Some people were half naked, which was justifiable in the searing heat. Rainbow flags waved high against a cloudless sky and floats blasted dance music as they paraded down the city streets.
Rin knew that some of the drag queens must've been dying, donned up in layers of make-up, silicone, and fabric. Paper fans weren't doing much for their melting foundation.
"Have you seen anyone yet?" Sousuke asked, holding a mini motorized fan that he was genius enough to bring. He and Rin walked next to large float covered in camouflage and rainbows, supporting LGBT people in the military. The "soldiers" riding the float were big, hairy, and scantily clad.
"There's so many people, it's impossible," Rin answered, waving his mere paper fan. The most preparation he'd done was matching T-shirts and face paint with Sousuke, as well as bring a bag of water bottles and snacks. The couple sported simple white shirts with the word "LOVE" in different colors. In blue (for fun at the last minute), they had the male symbol painted on their cheeks.
"Just call Makoto," Sousuke said. "He probably knows where everyone is at."
"I've already called him like three times," Rin replied, checking his phone again. Nothing new. "And I texted him. It's unusual. I thought he'd be the first one here, texting everyone else!"
"Yeah, weird," Sousuke said. He glanced behind him to see if anything interesting were going on. He was slightly excited to catch sight a girl moving through the crowd, handing out beads. He thought to himself which color he would ask for before facing forward once more. Boredom was rapidly setting in. He was all for pride and everything, he was even out as bi to his friends and family, but he didn't really get how the LGBT community walking about in sparkly underpants and waving little flags around was meant to accomplish anything.
Rin half-way agreed with Sousuke's sentiment except he just really wanted to spend this time catching up with his friends while supporting a cause they could all relate to. Plus, seeing all the different outfits and meeting new people was also fun.
"I'll text him one more—" the redhead began only to be cut off by a familiar voice.
"Rin!"
"Mako!"
The burly brunet rushed over to his friend, giving him a quick hug that made Sousuke's fist clench. The three men stepped off to the side and out the flow of traffic so they could talk. Sousuke used this chance to grab some beads from the girl who was handing them out.
"I've been texting you," Rin said, holding up his cell phone. An Iwatobi-chan charm dangled from it. Nagisa forced it on gave it to him.
"Sorry, sorry," Makoto laughed lightly. He wasn't really dressed up, just a pink shirt, some knee-length jean shorts and a heart sticker on his face. Somehow, Rin had been expecting more. "Seijuurou did something to my phone."
Speak of the devil, the older redhead emerged from the crowd, turning on a smartphone in a green case.
"This stupid thing," he muttered. "C'mon, work!"
He joined the other three as Sousuke handed multi-colored beads to Makoto and Rin. They all four wore the silly necklaces as Makoto took his phone back from Seijuurou, giving his lover a peck on the cheek.
"It's okay," Makoto said, pocketing the device. "We'll go get it fixed tomorrow."
"I'm sorry, babe," Seijuurou said as he wrapped an arm around Makoto's waist. His shirt was humorous, reading "I'm not gay, but my boyfriend is," which made others giggle despite being true.
Though Seijuurou had liked a boy once (maybe twice) before when he was younger, in recent years he had pretty much been romantically and sexually attracted to solely women. But something about Makoto was on an entirely separate level from sex. Gender and genitalia put aside, Makoto's soul was just so beautiful and perfect and shining, that Seijuurou couldn't help falling in love. By some strange stroke of luck, Seijuurou was able to snatch Makoto right off the market, a day during which gay men everywhere wept.
Because of this, Seijuurou chose not to identify with any sexual orientation since though mostly attracted to girls, he definitely didn't have an issue getting turned on by Makoto. In fact, if anything, he had quite opposite that problem. He was a bit of horndog with his hands set on his one and only. So, he was pretty sure dating and having (tons of) regular sex with a guy didn't make him straight, but he liked girls, but then he also wouldn't say he liked guys (just a very select few) so he didn't consider himself bisexual… could he just be called Makotosexual, he wondered?
"Your shirt's dumb," Sousuke said with a slight chuckle.
"Isn't it great?" Seijuurou let out a hearty laugh.
"Have you seen anyone else?" Makoto asked Rin.
Rin played with his beads and answered, "No, but let me see if I can call them."
"It's everyone's first Pride. Exciting, isn't it?" Makoto asked Sousuke while Rin dialed Haru's number.
"Yeah, I guess. There isn't much going on though…" he replied, eyes glued onto Rin.
"What?" Makoto shouted. "Don't you see the drag kings performing to boy band songs over there? Or how about those shirtless 'policemen' squirting people with water guns over there? And that cake float! It's amazing!"
"Rather, isn't there too much going on?" Seijuurou proposed, eyes darting from one craziness to the next.
"Yeah, I guess," Sousuke said once more, watching Rin light up. Haru must've answered.
"We're here," Rin said into the phone. "Where are you? … What? … What? …Wha- I can't hear you. It's too loud over here. Wait one second."
Rin was about to walk further from the loudness of the parade when Sousuke grabbed at his sleeve. The redhead looked up at his boyfriend with an exasperated expression and rolled his eyes. There Sousuke went again. Rin was really getting tired of his clingy and possessive behavior. Always wanting to know what Rin was doing, where he was going, who was talking to and what he was saying. Especially with Haru. It was annoying and very quickly getting old.
The first few times it was almost cute. Just a little jealousy let Rin know the backstroke swimmer cared, but now Sousuke would snoop through his phone, give him a curfew for being back to their dorm, and even occasionally drove Rin's newer friends away. Rin made it very clear that if Sousuke ever got in between him and his swim club buddies, he'd break up with him. With new friends, it was still annoying and breaking boundaries, but his pals from Iwatobi are more 'til death do us part material than any romantic partner he'd ever meet.
The eye-roll was a wordless message that if Sousuke didn't let go right then and there, he'd be getting an earful later and not much of anything bedroom-wise for longer than he'd like. With a sigh, he released Rin from his grasp. Already, he was anxious for Rin to return to him, still in love with just him and cheat-free. He knew he had a trust problem, but didn't know how not to be scared of Rin, who was gorgeous and bright, leaving him, who was average and stale. Not to mention, Rin had admitted to once having a crush on Haru.
Makoto had too or at least that's what Seijuurou told Sousuke. Seijuurou gave Sousuke advice on the situation a few months ago.
"The past is the past, man. You just gotta trust, you know? If get all caught up in who liked who and when and why and where yadda yadda high school bullshit, then you won't be able to enjoy today. You know what'll happen then? He'll go find somebody who can."
"You're so lucky~" Seijuurou whined, breaking Sousuke from his train of thought. "You and Rin get to go to the same college. Do you know how long I've been trying to convince my Mako-chan to transfer?"
"This again?" Makoto laughed nervously, glancing off to the side. He hated this subject that Seijuurou refused to drop. "A sports school isn't for me."
"If you want to be a teacher, you could go for Childhood Sport Education! And your swimming is good enough. Please, Mako~ I'm so lonely when you're not there~"
"I'm not interested in that major."
"Why? What's so different from what you're doing now?"
"Can I explain this to you later?"
"But!"
"Sei!"
"Uhg, fine," Seijuurou unwrapped his arm from Makoto making the brunet's heart drop a bit. "I'm going to the convenience store to get some drinks. Want anything, Sousuke-kun?"
"No, thanks," Sousuke said with Rin's backpack full of bottled water in mind.
Seijuurou nodded then jogged off, leaving Sousuke and Makoto alone at the end of the parade. They stood in silence as the rest of the march loudly moved on.
"He didn't offer to get you a drink?" Sousuke asked, curious as to why Seijuurou was peeved and petty enough to do something so rude.
"Oh, no," Makoto said, smiling. "He just knows what I would want."
"Oh."
"Sorry about that, by the way," Makoto said after a moment. "This is supposed to be fun and here we are arguing. It's about time for new applicants to start submitting everything for the new semester, so to him I guess it's crunch time to get me to transfer."
"If sports aren't your passion, he shouldn't be pushing you so much," Sousuke said. He spotted Rin returning from his phone call. If he had a tail, it would've been wagging like a dog seeing his master come home.
"Exactly!" Makoto agreed.
"Haru's on his way. Who knows how long it'll take for him to get here. Also, I texted Rei and Nagisa," Rin explained as he returned to Sousuke's side.
"Rei and Nagisa?" Makoto questioned.
"…Yeah."
"Won't that be a little… awkward?"
"Hey, I'm back!" Seijuurou announced, handing Makoto a milky strawberry-flavored beverage before taking a gulp from his beer. "Hey, let's catch up with the rest of the parade!"
"You're drinking alcohol now?!" Makoto barked.
"Why not? I'm of age now, might as well make the most of it!" Seijuurou let out another hearty laugh.
As the two went on to bicker about Seijuurou's drink choice, Sousuke and Rin decided to jog up to the end of the parade where they walked with the other stragglers, mostly couples wishing for a calm stroll.
"Hey, look at those two over there," Rin giggled, pointing to a pair of butch lesbians linking arms. "Are those lesbians or two guys?"
"Or get a load of those two," Sousuke joined in, smiling genuinely for the first time in a good half hour or so. "They're wearing matching leather pants, but you can tell the dude on the right hates it!"
Rin laughed punched his friend's shoulder. Sousuke's smile broadened then he pointed out another couple.
"Look at those guys over there."
It was obvious the lovers were falling behind from the rest because of their age. They were both upwards of 60, probably older. Still, they proudly wore matching outfits and walked hand-in-hand at a pride parade filled with lively, indecent youngsters. One of the old men turned and gave the other a chaste kiss, warming Rin's heart.
The redhead looked up lovingly at Sousuke before intertwining his fingers with his cherished boyfriend. He could feel the taller boy's skin heat up as he leaned onto Sousuke's shoulder.
Sousuke glanced down at his love and grinned harder.
"Haha, wait, wait, look at that girl over there!" Rin laughed and pointed. "Doesn't she look like Nitori in drag?"
"Yeah, she kind of- wait, Rin, I think –"
"No, you've gotta be kidding me."
"Hm?" The so-called girl stopped to turn around and smiled when "she" saw who had called "her" name. "Senpai~!"
Nitori left the side of his pre-occupied orange-haired partner to run over to Rin and Sousuke. Their kouhai walking alongside them while beaming allowed the couple to fully take in Nitori's strange attire.
The lilac-headed cutie had grown out his hair into a bob and was draped in a puffy light-purple Lolita-style dress, accessorized with a matching parasol and white thigh high stockings. His make-up was mostly natural looking, accenting his big innocent eyes. Overall, he was really, really cute.
"I didn't expect to see you here!" Nitori said, handing his parasol to Sousuke so the tall boy could use it to cover them all from the sun.
"Same here! Isn't it a school night?" Rin scolded haphazardly.
"Where else was I supposed to debut my new dress?" Nitori asked with a spin then a giggle. "Anyways, It's fine! We'll probably be leaving soon."
"We?"
The orange-haired boy that Nitori deserted walked over on the verge of tears.
"Ai-chan, why did you abandon meeeee~" Momotarou whined, grasping his phone tightly. The same phone he was using to text four different girls.
"What are you doing here? You're straight!" Rin exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at the annoyance.
"So?" Momotarou barked back. "I'm an ally! Ai-chan wanted me to be here, so I'm here! That's that!"
Nitori half-glared at Momotarou for leaving at the crucial detail that they're dating, so of course Nitori would want his boyfriend to be at this extravagant celebration with him even if Momo didn't feel connected to the whole thing.
Unlike some of the other swimmers, Nitori had more recently figured out who he was. Despite having had more crushes on boys than girls, he'd always thought of himself as straight. Once Rin graduated and Nitori didn't have his senpai he that depended on to make his decisions and watch after him, he was implored to do some soul searching. This led him to finally accept that he was indeed in love with Rin. He had suspected his feelings of admiration were somewhat above a normal kouhai from the beginning, but Rin being gone made him feel painfully lonely like a part of his heart had just up and walked away.
It was this unrequited love that made him realize he was probably gay or at least more into dudes than chicks. But this confused him because girls still charmed him. A cute girl in just the right outfit made his heart skip a beat. Flipping through magazines, the models made him blush. It was soon after the first epiphany that he had another. He was once again confusing emotions. He didn't want to have sex with or date these girls – he wanted to be them. Not all the time. Just for a moment, he wanted to capture the allure of a woman.
So, he purchased female clothing and one day while Momotarou was out, he tried on a pleated skirt with a chiffon top. The combination he'd bought was actually a little busy, but as a beginner female impersonator, he'd expected himself to make mistakes. What he didn't expect was to look so cute! Uhg, he was utterly adorable. He did twirls and poses and basically awed himself with his overwhelming cuteness. He dared to even think he was more appealing than the average girl.
From then on, whenever he knew Momotarou would leave the dorm for an extended period of time, Nitori would try on several girly outfits. He couldn't stop buying short shorts and floral print dresses and crop tops and stockings – he lovedstockings. Sometimes, he would even take pictures, crop out his face, and post them online for comments like "Way too adorable!" and "Who is this girl and how can I date her?" The praise made him proud. He nearly had more pride in his good looks than his swimming.
All was going well until one day, a curious Momotaoru went through a box (which Nitori told him not to touch) in the hopes of finding porn, but instead coming across neatly folded women's clothing. He cried to Nitori, saying he was jealous that Nitori had a girlfriend who his senpai was clearly sneaking into the dorm room for some fun times. He demanded to meet this girl or else he would let the school know what Nitori was doing. The older boy then had to awkwardly tell Momotarou the truth which broke the idiot's brain for a good few days.
Once he accepted that truth, Momotarou knew he could no longer be plagued by his playful imagination – he wanted to see the real thing, Nitori all dressed up in girl clothes. The way he asked Nitori ("Put this on.") made his senpai blush which somehow made the situation more awkward and weirdly… sensual? As Momotarou sat on the bottom bunk, waiting for Nitori, he felt as though he was participating in some sort of adult role-play. It made his face flush and heart beat faster than he could handle. When Nitori emerged in a wig, tight pink shorts, and a white tank top, Momotarou was sure he had died and gone to heaven.
From there on out, Nitori would dress up for Momotaoru and order clothes he thought the other would like to see him in. He grew out his hair to be more feminine. Meanwhile, Momotarou found himself staring at Nitori during practice and getting jealous when his senpai laughed at other boys' jokes. He knew what this meant. Not long after putting his feelings together, when Nitori next dressed up for him, he asked Nitori if he could kiss him. Nitori nodded and closed his eyes with red cheeks. Blushing equally hard, Momotarou placed a soft kiss on Nitori's forehead.
Just like that, they were an item. Still, Momotarou called himself straight. Unlike his brother who rejected labels, or Sousuke who identified as bisexual, Momotarou didn't think that dating a guy made him not straight. He liked girls – plain and simple. He even liked Nitori because Nitori was the cutest girl he'd ever seen. He would never tell his lover that he saw him more as a girl than a guy, but Nitori would sometimes sense it in the way Momotarou always said "Ai-chan" and never things like "he," "him," or "my boyfriend." In fact, Momotarou referred to Nitori as his girlfriend 100% of the time.
Nitori grabbed onto Momotarou's arm.
"I wanted Momo-kun to come with me to meet my drag mother!" Nitori said, looking up at Momotarou happily. "I met her online, so this was my first time seeing her in person. She's really helped me get better these last three months! You guys should meet her too! She's on the cake float!"
"Wait, wait! So you're a tranny now, Nitori?" Rin asked. He rubbed his temples, trying to understand.
Sousuke was about to correct his word choice, but Makoto and Seijuurou sprouted out of nowhere to discipline him instead.
"Rin!" Makoto gasped. "That's horribly offensive language! You're not supposed to say that! Being LGBT, you should know at least this much!"
"Huh? Then what am I supposed to say?"
Seijuurou maturely answered, "Transsexual or transgender, it depends. Either way, I don't think Nitori falls into either of those categories." This reply earned him a kiss and a "You're so smart" from Makoto.
"Yeah," Nitori said. He was a bit excited that someone understood that he wanted to look like a girl, but not be one. It was a concept even Momo hadn't fully grasped. "I still see myself as I guy. I just crossdress for fun!"
"You said something about meeting your drag mother?" Makoto asked. "That sounds like an experience!"
"Boy, was it," Momotarou said with a roll of the eyes. He wasn't the biggest fan of Mama Juggs. She was a bit too… flamingfor his tastes. But, man, was she a fan of Momo…
"We can still catch up to her if we hurry! She's on the cake float!" Nitori said.
"The cake float?" There was a sparkle in Makoto's eye before he urged everyone to power walk. That cake float was amazing and if Mama Juggs could get him on it, he would cry tears of joy.
They eventually caught up to the float and were invited on. Not because Nitori was Mama's precious drag daughter, but mostly because Mama Juggs was an even bigger fan of Seijuurou than she was of Momotarou.
And just like the high school second year had suggested, meeting Mama Juggs really was quite the experience. She was loud and out there, strong and funny. It made Rin realize why he had seen some change in Nitori who was usually clumsy and mousy. Lately Nitori had become more confident and elegant. It was a good change that made Rin feel proud of his growing kouhai. He wanted to change for the better now too, like maybe he'd start expressing his feelings better and he could try to assess his anger before letting it turn into an argument. If Nitori could improve, Rin was sure he could too.
Once they were all off the float, Rin received a message.
"Huh?! Rei saw us on the float!" Rin exclaimed. "He must be nearby!"
They all glanced around, turning and squinting until they heard a loud "Everyone! Over here!"
"Rei!" Makoto shouted excitedly. They were all eager to see him… until they saw him. Everyone's face dropped except
Momotarou who couldn't stop himself from bursting out into a fit of laughter. Honestly, some of them weren't quite sure what exactly they were looking at. Was it Rei or a 5 foot moth dipped into a crayon factory?
Rei approached them wearing nothing more than flip flops, a shiny, colorful speedo, human-sized butterfly wings, and over-the-top make-up.
"How is it?" Rei asked, doing an extravagant pose. "Beautiful, right?"
Momotarou paused in his laughter only to fall to the ground, laugh harder, and shout, "Stop! Stop! I'll bust my gut!"
"Just wonderful!" Makoto forced himself to holler.
"Dazzling!" Nitori added, truly baffled by Rei's look.
"You look like a –" Rin started, but his mouth was covered by the kind-hearted Sousuke who just wanted to prevent the debate that was sure to ensue after whatever Rin's next words were going to be.
"You look like a caterpillar freshly out of its cocoon," Sousuke finished for Rin. He gave himself a mental pat on the back for that save. He removed his hand.
With a sigh, Rin said, "That's… that's just what I was going to say." What he was going to say was not nearly as complimentary.
"Hahaha!" Rei chortled, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "I knew you guys would be able to appreciate true beauty!"
Emerging from the crowd was another glasses-wearing male who wore a simple green polo and jeans. It was almost hard to believe that someone so normal were dating the extra-ness that was Ryugazaki Rei. The man put his arm around Rei with a smile.
"We were at the front so it took a while to make our back here," Sera told the group. "We kept getting stopped for pictures or seeing someone we knew, so sorry it took a while."
"Haha, yeah…" Rin lazily chuckled. He and Makoto met eyes and both fidgeted with their hands.
Sera wasn't a bad guy and he took care of their friend Rei perfectly. It was almost crazy how nice of a guy Sera was, which made it hard to hate him, but still… something about talking to him was awkward. Rin and Makoto didn't personally have a problem with him but…
"Oh!" Rin said, pulling out his phone. "I just got a text."
"From who?" Makoto asked, trying to ignore Seijuurou who was hanging all over him and complaining about the intense heat.
Rin glanced over at Rei who was with Sera, talking to Nitori, Momotarou, and Sousuke.
"Nagisa," Rin whispered.
"Don't they hate each other or something?" Seijuurou asked a little too loudly.
"Shh!" Rin and Makoto hissed.
"What he'd say?" Makoto asked quietly with furrowed brows.
Rin said, "He says he met with Gou and Haru to get some water and now they're all three headed our way. I didn't even know Gou was coming." He must've raised his volume for that last part due to the response it got.
"Gou-chan's coming?!" Momotarou and Seijuurou simultaneously yelled, starry-eyed. This earned them both glowers from their respective boyfriends which caused the idiot brothers to simultaneously say, "What? I can't help it!"
The other couples laughed at the gag.
"Hey, could I talk to you for a moment, Rei?" Rin asked, putting his phone away.
Rei blinked with surprise before nodding and the two fell back into the crowd, alone together. Sousuke bit his lip and found the strength to ignore the nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"Oh! There's Shuu-chan! My transgirl friend from online!" Nitori said, grabbing Makoto's hand. "Let's go meet her too! She's super nice and been doing this for years! She's dating a girl, a model even!"
"Oh, how interesting!" Makoto said, heading over to Shuu with Nitori. This left behind Momotaou, Sera, Seijuurou, and Sousuke as a group.
"Finally!" Momotarou said once they were out of earshot of the others. "A moment for just the real men!"
"Pssh!" Sousuke scoffed. "What the heck does that mean?" He peeked towards Seijuurou as though blaming the older brother for younger's unprogressive way of thinking.
"Considering that Ai-chan's in a dress, one dude is wearing pink and another got on butterfly wings, I think that we're all thereal men in our relationships, right? Right?"
"I guess if you're conforming to society's traditional idea of what is a 'man,' but if you're going to submit yourself to the oppression of gender roles then you might as well be going against everything this parade stands for."
"Precisely!" Sera agreed.
"Totally!" Seijuurou said, punching Sousuke's arm lightly.
"Huh?" Momotarou asked, cocking his head to the side. "Everything you just said flew right over my head!"
Sera took a stab at giving a proper explanation. "This whole march is about the freedom of gender expression and sexual identity, so to essentially misgender and mislabel others because they don't match the conventional idea of manhood makes your very presence here, hypocritical."
"What?" Momotarou said, still confused.
Seijuurou grabbed his brother's head and pushed down forcefully.
"Listen up, shrimp! You're still a freaking small fry, so what makes you think you're more a man than anybody else?!" Seijuurou bellowed causing his younger sibling to futilely punch at his attacker.
"Cut it out, big bro!" Momotarou demanded, still swinging. "You'll make me even shorter, dammit!"
A few feet back in the parade, Rin talked with Rei.
"I don't know how you feel about this…" Rin began. "But I invited Nagisa to hang out with all of us."
Rei gulped and stared off in a whole other direction.
"I know some stuff happened between you two or is still going on or whatever, but," Rin went on. "We're all still friends and I want everyone to have a good time together."
"I'm fine!" Rei snapped. Realizing he had been too harsh, he reigned in his tone and looked Rin in the eyes with a sad smile. "I mean, I'm not the one with the problem. I don't have any ill will towards Nagisa-kun."
"Okay," Rin said, returning a similarly sad smile. "I just wanted to let you know rather than let Nagisa show up and you be totally shocked."
"I'm fine," Rei repeated, eyes back to looking at nothing in particular.
The two were clueless to the dimwit conversation their boyfriends were reluctantly participating in ahead of them.
"I'm telling you, it's easy," Seijuurou reiterated to his fellow taken buddies. "Regardless of how you look at it, I still like chicks, so sneaking a peek every now and then is pretty much a necessity! As long as I look but don't touch, it's okay!"
"You really think that?" Sousuke questioned. There was almost a condescending tone to his voice. "I like girls too, but I don't feel compelled to check them out, guys either for that matter, considering that I'm in a committed relationship."
"Whaaaat? Not even a little?"
Sousuke shrugged. "Why should I?"
Seijuurou stuck out his tongue. "Ahh, you're no fun. What about you, Sera-san? I bet you give girls the double take sometimes."
"Ahaha, sorry to bust your bubble, but I'm gay," Sera admitted with that pleasant smile still plastered on his face.
"Okay, okay, so you're gay," Seijuurou muttered as though that was just a minor roadblock in defending his actions. "You must check out other guys then, right?"
"Um…" Sera hummed. The others waited anxiously to see which side he would take. "I guess I do. But not in a sexual way! I never really did that even outside of dating. But there are times where I'll see a good-looking guy and can't help, you know, staring and thinking 'Ah, that guy is really good-looking,' you know?"
"See, this guy gets it!" Seijuurou let out another of his infamous hearty laughs.
"What he was talking about and what you were talking are two different things!" Sousuke disagreed, not quite able to follow Seijuurou's logic sometimes.
"Ai-chan lets me flirt with other girls," Momotarou stated as though it was a completely normal thing.
"Huh?" The other three breathed in shock.
He joyfully waved his phone which he was currently using to do just as he said. "Ai-chan thinks that I can't help myself, so Ai-chan says it's okay for me to flirt with other girls, but it can't be anything more than that."
"And you actually do it, just because he lets you?" Seijuurou shook his head. "I can't believe I have a brother like this!"
"You just said you check girls out!"
"Yeah, but I don't talk to them!"
"So?! What's the difference?!"
"There has to be limits, y'know?! Limits!"
While they continued to argue, Sousuke said, "They are really stupid, aren't they?"
"Precisely," Sera agreed.
Not too long after all the couples reunited and the group was one again, the last three finally showed up.
"Yoo-hoo! We're here!" Nagisa called out, his shrill voice being heard over the noise of the parade.
The group lit up at the sight of Gou, Haru, and their favorite blond airhead. Hugs and hellos ensued.
"Haru, it's been a while. How are you?"
"Nagisa, you keep getting taller!"
"Gou-chan, you look cuter today than last time I saw you! Might I just say your boobs look fantast—Ow, Ai-chan, what was that for?!"
The atmosphere was friendly and lively. Still, it didn't shock Rei when Nagisa actively ignored him and Sera. The breaststroke swimmer embraced and greeted every other person aside from the bespectacled men.
Rei's expression became a bit blue making Sera pull his lover close to him and whisper in his ear, "It's okay."
This little action didn't escape Nagisa who then laughed noisily at Seijuurou's joke which wasn't that funny.
Even at school, Nagisa didn't pay Rei much mind more than "Is there practice today?" and "Can I borrow a pencil?"
The two had been an item for exactly four and half months, but that was all Rei needed to back out. They had started going steady sometime around the later middle part of their second year. The relationship kicked off just fine. They would make each other lunches, share quick, loving kisses, and went out on fun dates around town. Rei constantly found reasons to smile or laugh with Nagisa, moments were never dull.
It didn't take long for him to get scared that he was seriously in love with Nagisa. He couldn't imagine spending a weekend by himself or waking up to a phone without texts from his bubbly blond. One day, during a hot make-out session complete with heavy petting, Nagisa moaned the words "I love you" and Rei just couldn't deal. He stopped replying to Nagisa's messages and more often than not, would lie about being busy when Nagisa wanted to hang out.
But this time apart made him miss the breastroke swimmer so he invited Nagisa to his place to study. It was then that Nagisa held Rei's hand while making a joke somewhere along the lines of "We'll be old men together and I still won't get this stuff." A cold emotion twisting within Rei's stomach urged him to say the words "Um, I think… I think we should take a break."
Nagisa was hurt and wanted to cry. He wanted to ask why and what did he do wrong, but feared this would just bother Rei even further, so instead he just smiled and said, "Okay."
He regretted doing that so much. He wished he would have begged Rei not to do this and asked him all sorts of questions because letting that "break" happen opened the doors for Sera to step right into Rei's heart to kick Nagisa out.
Sera was a cool, quiet guy. He wasn't boisterous or fun, just simple. His slow, easy pace made Rei feel secure. His calm demeanor was comforting. He never pushed anything in the relationship, was very open about his feelings and expectations, and he was quite the stickler for consent. Being with Sera was what Rei thought relationships were supposed to be like, the two fell in tune with each other and never really strayed from the set routine or boundaries.
Being a year older, Sera was already out of school and helping his parents run their bookstore which he was currently debating on whether or not he should take over. It was a subject he and Rei often discussed during their late night talks. It was also this that allowed them to have natural time apart, something he didn't get with Nagisa. They were constantly around each other and talking and doing something. It was too much, Rei felt overloaded - like things were moving too fast and couldn't grab hold of it, so instead he cut it off.
Dating Sera was a total 180 and, Rei couldn't lie, it was also a little low-key boring. Maybe it was just because Rei was comparing Sera to Nagisa, but it was like all excitement had went from 100 to 15. Not that their talks weren't interesting or Sera never surprised him with little gifts, but with Nagisa the talks were more than interesting - they were chock full of creativity and imagination and the gifts weren't little - they were larger-than-life and personalized. Of course, there were elements that Rei missed about Nagisa, but he couldn't picture himself going back to that short chapter of his life.
And Nagisa took that all to heart. He missed Rei so much, it pained him. Seeing him at practice rocked his brain with a hurt he never even knew he could feel. The break-up came as such a shock to him. He had thought everything was going fine, so when Rei officially said he was leaving him for someone else, Nagisa had to summon every ounce of strength within him to not cry right then and there. At first, told himself just to be happy that Rei was happy, but each time he saw Rei and Sera together made his heart crumple up more and more. He wished he hadn't become so bitter, because more than anything he wished to be at least friends with Rei again. But he was fearful of them hanging out as buddies and then desiring something more, something that already was and couldn't be again.
It was this fear that made Nagisa avoid Rei while it was pure dislike and jealousy that made him unable to even shake hands with Sera.
"How's culinary school, Haru?" Sera asked, still holding onto his love.
"It's okay," Haru answered with a blank face.
"Those little cookie things you made last time were amazing!" Seijuurou said, rubbing his belly and drooling a bit.
"Haru-chan's famous macaroons?! They're the best!" Nagisa said, bouncing up and down. "Haru-chan was even nice enough to bring me my absolute favorite – strawberry shortcake!"
Nagisa then held up a bag containing a box of the sweet treat.
"Makoto told me you met someone!" Rin growled at Haru. "How come you didn't tell me?"
As the angered redhead aimed to grab Haru by the collar, Makoto moved in between them and explained, "Now, now, I had to force it out of Haru, myself!"
"It's no big deal," Haru insisted.
"Haru-chan, how come you didn't tell me either~?"
"It's no big deal."
"It is so a big deal and we want to meet him ASAP!"
"Calm down, Rin, they're not even dating."
"Still, Mako-chan, don't you want to meet Haru-chan's beau?"
"Don't call him my beau."
The bickering went on, reminiscent of old days. Rei watched on from the outside, afraid of saying anything and then making the air cold with silence. He felt like a traitor. He broke Nagisa's heart, his friend, everyone's friend. Could he still be counted as one of them? Could he still joke around with all of them? Could things still feel normal?
"What do you think, Rei?" Rin asked, roping the blue-haired butterfly into the craziness.
"Um…" Rei murmured, eyes fluttering towards Nagisa who was giving him a soft glare. This look died down until Nagisa huffed a loud huff.
"Would you hurry up and answer," The blond grinned. "Re-i-cha-n~"
Things felt… as they once were. And Rei grinned back. "My deductions say that Haruka-senpai should have revealed the information in a specific order using the calculations of-"
"Rei-chan, Rei-chan, that's too much math, you have to go with your flying gut!"
"Flying?"
"Because you're a butterfly!"
"…that still doesn't make any sense!"
"I think I get it!" Gou interjected.
Rei told her not to encourage Nagisa's silliness while Rin questioned what any of that had to do with Haru withholding information just as the freestyler was asking Makoto why they were parading around in this heat when they could be in a cool pool.
The six went on with their energetic conversation, hugging and laughing so hard, there were tears.
It was just as Rin wanted. They were all together again. With their relative partners, smiling as friends, united under a cause. It was their first Pride and it was going just as Rin wanted.
"Why are you crying, Rin?"
"Shut up! I'm not crying!"
As the day filled with dancing, noble speeches, mild nudity, and (lucky for Gou) muscles died down, Haru snatched up a chance to speak with Nagisa in private.
The crowd had thinned out severely and in the evening air, the group decided they would meet up at restaurant for a meal together before all parting ways. It felt too early to say goodbye.
Nagisa and Haru passed by Seijuurou and Makoto as they moved away from the others, overhearing their conversation ("You were just looking at that girl, weren't you?" "Maybe if you would come to my school, I wouldn't—wait, don't walk away, Mako, I was just kidding!").
"I thought you were going to give Rei an earful?" Haru asked, only slightly curious as to why Nagisa changed his mind.
On the way there, Gou kept cheering Nagisa on about telling Rei off and getting all his feelings off his chest. He had even written some major points down on a WacDonald's napkin.
Nagisa took the tear-stained napkin out of his pocket and tore it up. "Rin-chan wanted this day to be about us celebrating Pride together! What would I gain from ruining that? Besides, he'll probably get bored of that lame Sera guy and come crawling back to me, but by then, I'll have a new, better boyfriend and I'll be all like 'Nuh-uh! It's too late!' Haha!"
"Riiiight."
"Hey! Say it with more feeling, Haru-chan!"
"Right!"
"Whoo! I'm beat!" Rei said to Sera as the pair stood by a lonely tree. "Ah, the sky looks so beautiful~ I'm glad it's cooling down."
"You look even more beautiful right now," Sera said, nuzzling into Rei's hair. "And I hope you're not too beat to go on a trip tomorrow."
"Eh?" Rei pulled away slightly from Sera to look his boyfriend in the eyes.
Sera gave a wink as pulled out a pamphlet. "I booked us a couple of nights at a hot spring, you deserve it."
"Wha-wha?! I have school!"
"Skip. We could use the excitement."
"Sera! What's come over you?" The sentence didn't come out as angered as Rei wanted it to, he was too busy laughing at Sera's crazy action and his boyfriend nuzzling lovingly into his neck. "Haha, okay, I'll go! I'll go!"
"Haha, I love you, Rei."
"I nnuhhmuhnuh you too."
It seemed like their relationship would still have some hurdles to jump.
Nitori puffed up his cheeks as he watched Momotarou happily text several unknown girls. He knew he said it was okay, but didn't think Momotarou would be more into talking to them than him. It was upsetting and it was time Nitori took action.
"I'm cutting my hair again!" Nitori threatened. "I grew it out for you, but you don't appreciate me, so I'm cutting it!"
Momotarou stopped his texting and stared into Nitori's stern eyes. "You grew your hair out for me? Ai-chan, I don't care if your hair is long or short, I think you're cute either way!"
Nitori blushed and grabbed onto Momotarou's phone. "Then how come you always want to talk to girls instead of me?"
"You said it was alright!" Momotarou countered. He sighed then turned off his phone before pulling Nitori into a hug. "If it was making you sad, you should have said something earlier."
"I'm sorry."
"No, I'm the one that should be sorry."
"Big Brother Rin, have you seen my lipgloss?" Gou asked, digging through her purse.
"I'll be your lipgloss, Gou-chan!" Momotarou stated with puckered lips earning him a good clobbering from Nitori.
Seijuurou sniggered at his brother's idiocy despite dealing with a tiffed lover himself.
"Are you still mad?" he asked Makoto.
"I just…" Makoto breathed, realizing what he wanted to say. "I just can't believe you want me to transfer schools just to keep you from cheating on me. That's really hurtful, Sei."
"That's what you think?" Seijuurou asked, blinking. "Well, I mean, yeah, I'm going to give a second glance to a hot girl walking by and yeah, I get lonely when we're not together," He placed a warm kiss on Makoto's forehead. "But I want you at my school because I love you so much, Makoto, if I could spend every waking second with you, I would."
"Sei…"
"I would never cheat on you. I know I'm stupid, but I'm not dumb enough to do anything that would ruin my relationship with the most perfect person on this planet!"
"Just on this planet?"
"The most perfect person in the galaxy!"
"Just the galaxy?"
"The universe, dammit! The whole universe!"
The two laughed, knowing their problems weren't over, but excited to tackle whatever the universe would throw at them.
Watching everyone happily together warmed Rin's heart. Everything was just as he wanted. He grabbed onto Sousuke's hand, smiling like an idiot.
"What are you so glad about?" Sousuke asked, smiling too.
"Nothing… Everything. I don't know." Rin giggled.
"You're so cute. I'm so happy you're all mine."
"I'm happy you're possessiveness didn't make you a murderer today," Rin snickered, looking back on some of today's events.
Sousuke snarled a bit. "Talk about seeing red when they guy came up and thought it was okay to slap you on the ass! I really thought I was going to jail…"
"Good thing you composed yourself."
"Yeah, yeah. We all have our faults, I guess."
"And I accept your jealousy, temper, occasional obliviousness, and semi-deserved sense of arrogance until we're old men stragglers at the back of a Pride parade."
"Then I accept your pomposity, competitiveness, horrible communication skills, and own semi-deserved sense of accomplishment until we're old men stragglers at the back of a Pride parade."
"Haha, it's a deal then. I love you, Sousuke."
"I love you too, Rin."
Just as Rin wanted as the rainbow flags were reeled in under a cloudless orange sky. A cool night setting in, 11 friends gathered together to share a rare meal filled with nothing more than the bliss that came with life. No matter its complications and trials, they would all pull through with one another to depend on.