28 DAYS [MakoHaru]

twenty three → 12/22

Chapter Twenty-Three: December 22nd

The moment the bell rings, signaling the end of class on Wednesday afternoon, Makoto feels a giant weight fall on his shoulders.

Now, one would normally expect said weight to fall off; however, instead of feeling cheer and joy for the rapidly approaching holiday season, Makoto can only feel dread working its way through his bloodstream. The students around him exhale in relief as they pack up their test-taking supplies, chatting excitedly amongst themselves about their holiday break plans.

One girl, whose name Makoto can't remember, approaches him, resting one hand on his desk and another twirls a strand of her blonde hair.

"Tachibana-kun!" She giggles. "Are you excited for winter break?"

He wears an effortless smile, one that comes naturally from years of an easy-going facade he's worked to create. "I am," He nods. "Are you doing anything exciting?"

"Well, my family is going to Switzerland for the whole break," She says, suddenly dropping her voice, looking at the floor. "I got this for you for Christmas." Out of her pocket, she pulls out a tiny present, pink wrapping paper with a red bow on top. Suddenly, her face goes red and she ducks her head, her fringe falling in her eyes. "I hope you like it!" She stutters out in a rush. "M-Merry Christmas! Bye!"

Makoto stares at the present for a couple seconds as the girl bolts out of the room. Shrugging, he pockets the package and throws his satchel over one shoulder, exiting the room and heading to the metro.

As much as he would like to skip out on it, Makoto has to work this afternoon. From what Miss Amakata told him, he needed to cover Asuka's shift as she had a band competition that afternoon.

This probably means he will be alone with Haruka at the bookstore. This does not do much to ease his rapidly beating heart as he takes the train downtown and decides to walk around for the half hour of time he had to kill before he was on duty.

Instead, he finds himself sitting on one of the city benches, staring at the number 12 on his wrist. He frowns, rubbing his thumb across the hypertrophic scar. The number on his arm just reminds him that time is running out faster than he would like, and his mission is far from over.

Though, he supposes it's not even a mission anymore. Now it's just a personal matter. He hasn't talked to Haruka since that Sunday morning... well, whatever it was, and now he has to face him, whether he wants to or not.

Sighing, he pushes himself into a standing position and crosses the street to get to Entre Les Lignes. As he approaches the building, he sees the flags out front fluttering delicately in the light breeze.

When he pushes open the door, his eyes immediately wander to where Haruka is manning the front register. The tinkling of the front doorbell makes him look up, and he regards Makoto for the briefest of seconds before looking back down at his journal, continuing to sketch.

"Hey," Makoto tries as non-awkwardly as he can, passing by the front desk to grab his visor, apron, and hang up his coat on the coat rack.

Haruka gives a half-hearted "Hi," in response. He waves his hand towards the back room, not looking up from his sketchbook. "There's a box of donated books over there. Obasan wants anything in really bad quality to be thrown out."

Makoto's eyes trail over to where Haruka had just pointed. He sees a messy stack of old books of all shapes and sizes, and he internally sighs at the amount of work. He sits down by the pile, taking out his phone and unraveling his earbuds.

"Where is Miss Amakata, anyway?" He asks, already knowing the answer but wanting to make idle conversation anyway.

"She's watching my sister's band performance. My uncle and Suzuka are doing last-minute Christmas shopping this afternoon," He explains boredly, resting his free hand on his cheek.