It was a weird thought, thinking about them knowing. His friends actually knowing his secret, them actually knowing he liked guys, not having to pretend that he agreed with his friends when they thought a girl was hot. He just didn't see them that way. He thought they were pretty, sure, but not in a way that suggested he was attracted to them.
Nagisa took a bite out of his Iwatobi bread, looking around at his group of friends as he contemplated telling them about his sexuality for about the millionth time. He wanted to tell his friends first. It would be easier to tell his family if he knew that they were backing him up, but what if they didn't? What if they thought he was gross or disgusting for liking boys, especially since he was on an all-boys swim team? What if they didn't want to be his friends any longer because they thought something was wrong with him?
He once again looked up at the people surrounding him. Rin had said something funny, making Rei laugh, who, in turn, shot barley tea right out of his nose, causing the whole group to burst into laughter, aside from Haruka, who just smiled faintly, the expression so subtle that Nagisa barely caught it. He joined in, his eyes bright with laughter as he watched Rei wipe off his shirt, which was now drenched in a mixture of barley tea and snot.
Once the laughter had died down, Nagisa was still looking at the bespectacled teen. When he realized that he was staring at Rei, he quickly turned his gaze to his lap, a faint blush coloring his cheeks.
And what if they found out he liked Rei? That would probably disgust them even more. Not to mention Rei wouldn't want to be friends with him. Nagisa didn't think he could take that.
"Hey, Nagisa, are you alright?" Makoto's voice brought him out of his thoughts as he looked up to see all of his friends staring at him. He realized that he'd been so caught up in his contemplations, he'd hardly eaten his lunch.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered, taking another bite of his food to convince them that he was, in fact, fine.
"Are you sure?" Gou asked, concerned.
Nagisa nodded and everyone hesitantly went back to their lunches, except for Haruka, who stared at him dubiously. And that was when Nagisa realized that this was his chance.
"Uhh, actually, there-there's something I wanna tell you," he stuttered.
He felt five pairs of eyes on him, but, as he looked up at them, he saw that not a single one held judgment. Nagisa felt his dismay ease, if only slightly. It was now or never.
"Okay, I'm not really sure how to say this, so I'll just say it," he took a deep breath, "I-I'm gay."
"Well, I could have told you that," Haruka responded bluntly.
"Haru!" Makoto scolded.
Nagisa let out a chuckle, which soon turned into a laughing fit.
He jumped across the little circle they had created when they had sat down and wrapped his arms around a less-than-willing Haruka, "Thanks, Haru."
He soon released his vice grip on the older boy and sat back down in front of his still-barely-touched food, letting out a sigh of relief, "You don't know how good it feels to say that. I've known for awhile now, I was just afraid you guys would, like, hate me or something."
"Nagisa, we could never hate you," Makoto said, giving the blonde a kind smile.
Nagisa looked around at the rest of his friends, who were nodding in agreement with what Makoto had said. How could he have ever thought that these people would hate him for something as simple as loving someone?
"And, not to steal your spotlight or make it look like I'm jumping on the bandwagon or anything, but I, um, may also favor boys as well," Rei said hesitantly, in that simple-yet-complicated way in which he always spoke.
All heads turned to Rei, his face suddenly turning a light shade of pink. Nagisa's heart skipped a beat. Rei was gay? As in he liked people of the male variety? Which Nagisa, in fact, was. Nagisa felt like he was going to explode in happiness. He couldn't believe it. His Rei-chan liked boys!
Nagisa ran up to Rei and tackled him in a hug.
"You just have to be an attention hog, don't you Rei-chan," He smiled happily, looking up at the taller boy, who he was basically sitting in the lap of, and causing him to blush.
Nagisa moved his lunch next to Rei's and sat next to the blue-haired teen, beginning to talk his ear off, though the other boy didn't seem to mind. He looked to even be enjoying the talkative male's company. Because that's what he was, male. Which his Rei-chan liked
As the rest of the group went back to their lunches and resumed their normal conversation, Makoto looked between the two younger boys, a knowing smile spreading across face.