"I'm going to a university in Tokyo."

Haru felt a numbness spread from his chest down through to his finger tips, leaving an odd tingle in his palms. Why couldn't he breathe? His tongue felt like lead as he swallowed, the lump in his throat thick like he'd swallowed molasses. "Oh," was all he managed. He watched Makoto's expression for something, anything, that would tell him what he was really thinking.

Makoto looked at him with the same gentle eyes that he always had, and Haru had to swallow again. The odd feeling was back in his palms, but the tightness in his chest was new, and he turned to face away from Makoto a little. "Haru?" Makoto asked gently, stooping a little to try and get a better look at Haru's face. Haru blinked a little, surprised by the sudden sting there.

"I'm happy for you," he said. Makoto managed a small smile.

"Thank you, Haru," Makoto murmured. Haru couldn't continue to look at the relieved expression on his face, and glanced down at the ground. He turned his back to Makoto, biting his lip anxiously.

"Is there something else, Haru?" Makoto asked as Haru turned. Haru felt a prickle at his neck and the beginning of a cold sweat. Why was he so anxious?

"I..." he started, losing the words in his throat. Makoto waited patiently. "Rin... asked me out," Haru said.

"... Oh," he heard Makoto say, barely audible. "I... That's great Haru, I'm happy for you."

Why don't you sound happy? Haru thought. He turned to look back at Makoto, his expression unreadable. "Makoto?" Haru took a step towards him.

"I... always suspected... that you two would be together, in the end," Makoto managed to say after a while. "I'm really glad you're together now. I know he'll make you happy, Haru."

Haru felt his expression tighten at what Makoto said. "You... always thought we'd get together?" he asked slowly. He watched Makoto nod in response. "You have... nothing else to say about that?"

"No... I'm just... glad you won't be alone, when I leave," was all Makoto said. He reached into his pocket and looked at his phone. "Sorry, Haru. It's my mom, give me a sec."

Haru didn't know how to feel. Why wasn't he happier that Makoto was happy for him? Of course he and Rin would be happy together, but why was it so hard to look Makoto in the eye? Haru was roused from his thoughts as fragments of Makoto's conversation with his mom cut through. "Oh, already? ... I suppose we can move some of my stuff tomorrow... Yeah, I have it organized in my room, we can pack the car in the morning... Okay, thanks Mom. Bye," Makoto replied, hanging up.

He must have noticed the flash of confusion on Haru's face, because he turned to smile at him, almost sadly. "The university called my mom. Apparently my dorm is already set up, and I can move my stuff in. I'm... going to bring most of my stuff tomorrow," he said.

Haru started to panic a little. "But... that's... so soon," he muttered.

Makoto laughed as he scratched the back of his head. "Yeah... it caught my mom off guard, too. But she said that it would be good to move my stuff soon so that I can get used to the place, so we'll be bringing my stuff in the morning."

"You're leaving already?" Haru's eyes shot up at Makoto, anxious.

"No, no. I'm just moving my stuff. I... I'll be leaving next week," Makoto said, barely audible over the blood roaring in Haru's ears. "I know... it's really sudden. I thought we'd have more time to hang out and stuff. I didn't think that my dorm would be ready so soon. I... I'm sorry, Haru. I really thought I'd have at least a month before this happened."

"No, it's not your fault, Makoto," Haru said, turning away from him again. The air suddenly felt so heavy, and he couldn't lift his head to meet Makoto's warm, concerned gaze for him. He'll be gone next week, Haru thought, clenching his fists to his sides.

"It's getting late," he heard himself say, moving past Makoto and walking ahead of him. The whole way home was a quiet walk, Makoto never closing the distance between them to walk next to Haru. Haru felt the air grow heavier with each step.

He was beginning to climb the steps to his home when he heard Makoto behind him. "Haru... did you want to help me move my stuff to my new-"

"No, I don't," Haru cut in, voice hard and body stiff. He could hear deafening silence, and he felt Makoto blink owlishly up at him. Haru refused to turn back to him. "I... Rin and I are going out tomorrow. So we don't have time to help you move."

Haru felt guilt override his body as the words left his mouth. No amount of wishing could take back what he said. He glanced back to see Makoto looking away, towards his house, his eyes clouded over with an emotion that Haru didn't like seeing on his face. "... Right. It's okay. We still have a week," Makoto uttered, voice suddenly thick. "We can hang out with everyone some other time."

Haru turned away and nodded, feet heavy as he made his way up the stairs. "Good night, Haru. Have fun tomorrow," Makoto called gently behind him. Haru felt his shoulders twitch as he made his way up the the stairs faster.

He threw open the door to his house and clambered his way into the bathroom, hand on the knob to turn the water on. His hand shook as he gripped the faucet, and he felt his body slump down to the floor. His knuckles went white as he gripped the side of the tub, pressing his forehead against the cold. The air was stagnant and heavy around him, the sound of his breathing the only thing disrupting the silence.

My best friend is leaving next week, Haru thought as it seemingly echoed in his mind and out his ears, bouncing off the walls of the bathroom, taunting him.

My best friend is leaving.

He's leaving next week.

He's leaving.

Makoto.

Makoto is leaving.

Makoto is leaving next week.

Makoto's leaving.

Makoto.

Makoto.

Makoto.

The thoughts echoed through his mind as he gripped the tub harder, arms shaking from the strength of his hold. His breathing started to come in short pants and gasps. Haru tried to breathe deeper, but his next breath came out in a broken sob, and soon after each breath was a sob, growing louder and louder until tears began to fall with his sobs, echoing in the bathroom, each sound hitting the wall and breaking through his thoughts as the noise reached his ears. He squeezed his eyes shut and clamped his hands over his ears, as if to try to stop the noise in his head from echoing around him. Instead, his tears fell through his shut eyelids, and the noise in his head seemed to grow louder when he covered his ears.

Makoto was no longer going to be there to help him out of the tub. He wasn't going to be there to split a popsicle with him. He wasn't going to walk home with him anymore. He wasn't going to swim with him during the summer anymore.

Makoto was going to leave next week for Tokyo.

Makoto was going to leave him next week for Tokyo.

Makoto was going to leave him.

Haru curled inward as he drew the blankets closer to him, trying to block out the sound of his doorbell obnoxiously ringing. It went quiet for a second, only to come back in full fervor again a few seconds later.

Haru groaned and rolled out of bed, hitting the floor with a muffled thump. It was probably Rin, getting him so they could go out on their date. Makoto just would have gone through the back door, Haru cut the thought off, refusing to follow it. He could already feel the sting of tears burning his eyes, and he rushed to the bathroom to splash cold water on his face before opening the door.

"Took you long enough," Rin said, grinning at Haru's disheveled appearance. Haru merely squinted at him, his eyes blurring in the light of the day. He stepped aside to let Rin through, and made his way to the kitchen to make himself some breakfast. Rin plopped himself down at Haru's table, watching him work. "I ran into Makoto at the bottom of the stairs. He seemed like he was in a hurry, and he told me to have fun today. Do you know what's going on?" Rin said.

Haru felt himself grip the spatula tighter as he grilled his mackerel. "He's moving his stuff into his dorm today," he managed to say, eyes fixed on his fish.

"No shit! That was pretty fast," Rin said, lost in thought.

Haru whirled around to stare at Rin. "Rin, did you know about him going to Tokyo?" he barked.

Rin looked a little taken aback at Haru's tone of voice. "Well, yeah, he did tell me just recently," Rin went on.

"When?"

"Huh?"

"When did Makoto tell you?"

"Just yesterday, after I asked you out," Rin said, brows furrowed at Haru. Haru felt his hand lower to his side, unaware that he had been clenching his fist. "After I had asked you out, I ran into him into the convenience store, and we had soda together. Then he said something like 'Pretty soon we won't be able to share sodas like this' and that's when he told me."

Haru stared at Rin, his face stiff. Rin turned his head to look at Haru carefully. "When did you find out?" he asked.

"Also... just yesterday," Haru murmured, looking down at the floor.

"Ah, did it surprise you?"

"He... he asked if we wanted to help... him move," Haru said quietly. He looked at Rin, who wore a grin on his face.

"Why didn't you say so! We should go help him," Rin surprised Haru by saying.

"Rin..."

"Were you worried that I was gonna be mad if you asked if we could help?"

"Rin, that's not-"

"It's okay, Haru, we can always postpone. You can only help your friends move to a dorm once in a-"

"No!" Haru slammed his fist on the counter top, startling Rin out of his chair. "I don't want to see him, Rin! I don't want to go!"

Rin looked shocked at Haru's outburst, but gentle worry spread over his features after a while. "Hey, Haru, you okay?" he murmured quietly, walking over and pulling him into a hug carefully. Haru gripped Rin's shirt, ducking his head down to rest his forehead on Rin's chest.

"I just... I feel like I'm losing my best friend," he mumbled into Rin's shirt. Rin made a noise as if to agree with him. "He only told me yesterday, and now he's already moving his stuff."

"Yeah, it is pretty fast. But he'll still visit for the holidays, Haru. You can go visit him, and he'll be back during the summer break and stuff," Rin pressed his cheek to the top of Haru's head. He felt Rin rub slow circles into the small of his back.

"It's not the same, Rin." he murmured. The circles stopped momentarily and he heard Rin sigh above him.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Rin said after a while, and Haru suddenly felt bad for his outburst. Rin was losing a best friend, too, after all. "We can just stay here for today. You must be pretty shocked after everything."

Haru tilted his head back to look at Rin, who seemed to be blushing lightly. "You don't mind?"

Rin rubbed the back of his neck, the embarrassment of being so close to Haru finally catching up to him. "Nah, I don't mind. I sort of get how you feel, anyway. I'd be pretty shocked, too, if Sousuke pulled a fast one on me like that," he said.

Haru leaned back into Rin, pressing his ear to his chest. "Thank you, Rin," he replied. He heard Rin's chuckle resonate in his chest.

"You can pay me back by making something other than mackerel later," was his snarky remark. Haru silently conceded.

They stood together like that for a while in Haru's kitchen, before both moved to his room to take a nap. In the afternoon, Haru pulled Rin out of bed so they could walk along the beach and get something to eat. When they came back, Makoto and his father were getting out of the car. He reached to grip Rin's hand, who gave it a comforting squeeze.

"Yo, Makoto!" Rin called out. The brunet turned his head and waved to them, a smile slowly spreading across his face.

"Did you just get back from your date?" was the first thing out of his mouth. Rin beamed at him and pulled Haru closer.

"Yeah. It was easy going for a first. How was moving all your stuff?" Rin asked.

Makoto laughed and groaned a little, scratching his cheek. "A little more work than my dad and I expected, so we only just got back," he replied, glancing back to his house. He looked at Haru and Rin's hands, which were still joined together, and his features melted into a warm smile. "I'm really glad you guys are together."

"Shit, Makoto, we've only just started going out," Rin said, embarrassed. Haru looked down at the ground, refusing to look up.

Makoto laughed gently at Rin's embarrassment. "I know, but you guys always seemed to have such a strong bond. Take care of him for me, okay, Rin?" he said warmly.

What about our bond, Makoto? Haru felt the thought float through his mind as he looked at Makoto, who was smiling at Rin. Our bond is strong, too. Right?

"Jesus, Makoto, you sound like his mother," Rin laughed. Makoto merely shrugged his shoulders, glancing briefly at Haru before giving him a smile.

"Well, it's getting late. We should plan something next week. Good night, you guys," Makoto said, waving at them as he mounted the steps to his home. He turned to wave a final good bye at the two of them, and closed the door behind him.

Rin checked his watch. "I'd better go, too. You gonna be okay, Haru?" Rin asked. When Haru nodded, Rin squeezed his hand. "Are you sure?"

"I'll be fine," Haru said quietly.

Rin put his arm around Haru's shoulder and pulled him close. "We should see him off next week. Think you'll be okay to?"

Haru nodded, and watched Rin walk off. He felt hollow as he waved to Rin.

Makoto didn't speak to him directly once.

He had already let him go.