again. “Honey, come here!” She yelled at her husband.
“What’s the matter?” A deeper voice asked, coming their way.
“Haru just said something out loud! He found his soulmate!” She beamed.
Haru wanted to smack his head on the wall - or maybe drown again just so he didn’t have to face his parents and explain the whole situation to them. The last thing he wanted to do right after waking up was to try and explain to his parents that someone gave him CPR after he drowned at the beach. That was probably one of the most embarrassing things that ever happened to him, and he was still too stunned by their presence to care about his own gossip. They asked him how he was doing and what was new - obviously they wanted to know more about his soulmate and every other important stuff that had happened in his life recently. There weren't many things to say, the obvious being the sudden ability to use his voice. His daily life was still the same as before ; going to school, hanging out with Makoto, studying hard for his tests. College applications had been sent out a few months ago, and Haru hoped he had a shot in some important universities in the country, but he was also very ok with the prospect of staying in Iwatobi if things didn’t turn out the way he wanted.
Haru’s parents headed to the kitchen and he followed them. His mother picked up a pan from the cupboard and started making breakfast. Coffee cups to go were already on the table, meaning they already had breakfast on their way back home from the train station, but it seemed like she wanted to catch up on all those months she and Haru’s father were away. Haru fought the urge to stand next to the stove and cook for himself just like he had done every day since they left, but he let her enjoy the illusion of being a good parent. He sat down at the table and tried not to feel too scrutinized by the expectant looks his parents were giving him. He cleared his throat when the pressure felt too much and looked at them tentatively when Haru’s mother set down a plate in front of him.
“You never really told me why you’re here.” Haru picked up his chopsticks and started eating, grateful for the distraction and not feeling like he had to talk about himself.
“Your father had another promotion, so we’re going to stay a little bit longer in Tokyo than intended.” His mother told him.
“So why are you here and not over there?” Haru asked, his tone sounding bitter than intended. He winced and apologized quickly.
“We decided to spend the weekend here, before things at work get crazier.” His father said. “Aren’t you happy to see us? We thought we could spend the day together and do something fun.”
“Yeah, no. I’m happy to see you two.” Haru urged, not wanting to be the ungrateful child they probably thought he was. “I’m just surprised, that's all. You didn’t even call or send me a message to warn me about your visit.”
Haru’s father gave him more information about his job and his mother talked about their apartment in Tokyo. She said she’d love to have him there someday, but that it was definitely smaller than their house and that they were afraid he might not have a place to sleep if he stayed for a longer period than a day. Haru assured her it was no problem, that he was fine by staying in Iwatobi for now and that the house was his safe space. He was responsible enough to cook for himself, to do his laundry and to keep the house clean. As long as they didn’t have any problem with him staying here, he was fine on his own.
“I hope you didn’t invite your girlfriend over to sleep.” Haru’s mother said with a stern look. “This might be your soulmate, but you’re still too young to become a father.”
Haru almost choked on his bite when he heard her.
“What?” He said, shocked. “God, no. First of all, it’s only been two weeks since we kissed. We haven’t even met properly.” He looked down hesitantly at his plate before continuing. “And hum, my soulmate isn’t a girl…”
Haru didn’t really know what to expect for their reactions. He was sort of expecting his mother to be more understandable than his father, but he couldn’t be so sure. She had always been attentive to little details about him, as if she could feel and understand his pain when he was younger. Though, things got a little bit more complicated when he got older and became a teenager. He wasn’t secretive in any way, but it felt sometimes more difficult to hide who he was and who he liked to his parents. It wasn’t easy, especially since he wasn’t able to point it out out loud. Haru’s father came from a more conservative family, but he still hoped that he would accept him as he was. After all, soulmates weren’t something that he could have a say in it, or power over it. Sure, he could decide to ignore it and never see him again, meaning he would lose his voice, but even then he would still have a bond with Rin, whether he liked it or not. His parents knew it too, and so he was hoping they would understand his situation.
His mother was the first one to break the awkward silence.
“O-ok. Then, as long as the neighbours don’t complain to us… I just hope you’re happy.” She said softly after recovering from the new information.
“It’s a bit confusing, but I think I’m ok.” He admitted, both to his parents and to himself.
Haru’s father’s face seemed a little bit tense, but he tried to smile nonetheless and congratulated him for finding his soulmate. It was a big event in someone’s life, and the tradition in his family was that his parents should throw a big dinner party with both sides of the families for the new couple. Haru told him he didn’t want any kind of party, and that in fact he would like to take things slowly and not be over the top. He didn’t even know his soulmate much yet, so throwing a big party seemed definitely out of the way.
Haru and his parents kept talking for way longer than the black haired teenager would’ve liked. They asked him some questions about his soulmates, how they met and what would happen next. He admitted that he went to swim with his friends to the beach and the incident about him almost drowning - though it was embarrassing to death. His mother was the most vocal about it and said he should’ve told them earlier. In reality, Haru only wanted to forget it even happened, but he could understand her worries. He was an only child living on his own, and they were in another city. If he had died that day, it would’ve been devastating news for them. He told them almost every detail about the last two weeks since they accidentally met - omitting the part where he had an erection in his bath, and the fact that he was too stubbornly in love with his childhood best friend to even think about giving his actual soulmate a chance. Some things were better left unsaid. He just pretended they hadn’t exchanged phone numbers and that his friend happened to have run into him the other day, which wasn’t exactly a lie.
“I’m meeting him today, actually, so I should probably go get ready.” Haru announced after a while.
When he finally got out of the table, he realized it was almost two in the afternoon, meaning he was already late for his date - was it a date? - with Rin. He excused himself and ran upstairs. He picked up his phone from the nightstand to send a quick apologizing text to Rin, but he realized with horror that his battery was dead. He forgot to plug it in before going to sleep, and now his phone was completely dead and he had no ways of contacting his soulmate who was probably pissed at him for not showing up on time. He plugged his phone in but knew it would take a few moments before it would have enough juice to power up.
Initially, he wanted to take a bath before meeting up with Rin, but his eventful morning had changed all of his plans and Haru had no time to lose. He changed his clothes quickly and only grabbed his keys and wallet before bolting out the house.
Never in his life Haru had run this fast toward the unknown.