I reach out to him. I can't believe I said that.

"Haru, stop. I-I didn't mea-," before I get to finish my apology, though, he's already out the door, slamming it in my face and letting the vibrations shake my heart until it feels as though it will burst and splinter into a million individual shreds of pure regret.

I don't give up though, crossing in front of the bean bag in the corner of my otherwise empty bedroom, I make my desperate way out the door Haru just escaped through. This can't be how it ends. This was supposed to be a happy final get together, before I went off to college and we split ways for at least a year. But now, I don't know if I can do that. Today is the day my life was supposed to change. It doesn't matter if it would be for the better, getting a college education had been my parent's dream for me, and it was supposedly going to be perfect. Me going off to college would, according to my parents, be the best possible thing for me. All of the studying would apparently get me good grades and, by default, a good love life. But if I'm on bad terms with Haru before I leave, I'm dead certain that any chance of good grades or love life will be long out the window by the time I get to school.

I'm out the door now, racing down the stairs and to the place I know he will be. But of course, Haru isn't a very fast runner. The only problem with that, though, is that I'm not either. And with his five minute head start on me, as he runs to his "happy" place, I know that I won't be able to catch up until he's already doing laps in the pool. But I won't give up. I have to explain to him. If I don't, I probably won't be able to crawl out of the hole I'll inevitably scurry into if we don't make up.

I try to speed up, but with all of my packing for school, I haven't really had the chance to work out. But I know that I must keep going, I can't leave like this. I didn't mean to snap at him, I was just concerned. Plus, it's not my fault he had to drop the bomb like that. How was I supposed to be prepared?

Finally, after brutal moments of running, I make it to the pool. Without even looking I know that he's swimming already. So, once again without thinking, I start to strip off my shirt. I know he won't get out of the water for me. He wouldn't even do that on a day without us fighting. So I know that my only option is to go in.

But, with my shirt off and a sweat worked up, I finally look to Haru, and realize, he isn't alone.

No, instead he is with her, standing under a tree covered in cherry blossoms, on the pavement surrounding the pool. The evil bitch I warned him about, standing there next to him. The snotty little brat that wants Haru to quit the true thing he loves, holding hands with him. The little shitrag that Haru, my best and most amazing friend, is going to marry.

I should have known she'd be here with him. But still, it astonishes me that he let her see this pool. This pool that Haru and I built together. It's discreetly tucked behind a forest of cherry blossoms, where in the summer, the petals rain down and we have the most amazing time. We are alone together then, all alone and complete, with nothing but the breeze on our minds.

But now she is here. She has tainted the sweetness of our special place and taken my place by Haru's side. No. I cannot stand this. Haru is mine. And although, I haven't admitted it to him yet- well, I was going to until he told me his news- I have long known that I wanted to be more than friends. I don't care what my parents think, I know right at this minute that my trip to college will have to be stalled until this problem is sorted out.

〜〜〜〜〜

I've never been known to use force. In school I was even nicknamed "the group mom". Instead of throwing punches, I would lash out with words that flew with the force of a jet stream that had been held back for months. Never would I even consider laying a hand on anyone, even a fly was safe from me.

But I'm out of school for the moment. There is no longer a need for nicknames, especially that one. For in a moment, that name pure little Nagisa gave me, will no longer be true.

〜〜〜〜〜

Still shirtless, I walk up to where the couple is holding hands. I head straight for the bitch, Mandy. Lifting my heavily muscled arm, I go in for the punch. My punch causes her to fly backwards. Or at least it would have if my fist had continued its line of directory and hadn't instead grabbed for Mandy's left shoulder, spinning her around and away from Haru. She would undoubtedly still be knocked out, if not for the abrupt change in plans that brought Haru, my best friend's, surprised lips right to mine.

I pull back before he can respond to me. "I just wanted to do that," referring to the quick wisp of a kiss I just gave him. "I know that you won't ever listen to me about my opinions on your marriage, but before I give up on you and head off to hell in college without you, I just had to show you that you mean more to me than what you've always thought. I hope it gets through to you that I care way too much about you. I care too much than to approve your bond with this bitch over here. You deserve way more than her. And, honestly, seeing her here, at our private pool, that we built with our hands, not hers, it really kills me inside," my shaky voices raises as I speak, unleashing the emotions I've had stored inside.

"I want, with all of my heart, for you to be happy. But, it's unquestionable that, if she hasn't already, this horrendous, cheating, conspiring bitch will ruin you and your perfect self. And I just cannot have that happen to you. You are the most amazing thing I have ever seen and so far, just being your friend was enough for me. Those rare smiles that you flashed in my direction were the things that kept me going. I don't want her to see them. I won't let her see them. But, if that is what you want, then go ahead and go with her. I'm leaving in a few days anyway, soon enough it won't be my problem."

I don't look at him as I turn around, heading for home. I don't search his magnificent face for signs that my message has registered. I don't watch him as I stumble past Mandy, or as I spit on her as she lays crumpled where I shoved her away from my love. I don't once look back as I walk into my house and empty bedroom. And because I never look back, I miss my favorite person in the world scramble past his fiancé and reach out after me. I miss how Mandy grabs him. I miss how he shakes her off, and turns to her. I'm completely oblivious to him asking her what she planned to after they were married. Or how he forcefully removes the gold ring around his finger. Or how she tells him that I'm just a petty liar.

Most importantly, I miss how Haru, my best friend and favorite person, tells Mandy, his former fiancé, to fuck off, and never speak to him again. And how he promises to himself that he will visit his best friend tomorrow to talk the problems over. But of course I, Makoto, Haru's best friend, is facing away as all of this happens. So I continue to run until I'm face down in the bean bag Haru was sitting in just a few hours before, where he dropped a bomb so great it blew up my heart, and where he would soon share a second kiss with none other than me.