Chapter 4 – Phone-calls
It is actually really sweet when someone stays up late to talk to you (Tachibana Makoto)
'Haru and Rin are absent today as well, huh…'
That was what went through Kisumi's head as he stared contently at the person sitting in front of him.
He was enjoying his lunch break with the love of his life, Tachibana Makoto, when the brunette's phone rang loudly.
The brunette flashed him an apologetic smile, and then answered the call. "Yes?"
"Makoto?"
Makoto's face lit up, and a small-excited blush appeared on his cheek. "Haru! You called me first!"
At that, Kisumi's happy face fell for a second before he covered it up with a huge grin again.
There was a pause in the other line for a few seconds until Makoto heard, "… Yeah, I guess."
Makoto's smile widened for a bit. "And? What is it, Haru?"
"I'm going to spend all day in the pool. Don't wait for me."
"Huh? All day?"
"There's a competition a month from now."
"Ah, I see." Makoto looked dejected for a moment. "Okay then, Haru-chan!"
"… Drop the –chan already."
Upon hearing the same reply from the dolphin boy, Makoto's smile came back again. He waited for the other to end the call before he looked up to see Kisumi and said, "Ah, I'm sorry about that, Kisumi"
"No, no." Kisumi shook his head. "I'm actually surprised that Haru is using his phone."
"Ah, yeah, since he entered college, he uses his phone more often."
"More often, huh…" Kisumi sighed. "I texted him several times but he never replied though."
"Ah, Haru hates texting."
"Eh? Why?"
"Too much trouble." Answered Makoto as he mimicked Haru's tone perfectly.
The pink haired boy snorted. "That's so like Haru!" He laughed hard before an idea popped up in his mind suddenly. "Oh, Makoto!"
"Yeah?"
"I just thought of something good!" He excitedly leaned over the table to get closer to the brunette. "You know, a new cake shop opened near the station."
"Oh, really?"
"The girl who sat behind me in the class was talking to her friends that the cake shop has a really delicious chocolate cake! Wanna try?"
"Chocolate cake?" Makoto's face lighted up when he heard the words. He nodded excitedly and replied, "Sure!"
Kisumi got up from his seat and said, "Okay, let's go!"
"Ah, wait, Kisumi!"
"Hm?"
"Well, actually…" Makoto paused for a moment as he scratched his cheek with a sheepish smile. "Can I bring my siblings too?"
—*.*—
"I'm home!" said Makoto as he opened the door of his apartment. There were some rustling sounds before two middle-schooler kids came to sight and pounced on Makoto simultaneously.
"Onii-chan!"
"Welcome home, onii-chan!"
The brunette laughed as he called, "Ran, Ren!" with a gentle voice. He hugged them for a few seconds before he said, "Hey, Ran, Ren, wanna try Tokyo's most-delicious-chocolate-cake?"
Ran looked up to see her older brother's face with excited eyes. "Chocolate cake?"
"I wanna try! I wanna try!" said Ren immediately. He was as excited as his sister was.
Makoto chuckled and patted their heads. "Then, is it okay if we try the cake with my friend?"
"Your friend?" Ran tilted her head to the side. "Who?"
"Haru-chan?" asked Ren, voicing the continuation of his twin's question.
"No," answered Makoto as he shook his head. "Come on; let's head down to the lobby. I'll introduce you to Kisumi."
"Kisumi?" Ran and Ren said the name simultaneously. "Kiss me?" They giggled excitedly. "Who?"
"The name sounds indecent."
"True." Ren agreed. "Ki-su-mi."
"Yeah?"
Ren jolted when he heard someone behind him responded. He turned his head quickly and saw a tall young man – though not as tall as his brother – with a pink hair, smiling down to him.
"Ah, there you are, Kisumi!" Makoto sighed. "I thought you went ahead of us."
"Eh, no way, Makoto! I'll always wait for you!" said Kisumi with a wink. He crouched down and showed a big grin at Ran and Ren. "So they are your siblings, huh. I'm Kisumi, nice to meet you!"
Ran nodded. "I'm Ran, and this is Ren. Please take care of us."
"Sure!" Kisumi got up and said, "They have manners."
"Of course." Makoto laughed shortly. "Why wouldn't they? They're already a middle-schooler."
"Eh, really?!" Kisumi's eyes widened. "So you guys are older than Hayato, huh…"
"Hayato?" Ran tilted her head to the side cutely. "Who's that?"
"Ah, I have a younger brother too. His name is Hayato. I will let you guys meet sometime. You will be a great older brother and sister to him."
Upon hearing that, Ran's and Ren's eyes were shining with excitement.
And just like that, Kisumi easily gained approval from Makoto's siblings.
—*.*—
*ding-dong*
Rin mumbled some incoherent words. He did not want to get up from the bed. Not for anyone who was in the door.
*ding-dong*
The redhead covered his ears with his pillow as he continues to pretend that he was not at home.
*ding-dong*
'What the hell. Just go away already!'
*ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong*
Rin cursed as he finally willing to get up from the bed and walked quickly to the door. He opened the door with anger and glared at whoever who dared to disturb his alone time.
That person turned out to be Sousuke.
"What the hell, Sousuke!"
"Hey, Rin." The other grinned without care that he was pissing off his friend. "What'cha doing?"
"… The hell. You're here just to ask me that?!" He sighed and moved aside. "Whatever. Come in."
"Actually I was gonna leave if you didn't open the door for another five minutes." Confessed Sousuke with a sheepish grin. "But you answered the door."
"What."
"I went to the pool today."
Rin clicked his tongue. He knew where this would be going.
"You weren't there." Sousuke sat beside Rin. "Why?"
"What why? I'm just taking a break, that's all."
"You have competition a month from now, Rin."
"I know sheesh. Stop acting like my mom."
Sousuke arched one of his eyebrows. "It's not like you to take it so lightly. What happened?"
" … Nothing."
"Tell me."
The redhead sighed. "I don't know if I can tell you."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"It's… Nitori." Rin answered vaguely. He was trying to drop the conversation, but Sousuke's gaze on him made him unable to do that. "It concerns Nitori's secret. I can't tell you."
"Nitori, huh…" Sousuke paused for a moment. "Nitori's secret… By secret, do you mean the fact that he likes Momo?"
Rin looked at him with unbelievable eyes.
"So I'm right." The raven-haired man sighed. "It's not really a secret, you know. It was clear that he likes Momo that way."
"How did you…"
"You're just dense. Maybe only you and Momo who did not realize that. The other members pretty much figured it out."
"… I see…"
Sousuke observed his best friend for a while, and then he asked, "And?"
"What?"
"How did you finally realized that Nitori is after Momo?"
"Well…"
"Did Nitori tell you himself?"
Rin fell silent at that.
"I see. So Nitori told you that he likes Momo. And?"
Rin sighed. "And it ends there. I didn't know what I should say to him when he told me that he likes Momo."
"What if he told you that he likes Gou?"
"I would beat him to a pulp."
"I see. So you can't accept that he loves another man?"
"Well… I don't really know… I still think of Nitori as my dearest junior. And I don't despise him even after hearing that. It's just that… I don't know what words I should say to him when I know that he have no hope with Momo."
"Do you want him to give up on Momo?"
"Well… yeah. He has no hope."
"I don't think so."
"Huh?"
"I think he should confess before deciding to completely give up on Momo."
"Sousuke, the one Nitori likes is another guy and Momo on top of that. That guy is clearly straight."
Sousuke sighed. "Rin. You just can't accept the fact that Nitori is gay."
The redhead opened his mouth to retort, but no sound came out.
"See? I'm right, aren't I?" Sousuke sighed. "I thought you're an open-minded person, Rin."
"Well, I…" Rin paused for a moment, looking lost like a little puppy. "I thought so myself." He looked up and stared at his best friend's face. "Are you fine with that, Sousuke?"
"Yeah. I don't really care."
"I see…"
"It's not really uncommon these days anymore, Rin. You know that there are lots of gay books and magazines out there, and people who worshipped them."
"Yeah, I know…" Rin sighed. "Well, if you're fine with it, then I'm fine with it, too."
The raven-haired man snorted. "That's so half-assed."
Rin kicked the other's leg. "The hell, you just snorted at me! You don't snort at Rin Matsuoka!"
"I just did." Sousuke replied with a grin. 'I'm glad that he's back to normal.'
—*.*—
After Sousuke had left, Rin scrolled through his contact list, looking for his junior's name. After he found it, he called the said junior immediately.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Nitori!"
"Eh? Rin-senpai?"
"Yeah. Why are you asking? Didn't you see the caller's name?"
"Ah, I answered without looking."
Rin laughed shortly. "What's up with that?"
Nitori chuckled. "It's rare for you to call me, senpai."
"Yeah, well… about that… I'm sorry, Nitori."
"Eh? No, it's okay, Rin-senpai. Just texting is okay."
"No, I mean… about last week… sorry, Nitori."
"Ah? Oh…"
"You see, Nitori…" Rin inhaled deeply. "I think you should confess to Momo."
"Eh? What? Why?"
"Well, I talked about this to Sousuke – ah, I'm sorry about it, but it seems that he already knows that you like Momo – and he told me that me that you should confess first to Momo."
"…"
"… uh, Nitori?"
"… You talked to Yamazaki-senpai about this?"
"Uh… yeah? I am sorry. Are you mad?"
"… No."
"Liar. You are mad."
There were some sniffing sounds from the other line.
"Shit, Nitori are you crying?"
"*sniff* *sob* Rin-senpai, you're mean!"
"Wait, why? I'm sorry that I told Sousuke, but he's totally okay with it!"
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Are you, Rin-senpai?"
"Yeah."
"*sniff* *sob*"
"What the hell, Nitori! Why are you crying again? Come on; stop crying for a moment, I'm confused as hell here!"
"No, senpai. I – I'm just glad."
"Huh? About what?"
"I – I regretted that I came out to you so openly like that, but I also glad that I did, because you're still willing to become my senpai after knowing that I'm gay."
"Don't talk as if you're lower than the others. If you like men, then so be it. Don't pay attention to what others think, Nitori, not me, not even your parents, your siblings, or your other relatives."
"I'm the only son, senpai."
"Yeah. Well, I didn't know. Whatever."
"When I came out to you, you looked absolutely bewildered back then, senpai."
"I did not."
There was a soft chuckled from the other side of the line. "You did senpai."
"Whatever."
—*.*—
Haru had just finished his long-bath-time when his phone rang loudly in the bedside table. He stopped stroking his wet hair and let the towel hanged on his head as he strode calmly – not rushing at all – to reach his phone. He flipped open his blue phone and answered the call immediately without looking at the caller's name, knowing that only one person would call him at the middle of the night.
"Ah, Haru-chan."
There was only one person who was still calling him that.
"Stop adding the –chan, Makoto."
"Ah. Oh, sorry, Haru. I tend to forget."
The dolphin boy did not respond anything to that since it was the same lie the other had always told him.
"Why are you still up at this time, Haru?"
'What about you?' was what Haru was thinking, but he did not voice it aloud out of nature. Then at the next second, he realized that Makoto was not there in front of him to read his expression. He was about to voice his thought when Makoto spoke first.
"Ah, I was trying to sleep, but I couldn't. I kind of hoped that you also haven't slept yet, so I called you."
Haru pressed his lips together into a thin line. In the end, Makoto could read him just fine even without seeing his expression.
"Were you staying up this late just to soak in the tub, Haru?"
Again, Makoto was answered with deep silence. If it were anyone but Makoto, that person would have long hanged up by now, thinking that Haru had fallen asleep or simply ignoring him.
"You did, didn't you?"
"…"
"Ne, Haru-chan."
There it was again; the tone. Makoto always used the same tone whenever he wanted Haru to confess his fault, and the only way to talk it out was to confess honestly. "… I did."
He could hear the brunette sighed in the other line. "Again, Haru-chan? Even though it's summer right now, you can't just soak in the tub all night, Haru-chan! You would get sick!"
Haru rolled his eyes. He had done it many times and he has never gotten sick because of it.
"Don't roll your eyes on me, Haru-chan."
Of course. No one but Makoto would know that he had just rolled his eyes. "… Just stop adding the –chan, Makoto."
He could hear the soft smile Makoto was making.
"So? Why are you calling me in the middle of the night?"
"I told you already, Haru, I couldn't sleep."
"… Did you watch horror movies before sleep?"
"No."
"Did someone tell you scary stories?"
"…"
Haru sighed. He knew it. "Who?"
"Kisumi." Answered Makoto quietly.
"Were you with Kisumi?"
"Yeah, he told us about Sadako when we tried the new cake shop near the station"
The raven-haired boy arched his eyebrow at the other's answer. "Us?"
"Ah, we went there with Ran and Ren. They had already gone home immediately after that. The chocolate cake was really delicious, Haru! We should go there sometimes."
"Nah, just go with Kisumi."
"Eh, why?"
"I bet there are only girls there."
"Well yeah, but – "
"Moreover, I'm not really a fan for sweet things."
"…"
Haru could picture the dejected look on Makoto's face when he heard no response. He sighed and said, "Fine. Just sometimes, okay?"
"Yeah!"
Again, Haru could picture the brunette's brightened face. He could not help but to smile despite himself. It was okay, wasn't it? No one was there to watch anyway.
"Ah, did you just smile, Haru-chan?"
Haru's small smile froze. It was beyond him how his best friend even knew about that. Did he secretly put a hidden camera in his room?
"I did not."
The other man chuckled softly in the other line. "Yeah, you did, Haru-chan."
"… Just stop adding the –chan already. I have reminded you that for three times tonight, Makoto."
"Yes, yes, Haru."
There was comfortable silence stretched out after that as Makoto and Haru were trying to feel the other's presence through the phone call. The seconds ticked by and turned into minutes, until the silence was broken when Makoto said, "It is actually really sweet when someone stays up late to talk to you. Thank you, Haru."
And just like always, he was replied with silence.
—*.*—
To be continued...
A/N: I'm sorry I'm late :( College had started, and I'm overwhelmed with the assignments. I'm sorry.
And yeah, it's not my idea that chocolate cake is Makoto's favorite. It's canon. (It was stated in the drama CD, if you're wondering)
You see the big box down here? Yeah, please leave a review for me. It's okay if it's short or long, harsh or not, I accept any kind of reviews.
