I had to rewrite this chapter over ten times... and look how long it took my to actually submit it. Ha. Haha. Ahh...
But anyways, I finally found the way to finish it. Hopefully, I'll get my lazy ass to do next chapter. I'm now a freshman in college, so hopefully this new workload won't get in my way that much. hehe.

Without further ado, let's, finally, continue on with this story...

It was late at night, and Rin couldn't shake the feeling that he needed to speak with Haruka. Tomorrow would be his first time going to school as a vampire, which would be a big adjustment.

"Agh... how annoying..." he groaned, though he had no right to complain, he made Haruka this way. It was now his turn to take responsibility.

Rin took out his cell phone and promptly sat in his bed. He scrolled through his contacts until he found Soulless Being and clicked the call button.

He better pick up...

It seemed like time had stopped completely. Haruka couldn't move, nor say anything. He could hear his own rapid heartbeat pulse through his body. He could smell the mixture of freshness from Makoto's breath and sweetness from his blood; it was intoxicating. Makoto's lips were literally hovering over his by millimeters. His eyes slowly began to close, expecting... longing for some sort of warmth from Makoto. Then, out of nowhere.

DUH~ DUN

...what in tarnation?

DUH~ DUN

...is that... is that the Jaws theme?

DUH~ DUN DUH~ DUN

"...Haru?" Makoto question, now at a foot distance from Haruka. Damn...

"Hm?"

"...is that...Rin?"

Haruka knew it was Rin. Of course it was Rin. Who else could it be? Who else would ruin such a perfect moment— wait, what was he saying?

"Oh, uh... yeah..." Haruka answered, rubbing the back of his neck while blushing a bit from his thoughts.

Makoto snorted and looked away to hold in his laughter.

"Um... I guess I should answer him..." Haruka murmured, not knowing if Makoto heard him.

Makoto glanced back at Haruka, watching him as he pulled his phone from his pocket and ran his thumb down the side of it. He wasn't answering immediately, though the Jaws ringtone continued. Haruka was hesitating, biting his lip a bit. His cheeks were flushed and eyes unsure where to look. Gosh, he did this to Haruka? He never knew he could. Earlier, it'd sounded like Haruka was confessing to him, so he took advantage of the moment to try to kiss him. Wait, what if it wasn't even a confession? Oh geez. Even so, he wanted to do more, but reality hit him. This was his best friend. He needed to calm down. He didn't want to scare or lose Haruka. After years of just being a friend, he couldn't rapidly speed everything up. He'd take his time.

"Hey," Makoto tilted his head to the side as Haruka looked up at him in response, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Ah, y-yeah..." Haruka began to look down again, not understanding what was this heavy feeling in his chest. He could hear his own heartbeat in his ears. What was wrong with him?

Makoto, unsure of what exactly to do, reached out and settled his hand on top of Haruka's silky hair and ruffled it a bit.

"Bye, Haru," Makoto whispered, as he pulled his hand back slowly and left.

Haruka's been friends with Makoto for several years now. He's heard his whispers several times. He's felt his hand even more. But today, it was different. Very different.

Haruka rushed into his home and rapidly closed the door. The house was silent. His phone had stopped ringing, but he was sure it'd ring again. He leaned against the door frame and slowly slid down. His free hand found its way to his chest while the other one gripped his phone tightly. Was he having some type of heart attack? His face felt unnaturally warm, too warm for comfort.

A few minutes ago... what was going to happen? Makoto was leaning into him. Makoto. Leaning into him. Leaning in... to...

"Kiss...?" Haruka whispered. After a few seconds, he gasped in the realization of it all.

Makoto was going to kiss him. Makoto was going to kiss him. Right? He was going to kiss... a vampire. A vampire... who feeds on blood. A vampire... who's type apparently is Makoto.

"What... have I done...?" Haruka wheezed. Before more thoughts could enter his mind, his phone went off again. This time, he immediately answered.

"Rin-"

"What the hell? Why didn't you answer the first time?!" the voice boomed.

"Rin... I was-"

"Here I was, all worried that you went on a rampage on something!"

"No, Rin, I didn't-"

"Look, I called to tell you to careful at school. Seeing as how you're gonna be in the song for a longer time."

School... Haruka would have to see Makoto tomorrow. But, how could he face him after he almost kissed him?

"Ugh..." Haruka groaned.

"Come on, it won't be that bad. If anything, you can text me if you need blood or whatever. I'll rush over with Sousuke and we'll-"

"No, that's not it, Rin," Haruka brushed his finger along his bottom lip, "it's Makoto..."

"What about him? You shouldn't be hungry for him or anything, you just fed today. Don't worry about him-"

"Rin."

"What?"

"...Makoto... he... almost..." Haruka gulped.

"...he almost what?"

"...uh," Haruka blushed and closed his eyes, "he almost... kissed...me..."

"..."

"Rin?"

"..."

"Rin? You there?"

"SWEET HOLY MOTHER OF SHARKNADO HARU!"

And there goes his right ear. Oww.

"Mother of... what?"

"N-Nevermind that. Just, wow! That's some rapid character development right there. Makoto. The shy tall dork," yeah, that fit him, "after years of being in the friend-zone, decides to go for his best friend... who... is currently... a vampire..."

"Yeah..." Haruka sighed.

"...whoops. Talk about timing."

"Rin... he might like me-"

"It's no might, he does."

"But— I can't be with him-"

"What."

"Rin, I can't-"

"What?!"

"Rin-"

"WHAT?!"

This is why he doesn't answer calls from Rin. They end up with Rin talking over him.

"Look here Haru! You better not give me the whole 'I can't be with him cause I'm a vampire' cliche shit! Being a vampire hasn't stopped me from being with Sou- err, I mean, loved ones."

Haruka caught that. Amidst of his own troubles, he caught that. Heh.

"But Rin... I don't wanna hurt him..." Haruka began to make his way to his room. Sitting on the entrance floor was hurting his butt.

"Haru."

"What?" he plopped down and laid on his bed.

"Before anything else, do you like Makoto?"

"..." Did he? He didn't even ask himself that.

"Haru, do you like Makoto?"

"I don't know..."

Rin seemed to let out a growl from the other line.

"How do you not know? He almost kisses you, right? Did you push him away or something? Did it feel wrong?"

"No... we didn't kiss because you called..." Haruka coughed and began to blush. There was no other excuse he could find at the moment. He hadn't even tried to stop Makoto from kissing him, he expected it.

"—oh? Sounds like love to me."

"Rin, stop. Nothing is going to happen."

"Oh come on, I'm sure Makoto will accept your vampire side. Heck, he might find a kink from it-"

"Rin! No!" Haruka sighed and turned to his side, "I will avoid Makoto-"

"But-"

"I will deal with being a vampire at school normally-"

"Haru-"

"And I don't need your help on this. Goodnight."

Though he could Rin say something back, Haruka hung up and buried his face in his pillow. How could a single day leave him with so many more questions he never knew he'd have to ask himself. Did he like Makoto? Even if he did, what would be the point? He was a vampire who fed on blood. Makoto would be terrified of him. He can't lead Makoto on, so he'd just have to avoid him. Easy. Haruka set up an alarm so he could wake up earlier than usual and was lulled to sleep by the thoughts that seemed to endlessly cloud his mind.

Haruka was early. Way earlier than usual. Even some of his classmates were giving odd looks. Could it be because he wasn't with Makoto? Or maybe because they sensed something wrong with him?

Though he was convinced that his classmates had a sixth sense going off on him, Haruka was actually getting looks because of what he had on. For starters, he was wearing his goggles. Under his blazer, he had decided to wear a hoodie that was still over his head, though he was inside. To make things worse, the hoodie's strings were pulled out all the way, making Haruka's face barely visible. Yeah, they probably know I'm a vampire.

"Uh— Nanase-"

Haruka whipped his head over to find his teacher looming over him, concern was written across her face.

"Miss Amakata," Haruka fumbles around his hoodie's pocket, looking for something.

"Nanase, are you feeling alright? Why on earth do you have-"

Before Miho could finish her sentence, Haruka whips out a note and hold it up to her. Before he left his house, he made sure to write a makeshift excuse about his illness and hoped it would pass as a doctor's note.

Miho grabbed the note and began to read it. Once she was finished, she seemed a bit more worried than she had been before.

"Eye and skin irritation? Oh no, then you shouldn't be sitting in your window seat! Would you like to switch with someone else for a while?"

Switching seats. That's good! He could avoid the sun, and... Makoto.

"—yes, please," Haruka answered.

Miho helped Haruka gather his stuff and asked one of the students who sat near the front exit if they'd be so kind to switch with Haruka. The girl eyed Haruka, looking over his whole attire and nodded in agreement. She picked up her stuff and rushed over to what used to be Haruka's seat. That'd be a shock for Makoto once he got here. Though, the girl did seem to be happy where she was sitting. Too happy. Was it because it was a window seat? Or was it because she was next to-

"Nanase!" Miho called, seeing as how Haruka had zoned out while she was still talking.

"Ah, yes?"

"Well, seeing as how exposure to the sun would be harmful to you, I think it'd be best if you stopped going to swim practice for a while."

"...no swimming?"

"Yes, Nanase."

"..."

"Nanase-"

Haruka face planted on his desk and started thinking over his choices. If he wouldn't have been lazy and put on a crazy load of sunscreen, this wouldn't have happened. If he wasn't a vampire in the first place, this wouldn't have happened. If he actually talked to Rin instead of worrying about his almost-kiss with-

"Makoto!"

Huh? Haruka sat up and turned around to see who called Makoto. It was the girl in his seat. Though Miho was speaking to him, concerned over him smacking his face on the desk, Haruka didn't bother to listen. Right now, all he could focus on was Makoto's surprised look as he started to make his way to his own desk.

"Oh, hey Keiko," Makoto responded, still seeming a bit dumbfounded.

That's her name?

"Umm, where's Haru?" he asked.

Shit.

Haruka crossed his arms on his desk and quickly buried his face in them. Why was he even hiding? This suffocating hoodie was already covering a large portion of his face, what else was there to cover? Agh, why does he feel so flustered? Avoiding Makoto was for the best.

"Haru...?" Makoto called as he stood next to Haruka's huddled up self.

At that moment, Haruka wasn't sure what to do. Did he look up? What kind of face should he make? But what if Makoto looked at his eyes and read everything he was thinking. Oh no, he's taking too long to reply. God, what to do? WHAT TO DO?

"Mm," Haruka grumbled, not moving any muscles.

"Are you okay...?" Makoto asked.

Before he could respond, Haruka felt Makoto's hand touch his head. Was he patting him? Who's heartbeat was he listening to? It was loud. Was it Makoto? Oh god. Physical contact is bad, IT'S BAD.

"Haru-"

Haruka's arm quickly swung up and slapped Makoto's hand away from him. Jeez, he didn't even mean to slap it. He wanted to just move it.

Makoto looked visibly shaken and somewhat hurt. Crap.

"You... don't want me to be too close, huh," Makoto suggested, lightly rubbing the red to began to form on his hand.

"Makoto, it's just that, uh, I'm sick," Haruka began to explain, now looking directly at Makoto.

"Ah, right," Makoto smiled, but it wasn't a genuine smile, it seemed forced; he didn't like it.

"I'm... sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine Haru," Makoto tilted his head, "you're just protecting me, right?"

"Yeah..." protecting him in other ways he didn't even know about.

"We'll talk later, okay?"

"Uh-"

The bells began to ring for class to begin. Makoto quickly made his way over to his seat, like the responsible student in him would. Haruka looked at the front as class began. He began to pull out his notebook and pencil to take notes. Okay, things didn't exactly begin right, but they could've gone way worse. He was doing good. He was keeping Makoto safe, which is good. Haruka glanced back at Makoto. To his surprise, he found the girl that took his seat batting her eyes at Makoto.

...Ha.

Haha.

Haaa.

...did I just break my pencil?

HA. YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW THE THINGS I GOT PLANNED FOR THIS. YOU GOTTA STAY TUNED.