There really was no stopping Haru when it came to things regarding Rin. Something about a certain shark-toothed smile and messy, mauve hair made logic in Haru's brain take a hike. It was only against Rin that Haru would forget his love of swimming in favor of a competitive fire.
It was this fact that had Makoto feeling rather depressed tonight as he lie on his bed, staring up at the ceiling sadly. Homework was but a thing of the past and it was a good thing too since it meant that Makoto had all evening to sit and angst over his current position.
He was not dating his best friend, Haruka. He wanted to be dating said friend. It seemed like an easy enough solution ought to have presented itself a while ago but, when it came to love, nothing came easily to Makoto.
He was always 'too' something. Too overbearing, too motherly, too attentive... The first guy Makoto had ever liked in high school had caught onto his crush early on and shattered any hopes of that working out, saying Makoto was 'too attatched'. It was like his mom had told him when he came out to her; "Makoto, I support you fully but... It really sucks to be gay at your age."
'Maybe I should call Haru and see if he can come over...' Makoto thought, turning on his side and staring at his cell phone. Haru wasn't good at talking about feelings but playing video games with him always made him feel better.
Makoto swiped his phone up and dailed the first number he saw, Haru's. He sighed as he listened to the dial tone once...twice... Haru rarely had his phone on, let alone even with him. It would be a miracle if he answered.
"Mako..?" a sleepy-sounding voice answered on the fourth ring.
For a moment, Makoto forgot that breathing was something you needed to continue doing in order to live.
There was a pause before Haru's voice fluttered over the line once more. "Makoto, are you there?"
"Yeah!" Makoto said, still feeling breathless. "Sorry... Um, do you want to come over? I know it's kinda late but we don't have school tomorrow. We could go swimming Sunday and-"
"I'll be over in ten minutes," Haru cut him off, the sounds of him packing his overnight bag in the background. He hung up after that, leaving Makoto feeling very flustered.
He had to remind himself over and over while waiting for Haru to arrive that it was just the promise of swimming tomorrow that made him agree so quickly. But maybe he did allow himself just a moment of internal squealing.
Ten minutes took a lot longer than you would think while waiting for your crush to come over so Makoto took his time cleaning up the three articles of clothing on the floor. He didn't want Haru to think he lived in a pig sty, of course.
When the doorbell rang, he nearly rushed downstairs and tripped on the bottom step in a hurry to open the door, not thinking until after the door was open that he might be coming off as a bit desperate.
"Hey, Haru," he said, breathless at both the sight of his friend and the fact that he'd basically sprinted down here. "Uh… Come on in." He took a step back, allowing Haru and his modestly-sized bag to walk through the door.
Haru took of his shoes next to the door and turned to Makoto. "Where are you parents and the twins?" he asked, leading the way up the stairs to where he knew Makoto's room was.
"Not here tonight," Makoto replied and for this, he was rather relieved. "We can be as loud as we want!" He laughed nervously. "I-I mean with the games! We don't have to mute the TV or anything!"
"Hm," Haru grunted, having made it up the stairs and into Makoto's room.
Meanwhile, Makoto's face was on fire and he willed himself to stop being so freaking awkward. This was Haru—his best friend since they were five practically and some little crush wasn't going to make him suddenly act different around him!
"Makoto? Can I use the bath?"
'Okay okay fuck,' Makoto's mind whirred. 'He's gonna be in his swimsuit in there anyway so it's not like he's sitting there naked in my bathtub and—' He shook his head. "Sure!"
Maybe inviting him over tonight was a bad idea, actually.
It didn't take long for Haru to take his bathing suit and night clothes with him into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Makoto was definitely not listening if Haru locked the door behind him (he didn't) because, no matter how many times he may have fantasized about barging into Haru's bathroom one morning before school and kissing him fiercely on the mouth, he didn't have the courage to actually do something that bold.
So instead, Makoto sat down on his green striped bed and pulled up his wii menu. The Mii version of himself stared back at him, smiling although his real life self wasn't so cheerful right now. He pulled up the mii maker page and finally felt the beginnings of a smile taking place on his face. The whole team was there staring back at him plus Rin and his reserved friend, Nitori. He had them there since the last time they'd all gotten together after a meet and he found himself staring intently at the tiny figure of Haru making his way over to… Rin's mii!
"Nooo," Makoto sighed. "Even virtual Haru likes Rin better than me…"
He quickly turned off the Mii Maker screen and stared at the menu for a minute longer. He didn't really feel up to video games now. Standing up, Makoto stretched for a moment before walking over to his TV and shutting down both the wii system and the screen. Maybe he and Haru could just talk or watch a movie or something.
He plopped back down on his bed and busied himself with checking his phone messages. He'd neglected to text Nagisa back about meeting up with him and Rei tomorrow so he quickly pulled that one open and texted back a reply.
'Can't tomorrow, I'm going to hang out with Haru.'
It didn't take long for a response to come through.
'Oooo, aren't your parents away? Jeeze, Makoto, you're a sly one! Got a steamy night planned?'
Makoto shook his head. Well… This was Nagisa that he was talking to… What had he been expecting? He shut his phone and lie back on the bed listening to the sounds of running water coming from his bathroom. Haru had already been in there a good twenty minutes… His hair wasn't even that long so what in the world could he be doing?
'Oh god…' Makoto covered his face and closed his eyes. 'What couldn't he be doing in there? Touching himself… Drowning… Looking through my secret medicine cabinet!'
Makoto bolted upright and rushed to the door, knocking on it three times. "Haru…? Are you okay in there?" The unknown was killing him.
There was a pause followed by a silence as Haru turned off the water. Had he really left it running all this time?
"You can come in," Haru said. "I'm finished now."
'Finished?' Makoto thought. 'Finished with what?' He pushed open the door and instinctively looked somewhere other than directly at his friend's naked chest as he was submerged in water. "Sorry… You've been in there a while so I got a little worried."
Haru stared up at him with his bright blue eyes and Makoto still did his best not to look and be swept up in them.
"Makoto…" he stood up, the water running off of his toned chest in fine little streams. "You worry too much."
There it was again. Makoto was being too much of something yet again. He felt his heart sink down through his rib cage.
Haru stepped out of the tub and onto the blue blanket he'd laid out so that he wouldn't get any water onto Makoto's floor. "I'm usually in for this amount of time, anyway."
"Yeah, sorry…"
"I mean… I don't really have a problem with it, though, you worrying." Makoto looked up, finally locking gazes with his shorter friend. "I think it's cute." A light blush dusted his cheeks and Makoto felt like he was going to die.
For a good minute or so, Makoto just stared at Haru. He took in his adorable swimsuit, his dripping wet hair, his blushing cheeks… It all felt like it was going to kill him.
"Y-You think I'm cute?"
Haru shugged. "Yeah," he said quickly and now it was his turn to look somewhere other than Makoto's face. "I thought that was obvious."
Makoto just stared, oblivious. How had he missed this one?
"I um…" Makoto coughed nervously. "I think you're super cute too. But that was probably obvious, too." He ran a hand quickly through his dull green hair. "So… Do you wanna like, date?"
He immediately shut his mouth. 'Shit shit shit,' he thought, shutting his eyes quickly in face of the inevitable rejection. 'Haru just said I was cute he didn't say that he actually liked me back! Well now he knows, I guess.'
"Sure."
Makoto opened his eyes and stared at Haru. He was now looking back at him, a small smile in place on his mouth.
Hesitantly, Haru took a step forward and put his hands awkwardly on Makoto's shoulders. Makoto only continued to stare, feeling undeniably like a fish out of water.
Leaning forwards, Makoto knew that this black-haired boy was going to be the end of him. This was going to be it. He'd kiss him once and his heart would give out. Not a bad way to go, actually…
He pressed his lips softly against the shorter boy's and relaxed into Haru's embrace as Haru wrapped his arms around Makoto's neck. Haru pressed his body flush against Makoto's, soaking the front of his clothing but neither of them really caring.
One of Makoto's hands tangled up in Haru's wet hair while the other rested comfortably on his hip. Haru pulled apart just a few centimeters, breathing slightly more erratic than usual.
"I should get dressed," Haru said softly, noticing how wet Makoto's shirt was becoming. "Sorry about that…"
Makoto shook his head, laughing softly. "Don't worry about it, Haru," he said with a cheesy grin. "I'll uh… See you in a minute." He pulled apart from Haru, his shirt sticking to his bare stomach like adhesive. "You know…" He said before he could think about it. "I always thought you liked Rin."
Haru looked up at him with a cocked eyebrow. "You did?" he asked before shaking his head. "Nah… I always thought you liked Nagisa, though."
"I guess we're both just too jealous, sometimes," Makoto said, laughing again. "I'm glad that you said something, though… I don't think I ever would have been brave enough."
"I'm glad you asked me out," Haru said, the smile reappearing on his face.
Makoto looked at his now-boyfriend and bit his bottom lip, refraining from shrieking his happiness for the world to hear. "Um… Anytime. Anyway, I'm gonna go now. So you can get dressed." He quickly walked out the door and shut it behind him, swan diving onto his bed and picking up his cell phone.
He opened it up, seeing he had a text from Nagisa.
'What's going on over there? Was I right? MAKOTO ANSWER ME. WHAT ARE YOU AND HARU DOING?'
Smiling diabolically, he shut his cell phone and set it aside on his nightstand as he waited for Haru to come out of the bathroom. He didn't want his new boyfriend to be jealous, after all. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to have Nagisa guessing about their activities for a little while longer.
