One More Chance || Rinharu [EDITING]

Chapter 4 ✔

Haru

Haru sat himself down on one of the kitchen stools. He finished work early and decided to surprise his daughter by coming home with a fancy shop bought cake. To his dismay, he found the house to be completely empty when he returned back home.

He sighed as he went into his bedroom to get changed. Opening the wardrobe door, he grabbed some clothing and underwear. He was about to close the door until something caught his eye. It was his old black and purple swimming trunks he used to swim in back in his high school days. Although he became a swimming coach, he wished he could go back to just being free. Don't get him wrong, he loved teaching children how to swim, but he felt there was something missing. It just didn't feel right anymore.

When he found out he was pregnant with Sora, he immediately planned out how he was going to provide for his baby. A job would be on the top of the list. If he couldn't support his child financially, the only choice he would have was to give the baby up, and that was a no brainier. He worked part time at as many jobs as he could possibly manage. Anything was worth sacrificing if it was for his child.

Another thing that needed to be sorted out was his house. The place he was currently staying at, at that time, was small, cramped and not in the best condition. There was no way Haru was going to raise a child up in a place like that. So, he asked Rei and Nagisa to help him find a suitable place to live and care for a young infant in. He soon found a house which he thought was a good place to live in. It was a three bedroom house with a living room, dining room, kitchen etc.

Things from then on went smoothly. He kept his pregnancy a secret from most people apart from his close friends, doctors, and nurses. Heck even his own parents didn't have a clue till he gave birth. Their reaction wasn't great to say the least. It was if they were ashamed of their son. Not because he was a pregnant male, but more to do with the fact that the father of the child had disappeared. Haru's parents thought that their son had been sleeping around with a bunch of people. Haru never objected their theories. It was far easier to agree with them than to talk about Rin.

On the wall hung a circular clock. The current time was 5:20pm.

Where on Earth are they?

Haru wasn't worried. Makoto most likely took Sora to the park, or the shop down the road to buy treats for her. Sometimes Haru wondered whether Makoto wanted children of his own. He loved his younger siblings dearly and clearly adored Sora with all his heart. No doubt he'd love his own children more than anything in the world. That was the sort of person Makoto was: caring, loving and kind.

Haru took one more peek at his old swimming trunks. The expression on his face was blank and fairly emotionless. But that didn't mean he wasn't feeling anything.

He then went on to stare at a particular spot in the corner of his wardrobe. Deep in the bottom corner, lay a keep sake box full of little trinkets and photos that he treasured. About once a year, he would take the box out and remind himself to keep positive. One time, Sora walked into his bedroom and saw that her mother had all sorts of things spread out in his bed. She asked, out of curiosity, what they were.

For the rest of the evening, Haru went through all of his old stuff, explaining to his daughter what each and every one of the items meant to him.

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"Mama, who's this guy? What's his name?" Asked Sora as she pointed at a photo of a red haired man, who had his arm around her mother.

Haru hesitated for a while before softly whispering in her ear: "That's your daddy, sweetheart. His name is Rin Matsuoka"

"Oh," She replied, "Me and daddy have the same hair. Look, he's got red hair too!" She spoke, as a matter of factly.

"Yeah, that's right. You and dad are very alike"

Sora slipped into her mother's lap and carefully held the picture in her hands, further examining it.

"Mama?"

"What is it, Sora?"

"Where is my dad? Why doesn't he live with us? Aren't all daddies supposed to live with their families?"

Haru bent his head down and rubbed the back of his neck, not knowing how to respond. How could he tell his daughter about something like that?

"I'll tell you when your old enough to understand, Sora"

"Did daddy pass away? Jade said that her dad passed away when she was young"

"No, your daddy didn't die. He's still very much alive"

"Oh. So why did he leave?" She asked.

Haru felt a little sad upon hearing this question. He kept his head on one of his hands and say crossed legged in his bed. He watched as his 5 year old daughter observed the photo.

"Um. Your father went to follow his dreams"

"Is he ever coming back?"

Droplets of salty water started to form. He started sniffling. Not now - not in front of his daughter.

"Mama? Mama please don't cry"

He wiped off the tears, but more just came and replaced it. After all these years, talking about Rin was still a touchy subject for the blue-eyes man. He truly wished the best for him, and wanted nothing more that for Rin to accomplish everything his heart desired, but Haru missed his dearly.

He had to stop the tear drops. Sora always got upset when someone cried, often crying with them. He didn't want to make his daughter upset.

"I'm sorry, Sora. I didn't mean to worry you. Mama's not crying anymore."

"It's ok. Mummy, don't be sad. Did you love dad?"

"Yes," he nodded. "I still do love him very much. We'll just have to be patient and wait for him to come back."
-

That was the first time he had cried in front of his daughter. He vowed to never do that again. From that day on, Sora didn't mention Rin in any of her conversations with Haru. At least not yet. And that did not bother Haru at all. He actually felt quite relieved that she never really tried to talk about Rin.

He walked to the bathroom to take a shower. Haru often wondered what life would've been like if he had told Rin about his pregnancy. Would Rin stay with him and support him throughout the journey? Or would he just leave anyway? Either way, none of it mattered now. It wasn't like Rin was going to magically appear in Japan all of a sudden.

Haru my baby! 😭 Don't cry. Thank you for reading my story.
-Zureru-