Makoto asked Haruka to meet him at the swimming club on Friday so he could talk to him about something. Haruka found Makoto's seriousness odd, but complied with his requests anyways. Makoto was sitting on a bench outside, tapping his foot in anxiety, while waiting for Haruka, but when he arrived he greeted him as normally as he could.
"Haru, I have to tell you something. I know this will change our friendship, but I need to get it off my chest."
"Makoto…what is it?"
Makoto gulped. He had come this far, and he couldn't go back. There was no way he could chicken out, so he had to be completely honest.
"Haru…I…I…."
Makoto was freezing up in fear of what would happen next. Haruka put his hand on Makoto's shoulder.
"Makoto, you can tell me anything."
Hearing this, Makoto calmed down a bit. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Haru, I like you."
Haruka was shocked at Makoto's confession.
"Oh…listen Makoto…"
Makoto could tell that the following wouldn't be good.
"You are the one person who I can be completely honest with. I go to you for everything, and you're my best friend. I'm sorry, but I won't ever see you as anything else."
Makoto's eyes widened and his heart shattered. He was shaking and his eyes burned.
"I see….."
A constricting silence fell over them as they stood there. Eventually, after what seemed like hours, Haruka broke the silence.
"Makoto, maybe we should stop hanging out for a bit. For your sake. I feel that closeness will only make it worse."
Haruka may as well have been stomping on the pieces of Makotos heart at this point. Haruka turned and began walking away.
"Bye… Makoto…"
Makoto's legs could no longer support him, and he fell onto his knees. He reached out a hand to Haruka. He wanted to scream. He wanted to stop his world from crumbling right in front of him, but he couldn't find the strength to. He covered his face with his hands and he began crying out every last one of his unreturned feelings.