Tachibana Makoto Birthday Fanworks Exchange

Makoto's birthday inspired so much great fanart and fanfic throughout the free!dom, it was hard to keep up with it all! If you missed any of the seriously excellent fanworks created as part of the 2013 Makoto Birthday Exchange, fear not: we'll be highlighting two works every week until each piece of art, comic, and fic has been in the spotlight.

FEATURED THIS WEEK
July 20, 2014

The Curious Feeling of Falling – by LC (Makoto/Haru)

Only Haru will ever remember this.

He’s running up a slope to catch the train back home. The canvas under his arm slows him down, though he makes it just in time for the doors to close.

From the window, he sees rain starting to pelt down. He walks over to a seat, though he’s not paying attention to where he’s going. He’s staring at everything outside, the rain, and the lights from the city.

He stands still, realizing that there are no more vacant seats and that he has to stand up for the whole trip.

“Nice weather today, ne?” comes a voice, and he turns to see a tall man wearing big circle glasses looking out the window, just as Haru was a few moments ago.

Haru nods. “Yeah,” he says, before he looks away.

For the rest of the trip, they stand side-by-side, in silence and in awe of the rain. They get off at the same stop, and Haru loses him among a small crowd of people.

This is how they first met, though it’s not how everything starts.

[read the full piece here]

Makoto's birthday inspired so much great fanart and fanfic throughout the free!dom, it was hard to keep up with it all! If you missed any of the seriously excellent fanworks created as part of the 2013 Makoto Birthday Exchange, fear not: we'll be highlighting two works every week until each piece of art, comic, and fic has been in the spotlight.

FEATURED THIS WEEK
June 29, 2014

Winter Warmth – by Umiyuki (Makoto/Haru)

“It’s really pretty, isn’t it,” he says, pausing a moment to look up at the falling snow.

“Yeah,” says Haru beside him, and Makoto glances over to see Haru watching the snow with a peaceful smile on his face. In spite of the cold weather, Makoto feels a warm sensation spreading through his chest at seeing Haru looking happy. He turns his gaze back to the night sky, and the two of them stand and watch the snow fall for another minute before Haru speaks again. “Makoto?”

“Hmm?” Makoto looks over and sees that Haru’s eyes filled with sincerity, in that way he has that always makes Makoto’s heart skip a beat.

“Thanks,” says Haru. “For inviting me out today, I mean. It was fun.”

The warm feeling in Makoto’s chest spreads to the rest of him, and he can’t keep himself from smiling. It’s still so wonderful to hear Haru expressing his feelings this way; this time last year he’d never have imagined that he’d hear Haru thanking him so openly for a gesture as small as spending a day together. It only goes to show how much he’s grown - how much they’ve both grown, really - since starting the swimming club with Nagisa. This time last year, Makoto might have said something like “You don’t have to thank me,” but he understands better now how much it really matters to them both for Haru to express things aloud, even if Makoto would know them without Haru saying them.

Makoto's birthday inspired so much great fanart and fanfic throughout the free!dom, it was hard to keep up with it all! If you missed any of the seriously excellent fanworks created as part of the 2013 Makoto Birthday Exchange, fear not: we'll be highlighting two works every week until each piece of art, comic, and fic has been in the spotlight.

FEATURED THIS WEEK
April 27, 2014

Kalverliefde – by Ashleen (Makoto/Haru)

“You don’t know that.” Haruka interrupted, his calm facade finally slipping as he gave Makoto a look of despair that made Makoto’s heart clenched at the site, “You don’t know if we will keep in contact.”

“I will try my hardest to do it.” Makoto insisted as his voice raised in levels to get the point across, “I promise I will write to you and–”

“I’ll go to the same college as you.” Haruka said. It wasn’t a terrible idea, but Makoto felt that it will be his fault if Haruka does not enjoy his college experience. Makoto did not want that to happen, but he also didn’t want to be selfish. That serious look in Haruka’s eye made Makoto’s heart sweep up with pride and thankfulness to have such a friend.

Makoto's birthday inspired so much great fanart and fanfic throughout the free!dom, it was hard to keep up with it all! If you missed any of the seriously excellent fanworks created as part of the 2013 Makoto Birthday Exchange, fear not: we'll be highlighting two works every week until each piece of art, comic, and fic has been in the spotlight.

FEATURED THIS WEEK
March 2, 2014

Language Arts – by CaffeineKitty (Haru/Makoto/Rin)

Rin looked pained as he watched the exchange. "And you two think that sucking at English is the worst of your problems?"

Makoto rubbed the back of his neck and offered an apologetic little laugh. "A-ah, well…"

"Shit, teaching Nagisa wasn’t as annoying as dealing with you two…" The redhead folded his arms across his chest. "At least he wanted to learn."

"We want to learn." Makoto nodded enthusiastically, gripping Haruka’s wrist just out of Rin’s line of sight under the table to keep him from going for the carving tools again. "Really."

"I don’t need it," Haruka said. "Water doesn’t speak English."

When both Rin and Makoto stared at him with matching ‘not sure if actually serious’ expressions, the corners of Haruka’s mouth twitched, just a little.

[read the full piece here]

Makoto's birthday inspired so much great fanart and fanfic throughout the free!dom, it was hard to keep up with it all! If you missed any of the seriously excellent fanworks created as part of the 2013 Makoto Birthday Exchange, fear not: we'll be highlighting two works every week until each piece of art, comic, and fic has been in the spotlight.

FEATURED THIS WEEK
January 26, 2014

He loved the cerulean world that deepened in color, pressure, and comfort the further down one went. He could never quite understand why people found its silence so lonely. Perhaps he had been in the deep for too long to truly understand what life above the surface felt like, but Haruka had always felt perfectly fine being by himself. It was not necessarily something he chose, but after experiencing it for so long it had simply felt like a natural state. He had always reasoned that one did not necessarily need others to feel whole. For most of his childhood, he had been content not to see beauty and brilliance in others, but rather in the place he felt safest. People were nice to have in one’s life, sure, and he certainly loved his grandmother dearly, but he found the isolation water provided more invigorating than any one person.  

That was, of course, until Makoto.

[read the full piece here]




His Voice – by Red_Shiloh (Makoto/Rei)

Makoto's birthday inspired so much great fanart and fanfic throughout the free!dom, it was hard to keep up with it all! If you missed any of the seriously excellent fanworks created as part of the 2013 Makoto Birthday Exchange, fear not: we'll be highlighting two works every week until each piece of art, comic, and fic has been in the spotlight.

FEATURED THIS WEEK
December 15, 2013

World With Haru vs. World Without Haru – by Niuniente (Makoto/Haru)

[read the full piece here]

At the very least, we can date the pizza – by Pip (Seijuurou/Makoto)

“No, I wanted to talk to you about something. Gou-chan was asking me about you, today.” Makoto balls the napkin up in his lap, neck heating up with his embarrassment as he moves his hands to the tabletop. Seijuurou doesn’t immediately launch into ‘Gou-talk’ at the mention of her name, like he used to back when they first started meeting up for pizza. Instead, he cocks an eyebrow and swallows.

“No.” His voice softens but his eyes flicker around the edge of the pizza pan, unable to meet Seijuurou’s eyes. “She wanted to know if we were dating. She also offered her support.” Makoto swallows air, then leans back to take a sip of water for his rapidly drying throat. Seijuurou stares at him unabashedly, mouth open on words that won’t quite come forward. When he sits up, back ramrod straight, Makoto mimics him out of anxiety.

[read the full piece here]